The Sun. — London, England, 1832-03-20 00:00:00

and those who represented the property, people of wealth and consideration, would no longer find their way into the House, and would no longer influence the councils of the empire. The Bill would open the door of Parliament to those who cajoled the people. It opened the dour to one class who were not worthy, and it shut the door against those who were worthy. It did that at a time when the great interests of the colonies were at stake. Mr. WILBRAHAM, adverting to the assertion of the Noble Lord, that there were appearances of re-action on the subject of Reform in the county of Chester, begged to say, that although he did not pretend to judge the opinions of his constituents on all the separate clauses of the Bill, he could say this, that, judging from the enthusiasm they displayed in favour of the Reform Bill, and from the opinion they had expressed in favour of the present, he did not think there could be any change in their eenti ments. T::e people of Cheshire had, with one voice, joined in condemning the nomination boroughs, and on that question, as well as many ethers, he knew their opi nions were unchanged. The Bill undoubtedly had many defects. He did not mean to deny it; and he had said so more than once in the course of the discussions on its provisions: but what were all the defects, and feulta, and anomalies of the Bill, compared with the enormities of the present system ?—(Hear.) It had been said by some of the opponents of the Bill that its provisions were a scaf fold, raised by a few artful, designing, and wicked men, to forward the accomplishment of obi , cts which would prove destructive to all order, and sap the foundations of property. As long as human natttee remained the same, there would be a difference of ranks and situations in society, and mankind would be divided into the richer and poorer classes. But, he would ask, were the great mass of the people to remain deprived of their rights be cause there happened to be some few persons who would wish to take advantage of the prejudices or misfortunes of a clasp, in order to go further than prudence and ereperi euce would sanction ? He believed mast conscientiously that the surest bulwark they could raise against such men and their property would be the passing the Bill now before the House into law. The time was gone when any party of men could hope to govern this country by setting up ore Administration and pulling down another. The The people would no longer consent to be governed on any other principle than that which was consistent with the exercise of their constitutional rights. Sir R. INGLIS said that when he icoked at the revo. lutionary character of the Bill, and at the clauses which swept away all that representation which had existed for au many centuries, he was at a loss to know what was the weight of the English language. In Fame ancient States, when any one proposed to change their institutions or to introduce a new law, they were accustomed to come before the assemblies of the people, with a halter round their necks, and if they failed to establish the propriety or necessity of their laws, they were instantly sentenced to be hanged. Now he (Sir R. Inglis) doubted very much whether those who proposed the present Bill would not, before such a tribunal, have been in dang.r of having the law carried into execution.—(A laugh.) It was contended, as one great reason for the changes proposed, that the nomination boroughs were an evil; but was it recollected that the greatest of Whigs, that fierce Cornet of Horse as he was called at the time (Lord Chatham), came into Parliament for the very rotten borough of Old Sarum ? Tne Noble Paymaster of the Forces, too, who now sat for the county of Devon, had himself entered that House for one of these close boroughs which he (Sir 11. Inglis) was happy to learn they were to preserve. He said this advisedly, because he felt that in any state of things it was advantageous to preserve such portions of the ancient Constitution ; and he should feel equal plea sure to learn that every, borough of the same kind was to be left in the hands of the Whigs, if they could he pre served for the advantage of the country. When Old Sarum was mentioned, however, with so much oppro brium, it was right the House should understand the na ture of its constituency. He knew, on authority beyond question, that the amount of property connected with Old Sarum was above 1.500,000/. It had been said at one time by the present Lord Chancellor of England, and it produced a great impreseinn out of doors, that the Nabob of Arcot had twenty Members in that Hous e . This number bad teen afterwards stated at eight, hut both were grossly exaggerated. He had lately obtained a sight of the documents connected with the transaction, and he was able to say so on his knowledge.—(Lord Althorp here asked across the table what was the real number ?) The real number - was four. He did not deny the criminality of the affair ; but he stated, as he had a right to do, that its extent was grossly exag gerated. The real nature of the transaction was this :- The Nabob of Oude had a claim to Tanjore, and had con tracted large debts to British subjects in enforcing that claim. The Parliament of this country passed an Act to enforce that claim, and the Nabob of Oude was driven to the necessity of procuring Members to defend his interests. He would ask, was there anything so indefensible in this ? or was it a crime wholly without palliation that the Nabob, at a time when the British Parliament were legis lating on questions affecting his interests, should be driven to the purchase of seats in that House as the only means left him, who was unrepresented, to defend his rights. It bad been said, in the course of the discussion, that ail the old voters retained their rights. But how did they retain them ? He would take the city of Bath as an example. Beth had now a Mayor, eight Aldermen, and twenty-four burgesses, who are, or are sup posed to be, 101. householders. The number of voters when the Bill passed would be 7,:314. Now he would ask again, what franchise these burgesses of Bath would re tain ? It was somewhat like to the pouring out of a bottle of rich wine into a horsepond, anti then pro nouncing the mixture as good as the original liquid. —(A laugh.) It was, in fact, nothing less than virtual disfranchisement. It had been made a matter of complaint that the electors under the present system wore frequently iti•uced to vote from motives of interest. He believed that interest would not operate less under the new system thau it did under the old one; and that as long as human nature remained the same, popular elections, proceeding from great masses of the people voting as a body, would have the same character. As long as the mass of the people were called on to exercise their right of election, so lung would there be Burghs of Surrledown and Sir Francis Wroneheads. The family of that B.ronet was, indeed, one of the oldest and most extensive in England —(a laugh.) Let every man reform himself, and as to wh.iesale reform, that would then follow it without iri jury. It had been pretended that the measure was the re sult of the will of the people. He denied that it was sh ; and he denied that the opposition to it, either in that or in the other House of Parliament, was '6 the whisper of a faction." Adverting to the letter addressed by the Prime Minister to the Chairman of the Political Union of Bir mingham, relating to the-change of tenarecies, he asked if any man, knowing previously the character of the No ble E rl, could have supp .sed him capable of writing such a letter? Thirty years ago, the Right Hon. Mem ber for Knareeburough had declared, that the English was the most Democratic Government that had ever existed in the world.—(flear, hear.) Had anything occurred since to render it less Democratic? And yet his Majesty's Government were preparing to produce a wholesale Democracy.—(Hear, hear. ) They were pre paring a representation which was to be a representation merely of the phy-ical strength of the people. Adverting to Ireland, he expressed his astonishment that any Mi nisters should be desirous of increasing a power in that }louse, which it we evident, was ready to turn to any side, and which therefore possessed the means of embar rassing any Government. A reference to the North American Review would show what strangers thought of the Bill. Wms it supposed that it was to he a final mea sure ? Far from it. It was evidently intended to lead to ulterior proceedings. Mr. SLANEY represented the great change in the circumstances of time times and the character of the people, which had been produced by the industry and the intelli gence of the present, as compared with former times. Why, therefore, should not the great body of the people return their representatives ? Those representatives were sent there, not to exhibit splendid eloquence, not to debate party questions, but to delieerate far the good of the country. Who did nut know but that at pre sent th e real business of the House was transacted by about sixty or seve n ty Members? Mr. PF.NIBERTON then addressed the House, and contended against the principle of the Bill. Mr. NIACAULAY, in answer to the argument set forth by the Hon. Member for Oxford (Sir R. Inglis), that the turbulent men in the various large towns would drive nut the more peaceabl e and respectable inhabitants, and prevent the return of gentlemen or sons of Peers, appealed to the experience of the House as to the conduct at elections in those places wherein the popular election already pre vailed. The people of England were said to be a happy people. The happiness of nations was influenced by some causes not of a political nature ; but still political in fluence had some effect, and the happiness of the people was time best test to which they could bring the merits of the Government. But he denied, in the first place, that the condition of the people of England was one of unmixed happiness; and in the next, that this measure was a mea- When he heard from sure of indiscriminate destruction. some Hon. Gentlemen opposite that the people of England were a happy p-ople, he could not but be astonished. From the first time in which he had known anything . of political affairs, be had tever heard of a king's Speech that did not eontsio dediratiAls of the existence of distress Skita in the country. He did not remember the time when some great interest was not affected by distress ; and what could be thought of the argument about the happiness of Ilia country by the Hon. Gentlemen opposite, who had rho tared that Reform bad begun through the distress o, the country, and through the refusal of that House to listen to their complaints ? What would he said to it by the Hon. Member for Boroughbridge, who had made a similar assertions and who had further declared, that the distress was the effect of legislative enactments? How, then, came these differences of description ? Was it only when they were engaged in discussions upon the currency, or upon free trade, that distress exi.ted ? but when Re form is Parliament was the subject, the people were pro - sporetri. It was scarcely fair in these Hon. Gentlemen to maintain that the people were miserable when contend ing with the political economists, and that the people wet e prosperous when contending with the Reformers. He re spected the Constitution. he believed that there was in it much good, but azzodated with it he believed there was much evil, if, in consequence of the Constitution we en. jtcsd, we were powerful or prosperous, that our mines produced us wealth, that our manufactures at Manchester were diffused all over the- world, it must also be acknow ledged that it was in consequence of the Constitution as it now existed that we were oppressed with the heavy burden of taxation ; that we suffered from a stagnation of trade ; that in some parts of England the wages were so low as scarcely to support animal life; that in them the la bourer considered the parochial rates not as a means of occasional relief, but as the regular source of his sup port; and that throughout there existed a most distem. pered state of society. Under these circumstances he could not avoid being !ad to the inference, that as in the present condition of society he saw a great good alloyed by a great evil, so, in the constitution, he thought lie saw a - sound principle defaced by a great corruption.—(Hear.) It was not difficult to know the parts of the Constitution to which our prosperity was to he attributed, and those to which were to bs. attributed our distress. The Constitu tion of the country had undoubtedly been the cause of much of our prosperity. It afforded ample security for individual property again -t ae claims and powers of the executive. It preserved for the people this freedom of discussion. It gave them a House of Commons in which, whatever were its defects, there had always been some Members advocates for the people. These were its advantages, and they «ere the advantages they proposed not to take away hut to ex tend and to secure. Oa the other hand, it had its dis advantages. He could not but attribute to the Constitu tion in its present state much of the distress that now ex isted—distress caused by unthriftful stewardship, by par tial and injudicious legislation ; to a Government from which responsibility was taken away by that House of Commons; to a House of Commons from which the defects of the system of representation took away all the respon sibility ; to wars, which, if not more unwisely begun, were more rashly and feebly conducted than any wars could be under a Reformed Parliament—(Hear, from the Oppo sition)—to years of peace not employed in adopting a sage economy ; to laws made for the benefit of particular classes ; in short, to Ministers who had not before their eyes the fear of Parliaments, and to Parliaments who had not before their eyes the fear of constituents.—(Hear, hear.)—His Noble Friend who bad begun the debate, had said that they ought not to condemn the Home of Commons, for it had always been ready to back Ministers in measures of eco nomy. But was that all the duty of a House of Commons ? or ought it not to force the Ministers into measures of economy, instead of being content with merely backing them ? There were two parts in the Constitution. The one was the cause of good, the other of evil. It was to remove the latter, and to extend the former, that was the object of this Biil ; and for that reason he gave it his sup port. It was in vain to say that the Constitution was good, if it was not applicable to the wants and wishes of the people ; for otherwise it would be of as little advant.ge, as would a coat of a most admirable quality and fashion, if it did not fit the wearer. He did not support the Bill because it was suppos e d to tend towards democratic insti tutions, or because he thought such institutions were in all ages and countries the best, but because he thought that institutions somewhat more democratic than the country lit present possessed would be likely to ensure for it the benefits of good Government. In short because he thought it would accommodate the institutions to the growth of the country. It was not alone because the present system was full of anomalies that h e w i s h e d t o alter it. He did not war against anomalies, except so far as he believed them to be abuses. He supported this Bill because be thought it would go to eradicate real abuses, and to avert dangers not imaginary and remote, but palpable and near. Hon. Gentlemen opposite had condemned theorists in Government, but they were the true theorists who spoke of systems, but refused to look at their applicability to cla'anging times. They had been told that they must not argue about the necessity for liberal Governments in some countries abroad, for that, though we might think such Governments despotic,thepeople liked them, and they, therefore, should not require to be changed. If that.argument was good in the way in which he had ju,t stated it, surely it was equally good as leading to a different result—to a result that would establish the ne cessity of changing a Constitution, if the people desired that change.—(Hear, hear.) There was no sign of aver si. n given by the people of Spain or Portugal for the con stitutions promulgated amongst them, more strong than those which the people of this country had exhibited against the continuance of the abuses af our Constitution It, then, the people of Spain and Portugal were not to have Constitutions because they disliked them, surely the people of this country ought to have Reform because they desired it. No gentleman could deny the truth of this argument, nor would any venture to get up and say that the system of the representation of this country was re garded by the people with that sort of feeling with which all men must d es i re th at t h e p eo pl e s h oo ] regard the Constitution under which they lived. The advantages of a Government founded on prescription had often been alluded to. It was said that such a Government was more respected than those which were not; but if a Government were in itself had, the mere fact of its being founded on prescription would not render it respectable. If the people were rendered mise rable under a Government by prescription, their suffer ings were the same as it the Government had no such pre scriptive rghts. Lt was the same as if a man died of a disease—it could not be imptirtant whether (to use a fa miliar comparison) death was occasioned by measles or by the cholera. 'Die one was as bad as the other, if each produced death. But prescription had not always been respected in this country to such an extent as to for bid all change. That which had exited by prescription, had teen changed, and the change was found to he for the benefit of the people. Tne Catho'ic had been by pre scription the religion of the country, hut the rights of pre scription were not impliciq followed, and the St ,te reli gi,ot was changed. The revolution, too, had changed the rights of Government, which prescription had established, and these changes had shocked many old associarions—had deeply wounded the feelings of reverence and respect; but tie Ref Bill would have no such effect, for never had the present state of the representation been but as t bye word of contempt—( Hear, hear.) That part of the con stitution was indeed so unpopular, that the whole was in danger of becoming so, and to avoid that evil it was ne• cessary to have recourse to Reform. But prescription was equally destroyed by a small as by a great change, by eivinr, two Members to Manchester as by disfranchising all the boroughs in any of the Schedules, so that in fact the objec - ion of prescription, if it be appli, d to this Bill, would equally apply to any Bill of moderate Reform.—(Hear, hear.) In the same manner, whatever anomalies might be objected to in this Bill, would be found in any other. It was iinpossible to frame any measure that was not of a revolutionary nature, without finding some of these anomalies in it. Any plan, too, that might be pro posed would be open to the objection that it was not final, and the more niggardly it wa , 4, the less likely was it to be final. Any plan of Reform might be said to he the first step towards revolution, and all the arguments employed against this Bill might be, and had been employed when the question only was, whether Manchester should have Mem bers or not. Hon. Gentiemea opposite called themselves moderate Reformers. If so, why did not they produce some plan of Reform, and allow the House to see whether the same objections would net apply to their plan of Reform which they now urged against that proposed by the Minis ters. Above all, he called o❑ the Right Hon. Baronet opposite to produce his plan of Reform. The Right Hon. Gentleman possessed considerable talents ; he was at the head of a party ; he had held a high situation in the Go vernment ; anti all these circumstances justified him (Mr. Nlacaulay) in calling on the Right Hon. Baronet for his plan of Reform. Was it not wonderful that after thir teen months had passed in the discussion of this measure of Reform, all that they knew of the Right Hon. Baronet was, that he was opposed to the Ministers?—(Hear, hear.) All that the Right Hon. Baronet said was, that though he did net bring forward a moderate plan of Reform, such u plan might have been brought forward, and if it had he would have given it his support. What that plan was— what were the grounds on which he would have assented to it—what were those that made him refuse to bring — it forward—he had not stated to the House; yet they should have been stated ; and a man of the talent and of :he character of the Right lion. Bironet ought not to hAve shrunk from the respursibi!ity of stating them, nor ought he to have contented himself with saying, " There Is something that might be done, but you have not hit that something, and I will not tell you what it is."-- (Hear, hear.) A great deal of excitement existed on this subject ; perhaps the Right Hon. Baronet would say, True, but that is no affair of mine—the excitement is your own work."—(Cheers from the Opposition.) He supposed that Hon. Gentlemen opposite conceived three -sheers to be a full and sitisfactery answer to the argil. inents he had used ; but the people of the present day would pronounce whether they were, and the next gene ration would judge them.—(Hear, hear.) Was that the way in which these things were to be treated? The country would not be satisfied with it ; for these Hon. Gentlemen wi re responsible not only for the evil they committed, but for the good they omitted. History would not bold such men blameless, if, from the tear of compromising themselves, they either preserved their .61ence, or spoke in such a way as not to disclose their meaning. But he asserted that they were responsible for the excitement, and that in that respect they had at least quite as much to answer for as their successors. Leaving, however, that matter out of the question, if the country was excited, the question was not whose was the fault, but '.idiot was to be done? That question he put before the House and the country, to the Right Hon. Baronet, and that question he hoped to hear answered. The country had a right to expect from the Right Hon. Baronet something higher and better than time exhibition of his talents for debate; and he would ask that Right Hon. Baronet earnestly, but respectfully, whether he wished that it should go down to posterity, that when the country was neiiitated from one end to the other—when its dearest interests were at stake—he, then the most distinguish e d Member of the House of Commons, brought some sound, and many specious objections against what was proposed by the Government—that he hinted that something ought to be done—that something might be done; but could never be induced to express what that something was. Supposing the Bill rejected and a change of Ministry the consequence of its loss, would the new Cabinet venture to dissolve the Parliament god to appeal to the people ? Impossible—unless it were intended to commit again the error into which Charles I. fell when he dissolved the short Parliament and exchanged it for the long Parliament.— (Cheers.) Admitting, however, that the new Ministers could seeure a majority within doors, what would be the condition of the people without doors ? Tumults asso ciations, seditions, and agitations, libels without end, and a state of general disorganization, compared with which all former years of disturbance were peace and order. In the present state of the public mind—in the present state of the publie education, the people could not be put down by the strong hand of power : if the House would not give them libel ty, the people would he licentious. This found Cromwell—this found Jimes IL—this found Mr. Pitt, when lie prosecuted Hardy and Horne Tooke—this found Lord Cestlereagh, when he passed the Six Acts in 1819—and this would find any Government which at tempted to smother the complaints of the people of Eng land without redressing their grievances.---(Cheers.) Therefore he was anxious that some of the opponents of the present Bill would lay before the House their plan, with a statement of what they conceived would be the consequences of the rejection of that now before the country. He thought that there was only this alternative —the Bill or anarchy.—(Much cheering.) As to the re sult he entertained no doubt : he placed the firmest reliance on the present advisers of the Crown, anti he wanted any pledge but their characters, he should find it in their situation. To abandon their country would be to abandon themselves ; they had done that which must change the destiny of the nation—(Heir, hear, from the Opposition) —the step they had t tken on the first of March, 1831, eras not short nor easily made.—(Cheers.) Befimre them was glory—behind them disgrace, anti flight could give them no refuge. For hinvolf he believed now, as he had always believed, that their virtue, judgment, and firmness would be found equal to this momentous occasion, and that their names, to the latest times, would be associated with • the dearest recollections of their countrymen ; they would restore health to a corrupt Government, and bind to gether the hearts of a divided people.—(Much cheering). Mr. CROKER—Among the arguments just used by the Hon. Metnber, there was one which seemed most extraor dinary; be had drawn a frightful picture of the tumults, seditions, and libels that were to he the consequence of one plan of Reform, and yet he had called on the enemies of the Bill which was to work these evils, to throw their ingredients into the caldron, and to add new elements to the n ttional confusion, - by producing an idle project which might be brought into discussion, but could never he brought into practice. Ministers had themselves found it necessary to abandon one part of their original scheme, as they found it would neither be endured by Parliament nor the country ; they had proposed, in the first instance, to reduce the Members of the House, but the proposition had keen resisted upon principle, and that principle tri umphed. What was the consequence? Ministers were compelled to dissolve Parliament, thereby affording strong encouragement indeed to their opponents to give a farther exposition of their plans. The Hon. Gentlemin had con tended, that politics was an experimental science ; he (Mr. Croker) agreed with him, the difference being that he and his friends wished to pursue it by the ordinary rules of deduction and analogy, arid not to jump at conclusions which were sure to end in revolution. The Hon. Member had talked of the French Directory, but that was only the third or fourth stage in the revolution. which began by . the dissolution of public credit and the forfeiture of public pro perty. It Lad been given under the hands and the seals of the reformers, that their first grievance was the national debt, and their first remedy its abolition.—(Cheers.) But in nothing was the Hon. Member more happy than in his occasional allegories and metaphors—happy in them, not from their just application, but from the satisfaction that they seemed to give himself. One of these he had em ployed to-night; and, after contending that the Reform 8.11 was intended as a cure for a great disease, he instantly turned round and argued that the remedy was far worse than the disorder. He had likened the corruption of rotten boroughs to the measles ; but he added, that the Reform Bill, mysterious in its origin, violent in its pro gress, and fatal in its effects, was like nothing less than the cholera morhus.—(Cheers and laughter.) Had he pur sued his allegorical metaphor, or meaphorical allegory, the Honourable Member might also have converted it into an apologue ; and it was wonderful, considering that it made so much against the side he was sup porting, that he did not do so. Where did the cholera morbus first appear, and to what place did the Reform Bill first apply ? Sunderland.—(Cheers anti laughter.) Where next had the disorder excited extraordinaly alarm ? At Gateshead—(Cheers and laughter.) Where then did it make its appearance? At North and South Shields, which were to have also the benefit of the Bill.—(Cheers and laughter.) Burt that was not all—the cholera morbus next ravaged the new Scotch borouali of Alusselburgh ; and having visited Glisgow, it advanced at once to the capital, and settled, like the fatal Bill, in the Tower hamlets.—(Much cheering and continued laughter.) Thus by the roost extraordinary coincidence, the cholera morbus and the Reform Bill, visiting the same places, and pro ducing the same effects, were almost identified by the lion. Member.—(Cheers.) He had next argued against pre scription, which he (Mr. Crok , T) contended was the foundation of the security of all human society. Was the Hon. 3lember, with all his historical knowledge, entitled to dispute prescription ? Did he forget the Revolution of 1688, when Whiq: and Tory, e although they changed the person of the Monarch, adhered as far as possible to the great principles of prescription, and maintained the Throne, the Lords, and the Commons ? The Hon. Member had been pleased to call the opponents of the Bill, with peculiar felicity, theorists—theorists, because they ciung to what had been tried an established for centuries. But admitting that they were theorists in the sense of adhering to the theory of the Constitution, all public writers of any celebrity were theorists also ; Lord John Russell, Sir James Mackintoah, Mr. Jeffrey, Mr. Brougham, and Lord Holland. He heartily con curred in the principles of these theorists, although he could not agree hi their votes in direct opposition to those principles. Their works were before the public, and by them the House ought to be guided. In 1815 a celebrated Italian consulted Lord Holland on the beat form of a Constitution fir Naples. His Lordship did not reply, Divide each county of the Neapolitan territory into two —give the elective franchise to 101. householders—let bar- risters go annual circuits for the registration of voters, and let there be only two dlys' polling ;" but he said this,— " Constitutions are in fact productions that can neither be created nor translated ; they are the growth of time— (cheers) —not the invention of man ; and to form a com plete system of Government, depending upon habits of reverence and experience, would be an attempt as absurd as to build a tree.—(Cheers.) The Hon. Member had told the House to look at the signs of the times ; but he himself looked at them, as it was said in Holy Writ people looked at the sky, saying at one time that next day would be fine because the evening was red, and at another time that, for the same cause, the next day would be foul. The Honourable Member saw evil and good in the signs of the time-, just as suited his purpose. He (Mr. Croker) too called upon the House to look at the signs of the times. Did t h ey a ff or d the slightest pro-pect that this Bill would be either final r satisfactory ?—(Cheers.) Had the m a j or i ty o b ta i ne d either respect or applause by the support they had given to it ? What did the lion. Member think of the signs of the times when in one of the organs of public opinion he read the following character of fie Minister, and of the majority by which he was aupported :—" The people have done it all; the people have stuck the spurs deep into the I flank of many a shy and shuffling jade—(Cheers and laughter) —amongst those who are called their representa tives, and forced the dogged animal on. It is the nation that has dune the work ; the Ministry had only to look, and are borne away by the mighty torrent." Thence the newspaper from which he quoted paid a compliment to the Opposition for their consistency, although under false views ; but the supporters of the Bill were " shy. shuffling jades" and "dogged animals."—(Cheers and laughter.) He (Mr. Croker) begged to refer the House to another, among the many great authorities, against un called-for changes—Gibbon. " If," said he, " you do not resist the spirit of innovation in the first attempt—if you admit the specious changes in the Parliamentary system— at last you will be driven from one step to another, from principles, just in theory, to consequences most perni cious in practice, and your first concessions will he productive of subsequent mischief, for which you will be answerable hereafter to yourselves, your country, and posterity."—These, let the House remember, were the asords of the historian of the Decline and Fall of Rome, and the prophet of the Decline and Fall of England.—(Much cheering.) Passing these, he would just notice another metaphor with which the Hon. Gen tleman had treated the House—not, indeed, very sublime, nor very applicable, excepting in opposition to the purpose fo. which it was intended to be employed :—" When you are about to make a coat (said he) fur God's sake let it tit the man fur whom you mean it ; do not take your measure from the Apollo Belvidere, but go to the coalman shop hoard, and with vulgar chalk and shears cut your coat, not ac cording to your cloth, but according to the intended wearer." He (Mr. Croker) wished much to hear at what period of our history the coat of the English Constitution had been cut after the fashion now recommended.—(Cheers.) When before were the division of counties and the abo lition of Corporations heard of? The coat of Reform was meant to fit every man in the country, and yet no man would be able to wear it; in cutting a coat to fit every body the Ministerial Tailors had produced a coat that would fit nobody. It was a proverb that nine tailors made a man, but how many tailors went to the making of a Minister?— (Chem s and laughter.) Did not the Hon. and Learned Gentleman see that the framer of the Bill was in the condi tion of the tailor in Swift's Flying Island, who took mea sure for a coat with a quadrant, and whose calculations were as unfoi tunate in their results as those of Mr. Drum mond? The coat was cut mathematically, but when it was put together, it was not fit to he worn. Mr. Drumtnond's coat was scientifically cut to adapt itself to every city and borough in the kingdom ; but when it came to be tried on, there was not a borough in the kingdom that would put it on.—(Cheers and laughter.) Every borough said that the coat did not fit it. The coat might be a very good coat for any other hut itself, and for it there must be a new one.—(Laughter.) Thus, although the coat was a very good fit for all the people, and withal made of true blue cloth, with white lining and red coil ir—quite a tri colour—(Cheers)—with the King's Crown and name too on the buttons—(Cheers)—still it was likely to undergo as many mending% as the stockings of Sir John Cutlar— (Laughter)—so that not a shred of the original subst once and not a trace of the original form should remain, and it would at length be cast aside as a thing which nobody would wear.—(Cheers.) Not only had it been insisted that the House of Commons must of necessity give its sanction to that anomalous measure, but it had been plainly intimated that the Lords must also accept it. Was it then to be said thrc the Lords had nothing to do more than re gister the acts of that House ? Was it to be said that the opinion of the majority of that House was to swamp the opinion of the Lords? If such a doctrine were once to be admitted, what hope could any simple-minded politician enterain that the Lords would afterwards have a shadow of influence as a branch of the Legislature ?—(Cheers.) The Hon. and Learned Member for Caine had attributed the distressed state of the country to the feeble influence of the people in that House, and to the corrupt state of the House itself. But th it Hon. Gentleman guarded him sell against saying thiit the Reform Bill afforded any remedy. Now he (Mr. Croker) forgot whether it was the Floe. and Learned Gentleman himself, or some other person in explanation of his argumeno that quoted the divitch— " Of all the ills Which human hearts endure, How small that part that Kings can cause or cure ;" but this he could say, Via!, for the distress which the Hon. Gentleman attributed to the corrupt constitution of that House, he (Mr. ;Macaulay) carefully avoided to say that the Bill would afford a remedy.—(Hear, hear.) The Hon. Gentleman contented himself with stating certain legal and theoretical improvem.nts to which he supposed the Bill might lead, and which his (Mr. Croker's) Right Hon. Friend, the Member for Tainworth, clearly proved to be erroneously expected from it.—(Hear, hear.) But the Hon. and Learned Gentleman showed no grounds for hoping that the desire for change, once gratified, would die away, instead of being increased as it was in human nature that it should be so. lie showed no reason for supposing that the expectations of the disaffected would not be enlarged, and their violence inflamed by the success which their clamours had obtained.—(Cheers. ) Look to the difference between the ten pound cl re es it stood at first, and as it was now framed ; and it „mold be found that the difference was as grett as that bet , Y. en Reform and Revolution.—(Cheers ) He was satisfied that nothing could more encourage the desire for change than the example which was being set of the advantages that were gained by clamour. If, as God forbid, the other House should be equally influenced, as was the House of Com mons, by the force of clamour, they would put into the hands, not of the p ogle, hut of the populace, an instru ment that would destroy its own work. By the operation of the Bill now before the House, all ancient institutions, all modern improvements, all future hopes, would be de stroyed.—(Cheers.) The appetite for change would go on increasing as long as there remained food upon which it could be indulged, arid would lie down at last, satiated only like the wild beast, when at shouid have devoured all within its reach.—(Cheers.) The lion. and L-arned Gentleman had not attempted to show that the ordinary course of human nature would be departed from in this instance ; and, indeed, it might as well be sail that childhood did not lead to )oath, or that youth was not followed by age, as that this democratic measure (as the Right Hon. Gen tleman was underst did not lead to anarchy, and anarchy to despotistn.—(Cheers.) The Noble Lords op posite might change the goodly form of tide Constitution) ; but still he would hope that, as before, when it had been pulled down in the attempts made to retair its struc ture, it rose again in its majesty in 166 S ; so they who now struggled to preserve, would live at least to see its restoration (Towards the conclusion of the Right Hon. G-ntleman's speech, he spoke in so low a tone that scarcely it word could be caught iu the gallery]. He con clude I (amidst loud cheers) by addressing to The framers of the Bid these lines of the poet : Food impious man, think'st thou you sanguine cloud, ltais'd by thy breath, has quench'd the orb of day To-morrow he repairs his golden flood, And warms the nations with redoubled ray." Lord ALTHORP denied that the supporters of the Bill were the organs of the populace, and that they were influ- enced by popular dimwit.. To the changes made in the Bill the) had consented, because they looked upon those chanties to be improvements. Those improvements they had supported, regardless alike of the taunts of the Hon. Members opposite and of popular clamour. The m jority who hail voted with the YlinistA-s on that measure had done so on its own merits, and on the ground that it was necessary for the just satisfaction of the people, and because they thought that it would he of advantage to the country to give the people their due share in the representa tion, and to make the practice of the Constitution more consistent with its theory. It had been s did that there was not a general anxiety for the Bill. But for his part, as far as his experience went, there never was a measure pending before Parliament for which the public had ex pressed a greater anxiety.—(Hear.) As to the probable permanence of the change, was it likely to be rendered mere permanent by resistance to the wishes of the people, or by giving at once a measure which would satisfy their demands ?—(Hear, hear.) But it was said that the de mands of the people would not be satisfied unless the Le gislature went the whole length of Universal Suffrage. But the people themselves hid sufficiently declared that they would be satisfied, as indeed reason and common sense would convince the House that they would be satisfied with an adequate representation, and with the re moval of the abuses which interfere with their rights. (Hear, hear.) Certainly, since the first introduction of the Reform Bill into that House, the people had not shown that they were so fickle in their dispositions, th a t w h en th e re remained no practical evils to be complained of, they would demand change for the sake of the change.— ( The House had been referred to an expression of Lord Holland, who said that in proposing a measure of Reform, he would keep carefully in v i ew t h e great land marks of the Constitution; but surely it was not to be denied that the present Bill kept those landmarks in s'iew, and confirmed the security of the institutions of the c ountry.—(Hear.) The Right Hon. Gentleman who last addressed the House alluded to the ingratitude which the supporters of tide Bill might expect to meet with, and bad told them that they were described as jades, who re quired to be goaded and spurred on by the people.—(A cheer.) The Right Hon. Gentleman cheered; why, he (Lord Altborp) knew not. He did not know from what paper the Right Hon. Gentleman read those remarks.— ( A cheer.) Was it not from a paper in the interests of the opponents of the Bill. Mr. CHOKER —No, from The Times. Lord ALTHORP continued.—lf the Right Hon. Gent. said that the supporters of the Bill would not re ceive gratitude from the Times newspaper, he (Lord A.) would replLthat it was not from the ❑ewspapers, bu t from the petple, from their constituents, that they ex pected or desired gratitude.—(Cheers.) They had al ready shown that they were determined to carry that measure.—(Cheers.) - They had pledged themselves to do ; and whenever it came before them, they had edeemed their pledges, and he had no doubt that they would have the gratitude of their constituents, what ever might be the opinion of the Right Hon. Gentleman or of the paper from which he quoted.—(Hear.) Lord VALLETORT sail that the people were divided into four classes in respect to their opinions upon the Bill. The first class consisted of those who conscientiously sup ported the measure as one which the circumstances of the country rendered necessary. The second class considered it as a Reform which did not go sufficiently far. There was a third class, which, although desirous of Reform, thought that the Bill went too far; and the remainder of the people were either adverse to the whole Bill, or utterly indifferent to it. Mr. TREVOR (as we understood) then moved the ad journment of the debate, which was immediately agreed to. The other Orders of the Dray were then di•pased of, and the finale adjourned at a Quarter twat One. Mr. Richard Lander, the traveller, who ias succeeded in tracing the navigation of the River Niger, has been to Liverpool this week, to make arrangements with the Liverpool merchants, trading to the coast of Africa, prepara tory to his projected journey to Timhuctoo. Dr. Hoadly, writing to Mr. Garrick upon his rejecting a play, says, " I hear you particularly object to a character as unnatural, of a man who marries for love, and afterwards wants to get rid of his wife. I take for granted, the author's management had made It unnatural, for there can not be a character snore in nature, nor more frequent." Garrick, however, was of a different opinion—and which was in wrong At a brilliant Court day, in 1777, Sir George Warren had his order snatched off his ribband, encircled with diamonds, to the value of 700!. Foot laid this on the parsons, having secured, as he said, his gold box in his waiscoat pocket, upon seeing so many black gowns in the room. Garrick, applying to Lord Rochford to ap point a Mr. Glover a surgeon to the Essex militia, says—" He is a most skilful, worthy man, a good writer, and a steady friend to Government. I have known him long, he is much beloved, and the worst thing I ever heard of him was, that, by his skill in his profession, he recovered a thief, after he had hung half an hour, and which thief, before he had healed the circle the rope had made, picked Glover's pocket by way of gratitude, and never thanked him for his good offices."—Garrick Corres pondence. The first notice of Mrs. Siddons, in the Garrick Correspondence, appears in a letter from Mr. I. Tay lor to Mr. Garrick—." To do justice to an excellent actress, which has appeared here this season, who, I really think, is as much mistress of her business as any female I ever saw. I de clare my opinion of her to be all that my ideas can reach. Her Portia, Belvidera, and other pathetic parts in tragedy, are, I think, excellently fine." Lord Byron, in his Detached Thoughts, says—" I wish you (Moore, or Campbell) would write a tragedy—of actors Cooke was the most natural, Kemble the most supernatural, Kean the medium between the two; but Mrs. Siddons was worth them all put together." A child of sixteen years old, named Priscilla Jackson, was sentenced to death at the Lincoln assizes, for setting fire to a stack of hay. Can it be possible that the go vernment of this humane country will suffer the sentence to be carried into execution ?-31acclesfield Courier. During the night of Thursday last another desperate affair took place at Dymchurch, between the smug glers and the water guard. The smugglers, being armed with huge bats, overpowered the men on duty, and succeeded in working 100 tubs. One of the smugglers was shot in the affray, and is since dead.—Maccles.firld Courier. On Thursday, the beautiful statue executed by M. Dupaty, 1522, representing Cadmus destroying the Dragon of the fountain of Circe, was placed in the Garden of the Tuileries; and yesterday, that of Theseus overcoming the Minotaur, from the chisel of M. Ramey, was set up as a com panion.—Galignani's Messenger. SPLENDID BOUNTY.—The noble donations of 200/. each to our General Bathing Institution and Infirmary, from Dr. NVharneford, and his sister, have, with a Princely mu. nificence, been increased, the first to 1,000/. the other to 500/. Dr. Warneford has also promised an annual subscription of 15 guineas ; five from himself, five from Mrs. Warneford, and five from his sister, Miss Warneford. Dr. Warneford stipulates in return that four beds in the new Infirmary be appropriated, to the order of himself and sister.—Leamington Courier. The detachment of the 85th regiment of Foot, recently stationed in this town, left on Thursday morn. ing for Bolton. A detachment of the 53d from Nottingham arrived here the previous day, to occupy the barracks. That portion of the same regiment which has been for some time stationed at Derby, has been transferred to Stockport, and re placed by a detachment of the Gist. A detachment of the 81st passed through this town yesterday for Stockport, and another portion of the 53d has arrived amongst us.—Macclesfield Cour. We have before us a prospectus of the pro posed London and Southampton Railway, the projectors of which entertain the most sanguine hopes of complete success. A proposition will, we understand, be made to extend a rail. way from Bristol through Bath, as far as Basingstoke, there to meet the London and Southampton Railway. By this means the English and Bristol Channels would be united ; the pro. duce of the South of Ireland and Wales would have a ready conveyance to Market, and a supply of coals be produced for the Eastern part of the kingdom at half the present price.-- Bath Chronicle. In the East the cholera frequently falls upon a community like a shower of grape-shot. It was decided in the King of Siam's Council, on a visitation of this kind, that it might be caused by a monster, who might be scared from the coast by making a terrific noise. His Majesty, in consequence, moved out against the invisible enemy at the head of 50,000 subjects, all on the stretch to produce sounds of horror. He lost 5,000 in one day, and returned vanquished. A Persian writer says, " We were apprized that the cholera was at Shiraz, by finding one morning, when we awoke, that it had carried 0ir2,000 inhabitants during the night."—Logsdon Medical and Surgical Journal. DRUNK AND SOBEIt.—A drunken sailor was last week seen standing at a gate in Leith, supporting himself by holding fast by it, when a person passing asked him if he knew where he was ? " I hardly ken," said the tar. " You had better take care (said the person), if the doctors see you they'll order you to the hospital, and you'll be buried before morning." The sailor stared with horror, and, all at once recovering his senses and his limbs, ran off at full speed, till he reached the glassworks, when he appeared quite sober. On Monday last, a child named Tompson, at East Mitt)ly, was burnt to death tinder most distressing cir. cumstances. The father, who laboured under an affliction which deprived him . of the use of his limbs, was lying on his sick bed, when he was suddenly aroused by the screams of his infant. He attempted to move, but was unable. He called for help, but the only reply was the groaning of his suffering child. At length his cries reached the ears of his wife, who had just before left the child playing by the hearth. She flew to the threshold, when she saw her child enveloped in flames. Assistance was soon obtained, but the child lingered twelve hours in a dreadful state, and then was eased of his sufferings by death. Two or three similar instances of death, occasioned by children left unprotected from the fireplace, have recently occurred, which ought to operate as a warning to parents.— Portsmouth Herald. individual, Miss ZOUCH.—Thi s who, it will be recollected, was some time since brought into public notice by her extraordinary conduct in refusing to marry a rich East Indian, named Wootton, after accompanying him to the altar at St. George's, Hanover-square, applied on Tuesday to Mr. Conant, at Marlborough -street office, for relief. She came in the presence of the Magistrates with the paupers of St. George's, Hanover-square, and stated that. she resided in South Molten street, but was so reduced in circumstances as to be obliged to seek parochial relief. Mr. Conant spoke to the acting overseer of St. George's upon the subject, who questioned Miss Zouch as to her parish. She stated that her father, who was a relation of the Earl of Lonsdale, resided in Dublin, where she was born ; and it appearing that she had no claim upon any parish, the overseer observed that all he could do in the case was to pass her to Ireland. Mr. Conant, however, advised him to afford her some temporary relief, and we understand that on application at the workhouse five shillings were given to her, upon an under standing that she would not again trouble them. It appears that Miss Zouch had been residing in the country, and over the door where she resided was inscribed, " A day-school kept by a reduced relation of the Earl of Lonsdale." On her coming to London her necessities obliged her to snake application at Marylebone office, and we understand that she was a short time in the poor-house. A Correspondent is scandalized at the want of proper attention " not only to cleanliness but to many other matters," on the part of those connected with Eton College church. He goes on to state, that Prince George attended afternoon service last Sunday at the above-named church, when, owing to the exceeding filthy state of the gallery, his Royal Highness was obliged to stand up during the whole of the service. We profess to know nothing whatever as to the correctness of our informant's statement ; but if well founded, such a state of things surely cannot be too speedily reformed.— Windsor Express. At Sir Gore Ouseley's audience of leave, he begged the Shah of Persia graciously to tell him what was the number of his children, that he might give his own Monarch correct information on so interesting a subject, provided, as was probable, he should make an inquiry. "A hundred and fifty.four sons," replied the Shah." " May I venture to ask your Majesty how many children ?" The word daughters, ac cording to the rules of Oriental etiquette, he dared not to pro nounce, and, indeed, the general question was, according to Persian notions, almost an offence. Th• King, however, who liked Sir Gore very much, did not take it ill. " Ha, ha, I understand you," said he, laughing, and called to the chief of his eunuchs—" Musa, how many daughters have I ?"-- " King of kings," answered Musa, prostrating himself on his race, " five hundred and sixty.' When Sir Gore Ouseley re. peated this conversation to the Empress.mother in Petersburgh, he only exclaimed " Ah, lc nrinstr,,.!" URN' ST. EDMUND'S ASSIZES, NlArtell 19. (Before Mr. Baron VAUGHAN.) kIAL OF A GAMEKI:EPER UNDER LORD ELLEN ' BOROUGH'S ACT. l Geo - rge Maym was indi c t e d , under Lord Ellenborough's Act, t maliciously shooting at Thomas Cooke, on the 25th of Jae iary last, with intent to dO him some grievous bodily harm. Thomas Cooke: called and examined—l am a labourer, ' live at Bury. .I went with John Camps and John Deaks, the night of the4.3tli January, to Hyde Wood, in Hengravc I bad a net and two crotchets and a dog with me. I went within five or six yards of the gate, and in the hedge I heard a rubtle, when I stopped. The night was star-light, and I could distinguish objects at ten yards. I turned my head and I saw this prisoner, whom I knew well, getting out of the ditch. I saw him put a gun up to his .shoulder. Camps said to me "There stands Mayes," and I said, "We had better be going." We then turned back as fast'as we could. Mayes called out " Haloo !" and said no more but shot immediately. I think the prisoner was about one and twenty yards distant when her fired. The shot hit me i❑ the legs, thighs, and back; the highest shot was in the middle of iav back ; the effect of the shot turned me round. I turned the moment the shot hit me, and I saw Mayes take the gun from his shoulder, and make off directly. He did not speak to me. I went across the land to Farnham, to my father's, and came back again to Bury on the following night. I was shot on a Wednesday, and on the Monday after sent for a surgeon. I was confined to the house for nearly a fsrtnight. [The witness produced the clothes he then wore, and pointed out the shot-marks.] I was at the Three Kings at Farnham, about three weeks after, and saw the prisoner Mayes there; I said to him, that I should make him recollect about shooting use, and he said he didn't care a --, I might transport him for life if I could. John Camps was next called, in corrobora;ion of the evi. Bence of the preceding witness, and was examined at cOnsi. derable length. Several witnesses for the defence contradicted the witnesses for the prosecution in several material points; the.witnesses for the defence asserting, that it was a very dark night, and was rather foggy. The prisoner was acquitted. , COURT CIRCULAR. The Duchess of Gloucester is a great deal better, and is in proving very fast. The Duchess of Kent and the Princesi Sophia visited her Royal Highness yesterday at Gloucester House. The Duke of Sussex visited the Princess Augusta on Sunday evening, at her residence in the Palace, St. James's. Mr. Hodges, the Member for Kent, and Mr. Curteis, the Member for Sussex, accompanied by a deputation of hop. growers from their respective counties, waited on Viscount Althorp yesterday at the Treasury, and had a conference with his Lordship respecting the duty on hops. Prince Talleyrand, the French Ambassador, had an inter. view of some hours' duration yesterday with Viscount Pal. merston, at the Foreign-office. The Mexican Minister and the Minister from Buenos Ayres also visited his Lordship yes terday at the Foreign-office. The Archbishop - of Canterbury, the Archbishop of York ] the Bishop of London, Viscount Melbourne, Lord Bexley, Mr. Littleton, Mr. Buxton, and several Members of the House of Commons, had a meeting by appointment yesterday afternoon with the Marquis of Lansdowne, the Lord President of the Council, at the Council-ottice, Whitehall. The meeting lasted upwards of an hour. A meeting of the Cornmigsioners for the Reduction of the National Debt was held yesterday at the Treasury. The Governor and Deputy-Governor of the Bank of England at tended the meeting, with Viscount Althorp. The Earl of Mulgrave and Sir Hudson Lowe transacted business yesterday at the Colonial-office. A deputation, headed by Earl Grosvenor, had an interview yesterday with Viscount Althorp. The Marchioness of Lansdowne had a very numerous even. ing party last night at Lansdowne House. Viscount Althorp and the Chief Commissioner of the Woods and Forests visited Earl Grey yesterday at the Treasury. FASHIONABLE INTEILLIGENCE. ARRIVALS. Hon. Col. Lowther, M.P., and Lady Eleanor Lowther, in Bruton-street, Berkeley-square; Wilbraham Egerton, Esq., M.P., Mrs. Egerton and family, in St. James's-square, from their:seat, Tatton-park, Cheshire; Hon. C. W. Wynn, M.P., in Grafton-street, from his seat in Wales; Hon. Col. Westenra, from Ireland ; Mr., Mrs., and Miss Trotter, at Fenton's Hotel, St. James's-street, from their seat, Ballindean, Scotland; Capt. Trotter, at ditto,from ditto; S. S. Prime, Esq., at ditto, from a tour ; Vernon Royal, Esq., at ditto, from Manchester ; the Rev. J. Jengust, at Batt's Hotel, Dover-street, from Botten. ham Hall, Cambridgeshire ; Hunbury, Esq., at ditto, from Suffolk; Sir Thomas Lethbridge, Bart., at the Pulteney Hotel, Albemarle-street, from his seat in Hants; Captain Clive, in Brook-street, from Brighton; Mr. and Mrs. C. K. Tynte, at Mivart's Hotel, Lower Brook and Davies streets, from Surrey; Edward Doughty, Esq.,•.and the Hon. Mrs. Doughty and family, at ditto, from Titchbourne House; the Hon. Captain Grey, at ditto, from Kent; Lord Warren De Tabley, at ditto, from Ireland ; Sir John and Lady Burgoyne, at ditto, from Hants. DEPARTURES. Monsieur de Bangannan Haygens and suite, from Thomas's Hotel, Berkeley-square, for Rotterdam ; R. Throckmorton, Esq., and family, from ditto, for their seat in Berks ; Col. and Lady Harriet Ford and family from Batt's Hotel, Dover-street for their seat in Ireland ; Wm. Coglin, Esq., from ditto, for Portsmouth ; Jekyll, Esq.:from ditto, for Bath ; Col. Long, for Wales ; Mr. and Mrs. J. Meyer, from Park-lane, for their seat in Notts ; the Rev. C. Shipley, for Winchester. O'CoNNELL.—On Thursday last this Gentleman made his public entry into Clonmell, where he was received with the customary enthusiasm. In the evening, he was present at a public dinner given in honour of his arrival, at which he talked in a most inflammatory strain, about the " Saxons who have made the Repeal of the Union irresistible." We perceive by a contemporary, who is foolish enough to be daily dragged through the mud, to the derision of his opponents and the pain of his friends, (who, we trust, are more numerous than his opponents', that Lord Grey still in dulges the insane hope that the Duke of Wellington will sup. post the Reform Bill. His Lordship goes to battle, relying on what he calls the assistance of a certain number of Bishops, who have explicitly told him, that though they will ♦ote for the second reading, they will not vote for the details of the Bill ; relying on the support of Lords Harrowby and Wharncliffe„ sho make no scruple of denouncing the Bill as venomous and revolutionary ; relying, lastly, on the conversion of the Duke of Wellington, who has repeatedly proclaimed that no Reform is necessary, and whose house, boarded from top to bottom, ►till presents to the public eye a dreary proof that its noble pro prietor is not disposed to court popularity by any surrender of his opinions to the wishes of the people. Such are the means _ _ with which Lord Grey expects to carry the Reform Bill. Backed by such auxiliaries, he hesitates—nay, declines—to take the only step which can secure the success of his measure, though he must know that on the triumph of that measure depends not merely the tranquillity ofAhe - British empire, but the peace of Europe.—Times. The utmost excitement prevails among the members of the Stock-Exchange on the subject of the expected inquiry into the conduct of some of its members, the nature of which, and the current accusations against them, have been already fully described. No backwardness has been shown, whatever the result may prove, in meeting those accusations. When the Committee assembled yesterday morning, a letter was read from one of the parties against whom the charges have been made, calling the attention of the Committee to them. This letter stated, as we have heard, to the effect, that the transactions referred to were conducted by the firm of which he was a member,—that they were considered by him and his partners to be perfectly fair and honourable,—that the strength of the Foreign Stock-Market had been tried before he offered to effect the sales in any other quarter,—that the bar gains were to the full as advantageous to his principals, or more, as if they had been effected in the Stock-Exchange, —and that, with regard to the marking of the prices thus obtained in the official list, it was no new thing, but of frequent occurrence. Ile wished, therefore, to have the proceeding investigated by the Committee, if it was thought proper to do so, and was pre pared to meet any charge that could be brought against him. The Committee allowed, out of courtesy, as it is stated, the reading of this letter, and the writer of it was afterwards per mitted to address them on the same subject, but as no motion was made, there was no regular discussion; and no decision of course was come to. The Committee, however, are again on Thursday, when some spe c ifi c motion will, it is ex fore the Committee. A feeling ex i sts, however, pretty gene rally in the Stock-Exchange, th at the Committee are not dis posed to enter into this inv es ti gation so fully as the circum hpeacyteed yet , be appeared broug ht to forward. make any None charges o f the a ag s t a nces require. They ought not, it is argued, to place indivi duals under the necessit y of bringing a charge at all, but to absurd, brokers the parties o r b meet be e r - s to b proceed, on the notori e t y of the facts, to act for the body they represent,—to maintain i ts character, and, such as they are, its l' rights and privileges. The charge cha b r ec ge au o s f e b t e h iz e ig y o th v e e m ra s w el ed ves by p • r t es h s e rank of the parti es is b also for a decision ; besides which the moneyed interest and the public now take part in it, as a matter in which they have a direct concern, for every man who has 1001. to lay out in Go vernment securities, will wish to estimate his chances of having the trust faithfully administered. We wish at present, in this stage of the affair, to pronounce no opinion on the merits of the case. It belongs to the Committee to do it, and there will be a very general disappointment if they do not, and that in some very public and open manner, contrary to their usual practice, discharge this duty. We are desired to state, to prevent all ambiguity on the subject, that the house referred to, as having infringed the regulations of the Stock-Exchange, is that of Messrs. Capel, Majoribanks, and Co.—Times. [We are informed that the House alluded to is Majoribanks, Capel, and Co., of Throgmorton-street, and ha. no reference to the firm of Capel and Co., in which the M.l'. for Queenborough is connected.j—ED. Styx. 'rite heavy rains of the last three or four days have occasioned the river Leans to overflow its banks to a considerable extent. Yesterday the grounds adjoining the Royal Pump Room were for the most part under water, which, oc cupying a central situation, formed a artificial lake of consider able dimensions, arai imparted additional beauty to the sur. rounding landscape,—Leamingtor t Cuarier. •010 6 Tri Trrel it )A14 4 j—. 14011 1,..11 e Ivo lit. •