The Sun. — London, England, 1847-12-16 00:00:00

Zbirti laiition SUN OFFICE, Seven o' Clock. EXCHEQUER.—(THIS DAY.) (Sittings at Guildhall, _ before the Loin CHIEF BARON and Common Juries.) CRoucH P. BouTHQATE. This was an action to recover damages, OH the ground of loss sustained by the plaintiff in consequence of the defendant, who was charged to dispose by auction of a number of Art-Union prints. The ground of complaint was that the defendant had not sufficiently advertised the sale, or the day upon which it would take place ; and the articles were alleged, in consequence, to have been sold for much less than their actual value. _ The case had not concluded when our report left. COMMON PLEAS.-(THIS DAY.) (Before Lord Chief Justice WILDE and a London Special Jury.) THOMPSON V. FISHER. The trial of this part•heard case (which was an action for breach of contract for the non-delivery of certain quantities of iron) was rPsnmeti this morning, and the jury found for the plaintiff—Damages, 7001. MURDEROUS ASSAULT ON BEN CAUNT, THE ENGLISH CHAMPION. TO THE EDITOR OF THE SC7N. Rising Sun, Air- street, Dec. 15, 1847. SIR,—I beg to offer the most unqualified contradic tion to the paragraph inserted in your paper of this day, at the instance doubtless of Mr. Caunr, and headed as above. The statement contains a tissue of falsehoods, and has been published by the " civil and obliging" licensed victualler, with the sole object of lowering me in the estimation of my friends and the public. The facts are these—l entered Cannes house, not for the purpose of abuse or annoyance, but to partake of a glass of champagne, to which I had been invited by a gentle man whom I bad met in St. Martin's-lane, and who, witk myself, constituted the whole of the fearful gang who committed this unprovoked assault upon England's champion. I can prove, by the testimony of the gentle man whom I accompanied to the house, that Caunt first assaulted me, by striking me most ♦iolently in the face whilst sitting by his side; the offence being my rep y to his boasting that he could lick me easily, " That he would not find it quite so easy as he expected." Upon this, most undoubtedly, I struck Caunt in return, be• tween whom and myself a scuffle then ensued, but the ruffians who rushed to his assistance, and created the disturbance, were the friends of Caunt, and no gang of mine, being alone and single handed at the time. I remain, Sir, most obediently, WILLIAM PERRY (the Tipton Slasher ) [The paragraph in question was sent to us by an occasional correspondent.—ED. Sun] EMIGRATION TO AUSTRALIA. (THIS DAY ) It will be within the recollection of our readers that an influential meeting was held on Saturday afternoon, at the residence of Mr. Lennox Boyd, No. 8, Waterloo-place, to promote the encouragement in every possible manner of the emigration to Aus tralia of small farmers and labourers in the north of Ireland and Scotland, amongst whom it was well known the most acute distress prevails. Several resolutions affirming the de sirability of immediately supplying the wants of labour in the colony were passed, and the meeting, of which a report appeared in our last edition of the day on which it was held, adjourned until two o'clock to-day, to form a committee to devise the best means of carrying the resolutions into effect. The following gentlemen were present:—James Ralph, Esq. ; Edward Green, Esq. ; Hon. Francis Scott, M.P. ; Captain Chisholm, H.E 1.5.; D. Hague, Esq. ; J. H. Story, Esq. ; G. H. Donaldson, Esq. ; John Boyd, Esq., M.P. ; Samuel Sydney, Esq. ; W. P. Trevelyan, Esq. ; Samuel Browning, Esq. ; John Evans, Esq.; Captain A. Davies, R. N.; Cap tain H. G. Hamilton, R.N. ; Mark Boyd, Esq. ; J. W. Sutherland, Esq.; G. H. Wray, Esq. ; 'Thomas Bateson, Esq., M.P. ; Lord John Ohichester, M.P. ; W. Westgarth, Esq.; Thomas Shaen Carter, Esq.; A. Shafto Adair, Esq., M.P.; Thomas Mountford Nurse, Esq. ; William Bertram Evans, Esq. ; B. B. Cabbell, Esq., M.P. ; Dr. Rutherford ; Sir Thomas Mitchell ; John Yates, Esq. ; Archibald Boyd, Esq. ; Edward Lennox Boyd, Esq. ; John Connell, Esq. ; D. R. Henriques, Esq. ; Charles Bianconi, Esq.; Sir M. B. Brooke, Bart., M.P. ; John Young, Esq. M.P.; Sir E. Macnaghten, Bart., M.P. ; Frederick Hale Thomson, Esq. ; R. Montgomery Martin, Esq. ; Jacob Montefiore, Esq. ; Archibald Boyd, Esq. (of New South Wales) ; Lord Crofton, &c. On the motion of Lord JOHN CHICHESTER, se conded by Mr. Boyd, the Hen. F. Scott, M.P., was called to the chair. THE SUN, support of other Irish proprietors and the Govern ment, namely, that a sum of money should be raised, which should , be divided into three parts ; thus—the Irish proprietor to contribute one-third, the Imperial Government one-third, and the colony another third. On the part of the colony, he believed he was entitled to say that this was an offer which would be received with great cordiality. Already the colony had con tributed 1,000,0001. for the promotion of emigration, and 100,000/. had been lately provided, and was now to be expended for the same purpose. Those who sent emigrants to the colony were benefited by their removal—(Hear, hear)—and, therefore, the colonists considered that the proprietors, from whose land they were sent, should contribute their quota of the expenses.—(Hear, hear.) Sir Robert Ferguson and other Irish proprietors should lose no time in carrying out their intentions, as the advan tages which they offered themselves at present would perhaps never occur again. A GENTLEMAN inquired the exact geographical limits of the colony ? Mr. BOYD replied that Van Dieman's Land was a separate colony and Sidney and Port Philip, and were comprised in New South \Vales and formed another. It was New South Wales which furnished the The CMAIRMAII, after referring to what was done at the last meeting, proceeded to say, that they had met to consider , the best means to be adopted to transfer the abject -poor of this country who were unable to find a subsistence to a better climate and a better soil, where they would find that food and clothing which they were unable to obtain here, in Scotland, or in the sister country. The principles of emigration were so well known and acknowledged, that it would be unnecessary for him to enter into detail. The only question which they had to consider was the mode of carrying these principles into effect He referred to the resolutions proposed at the last meeting, he stated that he had to apologise for the absence of Lord Farnham, in consequence of the debate to-night in the House f Lords with respect to Ireland. The Hon. Gentleman then called on Mr. Archibald Boyd to address the meeting. Mr. A. BOYD said, owing to the noise of the traffic, some of the statements he made at the last meeting were misunderstood ; he wished, therefore, to traverse the ground he then passed over, and to adduce additional facts, because they were no doubt well aware that the success of the movement, and he trusted it would be successful, depended upon the triumphant establishment of two material facts, namely, that New South Wales demanded an im mense amount of labour to cultivate her soil, and that she could profitably employ and maintain tens of thousands of the pauper population of England, Scotland, and Ireland, who were over whelming the proprietors of land at home.—(Hear, hear.) Being a stockholder in the colony, and pos sessing considerable property there, he believed he was 11 a condition to offer authentic information with respect to its resources, the demand for labour and wages paid. A short time ago he had 70 men in his employment ; the lowest wages which he paid to each man was 25/. per annum, and the highest 351., besides free house and garden land, which in that tropical clime produced the fruits and vegetables of almost every nation, and the following rations per week :- 101bs. of fresh meat, 101bs. of flour, which made 151bs. of bread, or a 21b. loaf, per diem ; 21bs. of sugar, and a -Vb. of tea. When their wives and children were disposed to labour, they received half these rations, by shifting the hurdles and sweeping the pens, which were in the immediate neighbourhood of the station notwithstanding these liberal terms sufficient labour could not be obtained. These rations were enough to support any mai and his family in the colony without touching his wages.—(Hear, hear.) Yet on these liberal terms the colonists were totally unable to obtain sufficient peasants to tend their locks and to cultivate their land, and the con sequence was that they were obliged to obtain natives from the Eastern Archipelago and immense numbers of Polynesian savages. They were obliged to hold out great inducements in food and clothing to these semi-barbarians to obtain any human labour, whilst tens of thousands of their Christian brethren were starving at home.—(Hear, hear.) Let him adduce facts to show the ability of the colony to feed a largely increased population. There were 9,000,000 of sheep and 2,000,000 of cattle atpresent in the colony ; 3,700 bullocks were weekly either consumed or destroyed by being boiled down for tallow. They averaged 6501b5. each, so that 2,406,0001b5. of meat were thus weekly melted into tallow, instead of being consumed as human food. 2,600,0001b5. of mutton, which could, of course, be consumed as food, were, or could be consumed or destroyed in the same way, making 5,600,0001b5. per week, which would sup port nearly 3,000,000 of people at the same rate of butcher's meat now consumed per head in Man cloister and Glasgow, and without adding a He or bull oc k to those now existing. ne would read an important statement which he had receatl Y received from the colony. The Hon. Gen tpleziip an then patriot Tead the following extract frem the Port and Morning Advertiser, of July 15, 1847 Facts (Isr tth Famine.—A member of the Sydney Legislature (Mr. r e c en tly made the in s following remar k splace in the Council :- 4 Besides the wool they produced, he computed that during the pre sent low would also be pr Y o:Zd r ed 6,ooo tons of tal- To effect this 98 , 000 head of cattle f o o r r sheep, equiva exportation, lent to that number, would have to be boiled and it was lately calculated that at lea s t 7 d dawn'ib. of m eat of each of these cattle would be useless, have to be destroyed. This in the interior sf andthe colony, for on the sea coast cattle could not be fat tened sufficiently for boiling down, no less than 84,000,0001b5. of meat would be wasted, sufficient t o feed 1,100,000 of those poor people who were starv ing in England and Ireland.—(Hear, hear.) This was a fact well worthy the attention of statesmen and Ministers of the present day." The surveyor- general to the colony, Sir Thomas Mitchell, who is now present, who bad recently come from the colony, reported that he had explored millions of acres which had neve r been traversed by a white man, which bad never yielded pasture to a single sheep, nor bees crossed by a plough, and which would pro duce food to supply almost any number of human beings who might be sent to the colony. The next, and the most important question, was how the neces sary funds were to be raised ? Sir Robert Fer guson, at the last meeting, proposed a plan to effect this, which he thought well worthy the 100,0001. Earl Grey was merely the trustee of this sum, and was bound to lay it out in those districts in which the colony whose money was likely to derive the greatest number of eligible emigrants. The colony possessed a strong claim upon the Go vernment. They might say, it was true, "We gave you 10,000,0001. last year, and we will give you no more, as this sum was sunk in marshes : you show nothing for it." To this he would reply, that a reproductive system was continually going on in the colony. The Government contract fcr emigrant's passage was 121. 10s. a head, and in 1840 the British manufacture imported into the colony amounted to about 101. per head per annum. At present the imports were Si. 14s. per head. In 1846, the population was 195,000 ; the imports in that year were 1,111,2381., which repaid the cost of an emigrant's transit in two years and a half. One Hon. Member stated at the last metting that one great difficulty which they had to encounter was the expense. Why, the cost of transit was cheaper than the voyage to America. The expense of carrying an emigrant to New York was 51. ss. The provi sions for fifty days cost Si. more. The expense of jour neying to Cleveland or Cana by canal steam-boat was 41.45., making in the aggregate 141.—(Hear, hear.) The expense altogether was greater than the amount of the Government contract to take emigrants to New South Wales, which included provisions. —(A gentle man—l thought emigrants to America were allowed a lb. of breadstuffs.) He did not think they were. But to come back to the resources of the colony. Its power of supporting additional millions was hardly to be calculated, as the finest parts of New Holland were as yet unoccupied by white men. Then as to the price of animal food in the interior. 33lbs. of meat formed lib. of tallow, and tallow sold in the colony for 3ii. lb.—the net profits to the stock holder in the interior being 2d. per lb. Flour varied from 71. to 1 I/. per ton. Already the colony proposed 1,000,0001. for emigration. If the 10,000,000/. sunk last year in Ireland had been laid out in emigration to Australia, it would have produced a yearly demand for British manufactures, at the rate of 4,000,0001. per annum. The wool produced by the colony in 1846 amounted to 90,000,0001b5., the value of which was 1,280,2001. He should here, as the representative of the Squatters who, with their flocks, occupied a country 1,600 miles long and 300 broad, and who exported to Great Britain annually to the amount 1,000,0001., independently cf the exports of the rest of the co lony. The colony had an elected legislature, but though the Squatters furnished four• fifths of the whole exports of the colony, they had no share of the franchise. They formerly held the land on an insecurity of tenure, but now they held it by lease for fourteen years—(Hear)—and this additional security being given the produce could not fail to ma terially increase. He was happy to have this public opportunity of thanking the Noble Earl at the head of the Colonial-office for the great good he had al ready done for the colony, and fos the readi ness with which he had listened to deputa tions of gentlemen interested in the colony. —(Hear.) The people of Ireland were now battling with gigantic famine, and here was an excellent opportunity of saving the lives, and of feeding and clo•hing thousands of them.—(Hear.) In the colony the emigrants received compforts which the English peasant dared not to .dream of. He concluded by trusting that those present would leave nothing un done to promote the great object which they had in view. —(Hear, hear.) The CHAIRMAN then read an elaborate report, which he had drawn up, with respect to the colony and its merits, compared with others, which was listened to with great attention, and much applauded. Mr. BIANCONI said he had sent several of his tenants to America, at his own expense, who had re lations there. He sent them to New York, by Quebec, and their transit cost Si., and he gave each 51. to help them into the interior. This showed that the cost was greater than the entire passage to New South Wales. Mr. A. BOYD said the emigrants sent thither ob tained immediate employment, and their employers were bound to pay their transit into the interior. Captain TREVELYAN, adverting to a statement in the chairman's report, that emigrants received, on the average, 151., and not 251., replied that those who re ceived small amount of wages were those who were incapable of undergoing much labour—such as the " lame, the halt, and the blind." Mr. A. BOYD said during the ten years he was_in the colony he found the wages as he had stated them. He expatiated on a Mrs. Chisholm's works with re• spect to the colony and recommended their perusal. A gentleman inquired if any provision had been made for carrying out females. Mr. A. BOYD said the Government would not carry out females unless accompanied by their parents or by a lady. Two children cost from 41. to 81. Mr. SIDNEY said no emigration would be success ful unless they could enlist the good will of the great, body of the working classes towards it. The increase of the price of land was 11. an acre, and the refusal of the Government to let less than 640 acres had proved extremely detrimental, and unless land could be set in patches of twenty and thirty acres, no great scheme of emigration to the colony could be carried out, because capital was required to purchase it, and capital to clear it, and the starving populace possessed neither. The emigrants who went out kept up a constant cor respondence with home, and unless they gave them the means of thinking favourably of the colony, few, even in their abject distress, wculd be induced to follow them. The Government must give the emigrants cause to settle instead of leaving them to wander about like Arabs. Captain BATESON, M.P., said the law was so tram melled that it was almost impossible to purchase less than 440 acres. This should be pressed upon the Government, and smaller plots allotted. He pro posed the appointment of the following committee to carry out the objects of the meeting : The Honourable Francis Scott, M.P., Chairman ; the Lord Farnham, M.P.,Lord John Chichester, M.P., the Hon. Captain axwell, M.P., Richard S. Bourke, Esq., M.P., Hon. James Hewitt, Sir Robert A. Ferguson, Bart., Colonel Matheson, M.P., Sir W. Verner, Bart., M.P., Captain Bateson, M.P., George Duncan, Esq., M.P., John Boyd, Esq., M.P., Captain Hamilton, R.N., Archibald Boyd, Esq., Mark Boyd, Esq., H. De Castro, Esq., A. Lockhart, Esq., M.P., W. Lockhart, Esq., M.P., William Forbes, Esq., M.P., I. Montefiore, Esq., D. Q. Herique, Esq., R. Montgomery Martin, Esq., S. Sydney, Esq., J. S. Henriques, Esq., Lennox Boyd, Esq., Samnel rown ing, Benjamin Bond Cabbel, Esq., M.P. ; with power to add to their number. Captain TRETELYAN seconded the motion. Mr. YOUNG, M.P., proposed the printing of a con densed version of the Chairman's report, and that it should be submitted at the earliest possible moment to the consideration of the Government. _ Mr. BOYD, M.P., proposed that a deputation should wait on Earl Grey on Saturday. It would be advisable to see the Noble Lord on that day, as many of the Irish Members would no doubt leave town on Monday. Captain HAMILTON, R.N., seconded the motion, which, with their predecessors, having been carried, together with a rote of thanks to the chairman, the meeting separated at fire o'clock. Mr. Henry White was appointed secretary. 111 PE RI A L PARLIAMENT. (THIS EVENING.) HOUSE OF LORDS. The Earl of SHAFTESBURY, in the absence of the Lord Chancellor, took his seat upon the Woolsack at Five o'clock. PETITIONS. Lord FARNHAM presented a petition from An dover, praying their Lordships to adopt measures to prevent the Roman Catholics priests of Ire-land from denouncing persons from the altar. The Duke of RICHMOND presented a petition from Cricklade, praying for a consolidation of turn pike trusts. The Marquis of LONDONEERRY presented a petition from Downpatrick, complaining of the ad miniitration of the Poor-law in Ireland, more parti cularly as regards out-door relief. lie had always been a friend to the Poor-law in Ireland, so far as out-door relief was concerned, but he considered that the system of out-door relief tended to encourage pauperism. CASE OF DR. HAMPDEN. The Marquis of LONDONDERRY gave notice that, to-morrow, he should put a question to the the authenticity of the corres- Noble Marquis, pondence alleged to have passed between the Prime LONDON THURSDAY EVENING, DECEMBER 16, 1847. cock, Master of the Exchequer, and the Treasury, relative to compensation and gratuities to officers and writing clerks, who were affected by the said Act 7 and 8 Vic. c. 107 ; and the number and names of the enrolling and copying clerks employed by him since the passing of the said Act, who were not on the establishment previous to the passing of the said Act 7 and 8 Vic. c. 107.—Agreed to. REGISTRATION (IRELAND)._ Mr. SCULLY wished to ask the Right - Hon. the Secretary for Ireland, if it was the intention of her Majesty's Government to bring in a Registration Bill for Ireland, and if at an early period after the recess. Lord J. RUSSELL said that the subject was under the consideration of the Government, but he could not say when that measure would be brought forward. SMALL DEBTS (IRELAND). Mr. O'CONNELL wished to know whether it was the intention of the Governmement to bring in any Bill for the recovery of small debts in Ireland. Sir W. SOMERVILLE said that the subject was under the consideration of the Government. RELIGIOUS ORDERS. Mr. C. AN STY wished to ask the Right Hon. the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether it was his intention, during the recess, to take into his consideration the actual state of the law with regard to the religious orders of the Roman Catholic Church within these maims, and the provi sions of the Roman Catholic Relief Bill respecting the same ? Sir G. GREY, in reply, stated that the Hon. Member had himself a Bill before the House upon the subject, and he thought it would be better to reserve anything that he might have to say with respect to the intention of her Majesty's Government until that Bill was again brought before the House upon a sub sequent stage. DEFENCES OF THE COUNTRY. Lord INGESTRE wished to know wh?ther the Government had received any communication from the Commander-in-Chief on the subject of the de fences of the country ? Lord J. RUSSELL said that a letter had been received from his Grace the Duke of Wellington on the subject a short time since. BRAZILIAN TREATIES. Mr. THORNELY, in the absence of Mr. William Browne, wished to ask the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether any and what steps have been taken since the arrival of the lately appointed English Minister at the Court of Rio de Janeiro, in the negociation of a new treaty of commerce between this country and the empire of Brazil ; whether it be true, as has been publicly stated, that the Government of Bra zil has refused to enter on any such negociation until the Slave Trade Act be repealed, which gives to British ships of war the power of seizing, and to British Courts of Vice-Admiralty the power of condemning (without the sanction or authority of any treaty with Brazil to that effect) Brazil;a❑ vessels engaged, or suspected to be engaged, in the slave trade; and if so, whether her Majesty's Government intend to adopt any and what measures for removing the objection which exists on the part of Brazil to the opening of negotiations for a removal of our commercial relations with that empire. Lord PALMERSTON said that her Majesty's representative at Rio de Janeiro had received instruc tions on the subject, but at the date of the last dis patch no commencement had been made in the nego tiations. Minister and certain of the Bishops, as to the pro posed appointment of Dr. Hampden to the bishopric of Hereford, and whether it was intended to persevere in the appointment. CRIME AND OUTRAGE (IRELAND) BILL. The Marquis of LANSDOWNE moved the order I of the day for the House resolving itself into Committee on this Bill. The commission of those crimes in Ireland which it was the object of this Bill to repress was too notorious to call upon him to go into any lengthened details. It was one feature of these crimes, that while the victim almost invariably fell, the murderer almost as invariably escaped with im punity. He should leave felt it his duty to recite and describe those murders to which he had al luded, and to comment on them in the language they deserved, but these crimes were matters of public notoriety, he should not, therefore, further al lude to the murder of Major Mahon and of other vic tims of these outrages, but should allude to other crimes of less magnitude, which, in conjunction with these murders, proved the existence of a conspiracy against human life, against the existing state of so ciety, against the rights of property, and of industry itself. In the month of November, 1335 crimes had been committed in Ireland against 1035 committed in the preceding month. These crimes consisted principally in the sending of threatening letters and in robberies of arms. One of these cases took place in Cavan. Two small farmers, more industrious than their neighbours, had raised crops, and had each provided himself with a gun to defend himself from outrage. In one night the dwell ing of each of these persons had been broken open, and their guns taken. In Monoghan a fishing company had been established. Their establishment was attacked and their property destroyed. In Limerick a man's horse had been destroyed because he had let out the horse to draw meal at a lower rate than these legis lators chose to determine. This Bill was a Bill not for the defence of the rich man but of every poor man who was honest and industrious, and no one could object to it who did not desire to see the rights of property and the rights of industry destroyed. In a recent case Mr. Johnson, a most popular magistrate, had been fired at, because, as a magistrate, he had fined some persons for trespass. In King's County a shot had been fired at Mr. George Barlow, and another at his -on, because he had re fused to employ a man named Fagan. In Monoghan an attempt had been made to shoot two far mers, named Blane (father and son), because the son had presumed to discharge a servant-maid. These cases were sufficient to show the objects and extent of this dark and sanguinary conspiracy. He would now describe the eharacter and provisions of the Bill which gave the Lord-Lieutenant power to adopt measures to put down crime and outrage in disturbed istricts.—(The Noble Marquis then pro ceeded to describe in detail the provisions of the Bill, with which the public are already acquainted.) In alluding to the provision rendering it a misde meanour in persons refusing to join a hue and cry against persons who had committed outrages, the Noble Marquis paid a high compliment to those among the peasantry who had nobly done their duty by opposing, and in many instances apprehending, persons who had been guilty of outrage. In all these cases the parties so acting had been sought out and rewarded by the Lord-Lieutenant. The desire of the Government in proposing this Tnea sure had been to provide an effectual remedy for the deplorable state of things existing in Ireland, but in providing of such remedy to trespass as little as possible upon the constitution. Up to this moment he retained the opinion to which he had some time since given utteranee to the utmost reliance could be placed upon juries in Ireland that they would do their duty. At the Michaelmas Quarter Sessions convictions had been obtained in almost all the Crown cases where the prosecutors attended. The Government was, therefore, not prepared to propose any measure to interfere with trial by jury, but at the same time there was no measure to which the Government would not be prepared to resort if it should become neces sary to restore peace to Ireland. Although not actually a state of civil war, there was in Ire land, at present existing, a sort of civil war, of dark war and outrage—war carried on in the dark, the victims of which were condemned unheard, and during the continuance of which there could not be in Ireland either peace, safety, or security for life or industry. If additional powers should be neces sary, the Government would not hesitate to apply for them.—(Cheers.) Lord FARNHAM gave his warmest support to the measure, not because he thought the mild ness of the measure would tend to its success, but because he had the pledge of the Govern ment that if the measure should prove inefficient (and inefficient he was sure it would prove) they would come to the House for further powero, which he was sure would be granted. Murder, he was sorry to say, prevailed in Ireland to a greater extent than it had ever yet prevailed. Ile would now lay before their Lordships themost recent informa tion he ,had received from Ireland, setting forth the state of the country—of course, he should mention no names. He would, first of all, read a communication from his own county of Cavan. The communication stated that two murders had been determined on, that two good shots had been paid to undertake the job, that all persons of property were leaving the country. Such was the reign of terror that every man regarded his fellow-man with distrust—that his (Lord Farnham's) description of the state of Ireland was true to the letter, and that no measure could be too unconstitu tional to meet the present exigencies. (LIFT SITTING.) HOUSE OF COMMONS. The SPEAKER took the Chair at Four o'clock. Mr. Bukelley Hughes, Mr. Monckton Milnes, and the Hon. Mr. Villiers took the oaths and their seats. PETITIONS. The Sheriffs of London, in their official robes, appeared at the bar, and presented a petition from the Lord Mayor, Aldermen, and Common Council of the City of London, praying the House to pass a law to remove the civil disabilities imposed upon the Jews. Mr. PACKE presented a petition against the ad mission of Jews into Parliament. Sir E. FILMER presented a similar petition. __. ___ Sir R. H. INGLIS presented a number of peti tions to the same effect. One of them was from the chancellor, masters, and scholars of th'. University of Oxford. Mr. RUFFORD presented a similar petition from a place in Worcestershire. Mr. PLUMPTRE presented a petition to the same effect. Sir J. WALMSLEY presented a petition from Leicester in favour of the admission of Jews into Parliament. Mr. SCHOLEFIELD presented a similar petition from a place in Warwickshire. Lord DUDLEY STUART presented a similar petition from the borough of Marylebone. Mr. STAFFORD presented a petition from a place in Oxfordshire against the admission of Jews into Parliament. Mr. SEYBIER presented a similar petition from Lambeth. Mr. BANKES presented similar petitions from Dorsetshire. Mr. DEEDES and ➢ir. COMPTON presented similar petitions. Mr. SPOONER presented two petitions from Birmingham to the same effect. . _ Mr. FLOYER presented a petition praying the House to adopt measures to prevent Roman Catholic priests from denouncing persons from the altar. Mr. T. BARING presented a petition from the inhabitants of the Mauritius ' praying the House to impose a differential duty of ld. per lb. upon sugar other than the growth of the British colonies. Mr. S. CRAWFORD presented a petition from a place in Ireland praying the House to amend the law of landlord and tenant. MY. NEWDEGATE and Captain HARRIS presented petitions against the admission of Jews into Parlia ment. Mr. MACKINNON presented a petition from Leamington, praying that this country might not go to war with any foreign nation. Mr. C. PEARSON presented a petition from Lambeth in favour of the claims of the Raja of Sattara. Mr. LABOUCRERE and Lord HARRY VANE pre sented a petition in favour of the removal of Jewish disabilities. Lord NUGENT presented a similar petition from Aylesbury. Lord MORPETH presented a petition from the West Riding against the admission of Jews into Parliament. SUPERANNUATED ALLOWANCES. Mr. REYNOLDS moved for returns of the names of all persons who have received superannuation al lowance under the Act 7th and Bth Victoria, c. 107, intituled, " An Act to regulate and reduce the ex penses of the offices attached to the superior courts of law in Ireland, payable out of the Consolidated Fund;" their length of service in their respective offices ; the amount of their salaries and emoluments in such office; specifying what such salary or emolu ment arose from, whether by fees or other wise, and what those fees (if any) were derivable from : of the names of all persons employed under the new establishments created by the said Act 7 and 8 Vic. c. 107; their length of service in the office to which they belonged respectively previous to their appointment under the said Act ; the amount of their salaries and emoluments in such office ; specifying what such salary or emolument arose from, whether by fees or otherwise, and what those fees ( o if any) f Corre spo n de n ceei their w e d presenter which salaryeria vto took m okr place f n r c o omb ; and between t w:eaen Lid s he io rfa mountHit c h- all itc the h . CHURCH RATES, Colonel SAL%VEY wished to ask the Government whether it is their intention to introduce, in the pre sent session of Parliament any measure for the relief of that portion of her Majesty's subjects who con scientiously dissent from the rites and doctrines of the Established Church, from payment of Church rates ? Lord J. RUSSELL, in reply, stated the Govern went had no such intention.—(Hear.) MINISTERS' MONEY. Mr JOHN O'BRIEN wished to know from the Right Hon. Secretary for Ireland, if it be the inten tion of her Majesty's Government to take into consi deration the expediency of relieving certain towns and cities in Ireland from the payment of Ministers' Money, maintaining at the same time vested rights, and indemnifying the present incumbents. Sir W.. SOMERVILLE said that the subject was under the consideration of her Majesty's Government, but he could not state what would be the result of their deliberations upon the subject. THE CASE OF MAJOR MAHON. Sir B. HALL wished to ask a question relating to a letter which had appeared in the Times newspaper of this day, in which the Rev. Gentleman stated, " I have now to assure the public, upon the most solemn asseverations, that Major Mahon was never denounced from any altar in Strokestown, or within twenty miles of that town upon any Sunday. He (Sir B. Hall) had received a letter this day from a friend of his in Ireland, stating that the denunciation was not made upon a Sunday, but upon a Monday. A letter had appeared in the Times of this morning, signed " An Irish Peer," and which he had reason to believe was written by an Irish Peer. That letter stated that " the Catholic priest was quite right with re spect to the Sunday; the late Major Mahon was de nounced from the altar upon the Monday previous to his assassination. That Monday was a Saint's day, a day upon which the Roman Catholic people attend mass as regularly and in as great numbers as upon the Sabbath. These facts were known at Dublin Castle." It appeared that Major Mahon was denounced upon a Saint's day on the Monday, he was shot at half-past six on the next day (Tuesday). The ques tion which he had to ask was, wh e th er an y informa tion had been received at the Castle of any denuncia tion having been made against the late Major Mahon, either upon Sunday or Monday, and, if so, whether it was the intention of the authorities in Dublin to take any proceedings against the reverend gentleman in the case ?—(Cheers.) Sir W. SOMERVILLE said that it was impos sible for him to say what information might have been received by the Lord-Lieutenant with respect to the question now put to him by the Hon. Baronet. Having made that answer to the first part of the question, the Hon. Baronet would at once see that it was impossible for him to give any answer to the latter part of the question.—(oh, oh!) Mr. J. O'CONNELL regretted that the Hon. Baronet had not quoted the whole of the letter of the Rev. Mr. M‘Dermott, for he would have found further on that he denied that any denunciation whatever took place at any time. He thought it unfair for any Hon. Member to act in such a manner, whatever might be the private pique which he might entertain towards any other Hon. Member.—(Order.) _ _ JEWISH DISABILITIES. The Chancellor of the Exchequer, Lord John Russell, Mr. Wakley, and several other Hon. Mem bers presented petitions praying for the removal of Jewish disabilities. Lord. JOHN RUSSELL, in rising to move for a Committee of the whole House on the removal of the civil and political disabilities affecting the Jews, said, as he understood the Honourable Bart. the Member for the University of Oxford intended to oppose this motion, he felt it to be his duty to state the reasons which had induced him to bring it forward. He could not say, as on a former occasion, that the question affected no less than three million people, but it did affect a large body of the community professing the Jewish religion, who, al though acknowledged to be loyal and faithful sub jects of her Majesty, were precluded by civil disabilities from holding certain offices in the State ; and he felt that the question he was about to bring under the consideration of the House was one of principle rather than affecting a political party. For wealth and loyalty the Jews of this country were held in as much respect as any other class, and the House ought to consider whether it would be inconsistent with the constitution, or even with religious toleration, to remove some of the disabilities that at present affect that people. He placed this question upon the solid grounds that every Englishman was entitled to all the honours and privileges which the constitution could confer upon him, and he maintained that no man ought to be de prived of enjoying these privileges or honours on the ground that he entertained particular religious opi nions. It was not a matter of favour to be awarded to the Jews, but it was a right which the spirit of the constitution awarded to them as citizens, to receive toleration from the State, and unless he heard that th ere were s t rong moral bjections to the adoption of his proposal he certainly should persevere in it to the last. He came now to consider the objections that were urged against this measure. It was said, if they removed these disabilities from the Jews it would be tantamount to annihilating the character which this country possessed for Chris tianity, but he confessed he thought the adoption of this measure had nothing whatever to do with the religious character of a country. It related entirely to civil matters. Be that, however, as it might, he was prepared to contend that it was impossible simply by the admininistration of an oath to maintain the religious character of the country. Such an oath might shut out conscientious men from that House, but it could not possibly of itself sustain the religions character of the coun try. For the forme r reasons, therefore, seeing that it could neither injure the constitution, nor detract from the Christian character of the country, he could see no reason why the House should object to adopt his proposal. Would it at that period have been con sidered that men, when they took oaths, would be more bound by them when they swore on the true faith of a Christian than by any other means. The Noble Lord, after referring to the cases of several great men who held high offices without, having taken such an oath, observed that he held that it was not by declarations of the kind :he had referred to that they could improve the condition of that House ; it was not by putting seeven words into an Act of Parliament that they could secure religious obligation. It had been said that Parliament had from time immemorial been a Christian Parliament, and if the Jews were al lowed to sit in it, it would be materially deteriorated from its efficacy. He thought upon that subject great mistakes had arisen. For the purpose of proving this position, the Noble Lord referred to cases to show that when this declaration was imposed it was not done for the purpose of imposing disabilities on the Jew or the infidel, but for the intent of proving the sincerity of the Roman Catholic, who, it was supposed, owed an allegiance to a Power that was inconsistent with the true maintenance of the Protestant religion. Whatever those reasons might be in the year 1829, Parliament removed all those disabilities. Parliament in that year enacted that the Ca tholics were as well qualified as any other class of her Majesty's subjects to hold offices.—(Hear, hear.) If such was the case, if that which he had re ferred to as designating the Christian character in this country in former times, if it had any existence at all, it had any existence previous to 1829.—(Hear, hear.) Well, those disqualifications having been removed, there remained only certain words in the oath of abjuration, and with respect to them they were only introduced not for the purpose of exclusion but giving superior sanction to that declara tion. It was said that Christianity was part and parcel of the constitution of ; he had always considered that that referred to any writing or lan - gunge blaspheming the Scriptures, which were a por tion of the laws of this country. It would be carrying the matter too far to say, that because christianity was part and parcel of the constitution, everybody who took a part in the constitution should be called upon to make an oath upon the true faith of a Christian. The declaration which the Jew would refuse, would be taken at once by the men who utterly disbelieved in the truth of the Bible. There was, therefore, no security whatever to what might be called the Christian character of the country. It had been said that the Jews were a separate nation ; this the Jews themselves denied. It had also been said that they were aliens ; if so, to what country did they belong ?—(Hear, hear.) To what country or king did they owe their allegiance, if not to the country in which they were born, in which their ancestors lived, and in which their property was situated.— (Hear, hear.) What right had they now to turn round, and say to the Jews, who were once prevented from holding land even in this city, that they should now no longer hold land ?—(Hear, hear.) In other countries the Jews had been admitted to share in the Government, in France they had for a long period served with fidelity in the duties to which they had been called. But other arguments had been urged, they had been told that the Jews were notmaly on grounds of policy disqualified, but that there were solemn denunciations of prophesy which would for ever disqualify them, if that were so, it was not for us to decide what should be done. Pro vidence would work out its own ends, and it was not their acts which would retard or hasten the fulfilments of prophecy.—(Hear, hear.) The Jews had already been allowed to hold offices in corporations, and it was only a few days since that a Jew was raised to the dignity of an alderman in the city of London, How then could they pretend to say that the line of demarcation, marked out by prophecy, of the Almighty Being, was to be bounded by an alderman, but was not to include a Member of Parliament.— (Hear, hear.) There was no doubt but that the Almighty would accomplish his own ends by means which he thought best adapted for the purpose. There was, however, a popular prejudice against the Jews, but that popular prejudice was now rapidly declining, for he knew that a member of that pro fession was elected as a Member from the City of London, by about seven thousand of the electors of the City.—(Hear, hear.) He believed that the general opinion was, that religious opinions ought not to bring with them any penalty ; he thought that that opinion was fast spreading among the people. —(Hear, hear.) He had now stated to the Home the reasons why he thought the exclusion of the Jews was not right. He appealed to the con stitution of the country, which gave to every man his just reward, according to his abilities. He appealed to that constitution, which was the enemy of all restriction and disqualification —in the name of that constitution, which, by the abrogation of the law existing a few years ago, had put an end even to those cases of exemption which their ancestors had, upon the 'ground of im minent danger to the State and to the Church, felt justified in imposing. He asked them, in the name of that constitution to take away this last remnant of religious persecution.—(Cheers.) He asked them, in the name of that constitution, to admit the Jews to all the privileges, and to all the rights to which they were so justly entitled He appealed to them upon a higher ground, on the ground of the high principles of Christianity. He appealed to them in the name of that religion— of that religion which was a religion of love and charity—which taught its professors " to do unto others as ye would that others should do to you." He asked them in the name of that religion which taught by example and principle that it was not the priest and Levite who was singled out as the instances for their approbation and admonition, but those of a despised and proscribed sect which then be longed to the refuse of all the nation. He asked them, therefore, in the name of that Consitution, which was a constitution of freedom, liberty, and justice. He asked them in the name of ;that religion which was a religion of peace and good-will to all men, to agree to the motion which he had made. Noble Lord resumed his seat amid loud cheers.) Sir R. H. INGLIS then rose for the purpose of resisting the motion of the Noble Lord. (LEFT SPEAKING.) HOUSE OF COMMONS, Dec. 15. COMMERCIAL DISTRESS. [The following is a fuller report of Lord G. Ben tinck's speech than appeared in our Afternoon Edition of yesterday.] Lord G. BENTINCK said that it had not been his intention to attempt to address the House until his proper turn came, when the name of the Right Hon. Gentleman the President of the Board of Trade should be proposed as a Member of the Committee; but he felt that be might perhaps be consulting the convenience of its attention House, if he rose to endeavour to draw back attention to the real matter under debate, and, if possi ble, to stop the debate from running into a discussion on the general question of the currency.—(Hear, hear,) It was not his intention to be tempted, by anything which the lion. Member for West Surrey had said, to say one word on the currency question, but to address himself entirely to the constitution of the Committee. Perhaps he should also best consult the convenience of the House by debating now, once for all, the whole queic • Lion of the alterations in the Committee, and though it would be necessary to take several divisions, he would not again trespass on the attention of the House.— (Cheers.) In proposing to exclude the names of several Hon. Gentlemen, he could assure those Gentlemen tkiit he meant no disrespect or discourtesy of any kind to them. He was, by the circumstance that the House was pledged to have twenty-six Members, and no more tha n i twenty-six Members, n the Committee, reduced to the invidious necessity of excluding the names of certain Members. When he addressed himself to the Right Hon. Gentleman opposite, he could especially assure him that if he (Lord G. Bentinck) . had his choice of all the Members of her Majesty's Government whose names were placed upon this Committee, and if the Right Hon, Gentleman were not fettered by the obligations which he (Lord G. Bentinck) thought properly belonged to a Member of the Government, there was not one name which he would sooner include than that of the Right Hon. Gentleman. So, again, in addressing himself to the Hon. and Learned Member for Liverpool, he would say the same thing to him. No man could appreciate the morec h i ghlycou r se se m than oat o he ee didopen t to Trade hr e deainmd g t etl r eh e amaw a nt t eadi t :t a hn l hte e loy n e, t smtahaikganedhdt Honourabletisnh ab ilities of that Honourable Gentleman; but seeking, as he did, to reconstruct the Committee in the least invidious and least personal manner in which he was able, he thought gentlemen who stood lowest down in official d e r yu a ,a t e n w nei l n c dd o , ex clusion oltdhneanot President of tohietho et consideration , hßeorairido on f. him . to select the Right Honourable Gentleman the Learned Member for Liverpool. In proposing the ex like manner, addressing himself to the Hon. Member for Stoke-upon-Trent, that he had selected him him as re presenting the least large commercial or manufacturing interest. So, in proposing to exclude the Hon. Member for th e Tower Hamlets, Si r W. Cl ay , an d se l ect i ng M r . Pattison, he had done so because he felt that the city of London ought to be represented on both sides of the question ; and that, while the Noble Lord at the head of the Government must of course be placed upon this Com mittee, it was only proper that some other Member for the City, representing the commercial interests of Lon don, should also be put upon it, and that it should not be a gentleman wbo was fettered and tied down by being the author of a work on the subject of the currency. When his Right Hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Ex chequer said that there were fourteen gentlemen on the Committee who took the same views as he (Lord G. Bentinck) did on this question, and only fire who agreed with him (the Chancellor of the Exchequer), he was dis• posed to take rather a different view of the facts. F irst . of all, as the Committee stood now, there were eight io m ti e m a T b j o r e s v eHr o en f ee h n e tk p n r ge e ow s i e n n pg t e r a i f n ne d teot t l hyae well l s o c t G hme o it v t t e ee r ve n e m rwy e e n ma t te tm u h p hee o r n er with his mind fettered. He was disenabled from ex pressing his own judgment. He must follow the . course epooitnktehdowouwthbeythehristhleeadNero.hleHLeo(rLdoradt Gth.eßheneatid of the Government tdide Government would take an active part in the Com m i t t ee, he rather thought that his Ri g ht llons Friend the Chan cellor of the Exchequer would take the lead in it, and all the other members of the Government would probably abstain from any . inconvenient course of examination, and vote with their leader through thi c k an d t hi n. And w h en his Right Hon. Friend spoke of past, present, and future Governments, he (Lord G. B ent i nc k) b egged l e ave to tell him that there was a great distinction be tween independent gentlemen, such as hie (Lord G, Bentinck's) friends were, who were in no way bound to take any particular course, and members of a past Go vernment, who had "eaten the King's salt."—(Hear, hear, and laughter.) And there was this further diffe rence, that the Right Hon. Gentleman who represented the Bank Charter Act, and the Right Hon. Gentleman the Chancellor of the Exchequer, were intimately allied on this subject. Indeed, for all practical purposes, the Right lion. Baronet the Member for Tamworih, was he might almost say, the Government. Nothing was done in consequence of the representations of the mer chants until the Right Hon. Baronet came up to London, and the House had heard in the course of that debate, which was so very inconveniently burked—(A laugh)—t hat before any definite course of action was determined upon, the Right Honourable Baronet had had an interview with the Chancellor of the Exchequer. Surely, if the matter were submitted to a jury, they would be disposed to think that the Right Honourable Gentleman the Member for Tamwortb had dictated the measure of his Right Honourable Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer. What struck him as a fundamental vice in the construction of the Committee was, that it was entirely overwhelmed and swamped by eight place men and ex-placemen. They were all connected to gether, while the Protectionists, and those who opposed the Bank Charter Act, were none of them committed to any particular views, and there was none of that union bete een them which existed between parties whose poli tical honour and consistency were bound up with the maintenance of that law. What the country desired was, not to see an old Committee reconstituted, but to see some new blood infused into it.—(Hear, hear.) His Right Honourable Friend the Chancellor of the Ex chequer had said that he had endeavoured, as far as he could, to appoint a Committee capable of forming a clear and impartial judgment. It was because he (Lord G. Bentinck) thought that they were not capable of form ing an impartial judgment that he objected to the constitution of the present Committee. Ile did not know whether his Right Hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer, or the Noble Lord at the head of the Go vernment, had pledged the Government to stand or fall by the Bank Charter Act, but the House knew very well that her Majesty's Government were pretty well dis posed to do so. True it was that the Noble Lord con sented at last to break through the bulwarks of that Act, but how unwilling was he to take that step ! It was not till houses had failed to the extent of fifteen million pounds, that the Noble Lord could bo induced to give way. The Noble Lord was first of all called upon by a deputation from Liverpool—and while he was upon this subject he might beg leave to state, though the statement was not exactly in the due order of succession, the reasons which had induced him to propose the name of the lion. Member for South Lancashire, instead of that of the Hon. and Learned Member for Liverpool. He thought that, as the Committee stood at present, there was no representative of the cotton manufacturing interest. The lion. and Learned Member for Liverpool could Lot be considered as the representative of the cot ton interest, and though there was no man more im pressed than himself with the opinion that Liverpool ought to be represented in the Committee, still he thonght he might be allowed to doubt whether the Hon. and Learned Member for Liverpool did entirely represent the feeling of Ireland upon this subject. He really thought that he was doing the lion. and Learned Mem ber no unkindness in proposing his exclusion. He was sure that the Hon. and Learned Gentleman felt himself placed' in the greatest difficulty. There he was, a mem ber of the late Government, bound hard and fast to the opinions of his leader. What would be the situation of the Hon. and Learned Gentleman in the Committee? Liverpool held one opinion, and the Hon. and Learned Gentleman had expressed another opinion of a totally different. character. From the position in which he was placed he must, therefige, find great difficulty in choos ing between God and Mammon.—(Bear, hear, and laughter.) Ile (Lord G. Bentinck) did not wish to lead the lion. and Learned Gentleman into temptation, and therefore he wished him to be excluded from the Com mittee. As far as he could learn what the proceedings of the deputation were, the Hon. and Learned Gen tleman, though he was dragged up to attend the meetings, acted only as master of the ceremonies, and did the ornamental part —(A laugh)—while the Hon. Member for South Lancashire did the useful and work ing part of that deputation. He was therefore justified in saying that, so far as regarded the commercial interests of Liverpool, the merchants of that town had selected Mr. W. Brown, their county Member, in pre ference to the lion. and Learned Gentleman, to repre sent to the Government the true causes of the com mercial distress. lie was sure that the Hon. and Learned Gentleman would feel that ho (Lord G. Ben tinck) meant no disrespect or discourtesy to him or to the Right lion. Gentleman the President of the Board of Trade in proposing the exclusion of their names. Let the House look at the constitution of this Committee. When they found on the Committee a Prime Minister, and ex-Prime Minister, three Chancellors and ex-Chan cellors of the Exchequer, and an ex-Secretary of State for the Home Department—men who had sat on these Committees before, and were accustomed to extract evi dence—he could not help thinking that other Members of the House, who had not this advantage, would be a very bad match for gentlemen of such high talents and so much experience, banded together as one man against them. Therefore, even if the numbers had been equal on paper, he could not but feel that the Honourable and Learned Member for Liverpool ought not to be added to the Ministerial phalanx, while the Opposition party was represented by only one ex-Chancellor of the Exchequer. The re mainder of the House were represented only by an ex- Cabinet Minister, and therefore he must say they would be most unequally matched in quality, even if not very much overmatched in quantity. But there was another view to take of this matter. He found upon the Com mittee six gentlemen who were said, the other night, to be I'eelites, and there were eleven strong Whigs. The Committee, therefore, as then constituted, would have 17 Members, all, generally speaking, of one view of things ; anel in that number he did not include the Hon. Member for Montrose, because he understood that that Hon. Gentleman did not intend to sit upon the Com mittee, which he much regretted, although he did not concur in all the views of the Hon. Gentleman. He had explained the grounds upon which he thought the cotton interests of Lancashire and the commercial interests of Liverpool would be better represented by the Hon. Mem ber for Lancashire, who differed from him as far as pos sible in opinion ; and here he begged to call the atten tion of the House to this circumstance, that in the names he had proposed he had named but one gentleman who held the same opinions with himself, and wiao -usually acted as he did.—(Hear, hear.) But he now came to the case of Scotland. The Right lion. Gentleman the Chancellor of the Exchequer said that he had named the Hon. Member for Perthshire. lie (Lord G. Bentinck) had already complained that in the Members the Right Hon. Gentleman had named he had taken care, amongst those who were held to be impartial, to name gentlemen who had not taken a very strong part in politics. He thought he might include amongst those the Hon. Member for Perthshire. Now, as the opinion of the Right Hon. Baronet the Member for Tamworth did not coincide with the general opinion of Scotland on this subject, be thought it right to say that the feelings of Scotland were but very weakly re presented by the Hon. Member for Perthshire. That Hon. Gentleman also was the representative of a char tered bank, which was already possessed of a certain degree of monopoly, and his feelings, therefore, were rather in opposition to the general feelings of the people of Scotland. He came now to the city of London, and, without consulting the Hon. Gentleman himself, he had ventured to put the name of the Hon. Member for the city of London (M r . P a t t i son ) upon the Comm i ttee . Everybody in that House must feel that there was no man who was better informed upon the interests and business of the city of London than that Honourable Gentleman.—(Hear, hear.) But there was another reason why that lion. Gentleman should be upon the Committee, and that was, that the Bank of England was upon its defence.—(Hear, hear.) As the Committee was then constituted, the Bank of England was re presented by one Member only. They had had very strong reason to feel how necessary it was, in order that the Bank might be properly defended in the Committee, to have some gentleman upon the Committee who was himself actually conversant with the transactions be tween the Government and the Batik of England.— . (Hear.) But for the Hon. Member for the city of Lon don they would have been led to suppose that there had been an entire agreement between the Government and the Bank of England, as regarded the division of the profits of the usury.—(Hear.) The other members of the Committee would have taken, as a matter of course, the statement of the Right lion. Gentleman the Chan cellor of the Exchequer, and none on the Committee would have thought to ask any questions upon this subject. how necessary, therefore, was it that, for the defence of the Bank of England, which both the present and the late Government concurred in making it the scape goat on this occasion, imposing upon the blame of a great portion of the recent distress, that that body, as well as the commercial interests of the city of London, should be properly represented—(Hear) — and when he said the commercial interests of the city of London, he had a right to speak, because they had reason to imagine that it was the banking an commercial inte rests of London that had at the last moment prevailed upon the , Government to take off this very restric tion.—(Hear, hear.) When the Honourable and Learned Member for Liverpool and his deputation went up to the Noble Lord at the head of th e G overnment and the Chancellor of the Exchequer, they were distinctly told, " There is no hope for you."—(Hear, hear.) Then came another deputation, from Birmingham, headed by the Hon. Member for that borough and his lion. Friend the Member for Warwickshir e . T rue, the Government w ere not quite so obdurate on that occasion. The Noble Lord did not say then, " There is no hope for you;" but the Noble Lord gave a sort of willynilly answer (A laugh)—" I do not say I will, and I do not say I will not."—(Hear, and a laugh.) But still the Government did not relent until Saturday, when the bankers and merchants of Londo n waited upon the Noble Lord, whom he believed they found unaccompanied and unprotected by the Chancellor of the Exchequer. His chaperone was away; and then the suit offered to him by the hankers and merc h ants was something more successful. His Noble Friend at the head of the Government, imi tating the example of Donna Julia in her resistance to the advances of Don Juan. at last conceded:— " A little still she strove, and much repented, And whisp'ring I will ne'er consent,' consented." And so was it with the bankers and merchants of London, who am length prevailed upon the Noble Lord to take off that restriction. But they had the authority of the Chancellor of the Exchequer that no sooner was that restriction taken off than it acted as a charm. The Chancellor of the Exchequer had told the House that he consulted all sorts of persons, and one and all said, " Pray do something for us; pray take care of us; only say you will do so; only look at us, and cast the light of your Whig countenance upon us, and all will be right with us "—(A laugh)—aid said that at last he felt he should not have done his duty unless he had submitted and removed the restrictions. That was done, and in- . stantly tens of thousands of bank-notes came out of tens of thousands of tin boxes; and there was an end of the panic. They found then it was the city of London which at last succeeded in obtaining the removal of the restriction, which restored confidence and did away with the panic. lie asked, therefore, whether it was right that the city of London should be altogether unrepre sented upon this Committee, and it was for that reason that be proposed to insert the name of Mr. Mattison in stead of that of Sir W. Clay. He honoured the ability, the independence, and straightforward course in Parliament ot that Hon. Baronet, but he felt that the Hon. Baronet was so bound hand and foot by the book he had written, that be was not in a condition fairly to exercise his judgment in the Committee on this subject. There wag only one other name to which he had to refer, and that was the name of his Hon. Friend the Member for Oxfordshire. He had, for the reasons he had already stated, proposed to exclude the name of Mr. Ricardo. That Hon. Gentleman, was also a stockbroker , and it was not necessary to represent that interest on the Committee. He did not, moreover, consider that in• terest as one that could be regarded as a national in terest in the country. The lion. Gentleman had, he might say, almost an hereditary right to strong opinions on the subject of the currency. It would never be erased from the recollection ot the country that it was owing to the opinion given by the father of the Hon. Gentleman—an opinion afterwards acknowledged to be mistaken—that the change which was made in 1819 took place. He had therefore proposed, instead of the name of Mr. Ricardo, to insert the name of Mr. Henley, as one of those who were opposed to the principle of the Bank Charter Act of 1844. For the same reason he proposed the name of Mr. Hastie. He did think, that when a great question was discussed. as to how far the Bank Charter Act should be retained or abandoned, it was astonishing, to say the least, and must be unsatisfactory to the country, to see that every lion. Member who voted in any way against the principle of that Bill was carefully excluded ; and, for the reasons he had stated on a former night and reiterated now, he proposed that the names of Mr. Henley and Mr. Hastie should be in serted in the list of the Committee, STATE OF TRADE. MANCHESTER, TUESDAY.—The market hero continues generally in the dull and inanimate condition which it has exhibited for two or three weeks past. There is little demand, except for long-cloths and a few other inferior fabrics, suitable to the Levant trade. These fully maintain their prices, and are now remunerating the manufacturers. In other descriptions of goods, and in yarns generally, there is very little business done, and that generally at slightly declining prices. We hear from various 'planers of arrangements making by millowners to elude the provisions of the last Factories' Regulation Act, by increasing those descrip tions of machinery for which the labour of women and young persons is required, and working the mules and looms, with men only, for thirteen or fourteen hours per day. There is no doubt that the parties who adopt this plan will readily obtain hands; for however much some portion of the workpeople may have clamoured for a Ten flours' Bill, very few indeed of them will accept employment at that rate, if they can procure it at the rate of thirteen or fourteen hours per day. The obvious effect of any extensive adoption of this mode of working will be, to make a ♦ery serious difference in the rate of payment for the labour of those who can and those who cannot legally work beyond ten hours, to the great detriment of the latter, who will not only be pre vented from performing the same quantity of work, but must necessarily be paid a lower price for what they do perform. ROCHDALE, MONDAY.—The demand for flannels continues dull, and the business transacted to-day has been very light. The manufacturers complain of the low prices given for their goods, and this is likely to be the case while the demand for flannels continues so limited. Wool is much the same, both in price and demand, as last week. lIALIFAX,ATUWDAY.—Fewer merchants made their appearance in the Piece-hall to-day than this day week, and but little business has bee❑ done. There seems to be an impression that things will take a favourable turn after Christmas, yet that the improvement , when it does come, will be very gradual. The con tinuance of open weather enabling the export merchants to ship, supports the limited demand for yarn that has been experienced the last few weeks; but in spite of the reduced production, job lots are still thrown upon the market. Prices for known spinnings continue without alteration. Deep bright wool, both hogs and wailers, are thin in the market, and are in request; but manY sacrifices are made under the pressure of necessity. Short wools remain without change. HUDDERSFIELD, TUESDAY.—More sales have been effected to-day, in the Cloth-hall, than last week, but these have been in the lowest description of goods. There is an inclination to purchase the better sort of woollens, but at such sacrifices that manufacturers are unwilling to accept, feeling assured that a few weeks will produce in our affairs a more healthy state. This being what is termed " Second Tuesday," there is a general complaint of the difficulty in obtaining settle ments. LEEDS, TUESDAY.—Our market presents little alters tion from last week, the tendency being, though, to wards improvement.—Manchester Guardian. SCOTTISH CENTRAL AND CALE- DONIAN RAILWAYS. The competition between the Edinburgh and Glasgow and the Caledonian for the possession of the Scottish Central to form an extension ;and conjoined portion of their respective systems of communication, which was so energetically pursued last summer, at length brought the parties into the Court of Session. The Scottish Central shareholders having, in the course of last summer, con sulted the Lord Advocate and the Hon. J. C. Talbot, of the English bar, obtained a clear opinion from those eminent counsel that the agreement entered into by the Caledonian to lease the Central was to all intents null and void, as there was no statutory power to that effect. In those circumstances, and on the farther ground, that they had never been rightly apprised of the nature of the agreement under which their property was to be delivered over to the Caledonian and the English companies, they passed, by a large majority, resolutions holding the same at an end. The Caledonian, on the other hand, main tained that the agreement was valid and effectual, and that, according to its tenor, it bound both parties to unite in ap plying year after year to Parliament to sanction the amal gamation until success crowned their efforts, and that tintu such sanction was obtained the parties were bound to enter into a working agreement to accomplish as far as Possi ble) the objects of their union. Acting on this view the Cale donian applied to the Court of Session to interdict the Scottish Central Company from departing from ththat agreement and relative stipulations by entering ill t° , 6 • new agreement with the Edinb u r g h a nd Gl as gow or other company. After various proceedings in the the first division of the Court of Session, en SaturueY . , last, confirmed the view held by the Caledonian and London and North Western Companies, and continued the interdict. This decision, which has caused a considerable sense . tion among railway companies, will, we understand , h e appealed, as grave doubts are entertained by some of th e gentlemen of the bar as to its soundness, when viewed in connexion with the railway statutes. It is contende" that the Court have here given a sanction to a n a gree ment, which a railway company had no power under th e statute to contract, and that, therefore, if this decision was to be the rule, railway companies may now walk of the statute to which alone they owe their being, 11 . n„. at their own pleasure enter into agre e m en ts involving great public interests.—Caledonian Mercury. ARREST OP A FATHER rOR ROASTING HIS CHILDf —.This man was arrested by head-constable Wright , ° Bandon, on board th e Americ a n p ac k e t- s hip Cambridg; in Liverpool, on Monday last. It appears that sft e, ~ committing the fatal deed he fled from justice to Liv e ' c i pool, where he took a passage on board a vessel ee" e ed the Constitution, for America, but having ascertale t that the Cambridge would sail a t an ear li er d a t e , be g?„ himself transported to her, and p a id 12 s . diff e rence the passage. This vessel was to have taken her deP s r tare from Liverpool on Tuesd a y wee k, b ut from prevalence of bad weather was unable to put to sea; 11 , ° b the head•constable having obt a i ne d i n f ormat i o n will e d led him to suspect that he was i n Li ver p oo l, h e follov e him there and found him on board the Cambride; When he was arrested he expr e s se d g r ea t con trition f or the act he had perpetrated, and said it was caused bi d drunkenness, and that if he was executed he deserve., his fate. He has been committed to the gaol to take Is trial at the assizes.—Cork Reporter. 1 ,,,f Of TILE THREE CONJURORS.—At the bottom 5..--. 0 -t „ the Dolcoath mine (one of the deepest known), l A . " ' fessors Airey, Whewell, and Sedgwick were u t i j c i sirous to try some experiments where they e °l / 14c , swing the pendulum at a great depth, and s'"„ at a considerable elevation, and had their a p p s; ratus lowered to the bottom of the shaft, and a s , spending a portion of two or three days there, it °- 6 packed up in an iron bucket or kibble, with shavieb,„; into which a spark from a miner's candle must ha c k fallen; for, when midway up the shaft, the shavings t°„u fire, the rope was burned, the bucket fell to the bet t° ; : i and the apparatus was d e str o y e d. Th e m i ne rs deele r i i, that Nothing could have burned the rope but the U ; 10 and that the three professors must be magicians. 40 day after there was a violent s torm, an d these reillf as were overheard saying they were quite sure it,w one owing to those men that had been underground; an d 05 0 said it must be the little 'un (Professor Airey), b eef' h. he see'd him standing with his back against the ch ar t yard!—Mining Journa. BIRTHS. On the 29th of October, at Poona, the wife of CaP taill Hinde, of the Bth (King's) Regiment, of a son. On the sth inst., at York House, Thornton-heath, Croyd°ll' the wife of J. G. Maud, Esq., of a daughter. are , On the 12th inst., in Winipole• street, Carendish -g l u the lady of Thomas Land, Esq., of a daughter. On the 13th inst., at the Vicarage, Chattoris, the lady of the Rev. Mr. Gathercole, of a son. On the Gth inst., in Harley-street, Mrs. W. J. Jarvi s, of daughter. On the 10th inst., at Brixton-hill, Surrey, Mrs. ge n / Henderson, of a daughter. DIEB. Lost at sea, in April last, in the H on . East India Company S" steam-ship Cleopatra, of which he wa.s ac ti n g master, Tho rno, third son of Mr. Serjeant Lawes, aged 27. ISII -5 • On the 9th inst., in Baker-street, Portman-square , Corrie, aged 54. On the 10th inst., in South- street, Greenwicb;Mrs. Frances S. Clare Dixon, relict of the late Captain Dixon. On the 7th inst., at Bi rm i ng h am , Abraham Booth, eldest son of the late Mr. Isaac Booth, of Hackney, aged 40. On the 9th inst., Miss Amelia Huson, of Soutliatnrt" place, Easton-square, aged 81. _• _ _ __ -- -_-- t London: Printed and Published by 111URDOSOUN C4 ,7 No. 112, Strand, Printer, at Die Sun Office, No. i„i Strand, in the Precinct of the Savoy, in the county " Middlesex, Thursday, December 16, 164 T. , ,i0,10;1 111