The Sun. — London, England, 1840-04-02 00:00:00

EVEN [N LI- EDITION ANTICORN-LAW DELEGATES. The Delegates again met yesterday at two o'clock. J. B. Smith, Esq., being absent ,for a few days upon urgent business, Mr. JOHNSTON, of Glasgow, was called to the Chair, when tho minutes of the two last days were read and con- firmed. The Secretary, Mr. S. SMITH, s tated that the Petition Committee had made another r e p ort, which was up to the 23d :31,rch. The number of p etitions for total and imme diate repeal now amounted to 487, the signatures were 346,932; against the Co rn laws 492 petitions, signatures 385,859 ; —while those in favour of the bread tax were, petitions 805, signatures, 51,456.—( Laughter.) A great number of letters from all parts of the country were read, clearly showing that the agitation was gaining ground in every quarter, and more especially amongst the farmers and agr i c ultural labourers, and also amongst the clergy. One from Beaminster inclosed a piece of the bread use d by the labouring classes ; it was as black as coal, and 'Bard as atone. Mr. AIeRCYD wished to be allowed to make a few obser vations. In taking up The Sun of that morning, he saw it reported that the Duke of Buckingham said last night in the House of Lords, upon the Earl of Radnor saying the labourers in the parish in which he lived, the agri cultural labourers, bad 9s. per week, " If they were so well off, what cause of complaint had they against the Corn laws ?"—( Hear.) Now, no one, be ho peer or commoner, could object to have his own argument used against him : therefore the Hon. Duke could not object to what he was about to say. He found that, in 1706, the ave ra g e p rice cf wheat was 645. 10d. Now, in the same year, Sir F. Eaden had made a minute and personal inquiry into the expenses of sixty-four families engaged in farming labour ia different parts of the country, which averaged 14s. ld. ...week, while his wages amounted only to Sc. lid. I average a.week. Now, that difference they all knew must be made up from some source —they all knew I that in fact it was made up out of the poor-rates.—(Hear, ' hear.) That system was now abolished ; but the expenses cf the maintenance of a labourer's family had not de creased---all that was profit thrown into the pockets of the landlords. By the showing of the Noble Duke of Buckingham, he had brought forward an argument of the strongest nature in favour of the repeal of the Corn-laws, w hich it would be imp ossible for him to explain away.— ( Hear, bear.) He had for g ot to state the fact, that 'wheat was now six shillings dearer than it was in 1796, which made his argument the stronger. He thought that it clearly appeared that our agricultural labourers could not be so satisfied as the Duke of Bucking ' ham supposed. He thought that all that would be neces sary was that they should enlighten the labouring classes on the real circumstances of their present position.— ( Hear, hear.) Mr. COBDEN said that there was a very important consequence to be drawn from the remarks of the Duke of • Buckingham, and that that remark would afford them a text - to dwell on fur a long time. People had hitherto been anxious to ascertain who were the parties who benefited by the present Corn-laws, and what was the division of the spoil —for spoil there certainly must have been. They know that by the present system a vast deal of money had been taken out of the pockets of somebody, and put into the pockets of some one else.—( Hear, hear.) But no one had yet been able to determine what were the relative profits of the landlord, the farmer, and the labourer, They had now, for the first time, :he means of forming a judgment on the subject from a fact admitted by one who was a landlord himself. It appeared that the agricultural labourer was to be content with 90. A week, while the best Essex wheat was selling at 82s. a (patter. !he Gentleman who preceded him had given them a statement of the relative amount of wages i received at present and forty years ago. T he condition of labourers had not improved since the last-mentioned pe riod, and they should see if the rent of landlords had also remained unchanged. Was it not well known, however, that rent had doubled and more than doubled within the period to which he had referred.—( Hear, hear.) He thought, therefore, that it would be easy to see who were the parties who alone had shared in the ;derider which was derived from those laws which it was /heir object to repeal.—(Hear, hear.) The Chairman of the Salford Poor-law Union bad told him that the charge of maintaining each of the poor in his workhouse amounted to two shillings and three pence per week. 1 , . bad, however, been ascertained that the average of each family in this country was four persons and a half ; so that the condition of a working man receiving 93. a week was in reality something worse than the paupers of a work aneae._( Hear, hear.) He should repeat, that he thought the observation of the Duke of Buckingham a valuable one, and that they could make use of it for the future. Mr. SMITH said that there were parts of the country in ; i which the condition of the labourers was much worse than ureter the old Poor-law, but in which, however, land had risen, since the change in that law, from 251 to 601. an acre. Mr. JONES =aid that he thought it should go forth to the country that it been asserted that labourers should remain satisfied with 9s. a week. —( Hear, hear.) In the county I of. is Derby he hid reason to know that the costs of main- i taming e i risoners in the county gaol amounted to 2s. 3d. a e cox, and he believed that their maintenance at present cots 3•!. a week. Those labourers, therefore, who, in the ! ()Onion ~f the Duke of Buckingham. had such reason to t he content were, in reality, worse off than the prisoners of the Derby gaol.—(Hear, hear.) Mr. limos. of Leicester, said that he wished to state a f w facts 8,5 the results of the Corn-laws on the town from chink he came. That town contained about 50,000 in- Liso , itents, and one-fourth of that number were now sub sisting on charity.—( Hear, hear, hear.) A sub aertp-on of 4.0001. or 5,000/. had been lately raised f, r the relief of the distressed cf the tcwn, but he believed ilia. rush 1018 almost exhausted, and he could rot say how a large portion of the inhabitants of Leicester would henceforward be enabled to live. The labourers of Lei -1 crater had until now been employed during a great part of ?he year in working for the American market. From that market, however, there was now no demand, and though ithe Americans owed us Lirge sums they were Fre venxil by the Corn-last's from paying those sums '. out of the corn of their abundant harvest last year.—( Hear, Lea , .) The population of Leicester had not taken on the i Corn law question till of late, and they had now a Work -1 ing Man's Anti-Corn-law Association which comprised more than 1,000 persons.— ( Hear, hear.) He thought after the termination of their efforts as an Anti-Corn-law I League they should address themselves to the promotion 1 of civil and religious liberty, the obtaining of household !I suffrage_( Hear)—vote by ballot, the reduction of the pro pry quatitication of Members of Parliament, and the pro motion of the greatest happiness of the greatest number.— ( Hear.) He trusted they would allow him, as a private meeser of society, and as a political character in Leicester, the liberty to recommend this course, and by so doing, he thought they would not clash with the principle or design of the association. This lie proposed to do himself, andhe recommended other gentlemen to do the same in their re spective localities. He thought if they returned home and adopted this course, they would attach to them all Vex better part of the working classes of the country,without whom it would be ne use for them to go year after year to the Legislature. Since, then, they would feel assured they did not go there as manufacturers for the promotion of their individual interest, but were actuated by a desire for !be advancement of society, and the diffusion of li,- berty—he thought he should not discharge his duty if he did net express his gratitude to the men of* Man cneater for the obligations they were under to them. He was too old a politician not to know the nd y.oitage of attendiag to their advice, which he earnestly hoped would be done, on this important business. Mr. STreets said he should be sorry to say anything that would take away the effect of the recommendation of the last speaker, being one of those who, al though satisfied with the ground they had made, Icerifeased he had little hoped to see a change effected by the House of Commons as at present constituted. He eaine before them in consequence ef having that morning received a letter from a friend at Stockport, ' containing some valuable statistics relating to dear bread, which: he would read to the meeting. There were, no doubt, gentlemen who differed from them respecting the Corn-laws, in conecquence of their own interests, but who Iwould, nevertheless, be sorry to he implicated in starving their fellow-subjects. That this was the effect of the Corn-laws, he thought was clearly shown by the 2d and ISI Tables He would, however, allude, first of all, to \ Table No 1., which was— Statement showing the proportion of the Wages of the Country-Labourer to the price of Corn :—; ADRN-LA NV DELEGATES. \in addition to this a great many actually perished , to which ' He won id lei --+-- !own a great many were now progressing. He knew from his I they should ; u own experience in the town of Birmingham that this was Mr. LEES, ales again met yesterday at two o' clock. the fact. He did not mean to say they were entirely without that Mr. Gr h, Esq., being absent for, a few days pon SS, food, but the quantity and quality was such that the least \ t s h o e me Ho p u a s r e ts o accident destroyed them. That gentleman from Leicester c roe. of Glasgow, was called to the Chair, im o m dy e . cliate c had said the distress there was occasioned by the or , n- t ,utes of the two last days were read* and con laws, and this was their effect in Birmingham as Mr. Gias this moment there were from 200,0001. to 300,00.0/ owing Mr S. qMITII stated that the Petitionsaid the agricul tart', . a- , •and the Americans the to Birmingham from America ; ad made another report, which was up to _ well. At b The number of petitions for total and imme- they were willing to discharge it at once, 'f the Corn-laws p h o ß r r tr w c a e s to were repealed,and they were allowed e. thaw imaginq now amounted to 487, the signatures were ainst the Corn laws 492 petitions, signaturescharge of it ; but otherwiseflour in d t i h s Mr. LEE; bile those in favour of the bread tax were,they wer e to un s : a bi d e debt, which they acknowledgel.-( Hear. ) , signatures, 51,456.-( Laughter.) Mr. AVIS, of Staley-bridge, ey- r , House of Lords, in under pres; DAvls, S 1 b idge said that the Duke of say that mu Richmond last night intimated in the ember of letters from all parts of the country early showing that the agitatiois was gaining hanswerehad deceived the people in order to obtain petitions ; Mr. RAM to the eloquent appeal of the Earl of Radnor, that tention to it rery quarter, and more especially amongst the agricultural labourers, and also amongst the his particular localities were 12s. a-week. better exam the d y kesides that, he had stated that the wages of the work- here some t from Bedminster inclosed a piece of the bread rounditigctizsebslo Duke ha also attempted to turn the address Mr. S. l labouring classes ; it was as black as coal, and That e. of the Earl of Radno r into ridicule, by stating that they ing to the I DYD wished to be allowed to make a few obser- Put the ques tion to the peop i taking up The Sun of that morning, he saw le as one of cheap bread , but Mr. J. P had told them that q uestion was, whether they Mr. RA that the Duke of Buckingham said last night on if they ouldhave cheap bread and no em p lo y ment, or dear bread would hops eof Lords, uon the Earl of Radnor saying and good wages, they wou ld not be so willing to After a p g p e titions. He had also attacked the Noble were intro( rs in the parish in which he lived, the agri - E ig a a rl's manly support of the repeal of the Corn- Joseph I )urers, bad 9s, per week, " If they were so well laws, by stating that It was im p ossible the condition of the six miles b use of complaint had they against the Corn labourers could be what had been represented when the time last ym fear.) Now, no one, be ho peer or commoner, state of the Savings' Banks was looked to. He called beer; at of to have his own argument used against him : these things to the attention of the Meeting, in order that general rat e Hon. Duke could not object to what he was means might be taken to answer such unfounded assertions. the gentle He found that, in 1706, the average price Mr. S. SMIITII said that the assertions had been answered worked ab a 645. 10d. Now, in the same year, Sir F . by Mr. Waklcy, who had c learl y p roved that it was not tact There we made a minute and p er sonal inquiry into t he working men who placed their mone y in the Savin g s ' Banks. hamshire. sixty-four families engaged in farming labour Mr. LEES wished to know what part of the count r y the the next parts of the country, which aver a g ed 14s. 1d Duke of Richmond spoke of when he said the wages 20 y ears mile his wages amounted on l y to Sc. 111.1 were 12s. work for a week. Now, that diffe rence they a Mr. GREG said that the wages in the North Riding of paid very I be made up from some source -they all knew Yorkshire were fully that amount ; and in some parts ne ar would rem it was made up out of the poor-rates.-(Hear, the Railroad they had more than that. fair avers at system was now abolished ; but the expenses Mr. LIVESEY had been on the Board of Guardians atPreston, since Octc atenance of a labourer's family had not de and the lowest statement ever made of keeping the paupers his second l that was profit thrown into the pockets of was 2s. 4d. a head per week. He would suggest to the ages were .ds. By the showing of the Noble Duke of League, that they should open a depot at Manchester, to wife could ri, he had brought forward an argument of the exhibit first the bread eaten by labourers in different parts The tilde iture in favour of the repeal of the Corn-laws, of the country, in order that that bread might be circu- worked mold be impossible for him to explain away.- fated over the manufacturing districts, where they were earned si ar.) He had forgot to state the fact, anxious to produce agitation. He would suggest also, school, a was now six shillings dearer than it r 96, . that the garments and bed-clothes used b y the labourer -when y t that it clearly app which made hise argument the strongerared that our agricultural should also be sent to the depo t. This would show to 4s. a-v the wretched condition of the people with respect teen to tv :ould not be so satisfied as the Duke of Bucking to clothing and bedding, and would more deeply impress grown wm sod. He thought that all that would be feces- uon all the necessity of something b ein g done to alleviate Those WE sat they should enlighten the labouring classes it p . The . Corn-law, in his opinion, was the landlords' trade anything cal circumstances of their present position.- union ; they had determined to claim exclusively the mo. pleased, 1 ' 'r. D ) l3 N said that there was a very important P no poly of supplying the country w ith bread, and althou g h . paid 9s. ,13 a great e deal was said against phy sical force, he had na parish tm an to be drawn from the remarks of the Duke of doubt if an attempt was made by the people to trade with bourers cm, and that that remark would afford them a text other countries, they would have the Excise-officers at not eat fora longtime. People had hitherto been anxious their ports, and physical force would be used to prevent parish. ,in who were the parties who benefited by the bread being brought into this country.-(Cheers.) He tree in hi arm-laces, and what was the division of the spoil thought the Executive Committee ought to be prepared them any I there certainly must have been. They know with a spirited address to the country, meeting every proves tl ,a present system a vast deal of money had been argument in print against them. That should be rent at f of the pockets of somebody, and put into the done as early as possible, the probability being that in two expects f if some one else.-( Hear, hear.) But no or three days many of their friends would have left town. gives. yet been able to determine what were the The first thing in that address should be the money neces- principal wefts of the landlord, the farmer, and the sary to enable them to carry on the great work ; the next they live They had now, for the first time, the appointment of lecturers ; the circulating of not go pc of forming a judgment on the subject from a their publications. But there was one point which no oppor itted by one who was a landlord himself. It had not been sufficiently dwelt upon, which was have no that the agricultural labourer was to be content the establishment of Ant i- Corn-law Associations. parishes week, while the best Essex wheat was selling at Unless they could persuade the great mass of the people men co arter. ihe Gentleman who preceded him had to join them in their movement their cause would never ing beet ni a statement of the relative amount of wages succeed. He had been fortunate enough to establish an apply to at pr sent and forty years ago. The condition Association in Preston, and he expected if Mr. Villiers' relief. :rs had not improved since the last-mentioned pc motion should be negatived in the House of Commons, when it I they should see if the rent of landlords that there would be such a movement in Preston on the tural lal remained unchanged. Was it not well known, part of the working classes as had not been witnessed rative s , that rent had doubled and more than doubled even under the reign of Chartism.-(hear, hear, hear.) then, tt se period to which he had referred.-( Hear, There ought to be demonstrations made throughout labour He thought, therefore, that it would be easy to the country-they had all heard of the Kendal dinner , and the hall were the parties who alone had shared in the of the number of petitions against the Corn-laws that had have I which was derived from those laws which it was resulted from that demonstration. There was no cause in since C ect to repeal.-(Hear, hear.) The Chairman of which he felt so great an interest as the cause in which he -the e ord Poor-law Union bad told him that the charge i was then engaged.-( Hear.) It was with him a question the la staining each of tl:c poor in his workhouse l of humanity.-( Hear.) Not being engaged in trade he food-t d to two shillings and three pence per week,e did no; feel the pressure of those difficulties in the same than th lowever, been ascertained that the average of cacti way as the manufacturers did, but he had been compelled are afc o thi country was four persons and a half ; so to visit such a scene of misery, poverty, and wretchedness, there it condition of a working man receiving 9s. a week m-ality somtg worse than the paupers of a work- that he felt himself bound by every Christian principle to the bre -( Hear, her.)ea He should repeat, that he thought join the League, and do all he could to obtain the repeal of should the iniquitous Corn-laws.- ( Cheers, ) He had delivered additi o :rvation of the Duke of Buckingham a valuable 1 that they cvuld make use of it for the future. a few lectures in his own neighbourhood on the subject, which and he was ready to act on the hint thrown out by they ar IMITH said that there were parts of the country in Mr. Prentice yesterday, namely, that besides subscribing bushel. is condition of the labourers was much worse than ah to the funds of the Leagee, they ought to have lectures get c old Poor-law, but in which, however, land had delivered in every locality, He pledged himself that he butter, ,tie the change in that law, from 23/ to 601. an acre. ONES said that he thought it should go forth to the , would agitate , every town in North Lancashire, and would 1833 li visit it at his own expense. (Cheers.) Less than that now ; that it been asserted that labourers should remain with 9s. a week. -( Hear, hear.) In the county Ihe should not conaider his duty as a Christian.-(Cheers. ) as che sy he had reason te know that the costs of main- The DELEGATE from CIIORLEY stated that a gentleman then al 1 from Huntingdon, who had come up with some Corn-law time tl prisoners in the county gaol amounted to 2s. 3d. a i nd he believed that their maintenance at present petitions, had told him this mornin that about five years son be i ago the value of land in that neighbourhood was only 301. again i a a week. Those labourers, therefore, who, in the t of or 401. an acre that latterly it had got up to 501 . or 601., eff sin of the Duke of Buckingham, had such reason to and that there was a farm of seventy acres, for which he bccatu rat were, in reality, worse off than the prisoners had bid 5,000 t ~, but that offer was refused, and that a few Ido n rhy gaol.-(Hear, hear.) months a g o it was put up to public auction and sold for before Bolos. of Leicester, said that he wished to state a i 6,0001. or 7 0001 . which was nearly 100/. an acre. That with :t S 115 the results of the Corn-laws on the town from \ tact showed how * the Corn-laws operated.-(Hear.) ' their he came. That town contained about 50,000 in- Mr. lisirwou'ru observed that it had been several times midd nts, and one-fourth of that number were now sub- I mentioned in that room that considerable subscriptions petit on charity.-( Hear, hear, hear.) A sub- I were going on in the manufacturing towns where great die. thin; on of 4.000/. or 5,0001. had been lately raised trers existed. It had been stated that about 4,0001. or , trict e t here almost exhausted, and he could rot say f of the distressed cf the sewn, but he believed : , 5 ; 000/. h I had been raised in Leicester, that similar sums had Fol. 10as I)°° ' been raised in Manchester and Bolton for the same bent:- they , e , portion of the inhabitants of Leicester would i nevolent object. It would be of the greatest importance .very onwardbe enabled to live. The labourers of Lei- Ito know correctly the whole amount that had been raised hen( had until now been employed during a great part of in different towns to relieve the exist in g distress, because ceca ar in working for the American market. From that. , , it would be much better that the Co r n - la w Lea g ue should mac t, however, there was now no demand, and though j have that amount so as to prevent the possibility of a re- plot' kaiericans owed us large sums they were p re- eurreece of those evils, than, after they had happened, to whom I by the Corn-lases from paying those " ms apple only a temporary cum-( Hear. ) The evils and rem( the corn of their abundant harvest last year.-( hear, ;distress in manufacturing districts arose from the pernicious therm The population of Leicester had not taken up the ' operation of the Corn-laws, and it would not be difficult to run law question till of late, and they had now a Work- prove that.- hear, hear.) If there was no Cern-law, a fes fin's Anti-Corn-law Association which comprised 1 there would be cheap bread-if there was cheap bread, min than 1,000 perems.- (Hear, hear.) He thought I torery labourer throughout the country would purchase rents he termination of their efforts as an Anti-Corn-law their manufactures, and then there woui dbe ample work pole`• le they should address themselves to the promotion and labour for all the working classes.-( Hear, hear.) hour 1 and religious liberty, the obtaining of household He should also very much like to know what had been the B, e-( Hear)-vote by ballot, the reduction of the pro amount of increase of local taxation in - the shape of pa- relic qualification of Members of Parliament, and the pro rechial relief, because whatever the amount of that taxa- uncle m ef the greatest heppiness of the greatest number.- lion had been, it was merely compensating for the injua. new a ) He trusted they would allow him, as a private tice that had been dune to the poop) .-(Hear, hear.) '' men er of society, and as a political character in Leicester, The CHAIRMAN observed, that if those suggestions were larni serty to recommend this course, and by so doing, he made to the Executive Committee they would be duly tho.i.. ht they would not clash with the principle or design attended to. with association. This lie proposed to do himself, andho Mr. SIDNEY SMITH had received a letter from an frier mended other gentlemen to do the same in their re- agr i cu lt ura l labourer in Essex, who stated that be paid Lan ive localities. Ile thought if they returned home and yearly 11. 4s. for poor rates. He also begged to observe, He ed this course, they would attach to them all that in 1750 the gallon of wheat cost 4s. 5d., and that the yeas otter part of the working ceases of the couetry,without poor-rates for all England amounted to 692,0001. In hav , n it would be in use for them to go year after year 1815 the gallon of wheat cost 12s. Bd., and then the my Le Legislature. Since, then, they would feel assured poor-rate amounted to 6,590,C00/ It was worthy of note sort did not go there as manufacturers for the promotion seir individual interest, but were actuated by a desire that France, as well as England, was under acorn -law, to t and the result was the same there as here-that the menu- hiri !lie advancement of society, and the diffusion of li e-he thought he should not discharge his duty if he facturing population were in the utmost distress. And so the far from the working it being better off, they were by pla net express his gratitude to the men of Man- thousands out of employ. ter for the obligations . they were under to to. He He was too old a politician not to know tae ad- Mr. L. HEYWO:ITII wished to add that sufficient atter:- mu .ge of attendiag to their advice, which he earnestly lion had not been paid to the positive, in addition to the cm negative advantages of a repeal of the ' Corn-laws, Eng- Be etc would be done, on this important business. land was well fitted to become not only the emporium of agt Ir. Seueeit said he should be sorry to say anything manufsctures, but of trade-(Hear, hear)-and if the no would take away the effect of the recommendation Corn-laws were repealed might well become the depot of git the last speaker, being one of those who, al 1 - corn for the world.-( Hear, hear.) ;h satisfied with the ground they had made, rei The Mayor of CARLISLE concurred in believing that the sa' feesed he had little hoped to see a change effected positive advantage of the repeal would be immense. He 10 the House of Commons as at present constituted. was firmly persuaded that the result would be such an in- he came before them in consequence ef having that crease in the demaed for labour, as to afford employment an -ring received a letter from a friend at Stockport, to all the unemployed labourers not only in England but gc wining, some valuable statistics relating to dear bread, Ireland.-( Cheers.) The towns would increase with time ril cif he would read to the meeting. There were, no augmentation and improvement of the population. And of to Ile. gentlemen who differed from them respecting the that what would be the first effect? Beyond all doubt, the w re-laws, in conecquence of their own interests, but who land round the towns would gradually be engrossed for ald, nevertheless, be sorry to he implicated in starving building, and for gardens, &c. Thus there would be a hi it fellow-subjects. Tliat this was the effect of the greater demand for land, its value would increase, and hi rn-laws, he thought was clearly shown by the 2d and perhaps of all classes the landlords would benefit most by to Tables He would, however, allude, first of all, to the repeal.-( Cheers. ) of ale No 1., which was- Mr. GREG was about to observe upon some fallacies he in cement showing the proportion of the Wages of the said he had seen reported of the speeches made last night et Country-Labourer to the price of Corn :-; in the House of Lords, by the Duke of Richmond, when A Periods. 1 Weekly pay. Wheat. i Wages in Wheat. Mr. PRENTICE interrupted, and suggested that the agii- 81 to 1752 m 1... 1770 7 6 s. ii. 1 42 6 1 pints. 90 cultu mr r . al l ua a o bou oK r E er ( s o b f e m e a a n ll e e h d e6 i t r e i. r76 ( a Hea ida r, f h ri e c a n r d .) an important statement to make, and he introduc ed - of of his had th 30 0 102 10 ... 1790 8 0 51 2 80 Mr. NORTON (of Lincoln) , who said he , though not a w 15 ... 1799 9 0 \7O 3 65 Delegate, came to offer his mite t o the g ood cause maa ... 1808 \ 86 8 60 ( Cheers) -and he wished to make 11 0 this simple statement. la He was in trade, in a large agricultural district. In 1835, a had not got the last tables, but there had since and he had no doubt that the wages auction si been a ereet at the lowest prices, his returns in a population of four- tl bourer were less than 50 pints at the esent o • " f the teen thousand had increased seven thousand pounds. !vile the landed proprietor received moment, The landowners had stated as an illustration of the benefit d .cond table was- . double rent. The of high prices, that it gave additional wages to the tv l i a th . e a bourer, thereby enabling him to expend more money dd. I 'able of the Mortality in Seven of the Manufacturing the tradesman, and that these high prices became an a 1- districts in England, at four different pe r i o d s, w i t h a las, tional stimulus to trade. Yet, for the last two years, he . Average Price of Wheat at each of those periods.-(From had found the greatest difficulty in keeping up his returns o Barton's Essays on the Condition of the Labouring to what they were in 1835, and in Manchester goods and ' Clauses.") manufactured goods of that description, he could not force . • 'Excess of Deaths ------------------- a sale even at a sacrifice of 40 per cent., which proved 1 Average Price above the Number that the labouring classes were not able to afford them- Average Wheat , Deaths. in the Year 1804, Data. selves these cornforts, more especially in clothing. which per Quarter. when Wheat was they had been able to purchase in 1835. Ho was k L e i epe ol r n s s i b n ir tt at 60s.perQuarter. engaged in a small wholesale business, and had ..---- -----_- ---- ________ travelledLincolnshire, through Huntingdonshire, Cambridgeshire, d. and Norfolk agricultural , districts and h e of had those asked counties s, how lBol 113 3 55,965 11,171 much they to o k o f a Saturday night now, as compare d 1804 60 1 44,794 with what they took three or four years ago. Saturday night was the great market 1807 73 3 48,108 3,314 1810 106 '2 54,564 10,070 nightto thisqueasgtiroicriu - bourers, as they received th • of the TABLE 111. night, and the answer returned Saturday their wages on the statement of the Total Number of Burials within the Bills o e f e Saturday night, they now only.to_okSh w ltu ag r , al th l la bourers, wuere, four years ago, they took four r o e r e five shillings shillings or threeof a Mortality, as Reported in the Official Lists of each of th and sixpence. The present high prices, also, had created Four Years as under, with the Average Price of Wheat in each of those Years, a degree of speculation in the taking of land, of which „ moor of Excess of Burials above those of those who resided in manufacturing districts could have b Average Price , a aboutlittle idea.. He knew a person at Dover who had u a t Date of Wheat per \ Quarter. s. d. Buri a l s , the was y a e t ar 18 . 04, when Wheat per Quarter. small efostuarteyoeafrafoaugrtoe;enheacerxeps,ouwdheidchabwoasut b le u t l. for up 04111. it l 0 i s a . 1801 118 3 19,374(1aying it, and then with some difficulty he let it for 101. ; 1604 i 60 1 17,038 2,336 since that be had expended 2001. upon the same property, 16071 73 3 18,334 and it was rece ntl y let b y com p etition for 501. a y e ar , and lalo 106 2 19 ; 893 1,296 an increase in popula -2,835 the e is y was not an isolated fact. He was a member of the It would be slid probably them was • - Corporation of Lincoln, and in several instances in which had let their lands the rentals had been nearly trebled. lion, but this effect was not derived from that source, but, These lands were ~ . let by tender, and the difference in price P of bread.--( Hear.) the effect of the offered by those wishing to take land was immense. If he Mr. BOCLTBEE said the gentleman from Leicester important went to Manchester to purchase cotton goods, he con_ said that one-fourth of the population of that Pl ace cester had sidered 6d. profit upon 255. a very object, living on charity. He did not know what was the proper_byper acre for the same land. Now den in Birmingham, but he could state that in that town but in letting theirlan3d3ss.tender, Seine persons oared 235. per acre, and others . three thousand six hundred persons were in part sup_ di;fearge rin difference l o t f u r s i o s t s must be very bad calculators to make a per cent. in their calculations .-( Cheers.) ported by the poor rates; but that was not the The CHAIRMAN said that Mr. Greg had been exposing extent of the evil. When men were out of work they were some of the fallacies of the Lords in the debate of last obliged to get into debt to the shopkeepers; when these re- night, and that Mr. Prentice bad moved that an agricul used to tiust them longer they were obliged to pawn, and tural labourer who was in attendance should be examined He would leave it to the Delegates to decide what course they should adopt. Mr. LEES, of Saddleworth, thought it was of importance that Mr. Greg should be heard, because the statements in the House of Lords were looked up to with attention in some parts of the country, and it was important to give an immediate contradiction to fallacies emanating from that body. Mr. GIBSON thought it was of more importance to hear the agricultural labourers-it was certainly of great im portance to refute fallacies, but he did not believe that there was quite such respect paid to hereditary wisdom as was imagined. Mr. LEES had been misunderstood ; he did not mean to say that much respect was paid to hereditary wisdom, but unuer present circumstances they were obliged to pay at tention to it. I . Mr. RAWSON thought that as the labourers had been here some time, and were anxious to go home, they had better examine the labourers. Mr. S. SMITH wished to call the attention of the meet ing to the motion of Mr. Livesey. Mr. J. HOLFORD, of Halifax, seconded the motion. Mr. RAWSON thought it was premature; he himself would hope to the last hour. • After a short conversation, the agricultural labourers were introduced, and examined by Mr. Livesey. Joseph Field, a farm labourer, from Buckinghamshire, six miles below Aylesbury. During the hay and harvest time last year his wages were 103. a-week and two pints of beer; at other times he had 9s. only. That was about the general rate of wages in his neighbourhood. The best of the gentlemen gave 10s. a-week to those servants who worked about the cattle, and so on ; the others got Bs. There were three classes of labourers in Bucking hamshire. Elderly people got from Qs. to Bs. ; the next class were the young men, from 16 to 20 years of age ; many of them did not get a day's work for a month, but when they were in work, they were paid very low wages. A man of 30, in the prime of life, would receive from Bs. to 10s. a week ; 9s. was a very fair average. His age was 67. He had not worked since October, being incapable. His wife was 37. She was his second wife. They had six children, their respective ages were 15, 12, 10, 7, 21 .5. years, and 7 weeks old. His wife could nut earn anything after attending to the family. The eldest daughter earned about ls, a week. She worked at the lace trade. The next two girls earned sixpence a week each. He kept them both at school, for which they paid 3d. per week each. -when young people are in work they get from 2s. 6d. to 4s. a-week-by young people, means people from six teen to twenty years of age-95. a-week are given to full grown working men, because in general they have families. Those wages were given to them out of pity rather than anything else. Farmers might pay them less if they pleased, labourers are so abundant. Those who are now paid 9s. might be got at 6s. or 7s. Lives in the next parish to the Duke of Buckingham's estate. La bourers on the Duke of Buckingham's estate arc not exactly in the same condition as in his parish. The Duke of Buckingham lets people live rent free in his cottages, and allows them fuel ; he does not give them anything to eat-his allowing them to live rent free proves they are too poor to pay rent ; his cottages would rent at from Is. to 15d. a week; does not know what he expects from them in return for the gratuity which he gives. Young men, when they can get no work, live principally on their friends-v,hen they have no friends they live as they can, or they go about poaching ; all do not go poaching, but some bad characters-such persons have no opportunity of drinking-they go poaching because they have no other means to live. There arc two persons in his parish who arc now in gaol for felony. Believes these young m en committed felony, and got into the habit of poach ing' because they had oot bread to cat. If they. were to apply to the Board of Guardians they would be refused all relief. There is more poaching when bread is dear than when it is cheap. Remembers what the state of agricul tural labourers was forty years ago. Knows their compa rative state then and now. They were in general better then, though some might have been worse. The wages of labour 40 years ago was about 9s. ; they paid 14d. then for the half-peck loaf ; the 41b. loaf now cost Sitd. it would then have been got for about 7d., has not been able to week since October last-has 4s. and six loaves from the parish -the entire is worth about 75.-he has had it all only for the last seven weeks-bread and potatoes were his feed-the bread he gets is very fair bread-it is not better than the bread of those who get no parochial relief-there are a few with large families who eat barley bread, but there is hardly any barley in his part of the country now the bread he gets from the workhouse is about the same he should buy for himself-buys about four loaves a week in addition to what he gets from the workhouse, which cost about 2s. 4d -grows his own potatoes they are all gone now-they coat at present Is. lod. a bushel. His family could eat about a bushel a week-they get aboat a pound of meat a week-they get no milk, nor butter, nor cheese-they pay 7d, a pound for the meat. In 1835 labourers were a good deal better off than they arc now ; they got the same pay, and bread was Dearly twice as cheap. Does not think there was as much poaching then as now. The two men in prison had n o t work at th'e time they committed the felony ; one of them was in pri sail before-he came out, got no work, and was committed again in about a week or ten days. Labourers are worse off since the New Poor-law than they were before-it was because he was diseased that he received out-of-door relief. I do net very often buy clothes, what I have got I had before I was a pauper. There are able-bodied labourers, with four or five children, near me, living entirely by their own e arnings. They arc not well clad, but very middling. The children have g enerally g ot shoes and petticoats ; they work at the lace trade and ;, ; ct some things that way. We have some advantages in our dis tricts over districts purely agricultural, hut still the people are out of employment ; can scarcely get meat ; they also want clothes. The shopkeepers complain very much. There is very little said in cur neighbour hood about Corn-laws. People say the depression is cccasioned by the high price of bread, but they do not know much about the nature of it. I believe if bread were cheap people would be better off. We always were better off when (bread was cheaper-we always got more food. I remember in 1835 and 1836, when bread was cheap there was little land abandoned by the farmers and run wild-they grazed it. A labourer could get a few poles or an acre then if he applied for it, but he cannot get it now. The land I raised the potatoes on I rented at ed. a pole, or 2s. Sd. a chain-there aro 160 poles in an acre. There is no other trade in the neighs bourhood than the lace trade. By DELEGATES-Very few able-bodied men have been relieved by the pcor-rates since the new laws. They were under the old when they had no work, but not under the new. Our farmers employ most of the able-bodied men now. There are no able-bodied men with families out of work now, only ycur.g men, and those who had only wives. There are able-bodied men, without families, who have no work. They live on their friends, and them that have no friends go out at nights. Land lets at 15s. to 41. an acre. I took mine of a farmer. Ho ploughed it for me. I don't know whether, forty years ago, it was the practice of the labouring man to have credit from the shopkeepers. I always paid for my clothes then when I got them. Very few farm servants live in the houses now. They give credit to those in the houses for twelve months, and they pay at hiring or harvest time. There is no Savings' Bank in the parish. I should not think there was any saving in our place. There are two clubs which a good many belong to. If there was a Saving Bank they would riot lay much money by ; they have not the opportunity. I buy coal for firing. I had a son working for the Duke of Buckingham last year; he is about twenty-one , ;ears of age. He gave him twenty-pence a-day. He had STATE OF TRADE. - There con tinues to be a tin house beside. I do not know what h e very fair demand for yarn, and a considerable amount of busi baslenofot gives his own labourers. He lets all his labourers live ness seas done yesterday, but without any advancedand with h f prices. rent rent free. I know nothing of the wages he gives. I can For goods thenr skirtings suitable nothing of that ; but what he gave my son, which was for the so ondifaono good, and, in whicl - i ( ti p er i : r •i l s still s a fair business doing, the market did not exhibit 10s. a week, and nothing else. I don't think a man with much animation. Still there is a more cheerful feeling in the his wife, arid three or four children, could live on 10s. a market than existed a few weeks ago, and a pretty general im week ; he might exist, but not live. Those tbat did not itre3iches ssilonnthattebr Guardian.othgools and yarn have seen their lowest point. get work went among their friends ; others lived on cha rity ; and some went a-begging. The Union had enough DEATH OCCASIONED BY EXHALATION.- to do to support men with families, without supporting those A medical journal contains a notice of a ease in which four ho who were nutria:tied. dies had been placed in a tomb or cemetery, into which it was By Mr. S. SMITH-Before he got out-door relief he discovered that water had penetrated. Two sextons undertook had five children to keep, together with his wife and to remove the water and the dead bodies. From the corn himself. Had not always a bellyful ;he often had inencement they were struck by the foetid odour which cx to leave off before he had enough, and his children very haled from the water, but continued to work. '1 hey had often cried to him for more bread. That was not the case already removed a large quantity of water and two coffins, in 1835, when bread was cheaper, but he had not so many when, in attemptingete duid rs to seithird, the their feet slipped, and the remainder a violently agitated by children then. He got the same wages forty years ago. One of themen f h fell immediate lylifeless. His comrade made At that time he paid for the half-peck loaf, which weighed several attempts to raise him, but on the third effort also fell, Sib. I toe., Is. 2d., and now he gave Sid. for a 41b. loaf. do rived soon arrived , and the men were withdrawn from the rived of co sciousness, upon the body of his fellow -labourer. -( Cheers.) At that time it was the general practice for Ass the poor people in his parish to get land for the culti va t ion tomb. The first was dead. The second recoveeed; but for a of potatoes, but they could not get it now because it was month afterwards he suffered from considerable difficulty of wanted to grow wheat. breathing and weakness of the legs. -The Lady Jane left By a DELEGATE-Got no advantage now from common land. THE WHALE SHIPS. the extraL Lord Gambier. b o i f e r i.l . e wEhaacrh this po r t on another Arctic voyage last week, and was followed By Mr. LIVESEY-Wages were about the same before of yesterdaythese vesselsb yth the areG r s c u n p ‘ p i l l i l e e d ß y y t h an a d n the Poor-law passed as they were now ? By a DELEGATE-The poor-rate had lowered a great deal since the Poor-law came into operation. It was theimproved By the number Grener this ) ear, opinion of the labourers that the Poor-law had done them town, is the main cause of iucrea g • sin mvements Mr. Greene; a great deal of harm ; and they based that opinion on their Fu have ver materially in e refusing to relieve the able.bodied paupers. has introduced into these implements . y . . goonad harpoon , gu e n rn s g . anyn asd, Thed as that manufactured success th e etnhdei te r im p A l e r . use \v .of the e By Mr. S. Siairit-The work that his son did for the 'erious and dangerous em- Duke of Buckingham was draining, which was work of a has hitherto been considered a very particular kind.will considerably ex dition, whichof ,•f we mistake not, . . , By Mr. Rawsost-Years back the labouring man who rties concerned in it. W e heartile creas e d th e probabilities of sneceiashs • besides giving to what had a wife and six children, and who got 7s. or Sc. a wish that eenergies of all aproprietors of those ships may be re week, had relief from the parish, but now they got no warded . the spirited whales.- Tyne Pilot. more wages, and had no relief. with abundance of p e l i o te ym th ent, the character of a new and romantic sporting expe- INCEND Mr. BEAN wished to observe that their Legislators didmorning week, some evil disposed er.. night or not appear to make it their business to inquire into the son attemeutl e ) d • on Friday' Y to the steam-boat, Mary, of this place, th state of the people ; and the Duke of Buckingham, who then lying and displaced the machinery, to sit s e et Mr:. Gales's boat-yard ; but owing to a was the champion of the landed interest, a pp eare d equally confined struatmosphere in the vessel's hold,dit 1 _e of the k a way some iron rods, in to oppress the agricultural labourer. Th e mus h room ar i se jury was done. The miscreants also too . tocracy, who had recently risen up, such as Lord Ash- lARIsNI AT WHITBY.- On Thursday burton, Lord Lyndhurst, and Sir Robert Peel, the latter venting the working of the vessel. fir.d of 201. for the appre ob whom, by the bye, had risen from the ranks of owner of the boat, has offered a re e ve rncerely hope will be the the people, and ought to pursue a very d d iff t e h rent course, measniosnofofbrtihne bringing them te wh .n i s t ee w ...... Tyne pilot. appeared to be the greatest oppres snrs Corn-laws ' . most arbi- The un- THE CO gi N n V g ICTS IN I Yon IC CASTLE.-- trary in maintaining the accursed - Hear. )-under the sentence evidentl witThhtohtneadseNsvigrnigohft,ptrhese They ought to serve them as they would the drone bees, live the vitals on turn them out, and say they shouldof death in this pri and we helierveeeen, by their relatives risen, to procure a Hear, bear.) or friends d ( o f which no hopes happy convicts, Brown and Bardsley, still lie been the people no longer.-( , sentence. Should no reprieve be Duke of Richmond had lastit is p ro bable will he cxe- Mr. GREG remarked that the ne object t e n o t f • are entertained), the unhappy men, cutest on week. Coates, the angman, who was a night Saturday no efforts havewho made the Corn-laws was that the nation should find (according to one of any other country for bread. He (Mr. Greg) would the Governor will b have another man to a ) tion An w o h th e e a r stated in the House of Lords thatthehegrtenadteopbej not enter into details, but the fact was, that this country of the stipulations in his bond to perform that office.) THE -LATE MELANCHOLY Loss OF LIFIZ prisoner, having escaped from York Castle a few months ago, did not produce enough bread.-(On Tuesday afternoon an inquest fact was, that a large proportion of the popu ON THE RIVER AT PUTNEY. s bread, bread and view of the body of Mr. Radcliff John Abbott, aged 25 years, few y ears ago cou ld o btain a sufficiency of wheaten was . held beforelllr. Carter, at . the Bells Tavern, Putney, on could not now get enough even of black ,with two other Hear, hoar l . Pratt, were . drowne in the river that a tlemen, named Staunton and potatoes. Another fallacy of the Duke's was, galley on the hu n d re d, o f t h ousan d s were o bliged to feed on late a Proctor in Doctors' Commons, who, d o ier gen great deal of land would be thrown out of c ultivation. The evening of Fri u da ne- week. The particulars have already ap- Editor of The Sun had noticed that absurdity in a leading peared in The Su y n. The evidence was merely a repetition of Thames, near P t bridge, by the upsetting of a article, but the fact was, that a great deal of land did go that given on the former inquest, and the Jury, after remark out of cultivation before the Poor-law Act passed. The ing on the melancholy nature of the case, returned a verdict of farmers could not cultivate their land and pay rent and ‘, rates ; and it was gi ven over exclusively to the labourers nephew of the late Lord Tenterden. . to support themselves thereby. The same absurd argon- i a Accidental Death." The deceased is said to have been a CAUTION.-Me caution the publ e gamst a means were used by the agriculturists in the time of Mr. band of swindlers who are endeavouring to cash flash bills of Huskisson, relati ve t o th e mono p o ly i n woo l. It was well swi exchan g e, &c. One of the l etters of thel known that in 1819 the agricult ur i s t s succee ded in getting Ilull, has been put into our hands, printed on fi rs, rece ne ved in gilt letter a duty of 6d. per lb. imposed on all foreign wool importe paper.-hull Observer. 174'2 to 1752 1761... 1770. 17*0 ... 1790.. 1795 ... 1799... 1600... 1808., Ile had not got the last tables, but there had been a great reduction since, and he had no doubt that the wages of the labourer were less than 50 pints at the present moment, while the landed proprietor received double rent. The second table was— Table of the Mortality in Seven of the Manufacturing districts in England, at four different periods, with the Average Price of Wheat at each of those periods.—( From " Barton's Essays on the Condition of the Labouri n g Clamses.") TABLE 111. Statement of the Total Number of Burials within the Bills of Mortality, as Reported in the Official Lists of each of the Four Years as under, with the Average Price of Wheat in each of those Years. Dat, TIM SUN, LONDON, THURSDAY, APRIL 2, 1840. DUTCH AND FLANDERS MAIL. THE HAGUE, MARCH 27.---The project of law respect ing the Syndicate, is said to be on the whole approved by the Sections of the Second Chamber ; but very serious objections are made to the 9th Article, which proposes to make a debt to the amount of fifty millions, charged to the colonial possessions, and producing four pe r cent., which lay still untouched in the Syndicate disposable. It is not understood for what these thirty millions are required, and what it is intended to do with them. Some members of the Chamber are said to have asked in the sections whe these thirty millions are to be employed in remedsing the financial embarrassments for which the Government has stated it was convoked at the close of 1839. It is certain that the proposal will not be agreed to unless the necessity for it shall be clearly proved. TIIE HAGUE, MARCH 29.—1 n order to give the Go vernment time carefully to weigh and to answer the obser vations of the Sections of the Second Chamber, it is pro bable the sittings of the Second Chamber, and the meetings of the Section will be suspended for a fortnight. The answer of the Government is looked for with great anxiety, for the Sections have shown the greatest zeal in examining the several projects of law which concern the highest interest of the kingdom, and have maturely weighed them. ST. PETERSBURG, MARCH 19.—His Imperial Highness the Grand Duke Alexander left this city the day before yesterday, on his journey to Germany. He will stop a few days at Warsaw. The invalid likewise announces the departure of Gene ral Orloff and Kaveline to Warsaw. MuNicit, MARCH 25.—Letters from persons about the person of the Duke of Lcuchtenberg speak of the good health and the domestic happinesss of the Prince. We add, that he will visit Munich in the summer with his consort, but the time will depend on the health of the Princess, who expects her accouchement in May. —Alge meine Zcicung, March 27. IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT. HOUSE OF COMMONS, ArRIL 1. IPSWICH ELECTION. Lord ELIOT brought up the Report of the Ips wich Election, to the effect that Sir Thomas Cochrane was duly elected, and that Thomas M. Gibson was not duly elected ; and that neither the petition nor the oppo sition thereto was frivolous or vexatious. CORN-LAWS. Mr. GREG presented several petitions from the va rious trades of Manchester, for the repeal of the Corn laws ; and also a petition from merchants and carriers of Manchester, complaining of increased tolls on the Man chester and Liverpool Railway. The petition was referred to the Railwa, Committee. A great number of petitions to the same effect were pre sented by other Hon. Members. Mr. HODGES presented a petition from a place in Kent, against the grant of any further sum of public money for the building of Churches. Mr. CARTWRIGIIT, Sir J. POLLEN, and other Members on the Opposition side, presented numerous petitions against the repeal of the Corn-laws. Sir DE LACY EVANS presented a petition from the inhabitants of Westminster, for the repeal of the Corn laws. Mr. BAINES and Mr. AGLIONBY presented a great num ber of similar petitions from Yorkshire. Mr. THE SIG ER presented a petition from Woodstock against the alteration of the Corn-laws. Mr. F. TRENCH presented a petition from forty-three medical men, praying for medical reform, and complaining of the partiality with which subjects were distributed amongst the medical schools. Mr. OSWALD presented a petition from Glasgow, most numerously signed, in favour of the repeal of the Corn-laws. We understood him to say, that the petition was signed by as many as had signed all the petitions that had been presented against the repeal. Mr. WILLIAM DUNCOMBE, in presenting a number of petitions from Yorkshire against the repeal of the Corn-laws, complained of the observations made by the Hon. Member for Glasgow.—( Order, order.) The petitions which he (Mr. D.) now had the honour of pre senting, were as numerously signed as that from Glasgow. Sir C. BROOKE, Colonel Wool), and several others, presented petitions against the repeal of the Corn-laws. Mr. EWART, Mr. BROTHERTON, and another Hon. Member, presented an isamense number of petitions for the total repeal of the Corn-laws. Mr. PL UMPTRE presented petitions from Kent against the repeal. Mr. DARBY presented similar petitions from Essex ; also a petition against the Bill for exempting union work houses from payment of rates, and against any further grant to the College of Maynooth. Mr. SH EIL presented petitions from the county of Tipperary and other places against any alteration in the Corn-laws. Mr. BLAIR presented two petitions from the county of Wigton against Intrusion of Ministers. Lord SANDON presented a petition from 1,100 most respectable inhabitants of Liverpool, in favour of such a modification of the Corn-laws as might be beneficial to commerce, without interfering with the interests of the agriculturists. The Noble Lord also presented a petition from Lancashire, signed by 9,000 persons, praying for a change of the principle of the Corn-laws, and deprecat ing the present high rate of duty. Mr. T. DUNCOMBE presented a petition from Glas gow in favour of Universal Suffrage, Vote by Ballot, and Annual Parliaments. Mr. P. SIC RO PE presented petitions from Stroud and other places in favour of the repeal of the Corn-laws. Mr. CRAVEN BERKELEY presented similar peti tions from Gloucestershire. Mr. G. CRAIG presented numerous petitions in favour of the repeal of the Corn laws. Lord CA STL E R EAG H presented a petition from the high Sheriff and Grand Jury of the county of Down, in favour of the present Corn-laws. Also two petitions front congregations in Down against the intrusion of Ministers in the Church of Scotland. Petitions for the repeal of the Corn-laws were pre sented—by Sir G. Strickland, 14; Mr. Divett ; Sir M. Wood, 5 ; Mr. Wakley, 3 ; Mr. Briscoe ; Mr. Grote, 15 ; Captain Pechell from agriculturists in Sussex ; Mr. E. Ellice; Mr. Scholefield from the Mayor and Corporation cf Biimiughair , and Mr. Hume, 10. Petitions in favour of the present Corn- laws were pre sented by Sir John Tyrrell, Sir T. Ackland, Mr. Pember• ton, Sir C. 'Jarrell, and Mr. T. Egerton. Sir J. GRAHAM presented several petitions from pa rishes in Scotland against the intrusion of Ministers. Col. THOMAS presented a petition from Stamford shire in favour of Church Extension, Sir E. WILMOT presented a petition praying that the Courts of Justice be removed from Westminster Hall to Chancery-lane. Mr. PEMBERTON presented a petition from Ripon in favour of Church Extension. Petitions in favour of the total and immediate repeal of the Corn-laws were presented by Mr. Vernon Smith from Northampton and other places ; by Mr. Ewart; several most numerously signed by Mr. Villiers ; by Mr. Stanley from Cheshire ; by Lord Morpeth from the Board of Guardians of Dewsbury ; and a petition in favour of the present system of Corn-laws by Mr. Gladstone. CHINA. Captain A'COURT, seeing the gallant Admiral in his place, wished to know if any despatches had been received from China, relative to the attack upon the Volage, and if so, whether there would be any objection to have those de spatches laid on the table. Admiral ADAM said that despatches had been received, and that there would be no objection to lay them on the table. Captain A'COURT then moved for the despatches in question. VACCINATION BILL. On the motion that the Order of the Day for the second reading of the Vaccination Bill be read, Sir JAMES GRAHAM said that as the House was anxious that the Hon. Member for Wolverhampton should bring on his motion relative to the Corn-laws at as early an hour as possible, he would propose that the Bill should be read now a second time without discussion, and that the debate should be taken upon a subsequent stage. Mr. WAKLEY said that the Bill contained so many details that were objectionable, that he should propose the postponement of it to some future day. It was of the greatest importance to the health of the country, and he hoped it would not be permitted to pass the second reading without discussion. Mr. SHAW agreed in the request for postponement, as the people of Ireland felt the neces , ity of some change with respect to the qualifications of medical practitioners in Ireland. Sir JAMES GRAHAM accordingly postponed the Bill till to-morrow. CHINA. Mr HE RRIE S wished to know why the China Com mittee was not appointed. The order for the appointment had been some days on the paper. Lord MO RPET H said the matter was in the hands of the Hon. Mover of the Committee, Mr. Crawford, and he agreed that the Committee ought to be appointed as soon as possible. VOTE OF CENSURE ON MINISTERS. Mr. HUME begged to know from the Hon. Baronet, :he Member for Pembroke, whether he could now state the terms of his notice with regard to China? Sir J. GRAHAM—Sir, I can assure the House it is my earnest desire not only to comply with, but if possible to have anticipated such a request. I should have been prepared to state the terms of the motion yesterday, had it not been that the Noble Lord the Secretary for Foreign Affairs presented fresh papers on Monday having a bear ing on the subject, but which had not yet been circulated, so that lof course have not seen them. lam now placed in a very difficult situation, and I hope that I shall not be open to a taunt hereafter of having decided on my motion too soon, and without due information. But feel ing that the desire to see the terms of my motion is a rea sonable desire, I now hold the notice i n m y hand, and be g to hand it in. -- ( Cries of " Read, read.") The motion is, " That it appears to this House, on consideration of the papers relating to China, presented to this House by command of her Majesty, that the interruption in our commercial and friendly intercourse with that country, and the hostilities which have since taken place, are maialy to be attributed to the want of foresight and pre caution on the part of her Majesty's present advisers, in respect to our relations with China, and especially to their neglect to furnish the Superintendent at Canton with pov, ers and instructions calculated to provide against the growing ;its connected with the contraband traffic in Opium, and adapted to the novel and difficult situation in which the Superintendent was placed." CORN-LAWS. Mr. VILLIE RS then rose to move that the House should resolve itself into a Committee of the whole House to take into consideration the Act 9 Gco. IV., regulating the importation of foreign grain. He said—Sir, i n rising to propose for the c onsideration of this House the subject of which I have given notice, I beg in the first place, to apologise to the House for the postponement until this evening of that motion. I b eg to assure the House that it arose from a cause over which I could have no controul : it arose from my indisposition, and I beg to offer my thanks to the House for their indulgence. in having given me the same advantage this evening as I might have claimed on the night for which the notice was given. I can assure the House that I could have pleaded the excuse with more force this evening than before ; but fearing there were many who expected the discussion on this question would take place this week, and not wishing to expose any person to incon venience, I determined at all events to bring it on this evening.—( Hear, bear.) I can only assure the House, it adds to the many considerations that present them selves to my mind, for most sincerely regretting that it is in my hands to make the proposition I am now about to submit to the House,---( Hear, hear.) The question is now assuming a very serious aspect in this country. It is now engaging the attention as it is af fecting the interest of the great mass of the community, and whatever the House may think, it is questions of this character affecting as they do the commerce, the improvement, and the condition of the people, that outweigh every other that occupy our time in interest, and for this reason I most sincerely wish this question were in the hands of those who could do more justice to it, or who had power to do more justice to the country. Sir, I had really hoped at the commencement of this Session, that in consideration of the deep distress which is now pervading and bearing down the productive classes of the community—( Hear, hear)—there would at last have been some sign given on the part of the landed proprietors of this country, and which, in truth, govern this country, that they would in some measure have relaxed the rigour of this law. I was disposed to think that that which I tun bound to consider has not been yielded to the claims of justice, might have been granted on the ground of humanity.—( Hear, hear, hear.) Three months, however, have now nearly passed away since this Parliament assembled, and not a whisper of such an intention have I been able to learn. On the contrary, the same note in another place has been sounded with respect to a g itation, the same taunting and ill-placed observations with respect to the objections on it, the same complaints of people murmuring at their sufferings, who have been hitherto charged with indifference, and whose wrongs have been justified by their alleged indifference ; and in this House I have seen attempts made to procure something like the testimony of opinion in fa vour of this law, but which I am afraid rather tends to show the influence of those who have inati. gated those petitions than they do anything like a general opinion in favr,ur of this law.—(Hear, hear.) All I have culled from these indications has been a determination on the part of the class who were interested, or who professed themselves determined to maintain this law, that they have not altered their resolution. Sir, having had the misfortune to more this matter in the House before, there is a sort of confidence placed in me, that I will not suffer it to slumber, and on this ground I cannot suffer further time to elapse without asking the majority of this House, who came to a decision last Session—without imploring this House to review the ground on which they decided. This ground I conceive to be, that this law to which I am now attempting to draw the attention of the House is working well— that it has satisfied the purpose for which it was enacted—and that it ought to be maintained.—( Hear.) I think these ware bold conclusions to have come to last Session. I think it will require still more courage to repeal them. I will therefore state some of those facts and ar guments which have led use to an opposite conviction, and which makes me believe that those laws have worked ill---( Loud cries of " Hear, hear, hear")—that they have caused and are still causing great loss and suffering to the productive classes of this country—( Hear, hear) — and that they now cast on the community at large a fearful addition to those burthens which it is at all times compelled to endure—( Hear, hear, hear) ; and if, Sir, I were to state another consideration that now prompts me to press the matter on the House, it would be, that I do not believe that a day has passed since our last decision on the subject that either from per. sonal suffering or from greater intelligence in the country, fresh converts have not been brought to the advocacy of the repeal—(Cheers)—while I do not believe that one single human being could be produced who being either indifferent to the law before, or opposed to it, is now a con vert for its continuance. I deeply regret the importance that must be attached to these considerations. 1 fear it is far greater than will be attached to any new facts or argu ments that can be adduced, for I cannot persuade myself that unless there was a conviction on the part of this House, and of the other House, that either very great ignorance or very general indifference prevailed on the subject, those arguments that are urged in defence of the law would be stated, because we have those who take a predominant part in those discussions, deciding not only that those laws are not an evil, and laws which are necessary, but that there are positive advantages resulting from them. We are thus called on for proof— we are obliged to establish that an abundance of the essentials of life is preferable to that dearness and scarcity which deteriorate the condition of all. Why, Sir, consi dering how the negative of this proposition is supported by the experience and conduct of all mankind, it seems to me something like wasting time and mocking the sufferings of those whom we are sent here to serve and protect. to enter into discussion on such a subject. But, Sir, a task is im posed on those who arc to argue the question, and the mo ment is certainly favourable for the purpose, for I cannot think that it' those who maintained these laws on former discussions had been aware that their statements were to follow so closely on the heels of events which gave them so complete a denial, that they would have uttered those statements on the occasion, and I could almost hope that if it had been thought that the result of those laws would have led to the distress at present existing in the coun try, the decision would not have been what we know it was. However, Sir, I am not going to deny that there is great misapprehension on this question, and that a great deal of mystery has been artfully thrown over it, which puzzles many, and that at this day there are thousands who do not view it in its true character. I will therefo:e proceed to discuss it with all the coolness that is due to a question re specting which there is so much dispute. I shall, as I have on former occasions, revert to the object of the law, and to the avowed purposes of those who proposed it. The ob ject I take to be so far to limit the quantity of foreign corn imported into this country as to raise it to maintain the price of the corn grown at home. I conceive that to be the purpose and intention of the present law.—( Hear, hear.) The policy of such legislation belonged to the prevent century, and we now live under the third legislative enactment, for the purpose of accomplishing this object. In 1804 Mr. Western's Bill passed into a law, Next we had the law of 1815 ; and we are now liv ing under the enactment of 1828. Each of these laws was passed for the same purpose—to keep land in cultiva tion and to keep the people in employ meat. To each of these laws the same objection applies, that such policy was not defensible on public grounds—to maintain a par ticular soil in cultivation, and to maintain a par ticular place, might not be reconcileable with the interests of the whole people, and that such prin ciples were calculated to mislead those who relied on them. The justice of those objections is now matter of history. Mr. Western procured the enactment of his Bill on a statement that thousands of acres would go cut of cultivation, and that a proportionate number of the pea santry would be thrown out of employment. Now, Sir, I believe I state the fact, that after the enactment of that Bill it never came into operation. The ports were never closed, there was no restraint upon the importa tion of foreign corn, but so far from the land being thrown out of cultivation—eo far from the cultivator not receiving a remunerating price,the value of land was raised 300 per cent. We then passed the law of 1815, and the object of that law was to make the community pay for its food at the price which it had reached during the war in a depreciated currency, and that for ever.—`Hear, bear.) I have a right to say that that was the deliberate intention of the Legislature, because there was an Hon. Member at that time in this House whose eager and able exertions on that occasion to expose what he called the iniquity and injus tice of the law excited considerable attention, and he di.l make a distinct proposition that if such a law were to pass, that it should not exist beyond the time when we should restore our currency to a more sure basis—the time we should resume cash payments. I need not say I allude to Mr. Baring, who has since become Lord Ashburton. Loud cheers.) He made that proposition to the House, but it was rejected. S:r, it is no longer matter of question that that law was a failure in every re spect. It failed to give profit to the producer—it failed to give plenty to the people—it failed to maintain steadiness of prices, and it failed even in that which we might have expected it would have succeeded in, namely, in giving wisdom to those who projected it. It was introduced amidst the curses of the people—it seems to have expired without more favour frern its friends. And in 1828 its failure did not seem to be ascribed to the purposes which it sought to obtain, but only to the means which were adopted for its attainment. It was thought still that it was possible to fix the price at which the produce could be sold, and to secure the cultivator the price which he expected. It was only considered the means had not yet been discovered by which that object should be at tained, and it was in 1828 that the discovery was thought to have been made, and the scheme of a sliding scale sug gested for meeting the wishes of the agriculturists ; and I take it we are now to consider whether this scheme, which was devised in 1828, has had success or not. There are some who think that it has worked well—( Hear, hear, from a portion of Conservatives)—that it has accomplished every object intended, and I hope they will prove their case.— ( Hear, hear.) I certainly am of opinion that it has only verified the predictions of every evil that was likely to attend it, and I think I can show it has done so.—( Hear.) I do not think the public require much information on the subject : but they are watching this discussion, and I trust that they will consider weil on which side truth prevails.— ( Hear, hear.) Now, Sir, I consider the present law as a complete failure, and when I say so, I refer rather to the objects which were avowed, than to those which were not avowed, but which probably were intended. I allude to these objects, the benefit and protection to British agri_ culturists. I consider it has failed in that, though I am not altogether prepared to say that it has failed in increasing the value of land.—( H ear , hear. ) But, Sir, it is most important in this discussion that we should observe the distinction which exists between agri culture and the ownership of land.—( Cheers. ) The two, Sir, are perfectly distinct from each other ; although, be cause in some things, perhaps, they may seem to agree, yet in many d e a s sc s ao e n n nt t ee i ti er s p es o da i r n tyh t sac that n h as e l e y l q udei theirffn e e rea, ofr g a n u dm thise t n h st c es e a i mn d o fl ag e vaaot agree s r s r e c o o-f f In h e e nt la , w ha , the landowner were equally applicable to the cultivators. Sir, there is no more necessary connection between the agriculturist and the landowner than there is be tween the owner of a house and the business which is carried on in that house. No one would think of confounding the owner of the house with the trade which was carried on iu it ; no one would think of con. founding the merchant who carried on business with hie banker, of whom he might borrow money. There is the same distinction between them as there is between the manufactu rer and the person of whom he purchases the raw material. Their interests are perfectly distinct. I should not endea vour to impress this plain distinction so much upon the House but for the arguments which have been urged in support of this law, and which had con founded these two objects.—( Hear, hear.) I would ask any person to point out this connection I deny that there •is necessarily any identity of interest or of pursuits between the agriculturist and the ownership of land. —( Hear, hear.) The landowner need not necessarily ever see his property—he may be unable to distin guish one kind of agricultural produce from another, he may live abroad, and know no one connected with the land but the person who collects his rents for hint. The distinction between the agriculturist and the land owner is so distinct and so obvious that I should not have thought it necessary to trouble the House on the subject, but for the confusion which constantly arises in arguments on this subject. We constantly hear the agriculturists talked of as if under that term were in cluded the landowner , the farmer , and the labourer; and, therefore, as the interests of these classes respectively are perfectly distinct, it is necessary throughout this discusion to keep in view the distinction that exists between the landowner and the agriculturist.—(Cheers.) If the agriculturist were omnipotent with respect to laws, he could say what he might have for laws ; h e would, doubtless, say what any other capita li st would say, give me such laws as will insure me the return for my capital which I expect—as will enable me to make my calculation certain, so that I may not engage in any undertaking as to the result of which there can be any doubt. That is what any other capitalist would say, and the agricultural capitalist would doubtless wish to see such a state of the case. (Hear, hear, hear.l The present Corn-law holds out to the agriculturist a promise of this kind. It promises him a certain price for the produce of nis capital—lt promises him a certain snpply—it engages he shall have a certain produce from:his land—and it seems to assure him that he shall have the price which he expects, and the question is, how far this law has realized those as surances that it seems to have given to the capitalists. The first fact which I have to observe upon is, that since the passing of this Corn-law there has been every variation in the price of produce. The agricul turists have experienced great distress, and this at last seems to me to lead to the conclusion, that this has not averted the evil the capitalists expected. The next question is, whether the law has not caused the evil? And I think that can be demonstrated, and collected, and proved from agriculturists themselves. It seems to me that it has been a great omission in the discussion that has taken place upon this subject, that they have not referred to the evidence collected by this House from agri culturists themselves. The fact is that there have been few discussions on this subject, as those who had been opposed to the law had been eager to show its deformities , and little attention was paid to the evidence ; but there has been a great body of evidence collected in this House under circumstances which compel us to give credit to it, to which the attention of the public ought to be particu- larly directed, and I do say that if there is any j conclusion at which a candid inquirer can ar rive from reading that evidence, it must be that the Corn-law has been a positive evil to the agriculturists; it has grossly deceived them, and caused the greatest distress. This is an important con sideration, because there are many persons in this country who are not blind to the injustice of this law, as it appears, , or blind to the evils it produces.—( Hear, hear.) But what some dread is the influence which, they say, the change of this law will have upon those who have laid out their property in land. It is important, therefore, to have tile opinion of to cie persons who occupy the land. At the risk of wearying the House at this moment, but con sidering, the importance of the question will be my excuse, , I shall advert to some of the evidence collected during the year 1836, when a Committee was appointed to inquire into the distress of the farmers. The first person whose evidence I shall revert to, is named Ellis, a farmer, from Leicestershire, and his evidence I shall cite, because it bears distinctly upon the question. • The Hon. Member then read the evidence, from which it appeared that at that time (1836) prices had not latterly been affected at all by the Corn-laws, because they were then living upon their own growth ; but if the que stion had. been put to him two years ago, he should have answered that the farmer would have been better had the Corn laws been repealed. His opinion was, that the high duty gave a fictitious value to land, and gave the farmer an expectation of something coming to his relief which could never arrive.—( Hear, hear.) He further stated that his opinions were probably not in accordance with those of many other individuals with respect to the in terests of the landlord and tenant being the same. Up to 3 certain point they must go together; the good condition of the land was to the interest of both landlord and tenant , but it was not so when the question was high or low prices . lie did not think it was the tenant's interest to have high prices. He thought the country around him was much better when prices were low or moderate.-- ( Hear, hear, hoar.) He certainly liked low prices much better himself when his expenses were in proportion. —( Hear.) I beg (said the Hon. Member) to ask the attention of the House to the fact that these laws are main tained for the interest of the farmer, because We are precluded from saying that they arc kept er for the interest of the landlord—therefore I think this evidence to the point. He then read the evidence of another farmer (not named) who said the farmers in Essex had not now so much capital as they had 0 0 , 1 1 years ago. They had been parting with it to their laa,". lords and others whose charges were excessively hi he He had decidedly not g ot an y p rofit from his farm for Oa last three years, owing to the low p rice of whett.t::. ( Hear, hear, hear.) He c onsidered the prices too wheat w Great numbers of the farme rs had failed. The next f was asked, what was his chief comislaint ? and the _et. a r r e m per was, the low price of wheat. That i s where the fergi,:as looks, Sir, for the remedy of his difficulties --when he so , to pay large sums for rent , and i s getting his corn N adi 3 ' market—he finds the price nearly absorbed by es p ense The next, a farmer from Essex, said capital among the' farmers bad much diminished. Ilis difficulties had ariseth he said, solely from his wheat crop—all other crops had done well, but the wheat crop had ruined him. Hie die. , tress was attributable be said, to the low prices of wheat, and the high rent he had to pay. There had been greater consumption of wheat, though the price was high. The farmers often had been paying their rent out of their capital, instead of their profits. (Hear') In answer to questions put to him, another farener saw, " There were often discussions among farmers on the sub" ject, and it was clearly the opinion amon g those who. corn rent, that they were not benefic ial, but directly" 1"v reverse, because it induced many to give more than th e . could realise by the price of corn , ex p ectin g that, by 017 Corn-laws, the price would be kept up. The Corn-laws cliappointed their expectations, because it led them to gi% higher rents than they would have done. Fro m what id have experienced, I am disposed to think a ch an g e w°l.l be beneficial to the farmers by reducing the scale at which , c foreign core is imported. I think she Core - la ws run .tnea price too high in seasons of scarcity. They run it up i!i_ k way prejudicial to the interest of the farmer. I hul, f . them prejudicial to those who pay money rent, becausete', it were not for the Corn-laws they would not have contrac for so large a rent. They did so merely from a cods cal' culation, as to the effect of the Corn.laws.” 4 Honourable Member then proceeded to read the ev e' dente, as he stated, of a Scotch farmer, which apile,, r ,„, so as to be verbatim that of the last witness, when Hon. Member seemed to intimate that this evidence Y'tlo the same which had already been read.) He could ass u ' e the House he had not read this evidence before, but them was a coincidence between the opinions of the Scotch a n , and English farmers as to the injurious tende'r_Yo of the present Corn-laws.—( Hear.) The re was a quest' put by Mr. Handley, who asked witness what was his r' a ca to son for supposing that a fixed duty would be p referre the present system? The answer was , that under the netircer sent laws the prices were unduly run up , and that, the a fixed duty, would not take place. I will no t trouble a c house with reading any more extracts from the evide,ncte to which I have referred, but I venture confidently to that it is impossible to read that evidence, w i t hout se e n all complain of the operation of the law. Sir, I tl'in;co may particularly address this opinion to the House, w I see you presiding in it, because it is impossibl e to Per,ling your very able address to your constituents, with out se' that you arose from the perusal of that eviderece, „ n r to titer, that you paid such attention to it, that you ea-",c,oar the same opinion on the subject. You seem, fro m ' ' i dea address, to have been strongly impressed with thcrs the present law was injurious to the present occef)',,,a.; of land, and that it led them to cultivate their fa t ' - in a manner injurious to themselves ; and that tbec bad been deluded by their reliance on the effie u , c l;9, that law. I shall now refer to a passage in your aa w : e p e t which is as follows:—" That the tendency of the P re — t ee law is to raise prices artificially, and thus to ex pose to . agriculturist to the necessity of affording a supp l y f atten' than the public demand ;" and " that it diverted his at i t at teen too much to the cultivation of wheat alo ne, 50 tout too great a quantity is thus brought into the m arkete d the prices arc kept down ;" and further, " that it is bey,oll you reach of the laws to keep up the price of corn. f t ee thus, Sir, endeavoured to convince your constituents of necessity of art alteration of the law ; and I think I s r ot shown that the interest of the agriculturist is not diuct;noll from that of other capitalists. It depends, is truth, arhis his own experience, his own exertion and industry, 80 , ne e fitness for his occupation, more th an upon any as ss h` a wn which he could receive f rom th e l aw . think ha te ha tes.- n ° 9 that those who depended on those eircune sta- f e and not on the law, h a d no t b een unsilee es-fu o whilst those, on the contest. who de coded the law, and not on these 'Y' circu stanPc 111 experienced great distress. ter is it m to be es c led f uc tl c ie from that evidence that during the first eight yea rs i ° e e ed b t y rir t eli T .t°d _ "1 0 1; existence of the present law, the farmers exP er „" / 1 the great distress and disappointment, and found non e 0 - aire promises made realized. It now becomes us to i g oo ,- what has been the effect of the law under other eir c re stances. We find, from the evidence to which I ils: trea s, afenrdretdh,att,hat havingthe f d a i r s m co e v rs er l e ta d ve the e i x r p e e r r r ie o r r , , ced grea t di. cor rect it. They attempted to recover themselves by ing their capital from the cultivation of wheat i b t ' e f os e country, in order to obtain that which it seems wa s ita t in promised them, the best remuneration for their cer,.ibeeti other products. We have now to consider w hat h i ffOr 3 t" C the consequence of their withdrawing their capital and cultivation of that which is the food of their evidencecountr' devoting it to other purposes. We find, by the in 00 . • given on this inquiry, that some farmers state, thatne.fio sequence of the low price—one-fourth —sortie saY, f is3 l3 and a few say that one-sixth less wheat was sole' s j;50 .. than had been sold before. They found themselvue.iey'sLiora pointed ; they withdrew their capital from the c coo of wheat for the purpose of supplying markets in w s "' euen ee try, and we have now to examine what is the con,e j ie la w to the community, and what is the operation o! s " sci d io under those circumstances. We find less w hea re "p U• 1837, and we find in 1838 a deficient harvest. ,L B. ne ' w hat lation has increased, and we have now to exam', _ rve st the effect of the law bee been under a deficient ea mo s and here I cannot help reading a few lines from , c a ts con . intelligent work published lately, simply for the la , w ope tained in it, in order to see in what way the Corn-L a _d t ee rates with respect to the interests of the communittib%"t t he interests of te ariculturists. We have see" L eo or - distiTss of the ag g riculturists has been and how it `,, is 85 rated, and we have n ow t o cons ider what its (Vera° be wo rk prices rise. I all u d e t o M r . Tooke's last work r wo rk t The lion. Gentl eman th e n read an extract from ormoug referred to, to show the effect produced by w e eks had and sudden imp or t a ti o n ofeererri, vrhich in four tor , r ; redue,d the pike froin 775. a quarter tu 60 fartiicrs he rise to 775. had been for the benefit of into this country. The result was that a great many manufacturers were entirely ruined, and the price of British wool fell to a much lower amount than had been known for two hundred years. A very great diminution took place in the amount of Bri tish wool consumed and in the amount of foreign wool im ported. Mr. Huskisson reduced the duty from 6d. to Id. on wool below Is., and to ld. on wool above Is. Did any land go out of c ultivation in consequence of that ? Quite the reverse. The price of British wool rose to more than double of what it had been during the monopoly, and the amount of foreign wool imported and consumed in the short space of seven years rose from 8,000,000 to 42,000,0001b5. The Earl of Falmouth had said that the present system had promoted s t e adiness of prices. Now, in 1773 a Corn law was passed, permitting importation when the price was 48s. a quarter ; a more favourable law than had been passed since 1688. And from 1760 to 1790 there bad only been the variation of a few pence per quarter in the price. From 1760 to 1770 the price was 455. 10d. 1770 to 1780 ..... 455. 1778 to 1790 .. 4ss. 9d. And within the last year or two—from 1836 to 1838—the variation in price had been 125 per cent.-4 Hear. ) Mr. BREwsTia said he had been last night in the House of Lords, and heard the Duke of Buckingham say he won dered why the people should dare to complain when they got lOs. a-week—(Hear) —though it had been proved that this would not support a labourer with a family. Mr. GREG said be might state that he had procured spe cimens of prison food, workhouse food, dog food, and la bourers' food, and he had enumerated them in the order of their respective qualities. The last was the worst. Mr. S. SMITH suggested that some specimen of the la bourers' food should be taken by some Liberal Member into the House of Commons during the ensuing debate— ( Laughter)—and when Sir James Graham pronounced his pathetic eulogy on rural happiness, and described his modern Arcadia, and quoted Gray's Elegy—a portion of this awful bread, which the labourers had in many districts to eat, should be held up before him..—(Loud laughter.) Decidedly a fitter material for stopping the mouth of an orator he never saw. --(Laughter.) Nobody could tell whether it was mineral or vegetable.—(Laughter.) The Delegates then adjourned till twelve to-morrow (this day), to meet at that hour during the Corn-law debate, TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN. Brown's Hotel, Palace-yard, April 1, 1840. SIR,—A letter just received from my friends in the country leads me to believe that the purport of one of Lord Melbourne's remarks to the Deputation of Anti-Corn law Delegates has been misreported or misunderstood, and as my recollection of the matter is very distinct, it is only fair to explain exactly what his Lordship's remark was. The Delegate from Liverpool (an extensive shipowner) bad explained, amongst other matters, that in consequence of the low price of prov►sions in continental ports, he, and other British shipowners, were sending their ships to be provisioned in those ports instead of at home. In subse quent conversation it was mentioned that the repeal of the Corn-laws would cause prices to rise on the Continent. Upon which Lord Melbourne turned round to the gentle man from Liverpool, and remarked—" It appears, then, to he your interest to keep the Corn-laws as they are, because you would not after their repeal be able to provision your ships as cheap abroad as you can now. Of course you, as a patriot, would not wish this to the disadvantage of your country, but it appears to be your individual interest." It was explained in reply that the inconvenience in several respects of thus sending abroad would, after the re peal of the Corn-laws, be greater than any advantage in price; but the purport of his Lordship's remarks, which has been somewhat mis-stated, was to the above effect. I am, &c., AN ANTI-CORN-LAW DELEGATE. SPIRIT of the PUBLIC JOURNALS FROM THE DAILY PAPERS OF YESTERDAY. (From the Globe.) It will be remembered that in discussing the question o the pension paid by this country to the King of Hanover, we stated that application had been made to that Prince for the apartments in St. James's Palace assigned to him as a member of the Royal Family, having his domicile in this country : but which he could no longer require now he had become the Sovereign of a Foreign State. The ground of this application was that the apartments were desired for the Duchess of Kent, who, in consequence of tier Majesty's marriage would require a separate residence. We also added that the application had been met with a refusal by the King of Hanover, conveyed in terms other than courteous. The Times was " authorised" to con tradict " the manner" of the refusal ; and the Standard; soaring on yet bolder pinions, with its characteristic reg ard for truth and decency, pronounced the entire statement—" a lie." Having full confidence in the accuracy of our information we referred our informant to the contradictions " by autho rity" of these veracious prints ; and the result is a full confir mation of our original statement both as to form and substance. We now assert, and challenge the Times and Standard to produce any " authority" for a contradiction, that two appli cations were made for the resignation of these apartments for the occupancy of the Duchess of Kent ; the first by Lord Duncannon, to whose department it belonged, which was refused; the second by Lord Melbourne, who urged as a reason for making the application the inexpediency of ap plying to Parliament for a residence for the Duchess of Kent, at a time when the exigencies of the public service called for an increased expenditure. To this application a refusal, in terms anything but gracious, was also received. (From the Standard.) We yesterday urged the exemption of Dublin from the operation of the Irish Municipal Bill, even if the House of Lords should, in an evil hour, consent to hand over the other municipalities of Ireland to the O'Connell faction in that country. We claimed the exemption on the peculiar cir cumstances of a metropolitan city—on the fact that the ar gument derived from these circumstances had been already recognised by the Legislature, in the exemption granted to London in the English Bill—and lastly, on the fact that the persons who must pay the greatly larger portion of the cost of the new Corporation, have petitioned the House of Lords not to inflict it on them. We understand that on the ground of similar petitions from Galway and Clonmel it is intended, at all events, to remove these towns from Schedule A. If our information on this point be correct, upon what principle the Dublin petition can be disregarded a e do not understand. ( From the Courier.) The cotton people are afflicted it would seem with an extraordinary monomania, that by some special favour they alone are invested with a monopoly right of the cotton industry in all the markets of the world, although no plea of long prescription can fairly be urged in sup port of the claim. The cotton manufacture, properly so called, does not yet count a century of age in this country, whilst in India and China it dates not by hun dreds but by thousands of years. Long-seated and deeply-rooted as it was, we have seen it in our own times mercilessly supplanted and uprooted in India by the cheaper and more improved fabrics of this country. No voice has been heard in India, however, to accuse Corn laws or Rice-laws A ith the slow destruction of cotton clothe. - In Belgium the distress of the cotton manufac. turercrs, men and masters, is appalling to witness or to read of, and yet no one complains of dear bread and assigns Corn-laws as the cause, although the prices of corn and bread are enhanced, and might have been more so but for the prohibition of export by the Government at the precise moment when corn was wanted here. F,: 4 1 - I 4 _1 31 _l_4 ;