The Sun. — London, England, 1847-01-21 00:00:00

Vtirb Nbttton SUN OFFICE, Seven o' Clock. THE NORTHERN COUNTIES UNION ft AMWAY COMPANY. At a lanliCIAL GENERAL MEETING of the SHAREHOLDERS Of this IGM?ANT, held at the London Tavern, Bishopsgate-street, In the 'City of London, on Wednesday, the 20 t h da y of January, 15 47 ; MOng iippqrt from the Directors was read by the Se- IDetvy THE DIRECTORS' REPORT. The prose& rdieting has boot convened for two objects, as stated In the Advertisement. First, For the purpose of taking into consideration and approving, er otherwise, the proposed applcation to Parliament for the partial Deviation of the Line, and the Amendineat of the Act constituting this Cowpony. Since Stio First General Ordinary Meeting of this Company, your Directors have turned thier attention to carrying into effect the Re solutions of that Meeting with respect to the re-survey of the more expensive portions of your Line, and for making the necessary pre parations to proceed to Parliament in the present Session for an amended Bill, according to the Report adopted at that meeting. Your Directors have to state that a re-survey of the expensive por tions of your Line from Smardale Gill to Barnard Castle, has been made by Mr. Harrl4, tire engineer to the original York and Carlisle Line, with a view to diminish the cost thereof, and that, upon exa mination of the Sections, your Directors unanimously resolved not to adopt his plans and survey, on account of the severity of the gradients. In compliance with an agreement entered into with the Liverpool, Man:hester, and Newcastle upon-Tyne Junction Railway Company, a deviation of your Line has been surveyed at the point of junction with that Company's Line, in order to make the levels of both coin cide. This deviation,will improve the Line, and is estimated to effect a saving of expense in constructing it. The draft of the )Deviation Bill will now be laid before you. Your Directors have the satisfaction of stating that they have en tered into a flirther agreement with the Directors of the Liverpool, Manchester, and Newcastle-upon-Tyne Junction Company, for the joint construction of the Line from Carperby (the point of junction) to Wath. Secondly, In compliance with the requisition of the Shareholders for the fttrther taking into consideration and approving, or otherwise, certain propositions for an amalgamation of this Company with the Liverpool, Manchester, and Newcastle-upon-Tyne Junction Railway Company, the terms of which your Directors submit for your consi deration. Compauy'a Ofllces, 1, Poets' Corner, Westminster, January 20, 1847. On a motion from the Cue's, and seconded by Josren Sams, Esq., It was resolved,.—That the Report now read be received, adopted, and printed for distribution among the Shareholders. On a motion from the CHAIR, and;seconded by Wm. ANNING, Esq., It was resolved—Th2t the Bill now produced, and read to the meeting, for enabling " the Northern Counties Union Railway Com pany to make certain alterations in their Railway, in the parishes of Aysgarth and Wesley, in the North Riding of the county of York," be and is hereby approved ; and that the Directors be requested to take the necessary steps for prosecuting the same in the present session of Parliament. On the motion of Ha!art MARaToTT, Esq., and seconded by TROMAS CARLISLE, Esq., _ . It was reielved—That power be given to enter into preliminary arrangements for the purpose of an amalgamation of this company with the Liverpool, Manchester, and Newcastle-upon-Tyne Junction Railway Company; and: that a deputation be appointed, consisting of the chairman and three directors, Mr. Wyvill, Mr. Collett, M.P., and Mr. Salkeld, to negotiate for that purpose, and to authorise them to conclude arrangements, and report the same to the next general meeting. WM. BERESFORD, Chairman, CHAS. LOCOCK WEBB, Secretary. On the motion Of TIZOILAS CAILT,IST,E, Eq., and seconded by WILLIAM M. PEAfOCK, ESq., It wai unanimowdy resolved--That the hest thanks of the meeting be due, and are hereby given, to the Chairman, for his able conduct in tke chair. CHAR. LOCOCK WEflB, Secretary QUEEN'S BENCH.-(THIS DAY.) HOWARD V. DAVIS. Mr. Hl:mem:EY moved for a rule to show cause why the verdict in this case should not be set aside, and a new trial had on the ground of misdirection. The Learned Counsel explained the nature of the case, from which it appeared that the plaintiffs, Messrs. Howard and Baker, were lessees of coach - makereprem ices is Long-acre.% midsmnmerlB43,theylet them to Metiers. Wyburn and Millar, who afterwards underlet them to a person of the name of Milne, with an understanding that the fixtures on the premise*, and which were the property of phintiffs, should be allowed to remain. Milne some time afterwards died, and the defendants, as his executors, let the premises to another party. The action was brought to recover the value, or the hire of the fixtures, and a verdict was entered for defendants, there being no evidence, in the opinion of the Learned Judge, of the plaintiffs having been the landlords. Mr. liumplinzv contended that his Lordship's direction w.as wrong, there having been no evidence to show that the plaintiffs were not the owners, and that it lay on defendants to shoW'their want of title. The COURT refused the rule, on the ground that no evi dence had been submitted that a contract had been entered into between the plaintitiand defendant. TAMPERING Wait A .JURY.—JOHNSON C. ABRAHAM. Mr. CROWDER, on the part of the defendant, now moved for a rule to show cause why the verdict should not be set aside, on the ground that the witnesses were corrupted, and the jury tampered with ; it being alleged that the son of the plaintiff gave one sovereign each to three of the jury, and a HUM net specified to another, and also that he treated the j ury. Mr. Burr (with whom was Mr. Collier) showed cause against the rule, and, after reading a number of affidavits contradictory of the allegations, admitted that 10e. had been given by the son of the plaintiff to three of the jury, but contended that it was a youthful indiscretion, and, in the absence of any other inculpatory evidence, was not sufficient to warrant a new trial. Mr. CROWDER having replied, The COURT was of opinion that the rule should be made absolute.—Rule made absolute. TATTERSALL'S—.THIS EVENING. Six o'Ciocic. CUIESTER CUP. 30 to 1 cast Antler 35 to 1 agst Camera Obscura 40 to 1 agst Newcourt 50 to 1 agst Crim. Con. 50 to 1 agst Pal 50 to 1 agst Bourton AO to 1 agst Golden Bee 50 to 1 apt Punch 50 to 1 agst Erin-go-bragh 60 to 1 agst Emigrant DEntlY. 10 to 1 ac , st E))irote 4U to a7;st t rojeetne No other named. Bettiog very flat. IMPERIAL. PA RI lAMENT (THIS EVENING.) HOUSE OF LORDS. Th© LORD CHANCELLOR took his seat upo❑ the:Wool sack at Five o'Clock. REPLY TO TIIE ADDRESS. Earl FORTESCUE presented her Majesty's reply to the kidress, and moved that it be entered on the journals of the House, which was agreed to. MEXICO. Loral BROUGHAM put a question to her Majesty's Government as to the relations between this country and Mexico, in reference to the recent letters of marque said to be issued by that Government. The Marquis of LANSDOWNE declined to answer the question at present. The Marquis of WESTMEATH explained certain points of V. spe. ch which he made OR the Address, which were misunderstood. He considered that the re sponsibility of the awful state of things which existed in Ireland ought to be equally shared on both sides of the House. TRANSPORTATION, Earl GREY, in reply to Lord Lyttelton, had no ob• jection to lay certain documents on the table of the House relative to the subject of an improved mode of transportation. Their Lordships then adjourned. HOUSE OF COMMONS. The SPEAKRA took the. Chair at Four o'Clock. ,RAILWAY AND OTHER PRIVATE BILLS. A number of. Railway and , other Private Bilis were introduced, and read. a first time. - REPEAL OF THE UNION. Mr. CALLAGHAN presented a petition from the Mayor and Corporation of the city of Cork, praying for a repeal of the legislative union between Great Britain and Ireland, and thereby enable Ireland to get out of her distressed and degraded situation. SUGAR AND MOLASSES FOR BREWERIES AND DISTILLERIES. Sir HOWARD DOUGLAS presented a petition from Liverpool in favour of the use of sugar and molasses in breweries and distilleries. TEN HOURS' BILL. WAKLEY presented a petition from Todmorden in favour of the Ten Hours' Bill ; also a petition from the borough of Finsbury, praying for an inquiry into the circumstances which had led to the dethronement of the Raja of Sattara. CHELSEA PENSIONERS. Captain LAYARD presented several petitions from geweastle-upon-Tyne and other places in favour of a reduction of the duty performed by the Chelsea pen sioners. TEN HOURS' BILL. Mr. S. CRAWFORD presented a petition from thir teen-medical practitioners of Rochdale in favour of the Ten Hours' Bill, and characterising the present system as the-'sinful cause of much misery and suffering. ' RATES REFORM ACT. Mr. DU NC 6iiiiT gave noti c e that he would, on Thursday next, move for leave to bring in a Bill for the abhlition of the rate-paying clauses in the Reform Act. CORPORAL PUNISHMENT. Dr. BOWItING said that he would to-morrow take the opportunity of putting some questions to the Secretary at War, reapecting the mode of corporal punishment administered at Hong-Kong. MEXICO AND THE UNITED STATES. Mr. ROEBUCK said that he wished to put two questions to the Secretary for Foreign Affa,rs, and he would not be able to do so unless he made a - short preface, in order that the House might be the better able to understand them.—(Hear, hear.) It was said that an agent from the Government !_f Mexico had established an o ffi ce in England, where nji save to such persons as were desirous letters of Z arcine against the United States, and also letters of turidizstion as Mexicans, to protect such per sons who should be found fighting under those letters. These two questions were—first, whether or not any annooeticeofhadsuobheenaotaken of this office on the appear meagent by her Majesty's Ministry or the Govern whether the Govern4sntisic!f of the United Stater, and a tn M in ist ry the United States had communicated with of this country, and what answ r had been retu rnedor that communication? The next question was If persons were found, having:o complicated nature. tion, fighting under the letters thos e acts of naturalize- United States, tkere was aof marque, by the the part ( ( the United States to hang those on withstanding their acts of naturalization ; persons, not • and therefore he (Mr. Roeb uck) wanted to know if an y precaut' had been taken by her Majesty's Government to preve nt such a disaster —for he could call it no less —to any British subject, and , if so, what corres p ondence ha d' taken place ? Lord PALMERSTON said that, with regard to the first question, her Majesty's Government had no know ledge of the facts to which the Hon. and Leaned Gen tleman had justcalle d the attention of t he House. The y had no knowledge that such an agent had been THE SUN, LONDON, THURSDAY EVENING, JANUARY 21, 1847. authorised by the Mexican Government to issue letters of marque and acts of naturalization. He was aware that an advertisement had been tendered to the Times newspaper, and he believed it had been refused. A letter had been also sent by a Mr. Marr, who wanted to make known that there was a shop opened on Tower-hill, in which might be obtained information showing that the Mexican Government had authorised the issuing of those litters of marque. Ile (the writer of the letter) did not know whether the person on Tower-hill was authorised by the Mexican Government to issue those letters, in fact he did not know that any person was authorised to do se. A correspondence had taken place between the United States' Government and her Majesty's Government, and the Minister of the former country had alluded to something of this sort taking place ; and he expressed a hope that the British Government would not allow such a proceeding in the present state of affairs between Mexico and the United States.—(Hear, hear.) He assured the American Minister that he was unacquainted with the circumstances to which he had adverted, and that, as far as the law of the land furnished, he would adopt such measures as he might think the occasion re quired. He might add, that he thought it right to put a question to the law officers of the Crown whether, if such letters of marque had been issued, what step the British Government should take, in order to prevent a rupture. With respect to the other question, it was perfectly true that some time ago notice was issued to the United States, that any foreigner found on board Mexi can ships should be summarily dealt with, and he (Lord Palmerston) had communicated with Mr. Pakenham his expectation that the United States Government would not apply to British subjects the execution of that law. Dr. BOWRING wished to know from the Right Hon. Baronet, the Home Secretary, whether the report from the Channel Islands' Commission had been received, and whether, and when, it would be laid on the table of the House. Sir G. GREY replied that there had been no time to make a digest of the report as yet, but as soon as that could be done it would be laid upon the table. Mr. lIUME wished to ask the Lord-Advocate of Scotland what measures were intended to be brought in relative to the law of Scotland, in consequence of the re commendation of previous commissions. The LORD-ADVOCATE replied, that the subject was under consideration. SUGAR DUTIES. Mr. MOFFATT moved for a return of the amount of duty received on sugar from the sth day of April, 1846, to the sth day of January, 1847 ; specifying the amount received under the different rates of duty.—Agreed to. The HON. MEMBER also moved for a return of all sugars that have been stopped for alleged inaccurate entry at the Custom-houses of London and Liverpool, between sth April, 1846, and sth January, 1847; specify ing the number of packages in each parcel so detained, the respective dates of stoppage and release, and whe ther colonial cr foreign sugar. Also, the amount of money now held in the said Custom-houses as paid tin der protest upon disputed claims in regard to' these sugars.•—Agreed to. Mr. I3ANKES presented a pc tition from Landford, in I)orsetshire, against the Poor Removal Bill, OPENING THE PORTS. On the motion of Lord JOHN RUSSELL, the House went into Committee, to consider the propriety of tem porarily suspending the laws relating to the importation of corn ; Mr. GREENE in the chair. Lord JOHN RUSSELL said—Mr. Greene, so favour able a feeling was shown by the House on Tuesday night to urge adopting the motion I am about to make, that I will not trouble the House with any lengthened detail upon the subject. I will, however, state, as well asl am able, what has heretofore been, and what is now the general prospect of the country with regard to a sup ply of food, and the reasons why I propose to advise the House to susp'end the corn-laws. The same reasons may be urged with equal force in favour of the navigation laws, the two subjects being closely connected together; and immediately after Mr. Speaker resumes the chair it is my intention to propose that the House do resolve itself into a Committee of the whole House to enable me to move the suspension of those laws. With the permission of the Committee, I will now proceed to state what were the results of the last harvest. Upon the termination of the harvest state ments were made that the crop, with regard to corn, would be considerably below the average, while the produce in barley and oats in parts of England was very deficient. But the greatest calamity with which we have been visited was the failure of the potato crop, which has been most considerable in extent in Scotland. It has been stated to have extended to three fourths of the whole crop, but the exact amount cannot be correctly ascertained, yet I have no doubt in saying that it has extended to considerably more than half of the whole produce of that country. Of course, Sir, this great and general failure of the potato crop has had a material influence upon the prices of food. It was impossible not to expect that the prices of corn required for consumption in Ireland would be materially affected by this failure of the potato crcp. But, on the other hand, there wss, in the course of last year, a very large importation of foreign corn, and of corn and flour from the British dominions. The amount alto gether so imported appears, by a return which will shartly be in the possession of Honourable Mem bers, to amount to the large quantity of 4,800,000 vary IarCIEI sunray_ hut it lid not for some time come into consumption, notwithstand ing the reduction of the duty to 4s. on the passing of the corn-law. It was for this reason that there was not a very considerable rise in prices. There was not a general apprehension that there would be insufficiency of food. With respect to this country, the prices in October and in the course of November did not show any very considerable apprehension with regard to the increase of the price of food, as the prices of corn in the first week of October last year was 545., in the second week 555. 10d., its the third 595. 101, and in the fourth 618. 9d. ; in the first week in November the price was 61s. 3d., in the third 595. Bd., and in the fourth 595. This shows rather a decline than an increase of prices from the middle of October to the end of November; but, Sir, from that time there has been a very considerable rise in prices—a rise of prices very considerable indeed, and of alarming character, when the nature of the calamity is considered, coming, as it did, immediately at the time of the har vest.—(Hear.) The price of wheat in the month of August, I think, was 478.; on the Ist of September it was 495.; but the price has risen in the course of the present month—in the first week in January to 645. 4d.; in the second week to 665. 10d., and the week's average, to the 16th of the present month, was 70s. 3d. The returns show that for some years past there has been a, great increase in the price of barley, In Janu ary, 1312, the price of barley was 295. 7d., in 1843, 264. 5d., its the first week of 1844, 325. 7d., 1845, 34,. 2ds, 1846, 31s. 11d.; in the first week of 1847, 445. 3d., second week, 465. 5d., third weele, 50s. This 508. did notrepresent the trueprice at the present'time. Sir, I have said that this rise in the price has been in a great degree unexpected by those, who are engaged in the trade. I will draw attention also to the state of the grain market in France. I hold in my band the report of the Minister of Agricultural Commerce in France. In last year there was a restriction on the supply in the grain of this country ; nor was it in these countries alone that the deficiency in the supply of grain was experienced, to which he would immediately refer. I have mentioned that in various parts of Scotland and Ireland there had been, as was well known, a great fail ure of the potato crop, which has given rise to that great distress of which we have heard so much, and which we all so deeply deplore. lam speaking now of the effect which this great failure has produced upon the general supply of 'food, and the want which it has caused of an additional supply of corn and other grain in the country. Various statements have been made as to the actual amount of the loss occasioned by the- failure sof the potato crop. In money value, however, I think that the general average estimate is not less than twelve millions sterling. I do not hesitate to say that a less sum than from four to five millions would be required for the purchase of food, of one description' or another, to supply the de ficiency. I have already stated, that during the past year we have had a supply of 4,800,000 quarters of corn from foreign countries ; but, with reference to the supply that we may have to obtain during the remainder of the year, and before the next harvest, it is to be considered that there are but very few parts of the world from whence that supply can come, There has been a great deficiency in the harvest in France, termany, and a great part of the west of Eu rope. Measures have been taken in most of those coun tries to supply that deficiency by the admission of corn free of duty. A law has lately been passed in France by which the importation of wheat is allowed free of duty, and also allowing all ships of foreign nations to enter the ports' of France. Similar measures have been passed in other countries, and in others the exportation of corn has been prohibited. The stock on hand in this country was very low, and it was naturally expected that prices would be high. There are two quarters from which a quantity of corn may be expected to this country ; one of those was Odessa. A large supply had already been sent to France from that port, in conse quence of the importation having been so greatly encouraged. We cannot speak accurately of the quantity which has been imported, but at least 700,000 quarters have been imported, and there is no doubt that a further supply will be sent in the spring, and made available to meet the deficiency of this and other countries. There had been a pretty fair average crop in America of all sorts of corn. The harvests of wheat had been abundant," and the quantity of Indian corn grown was, perhaps, the largest ever known ; but, at the same time, we required a very great part of that supply to be sent to this country. However, ships had been sent from Liverpool and other places over there with the intention of bring ing to this country that supply of Indian and other sorts of corn. Now, it appeared to him that such being the state of the supply to this country, and such being the deficiency, it had been found that they ought to remove every impediment which was in the way of a supply to thi s e d e u ty n t o r sc f4r3o. p na er fo quarterreign onne,sa.s not lt considered appeared very first that r, la rg tb e e and the importation of last year showed that it did not prevent considerable importations of corn ; but there were eircuttldttllCU S and cases in which that duty might, to a certain extent, limit the supply brought to this country. For instance, it was for some time a very nice balance between the prices of corn in this country and France. For a short time, English wheat was sent from the eastern counties of this country to France, but that exportation lasted a very short time, as the prices rose, and the balance was the other way. When prices rose in France corn in bond here rose to within ls. of the price, so that the 4s. duty would mate rially alter the destination of many cargoes. For instance, supposing the price at London to be 625., and the price at Havre to be 605., the price at Havre would make it bettei worth the importer's while to carry it there than to bring it to London with a duty of 4s. Supposing that the same circumstances occurred to France, and a similar duty existed, it would hardly prevent any great quantity from being brought to this country, but at present the restriction imposed by the 4s. duty causes a considerable difference. It is hardly in my power to say what quantity may possibly come into this country through the suspension of the present duty, but, whatever the quantity may be, if it adds to the stock of food for the consumption, it is worth our while to legislate for it. Sir, in order to afford every facility for the in troduction of foreign grain, we propose that in regard to corn the duty at present levied shall be suspended till the Ist of September in the present year. That is the proposition of her Majesty's Government. We shall leave to Parliament afterwards to consider whether it is expedient to continue the suspension, or shall revert to the law which is at present in operation. Ido not think that any party in this House should oppose the proposi tion we have made.—(Hear, hear.) In regard to the advocates of the corn-laws, it has never been contended by them it was not admissible to suspend the principle when great emergencies arose. In 1756, in 1766, in 1790, in 1791, and in 1800, these laws were suspended, and yet the Governments of those times were advocates of protective principles. With regard to those who are opposed to restriction, and who have argued that in February, 1849, the duty shall be reduced to ls., they can have no difficulty in relation to this proposed suspension because they cannot hold that that which they consider a bad law, even in times of good harvests and abundance, should be a good law now, when there is a great pressure, and a lamentable deficiency of food.—(Hear, hear.) Sir, I now pass to another subject intimately connected with the present question—l mean the navigation laws From the Baltic the freight was 33. 9d. to 4s. 61 There are some instances of freight still more remark able and still more affecting the supply of corn to Ire land from foreign countries. I shall quote one instance ; the freight of a quarter of wheat from Lon don to Cork vried generally from ls. to 13. 2d., per quarter, at the present moment it averaged from 3s. to 3s. 6(1., and there is considerable difficulty in finding vessels for the purpose of exportation. By a lower rate of freightage we will be able to employ some more of our vessels, from whence we anticipate much good to result. 7 (llear, hear.). Mr. BANKS said - he felt no difficulty in rising to second the resolution. The Noble Lord had stated, that from this suspension of the corn-laws he anticipated no discussion. He was not wrong in his anticipitation, but it was his opinion that the Noble Lord could not expect much benefit should be derived from the passirg of this measure, otherwise Parliament would have been called together at an earlier period.— (Hear, hear.) The Prime Minister could not but he aware that if he, in the course of hia duty, thought it expedient to pass such a measure, it was in his power to have called the Legislature together—it might, indeed, be true that such a course would have been inconvenient to the Irish Members—but the English representatives would have at once cheerfully consented on the behalf of Ireland to the proposition, or any other, which would have been proved to them was for the benefit of Ireland But he thought the Noble Lord had less excuse for not calling Parliament together at an earlier period for an alteration in the navigation laws. They had been told that there was plenty of grain to be found in different parts of the world, and consequently the only difficulty that was to be met with was a want of the means of conveyance, and that difficulty could only be obviated by the suspension of the navigation laws. The Ministry might have obviated that inconvenience by calling Parliament together shortly after the proroga tion last year, and, as he had before observed, if it had been inconvenient for the Irish Members to attend, the English Members were ready, on the Dart of Ireland, to attend for the sanction of the sus pension of the navigation laws. His information differed from that of the Noble Lord with respect to the last harvest. He believed that there was more than an average crop of corn in the west of England, although it might be deficient in quality, but he believed that there was more than average quantity, and indeed sufficient to supply the deficiency of the potato crop. A view had been taken by the friends of protection, that at a period when the want of corn would be felt in this country, the prices of corn in other nations would be guided by the prices in the English markets. Such appeared to be the case now, and it was to other and more distant countries that they now required to look for the supply which was now required. He had the sincere satisfaction of expressing on the present occasion a full, a free, and entire concurrence in the proposition of the Noble Lord. He shared with him in the apprehension that no great benefit would result from the suspension of the duty, but if there was the smallest benefit to be derived, he agreed with the Noble Lord in saying that they would be to blame if they withheld the supply of corn for one moment.—(Hear, hear.) One of the measures in regard to which the Right Hon. Member for Tamworth bad met oppo sition from them was the Coercion Bill. lie did not indeed know whether his Hon. and Learned Friend of oho Coercion Bill wo u ld considered that the psasing relieve the famine in Ireland, but he would beg leave to remind the Hon. and Learned Member, and indeed all Members in the House, that as regarded the famine in Ireland, the Right Hon. Member of Tamworth had met with no opposition whatever that promised relief to that unfortunate country, for the agricultural Members had over and over again expressed their desire to consent to all suspension of the duty on corn, but their over tures were rejected by the Right Honourable Member. Ireland had, therefore, nothing to blame any agricultural Members for, and the committee might rely upon it those Members would never stand in the way of any measure that was calculated in the slightest degree to bedefit Ireland. Sir IL W. BARRON regretted that the present mea sure had not been brought forward before. In many parts of Ireland which existed in every part of that neighbourhood. Par liament had no idea of the terrible destitution that pervaded Ireland, while, from what he read in the public prints, the people of England appeared yet unconvinced of the dreadful condition in which the unfortunate millions of Ireland were living. On Thursday lest, in the City of Waterford no less than 107 applicants were refused ad mission into the union workhouse solely on account of the want of sufficient room to locate them. The phy sician reported to the board that it would be dangerous to the lives not only of the applicants themselves but of the inmates of the house from the crowded state of the wards if they_wore admitted. Under these circumstances they were forced to refuse admission to the 107 applicants, but lie was glad to say that the board, upon their own responsibility, had since taken another building, capable of accommodating most generous nation, that there was not a mong t h e gentlemen who Attended there one dissentient voice when the proposition was made for taxing himself for the relief of those 'poor persons who were suffering under the distresses that had been justly and eloquently set forth. Ife was one of those who had imposed upon himself a taxation of 28s. in the pound on the property of the baronies for the support of the poor for only three months of the year. He attended regu larly at the sessions where he resided, and other places where the country gentlemen were accustomed to assemble, and where these matters were re gulated, and he had not seen one single instance where a landlord had set himself up in opposition to the principle that property was bound to support the poor ; and yet they were told gravely by the press of this country, and that statement was retailed second hand in that House, by some second-hand lawyer— (Laughter) —that they had not performed their duties in reference to the poorer classes of their country, and that they were miserably deficient in all the duties which they owed towards those who were entitled to relief from the more affluent portions of the community. He asserted it without fear of contradiction, that there was not in the whole world a class who had come more liberally forward towards the support of the poor, or had acted more magnanimously towards them than the landlords of Ireland on the present oceasion. They had clone this in the mode that was most accept able, and which clothed the act with proper grace and dignity, for they had done it liberally, and without any distinction of party or sect.—(Hear.) So great was the calamity that impended over his unfortunate country, yet he could not help thinking that it might yet be of considerable advantage to that country, and rescue it from many of the horrors that were inherent in the organization of the country, and the vitiated state of its political condition, and he trusted that speedily it would be delivered from the horrors that now cast a gloom over it Mr. GOLTLBURN would not follow the Honourable Baronet throughout the details of his address, because he had recently arrived from a place where the greatest distress prevailed, and consequently he was well able to depict the nature of the sufferings of the people to the House. It was perfectly natural for a gentleman so situated, to press, in warm language, upon the House the dreadful nature of the calamity which had visited his country, and it was equally natural that he should feel irritated at statements .4 hich, in his opinion, reflected upon the character of his countrymen, and that he should take the earliest opportunity of contradicting them. But the Henourable Baronet would not suppose that he was in the least degree indifferent to the sufferings of that country if he (Mr. Goulbourn) expressed his opinion that that was not the occasion on which he should have taken an opportunity of entering into such a discussion.—(Hear) They all knew and felt for the distress existing in Ireland, and considered that it was the duty of England to come forward and to relieve the distresses cf the Irish people. He had but a single observation to offer to the House. He entirely concurred in the measure which the Noble Lord had proposed, and ho thought al , o that it was most essential that that concur rence should be universal, and that that concurrence should carry with it to the people a conviction of the interest which England felt in the welfare of Ire land. He would not, however, avail himself of that opportunity to advert to the past proceedings of the House with respect to this subject, except to state that the such a step a.t an Errlier varied would acne far to have alleviated thc which it was not prepared to meet.—(Hear.) The question they had to consider was—were they likely f or not to derive advantage from the measure? To it he gave his entire assent, and h e could not, in doing so, help expressing his regret, that the adoption of such a course, at an antecedent period would have been most advantageous ; as at the present time the grain of the foreign countries to whom we looked 1 for supplies, was alrealy engaged by other purchasers who were competing for its;p a ,essfen; yet it was most desirable to obtain possession of whatever sur plus remained through the suspension of the duties, as the continuance of the duty might divert those sup plies from 'our shores to other countries. With re gard to the suspension of t h e navigation laws this argument applied even with gr ea t er f orce, as France had suspended her navigation laws for the purpose of getting corn into France; and, th ere f ore, t h ey h ad not the same advantage with their s hi ps as t h ey would have had if France had not adopted such a course. Corn from A mer i ca, for instance, would be carried to France when the American ships were informed at the nearest port that the navigation laws of Fran ce h a d been suspended. He thought that in order to keep themselves on an equal footing with other countries, th e suspens i on of the n a vigation laws during the urgent period of distress was a measure quite necessary, and from which no one could dissent, and for his own part he did assent to it more freely. At the same time he was sure that the Noble Lord and the House wou!d not suppose him about to throw obstacles in the course about to be pursued if he took the present opportunity of preserving entirely to himself the question of any further suspension of the navigation laws, or of prohibi t i rg any i nterference with them hereafter, either in the matter of corn or in respect of any other commodity. He must not be considered to be precl u d e d f rom adhering to the strictness of their navigation laws, by the vote he should give that night; nor should he be p rec l u d e d from consi dering any point that might arise with regard to them, by what might take pl ace on the present occasion. lie thought it right to put in this reservation With respect to these laws, he had only further to ex press his hope that the measures they were then about to take might be the means of allaying the cry of famine in this country, and that those nho were now suf fering under the greatest depths of privation and dis tress would see, in the readiness 'with which the dif ferent interests in this country had given up those points which they had heretofore conten d ed for as most important. Without a moment's hesitation on it, an evidence of the strong and liberal feeling of a British Parliament to thoae of its subjects in any part of its em pire who might be suffering under the severest calamity Which could be inflicted on the country. He trusted that the unanimity with which they had acted on this particular occasion would carry with it a degree of sa tisfaction vihich would tend to alleviate that misery, to remove which they had acted. Mr. EWART rose, but *as for some time inaudible. The conduct of the commercial Minister of France in the suspension of the navigation laws had been worthy of all praise, and yet although the example had long been before the eyes of the Government, they did not follow it until three or four months after the necessity had occurred. He had been one of those Mem bers who had supported the principles of free trade from the first in that House, and he was cordially pleased to find that the Hon. Member for Dor setshire had voted for a temporary suspension of the navigation laws. As an advocate for a total repeal of commercial restrictions, he preferred that plan to a temporary suspension. He only regretted that her Majesty's Ministers had not come to a resolution for that total repeal ; and he thought the same obser vation might be applied to the navigation laws. Since, however, the Government would not consent to the total rep ea l, h owever muc h h e regretted it, he would assent to the temporary measure. There were no old associations to justify the r e tention cf the navigation laws. They only took their rise in the reign of Henry VII., and were confirmed in the time of Charles 11., and, he believed, simply in consequence of our connection with the Dutch at that time. He repeated that he would much rather if the Ministry, had for temporary suspension substituted that temporary suspension of those laws, yet he did not wish to disturb the unanimity of the debate. But he could not help observing that labour in this country could never b e sufficiently rewarded until they did away with the restrictions en external commerce. LAW INTELLIGENCE. COURT OF Q UEEN'S B EIV CH, Jan. 20, The Court took the Crown paper to-day. None but disputed pauper settlement and parish cases came on for argument during the morning. They involved no points of public interest. BAIL COURT, Jan. 20. LIABILITY OF PROVISIONAL COMIIITTEE3IEN. FLOWER V. ROPER. This was an action brought 'to recover the sum of 881. due from the defendant to the plaintiff, for work and labour done, and upon an account stated. Mr. Wordsworth appeared for the plaintiff, and Mr. New ton, with whom was Mr. Hatherton, appeared for the de fendant. The facts of the case were very brief. It appeared from the statement of counsel, and from the witnesses examined, that the defendant, Mr. Roper, was a gentleman of property, and the plaintiff, Mr. Flower, is a soli citor. In the year 184 G a railway company. called the Liverpool, Gloucester, Salisbury, Devizes, and Southampton Railway was started. The defendant, amongst other gen tlemen, gave his written consent to have his name placed upon the provisional committee. The written consent was dated the 13th of Dec., 1845, although the registration of the company did not take place for some time afterwards. The attorneys and solicitors were appointed for the company on the very day upon which the defendant had given his consent. 'fhc plaintiff was one of those solicitors, and in the duties consequent upon that appointment the present expenses were incurred. _ _ . On the cross-examination of the witnerses, it was admitted that Mr. Flower had, by way of showing that he had not selected the defendant by any undue preference, brought six other actions for this Gil. A managing committee was ap pointed soon after the defendant joined the provisional com mittee. The sum of three guineas was charged by the plaintiff for each attendance at the board of directors of the company. The Cheltenham, Gloucester, Stroud, and South ampton Railway Company was amalgamated with the railway of which the defendant was a member, on the 13th of December, the day on which the defendant placed his name on the provisional committee of the joint company called the Liverpool, Gloucester, Salisbury, and Devizes, and Southampton Railway Company. Mr NEWTON objected, on the part of the defendant, that he was in any case not liable for more than the amount of the bill from the 13th of Dzcember to the appoint ment of the managing committee. lie also objected that it did not appear what number of the provisional committee were to form a quorum, and therefore many of the proceed ings of that committee might have . been illegal, as it had not been shown that the proper number attended. He also objected that a great many of the proceedings for which charges had been made had taken place before the 13th of December, when, although the de fendant was in the habit of attending meetings of the company, there was nothing to render him in any way liable. Mr. Flower had also neglected to prove the attendances, which comprised the heavier portion cf his bill. Mr. Justice EseLE said that if the Counsel on either side would allow him to consider of the case until to-morrow morning, he would decide whether the plaintiff should be nonsuited, subject to the objections of Mr. Wordsworth, or the defendant should be rendered liable, subject to the motion of Mr. Newton. The only question was as to the amount. Both Counsel expressed their readiness to come to an ar rangement. Bin NEWTON then addressed the jury. The Learned JUDGE having summed up, The jury found found for the plaintill.—Damages, 171. Ba. 6d., the amount from the 13th of December to the ap pointment of the managing committee. The case of Richards r. Lord Maidstone, which stood for trial this morning, was, by consent, postponed until the sit tings after term. COURT OF EXCHEQUER, Jan. 20. CHILTERN V. CROYDON RAILWAY COMPANY. This cause, which has been brought before the attention of the Court upon several occasioni, was again brought for- ward upon demurrer. The plaintiff; 'it will be remembered, was a passenger from Sydenham by the Croydon Railway Company, but upon his journey up it appeared that he had lost his ticket, and upon refusing to pay the whole fare from Croydon, was given in charge to a policeman, and brought before the Lord Mayor, and was finally discharged upon paying the fare claimed. The action vas brought to recover compensation in da mages for the imprisonment complained of. Mr. KENNEDY was heard at great length against the de murrer; at the conclusion of which the Court gave judgment against the company, on the ground that they had no right to give a passenger in charge under the circumstances of the case. 'IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT. HOUSE OF COMMONS, Jan. 20. IRON SHIPS OF WAR. Mr. R. YORKE wished to ask the Secretary to . the Admiralty whether it was true that sixteen iron ships 'of war had been ordered without previous inquiry of their. poWers and efficiency for the service. Also, whether the report of the Admiralty of France, showing the utter inefficiency of iron ships for the purposes of warfare, was not in possession of the Government at the time the said ships were ordered. Sir. WARD said the best reply he could give to the lion. Gentleman was, that the iron steam-ships to which he referred, were ordered by the House last session, on the motion of an lion. Member opposite.' He believed that no report had been made to the Admiralty of France seeing forth the utter inefficiency of iron ships for the purposes of warfare, and that no experiments had yet been made by the naval authorities of either country to test t heir eap.xity. Mr. WILLIAMS wished to be informed whether the progress of the iron -steamers, which Lad been ordered, had been suTended? Mr. WARD replied, but was not audible in the gal lery. AGRICULTURAL STATISTICS. Mr. STAFFORD O'BRIEN wished to ask whether the Government had fulfilled the promise made through the Right Hon. Gentleman the Vice-President of the Board of Trade (Mr. M. Gibson), and directed their atten tion to the subject of agricultural statistics during the recess, and whether they proposed bringing forward any measure on the subject ? Mr. M. GIBSON replied that the subject had re ceived the attention of the Government during the recess, and that a measure was now in progress which, when some of its. details had been decided on, would be laid before the Reuse--he hoped on an early day. LIBRARY COMMITTEE. On the motion of Sir R. H. INGLIS, the following Committee was appointed to assist Mr. Speaker in the direction of the Library, and all matters relating to it: —Sir R. H. Inglis, Mr. Chancellor of the Exche quer, Lord John Russell, Sir Robert Peel, Mr. Goulburn, Mr. W. Wynn, the Lord Advocate, Mr. Shaw, Viscount Palmerston, Viscount Mahon, Major• General Fox, Mr. Solicitor-General, Mr. Pendarves, Mr. Aclaml, Sir W. Somerville, and Mr. Monckton Milnes. POOR-LAW. • Captain PECHELL moved for a return from each. poor-law union and parish in England and ;Wales of th 6 number of non-resident families and persons who were in receipt of relief on the 26th day of August, 1846, distinguishing those who have since become chargeable to the unions and parishes in which they were residing at that period. Ho said the return referred to the extraordinary ope-• ration of a Bill passed last session, entitled the Poor law Removal Bill, the working of which had proved . ' most injurious to the poorer classes. It had created the greatest consternation in the coun try, and had benefited none save the, legal authorities connected•with the various unions, who, in fact, were living upon plunder derived from the poor. The non-resident had been harshly treated, and had in • many cases had relief altogether suspended so fur, as they were concerned.—(Hear, hear). There were several persons now thrown upon the humane guardians of certain unions .. for whom they had no no right to provide, and the Gilbert Union, at the pre sent moment, paying both ways. By the operation of this Act, no less than 1,110 families, consisting 0f1,621 persons, had been thrown upon the Gilbert Union at au expense of 285!. per week. In the town of Brighton, with which he was connected, no less than 1,452 persons had been thrown upon the rates, and the guardians of that union, rather than refuse these poor people as sistance in their necessity, or of litigating the case, and voluntarily undertaking their support of the expectation that the House of Conimons would pass some measure, during the present session, for their relief from this oppression. He could not help think ing this was a matter which might have been introduced into her Majesty's , Speech, for certainly it was of much more importance - than the County Courts Bill. On the 19th oft January it might well be supposed that the state of Ireland would occupy a prominent position in her Majesty's-Speech ;'.but -even that, he considered, a subject not paramount to the alteration of the poor law. He trusted that 'the Government would grant these returns, as it was fully expected that the House of Commons would grant the' relief which was -'so earnestly sought. Mr. BANKES said that it was with great pleasure he seconded the motion which had just been made, nod he look that opportunity of giving notice of an intention which - he had had previously of ;bringing a formal pro position before the House, and on Friday next, he pro pose d to do it in the- shape of an amendment to the ,notion of the Noble L'Ord, in svhich he should submit to the House a proposition for the immediate repeal of the Poor-law, which was at that moment doing the greatest mischief in the country. He held in his hand a petition from his own rarish, which had been greatly injured, in the county he represented, by the operation of this law, and he believed that in a .few days he should have petitions from almost every parish in that county, speaking of this petition, which he should take that op portunity of presentinglo the House ; it purported .to be with reference to the least 'important portion of the evil, viz., it had reference to the additional burthen thrown upon the rate-payers, while the more important portion by far was that adverted to by the Honourable Member ; who just spoke, viz., the ge neral injury inflicted upon the poor. He believed that those who ventured to suggest objections to this Bill when it passed—he was one who suggested many amendments, everyone of which was negatived— and those who promoted the Bill had no conception of the mischief it would create. For that reason he should be acting inconsistently with his duty if he did not take the earliest opportunity possible of sub mitting to the House the immediate and total re peal of these laws. He should tie answered by the Noble Lord that the question of whether the measure, should continue was one of the subiects which he pi o posed to submit to the Committee, the constitution of which he should offer to the consideration of the House . on Friday i.ext. His (Mr. Bankes's) answer would be, that during the deliberation of the Committee the grievance ought not to continua- if it were in their power to put an end to it at once, and sure he was, that whatever might be the result or their deliberation, that law, as it now stood, ought not to remain another hour upon the statute-book. He, therefore, concurred en tirely in the propriety of the motion of which the Noble Lord had given notice, with reference to a full consideration of that law. The amendment which he shOuld submit That ,`it is necessary to inquire into the operation of the Act 9 and 10 Victoria, chap. 66, passed during the la-t session of Parliament, as to its effects upon the comforts and condition of the poor." . Such .an enquiry, must neces sarily tend to show the necessity of altering the statute materially, or of removing it altogether. With regard to the other Subject alluded to by the Hen., Member ' there was no doubt that some time.would be required before the full information could be obtained. lie would, however, support the motion of the — Hon. Gentleman for that - inforraa.'ion whiCh ho .required. 'He trusted that country MA sseuld.contribute to the 'information of the-House'on this subject by the - restilts of - their own personal experience, and render unneces sary any Committee'on subject.-L-(Hear, hear.) Sir GEORGE GREY - had no objrcti , in to the pro election of the papers moved for by the Hon. Memb er ,. but'as the HOn. Gentleman opposite -had stated it to be his intentien'to bring this matter before the House by a , specific -motion; he trusted that the House would not countenance the discussio'n further'at the present time. POOR-LAW AUDITORS. SUMMARY. The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER rose to explain iho reasons why the Government had not before sus pended the navigation laws. In Octnber they had been informed that there was a large quantity of corn in Ame rica, and an immense number of British vessels in Ameri can ports ready to load corn for England. They were told that in New York and New Or leans there were 70 - British vessels ready to load corn. They had been deceived, for although there had been a great importation of corn, yet it had not amounted to the quantity represented. He looked now also to Odessa and Galatz, and as soon as those ports should be open, it stood to reason that the vessels on the spot would be enabled to load earlier than vessels sent out from England, therefore they now proposed to suspend the navigation-laws. Then, with regard to supplies, they must recollect that with re gard to Indian cern, they had not as yet received a grain of the crop of 1846, but the suspension of the navigation law would enable them to receive the Indian corn of 1846 much sooner from America then they could do if those laws had not been suspended. With a view of promoting the importation of corn into Ireland, the Government had refused to be importers of corn, but they had purchased corn in this county, and had sent it to the west coast of Ireland without any limit, except that they could not purchase to such an extent as to raise the price of food to the poor of this country who had to purchase their own food. The orders given were to bring, always following, but never leading the market. In some weeks the Government had bought all the Indian corn in the market ; afterwards it had bought barley ; after wards rice, and upwards of 200,000 quarters of one sort of grain or another had been purchased by the Government and sent to the depots on the west coast of Ireland. The amount of Indian meal imported since ws and a-half of persons for was 3,700,000 quarters, e th n e ou r g e h pe to al su o p f po th rt e la eight corn millionscorn-laws four months. This had been done by private enterprise, and was a proof that private enterprise had done more than any Government could possibly have done. The imports of corn from Ireland t o E ngland was less b y 1,300,000 quarters this year than it had been during the preceding years, and the export from England to Ireland had been greater. In December 37 vessels were loading in Liverpool with corn for Irela n d. T he Government had also taken large mills in various parts of the country to grind corn into meal, which h a d b een sent to Ireland. Last year there were nine depots of meal in Ireland. In the present year there were 26 i n the western counties. It was certainly advisable that so long as the people could maintain themselves from their own resources they should do se, and therefore great caution was necessary in opening these depots , because the moment the Govern ment appeared to interfere, private efforts seased, and, in some cases, the opening of food depots, by closing pri vate stores, tended rather to aggravate than to miti gate the distress. Therefore, great caution was necessary (LEFT SPEAKING JOSEPH ADY.—This notorious p ersonage, who has obtained from her Majesty's lieges so manysoverei gus, under a promise of relating something to thei r a d vantage, was summoned to the lower Hamlets Court of Requests, in Osborn-street, Whitechapel, on Tuesday, by a M r . Willi am Wright, a coal merchan t in Cambridge -heath-road, Bethnal green, and the decision of the Court will no dorbt put some Ady had written to M r . check on the proceedings of " Friend Joseph," wh o was re presented on the occas i o n b y a man named Abbott, wh o would make an excelle nt re p res entative for the l a y b ro th er in the opera of The Due n na. Wright that he could "inform him of something to his advantage, on receipt .of 205., value 1,0001. and upwards." The money was transmitted, and Ady furnished Mr. Wright with a quantity of his lithographed circulars and lists relating to next of kin, joint-stock banks, and clerks in holy o r d ers , holding shares in them, but this information was not worth a farthing. Mr. Wright demanded value for his money. Ad y demurred, and a summons was forthwith issued. Ady's re presentative, Abbott, contended that consideration was give n , and the work contracted for was done. He also placed a high value on Joseph Ady's services to the community, t o the no small amusement of the Court. The commissioners dissented from all the propositions made by Ady's ma n o f business, and decided that the information given t o M r. Wright was worth no thing, that no consideration had been given, and that Ady must refund 205., and pay all the c os t s within twenty-four h ours , or execution wouldissue against his goods and chattels. Yesterday Ady attended the Court and paid 11. 75., the amount of the debt and costs. His cir culars are travelling all over the kingdom, and we believe his dupes are as numerous as ever. IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PARKS.—By order of her Majesty's Commissioners of Woods and Forests, a new en trance to St, James's Park, at the top of Constitution-hill, has just been completed, adjoining the garden wall of Buck ingham Palace, which is for the accommodation of the inha bitants of Grosvenor-place. The passage is by a gradual ascent from the road in G r osvenor -place _ to the Park, th e elevation being there about eight feet. The gateway is a plain brick structure. In Kensington Gardens a new walk is in the cour s e o f f ormat i on , a t between 300 and 400 f e et distance from the entrance opposite the equestrian ride It is to be about 40 feet wide, and will extend across the gardens from south to north. A JUDGE'S SUMMING UP.—" OFF, OFF, AND AwAv."--Mr, Ser gean t Ad ams , whose singularities and eccentricities occasionally produce much merriment in the court over which he presides, heard a case yesterday at the Middlesex Sessions, in which a lad stole a piece of pudding from an eatinghouse-keeper's in Clerkenwell. The evidence having been gone through, the Learned Judge thus summed up--" Gentlemen of the Jury, you have heard this case—off goes the pudding—off goes the boy—off goes the woman; she captures him bolting down a court, and here you have the boy, pudding, and woman, before you ; gentlemen, con sider your verdict." At the close of this lucid and satisfac sdeetltilbeedratthneig poor about? jjurymen ry tory address, the j ury turne d to eac h o th er i n th e i r b ox, and were soon in deep consu lt a ti on . The impatient J u d ge hastily. exclaimed, "Go o d G o d, gentlemen, what ar e y ou m th en e a ca t se onc is e, clearand tu e rn ne i u n g g h. r ' o ' und 'h i i n s alarm they found the p r i soner G u ilty. His love of p u ddi ng got him a month's imprisonment, with the pleasant pros pect of a whipping by the gaolers at the end of the first fortnight. 'nre 11,: - ..rd LI, r ;ci ".' : L.; Lecuine Val:dist by the deticit o. l i henry 'Ruins, of New port, who succeeded the late Duke of Beaufort in that office in 1835. STATISTICS OF THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH IN GREAT BRITAIN. CHURCHES AND CHAPELS.--In England and Wales there were 540 churches and chapels, In Scotland, eighty-ovo ; besides twenty-two stations were Divine service is performed. Grand total of Catholic churches and chapels in Great Bri tain, 622. CATHOLIC COLLEGES.—In England there are eleven Catholic celleges, viz. —St. Edmund's, Hertfordshire ; St. Peter's, St. Paul's, and St. Gregory's, Somersetshire ; Stony hurst, Lancashire ; St. Mary's, Staffordshire ; St. CuthberVii, U,haw, Durham ; St. Lawrence's, Yorkshire ; St. Edward's, Lancashire ; St. Mary's, Derbyshire ; College of the Immacu late Conception, Leicestershire. In Scotland, St. Mary's, Blairs, Kincardineshire. CONVEN rS.—London district, 12 ; Central district, 8 ; Western district, 5 ; Lancashire ditrict, 4 ; Yorkshire district, 2 ; Northern district, 2; Scotland district, 1. Total, 34. 1110NASTERIES.—Central district, 7 ; Western district 1. MISSIONARY PRIESTS IN GREAT BRITAIN, ENG LAND, AND WALES. —London district 135 ; Central district, 132 ; Eastern district, 39 ; Western district, 68 ; Lancashire district, 173 ; York,hire district, 68 ; Northern district, 61; Wales district, 24. Total, 714, in cluding Priests without any fixed mission. In Scotland, Eastern District, 25 ; Western district, 44 ; Northern district, 24 St. Mary's College, Blairs, 5. Total, 98. Grand total of Missionary Priests in Great Britain, 818. Of the 766 Priests contained in the alphabetical list of last year, only eight have died, and eight more have retired or gone abroad. Exclusive of these last, the increase during last year is forty. PROPOSAL FOR A NATIONAL RE MONSTRANCE AGAINST SLAVERY. (From the People's Journal.) The abolitionists of America have always coveted the ex pression of sympathy from abroad. Subject, as they con stantly are, to the deadly hostility of the slave-holding interests, they are cheered and invigorated by every voice—no matter how remote its source—which pronounces a condem nation of slavery, and demands the liberty of the negro. The cause of emancipation in America depends, in a greater degree than may be supposed, upon the bearing assumed by the friends of freedom in England. Reciprocal influences prevail between nations as among individuals, and one nation may determine the conduct of another nation, as effectually as one man may exercise a suasion upon the mind of his fellow-being. See how the flame kindled by the Anti-corn-law League lights up a kindred element in European nations—they have caught the spirit of anti-monopoly, and are " up and doing." The applanse with which the champion of free trade has been everywhere greeted, attests that the eyes of Europe have been upon England during the recent struggle—and that her ex ample has extended its influence wherever mis-government exists. The struggle for free trade will also inflnence future revolutions with a tremendous power. It has demonstrated that the earnest but peaceful assertion of truth and right is sufficient for the overthrow of the harshest despotism, and that the power of mind is more potent than that of the sword. The world has b?en taught the grand lesson—that civil anarchy is not the necessary prelude to the establishment of civil right. If the good works of Englishmen may excite emulation in the breasts of their brethren of France, Germany,. and Spain, how much greater will be their influence upon a people speaking the same tongue, having the same common origin, and united to each other by links of the most inseparable kind? Who amongst us but has some tie—in addition to that of the common brotherhood—upon the extended soil of America ? Who has nn friend, no schoolfellow, no relative within the great boundary of American rule? England, perhaps, more than any other nation, owes a duty to America; and certainly r.o other people can perform such a duty so effectively as the English. We owe it then, as a duty to God and to man, and to Americans espe daily to Speak out against the dreadful oppression of which the black slave is the victim. And there are many reasons why the voice of England should be heard now. The spirit of emancipation is just taking deep root, and it becomes every lover of liberty to foster and encourage its growth. The American Abolitionists have been led to expect a loud and unmistakable expression of sympathy from England—they look for it, and they must have it—and it must be equal to their expectations ; not a weak puny murmur that shall die away upon the wind, but a voice that shall strike the ear of humanity throughout the whole civilised world, and quicken the blood in the hearts alike of the doers of evil and of good. There must be a stir in the moral elements that suit excite each one to ask of himself—" Am I on the side of right or wrong?" But how shall this voice be expressed ? Shall it be by a word now, and another then ; one uttered here, and another there? Or shall the voice of England against American sla very be one loud, united, and earnest protest against the prat. tices of the oppressor? If, as we are told, an address signed by 300 English people encourages and invigorates the American abolitionists, by that mysterious influence which sympathetic feeling never fails to impart—how much more the voice of 3,000 ? bow great the expression of 300,000 voices ? or, one glorious step further— say how mighty in its effect the united declaration of three mil lions of men, women, and youths of Great Britain, against the enslavement of the negro race ! There are three millions of slaves in the United States—are there not three millions of people in Great Britain who will sign a friendly remonstrance against American slavery ? Will not every man assert the right of his fellow-man—every woman the right of her fellow woman—to freedom ? Yea; all this may be done—it only re mains to set about it with an earnest resolution. The writer may be said to be sanguine, and he has reason to be so. A few years ago, he sat with five others in a room in Manchester, and there he proposed a National Petition to Parliament, praying the right of suffrage fur the British adult male population. Yes—when it was proposed there were only five persons present—and he afterwards betook himself to soli tude to frame the prayer of the British people to their rulers. A few months afterwards, and his was the joy to see that petition borne down to the House of Commons upon the shoulders of sixteen sturdy men—the monster petition, banded around with thick ropes—signed by three millions and a half of the British people—cheered by the assembled multitude as it passed along —obliged to be parted in twain ere it could be passed through the doors of the House of Commons (a full House of Members had assembled to meet it), and though they granted not its prayer, still within and without the doors of that House, it created a conviction and a power which have imperceptibly assayed the subsequent work of peaceable and just legislation. He would like to see a remonstrance against slavery, ad dressed to the American people, through their President, signed by th ree m illi ons of the British people ! He hopes to look upon the grand spectacle of this remonstrance being borne through the streets of Liverpool. and then committed to the Great Western for its transatlantic passage. Such a do cument will find willi ng rec i p i ents on th e s h o res of New York; and its u n d ou b te d e ff ect w i ll b e t h e creat i on o f an irresistib,e slave ? En moral power, r,iithimats_halwl Englishmen—we do t :andeffectmatelly w t b h y e n f o re t e ? dom of the 31r." :FERRAND would trespass on the House while he called the attention of Hon. Gentlemen to the con duct of the poor-law auditors. It would be difficult to describe what injuitice was inflicted on the poor by these functionaries. He - would be able to convince the House. that it was their duty to rescue the poor from the clutches of these poorslaw auditors. He would Men tion one instance of the harsh conduct of these officers. It was the custom in the , town where- he resided to direct the parish constable to relieve the poor, and he was in the habit of providing the destitute with a lodging, food for a short period, :and a small sum to assist them on their road. But what was the case at present. Why, the poor-law auditors had intimated to the constable that .he should discontinue the practice. The auditora of several unions had threatened to com mence actions against the guardians if they gave relief to any person is opposition to the orders of Somerset , house. He hoped the House woull take immediate steps and inquire into the charges which he had brought forward. Mr. B. ESCOTT was convinced that half of the mise ries resulting from the administration oldie present poor law arose from the ignorance or laziness of those ap pointed to administer it. There was no law prohibiting out-door relief; there was only an order of.the Poor-law Commissioners, and even .that was not absolute. There were several exceptions to the operation of that order, such as cases of sudden emergency,. On a former occasion he asked the Right Hon. Baronet opposite whether the power of regulating out-door relief lay with the Commissioners or board of guardians in cases of emergency arising. He said he would take some time to consider the point, and in a day or two he returned an answer to the effect, that the board of guardians were alone the judges of what should be considered cases .of emergency. If so, what right had those guardians to say to the poor men, who had lost their food through the failure of the present year t that they could not be relieved out of the workhouse ?. The guardians had no right at all to act in this manner. Feeling apprehensive that .the distress now prevailing would increase greatly before the next harvest, he was desirous that the poor-law guardians should know'the powers reposed in them, and exercise them in a proper manner. Mr. SPOONER agreed with the Hon. Member ,for Manchester, that the guardians should know their duty, and the powers conferred on them by the law. He knew however, that in cases where the guardians ordered out door relief, the auditors disallowed it. He knew of an urgent case in Worcestershire, • wherein the auditors refused to sanction the relief ; the item of relief was struck out, and the guardians charged with it. • Mr. P. BORTH WICK agreed with berth his Hon. THE L ORDS ' A DDRES S .-•=r is afternoon the Ad. .F_rie_ nds who had just spoken: Th e One stated - the law il dress of th e H ouse of Peers, in answer to the Speech from th e of the case correctly, an d t h e other the facts which had Throne, wa s p resen t e d to her Majesty at Buckingham resulted from its administration. For his own part, he Palace. Lords Hatherton and Carew, the mover and believed the law was bad, because it vested unconstitu seconder of the Address, went up to the ]lace, Plac wi th I , l; h h e ie r h tional power in the hands of Commissioners ; and the wands, - and presented the Address to her j n 6 B, l and the e facts which had just b nistration of the law was as bad as the law itself. been stated showed that the admi was no procession, as is usual on such a whole proceedings were conducted with the ' utmost sio privacy. The motion was then agreed to: • NEWCASTLE-UPON-TYNE STOCK EXCHANGE, JAN. ADMISSION OF SUGAR INTO DISTILLERIES. 19.—The sales were—Caledonian, New. ls. dis,—Glasgow, Great Northern I (London , and ,a t , Mr. CHRISTOPHER wished to askthe Noble Lord Dumfries, and Carlisle, Ns. T e ri,. Reg ), p.--Mw!chester, Buxtusi, and M a t, o o,. ;) • O. toe Govern/swat, wh‘ither : it, was his in ca;lle and 115--Ditto, New; 14 1 / 2 tendon OR Friday next, to the t•i , izo of the 110 u,.. Ta;tle . and Berwick (N or th Shields), 1314 p.—North British, uPon a permanent measure with r egar d t o th e em pl o y- Thirds, 525. 6d. p.—Ditto, Quarters , 408 . 6 d. p. — Ditto, Ex ment of sugar in breweries and distilleries ? Was the ension, 15s. 6d. p: measure to be perm ineut or only for a Malted period ? 6..... • °Friday nigh t Lord JOHN.RUSSELL replied, tint n ,for the House it was the intention of Government ton ries r in brewe a resolution empowering the use of sag rouse and distilleries ; anrialtergards, if the I it into the lesoietion, to propose a Bill _for - o• 7 - 7 0 an , para.. effect, which it was not intended to .il e evqr, cular period.. It would be'pefreetly eoloPP' ' e - t n i n " g the °Pr lOrthe Hon. Member to propose a clause lin it d don .COlisi era ration of the Bill. Perhaps it was. worthy of t instan ce, whether it would not be advisable, in the. Fi rs ds j oke to limit the Bill for a given time, ar:d after rot it permanent.--(Hear, hear.) 111 se agreed to s , IsTG✓ - • CAPTAIN WARNEIVS LONG 13 .- w e Lord Sir C. NAPIER wished to ask the . 0'1) c e rain whether any report had been mad'e mber the Warner's long range, and if they 3, table 'Noble Lord had any bjection to by it 11 P° : ' of the House. - ba d be i n Lord JOHN RUSSELL replied that - the ra t a report made, tut before he could cc ;went to 14 upon the table of the U use, he must lo( at ev er . M t • ILLBANK PENITENTI. ki r ti• the r o ,Llr. T. DUNCOMBE said it.would b. $ it i ' f t he lass ctioa of the House, that towards the ) lose ° fed to oto vision of Parliament a Commission %v.: is sa ve co:n il:quire into the state of Millbank pris a pe tition mission was nominated in consequent P. °f to kr ° which he presented on the subject. lie Wisb e ~„0 0 tie whether Government had any objection IIY 7 ne etetl table of the House the report and e le nae • ht with the ry. Sir G. Gli q EY replied, that within th.s ta stf° : t C ni e g lsui ia s had received a report, signed by u oof with l: " sioners, together with the evidence ec nueetethe ensues) and he should have no o bjection to act" to of the Hon. Member for Finsbury.. • THE ADDRESS. the d° . Mr. HOWARD brought up the r e po t •ton Tnn. a On the questions that it be read, Mr. HUME rose and said he wished W observations upon the subject of the Ad dreSeea-t nighthe, had not an opportunity of deliva ring . of p ublic He had been always opposed to the sy'st" l °f IDoiie9 works, and he had proposed that a lan of PI ought to have been expended in th e c land, for which it should have been respon OW! to call attention . to the state of the I bour. - p g fiv in - England. Every labouring man wa s st er o l : tol e the calamity, and the patience with whi th e • 0. ,'",; ( 1 -suffering in -Scotland was beyond e ItP re '„l Ire' fk et hoped the present calamitous eondi don iste nse d. would not carry them away from affoi.6.ling a ss sfilie te another portion of the country si t nilarlY, o f The recital of the sufferings of the Petl e /bat the -land was perfectly harrowing, and I low e ' t han s , condition of the country was arge, - t a b° 5 ",...; other in Europe. The omission °I SP e , e ; c , ject of national education from the gut" ceii a :;','o • had caused the utmost surprise i the 610'7 because the introduction of a systet Ijt ,roVeV ag° ;o °l into this country, having for its object tl not only the moral and physical, but the rd ligie us i e` bee e the people was generally anticipated, but , b.e oil a t from the Noble Lord that such a mens ore bad th e o f postponed until the condition of Ireland ha, i ref e ' h ' - e ee', er ,, $ tention which it demanded Ile was sati n tro` 4 , o ' - rer this, that if her Majesty's Government ,did ne t he to better system of education in order to ilea , ' 11 the® A if classes trout their degraded position, and to te se n 6°. l;e! bear their sufferings with humility, that tat v (, - :tbst that 'this country were visited with a. similar s ta-lan a '" lierc ‘h - ort would become lawless. Then he did not beetop the Noble Lord and his colleagues inter ded t° carried Ot• in the free trade measures proposed and I N k rtiallY d e tice the; a l by the late Government, as every step take) Ito rote ) ' toe ceasaries of the people had led to increased eln i !„ - ,,1d n °t bad to increate the wealth of the country. `The Y tO :CI VI I midway, but continue to make those refo rr a• . h e referred. - Ile would only mention this h eaen a nd u,' ;o ei that an alteration of the tenures of land in S. stotia n "o o he' - os would be productive of the greatest -- besseaSts• the pesse s ll that there was many a man who was place r is . of landed property, utterly unable _either. to g work ti e t ioseoi He had hoped that although this the'Qucen s Speech, that it would be mere, ful iy ' A loe bit the Government, and that SOMO measure •vo 4.l ". e nse is de subject - Was net 1°, 4 10 1 ea proposed which would have produced sense COn veolbaci respect. He heard of the Noble wb confession that he was in possessiion of large' e ttacto eell his. poverty was :so great that he was.utterly a "", t iori Ole labouring poor in his reighbourhoed ;• that l ',4 o ide r T,feti • confession, and he trusted that it would lead to t .. " 1 s oy • of the question of entail. For he belieied if tb : ° , l l the ' c g rtl 4 the conveyance of property they would set at pror - ole wealth of the country. A man in the posiessi__,n s ° „uso oh' from his inability to work out the este te;•was - 4 1 it %‘: - ,er, • either to use it or dispose of it. On the .otherbil".. c O- 1 6 served, how many n.oniedmencame initothe well ' pos' balt_co tate, andt he whole neighbourhood became: i e os 10 ) the poor around it were employed. - Ile h adjust 1:0a,c 1 t ci isfo• o d of talking with a gentleman, a land ageints w o b f ° re . r ; him that if the conveyance of landed' proPe r 'l c osi th e was to be made as free as the trand he would assert that within ten yeakst the •e bri s r a. present distress in that country would IA With respect to the destruction of the i tadePe n "`" :Ps ' 1 ,,0r cow, he did think that it was one of the r. nog outl al e or i c Lions of the faith of nations, but last n ight 'lite "peg fro tunity of making any, remark on- the sal ejects ` - d hi° s tn ts the Noble Lord quite unnerved him, anal revol te d hie „ troubling the House. He was glad be4r h sbe ten t ! so manfully and clearly his opinion. Lae t year, w -e n d sio e ps' Hume) brought forward his doubts of the t ho L n o i r lY r a ie o g o e ' e l fo i; of Austria, Russia, and Prussia, the Nob Is self, from correspondence which he then had in / nobl e 011 3 that the occupation was only to be tempo rag- %' - 'ld t hat irt. another place also rung the same chauges., he el bee; what the Noble Duke thought now. noisy ha" o pen 0 0b the treaty would be equally binding ; and, that t 0 01 1 proved not to be the case, her Majesty's noieroinen, Eon it do justice to the feelings, of . t h e people o troc i t y opt if they did not designate that s'et of a' 0 ot ti ote the strongest language possible. I h ave beard n n •rthis to justify this act, except one or two I% e rnbers woof t s b o er rti o t o o last night, and then he was much ;ashame d. (Laughter.) One of those gentlemen, t uba! tt he r t hs t • say, he did not see in his Ode., tate:. t.d P r' h violation of the treaty had taken place. r ia.fue coat- fart h e arguments, he ,went to 'Westphalia and otle er pla ce '' fl „ t did not know where the devil he did not g o to. 'le g - ehte r-- the world, but he did not arrive at Cracow - --.-(Le ad Lati' l e°lB o lie_(Mr. Hume) did not see how his al-gni:agents wer e - , l) , r f l as t tf to. that place at all. Seriously, he did think that h grossest violation of honour and faith,. when ire de el er of Cracow was invaded. • The English people had e' s o d ot e h sacrifice to obtain that treaty. They gat re UP Java h -.o l ' is important pl aces , an d k ept noth i ng b ut 1 ras h for t fr,° b, The Empero r P au l h a d b orrowe d f our m ilhons of ns „ °P fog i ': o rt the Mitch for the purpose of ma ki ng w ar - urn 1"-thst e ras and they were such fools as to take two millions of ~ r e h , a i r themselves, and to pay the interest as long .as t ` t e y so ' ;aa ? 'maintained, and the treaty kept inviolate. We" violate est of money as to continue to pay that after Mot gross He (Mr. Hume) at any rate should more' that the of l iv all e o bject w ill, be no longer continued. What was then treaties if theY were to be brol ten or if they had not the courage to 5 bout it -It was, perhaps, of no gre a t i m p or t ance , that 3 ,lTice; men at Cracow should h a v e l os t th e i r i n t iePee" e t - o t be of was for the principle which was h ere inf einge" o , e tended. -What security w as th ere now for ,-; cr• Europe ; but violence of tre a ti es were n o , W tres t he were all aware of th e po s iti on o f E ng l an d Istom or,e, r a to He..would not blame the N o bl e Lo r d who , Foreign Department, nor would he quest:ion 0; co ae s tii e n • ct meet' any emergencies that ~ might 001. was an awkward-. thing for him.. and he ad foira, ref in the p resen t s it uat i on . It was toe ~.prs e" thei country from y e a r t o y ear t o b e i nsu l te d-. t rber l ference to th ese t reat i es , as i n t h e present, not; ta l ' e ,:ret t ); thos e ydre treated by th ose - powers as if they,were s 0 n lilt instead of being that state which had seettre 6 Peed Ile powers the most valuable privileges they ft es s :,j u str' 3 : e tha t were paying 100,000/, per annuity troskitioneY W m , lIV - hore" hoped, when h e brought. the _question becore Ile an i they would express themselves upon the _ktsibi J a c ' .. d, s ay s a the Noble Lord would carry out what he bau;,:g opportunity would be afforded him of dir,apPr° - --- been stated on the other side of the House rbsoc e "A"littr . Colonel SIBTHORP was of o inlets that' the `"„f the I, of the Exchequer should have given P some indicatie n , - t he ' ts p . :ad vial state of the country, and he considered tb s ", o one°,; t fcts Ireland was induced by the policy of the late arj he ro inn"( the the present Government when they had preiveele",: ra tioo„ - ri o , He had expected different results from the °P - ,. cr *- ent . Bill referred to than had taken place. If 3 a 'pres' o rs now, what - would he think of such a 11 - linikrY as • til e ) o f He would be ashamed of it. He: (coin Ile.! i tbt the o ffal persuaded they had acted a most cowardly p tirs is° s Cracow. ,;, bite Mr. P. SCROPE wished to offer a few twere s .,, h - •rb b e no , ite tion of a point he had maintained last night, in • oPr 'th e been contradicted by the Right Hon. tie title tosstho• ( Mr. Lab ouc h ere ). He (M r. S crope) had sts`-sooti Relief . Committees had ref use d t o g i ve re lief' iel - o f poor, except in th e s h a p e o f w a ges un d er - t h e Bilaru u - ated so li Now he had i n hi s p ossess i on d o C uments w hi c h aed ';ot, he was right. H e h a d a copy o f t h e i nstruc tions' r, n ber l i e f Dublin by the B oa rd o f. W or k s , on t h e I st of Of -jao r e or. which confirmed this vie*. It instructed the: la eolif'oo should be given to the poor except in payment re' the purchase of provisions for sale at the cost P":i ir o0; 1 14 Hon. Gentleman here read an extract from their It' No ferred to, in proof of the statement h e had sioade, rr d i(l f the be said, in reply, th a t the in str u ct i ons h a d befiea', t % L ystens report. He had, h owever , watc h e d t h e .peoece"":"0/ 1 " t iot Board of Works carefully, and had not seen a n y r o,iti c it ration. By resolutions agieed to by the re-r ero bcr ''oo g Committee sitting -in Dublin, on the- 23a °rya 3 215 „ ' tb e , would appear there was no change, for one of the , oils called on the Board of Works to alter the iivstru °. „ -e head of relief, which they had issued. The Dex t r r- c rf the same committee also complained that the B° 3 ,'„ to p re c „ 0 0' had not made advatces as loans, to be repaid by e s C. ' he This was required in order to find additional werk"2„ -5 0 , 9 1 :tj modation. He thought this should have been P 7; greatest hardships had resulted from the poor not oil' o °' _ ° find shelter in the workhouses. This was a /3,.rs,ef-crSo°,lls - the House should not pass it over without rait h "l i eu The Government, he was persuaded, had not stere",, ~a tient energy, else, the people of Ireland would lel! ,"bero, -- g it present condition. He thought that even in Irebolu `keetT o to very large amount of food, only_ the farmers iv er e fe ater back to realise higher prices. - - He had received's; in. g- te the West of Ireland, which stated this to be the fa s ; o li / 1 , 4 , to to the supply o f f ood. It further stated, that t he erne' meet the evils of Ireland was to put on the 5(0 06 ',. make the l an d owners o f that country support the r r it ° ';ose a - of The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQu''' ere °P uel said, that no doubt, in- the first instance, the a rrart 35 t- vi t the Board of Works was rather defective, inasn su c e the e had no certain information of the extent of ar , that:, before them ; but the Honourable Member Was sW s s Ge ve , r h - e soon as such information was received, her Meie,! t -v ag erniti ro ment lost no time in establishing soup kitchens lZ a a, distressed parts of the country, so that the ar, ; ,", t he who could not possibly labour might be-. suPP"r„ deta il t he The Gevernrnent would be enabled to give Th i itigsw amounts expended by them in endeavouring t° A t the P aP b er prevailing distress but, unfortunately, he, hae,V a glen with him now, as he did not anticipate that the "° ile est 'h - e mixed by t for Stroud, would have opened that night, especially as an early day was t i for brir i gi Noble Lord a t th e h ea d of the Governmeot viten t in hs e ing the whole quession before the House- , ov , to ~ day arrived, he would be enabled to Su ,lected ag Ui House that her Majesty's Government had not '7li s treg means in their power to alleviate the present • bt Ireland - - Lord . BERNARD had tried in the coarse of t h at ", 1. re ne , 0 to catch the Speaker s eye, but had been unstl,_t tie h he ";,.. would but address a f, w' words to the Boone, a , "%i ett chT rno , t w nxicos to express his opinion upon a subi es e t ,, t ion 'c llie e t r ortiin i+-11) - 6 try. Vi ire m i,.. a . ence to the Hat; the Chancellor of the Exchequer had just answereo, '7 o .enig.PP would find that it was only within the lasttabus ' that instructions . had been issued for the n d eon lug of soup kitchens. He (Lord Bernard) up on for St maine Berna doubt but as plentif of fain ing, tit mitiga of hue felt se itself < eoulki ; ment, Chane kitchel lent ; !each labour that be laid ceire t rnent t He wa part of duty i t atandi t cell al avoidi t Port o would eautio i He wo been turned inqu es Yet ti lioard more t retur n la w c ~: 4 ,1