The Sun. — London, England, 1847-01-25 00:00:00

er btrb 12btttou SUN OFFICE, Seven o'Clock READING, GUILDFORD, AND REIGATE COMPANY.—(THIS DAY.) A general meeting of this company was held to-day at the London Tavern, at one o'clock. Salomon, Esq., in the chair. The CHAIaMAY stated, that the object of the meeting was to decide upon the course to be pursued with respect to the negotiation now pendingwith the South-Eastern Railway Com pany. The latter company some time since made a proposi tion to purchase the right to make the Reading, Guildford, and Reigate Company, giving a rental of five and half per cent. on the capital of 600,0001. Much correspondence had arisen upon this proposition, the chief object of which was to secure for the South -Eastern Company the right to operate on the ground south of Dorking. This proposition was met by the Reading, Guildford, and Reigate Company by a series of resolutions, the object of which was to obtain 4% per cent. rental and equal profits afterwards—this to be commuted into a perpetual rent of 51? ) , per cent. on all the capital expended when the line is completed. The meeting had to decide whether the company should persist in their own demands or allow the proposal of the South-Eastern Company to rule the deed of agreement. Mr. SITALE explained that the company's proposition, if accepted by the South-Eastern, would act unfairly, inasmuch as it would probably give as much as 8 per cent. to those who had bought their shares at a discount. Mr. I/LAMBERT said that be would ra th er t a k e a sma ll but certain return from a valid company, like the:South-Eastern Company, than endeavour to obtain 41, per cent., and profits beside, when the profits might never be realised. They ought to keep faith with the South-Eastern Company. The CHAIRMAN said that the Directors had endeavoured to keep good faith with the South-Eastern Board, although other offers were open to them. A conversation ensued, in which Mr. Mangles, the chair man, and Mr. Mawbert took part, the object of which was to show that the directors had been guilty of no negligence in not having sooner brought the negotiation to a conclu sion. Mr. Mangles observed that the cession of the line between Dorking and Reigate would greatly impair the value of the line, for it was intended by the South-Western Company to construct a line from London-bridge, to run on the Reading, Guildford, and Reigate line by Wokingham to Reading, and thus make it the chief route of communication to the west of England for the goods and passengers who - would come to London-bridge. Mr. KNIGHT thought that the better plan would be to take the offer of the South-Eastern Company. The CHAIUMAN stated that it was owing to the inatten tion of the South-Eastern Company, in the first instance, that the negotiation had not been sooner concluded. The Reading, Guildford, and Reigate Company stood in the pecu liar position of having the whole of their 40,000 shares re gistered without compulsion in a single instance. Mr. BLAKE thought that the proposition of the directors ought to be accepted or declined by the South-Eastern Com pany, within a certain time, and that this should be put as an ultimatum. The CHAIRMAN stated that all the directors desired was the confidence of the shareholders, and they would carry out the resolution satisfactorily. After some further conversa tion, he put it to the meeting, and while the show of hands was being taken Mr. MAwBERT rose to move an amendment; which, after much dispute, was put to the meeting and lost. The original resolution, that the directors be empowered to act upon their own resolutions, was then carried, and the meeting separated. ROLLS' COURT.-(THIS DAY.) IN RE PENDER. The arguments in this case having concluded to-day, His LenDSIIII' delivered judgment. This was a case in which certain items of a solicitor's bill had been disallowed by the Master. In considering one of the items, which related to the putting in of an answer, the Master had proceeded upon the notion that it would have been of no use to the client. He thought, looking at all the circumstances, that that was a master which admitted of no small donbt. With respect to some briefs, which had also been disallowed by the Master, he had heard nothing to show that the Master had acted erroneously, and he was therefore bound to confirm his report in this particular. One of the items was for briefs alleged to have been drawn out, and certainly they appeared to be important to the client's case, but as no copies of them had been fur nished to the Court, he could not act upon his views with respect to this item. The only remaining item was for office copies that had been furnished in a cross suit, and in this case it appeared that they were necessary to enable the suit to be prosecuted. He would take time to look into the affidavits before he decided with reference to these particular items. QUEEN'S BENCH.-(THIS DAY.) THE QUEEN, AT THE INSTANCE OF HUMPHREY, V. THE DEAN AND CHAPTER OF CHESTER.. In this case, Sir F. THESIGER, with whom was Mr. Ter. ritt, showed cause why a mandamus sheuld not issue, com manding the defendants to restore plaintiff to his office as chorister in the cathedral of Chester. In September, 1845, plaintiff had been dismissed from his office on the ground of his voice being defective and not of suffi cient compass for the cathedral, while at the same time, in - the words of the Learned Counsel, though he had an exceedingly bad voice, he had an exceedingly good character. The Learned Counsel contended, first, that he had never been regularly appointed and installed in the °flies of" chorister," he having been a " conduct," or singing man of the cathedral, and not a" chorister," or singing boy, distinctions made by the statute of Henry the Eighth, under which the offices of the cathedral were founded. Secondly, that he had never been regularly appointed to the office of " conduct," which he did hold, and therefore could not be restored to an office which he never held. Thirdly, that the Dean and Chapter were not the parties against whom pro ceedings should be taken, the Bishop ofChester, as" visitor" of the cathedral, being the responsible party in such cases. On these considerations, as well as on the ground that he held the office "eclum bene cantaverit," and not " dum bene gesserit," the rule ought to be discharged. Mr. Him (with whom was Mr. Welsh) replied. He de ri;ed the allegation that plaintiff did not fill the office to which be claimed to be restored, and read a number of affida vits in support of his client's claim. It wa , , not at tempted to be shown that plaintiff was guilty of any criminal misconduct, which was the only cause of dismissal specified in the statute. With regard to submitting the com plaint to the " Tisitor," he maintained that the latter had no jurisdiction, and after referring to some cases of an analogous nature, called upon the Court to make the rule absolute. The COURT would take time to consider. PETITIONS ON PRIVATE BILLS. HOUSE OF COMMONS.—(THIS DAY.) (Room 22, before Mr. Examiner SMITH, and Mr. Assistant- Examiner Faux.) (Continued from our Afternoon Edition.) OPPOSED LIST. THE CALEDONIAN AND GLASGOW (PAISLEY AND GREENOCK) RAILWAY COMPANY. This petition was successfully opposed by Mr. Pritt on be half of the Glasgow, Paisley, Kilmarnock, and Ayr Company. GLASGOW, KILMARNOCK, AND ARDROSSAN RAILWAY, Amendment Deviations] and Branches to Beith, Fenwick, Kilmarnock, Waterside, and West Colliery to the Berskip Mineral Railway, to the Ardrossan Branch of the Glasgow, Kilmarnock. and Ardrossan Railway, and to the Glasgow, Paisley, Kilmarnock, and Ayr Railway, and Cumnock and Irvine Branches thereof. Length 26 miles ; estimate 410,000/. The customary formal proofs having been adduced in this case, the further hearing was adjourned till to-morrow. (Room 23, before Mr. Examiner MAY and Mr. Assistant- Examiner GUNNELL.) ADJOURNED OPPOSED CASES. BRISTOL AND EXETER RAILWAY EXTENSION (CREDITON TO LAUNCESTON). This opposed case was then resumed. It was strongly op posed by the South-Western interest, and occupied the re mainder of the day. In the course of the inquiry several important allegations were sustained, impugning the accu racy of the plans and sections, and showing the levels to be miscalculated. The case was further adjourned. IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT (THIS EVENING.) HOUSE OF LORDS. Theioan CHANCELLOR took his seat on the Wool sack at Five o'clock. POOR-LAW. The Earl of STRADBROKE presented a petition from to. place in Suffolk praying for an alteration in the law .of settlement. The Duke of BUCCLEUCH presented a petition from the poor-law guardians of Leeds, in Yorkshire, praying for an alteration in the Poor Removal Act passed last session. SUGAR AND MOLASSES. The Earl of STRADBROKE presented a petition Trom the brewers of Bury St. Edmund's in favour of abe measure for the admission of sugar and molasses ditto breweries. IRELAND. Lord MONTEAGLE presented a petition signed by aline Peers o f Irelan d praying their Lordships to -take into consideration ;he state of Ireland. CORN-LAWS AND NAVIGATION SUSPENSION BILLS. The Earl of CLARENDON move d . s the second reading F the Com-laws and Navigatio n ension Bills. The 2'l oble Lord entered into a brief state mentr' t he uc causes tich led her Majesty's Government to int o r f od itne asures. Great distress prevailed throughouetthre %tot rld, and the prices everywhere were so much on an equality, that the throwing off the 45.. duty which remained on the importation of foreign coi to was a measure which the circumstances of the ge net 'al famine, and the great emergency which had arisen in i'reland, rendered necessary. He deprecated the idea that the duty would go into the pockets of the dealers in of it ( '' ) ..p,; bu t, . even allowing that some portion r go in that manner, it did not furnish a suBi t iZat‘__ ea : son why they should not try to alleviate - with to enlarge the supplies. the i r izajz i .r-tt ! navigation laws, he would trouble with a rica ri c r tu la ti a t few observations. Vessels arrived American% were as of grain at Marseilles. The could p rc‘eure, and k in g up all the ships they freight WM, considerablthe consequence was the apprehend Any great They did not vcdoruaaieager affected, They a t ati c sfa r c e t m io o n v o a f l of these laws ; , but they jshinking that they had done all i n igste the evils that at present existed. their P"" to Lord BROUGHAM would not, under the cirou re . ' o.tances make further objecti on . The Marquis of SALISBURY agreed with the Noble lord opposite. The Earl of MOUTCASIIEL said, as these me asures - w as not to be permanent, he should decidedly give it his support. The Bills then went through Committee, and were read ,sat third time and passed. The Marquis of LANSDOWNE said he now rose for the purpose of submitting to their Lordships the xi:lotion of which he had given notice on a former occa ;„gion, and in doing so he thought he should be wanting S I respect both for their Lordships and of consideration for the unfortunate country itself, if he were not a c lay before their Lordships a full statement of 0 0 facts of the case. The Noble Lord then proceeded 1 epuu2vnt upon the magnitude of the calamity which had befallen Ireland, and said he should read to their Lordships a calculation which would show the immense loss sustained this year in Ireland. Now, taking the valuation of each acre of potatoes at 101, the total loss shown to have been sustained in Ireland by the late visitation amounted to 11,350,0001., while it was shown with equal clearness in the oat crop, the loss amounted to 4,660,000/, making a total deficit in the ordinary supply of food to the amount of about 16,000,000 sterling. The conduct of the landlords of Ireland had formed the subject of varied and strong opinions, but although exceptions might be taken to some, yet, within the last 10 years, there were others who had left no means untried to ameliorate the condition of the country. Fault had been found with them for allowing the popu lation to be dependent upon such an uncertain and low description of food as potatoes ; but be thought this was not the most opportune time to discuss that question. It was as little appropriate as finding fault after a calamitous fire with the sufferers, because their building was not erected with marble or Portland stone. If they had not been able by their own effort to ward off so great a calamity, it was equally true that no Government could prevent it. In considering this, the nature of this question ought never to be forgotten, that it was not a question of money, but one of food—food for a nation, which, whatever system might be adopted for its distribution, could never have been created by any Government, yet that was just the existing necessity. But, supposing money could have remedied the evil, he asked how much would have been necessary? Suppose ten millions of money would have been sufficient. But the money market was a market infinitely sensitive to demand, so that the effect would have been, as soon as the necessity of these ten millions had been heard of, that the very next day other purchasers would have rushed in, and the ten millions must have grown into 20 millions; and then again, the increasing demands, and the in creased price of money, into forty millions. In fact, a Government was the worst agriculturists and the worst merchants and therefore increased obstacles always lay in its way in the case of meeting such an emergency. The Noble Lord aid he would refer their Lordships shortly to the measures which had been adopted by the - Government at the beginning of last year, before speaking of mea sures which were now to be proposed to mitigate the present evil. The Government at that time, when the Labour•rate Act was passed, did not anticipate so great a calamity as that which had fallen upon Ireland, and therefore the measures they had proposed were merely temporary, hoping they might have been able thereby to bridge over the difficulty into another year. The prin ciple of that Act was to unite profitable employment and poor relief, an object which was not by any means easy to be obtained. It was contemplated at that time to employ the poor only on work, which would prove to be permanently useful, and this was effected to a cer tain extent, and so far the result was beneficial. But a panic was stirred in the popular mind, fears and dread of the impending calamity grew more pressing, and from that time the beneficial employment of the people failed. [LEFT SPEAKING.] HOUSE OF COMMONS. The SPEAKER took the Chair at Four o'clock. LAW OF SETTLEMENT. Mr. WADDINGTON presented a petition from the board of guardians of the Petworth Union, praying for the abolition of the law of settlement. SUGAR IN BREWERIES. The lIoN. MEMBER also presented a petition from the licensed victuallers and brewers at Bury, praying that the penalties on the use of molasses and sugars in breweries and distilleries should not be exacted. TEN HOURS' BILL. _ _ Sir G. STRICKLAND presented a petition from cotton spinners and others in Lancashire in favour of a Ten Hours' Bill for young persons and children. SUNDAY TRADING. Mr. TUFNELL presented petitions from various places against Sunday trading. THE BRITISH ARMY IN INDIA.—ADVANCE MENT OF MONEYS. Mr. WATSON presented a petition from an officer (whose name we could not hear) in the Bengal army, praying that certain moneys, which had been advanced to the then Raja, and which sums were charged against the principality of Oude, should be restored. The petitioner had memoralized the members of the East India House since the year 1817, but he was aware that he had no legal claim against that company, and he prayed therefore that the House would take the subject into consideration, with a view of granting redress. DISTRESS IN IRELAND. Mr. SHARMAN CRAWFORD presented petitions from Cork, and other places in Ireland, and several towns in England, praying that the Government would take immediate and efficient measures to provide food for the suffering people of Ireland. CHINESE REVENUE. Dr. BOWRING gave notice that upon an early day he would move for a return of the revenues collected in China, and also the different modes of regulating its col lection at Hong-Kong and other places in China. GROWTH OF COTTON IN INDIA. Mr. BRIGHT gave notice that he would, on Thursday next, move for a Select Committee to inquire into the growth of cotton in India, and the encouragement given to it by the British Government. THE SUN, LONDON, MONDAY EVENING, JANUARY 25, 1847. NATIONAL GALLERY. Mr. FLUME stated that, on Thursday next, it was his intention to move an humble address to the Crown, to lay upon the table of the House copies of any of the minutes addressed to the trustees of the National Gal lery during the last two years, and also copies of any directions given to them reveutiug the manozomant nnd arrangement of the pictures in the gallery. USE OF MOLASSES IN DISTILLERIES. I Mr. lIUME also gave notice that upon the same day he would move for copies of any reports showing the reason why molasses should not be introduced into the country and used in distilleries upon the same footing as sugar. ANNEXATION OF CRACOW. Mr. HUME stated that be would postpone the mo tion, of which he had given notice upon this subject, to a future day, in consequence of the papers promised by the Government not having been laid upon the table of the House. POOR-LAW. Mr. FERRAND gave notice that, on Thursday next, he would move for the appointment of a Select Com mittee to inquire into the mode adopted by. the Poor-law Commissioners and their Assistant-Commissioners in drawing up reports, and their treatment of boards of guardians, and what control the Right Hon. Sir Jame s Graham, Bart., exercised over the Poor-law Commis sioners and their Assistant-Commissioners, during the time he held the office of her Majesty's principal Secretary of State for the Home Department ; also whether under the enforcement of the new poor-law wages had not been reduced ; whether crime had not increased, and whether a system of terror instead of a system of kindness, had not been adopted towards the poor, and whether the favourable anticipations ex pressed in Parliament by the promoters of the new poor law had not entirely failed, and whether the principle upon which the new poor-law was founded was not a direct violation of the constitution of England. CHARGES AGAINST THE LATE HOME SECRETARY. The HoN. MEmaEn also gave notice, that on Thurs day next, he would, in his place in Parliament, make certain charges against the Right Hon. Sir James Graham, Bart., Member of that House, lately holding the office of her Majesty's principal Secretary of State for the Home Department, affecting his character as a Minister of the Crown, and also as a Member of the House of Commons. CORPORAL PUNISHMENTS IN HONG-KONG. Dr. BOWRING said, during last session, when great interest was excited on the subject of the infliction of corporal punishment, he called the attention of the Under-Secretary for the Colonies (Mr. Hawes) to the infliction of a similar punishment in the colony of Hong- Kong, and referred to a particular case, in which fifty four persons were so dealt with. He (Mr. Hawes) stated on that occasion that in his opinion the punish ment was unauthorised and illegal, and expressed his intention of taking an early opportunity to inquire into the matter. A sufficient time bad elapsed to enable him to do so. He wished to inquire whether any answer had been received to the communications made from the Colonial office as to the infliction of corporal punish ments by the police-courts at Hong-Kong, and whether any steps had been taken to prevent the infliction of corporal punishment, whether by flogging, bastinadoing, or cutting off the tails of the Chinese, when they have been unable to pay pecuniary fines.—(Roars of laughter.) It was necessary to explain this. The newspaper pub lished in the colony stated that, in addition to the punish ment of flogging, the authorities had inflicted the addi tional punishment of cutting off the tails of the natives. —(Continued laughter.) He also wished to ask whether an ordinance, circulated in the Chinese newspaper (No. 10, of 1844), had been brought to the notice of her Majesty's Government, and obtained the ir sanction ; such ordinance appearing to authorise whatever bar barous and brutal punishments might be inflicted under the Chinese code, or according to Chinese usages. The ordinance was to this effect:—" And be it enacted, that in lieu of the whole or any part of any penalty provided by the law, statute, or ordinance what soever, it shall b e l aw f u l f or the Court of Justice before whom the matter shall-be adjudicated upon, to sentence any offender, being a native of China, or a native of Hong Kong of Chinese origin, to undergo such punish ment in conformity with the usages of China , as has hitherto been usually inflicted on n a ti ves of China committin g offences in this colony." Mr. HANES said, in reply to the questions put to him by his Hon. Friend, he had first to call the attention of the House to what passed in that House last session. His Hon. Friend drew his attention to the case of a Chinese on whom corporal punishment had been in flicted, and he told him, in reply, that all the cir cumstances connected with that case would be inquired into. His Noble Friend at the head of the Colonial Department had sought an explanation from tho autho rities of the island, which was to the following effect : The Chinese in question had been guilty of felony, and Was arrested. A rescue was attempted by a large number of Chinese, which was attended with consi derablean violence. They were, however, all arrested, wasa carried to the police-office, where the question li,or heard, to r az e d iothers twentyw er e strokes convicted an d a , fined "rattan." tta n fi . v ” e d He dol lars, with the lo ) The seas were of their tails.—( however that this punish must confess, howe lleasusg.h. persons, and itimieeanr,t hear,was a c a c o o d m a wweerse there infested by gangs of law punishment at all found very swhmasenihtiet difficult to devise any commensurate with their offences.— t ( o H e inflictit , h e t a h r e . ) po t power of the magistrate inflicted in this case. With respect to the ordinan ce ,w g Zt ood ha d d ea to state that it o to f considera . _admit that was sanctioned in 1844 after a tion, but he was at the same time bound it was impossible to assimilate the pu tushm „ t , ba. flicted under a Chinese code with those inflicted under an English one, as they were extremely barbarous. He had promised his Hon. Friend to procure further information on this point, and when he received it, he should lay it before the House. THE CHANNEL SQUADRON. Sir C. NAPIER gave notice of his intention to-mor row to ask the Hon. Gentleman, the Secretary to the Admiralty (Mr. Ward), whether it was the intention of the Government to employ any part of the Channel squadron to import corn into this country on account of merchants ? SHIPPING INTEREST. Mr. BARCLAY presented a petition from a number of owners of ships in Sunderland, representing the pro perty of 1,200 tons of shipping at Sunderland. ORDERS OF THE DAY. Lord JOHN RUSSELL moved the postponement of the orders of the day till the notices of motion were dis posed of.—The motion was adopted. THE SOLDIERY IN INDIA. Dr. BOWRING rose to make an inquiry respecting the conduct of the British army in India, of which notice had been given at the latter end of last session, and which had: been repeated on the first day of the present, to his Hon. Friend the Secretary at War. It referred to the reports of the hanging and murder ing by the British army in India, and originated in consequence of a letter written by a soldier of the 80th Regiment, which was inserted in a local paper of con siderable circulation, the Stamford Mercury. This state ment was reprinted by a well-known body—the Peace Society. There was no doubt of the authenticity of the letter, and that it had been written by a soldier in the 80th Regiment. It bore the post mark, and there was, therefore, also no doubt but that it was put in in India, and was countersigned by the Major. This member of the British army goes into the most minute details, and gives a full account of the atrocities of the British army, in which he says he himself took part. No answer had yet been given to the question, and in now calling upon his Hon. Friend (Mr. Fox Malik) for an explanation, he thought it but right to state that the Society of Friends had made every in quiry into the circumstances reported in this statement. The Hon. FOX MAULE wished to exonerate the gentlemen to whom allusion had been made from any blame. There was no doubt they had acted on a letter from a private named Runn. An inquiry was made on the subject, an investigation had been set on foot, and he held a report in his hand from which it appeared that Runn denied having written that letter, and a statement to that effect had been forward to Lord Gough. M. HENLEY wished to ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether the regulation with respect to sugar was to apply to all persons brewing. The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER pro posed to take off restrictions from all persons who were engaged in brewing. EXEMPTION FROM COMMITTEES. The usual motions were then put, that the members of the Government should be exempted from attendance on the Committees of the House. Sir CHARLES NAPIER said he wished to be ex empted from the duty of Committees, he being over sixty years of age.—(Laughter.) THE STATE OF IRELAND. Lord JOHN RUSSELL—Sir, I feel that I never had so much need of the indulgence of the Mouse as I have on the present occasion, but I feel, at the same time, that I never had so little need to ask that indul gence. I feel sure that this House, from the temper which it has already displayed ; from the sense which it has manifested of the calamity that has occurred, and I fear calamities still impending; from the sense of the danger that there would be from inter posing any party feeling in the discussion of this sub ject; from the kindly disposition with which I have been already received by the House,—l feel sure, I say, that on this occasion I need not ask for any such indul gence, but that it will be voluntarily bestowed upon me. —(Cheers.) Sir, in considering the state of Ireland, I will first proceed with laying down what is the order in which I wish to discuss the subject. In the first place, I propose to state generally the condi tion of those parts of the United Kingdom in which this calamity has occurred ; secondly, to make a general statement of what has occurred during the recess of Parliament ; what has been done in conse quence of Acts of Parliament ; how far those measures have succeeded ; how far I think that they have been deficient, and then to state what we will proceed to do for the general emergency.-( Hear, hear.) After having made that statement, I shall the attention of the House while I proceed to invite them to some consideration of other measures which are calculated, in the opinion of her Majesty's Government to improve the state of Ireland, and to lay the foundation for her permanent welfare and tranquillity. I shall then take the liberty of mentioning some other subjects which, • although they have been under consideration, have not received a full discussion. And we propose, in conclusion, to ask the authority of the House for the introduction of two Bills ; by one of these Bills we propose to make valid certain Acts, one under the authority of the Lord-Lieutenant of Ire land, and communicated in a letter to my Right Hon. Friend who sits near me (Mr. Labouchere). The second Bill is for the purpose of approving the present estimates in regard to Ireland, in pursuance of the Treasury mi nute of the Ist of December last.—(Hear, hear.) In proceeding to consider the present condition of that country, I think it will be the safest course for me to use guarded and careful information respecting the cala mity wLIQn litio um& tahca Ix-Oa:bath Alla rwr that puipoSe I propose to take the results of the Commission of In quiry into the Poor-law, and to ask the House to infer how great that calamity has been—representing an almost total failure of the potato crop. Sir, in the first report of that Poor-law Inquiry Commission, composed cf gentlemen of considerable experience and autho rity in Irish affairs, it is represented that the great propertion of the population is continually fluctuating between the condition of paupers and independent la bourers.—(Hear, hear.) Scarcely one class of the working population are permanently beyond the condi tion of pauperism. It is stated further that there are few small resident gentry; that the clergy and laity exhi bit much variance with each other, and that these again are at issue with the labouring population. This state of feeling has occasioned great difficulty in giving effect to the measures already passed to improve the condition of Ireland, both in the construction and working of the parochial boards and other bodies or ganised for that purpose. In the third report of the same Commission, which, with the others, go to form the general report of the Commissioners, the following facts are given :—lt appears that in Great Britain agriculture constitutes one-fourth of the business of the people, whereas in Ireland it forms two-thirds. In 1831 the number of persons engaged in agriculture in Great Britain was 1,651,000; in Ireland it was 1,131,715. At the same time while Great Britain had 34,360,000 acres in cultivation, Ireland had but 14,600,000.—(11ear, hear.) Ireland had therefore in proportion to its extent five agricultural labourers for Great Britain's one. At the same time, while in Ireland the wages of the labourer was from 6cl. to 9d. a day, it was in Graat Britain from 2s. to 2s. 6d. (The Noble Lord gave some other items in addition to these, as further illustrative of the relative position of the two countries in regard to agriculture, but he read them in such a low and hurried tone as to be perfectly inaudible in the gallery.) A great portion of them were not sufficiently provided at any time with the commonest necessaries of life. Their habitations were wretched hovels, in which se veral families slept upon straw, covered sometimes with a blanket, sometimes without even that protection. Their food was dry bread, and some of them were obliged to stint themselves to one spare meal a-day, and instances had been known of persons, driven by hunger, being compelled to seek sustenance from wild roots. Their employment was scarce and uncertain, some going in search of employment to Great Britain during the harvest time, some going on a similar errand in Ireland, and many having only casual resources to fly to for the support of their children." Such, therefore, Sir, is the description given by the most undoubted autho rities of the state of tqe labouring classes in Ireland. The state of Ireland may be imagined, when I say that those who had not sufficient food are those who are best off, and yet they had scarcely enough, and those who had been before on the brink of famine, have perhaps been unable to resist the calamity. Such has been, unfortunately, the case during the present year, h and aps d , u a r l i m ng os t t he visitationwithou tapa o r f a a llel e , al b a ec m a it tu y e w it hi oc ch cu i r s s , ipnera very large population —a population of eight millions, which has gradually increased to that amount, while the famine is such as has not been known in modern times. —(Hear, hear.) I should say it is like a famine of the thirteenth century, so destructive and universal are its effects. Such, Sir, being the general nature of this case, I will state what was the course adopted during the past year, from the sitting of Parliament to the present time. When Parliament met last year it wa s apprehended that tho potato crop, having been much injured, there was about to be a great scarcity in Ireland. That apprehension was not fully justi fied by the event.—(Hear.) It was impossible, as I think, for any man exactly to see what the extent of the misfortune would be ; but I also think, that having had a very plentiful crop of potatoes in the previous year, although there was no great quantity of the potato much injured, yet the quantity of food in Ireland was not very deficient.—(Hear.) However, Parliament took means uery early in the session for the supply of food for the destitute by means of giving work on roads and public works. It was enacted by Parliament that at the request of the sessions in a:barony, parties should be empowered to advance money from the Treasury in loans for the execution of these works. Under this law the Government, on the 31st of August, voted a sum of 1,373,0001. for the relief of distress, by the creation of public works. There were presentments made to the amount of 476,0001. for these works, and out of this sum 290,0001. was actually expended, Before the end of the last session of Parliament, on the recommendation of the present Government, Parliament passed a further Act, by which, on the one hand, the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland was permitted to order presentment sessions, and, on the other hand, in order to check an extravagant expenditure, it was de termined that these sums should only be granted by way of loan, and the money was to be repaid to the Treasury. Sir, very soon after the session of Parliament had closed, there was a great desire evinced in many parts of Ireland, to have presentment sessions, in order that public works begun, but more especially those public works which had already been sanctioned by Parliament, might be roceeded with. Some objec tions were urged, that tTese works would be better deferred than because there would be a great demand for labour, inasmuch as the harvest was coming in, and therefore it would be advisable to defer the construction ,of the works at that time. But the operation of the law was, by the demand of new works, made extremely diffi cult to Hale Board of Works, notwithstanding they were reinforced by the addition of ten gentlemen, in every way competent to its duties. After these works were commenced, great complaints were received, from the proprietors of land and country gentlemen of Ireland, that the works had been found quite useless, and that, in especial, the roads which had been begun were not wanted. Ido not attach any great force to these objections, the object being to afford relief by providing a certain amount of labour, which would show that industry was not entirely abandoned ; and the productive nature of the work was a matter cf secondary importance, as the object we had in view was the preservation of the people in the first place from loss of life by providing labour, and not by an ill-judged and indiscriminate charity. The poor rates in the last five years had increased from 4,000,0001. to 5,000,000/., being an increase of a million and upwards; and I do not believe from the mode in which that mil lion had been expended that any great amount of productive labour has been engaged, but that that sum has been employed in the partial ,and inefficient relief of local distress.—(Hear.) I do not, therefore, attach any great value to the ob jections thus made, but, at the same time, as it was most desirable to obtain the co-operation of the landed gentry of Ireland, and as it was desirable, if possible, to have the works of a productive kind, the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland, with the consent of the Cabinet, after the case having been fully represented to them, sane tioned a plan by which the sessions were allowed to present for productive works instead of works of an unproductive nature. This plan had not long been adopted before a further desire was expressed fora town land division, and the presentation of works fOr such town lands. These town lands are of vorious dimen sions, some of them very small, not more than ten acres, the general average of the whole town lands do not, however, contain more than 350 acres. The ques tion for her Majesty's Government to consider was, whether it would be possible to accede to this request, it was quite obvious that if it were permitted to every per son, who was the proprietor or occupier of town lands, only to make himself responsible for his own town land, there would be no general interest in the welfare of the community, or in providing for the destitute; and more especially, the possessors of grazing land, or lands from which clearances had been effected, would have only some two or three destitute persons to provide for; while hundreds of others who were possessing a demesne in town lands would contribute more than their full share. In the opinion of the Lord-Lieutenant, and also of all persons who had paid any attention to the subject, it was thought that this plan could not be beneficially adopted. But, Sir, it was said that although that plan could not be adopted, still there was another scheme which might be adopted, and one which would prevent the evil of those who were ready to employ labourers, and to improve their estates, from being obliged to maintain the tenants and labourers of those who neglected their occupations and their duties. The plan was one for allowing the town-land division to take place, but obliging the proprietor and occupiers of town-lands to employ a certainnumber of destitute, so as to spend the whole of the amount of the assessment made laid upon the barony. Upon this subject Ido not know that anything better can be said upon this plan, than an observation made upon it in a public letter written by Mr. Smith O'Brien, M.P., in a letter to the proprietors of a public journal. He said that he thought this plan was much better than the one in actual operation. The Noble Lord then read the opinion to which he re ferred. It supposed a, district of a county belonging to two proprietors in which 100 persona resided—one of who employed fifty independent labourers, whilst the other did not ; therefore, in order to get rid of the main tenance of the other fifty, who would thus be thrown for support upon the rates, he would be compelled to discharge Ms workmen ; thus one hundred persons would be thrown upon the land fur support, as paupers : so that if he were compelled to employ them in that capacity, they would not be subject to his own control, and would not perform his labour in so efficient a manner as the indepont labourer. They would be paid out of the poor's rates, to which he would only be called upon to contribute his share. This was done previous to the passing of the Poor law in 1831, but was found to produce bad effects upon the pOpulation—(Hear, hear) —paralyzing individual enterprise, and having, generally, an injurious operation. Now I conceive that these observations of the Honourable Member for Limerick are pefectly justifiable. An experience in England has proved that the system works as he has described. The la bourers sent by the parish to labour occasionally on a farm are unlike men who labour on their own account; and, besides, they were found improvident men, and every farmer conversant with the system would say that he would rather give 10s. a week to a labourer selected by himself; than ss. for one of those useless men sent by the parish.—(Hear.) I think, therefore, that the plans proposed in order to remedy the evil of having so many pesons engaged in inoperative labour in Ireland. were full of danger. I admit, and will presently state, the great evils of the present system, but I think we should incur still greater danger, if, with the view of remedying those evils, we bad done that which we conceive one of the most pernicious things that could be desired if we had confounded labour with the relief of tho poor—(Hear), as by making that relief some what more efficient we should have permanently insured this great and important class to which those inde pendent labourers belonged.—(Cheers.) Sir, the land owners and proprietors who were in favour of this alteration found great practical difficulty in putting into effeet the instructions of the Lord Lieutenant. They found that when they came to an electoral district, and found two persons ready to adopt the system ofreproductivo works, that three or four utterly refused to become responsible, or to have any money advanced by the Govern.... t for that purpose. They found, therefore, that their operations, when so encum bered, were useless. This did not, however, though a serious difficulty, diminish their exertions ; but their operations, though very great and extensive, have not led to such a complete substitute as the system of establishing public works was generally expected. But, Sir, as the plan went on the number of the dis tressed persons increased, and with the number of the „distressed the difficulties of providing employment for such a number also increased. I should say, in the present place, that as the business of the Board of Works went on the officers found that they had also great difficulty of obtaining trustworthy. and efficient persons to act under them. It was found in the first place that the labourers were frequently unwilling to undertake the tasks allotted to them. At lenghth this difficulty pressed itself upon engaged t vt o hailos: f d ulltyhatdist w as impossibl e for any public board i to such an e x t ent that the belief pre vailed its duties and to carry out the works. The num ber on the es t a bli s h ment but the total number increasing.boar I will no t rea d th e i r names, of par sons employedas , h officialsa has been under gradually this d is, at the p resent moment, 11,587 ; the num ber of superintendents i s 185 ; t h e amount expended for the payment of a ll i n the debt con t ra cted is 2,41 0 , 366 /. The numb er o f l a b ourers has increased from 30,135 i n Sept em b er last to 440 687 in December. In the last week' s account they were stated at more than 480,000; and, at th e p resent t i me, I do not doubt but t hat th e number amount s to h a l f a million. Ido not d oubt but that great ability must b e engaged in the e mployment of this number of persons. —(Hear, hear.) It is calculated that five persons gain subsistence for every person that is employed. I th a t that statement is corr ec t ; but tak ing it say it at four persons, there will be upwards of two millions o f people supported by this plan. The expense at the same time must be enormous, and from an estimate I have here drawn up it appears that the expense in the first week of December was 140,0001., the second 156,000/., the third 158,000/., and the fourth 154,0001. S far as we are acquaintet. with the past three weeks, of January, the expense of the first week was 157.000/.; on the 9th January it was 156,0 ; and, on the 16 t h, 172,0001.; making an amount of 595,000/. for the month of December, and 485,0001 . for the first three weeks of January, ann it is calculated that the expense of the whole of this month will b e between 700,000/. a nd 800,000/. It is impossible that this expenditure could have taken place without great concomitant evils attending it. There must be great b evils under any circumstances, but there have been peculiar evils attending it, arising out of the present state of Ireland. For instance, there has been a diffi culty in procuring su fficient labour for the unemploy e d. Persons who have travelled through the country con tinually reported that there were large bodies of labourers idling along the public roads, talking together, and doing no work, and these reports led the Irish Government to the determination that task work ought to be introduced. Considerable difficulties, however, were experienced in af fecting that object. Much resistance was made to the intro duction of the system, but the Lord-Lieutenant remained firm upon the point, and task work was substituted for idleness. Many evils sprung up out of this system, for th ose men who b ecame acc ustomed to task w or k , earned consid era bl y more wages than a n y mon ey wages that had ever b een paid in the market. Many of them earned from Is. 4d. to is. 6d. and to ls. 10d., and sometimes more. The result was, there was a strong competition to obtain employment upon the public works, and farmers found a difficulty in procuring labour to till their land at any sum. I lament t o sa y , however, that this e v il was produced by the conduct of the farmers themselves, for many of them who he ld twent y , thirty, fifty, and even sixty-eight acres of land, removed their sons and labourers from their usual occupation, of tillage to place them upon these public works, and enable themselves to receive the increased pay which that description of employment afforded over what could be earned at husbandry. I will now read part of a letter --from Colonel Jones to Mr. Trevyl I --an, dated the 19th of January last:—. , We are pressed by our officers for instructions as to how they are to act ; those which they have received to regulate their conduct are no longer applicable in the altered state of things. They are besieged for relief, and if they refused it, they were held up as the stumbling-blocks in its way. In my opinion it would be better to give food, than to be paying away mo ney, which would be considered as a useless expenditure. The The poor people are disabled from executing task-work Their bo • (Illy strength is gone, and they have not power to exert themselves • th e works will consequently, be left i ncomplete." Sir, of the he p r eviously to the receipt of this letter was, th at t system had the • become so vast, and dissatis faction and the want of f oo d had so generally i ncrease d , that it was desirable by which so to attempt some t emporary scheme mitigated, ,and of th e ev il s w hi c h now meet us might be d with so vast an expenditure of money more relief might the opinio n of the advisers administered. Sir, it is e advisers of her Majesty, that it will be desirable to form di s t ric t relief committees, W hich committees shall be empowered to receive subscriptions, to levy rates, and to receive donations from the Government ; and that by this an su t r h c e h y ase should rod as far as they were able, distribute r e li e f, t e oest t a h h ch3 s ' h s h st o m u p l d depots, e enabled erd to to the famishing applicants, and that they should not require this indispensable test of work—(Heitia hear.) but that a labouring man should be allowed to wurk upon his own plot of ground or on the farmers, and thus his labour would tend to benefit the approaching harvest, and perhaps, by such an arrangement, he might be en abled to earn some small trifle in addition to the relief afforded him by the committee. After we had considered this scheme, I communicated it to the Lord-Lieu tenant of Ireland. We have committed the various officers of the Beard of Works and the Commis sariat Department, they are prepared to consider it favourably, and we will endeavour, by a series of preparatory measures, and next by a Bill, to carry into effect the arrangement. We propose that these arrangements shall be carried out under the superintendence of a gentleman, who has had extensive experi e nce of public wo r ks. Th e p erson to whom I allude i s Sir Joh n B a rro w . —(Ch eers .) At the present time the Inspector-General of fora cations in this country.— (Hear.) I sent for him the other day for the first time, and having explained to him what we wanted, he said he would obtain leave of absence from his preseet duties, and instead of devoting the time to relaxation he would consider it his duty to devote it to the services of the country, and that he would be ready to go to Ireland at any time when called on.—(Loud cheers.) That Gentleman will be in communication with the Lord Lieutenant, and will co operate or not, as he thinks best, with the Board of Works, with the Commissioners of the Poor law. with the heads of the constabulary force, and with any other parties in Ireland that may be calculated to assist him.—(Bear, hear.) The question with regard to proposing this measure as one of immediate relief, and for the more efficiently supplying the people with food who are in want, will be treated in connection with what has been done already; while every thing will be done to give speedy effect to the operation of this measure ; at the same time, care will be taken, and the Lord-Lieutenant will see to it, that its substitution for the system of public works, already in operation, shall be easy of transition. There will be no rude dismissal of the people at once, but when all the arrangements of the present scheme are made, then no further presentments shall take place, or new public works will be commenced.—(Hear.) The Lord-Lieutenant states that in regard to the roads already commenced, if they are abandoned, they will be left in a most miserable state ; he, therefore, suggests that these shall, at least, be finished. These works will, therefore, be allowed to go to completion. With respect to this advance a claim has been made, that the whole of it should not be a burden to Ireland. I think that the misfortune was so severe that, passing by the remote causes of it, we ought not to throw the full burden of it on the possessors of property in Ireland. It would be right that the whole of the burden should not remain on Irish property. I should, therefor, pro pose, on some future day, that an arrangement should be made by Parliament, by which, in each succeeding year when the instalment became due, one half of that instalment should be paid and the other half should be remitted, taking care that the whole debt should be kept up until the half is paid; but when the half was paid the remainder should be remitted to them, provid ing that one half of the whole charge shall be refunded. I should state, with regard to the financial part of the question, with regard to the sums hitherto issued, that they have been issued by bills on the Exchequer and the Consolidated Fund, but it neither has been, nor is it now in contemplation to issue Exchequer-bills in order to meet this decrease.— (Hear, hear.) But, however, it must be considered when we are making these propositions to Parliament, that it is placing a very considerable burden upon the finances of the country—(Hear, hear)—and that in placing that burden on the finances of this country I do feel myself disabled from making some propositions which I should be called upon to make ; and all of 'them entailing expense, but with the very heav) burden arising from the destitution in the present year, it would be hardly fair for the people of this country to propose them ; because, whether it is stated that the burden is borne by the Consolidated Fund, or whether the burden be borne by the imperial Treasury and the general finances, it must always he recollected that these sums are not to be granted by Parliament or the Government without the most serious consideration, for they are all sums derived from the payment of the people of this country, and who pay it on their soap, their sugar, and their tea and coffee. It is from that source is derived the surplus by which we are enabled to come to the assistance of Ire land. The people are willing, as I think, to do all that is liberal in this respect. 'We must always consider what is meet and just to the people of this country. We must consider the difficulty and privation, and by what hard labour they earned these sums.—(Loud cries of " Hear, lie thought that the whole burden of these public works should not be borne by Ireland, and he, therefore, should propose that each year, as an instalment bcame due, if one-half was paid, the other should be remitted, keeping up the whole debt until one half should be paid. It should be recollected that this was placing a considerable burden on the finances of the country, and which prevented him from making several propositions entailing expense, which he should otherwise have proposed. It should be remembered that these grants from the consolidated fund were grants from sums paid by thc people on their soap, their tea, and their sugar, and it should always be borne in mind that these were levied upon the people of this country out of their daily toil. He also proposed to advance a sum, not ex ceeding 50,0001., to be repaid before the end of December, for the purchase of seed. He proposed that this advance should be made to the proprietors and not to the tenants. In proposing these advances he declared that he did not nor could he expect to ward off the effects of the awful visitation of Providence with which Ireland had been afflicted. It was not in the power of man to do away with the effect of such a calamity. Ho should not have felt it necesspry to make the declaration so empha. tically had it not been for a paper put forth by the Mar quis of Siam ) , urging his countrymen to demand from Par liament that they should take steps to secure an immediate and cheap supply of food. He was surprised that any man of education could have imagined that it was in the power of any Government to turn famine into plenty. It was impossible. The utmost they could do was to alleviate the calamity. But what surprised him was, that at Castlebar there was a union workhouse capable of containing 600 inmates, but which contained but 130, because it was said the rates mould not be col lected to maintain more, while among those who ought to have paid those rates were sure who scarcely were capable of so doing. He regretted to see in this a tendency to recommend the adop tion of some vague and visionary plan, while the easy . end practicable duty of paying rates for the support of the poor was neglected The interference of Government to alleviate distress might be made in this way. Assistance might be granted to proprietors by loans for the improve ment of property—by public works—by enacting that relief should be given to the destitute by law, These three modes should be kept sepa rate. In advancing to proprietors security should be taken that such advances should be applied to the purposes for which they were granted. Such secu rity was taken by the laws passed in the last session, and by the Drainage Act more particularly. They pro posed to take the terms proposed in the Drainage Act, for making advances, and to extend it to other improvements, doing away with the technical dif ficulties which obstructed the operation of that Act, allowing proprietors to borrow money at 3i per cent., to be repaid in twenty-two years, making an allowance for repayment if such repayment should take place earlier. This would be better than combining such a plan with any plan for the relief of the poor. They also proposed taket o c o n b s y o t l i h d e a Le t a a t n e d t m e r p e r c o l v a e m t a h t e i Dn of r a i a n p a g o er tiportion t o s , f t t o h e u w n Ad a s e tre lands of Ireland. They proposed to devote 1,000,00e1 to this purpese—that if the proprietor chose to part with it he might sell it, but that if he refused to sell or to improve there should be a compulsory power of taking land by the Commissioners of Woods and Forests, when its value was be low 2s. 6d. an acre. It was proposed that should be generally reclaimed, roads be made, buildings erected, and divided into lots of :from 25 to 50 acres and either let to a tenant for a number of years or sold' but they did not intend to undertake by that grant, the task of cultivation. He anticipated great advantage from the location of the expelled tenantry from other properties on these holdings, and he thought it would be a nucleus for the formation of a body of small independent proprietors. He did not think that the small holdings were the cause of the misery of Ireland, :for in the county of Armagh, where the small landlords were the most numerous, the people were the most prosperous. In stating these measures, which they proposed to introduce immediately, he had not stated all the measures which they intended to in trodune. With regardito measures for the relief of the destitute, he proposed that relief should no longer be confined to the workhouse. He proposed to bring in a Bill for the more effectual relief of the destitute poor oflreland, em- powering the guardians to give relief either in or out of the workhouse at their discretion to the infirm poor, and to all those who are permanently disqualified from earning their living by labour, thus giving the guardians power to relieve the destitute at their own homes, ,and when the workhouse was full he proposed to give the Poor-law Commissioners power to give leave to the g uardians to give relief to the able-bodied poor out of th.e workhouse, relief to be given in food only. He proposed to appoint relieving officers, who, in case of urgent distress, should have power to take persons into the house, or to give outdoor relief until the next meeting of the board of guardians . Such were the measures for the relief of Ireland which he propowd immediately to introduce., (LIST SITTING.), TATTERSA LUS-T EVENING METROPOLITAN tt.',..:tnicAr. 20 to 1 a i .st Pia: 25 to 1 aist Mcarxe 30 to 1 agst Vamp re 40 to 1 agst I,a;!y Saralt 2,000 GUINEAi S7AKES. 4 to 1 agst G!entilt 8 to 1 agst Conyngliam - CHESTER CUP. 25 to 1 agst Caincr, OL•scitra 25 to 1 agst '1 he Eitch 25 to 1 agst 30 to 1 agst Antler 36 to 1 agst The Lamb 40 to 1 agst Neweourt 40 to 1 agst Mickey Free: 40 to 1 agst Punch 50 to 1 agst Grim. Con. 45 to 1 agst Jenny Wren 50 to 1 agst Sister to Pedometer .50 to 1 apt Intrepid 66 to 1 agst Pink Bound 66 to 1 agst Golden Boil 66 to 1 agst Annandiln 66 to 1 agst Maid of Lyme mut 8 to 1 agst Van Tromp 10 to 1 agst E;)irote 16 to 1 agst Planet 22 to 1 agst Glentilt 33 to 1 agst Allertonian 50 to 1 agst Christopher 50 to 1 agst Red Hart Six O'CLOCK FATAL ACCIDENT ON TEE GREA T WESTERN RAILWAY.—This aftert.oon, as the Express-train from Ex eter, arriving at Paddingtor, at 411. 30m, was passing the four o'clock down train at Scut hal, the tire of the drawing wheel flew off, and striking a second-class carriage on the down-train, broke the upper part to pieces, killing on the spot two men, and wounding several others. A lady in the express-train was also injured by the rebound of a part of the broken wheel. Neither train was thrown off the rails, and the express was not travelling at above its usual speed. THE CONTEST BETWEEN THE COURTS OF ALDEIZNI EN AND COMMON COUNCIL. Saturday, the committee of the whole court appointed at the last Court of Aldermen, for the purpose of taking into consideration the grand matter in dispute between the two courts assembled in the Guildhall; the Right Honourable the Lord Mayor in the chair. Deputy PEACOCK rose the. moment the Lord Mayor took the chair, and congratulated his Lordship upon the excellent temper and judgment exhibited by him in meeting the Common Council in so friendly a disposi tion. Every one, he stated, must have been delighted with the unanimity which xistcd on the subject of the appointment of the committee, for that unanimity com prehended the be:ief in the necessity of the reform which must take place in the Court of Aldermen. He and several other members with whom he was in communi cation, entertained the firm conviction that there were three points which must be carried before it could be said that the court was reformed. The Aldermen must allow the Common Councilmen to make such references as the lattershould consider to be PN petlieu t for their own govern ment. The Aldermen inusc not meddle with the city cash, except jointly with the Common Council: ani the Aldermen must he subject to periodical election. These three great principles must he carried during the present •mayorality.—(Hear, h ar ) After some discussion as to the propriety of opening the doors to the public daring the deliberations of the committee, which t , rnnhatt-d in permission for strangers to be present. Mr. John Vireod continued the protest which he had made in the curt against the removal of the notice from the paper of business of the third read ing of the Qualification Bill. - Mr. T. H. HALL su , ges!eti the propriety of at once proceeding to the constdei ti,on of amending the minutes of the court at which the Lot d Mayor refused to put the question. It was evident thaka serious misrepresenta tion had been made in enteting these minutes; he ad mitted that the errer had not originated in the intention of the officer who had it, but until the corrections were effected no good c , ,01d be accomplished. He sub mitted a motion recommetidieg to the Court of Common Council to amend the minutes read at the last court. Several members obj,cted to the course just proposed, and were strongly in lavour of referring the whole matter connected with the subject to a sub committee. It was, they said the opinion of some that the minutes were literally, though rot in spirit, correct; and of others that there were severzl inaccuracies - in the record. However, there appeared to he no difference at all on the great question as to the right of the Lord :Mayor to refuse to put the question of the third reading of the . Qualification Bill. The whole subject, they thought, could be much more yeti:al:ly discussed by the sub committee. As unanimity vas considered to be indis pensable in the case, the members, after some observa tions, agreed to the proptist ion that a sub-committee be appointed to consider the reference from the Common Council of the 21st of January, 1847, with full power to proceed therein, and to r, port thereon from time to time to the committee. The :ub committee, consisting of a proportionate number of aldermen and common councilmen, was then appointed, anti the committee ad journed. CULTIVATION OF COTTON IN THE EAST INDIES. In our last, we published the memorial of the Hull Cham ber of Commerce on this itupur!ant subject, to the Court of Directors of the East India Ckimpatiy, and to the Board of Control for the affairs of India. To it, the following satisfac tory reply has been received front Sir John Hobhouse, Bart, the chairman of the latter iieß,rtm , lit " India Board, 19th January, 1847. "Sir,—•l have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your letter, dated the 13th instant, transmitting for my in formation, copy of a ineinorird, addressed by the Chamber of Commerce of Hull to tile Court of Directors of the East India Company, on the :object cf cotton cultivation in India. "In the year 1840, this important subject engaged the earnest attention of the Court of Directors and this Board, and arrangements were then made for testing, on a large scale, the capabilities of India to produce increased supplies of cotton, adapted for the home market; and as several of the experiments then introduced are still in progress, you may rest assured that my best considerations will continue to be given to every practical measure having for its object the improvement and' Increased supply of an article so es sential to the welfare both of India ;Jul the United Kingdom. "I have the honour to be, sir, your most obedient servant, - "JOHN HOBHOUSE. " Thomas Thompson, Esq:,' !cc., &c., Hull." —Hull Advertiser. HERRING TRADE-CONTI NENTAL MARKETS. The Commissioners of Supply for the county of Banff haire transmitted a memorial to Government, to obtain the admis sion of British cured herrings into the continental markets on the same terms as these cured in Holland, &c. more extensive field for our herring trade is 11 uch required abroad, and if such an outlet be not secured for this important branch of our native industry, nia;:y thousands of our population will be thrown out of emplo/ment. In Banffshire alone 800 boats and about 8,000 persons are employed in the several departments of the herting trade. Some of the circum stances stated by the mcniortalists are interesting:—" In 1810. the total cure of herrings was ninety thousand; it now exceeds six hundred thousand hands, on an average, yearly. The failure in the potato crop, for the last two years, has ex ercised a most depresaieg influence on the price of herrings in the home markets, c inliog a very great diminution in their consumption ;so much a , that it is consistent with the knowledge of your memorialists, that a great quantity of crown branded full herrings, the produce of this season's catch, remains on hand at the present time in the Irish mar-, kets, unsaleable at a proportionate rate to the value of other provisions, or, where forced off, not yielding over 9s. per bar rel—not half the actual cost of the barrel of cured fish as it leaves the curer's hands—a sacrifice of property ruinous to those embarked in the trade; and, with a recurrence of the potato failure, your memorialists are fully aware that a most material decline in this branch of our native industry must, in consequence. ensue—save an increased demand can be created abroad for the cured fish. Looking to the continent of Europe, your memorialists find, that Prussia and the Ger man States are, in a manner, the only countries open for the import of British cured herrings at moderate duties (Prussia, 35.); Russia, whose population is very fond of salted her rings, and on which we have strong claims for reciprocity in trade, would consume enormously, were our herrings admis sible on a parity of duty with those of Norway, on which it amounts to Is. 2d. per barrel, whilst the rate leviable on Bri tish cured amounts to 4s. and 4e. fid. per barrel, according to the rate of exchange. Your memorialists cannot omit stating that, in consequence of this differential duty, not more than two thousand to three thousand barrels British cured herrings find their way into the Russianinarkets, being at the same time, well assurel that our fin e and carefully cured herrings, in comparison with the coarse winter her rings of Norway, would, at an equal, or more moderate duty, mud unlimited consumption amongst the population of the vast empire in question. It is also in the knowledge of your memorialists, that, were the present duty of 16f. exigible on British cured herrings, on importation into Belgium, reduced to that leviable on the cure of tkt Data, viz., of. per barrel, the country in question would annually draw large supplies of the article from the Scotch ports] whereas, under the, existing differential duty, the Dutch SabMure rs have a mono poly of the important fish market under notice."—The mer chants, fisbcurers, and others interested in the trade-and fisheries of Orkney, have also memorialised the Government to the same purpose. They set forth, amongst other-disad vantages suffered by the enterprise of Orkney, that whereas the Norwegians have plenty of the best wood for the con struction of herring-boats, at a cost little more than the price of cutting the trees, Orkney does not produce timber. The cost of constructing vessels is, of course, enhanced by the duty on foreign timber. Farther, all the articles of foreign pro duce consumed by the Norwegian fishermen are imported at very low rates, while the same at tides for British fishermen (such as tea) are heavily burdened. The Orkney memorialist s state that the best marke t f or co d i s Spain, and that within these few years a direct trade to a considerable extent had been opened in that most important branch of the fisheries; h m er p ie o s; but that the trade h as b een greatly restricted by the import dues, which are, wh en di rect l y imported in a British bottom, 10/. per ton; indirectly, 121; directly in a Spanish 6!. 10s.; indirectly, 8/ . 13s. Tt,cm. dues are considered exces sive;_ while herrings, by the S , a aii i sti laws, are, if British cured, altogether excluded. As r !urs t ery for seamen, the memorialists show the north a er o i ( i t fi s s i l l i 7 e i t i ro , so _o be of importance; for, in the last war, Orkney d furnished upwards of 5,000 effective seamen for the fleet. —lnverness Courier. HOW TO MAKE A MA-lE.—in your workshops, in your clubs, in your institutes, obtain signatures to your petitions: get every labourer, every artisan, every trades man whom you can intluem.e, to sign petitions. Other things must also be done before your condition can be rendered prosperous; but this must preced every real improvement; the sources of the poison that infects the atmosphere you breathe must be dried up before you can be healthy, and uncleanliness must be removed from the exterior of your dwellings before you can find or make a Home.—Dr. South wood Smith's Address to the Ma hiuy (.7asses on their Duty in the present state of the Sanatory Qaastion. EXTREME DISTRESS —Amongst the persons who were summoned before the Windsor bench of Magistrages on Thursday last, for non-payment of poors'-rates, was a poor woman, who was unab!e, to app:mr before the Bench in consequence of being compelled to pawn her clothes from sheer distress. HUNTING TERMS. The tail of the deer is called the single • of the fox, th! brush; of the wo lf an d d og, t h e stern; and of the hare and. rabbit, the stent. The feet of the fox are called pads; the face, the mask on front; but in the deer it is the snout or nose. Of pointers, retters, spaniels, greyhounds, and terriers, tr. are called a brace, and th ree a l eas h ; of hounds, beagl , ; &c., two are called a couple, three, a hark, or a couple-em , half; of spaniels and terriers, more than two brace of dilleroi ent kinds are called a rou g h mus t e r ; several bra ce ott spaniels are called a pack. I n some cou nties it is cols ol to say a couple of spaniels. In true sporting phraseology it is a kennel of foxhounds,: pack being thought more appropriate to harriers, bu t fra crack sportsmen are nevertheless heard to talk of foxhounds, in common parlance. • gene, When hounds, in drawing for their game 1 21 " th 4 the reverse way, they ar e sa id t o d raw am i ss . 'But rib en io , game is up, and the hounds scent it in the opposi av t e h t rec ther they then run to the heel, or run to counter. " "," 1 ," are take a fresh scent, they hunt change ; and when ` - iunt seen traversing the same ground over and over, theY and foil. When they run without any cry, they run mute;e ea. if they chase other game th an th at f or w hi c h they tered, or are otherwise di so b e di en t t o th e huntsman, 'el said to run riot. „+ i g or Hunted animals frequently take the water. 4 %_=thit other deer doing so are said to take soil. an otter boa.; fo t stream, all other animals are said to take water. Why s 14 takes to ground, if it be to a regular fox earth, he is, B a t ma* run to earth; but when ke descends into a sloug h A he has then run to ground. Drag up to a fox, var., aa: deer, or draw on the slot. Q ues t or t ra il th e hare, filly" - f o rnii kennel a fox, unharbour a deer, start the hare from the ied or or seat. The hare is pri c k e d b y th e f oo t ; th e fox is b 4 deer padded. A fox and a har e run up an d d own a covet ; ' tio d beats the cover. A fox is said t o b e h ea d e d w hen he t bios. back, a deer is blanched, and a hare making a return e° ll .,,da The hare squats, the fox lies d own ; a f ox i s r ecovered' "" u p deer is fresh found. The death of the stag is the brealdni d e. or the take; that of the fox is to be worried; an d I/ whoop is the death cry of both fox and hare. hound / Tally-ho back when the f ox h ea d s b ac k; if the _,bea come out it is hark back. A sharp b urs t i s the first OIL' very quick. If the scent is co good that the hounds most mute it i s called a burning scent, but the hounds Il tr ee up or stop .for want of scent, or because they the overrun it, then it is a check. If, on the contrail' for scent is so good that they have no need to sto o p t he it, they are said to run breast high. In draivi l la to cover, the first hound whi c h th rows it s tongue i 5 challenge. The fox, when kill e d as soon as f o und, or lac% to is said to be chopped. Hounds thrown into cover are 01 0 , be drawing it. The scent left by the fox on his return: og % kennel is called the drag; when rather fresher than it, "I D A is a moving scent When the scent of the fox extene s ,,,; t het so that a majority of the hounds feel it, and crowd t ° ,,r„ thi to pursue it, they are said to carry a good head; wh en t P reverse of I this is the case, and the dogs do not atteo l foit rush to the head, they d we ll on t h e scent ; w h en it iS s f ) Ita as scarcely to be perceptible, they cannot feel the see,nr. has fox is said to run his foil wh en h e re t races t h e grouna7ot been over. Hounds, wh en th ey h ave recovere d a let. this are said to have hit it off, and one signalising hiruseiLM ea . ; occasion has made a good hit. Wh en h oun d s a re prey " 01 5 wards by too zealous riders, the huntsman's rate, d t ess hard" is the check to the hurtful impetuosity ; 001, i n to on" is the reverse , and is a di rec ti on to th e hurd_ ai l iw t . : if make to the head, and try t o recover th e sinking I''' . f 0 3° the impetuosity of the riders shauld occasion the death I r ei i fox unfairly, he is said t o b e h ea d e d to death. 014 ; Sri hound that abides by the scent on ly an d w ill not go - scl< beyond it, is called a line hunter. When hounds are t hey mettled in their hunting th e y are sa id no t t o stooP to p e scent ; but when in one lin e , th ey go a t t h e t op of theft a " 0 they are then said to b e s t ream i ng away. S o me do or said to be tight in their t ongues , i. e . t h e y r un 10 1 hi. nearly so. The good hou n d, on th e con t rar y, thro a lvier, tongue freely ; but a too noisy hound is called A toll; and should be drafted. A h oun d th at h as a h a bit ofthe wide of the pack is called a skirter. Full cry is wb— thei r , joyous pack ackno w l e d ge th e scent b y t h ro wing wine tongues freely. When hounds are running with the behind them they are running down wind. to Bloodhounds and greyhounds, when tired, are sal 0 1 et overhaled ; pointers, setters, spaniels, terriers, 'cc. , ft°° jaded. INSOLVENT DEBTORS. (From Friday night's Gazette.) SUMMER CIRCUITS, 1847. SOUTHERN CIRCUIT. Henry Revel Reynolds, Esq., Chief Commissioner' Berkshire-At Reading, Tuesday, June 22. Oxfordshire-At Oxford, Thursday, June 24. Worcestershire-At Worcester. Saturday, June 26. Radnorshire-At Presteigne, Tuesday, June 29. Herefordshire-At Hereford, Wednesday, June 30. Brecknockshire-At Brecon, Friday, July 2. Carmarthenshire-At Carmarthen, Monday, July 5 - Cardiganshire-At Cardigan, Wednesday, July 7. 8. Pembrokeshire-At Haverfordwest, Thursday, Jab' , Glamorganshire-At Swansea, Monday, July 12. Glamorganshire-At Cardiff, Tuesday, July 13. Monmouthshire--At M onmout h , Th urs d ay , J u ly 15. '• Gloucestershire-At Gloucester, Saturday, July . 1 7 . ,f,,eadef' At the City and C ounty o f t h e C i ty o f Bristol, - 1- • July 20. Somersetshire-At Bath, Thursday, July 22. Somersetshire-At Taunton, Friday, July 23. • Cornwall-At Bod m i n , Tuesday, July 27. Devonshire-At Plymouth, Wednesday, July 28., s o, Devonshire-At the Castl e o f E xe t er, Friday, a day. At the City and County of the City of Exeter---o'" - - Dorsetshire-At Dorchester, Monday, August 2 ' ,„„, Wiltshire-At Salisbury, Wednesday, August t thar opton At the Town and Cou n ty o f th e T own o f 0° Thursday, August 5, Southampton-At Winchester, Friday, A u gust 6. • NORTHERN CIRCUIT. • oner. John Greathed'Harris, Es q ., Commissioner. Yorkshire-AI Sheffield, Friday, June 18. Yorkshire-At Wakefield, Monday, June 21. 11.11101‘ At the Town and C oun t y o f t h e T own of Kingston . Hull, Friday,,June 25- , Yorkshire-At the Castle of York, Monday, June 28. Yorkshire-At Richmond, Thursday, Jaly 1. Durham-At Durham, Friday, July 2. Northumberland -At the Moot Hall, Newcastle-upon - V l* Monday, July 5. At the Town and County of the Town of Newcastle -o Tyne-the same day. Cumberland-At Carlisle, Wednesday, July 7. Westmoreland-At Appleby, Friday, July 9. Westmoreland-At Kendal, Saturday, July 10. Lancashire-At Lancaster, Monday, July 12. Lancashire-At Liverpool, Monday, July 19. Montgomeryshire-At Welsh Pool, Thursday, July 2 2 ' Merionethshire-At Dolgelly, Saturday, July 24. Carnarvonshire-At Carnarven, Tuesday ' July 27. 0: Anglesey-At Beaumaris, Wednesday, July 28. Denbighshire-At Ruthin, Friday, July 30. Flintshire-At Mold, Monday, August 2. Cheshire-At the Castle of Chester, Tuesday, Auga.. s. oo l° At the City and County the City of Chester--- .19 • 9 day. MIDLAND CIRCUIT. William John-Law, Esq., Commissioner. Essex-At Chelmsford, Thursday, June 24. Essex-At Colchester, Friday, June 25. Suffolk-At Ipswich, Monday, June 28. 0 3° , 1 3 1 Norfolk-At the Castle of. Norw i ch, W e d nes day, -- a tm "-- S At the City and County of the City of Norwich- - day. • Norfolk-At Yarmouth, Thursday, July 1. Suffolk-At Bury St. Edmunds, Saturday, July 3 • Norfolk-At Lynn, Monday, July 5. 6 ' Northamptonshire --At Peterborough, Tuesday, -.T If /.' Huntingdonshire-At Huntingdon, Wednesday, JO' Cambridgeshire -At Cambridge, Thursday, July 8 . Oh Northamptonshire -At Northampton Saturday, July Rutlandshire-At Oakham, Monday:July, 12. Lincolnshire-At Lincoln, Tuesday, July 13. 15. sie Nottinghamshire -at Nottingham, Th urs d a y, July At the Town and County of the Town of Nottingham same day. Derbyshire -At Derby, Saturday, July 17. Leicestershire--At Leicester, Monday, July 19. Staffordshire-At Stafford, Wednesday, July 21. Shropshire-At Shrewsbury, Friday, July 23. s,atttr° At the City and County o f the City of Lichfield_-- July 24. Shropshire-At Oldbury, Monday, July 26. Warwickshire-At Birmingham-the same day. Warwickshire-At Warwick, Tuesday, July 27. Warwickshire-At Coventry, Wednesday, July 28. 'Bedfordshire-At Bedford, Friday, July 30. 13uckinghamshire-At Aylesbury, Saturday, July 31. HOME CIRCUIT. Charles Phillips, Esq., Commissioner. Kent-At Dover, Thursday, July 8. At the City and County of the City of CanterburY day, July 10. „ Kent-At Maidstone, Tuesday, July 13. Sussex-At Lewes, Friday, July 80. Hertfordshire-At Hertford, Friday, August 6. nl4 , ALLEGED MURDER AT BART.- , On Tuesday this case was aga i n gone i nto before the f i s gistrates, and evidence had as to the intimacy wh inb dt existed between Hewitt and the prisoner Mrs. Johnson' r oe the conclusion of the evidence M r . A m bl er proposed ,t ° P oe; previous attempts, on the part of th e prisoner, to maw. w hile -with the deceased, by admi n i s t er i ng rau d aeum to hit? a they lived at Sale Moor. Mr. F ou lk es cons id e red, monstrous.proposition, and, after some little conversatoSst i evidence was not gone into, but, on the understanding., l t he was to be brought forward at the trial, it was agr e r t - b tit Mr. Ambler should f urn i s h t h e prisoner's solicitor 14 1, i i substance of such evidence. There were several wittw — O , tft attendance for exami na ti on upon this point. This b e in g case against the pri soner, Mr. Trafford, addressing he t Foulkes, the solicitor for the prisoner, said—l supPo u e n „' es see' the intimation I have given, y ou w ill not call any vert u thillig, lam bound to hear them, and any remarks you ma De? fit to make: I leave it to your own discretion. „,.d think you will alt er my op i n i on. Mr. Trafford intima'"--30 intention to commit the prisoner on Tuesday Tre eic . " : a h Foulkes—Afte r th e i nt i mat i on you were kind eno ug h t he make to me, I thi n k it i s my d uty not to obtrude U P O of Court any observati ons o f m i ne upon th i s great p a d i!' evidence. Undoubtedly there was a time when I 11 1., thif posed to enter into a comm en t ary upon t h e whole -tort evidence; but, since you have given m e th a t intirae,.. ie shall not attempt it. It a pp ears t o me certainly a T o elf very great mystery. Mr. Trafford—lt is one whicli,'" egoetli requires further i nves ti ga ti on . (T o t h e prisoner)-1" thst Johnson, you are fully aware of the charge against Ye n ' est ir of administering poison to your h us b an d, an d thereto. els ing his death. (Prisoner—l did n o t d o i t. ) It i s no t ' ~ to say whether that charge i s su ffi c i ent l y prove d bez, ecieber beyond saying it is sufficiently proved to send you tot tribunal, there to take your trial. The facts y/1 10 .'1 0 03 been proved before me, uncontradicted as they now ry ont o certainly prove your conduct to have been that of a nor guilty of great impropriety ; but whether you haYt A _ sod witted the awful crime with which you are charg*l n to thereby caused the death of your hu s b an d i s knowri e sL Him who is above and to yourself, as far as aPP, - ihe• present. It will be for a jury of your country to t a Y, golf ther they believe you have been gu ilt y or not. le fot stand committed to the next assizes to take you Job e 0. the wilfulmurder of your husb an d, Willi am Henry,:i the You may stand down. The pris oner , who maintain", be y calm, collected demeanour whi c h has characterisa t t he throughout the whole of these proceedings, the n Tba dock, without manifesting the slightest discomposure. _sr remainder of the witnesses were then bound over to Pg.*. cuteat the assizes. The p r i soner was conveye d to thei: e l ter dale "gaol by the half-pa s t t wo o'clock tram.--fan Guardian. THE CONSEQUENCE la CS . OF NON..INTERFERS- tua The returns of the p as t quarter prove that nothingeffe.od has been done to put a stop to the disease, suffering, _ co . death in which so many thousands perish ; that ' the inaP r ; ave ments, chiefly of a showy, superficial, outside character.; that not reached the homes and habits of the people • 841 ,, 0 "a r ent the consequence is that thousands, not only of thiii cmol but of the men and women themselves, perish of the sea s d pa formerly so fatal, for the same reasons, in barrack 9 ;T gaols, and ships..-,Report or the Registrar -Go:eras Al9' rice .~- Oft, Lo /Lona Ov Itollo La Char Mc d 'to 4, all