The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser. — Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1842-02-15 00:00:00

finpertal IJal'lianitnt The Marquis of NORMANI the buildings regulation bill. The Marquis of SALISBURY opposed the motion, on the ground that it would enhance the price of buildings, and ren der it more difficult for the poor to obtain dwellings. gh eventually read a second time, as was a provements bill, and both were ordered to be committed on Friday. Lord BROUGHAM gave notice that he would move on Fri day, for copies of the correspondence with the Port of Nassau respecting the transactions arising out of the affair of the Creole.—Adjourned. HOUSE OF COMMONS Lord J. RUSSELL gave notice that when the corn-laws came again under the consideration of the house, he would move that it is not expedient to adopt a graduated scale of duties. Mr. Vaur dient to 1, he should move that it was not ive any duty upon the importation of forei Ign corn Lord LINCOLN, in - reply to a qu'estion from Mr. Ewart, said there was no in ition at present of throwing open to public Richmond and Kew Parks .id that a true bill had been found at the ns against a nobleman appointed to a high should, on Friday, move for a return of the , e which had taken place relative to the circutn- _ Mr. PHILIPS s Old Bailey si station ; and he s correspon stances In reply to a question from Mr. Du NCOMBE Sir R. PEEL said he feared he cuuld not brin ' c , forward his bill for the registration of electors un til a fter Easter ; but ample time would be given to make the country acquainted with its details before pressing it forward. . . .. On the motion of 1.; BOWRING, copies were ordered of the communications addressed from Bolton to the Home office during the late recess on the subject of Mr. Mott's r Mr. BROTRERTON moved that no opposed motion should be brought forward and decided after twelve o'clock at night, unless there should be 100 members present, -- Sir R. PEEL opposed the motion, as calculated to obstruct public business. It would require a total change in the habits of life and society at the present day to carry out the object of the hon. member. The motion, on a division, was negatived by a majority of 200 to 26. Lord J. RUSSELL moved for copies of letters of the late Lord President of the Court of Session in Scotland, and the late Chief Justice of the Queen's Bench in Ireland, resigning their judicial . offices. He did not mean to impute anything the g overnment, for when improper in the course 1 those Ages resig 1, it was imperative upon the government mcies ; but their long retention of office, to supply and their on on a char of ministry, raised a prima fade cass of suspicion that they had ,retained their offices until they could have an opportunity of surren dering them into the hands of their own political friends. Considering the importance of maintaining the purity of the bench, he thought it would be a great misfortune to the country if judges were looking to the interests of the treasury bench instead of to the duties and interests of the bench of Sir J. GRAHAM said, until that moment he was at a loss to guess the motive of the noble lord in bringing forward the present motion, which it now appeared was an attack, not upon the government, but on the two judges referred to. He would tell the noble lord that, in the case of the Lord Presi dent, he had neither directly nor indirectly any communica tion from him upon the subject of his retirement. The right hon. baronet then referred to the negotiations which had taken place with respect to the retirement of Lord Corehouse, and also to those which had more recently taken place to in duce a Lord Chancellor of Ireland (Lord Plunkett) to resign, not upon the accession of a new ministry, but when the ex isting ministry was virtually condemned, and quoted from the noble lord's farewell address to the Irish bar the passage where be declared that he was not in the slightest degree re sponsible for his retirement, for he was requested to do so by a person to whom he was under such obligation that he was impelled by an irresistible sense of gratitude to comply. The right hon. baronet concluded by stating, that the government had never asked either of those judges to resign, and that he could never assent to stamp disgrace upon such venerable persons by producing the papers, unless compelled to do so by a vote of that house. Mr. F. MAULE said it was perfectly well known that the Lord President was for many months incapable, from in firmity, of performing the duties of office. He defended the conduct of the late government in the case of Lord Core house, and said that for a long time back the people of Scot land were disgusted with the judgments of the late Lord President. The honourable gentlemen instanced the judg ment in the Strathbogie case, in the delivery of which be allowed his temper so far to get the better of his discretion as to call the General Assembly of Scotland a set of thimble riggers. The LORD ADVOCATE defended the Lord President, who had performed the duties of his office down to the time of his retirement. Very recently he had become somewhat deaf, and had also an affection in his limbs, which prevented him from going to court; and to these affections it was that his resignation was to be attributed. Mr. o'CoNNELL said a judge should have no politics, and yet it was generally believed throughout Ireland that Chief Justice Bushe, after his memory and faculties had become a wreck—a noble wreck certainly, but still a wreck—still re tained his office in order that he might be able to give the appointment of his successor to his political friends. Mr. SHAW defended Chief Justice Bushe ; after whic Mr. WAKLEY said that this was altogether a most edify ing discussion, proving the adage, that when a certain de scription of people fell out the consequences were sometimes beneficial to Others. He was in the habit of writing on his parliamentary paper a sort of commentary in the shape of a note upon each notice of motion it contained ;—to one he ap plied the term " fudge," to another " nonsense," and so on ; but when he read the motion of the noble lord, in his capa city of coroner he marked it " suicide." (Great Laughter.) It was, he thought, a reflection on the good sense of the country, that the judgment-seat should be made the reward of political party services. Sir R. PEEL said that he acted upon the very principle just laid down by the hon. member for Finsbury, by offering to Lord Cottenham one of the vice-chancellorships, which, however, for reasons principally of professional etiquette, and in which reasons he (Sir Robert Peel) quite coincided, the noble lord declined. He was not prepared to expect the re signation of his right honourable friend Chief Justice Bushe, and when he did receive it, he was compelled to rill up the vacancy. The right honourable baronet quoted a passage from a former speech of Mr. Fox Maule, defending the Lord President, arid contradicting the assertion that that learned judge was labouring under those infirmities which he now insisted he was a martyr to. (Cheers and laughter.) Lord JOHN RUSSELL, in reply, said that the retirement of Lord Plunket was not a case in point, for the appointment of Lord Chancellor was of a wholly different nature—it being an office held during the pleasure of the Crown ; and the real fault, if any, was that Lord Plunket had remained on the bench too long. The noble lord then referred to the fact that Lord Campbell, on accepting the chancellorship of Ire land, stipulated that he was to have no retiring pension, and asked if Sir E. Sugden had made any such proposition. He thought it would be difficult to convince the country that those judges to whom his motion referred had not remained on the bench for the purpose of giving the appointment of their successors to their political friends. _ _ _ The house divided, and the motion of the noble lord was negatived by a majority of 148 to 75. HOUSE OF LORDS.-FRIDAY _ ....—.... The Building Act Amendment Bill, and the Borough Im provement Bill, were severally committed, and ordered to be read a third time on Monday. Lord BROUGHAM postponed his motion for papers re specting the Creole until Monday, owing to the absence of the Lord Chief Justice of the Queen's Bench. There were many law lords present, but he would rather defer his motion until Lord Denman ahould have the power of attending. SE OF COMMONS.-FRIDAY Sir R. PEEL placed sanibei;hle . " - sch;a,iiofthe towns which were proposed to be included in the list of those from which the corn law averages are henceforth to be taken. In reply to a question from Mr. M. GinsoN, the right hon. baronet said that when he came to make his financial statement he would state the particulars of the duties to be levied on the importation into this country of salt and fresh meat, live cattle, swine, &c. ; but he had no objection to de clare, and be hoped he should be pressed no further at present, that he was of opinion the existing prohibition could not be maintained. In reply to a question from Dr. Bowring, _ Sir R. PEEL said it was quite true that Russian goods were admitted into Turkey on more favourable terms than British, the reason of which was that Russian goods were admitted under the old treaty. English goods were admitted under a separate treaty, and in that treaty there was an article providing that Britisb goods should be admitted on the same terms as those of the most favoured nations, and it was still a question whether that article of the treaty could not be enforced. Mr. CHRISTOPHER gave notice that he would move a scale of duties upon the importation of foreign corn, as a substitute for the scale proposed by Sir It. Peel. By the scale he should propose the duty would be 255. when the price at home was 50s. and under Ms., and diminish Is. in duty for every shilling increase in price ' until the latter reached 605., when the duty wo uld b e 14 s. At the ss. duty the scale would be the same as that of the right hon. baronet. In reply to a question from Mr. Roebuck, The ATTORNEY-GENERAL said that the Municipal Cor porations Act would be ready on Monday next. In reply to a question from Mr. HAWES, Sir J. GRAHAM said that he considered the subject of the better regulation of the medical profession one of great im portance, and had directed his attention to it with a view to propose some alteration, and did not despair of being able to bring in a bill upon the subject during the present session. Sir C. NAPIER asked if there was any objection to lay be fore the house a copy of the instructions given by Sir Robert Stopford to General Mitchel, General Jochmus, and Captain Stewart, after the submission of Mehemet Ali, together with other papers relative to the amelioration of the inhabitants of Lebanon, as was promised by the allied powers. Sir R. PEEL said that many of those papers could not be found in the Record-office, and could not, therefore, be pro duced ; and, with respe c t to the others, they would, if pro duced, defeat the object th e ga ll ant officer had in view. He would assure him, however, that every effort would be made by t h e present government to cause the Porte to fulfil its engagements with respect to th e ame li oration of the condition o f its subjects in that quarter. Mr. F. MAULE moved for a return of the number of jury cases in the first division of the Cou r t o f Session, from the Ist January, 183specifying9, till the 3om Ist July, 1841, rthose in which the lat e Lord President of the Court of Session pre sided, and those in w hich any other and w h a t j u d ge presided. His object in wishing for these returns was to ascertain whe therthe previous night, which had been contradicted by the his statement o Lord Advocate , was or was not cor rec t. Sir J. GRAHAM said there was no imputation up on t h e h on. gentleman that he pur posely mis-stated a n y f act; and, as agreeing to this lead tur-itthweonuld be a greater imputatio n on the late Lord President the motion of the prec e di ng evening, he must give it his decided wi opposition. sh to press the motion to Mr. F. MAULE said he had no a division, but he believed his sta t e ment was correct. Mr. W AELEY c o u ld not tinderstand why the motion should be withdrawn ; and the right hon. baronet (Sir J. Graham), by opposi ng the motion, raised a strong s uspicion that all the truth was o n hi s (th e oppos ition) side of the house, and, to use a gentl e express i on, a ll t h e er ror on the mini sterial. It was to be remem b ere d that t h e Ri g ht lion. Lord Advocate had pledged his honour as a gentleman and as a member of that house that the late Lord President had never been absent even once from his duties, and the only object of the motion was to ascertain the facts. Mr. ROEBUCK• said that Caesar's wife should be above suspicion, and so sh ou ld the judges be ; and as t h a t house had the right legitimately to supervise the i r con d uc t, he did not see why a motion like this should he refused. Sir R. PEEL said that the motion contained a reflection on the late Lord President stronger than even that contained by inference in the motion of the previous evening. The house had, doubtless, the power of supervising the conduct of the judges ; but if it indulged itself in passing such motions as the one before them, the effect would be to pre judice the administration of justice. Mr. O'CoNNELL said there were c ontradictory statements as to certain facts ; and, surely,- as they had the power, they ought to have them authenticated. Why other idtheyside mere' not do so ? Because hon. gentlemen on ti n a afraid of the result. _ On a division, the motion was negatived by a ma j or i ty of i 139 to 113. Ur. MILNE 3 then called the attenti fcertviu persons committed to the New Bailey House s worship in the county of Lancaster, in the r J. GRAHAM admitted that these parties were very se and unjustly punished, and condemned the principle &les to the non-performance of He believed that on Wednesday rsonal religious . dut st have been convict s rounus as t upon which these men were imprisoned. The law ouch to remain in its present state, but he could not hastily pro nounce upon the mode of redress. He admitted the grievance, and he also admitted that it was the duty of the government to consider of and apply a remedy.—Adjourned. BRIGHTON, SATURDAY.—Her Majesty and Prince Albert, accompanied by his Serene Highness Prince Ferdinand of Saxe Coburg, left by the south gate of the palace at ten o'clock, in a carriage and pair, preceded by outriders, and. after taking an airing, the Queen and Prince Albert alighted and promenaded through some of the principal streets. His Royal Highness Prince Albert rode out on horseback, accompanied by Col. Wylde. The , Earl of Delawarr, the lord chamberlain, took his de parture from the Pavilion this morning, for Buckhurst Park, Sussex. Prince Albert drove out her Majesty in a phaeton and pair, accompanied by the Earl of Liverpool. Lord Jocylyn arrived at the Pavilion in the course of the afternoon The royal dinner party included her Majesty the Queen, his Royal Highness Prince Albert, her Royal Highness the Duchess of Kent, his Serene Highness Prince Ferdinand of Saxe Coburg, his Serene Highness Prince Augustus of Saxe Coburg, his Serene Highness Prince Leopold of Saxe Coburg, Baroness Lehzen, the Earl of Liverpool, Baron Stockmar, Sir George Cowper, Le Capitaine Comte de Degenfeld Schomberg, Lady Jocelyn, Lady Fanny Howard, Dr. Prae torius, Mr. and the Hon. Mrs. Anson, Lord and Lady Pol timore, Col. Bentinck, Lord Jocelyn, &c. Amongst the nobility and gentry who paid their respects to her Majesty, by leaving their names at the Pavilion, were Major Allen, Gen. Sir Arthur Clifton, the Marquis of Bris tol, Sir Matthew Tierney and the Misses Tierney, the Mar quis and Marchioness of Donegal, Capt. Sir Geo. Westphal, R.N., and Lady Westphal, Lord and Lady Poltimore, Lord and Lady Carew, and Mr. Carew, I ieut.-Gen. Butler, R.N., Countess of Desart, Lord and Lady Petre and Miss Petre, the Earl and Countess of Belfast, the Earl of Albemarle, Lord and Lady Rivers, Mr. Laurence Peel and Lady Jane Peel, the Countess of Carhampton, Gen. Sir Ralph Darling, Lady Darling, and the Misses Darling, the Rev. J. S. M. Anderson and the Hon. Mrs. Anderson, Lieut.-Gen. Upton, Lord and Lady Ruthven, Lieut.-Col. Clarke, royal Scotch greys, and Mrs. Clarke, Col. Bentinck, Coldstream guards, Sir Richard Hunter, High Sheriff, and Lady Hunter, Capt. Williams, R.N., Mr.J. N. Wigney, M.P., and Mrs. Wigney. The Earl of Antrim has arrived at the Albion Hotel. Her Majesty's carriage, with four greys. and the royal pony phaeton, with two greys, arrived on Friday, per rail way. Her Royal Highness the Duchess of Kent's carriage arrived by railway on Saturday SUNDAY —This morning her Majesty and Prince Albert, accompanied by his Serene Highness Leopold, Prince of Saxe Coburg, and his Serene Highness Augustus, Prince of Saxe Coburg, left the Palace at half-past ten, in a close car- riage and pair, and after taking an airing, notwithstanding the weather was very inclement, the royal party:promenaded for a short time on the Chain Pier. Her Majesty and suite attended divine service this morning at the Chapel Royal. In the royal pew were her Majesty, Prince Albert, the two Princes of Saxe Coburg, Lady Jocelyn, and Lady Fanny Howard. The whole of the service was performed by the Rev. J. S. M. Anderson, chaplain in or dinary to her Majesty, who afterwards preached a sermon from Matthew iv., 1. The anthem was Mozart's—" Judge me, 0 Lord ;'' from the xxxvth Psalm. The solo parts were by Signor Ferrari and Mr. N. Cooke Mr. Gutteridge presided at the organ. The Princess Royal took a carriage airing this afternoon, at one o'clock, and returned to the palace at two. Her Majesty and court have been confined to the Pavilion, this morning, by the inclemency of the weather. MURDER IN WILTSHIRE An inquest was held last Wednesday, before Mr. W. B. Whitmarsh, at Coate, in the parish of Chiseldon, on' the body of Sarah Crook, 42 years of age, who died from the blows she received from her husband (who is a shoemaker at Liddington). The following evidence was adduced at the inquest : William Bramble, landlord of the bun Inn, at Coate, de posed that the deceased and her husband (Robert Crook) came to his house at about 2 o'clock on Monday evening, and remained until 11 o'clock, when they left to go home ; that no quarrelling took place whilst in his house, nor did they appear in liquor. Mary Ann Horton (daughter of the deceased by a former husband, and wife of William Horton, of the Spotted Cow, situate about a quarter of a mile from Coate, on the road to wards Liddington,) deposed, that about 1 o'clock in the morning she heard, whilst in bed, the deceased scream out " Mary Ann !" and whilst getting out of bed, Robert Crook said, " Get up, for I have got a drunken woman." Witness went down and opened the door, when Crook carried the de ceased in his arms, and placed her in the tap-room. She groaned very much, and complained of cold. Her face was much cut and bleeding. She had neither bonnet nor cap on, and her hair was hanging loose about her head and neck. Her clothes were nearly torn from her back, and her bosom was exposed. She was totally unable to stand upon her legs. Witness lighted a fire, and soon after Robert Crook carried the deceased to bed, where she died about eight o'clock on the same morning. Witness asked her mother how she be came bruised, but she was incapable of speaking. An hour previous to her death, her husband sent for a surgeon, but she died previous to his arrival. Witness added, that her mother was always a sober, temperate woman. . William Warman, No. 126 of the Wiltshire constabulary, deposed that he took Robert Crook into custody about nine o'clock on the same morning, at the Spotted Cow, at Coate. On saying that he had him in charge for beating his wife, he replied—" It is a very hard job indeed ;" and seemed in clined to say something more, but witness told him that if he had anything to say on the subject he would take it down in writing and hand it in. Crook then said, "My wife and I went to Swindon yesterday to pay a bill, and the hill was £2 more than I thought it was, which made me angry, and we quarrelled on that account. I struck her and knocked her down, hut I helped her up again. I had more beer than I ought to have had, which made me do it." Witness said he then took him to the station-house at Swindon, and at about three o'clock in the afternoon Crook further stated, " that he struck his wife on the face, which made her fall back, and he thought it was that which did it." Witness asked if he took her up? and be replied, "Yes, but she fell down again." He was much agitated, and said, " What a pity it is that a poor soul should be hurried out of the world so soon! I did not think she would have died, or I would have sent for the doc tor sooner !" He then paused and said, " what shall I have to answer for this ?" _ _ Mr. Davies, surgeon, deposed that having been sent for, he saw the body of the deceased o❑ Tuesday. Ou an external examination there were lacerations and contusions on various parts of the body. There was a contused wound on the scalp at the back of the head, and upon making a post mortem ex amination on that day (Wednesday), he found a considerable quantity of effused blood on the brain, occasioned by the corresponding external injury, which caused her death. A very respectable jury attended the inquest, who returned a verdict of " wilful murder" against Robert Crook, and the coroner issued his warrant for his committal to the Devizes prison, to take his trial at the next assizes to be holden at Salisbury.—Devizes Gazette. CLERICAL INTELLIGENCE (From the Oxford Herald.) The Right Hon. Lord Wharncliffe was on Saturday last elected a Governor of the Charter-house, in the room of the late Earl of Westmoreland. At the same court the venerable Archdeacon Hale was elected to the Mastership, in the room of the late Dr. Fisher. A paragraph has gone the round of the papers confounding this office with the Head Master ship of the School, with which it has no other connection than that the latter is one branch of the noble foundation, the whole of which is under the superintendence of the former. The same accurate account states that the Archdeacon has for some time been engaged in assisting Dr. Goodenough (a Westminster man, who never was connected withthe Charter house at all) in the tuition of the upper classes. We need scarcely add that that there is no truth in this statement. By this election the Preachership of the foundation becomes vacant, for which the Rev. Mr. Dicken is a candidate. The election is fixed for the 10th of March. THE PROFESSORSHIP OF POLITICAL ECONOMY.—We are requested to state that Mr. Roundell Palmer, of Magdalene College, has no intention of becoming a candidate for the Professorship of Political Economy. A Convocation will be holden on Thursday next, at twelve o'clock, for the purpose of electing a Fellow on Mr. Viner's Foundation, in the room of Henry Denison, 8.C.L., late of All Souls' College, resigned. The Professor-of Political Economy will deliver four lec tures on the causes which determine the rate of wages, on Tuesday next, and the following days, at two o'clock at the Clarendon. The Margaret Professor of Divinity will begin a Course of Lectures on Tuesday, the Ist of March, at one o'clock. The Professor of Moral Philosophy intends to resume his Lectures on the Nicomachean Ethics of Aristotle on Tuesday next, at two o'clock. On Saturday last, Mr. William Edward Cranford Austin, Scholar of New College, was admitted Actual Fellow of that Society. Yesterday, Mr. George Wingate Pearse, Commoner of Trinity College, was elected to a Scholarship of Corpus. The Rev. J. H. Stuart, M.A., late of Trinity College, to the Rectory of Ampton, Suffolk ; patron, Lord Calthorpe. The Rev. J. H. S. Burr, M.A., of Christ Church, to the Vicarage of Tidenham, Gloucestershire, vacant by the resig nation of the Rev. W. Pulling, of Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge; patron, D. H. D. Burr, Esq. The Rev. P. H. Morgan, M.A., Scholar of Jesus College, to the Perpetual Curacy of Bettws, Breconshire, vacant by the death of the Rev. Canon Williams. The Rev. David Davies, M.A., of Worcester College, to the Rectory of Kevenllys. Radnorshire, vacant by the death of the Rev. G. A. Barker ; patron, the Bishop of St. David's. The Rev. G. E. Maunsell, 8.A., of Christ Church, and Rector of Thorpe Malsor, Northamptonshire, has been ap pointed by the Earl of Westmoreland one of his Chaplains. PROMOTION S Rev. F. E. Baker, M.A., some years since Curate of Sut ton Mandeville, Wilts, to the Vicarage of Allensmore, Herefordshire ; patron, the Dean of Hereford. W. Willan, Esq., 8.A., of Christ's College, Cambridge, hss,been elected to the office of Vice-Principal in the Colle giate School of Huddersfield. Rev. Dr. Archdall, Master of Emmanuel College, and Vice-Chancellor of Cambridge, has been appointed by the Lord Chancellor to the Stall in Norwich Cathedral, vacant by the de a th o f th e R ev . Phili p Fi s h er , D.D., o f University College, in this University. Rev. R. B u tl er , 8.A., - has been nominated to the Curacy of St. James's, Ileywood, in the diocese of Chester, by the Incumbent, the Rev. H. O'Bryon. Rev. J. R. Younz, of Kilmarren Glebe, has been appointed the Rey. 8.. J. L. Magee, son of the celebrated R. J. Magee, to the Curacy of his parish of Tydaynet. Rev. W. Henn (lately resigned the Curacy of Garvagh) has been appointed by the Lord Bishop of Derry to be his Lordship's Private Secretary, and to b e one o f hi s Lordship's Chaplains. Hey. John Judkin Butler, M.A., has been appointed by the Rector, the Rev. F. Langford, to the Curacy of Kilcor nan, diocese of Limerick. Rev. John Sabine, 8.A., of St. John's College, Cam bridge, to the Rectory of Thorn Coffin, Somerset, vacant by the cession of the Rev. Alfred Tooke; patron, the Rev. A. ToOke. _ UM Isaac Ilitchen, M.A., formerly of Pembroke College, CaMbridge, and Curate of Holy Trinity, Clapham, S urrey , to the Head Mastership of the Collegiate School, Glasgow. Rev. 0. Morgan, 8.A., has been appointed Chaplain to the Vindictive, 50 guns. During the hurricane on Wednesday week seven large elm trees were blown down on the estate of Mr. Twinberrow, at Welland Court, in this county ; one of the trees was im mensely large, and supposed to contain nearly 130 teet of timber; several tons of earth were displaced by its roots. — Worcestershire Chronicle. FOREIGN Al TELLIP.E.NCE FRAN CI ie: triu4, # A, in the : Chainl3:4- of Deputies on Friday, the proposition ot AI. Gan peron, for taking into consideration the propriety of electoral reforM, having been rejected by a majority of eight votes. The opposition papers attempt to claim this small majority as a moral victory, but they are evidently mistaken, for their - numbers would have been mnsiderably greater, if, in lien of a motion for taking into consideration, - the plan itself had been submitted to the chamber. No doubt the majority was _ swelled by the votes of ministers and placemen ; but such is the case in representative chambers like those of England and France, and the beaten party have no more right to com plain on this occasion than they have on any other when the government has an interest at stake. The numbers were, — For Against Majority PORTUGAL Intelligence has been received from Lisbon to the Bth ult. The Duke de Palmella had failed to form an administration, and announced that fact to the Queen late on the 7th ult. The late ministers were at the palace when the despatches left, and appeared to be again reinstated in their offices. It had tran spired that the troops in Lisbon were not much to be de pended on, every regiment almost being split into rival poli tical factions. Some troops treated the Duke Terceira rather unceremoniously a few days before, shouting out vehemently for " the constitution of 1838." Bloodshed was expected in Lisbon before many days passed over. UNITED STATES We have had two arrivals from America since our last. The Columbus, which sailed from New York on the 19th ult., arrived at this port on Friday ; and the Stephen Whit ney, which left New York on the 25th ult., reached this port on Sunday, after a quick passage of seventeen days. The charge of conspiracy against Nicholas Biddle and others, to defraud the United States Bank, came on before the Recorder of Philadelphia on the 13th ult., and closed on the lith. The Recorder considered there was evidence suf ficient to justify him in binding the defendants over, which was accordingly done, each in the sum of 10,000 dollars, to appear at the Court of General Sessions, to answer the charges brought against them by Austin Montgomery. On the 18th the parties appeared, and severally justified in bail as follows :—For Nicholas Biddle, Messrs. Corn. Biddle and E. C. Biddle ; for Thomas Dunlap, Messrs. N. Frazier and J. W. Perrit ; for John Andrews, Messrs. James Tyson and E. Shaw. Mr. Samuel Jaudon was committed to the cus tody of an officer, and a habeas corpus immediately issued by his counsel in his behalf. On the 19th an application was made to send up bills against Nicholas Biddle and others, but the request was not complied with by the court. A rule was, however, taken out, calling on the defendants to come into court on Saturday, and enter in recognisance to appear at the next term of the court. The sequel is not given in the papers. A habeas corpus having been taken out for Mr. T. Dunlap, late President of the United States Bank, as well as one for Mr. S. Jaudon, the hearing of the cases would take place about the 25th ult. Both the House of Representatives and the Senate had agreed to the Treasury Note Bill. The Bankrupt Act Re peal Bill had passed the Representatives' house, but much doubt is expressed as to its ultimately being agreed to by the Senate. The new Governor-General of British North America had been sworn in, and was received with every demonstration of respect. The British and North American royal mail steamer Bri tannia, which left Liverpool on the 4th ult., reached Boston on the 22d. after a fine run, considering the season of the year and the unfavourable winds, of eighteen days. She carried out the news of the appointment of Lord Ashburton as Special Minister from Great Britain to the United States. The appointment, wherever the intelligence of it had reached, seemed to have given general satisfaction. It was considered as in every way a highly proper, and dignified, and concili atory course on the part of the British government. It offered, the Americans thought, an opportunity, of the most favourable kind, of bringing the differences between the two countries to an amicable adjustment, and of establishing their relations upon a footing of permanent peace and good will. Cincinnati had been the scene of an alarming, but singular, as to its cause, riot. In the city, it appears, there were several what are called " shin-plaster institutions, or indi vidual responsibility banks, which, like all the banks in the United States, issued paper largely. By a recent decision of the Ohio Court, the notes of these and all other unauthorized banks were declared illegal and uncollectable by law. As the amount of paper which these banks had put into circulation was large, two of them, the Miami Exporting Company and the Bank of Cincinnati, resolved to close. The Miami Ex porting Company made an assignment of its effects on the evenim: of the 10th ult., and the Bank of Cincinnati closed its doors on the morning of the 11th. The mob, exasperated at the stoppage of these banks, attacked, first, the Bank of Cincinnati, then the Miami Exporting Company, next the Exchange Bank, owned by a Mr. Bates, and ended with the Exchange-office of Mr. Lougee. The rioters were principally Dutchmen, who had suffered most by losses from the oper ation of these irresponsible banks. They forced open the vaults, stole some specie and bank notes, as well as notes of companies which had been redeemed, and destroyed every thing they could get hold of, throwing the remains into the streets, and leaving little more than bare walls. The police were quite unable to quell the riot or to save the property of the banks. A few military were hastily collected : they fired among the rioters, who returned the fire, and several were wounded on both sides. The disturbance only ended with the day. Whilst it lasted, some of the responsible banks had runs made upon them, which were promptly met. The runs were not renewed on the 12th ult. The President of the Senate laid before the body, on the 20th ult., a message from the President of the United States, covering a communication from the Department of State, containing the protest of the officers and crew of the Ameri can brig Creole, and the correspondence between the Ameri can Consul at Nassau and the British authorities, in relation to that subject. The papers were sent in compliance with a resolution offered by Mr. Calhoun, on the 11th ult. The money market was decidedly easier. The reports of the state of the Liverpool market at the beginning of the year had made the holders of cotton firmer. Not much busi ness in exchange had been done for the Sheridan. The rates are without change, or, if there was any, it was a trifle lower. The market was not expected to be active until operations commenced for the Britannia on the Ist instant. Very little had been done on France for the packet : the rates closed at 5.314- to 5.30. COLONIAL INTELLIGENCE. WEST INDIES Accounts from Jamaica to the 9th January have been re ceived by a private ship. The planters there, following the example of those in some of the other colonies had held a meeting jointly with the labourers, on the subject of equal ising the rate of wages with the quantity and value of the produce from the estates. After the abolition of the appren ticeship system high rates had been given, in order to induce habits of industry, the prices of sugar, &c., warranting the amount so paid. Since then it would appear that, owing to the fall in prices, the proprietor can no longer afford to pay the same wages as heretofore. Several letters had been re ceived in Jamaica, stating either that a reduction must be made in that branch of the expense, or it would be impera tive upon the owners to abandon the cultivation of the es tates. The managers, therefore, had, upon consultation, de termined that Is sterling per day for first, and 9d for second class labourers, and is per week would be equitable rates. This had been recommended to the labourers, several of whom had given it as their opinion, " that the general wel fare of the country depended entirely upon the sugar estates being cultivated," but requested time for considering the re solutions. _ _ . A collision had taken place at Carthagena between her British Majesty's brig Charybdis and Carmona's squadron, the latter having fired at the former. It was immediately returned by Lieutenant De Courcy, by which the admiral and about forty men were killed: The Charybdis suffered no loss. The British consul at Carthagena and several Ame rican merchants had been obliged to take refuge on board this vessel, in consequence of Carmona continuing to fire upon the town. The lives, property, &c., of British subjects were not safe from the ruthless depredations of the merciless Carmona and his partisans. A public meeting of the inha bitants of Jamaica was held on the 221 December, to take into consideration the flagrant acts of violence committed upon British ships by the adherents of Carmona at Zapote. During one of these outrages, Colonel Gregg* and three other companions in arms, whilst on board a British vessel, had been pursued out to sea by armed gun-boats, and the four brave fellows were ultimately dragged out of the vessel, and brutally murdered. Al uch indignation was expressed at these inhuman barbarities, and redress was demanded for the injury sustained. Great resentment is felt at the supineness of the British forces nit the West India station. * This gentleman was a native of Dublin, and brother of the Rev. T. D. Gregg. He was in the South American ser vice. COURT OF CHANCERY, FRIDAY, FED. 11 BLUNDELL V. GLADSTONE The arguments in this case were resumed to-day. The question arises upon the will of the late Mr. Charles Blun dell, of Ince Blundell, in Lancashire, who devised his estate to the second son of Mr. Edward Weld, of Lulworth, Tue proprietor of Lulworth is named Joseph, and his eldest son was baptized Edward Joseph, but is known only as Mr. Edward Weld. The plaintiff in the cause, Mr. Thomas "Weld, is the second son of Mr. Joseph Weld, of Lulworth, and he claims to be the intended devisee, and contends . that his father is called Edward by mistake. The ATTORNEY-GENERAL continued his Address, com menced yesterday, on the part of the plaintiff, and argued, that the effect of the decisions was, that where a will was im perfect, the Courts would admit evidence in explanation. It is admissible where an ambiguity arises from a description which raises competition between two parties. Correct the name of Edward in the will into Joseph, and all the other indicia of the testator's intention are satisfied in the second son of Joseph Weld. Lady Stourton is the sister of the pro prietor, as described by Mr. Blundell, and all the other limitations are intelligible, if the alteration in name is made as suggested. The learned gentleman said the Courts would always presume a devise to be made to an existing person, rather than one who might or not hereafter be born. One direction in the will was, that the devisee, whoever he was, should take the name and arms of Blundell immediately. After quoting and commenting on the various authorities upon the subject, he concluded' by praying that an issue or inquiry might be granted to ascertain who the testator really meant. The Solicitor-General replied, and again urged that the name and description of EdWard were accurate, and the Court would not alter it. There was no foundation for saying that courts in general would hold conclusively that testators necessarily contemplated existing devisees. In the present case the testator had made various limitations to non-existing parties, and if Mr. Blundell had intended a person then living, he would have accurately named him, and not merely de scribed him. If parol evidence of the intentions of testators were once to be admitted, it would. he of most dangerous consequence, and the courts would never know where to stop. A testator must express his 'own intentions, and Mr. Blun dell had done so with sufficient certainty. The learned gen tleman said, upon the whole it was clear Mr. Blundell had used the name of Edward, not by mistake, but designedly, and the Court would decree that the plaintiff had not made out his case. _ _ . _ _ _ _ - _ The Lord Chancellor rose at five o'clock, and said he Would consider his judgment. TOE LONDON ANTI-CORN-LAW CONFERENCE. — We think it our duty, on behalf of every respectable person in Manchester, of whatever sect or party, to denounce and dis own the blackguard proceedings (a milder term would be out of place) of certain parties, now in London, calling themselves anti-corn-law delegates. From the inditing of that impudent letter to Sir Robert Peel, which bears the signature of Mr. John Brooks, to the pickpocket - like rush into the lobb y of the House o f' Commons—which, by the way, was very be comingly treated by the proper authorities in such a case— viz., Me police—the whole of the proceedings in London have been such, as would have reflected disgrace on the in , mates of the lowest haunts of infamy. If the very scum and dregs of society—if the worst end of St. Giles's, or the Boeotian purlieus of Liverpool or Manchester , h ad been ransacked for appropriate tools for such a purpose , the dirty iwork of the le ague could not h ave f a ll en into abler hands. This be their glory, and for the honour of the town , let th em have it all to themselve s.—Manchester paper- THE PROPOSED SLIDIN4 CAT,T rom the Manchester \ Courier.) Although the maximum duty is lower than was anticipated, we are bound to admit that the proposed new scale Fesents great advantages in almost every point of view. It neither exposes the consumer to injury by its tendency to keep up prices, nor yet the agriculturist by offering any inducement to him to vvithold his corn until he is defeated by the low duty and consequent influx of foreign grain. The revenue will likewise be benefited, because the duties will no longer range so high as. to- induce the holders of foreign grain to keep back their importations until the duties have fallen to the minimum point. Nor will the dealer derive less benefit from the new - scale, for his arrangements will no longer be frustrated by sudden fluctuations acting upon the markets. Hitherto, during the first two or three weeks in September of each year, the influx of foreign corn has been very great. Tbis has been especially the case as regards the last two yearsi for during the early part of September in each, we find the duties ranging from Is. to 2s. Bd. This, occurring just at the time when they were thrashing out their wheat to meet their rents, bore very heavily upon the farmers in the .North of England. We do not say that the new scale will absolutely reverse this state of things, but there is no doubt that the comparatively trifling variations in the duties will offer less inducement . for the importation of foreign grain at that particular time. We believe that Sir. Robert Peel's plans will be favourably received by the landed interest : and we are persuaded that they will be heartly acquiesced in by all moderate and practical men. We do not expect that they will satisfy either the party at the back of Lord .1. Russell, or the in sensate rabble who herd and bellow with Mr. Cobden. But although they are not calculated to find favour with the place hunters or levellers, they will disappoint no one, for Sir R. Peel gave parliament distinctly to understand, before the re cess, that he should adhere to the principle of the sliding scale; and we are very sure that none of the journals which support his government have ever held out any prospect of his departing from that principle. Yet' the empty and ob trusive member for Stockport rose immediately before the adjournment of the house in an agony of what he meant to be taken for the very quintessence of bitter disappointment ? Disappointment? Pooh! When or by whom was Mr. Cobden's baffled hope engendered but in a "fool's paradise" —a lucus a non lucendo—of his own creating ? (From the London Times.) Upon the whole, we repeat what we began by saying, that this change will approximate, perhaps as nearly as it is pos sible for any modification of a sliding scale to do, to the ad vantages which might be expected from a moderate fixed duty. It will discourage gambling speculations in corn, and in the same degree encourage a steady trade in that com modity. The uniformity of the rate of reduction, and the comparatively narrow limits within which it operates, will both of them tend to give confidence to merchants, and in duce them (in the same way that a fixed daty would) to em bark in the corn trade as one of which the results will' be sus ceptible of previous calculation.' Below 51s. the duty will be fixed, and at no unreasonable rate, if either the average prices in the corn-growing countries, or the degree of protection necessary to insure a plentiful home supply, are to be con sidered. At 645. it falls to Bs., the point at which the late ministry proposed to fix it ; and when the price rises beyond this, the consumer and the importer will have the benefit of a corresponding reduction of duty. The possible effect of this arrangement will be to keep the price-of wheat, under ordinary circumstances, at about Ms. per quarter, subject, of course, to those occasional variations, from the accidents of seasons, against which no legislation can provide. That these changes will be unacceptable to the extreme agricultural party. who claim a vested interest in the full amount of protection which they at present enjoy, may be considered certain from the opposition offered to them by the Duke of Buckingham ; and again, it is clear, from the speech of Mr. Cobden last night, thatthey will give no satis faction to the violent politicians on the Anti-Corn-Law side, who are for sweeping away protection from the face of the earth. But moderate and practical men will not think less favourably of them on account of the disapprobation of these two parties, and we feel convinced that this third class, com prising as it does the great and influential majority of the merchants, manufacturers, and agriculturists of Great Britain, will unite in accepting them as a valuable boon from the hands of the conservative ministry. EAST INDIA SUGAR (From the Morning Herald.) The Bombay papers contain an interesting account of the progress of sugar -cultiyation in that presidency under the superintendence of the.Jooneer Company. In the year 1839 a gentleman was despatched to Hewra, to take charge of the works, and who, immediately upon his arrival,. commenced operations by buying up the whole of, the .Mauritius sugar cane in - the district, which amounted to eight bighas; of these five wiere made into sugar, and 'the remainder reduced to plants. The quality of the sugar was good, and the manu facture being conducted upon the plan adopted in the West Indies, the difference could scarcely be perceived. The quantity produced was 1,2771bs- of sugar and 5071b5. mo lasses, which was less than might have been expected, but the falling off was attributable to the system pursued by the ryots of yearly 'exhausting the soil, in order to reap the greater crop. The plants were sufficient for 38 bighas in the ensuing season. Of these 22 were made into sugar. and 18 reserved for future planting. The produce of the 38 bighas was 9,8311b5. sugar, 4,5201b5. molasses, and 7271b5. gool. The quantity of plants being sufficient for 100 bighas, that quantity of land was prepared, towards which operation the ryots, having now become fully aware of the value of the cul tivation, willingly subscribed, and would have gone much further had it been considered advisable to have extended the operation of the company beyond their means, which at that time were limited, or beyond what the manager.could perso nally attend to. Of the 100 bighas, 77 were converted into sugar, and 23 allowed to go to seed. The seed was appor tioned to plant 125 bighas on account of the company, and 50 bighas on native account, with the understanding that when the canes arrived at maturity, the company should have the priority of purchase. The produce was esti mated to be 52,0001b5. sugar, 7,0001b5. molasses, and 4,000 gallons rum. This spirit is represented to be very superior, and a portion of each return of a still is found to be highly rectified, equal to all the purposes of spirit of wine, and generally above 50 and 60 degrees 0. r. Thus in three years several small patches of cane originally planted on trial by government over eight bighas, have, by concentration and cultivation, increased to 175 bighas; and from the disposi tion of the ryots, it was inferred that it would extend over the whole of this, and even through the adjacent districts. The canes are now grown under contract by the ryots of tour, or five villages, having good garden land, or even fair black soil, with water sufficient for one to three bighas to each well, according to their means, and advance s i n m oney, and plants for the land, are made at the rate of 20 per cent. on the crops to be planted ; the, money is for the purpose of procuring the manure, the necessary utensils, &c.; and the canes are bought, when ripe, at the maximum price of 100 rupees per bigha, and lower in proportion to the quality. It was expected that twn years hence sufficient would be grown by the ryots on their own accounts. to supply the works with cane, and that they would endeavour to produce oetter canes than those grown under contract, in order to ensure a higher price. The ulterior advantage to the natives was looked upon as likely to be great, in giving extra labour and employment to many individuals who otherwise would, probably, be a great burden on their own limited resources, and remain in a state of all but idleness, and by which' they have an opportunity o f improving their h a bit s , an d l earn i ng another business. It is also suggested that these establish ments would prove useful to the class of Angla-Indiati lads, by putting them to acquire practically a knowledge - of cane planting, sugar -making. and distilling, especially now that the cultivation of sugar is extending in the Deccan, about Poonah, Sholapoor, and in some parts of Kandesh. THE KING OF PRUSSIA AND HIS DONATIONS We are informed that his Majesty entered the harbour at Ostend shortly after daybreak on Saturday morning week, after experiencing a delightful voyage. His Majesty, shortly after his landing, wrote an autograph letter to our beloved Sovereign, acquainting her Majesty of his safe arrival at'Ostend, with which a courier was despatched immediately, who reached Windsor on Sunday. The subjoined is a list of some of the munificent donations given by his Majesty to the different charities and establish ments in the metropolis : To the Society of Friends of Foreigners in Distress.. £5OO „ the Dreadnought Hospital Ship . „ the Shipwrecked Fisherman and Mariner Society 50 „ the German Catholic Church „ the German Lutheran Church (Savoy) 5O 1 , ditto ditto ditto (Little Ailev-str.) 50 f ditt o ditto ditto (Hamburg Chur c h) 50 „ the German Reformed Church (Hooper -square) 50 His Majesty, as has been before announced, gave £5O to the workmen of the Thames Tunnel, and to the attendants of the Great Western Railway his Majesty, before leaving this country, sent the handsome sum of £lOO. The royal bargemen who assisted at his Majesty's landing at Greenwich, have been presented with £25. To the Queen's household at Windsor Castle, comprising the domestics in the departments of the Master of the Horse, Lord Chamberlain, and Lord Steward, his Majesty has left, with regal munificence, the sum of £l5OO. To the poor of Windsor the King previously gave £lOO. The domestics at Buckingham Palace have, in addition to those of Windsor Castle, been left £lOO. The six beautiful vases presented by his Majesty to the Queen and Prince Albert, are reported to be unique, and of inestimable value. They are of the finest porcelain, covered with exquisite paintings and elaborately ornamented, and stand six feet high. They were conveyed from Berlin in 18 cases, and their value may be judged, for they were insured at Antwerp for " sea risk" to this country f0r.1.00,000 francs. His Majesty, we understand, gave the liberal sum of X6OO to be divided among the crews of the Firebrand and Shear water steamers, proportionate to the rank of each person em ployed on board. As is generally the case when a crowned head visits the do minions of a friendly state, the King of Prussia came pro vided with a number of valuable gold snuff boxes for pre sentation. His Majesty has, we hear, presented handsome gold boxes to the Earl of Jersey (Master of the Horse) , the Earl of Delawarr (Lord Chamberlain), and the Earl of Liverpool (Lord Steward of the Queen's Household). The boxes are very valuable, being set with brilliants of the finest water, surrounding a miniature of his Majesty on the lid. They may be considered the finest specimens of Berlin workman ship, and the value of each box is said to be upwards of £7OO. The Earl of Hardwicke, Capt. Meynell, R.N., M.P., and Colonel Arbuthnot, the lord, groom, and equerry in waiting to the Queen, selected for the honour of attending on his Majesty, have, we understand, also been presented with similar tokens of his Majesty's esteem. MIWPWIMIIMIIMII HE WORE HIS CHAIN OF OFFICE Hail ! tailless bully, Dublin's great Lord Mayor, As senator rejected and disdained, — Thy friends 'nave raised thee to the civic chair, But don't forget, great brute, to send thee chained ! J Feb. 11. R. J The Irish papers generally assert that Dr. O'Brien, Dean of Cork, and son-in-law of the Chief Justice of the Queen's Bench, will be the new Bishop of Ossory. - • - - EXTENSIVE EMBEZZLEMENT. —Information has been re ceived by the police of an extensive robbery committed by two lads in the employ of Mr. Salmon, .a linendraper, of London, whose service they absconded from on Wednesday evening, carrying off with them cash in gold and silver to the amount nearly of £4OO, besides four £lO Bank of England notes. The number of the notes are fortunately known, and will, it is hoped, lead to the detection of the culprits ; but hitherto no clue has been obtained of their destination. The oldest boy, named John Ogilvie Martin, is only 17 yea rs o f age; the name of the other boy is Jones. A reward of £5O has been offered for their apprehension. DEPARTURE OF LORD ASHBURTON. —PORTSMOUTH, THURSDAY EVENING. —His Excellency the Right Hon. Lord Ashburton embarked this afternoon on board the War spite frigate at Spithead. He left the harbour between two and three o'clock, accompanied by Lord John Hay, in the 'admir a l' s tender, and was saluted by the forts with nineteen guns as he passed. When he arrived on board the Warspite, the yards were manned, and he was received with another salute of nineteen guns. Shortly after the frigate was hove skort, and at four o'clock got under weigh, with a light breeze from about S.S.W., which will just enable her to lay her course down channel. VIE ANTI-CORN.LAW LIEAOUI (Prom Yesterday's Times We have not thought it hitherto necessary to pay much attention to the various meetings which have been got up in connexion with that very seditious set of personages calling itself the Great Anti-Corn-Law Conference—a body which, as may be supposed, has been. in its glory, now that Sir Ro bert Peel has given it something definite to quarrel with. Their debates on the occasion fairly put to shame, in quan tity, Sir Robert's speech itself, and in quality, we will do them the justice to say, quite equal those of their past or present parliamentary representatives. Indeed, two of these gentlemen, Colonel Thompson and Mr. O'Connell, who took a part in the morning's amusement, were by no•means the lions of the occasion, but seem to have been fairly thrown into the shade, judging at least by the relative proportions of " tremendous cheering," " renewed laughter," and such like tributes of admiration, to a very vivacious gentleman, of whose speech, the mcst effective morsels, judging from the aforesaid symptoms, seem to have been of the following pe culiar character : " A sliding scale ! What was a sliding scale ? A key to turn the lock on the door of the storehouse of the Universal Fa ther of the World—(great cheering,)—a law that took away the bounty of God freely sent for the support of his children, sent them into prison, placed them under bondage, and pro hibited the thousands and tens of thousands from that which they had already earned. Cursed law! doubling the primeval curse, turning the warm sweat of industry into the chill damp of starvation. (Tremendous cheers.) He denounced that law. (Cheers.) It was an impious law. (Cheers ) (Cheers.) If they persevered thus ta the end, and did not remain waiting for three months, they would succeed. Saul at Tarsus acknowledged his Master on one day, and the next lie was preaching to the Gentiles. (Loud cheers.) Display the zeal of new converts. (Cheers.) Rejoice that you did not see the iniquity before. (Cheers.) Redeem the time. Take your arms from the skies, and fight this Goliath of the Philistines. (Loud cheers.) He wanted to get their fee upon a rock. (Cheers.) If they departed from principle, and made the question one of time, or place, or circumstance, or harvest, or averages, or prices, they committed themselves to a sliding scale. (Cheers.) There were other sliding scales than those of Sir Robert's. (Hear, bear.) While they de nounced his they should not adopt one of their own. (Hear, hear.)" One scarce knows which to wonder at most, the liveliness and exertions of the speaker, or of the audience, in this re markable and very offensive specimen of half pulpit, half hustings oratory. There is scarcely anything which more moves our indignation, or is more disagreeably characteristic of real dissenting sedition, than this fashion of scriptural garnish which our orator so freely adopts • especially when such passages are introduced and succeeded before their lines are over by " renewed. laughter." Indeed this alter nation is so rapid and inexplicable, that we cannot help thinking that there must have been something very facetious in the speaker's physiognomy—he must have had the power of exhibing some peculiar Listonian contortions of face or body—indescribable, and therefore unreported—to produce such results on the nerves of the audience. For example, he takes on him to speak in " Cambyses' vein " of one of the miracles recorded in the gospel—the multiplication of the five loaves " rather than the poor should go hungry away." (Cheers.) Now for " Sir Robert Peel's speech, ' he proceeds,—(" laughter"—adds the reporter.) We may be very stupid, but for the life of us we cannot see the joke, either of the words or of the transition ; and can only fancy this sudden emotion excited by one of those grimaces with which it is easy to imagine that such a speech might be accompanied. " He was glad," be shortly proceeded, " that a gentleman on the right of the chair severed the speech of the minister from the Sovereign " (whose head, another orator insists, shall not be cut off). " The ministers were for (qu. against?) them—the Sovereign was not. What ! a Sovereign—a wo man—a wife—a mother-0a patriot Queen, sanction that ini quitous mockery of the wrongs of the people! " (Great cheering, and cries of ' No, no.') No. Not then for their Queen, " ' Now 's the day and now 's the hoar— See the front of' battle lour, See approach proud faction's power, Peel and Buckingham,' &c. ,"However, we are spending too much time in introducing our readers to a specimen of great anti-corn-law conference oratory. We should say a word or two on the substance of their proceedings. In the first place, like the leaders of the masons' strike, and the Lord. Mayor of Dublin, the great conference finds it necessary in the person of its chairman to remind " gentlemen " that they must " have for the struggle the sinews of war,"—(hear)— ' and that they must open their purse-strings." And this, although he has "got in telligence that the Manchester Bazaar has already, realized £10,000." Now this we are always glad to see. When men of this kind begin pulling at one another's pockets it is a symptom of the beginning of an end. Nothing has such ,a disabusing power over. Englishmen as an attack in that quarter; and nothing, of course, so certain to betray a rogue as the command of funds. if there is money flying about, we may safely calculate on the speedy absconding of a secre trry or two—events which will have mote effect on the sub scribing members' politics than a library of pamphlets, or a whole menagerie of members of parliament. Next, it is to be observed who it is they choose as their parliamentary leader—as the representative of the people's interests, who, in opposition both to Sir R. Peel and to Lord John Russell, is to move for the total abolition of the." bread tax." Mr. Villiers, the quondam employt of the Poor Law Commissioners. Truly if these gentlemen were really so anxious that the spare diet of the poor should be increased, their comforts multiplied, their independence secured, it might have been expected that they would have betaken themselves to some party rather less identified with their gruel, close ceils, galling restrictions, and all the other enor mities of the red-brick bastiles, than the hon. member whom they have selected, or who has selected himself, to be their advocate. Nor in that case would they make them selves, what in fact they are, though they try to dis guise it by a few hard words, the t. , • - ds and supporters of these would-be ministers, to whose g• theories, and hard mechanical practice, so much misery and oppression is to be traced. This, if nothing else, would prevent our be ing deluded into any sympathy with these demagogues—that while they are blustering and labouring to invest a desired commercial reform with a popular character which is not its own, and which can only be fastened on it by the most false pretences, they overlook a plain system of practical oppres sion, which does not depend for its proof on extended exami nations, intricate calculations, and nice deductions, but stares them in the face as a fact which may be grappled with, not in its supposed causes, but in itself tangibly and immediately. THE AFFGHANISTAN WAR AND RUSSIAN INTRIGUE. The Times of yesterday notices at some length the occur rences which induced Lord Auckland to plan, and the house government to approve, our great expedition beyond the Indus. Our contemporary first quotes largely from the the despatches to Lord Palmerston and from the communi cations of his lordship, and proves from these, as well as from other circumstances, that the war of Affghanistan was un undertaken against Russian influence, and then proceeds as follows:—We feared not the Afghans, we feared not the Persians, but we had irrefragable proof that the policy of Russia was sufficiently formidable to demand " a prompt, active, and decided counteraction." On this point there can be no difference of opinion between any people who have taken the trouble to read the evidence laid before Parlia ment. But the question as to the nature of that counterac tion, and as to the best measures to be adopted for the pur pose, is quite a distinct matter. Was it wise for us, a mara time power, to select the deserts of Central Asia for the scene of operations intended to repel the aggression of Rus sia ? Was it politic for us to act as a belligerent power, incurring all the outlay, and (as the result has proved) much of the danger of distant warfare, when the power we really meant to. cope with was not in the field at all, and, in fact, no military resistance was opposed to us ? But the dates of these transactions are still more extraor dinary, for it appears from them that at the very time our armies crossed the Indus to establish Schah Sojah in Cabul, and to quell the alarming progress of Russian influence amongst the Affghan septs or clans, Russia had not only to tally disavowed all her emissaries arid intrigues in that quar- ter, but Lord Palmerston had accepted M. de Nesselrode's explanations as " entirely satisfactory," in his despatch of the 20th December, 1838. The siege of Herat had been raised, the Schah had retreated, the Russian government dis owned all its acts—nevertheless the expedition proceeded. The case then appears to us to stand thus : if the explana tions of Russia were believed to be " entirely satisfactory." the whole case for the war falls to the ground, for it is only as a war of defence against the intrigues of a great power that it can be justified ; but if those explanations were false--if Russia was convicted, by numerous and unquestionable proofs, of having carried on a grand system of policy hostile to British interests and the security of British India (a sys tem which her subsequent disavowal only renders more sus picious)—if, in short, war was believed to be the only means of protecting our empire and checking these encroachments, then, in such a case, the war should not have been a " little" war, without an avowed enemy or a fair field, but the really " prompt, active, and decided counteraction" should have been applied by British men of war in the Black Sea or the These retrospective considerations are not without a direct application to the present state of affairs in Affghanistau. The military demonstration, which began with the defeat of Dost Mahomed and the capture of Ghuznee, and has ended with the insurrection of Cabul, was intended to eradicate the influence which Russia had acquired over the Sirdars and native chiefs. We encounter no enemy in the field; the Sirdars are abandoned by Russia to their fate ; all the known emissaries of St. Petersbnrgh are disavowed, some are re called, some perish in strange ways ; we' occupy the country in comparative security, when a sudden but general insur rection breaks out on various points, at the season of the year most disastrous to our troops. The first victim is Sir Alexander Burnes, - Well known (and denounced in M. M. Vicovich's despatches) as the most vigilant servant of Great Britain, and the keenest antagonist of the Russian agents. The operations of the natives bear marks of a good understanding amongst the rival tribes and great uniformity of combination. They must be attributable to some efficient cause, beyond the mere irritation of an ill-used tribe. Is there any other cause so efficient or so probable as that power whose growing influence amongst those tribes first called for our interference? We throw out these remarks as conjectures; they can be no more. But the point is reducible to this very clear pro.. position :—lt was demonstrated, in 1838, that Russia had made considerable progress in extending her influence by emissaries throughout Central Asia, and that a treaty had been signed by the rulers of Candahar, under her Minister's guarantee, containing stipulations " injurious and offensive to Great Britain ;" such are Lord Palmerston's just epithets applied to it. It must now, therefore, either be supposed that Russia has entirely relinquished the objects she had then in view, which is not her usual practice ; or that she has availed herself of the earliest opportunity to turn the forces of the country against us. MODES OF LIVING.—The clergy live by our sins, the medical faculty by our diseases, and the law gentry by our misfortunes. A very serious accident by misadventure happened on Sa turday morning at the shop of Mr. Allen, a butcher in South Audley-street, London. Two lads were playing together in the shop, when one of them put the head of the other on the block, and jokingly said, " Now, I'll cut your head oti," at the same time drawing, as he supposed, the back of the knife across his throat. Unfortunately, however, the edge was di rected to the boy's neck, and being very sharp it cut through the handkerchief, and inflicted a wound of considerable depth in the throat. The boy, whose name was James Gibbs, was removed to the Middlesex Hospital, where he is going on well. MYSTERIOUS AND SiTSPICIOUS CIRCUMSTANCE. — On Thursday week, as soma I: l bourers were removing some ba ring from the limestone quarries, in property belonging to Walker Smith, Esq., of Brotherton, near Ferrybridge, they discovered a human skeleton, buried little more than two feet below the surface, and about thirty yards from the great north turnpike road, which, from the accompanying circum stances, gives ground for suspicion that the body must have been murdered. The circumstance of a reaping sickle and a pocket knife having been found together with the bones, as well 'as fragments of leather, and a coarse kind of greenish coloured cloth, gives rise to strong suspicion that the indi vidual met with an untimely end. There is evidently an appearance:of a fracture in the skull, and all the teeth are in a perfect state which may lead to supposition that it has been a young corpse. The remains must have been in the ground for al great number of years, and most probably are those of some Irish reaper, perhaps murdered by his comrades when returning home with his harvest labours.—Leeds Mercury. CORREPONDENTS In the event of an equality of votes for a common council man, the alderman of the ward has the casting vote. The poetry of "J M L" cannot appear until Friday. ii.tberpool k.)tantiarti. TUESDAY MORNING, FEBRUARY 15, 1812 We endeavoured, in our publication of Friday, to convey to the public the feeling with which the pro posed measure of Sir Robert Peel had been received by the commercial people of Liverpool. We took every pains, which our opportunities of observation afforded, to arrive at the truth; and, having done so, however disagreeable to us it might be to notice that the first impression created was of an unfavourable nature, we did not hesitate fully and unequivocally to admit the fact,—accompanying, however, the admis sion with an expression of our belief that, upon mature, consideration and a better acquaintance with the details of the government plan, it would receive eventually the cordial approbation of a majority amongst onr best informed mercantile men. In this anticipation we are happy to say that we have not been disppointed ; and we trust that the candour, with which we recorded the unfavourable impression at first evinced, will bespeak for us the confidence of our readers whilst describing the feeling which time and consideration have contri buted to produce. The prevailing opinion amongst all classes, and especially amongst those of the greatest standing and weight in this important mercantile community, is now, we can state without hesitation, unequivocally favourable to the ministerial measure, as one admirably calculated to reconcile conflicting interests, and to effect a settlement, at least for some time to come,-of this much-agitated question. As a matter of course, the opponents of all restrictions upon the importation of food—the ultra free-trade party—it has not satisfied. In fact, it is not too much to assume that the very reasonableness of its nature, and its tendency to con ciliate the support of moderate men of all parties, is its greatest fault in the estimation of these violent politi cians. The very fact that it is based upon the princi ple of protection to the home agriculturist, is sufficient of itself to ensure the bitter hostility of men in whose jaundiced eye the owners and the cultivators of the soil are objects of unrelenting hatred, and who would gladly witness their utter prostration, in order to erect an overriding tyranny of capital and " liberalism" upon their ruins. There are some, too, we are ready to acknowledge, amongst our moderate men, who, although favourable to the degree of protection which this measure is cal culated to afford to the agricultural interest of the country, are yet predisposed in favour of a fixed duty to effect that object. With such a duty, fixed even as high as 10s. or 125., it is argued that foreign grain might be made a safe vehicle of remittance in return for British exports ; whilst the principle of - a sliding scale, however regulated, is considered as one unfa vourable to regular investments by merchants gene rally, and as leading to hazardous speculation. These views, however, we believe that consideration has greatly and favourably modified; and the impression has gained ground that, by the proposed measure, the hazard, which has hitheito attended operations under a sliding scale of duties and averages, will be much less ened, and that in practice the scale will seldom vary further than from-12s. per quarter down to 65., be tween which limits the great portion of foreign corn required for consumption in Great Britain will be im ported. Substantially, therefore, the measure of Sir Robert Peel is regarded by them as imposing a fixed duty between these limits, the gradations of the scale only operating when the pressure for food would other wise render necessary the resort to an order in council for its admission duty-free. By the manufacturing interest of Manchester, we need scarcely intimate that it has been received with very general dissatisfaction—so far at least as we have had an opportunity of ascertaining. We are satisfied, however, that the public at large have been quite pre pared for this feeling ; and, at all events, we are confi dent that the merchants of Liverpool will not be de terred from awarding their cordial approbation of the measure which is now offered for their acceptance, by all the ravings of the Manchester monomaniacs. There are very, very few men to be found upon our Exchange or in our streets, disposed to barter this chance of a fair and reasonable settlement of this great question for the prospect of a total repeal i 'of all protection upon na• tive agriculture, which the league-men hold out as the only measure to which they, in their high mightiness, will condescend to listen. We have noticed the freaks and the temper of these gentlemen in another article, to which we refer our readers. We have nothing to add to the gratifying report which we are this day enabled to present to our read ers upon this subject, except that the extension of the number of towns, from which returns are to be made for the purpose of regulating the averages, and by which it was feared by some of our best informed corn merchants that the measure might be impaired in va lue to the consumer, has been received with perfect satisfaction. No indirect attempt has been made, in the selection of those towns, to act prejudicially upon the justice and fairneSs of the general plan. That our readers may upon this point be enabled to form a judgment for themselves, we give here the list for Cheshire and Lancashire, with which, we are confident, they will be fully satisfied. For Cheshire the returns haVe been made hitherto from Chester,. Nantwich, Middlewich, Four Lane Ends, and Knutsford. To these towns Sir Robert Peel has added Congleton, Macclesfield, and Stockport. For Lancashire , the re turns have been hitherto made from Liverpool, Ulver ston, Lancaster, Preston,. Wigan, Warrington, Man chester and Bolton. To these are now to be added, Ashton-under-Lyne, Blackburn, Bury, Oldham, Orms kirk, and Rochdale. There is one feature in the proposed corn-law mea sure of Sir Robert Peel which we do not think has attracted the not ice which its importance demands. We have been told, again and. again, by the free-trade agi tators that, as applied to the corn growers of the United States, the very principle of a sliding scale is, per se, an effectual bar to importation from that country into Great Britain. Now what, let us inquire, is likely to be the operation of the proposed scale with respect to shipments from the United States ? For some time, it is well known that a contraband trade in wheat has been carried on, along the Canadian frontier, by which American wheat has been intro duced into the Britith'possessions, and thence found its way into British markets, in the manufactured state, as flour, the produce of a British colony,—paying a duty at the rate of ss. per quarter when the average price in Great Britain was under 675., and at the rate of 6d. per quarter when the average exceeded 675. The necessarily hazardous and expensive nature of this trade has to some extent, operated as a check upon it; yet it is notorious that considerable quantities of grain have for some time been forwarded down the great rivers and lakes in the interior, and have been tran shipped from the River St. Lawrence to this country. The effect of the measure introduced on Tuesday last by the Vice-President of the Board of Trade, for the first time legalises the introduction of American grain into Canada, upon payment of a duty at the rate of 3s. per quarter, the corresponding duty upon the admission of Canadian wheat into the United States being 10s. per quarter. The measure, however, of Sir Robert Peel reduces the scale, at which the ex treme duty of ss. upon Canadian grain into Great Britain is charged, from 675. to 545., from which it gradually descends to ls. on the average reaching 58s. Upon the present average, therefore, of 61s. 3d., the duty upon American wheat, transported through Canada, or shipped at a Canadian port for Great Bri tain, would he 4s. per quarter (3s. for the import duty into Canada, and ls. as the duty upon Canadian pro duce on importation into this country); and in no case could the exports from the United States, if shipped from a Canadian port, exceed Bs. per quarter. The only condition which would be required on the part of the American grower, to enable him to avail himself of this boon, would be that his grain should be ma nufactured into flour within the British possessions. Undoubtedly we have here a large concession to the corn growers of the United States, and one which effectually neutralizes any _disadvantage, which on the score of distance from the British market, they can sustain from the existence of a sliding scale, To the Navateva Btatzs of Amerin this marluA to Etivittyl open, at a duty never exceeding Bs.; and, although some additional expense of freight will of course be incurred, it is unquestionable that the agriculturists of those States must be very largely benefitted. It may perhaps be a question how far this change may be for the advantage of the Canadian or the British farmer. Looking, however, at all the circumstances—bearing in mind that by this means the employment of British shipping from Canadian ports will be greatly pro moted—considering, too, the beneficial results which may be created, by the impression to be established in the minds of our American neighbours, that the ex istence of Canada as a British colony is essentiatto the preservation, to them, of Great Britain as a market for their surplus produce, we are not disposed to offer any serious objections upon the subject. As a great boon to the people of the United States, the proposed arrangement is viewed, we understand, by those of our American merchants who have turned their attention to the subject; and when added to the concessions which are made to them by the measure of Mr. Gladstone, ought surely to induce them to listen in a kindly spirit to a modification of their own tariff in our favour. But will they do so, we ask ? We fear much, notwithstanding the predictions of the anti-corn law league, that no such result will flow from any liberality of ours. The measure introduced on Wednesday evening by Mr. W. E. Gladstone, the Vice-President of the Board of Trade, to reduce the duties upon foreign produce imported into our colonies, was received with the strongly marked approbation of both sides of the house; and whether we look at the judicious or well considered nature of the proposition itself, or at the admirable manner in which it was introduced to .the house, we cannot withhold from the honourable gen tleman, or from the government of which he is an effi cient and valuable member, the expression of our sin cere thankfulness. By the colonies to which Mr. Gladstone's measure applies we have no doubt that it will be received as a boon of very beneficial nature, and as an earnest, as well, of the careful attention which colonial . interests are about to receive from the government of Sir Robert Peel. As such only they can view it with any great satisfaction ; for it cannot be disguised now that the position of some of our co lonies is one of far too great difficulty and peril to be seriously benefitted by any measure of this descrip tion, however intrinsically excellent. We called attention recently to the state of things by which the prosperity of the West Indies is retard ed, and which threatens ultimately to effect their utter destruction as valuable producing colonies. In Bri tish Guiana and in others of those noble possessions the cultivation of the soil with a view to the supply of the markets of the mother country with tropical pro duce must shortly cease, unless some efficacious mea sure by which a large supply of labour can be afforded to the planters is devised by the home legislature. By the recent advices, brought by the arrival of the West India mail, the views which we hare previously held with respect to the condition and prospects of these colonies are fully confirmed ; and we cannot but de spair of any remedy being adopted by the colonists themselves which can do more than protract for a few seasons the entire abandonment of the attempt to com pete by free labour against the produce of foreign slave states. This great experiment must be given up, and with it must be dashed to the earth the fond hopes of millions of the human race, whose liberties are in volved in its successful issue. It is painful to contem plate such a lamentable contingency. To the people of Great Britain—to the humane and good of every clime—it will he a subject of inexpressible grief and disappointment if that experiment, in which they have embarked so large an amount of money and of sym pathy, should result only in failure. And yet, advisedly and deliberately, we must express our sincere and sor rowful conviction that to such a result it is at this mo ment rapidly verging. So far as the supply of labour, the great desideratum in the West Indies, can be increased by the efforts of the planters themselves, we are informed by the last advices that there is no longer ground for hope. Im migration from Sierra Leone, and the migration of la hot:: crs from other , phices to British Guiana, where their aid is most needed, appear to have ceased. An attempt is indeed being made to reduce the exorbitant rate of wages, and to provide for continuous cultiva tion, by internal arrangements between the planters and their workpeople ; but from this attempt we must con fess that we anticipate no permanent benefit to arise, and we are rather inclined to fear that it may terminate in the production of ill-feeling and bickerings on the part of the negro population towards the proprietors of the soil. We are satisfied that there can he no effec tual cure for the evil which presses upon the prosperity of West India cultivation, except in a measure to pro mote extensive immigration into those colonies ; and we have hoped, and still hope, for - such a measure at the hands of the present government. So far as it goes, we are quite ready to acknowledge that the measure of the Vice-President of the Board of Trade will alleviate the severe pressure at present existing upon the West Indian planters. To some ex tent it may decrease the expense of cultivation, and al low, perhaps, a small margin of profit upon their ship ments of produce to Great Britain. But whilst the giant evil prevails—so long as the present scarcity and costliness of labour remains—we can see no hope of their being enabled to compete with the Brazilian or the Cuban planter. This, if the noble effort of Bri tish humanity is not to be made in vain, is the object to which the measures of a wise government ought to be directed. To effect this the West India proprietor must not only be relieved from every impost which presses upon the cost of production, but, above all, he must be relieved from the jealous suspicions of the in judicious friends of the negro race, who, in their dread of promoting any system the most remotely resembling that of slavery in those colonies, do not hesitate to cast every impediment in the way of those supplies of free labour being procured, without which it is perfectly evident that cultivation can go on no longer. Notwithstanding the declaration of Lord Stanley that lie is unprepared with any large measure to pro mote emigration, generally, from great Britain, we. trust that neither he nor the government of which he is a member will overlook the urgent nature of the. difficulties under which these colonies are fast sinking into ruin. Lord Stanley is deeply pledged to the suc cess of the measure of emancipation. He is well aware how vast are the interest which depend upon that suc cess ; and he cannot be blind to the fact that unless an effort is made now, and that effbrt an effectual one, to arrest a disaster which humanity shudders to con template, the great cause of negro emancipation, so far as it can he affected by the issue of the experiment to raise the products of the tropics by' means of free la hour, will be lost beyond the possibilify of redemp tion. We shall return to this subject upon an early occa sion, in order to point out the kind of measure with which the proprietors of the West Indies will be sa- tisfied The receipt in Manchester of the details of air Ro bert Peel's modification of the corn laws appears to have driven the good people of that town to a state of mind which calls more loudly for a prompt supply of strait jackets than for the sympathy and respect of their fellow-countrymen. Stark frenzy has seized upon the cottonocracy, one and all; and, from Thursday morning until the hour at which we write, denuncia tions the most violent and furious, against the govern ment and the aristocracy of the country, have unceas ingly disturbed the " air serene" of the land of spin ning and weaving. Meetings have been held and speeches spoken ; last night the anti-corn-law ladies danced destruction to the sliding scale ; this day a great gathering, under the patronage of his worshipful the mayor of Manchester, is to strike terror into the hearts of monopolists and landlords ; and were it not that the people—the working classes—are most provokingly apathetic, and have a very low opinion of the disinte rested patriotism of the gentlemen who are enacting this storm in a teacup, we should be led to anticipate an insurrection, if not some more dreadful calamity. Amongst the loudest of the agitators upon this oc casion is our friend the Manchester Guardian. He, good man, is perfectly shocked, and " cannot read without disgust the almost heartless allusions which Sir Robert Peel, in his speech of Wednesday evening, made to the patience, with which the great body of the' people have endured the sufferings, to which the un-