The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser. — Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1842-02-18 00:00:00

imptrial HOUSE OF LORDS.- Jered t consid kmenc 3y or Mur put tha men should b , made, there Is they deemed requisite tion of t 111L16 SE There , ct with the government c ,e which the govern all the leo— letter he government was satisfied was no authority to sped in the Creole to trial for detain them in custody. In- ieen sent for the liberation, unless vas any colonial law under which t the whole of law of I xis that find fur- The noble lord qUoted the opinions er years, of Sir C. Wetherell, to the t it would be, indeed, desirable if ations wer g a power to surrender s would stand very mucli in the L said he should not have spoken on the opinion had been attributed to him con sed by the Lord Chief Justice, which given: He was of aion that the government had no power to demand that those ven up, and that, if such a demand were the municipal law of England as no power COTTENHAM and the LORD CHANCELLOR gave simi ions, and Lord BROUGHAM said that the same view wise taken by Lord V ynford and Lord Ahinger. BROUGHAM then withdrew hig motion, ,'and their -MONDAY ,ed, praying for a house should resolve of the duties on the im- should be v The first minister The cry The question was merely It was im- HOUSE OF COMMONS.- A great number of petitions were p total repeal of the corn-laws. Sir R. PEEL having moved that ti tself into a committc ,bject of t xn had come down with a' proposition iter " No surrender " ..ge were made it should be made upon —it was important that it should be satisfac and of such a character as at once to . Although it might be wise , yet when concession was made it should be made ew to conciliation and settlement. To disturb and djust (loud cheers) would be the most imprudent government could propose or the parliament kCheers.) He thought it necessary, however trou ame, to state as briefly as he could the general principles ich he thought ought to guide our legislation on this sub xt. It would be, perhaps, argued that the general principle was one of not legislating at all upon the subject. The ques , as a general one was a question merely in relation to -qer and seller. Legislation had no place in the The community themselves were the best 4as regarded production and sale. This was a illy acknowledged principle, although one that Teatly violated in practice. There -- hat if a ch )ry to thi ation of agitatior course t was no ge- however, without some exceptions. sort would be regulated by the )n of this Dost . of production. If it was found that there were eitraor hoary burthen• on the producers, there would, of course, be . , certain protections tending particularly to relieve the pro ducers of the weight of these extreme burthens. But with regard to the proposition now before the house, although it might be applicable to some isolated state, how could it bly be considered to be applicable to a irinciple of inde ence. Whenever England had fed herself without upply, there had_been loud complaints of agricultu- ral distress. But even if she had enough food within her own resources, it would be a dangerous measure to reject all foreign drafts if commerce were thereby checked. In his opinion a nation should rely upon the natural operations of commerce. The proposition now made maintained the principle of a sliding scale, and also the principle of a high duty. Now, the first objection he took to a sliding scale was, that it always kept up a prohibitory duty. What was the first item in this scale? A duty of 20s. was to be imposed when the price was under 525. The latest documents they had on the subject were those the consuls returned. They showed that the prices at Dantzic and Stettin were about 40s. to 435., the freight about 3s. Another ac count stated it at 40s. to 445., the freight about 3s. Another and the charges at 4s. to price 455. 6d. What was the ed it at 40s. to 44s s would make tl As. ; a sum which was, in point of fact, At Odessa the price was 265., and the Put lOs tion when duty here of wheat was 20s, le corn was still unknown. bat when the averages at two periods duties the same, there was still a great ce of corn to the consumer. Another stein was that it often caused a contraction . The system of prohibition at one minute. ion the next, could not but aggravate such an Another evil was, that frauds could not be prevented the system. The most serious evil was, that it confined ) the north of Europe. If corn were brought s, in all probability when it arrived rice, and thus the car- :d to sa y would_ be prohibitory to a period in - this nue-s- . done than to make The noble lord ay the that in whatever taken t verages lity of ant conntr goes were thrown on the hands of the Merchant. The United States of America were by this system precluded from trading extensively with us in corn. The great population of the States cultivated immense tracts of arable land, and if they could afford to send their corn to this country they could not but be glad to receive our manufactures. They there bad in opportunity of extending their commerce; but as long as tiding scale existed the Americans would think it a gam and an uncertain trade. He thought it monstrous that hould now be legislating not equally for all countries. roduce of the world was open to them, and they need • a frequent scarcity. He proposed a moderate fixed Such a duty had been recommended by persons of By Mr. Malthus, by Mr. Ricardo, and The committee of 1821, comprising many lent in agriculture, recommended a moderate fixed That committee expressed a doubt whether the only Mr. M'CulloCh n 1830, doubted whether in the present amount of the corn laws could be continued. He (Lord J. I had proposed, that in case of scarcity, there should cretionary power in the crown to open the ports. erial cheers.) That which was really important was, ere should be a constant trade ; that corn should never it out, and at a certain price it should be let in more There was another point to which he would refer. the distress which existed in the manufacturing ,lets both in England and Scotland. The right hen. entleman said that the corn laws did not caece the dis tress. He (Lord John Russell) thought those laws had, however, aggravated it. The major part of the wages of `he labouring classes was spent in the purchase of corn. then they had a freer admission of foreign corn, these sses, being able to purchase food at a cheaper rate, Id consume more manufactures. The right honourable - an thought that the distress was caused by over 1, increase of machinery, and other causes. is not according to his (Lo r d John Russell's) belief -.e. As to the increase of machinery lessening —as well known to be .a fallacy. The people relief might be obtained by a change in house did not grant a total repeal, they wishes by a material alteration. The gentleman said that an alteration of these .ould not improve the condition of the people. (Hear.) t he (Lord Russell) believed, certainly, as regarded the )osed measure of the government. (Opposition cheers.) thought they could not legislate to any purpose unless rejected that measure. They could then consider the ,es of the people and the burdens affecting agriculture the interests of every other class. If, however, the sure of the government were carried, discontent would in England, and the people would attribute to their Intim on which agriculture should rest was not the 'section or prohibition for the application of ea - Mr. Huskisson, in his taxation hat the Auction emplo' ght that presentatives a bias towards the agricultural interests, and th a partial view to their own advantage. (Loud cheers.) was his hope, however, that they would make a decision r the benefit of the whole community of Great Britain. The Ible lord then concluded by the motion of which he had ven notice. Ir. GLADSTONE said, the real question was, not which : of the house could collect the greatest array of prejudice __ • ana passion i n it s supp or t ; b ut whether , looking to what is practically best, the house ought, under all the considerations involved in the subject, to accept the proposal of his right hon. friend (Sir R. Peel) or to adopt that proposed last year hv the no bl e lord. Now he was prepared to contend that the tibuted ctributed to the existing corn-law were to be attr aat law only in a limited degree, and he should further atend that the evils themselves warp ~,,.... _ . ited. Re f o rth— - drie ie rt n a ded that the advantages of a fixed rocs such ,, ed, and that the objections which duty on its own merits were perfectly in. • The sliding scale was said to have been charge , the evil of leadingdto severe fluctuations in price, g ar fluctuations had -• prevailed. it rye in Prussi a at differehnr. The place in countries where e a g periodsent l e , m i ea norder o t t e o d s e the p - - of the ca e s e e p i e t in ye being i n P russ i a use d as the 1 food of the p a b out the same propo r ti o n as This va s used in England. u , he said, p rove d th a t th e i on s were to be attributed to the difficulty of adjusting 1., ro the demand, rather than to any inh eren t ev il i n Pie hon. gentlema n then went on to s h ow th a t a t ..: no ble lord and Sir R. Peel would, like gre a t pl ane t s , but as th e no bl e a conjunctio n as far as res p ect ed duty, d would not re duce his 8s dut y to is un , til it re ac h e d 7 3s or the toaverars ; is, surely his pl an held out far more temptations than th a t if his right honou rable friend to tam p er with uce for his right hono urable friend's proposal was gradually and not sud denl y , like that of the noble lord. re ord. As , 20s duty a prohibitory one, he o ou se that that d ut y was on ly levied when ha i the t Jule indicated an abundant su pp l y in the at which time any material supply of foreign orne corn prejudicial, and if t his were t o be considered a pro. ty, he must say that he sincerely hoped that we ls be blest with such a one. Since the year 1704, mys been a maximum duty of 20s on the impor ,,n corn, and in the course of that time there -oars which was triumphantly referred to - 1 of the corn laws as one during corn practically prevailed. "., did prevail during 3 - such la. 6-Is th to considering the tation of for, I of 30 free trail iree Enloe . ievertheless the maximum duty of 20s was whole time. It was said that if we took the .ntries they would take our manufactures in he would not have the bon. gentleman be fly stood th e case with Russia ? Was it Id not take Russian produce that Russia ?ui:manufactures? The tact was this—we ato the value of two millions per annum, and we imported from.that country over six millions in value. In addition to this Russia had r,cently published a new tariff by which additionel restrictions were placed upon the impor tation into that country of B r iti s h produce, which showed that other countries were much more favourable to an imi tation of us in our former restrictive system, than likely to " Nus in our modern system of relaxing those restrictions. h on . gentleman concluded by vindicating the measure of ;overntnent as a great improvement of the present corn end, therefore , gave to it his hearty and consc i ent i ous " — a, hear). C. WOOD said, it was out of the question to pretend that we should not be dependent on fo re i gn nations na, wh wiast ten pears, the p r oduce of the YZn l i en * sup its population, and W h en 1 ...-- --‘' . q- , ilevro evoxy future that the evil was cvm,.... - year. We must, therefore, be dependent in a great measui upon foreign supply, and the only question was as to the way in which that supply could be obtained with the feast possi ble injury to any class of the community. The hon. gentle ••thened argument, interspersed .-, show that a fixed duty le 1 man then entered into a 1 LL said Y not only the far as his experience went he be- •oposed by the_ gOvernment would gra- but ah,o sterial side of the house that this coun- country could near_ could not do so, the systim - of averages enabled them to ob tain a sufficient supply without risking the prosperity of the agricultural classes of society. They knew from experience been held that in a supply itself )od aver harvest the and when it iatthey had little to expect from concession When Ca- tholic emancipation was granted in the most liberal manner, it was said that the reason of granting so liberal a measure was that it might give the fullest satisfaction. It gave satis faction, however, but fora short time. Again, in the case of the Reform Bill, it was said in defence of the extent to which it went, that the people would not be satisfied with less. What was the result? The noble lord who brought it for- ward had subsequently more trouble to defend his "finality than he ever had to upset the rotten boroughs. For the sal of conciliation, therefore, they should not depart from that hich was sound in principle. Dr. BOWRING said that the inferences drawn from his ac- counts of the consumption of the necessaries of life in Prussia, by the right honourable baronet (Sir R. Peel) were erroneous ; but even if true, and if there was a greater con sumption per bead in England, that was no reason why it should be reduced. The fact was, however, that the condi tion of the people of England was, year after year, becoming wo while in Prussia the condition of the inhabitants was progressively improving. He would prefer the scale sug gested by Mr. Christopher to that proposed by the govern ment, for under the latter plan we could never have corn ad mitted in any quantity except under very rare circumstances, . and concluded by a w arni ng to the landed interests not to deal too harshly by the people, who paid more in pro portion to their means than the laiideil proprietors to the support of the expenses of the state. Mr. FERRAND then supported the proposition of govern ment, some extracts from whose speech we give elsewhere. The house adjourned. HOUSE OF OF LORDS.-TUESDAY The royal assent was given, by,commission, to the Appro priation Acts Amendment . Bill. The Earl of RIPON. in reply to a question from Lord Brougham, sad that the new towns added to those from which the averages were previously / taken were not selected from a supposition that their averages were lower than those of the latter, but with the view of obtaining a fair average price for the regulation of the duty, and to render it more difficult to t fraud comm.. s in taking the averages. The Loan Societies Bill was brought up from the House of Commons, and read a first time Adjourned until Thursday HOUSE OF COMMONS.-TUESDAY Colonel Fox begged to ask if the right hon. baronet had received any intimation of the movements of Cabrera, and, connected therewith, of a projected insurrection in Spain? Sir R. Pzur, said he had received intelligence to that effect, but he had received nothing in the shape of an official communication upon the subject. He expressed an earnest hope that the government of Spain, resting as it did on the good wishes of the bulk of the Spanish people, would resist any machinations directed against it. The LORD ADVOCATE read some letters from Scotland, showing that he was not wrong in what he bad said on a former evening as to the attend ince to the duties of the bench of the late Lord President of the Court of Session. The adjourned debate was resumed by Sir W. CLAY, who said he was no friend to a protecting duty on corn. He had no doubt the right hon. baronet would carry his present bill, but it was beyond his power in this manner to settle a question which was now taken up by the people of England. Captain HAMILTON professed himself an advocate of a sliding scale, and although he thought the right hon. baronet (Sir R. Peel) had demanded a very great sacrifice from the agricultural classes, yet he should support his proposition generally ; thinking, notwithstanding, that some greater pro tection was requisite than that which he proposed to give to the agriculturist. Mi. CIIILDERS contended that the operation of the go vernment scheme of duties on corn would only tend to render the restrictive system more stringent. He had no doubt that the present measure would be . carried ; but how long would it last ? Just until the first dissolution of parliament, when the whigs would once more walk across the floor of that house, to take possession of the ministerial benches. Captain Rous said, he agreed in the sentiment expressed by the late premier, that the man who would vote for the total repeal of the corn-laws was fit for Bedlam. A celebrated French deplomatist had said that words were given to man to conceal his thoughts ; and this he never saw so well illus trated as by the arguments of honourable gentlemen opposite, who spoke of the immense benefits to be derived by the poor from having their bread twopence a loaf cheaper, while in reality they well 'knew the twopence would find its way into their own pockets. If the right bon. baronet would pursue a middle course, neither caring for the murmurs of the high aristocracy nor fearing the outcry:of a deluded populace, he might remain in his present position as long as he pleased, for there was no power on earth which could turn him out of it. Mr. WILLIAMS thought the measure before the house so little practically different from the present law, that it could lead to no beneficial result. Its greatest evil, he looked upon, would be the same as that of the present law—the derange ment of the currency. This evil was entirely caused by the sliding scale, which bad also the prejudicial effect of leading to the employment of foreign shipping instead of our own. It was admitted that the corn laws were maintained for the purpose of enabling the landlords to obtain high prices. Now, he would ask, who paid these high prices? Were they not paid by the consumers ? and who were the consumers ? The mass of the people, who were thus taxed for the benefit of the landowner. Unless this state of things should be al tered, unless the people should be enabled to buy food as cheaply as it could be bought in other comktries, or nearly so, the manufactures of this country must inevitably decline. . Mr. 0. GORE animadverted upon the proceedings of the anti-corn-law agitators, who had Ahaken the island to its centre, to make a change which, could have little more effect than that of making the paltry saving of five farthings a Week in the price of bread for each person. He could understand the straightforward motives of those who, like the hon. mem ber for Wolverhampton, moved for a total repeal of those laws ? but he could look upon a fixed duty as one proposed only for party purposes. Mr. WARD was of opinion that the proposed plan was not only better than the present law, but was also better than the fixed duty proposed by Lord J ohn Russell, for although he agreed in the general principles laid down by the noble lord, he thought the time for levying a fixed duty was fast passing away. In fact the sliding scale of the right hon. baronet, and the fixed duty of the noble lord, must both give way to a free trade in corn. Indeed, there was an inconsistency in the proposition of the right hon. baronet, inasmuch as he adopted the principle of a fixed duty on corn crossing the Canadian frontier from America, while adhering strictly to a sliding scale at home. The people were on the watch to see what the house would do, and if, on analysing the division, they found that no one voted for the measure of the right hon. baronet who had not a personal interest in doing so, they would be apt to form an opinion of it not very favour able. He should vote for the motion of the noble lord, and when the time came he should most certainly vote for the motion of the hon. member for Wolverhampton. Sir E. KNATCHMILL contended that the noble lord (Lord J. Russell) could never have expected that his Bs. fixed duty would have met with the concurrence of the landed interest, He was willing to admit that if a sum could be agreed upon by all classes as a fixed duty, and if that fixed duty could be always maintained, he thought it would be better than any other system ; but knowing as he did, and as was admitted by the noble lord, that no fixed duty could be maintained under some circumstances, he thought the proposition of the government the most eligible that could be adopted. There were burdens cast upon the landed interest, which entitled them to some protection, and if hon. gentlemen were deter mined to carry out their principles of free trade, it was but fair that.the agriculturists should not be the only sufferers. Mr. LABOUCHERE said that the right hon. baronet who had just spoken had clearly admitted that the object of the bill before the house was to keep up the value of the estates of the landed proprietors ; but in his opinion the paramount duty of the house was to legislate for the benefit of the im mense majority of the British people. He then proceeded to contend that, in future England must expect to consume an increasing quantity of foreign corn, and said he felt it necessary to undeceive those gentlemen who thought that England might always safely look to Ireland as its natural granary. Up to 1833 Ireland had sent a large proportion of wheat to the English markets. In that year the quantity sent was 844,000 quarters, but in every succeeding year the quantity diminished until, in 1839, it had fallen to 258.000 quarters—in 1840. to 174,009, and in 1841, to 218,000. This showed that Ireland could not be looked to hereafter as a granary, though he admitted at once that this was to be attri buted to causes related to the increasing prosperity of Ire land. The right hon. gentleman then proceeded to analyse the plan of the government, and disapproved of the addition of 150 small towns to' those from whence the averages were taken, as being calculated unfairly to lower the averages to the extent of ss. a quarter. He acquitted the government of any intention to affect them thus indirectly, but be was assured that such would be the practical effect of the pro posed plan, in which case the whole plan would be so com pletely deranged that in some parts of the scale the people would find themselves worse off than under the present sys tem. The right hon. gentleman then advocated, at conside rable length, the principle of a fixed duty, and expressed a fear that the right hon. baronet (Sir R. Peel) would deal with the remainder of our tariff as timidly as he did with the corn laws, in which case he would be only practising a similar delusion to that of the plan before the house, or else that he would deal boldly with the remainder of the tariff in propor tion to his timidity with the corn laws, and thus give rise to the supposition that he was acting in reference to the power of his supporters, rather than according to his sense of jus tice. Sir E. KNATCHBULL denied that he had ever said one word about raising the value of landed property. Sir J. GRAnAin contended that the plan proposed by the government was a fair composition between the disputing parties on the subject of those corn duties. As to a fixed duty, he would remind hon. members that that would not satisfy the people any more than the proposed plan, for at the great Leeds meeting, held about twelve months ago, a banner was displayed, on which were inscribed the words, " A fixed duty—a fixed injustice to the people." He would also remind them that the Lord Mayor of Dublin had said he would take the Bs. fixed duty as an instalment, and if once they obtained it, he pledged himself that in six months they would get rid of it altogether. So much for a fixed duty, which was an absurdity, for in point of fact, thefinality of legislation was a mere phantom, of which both the noble lord (J. Russell) and himself had had no small experience. The right hon. hart. then contended, that the proposed plan would supply the largest quantity of corn when necessary, at the smallest cost to the consumer, which was the very ob ject most desirable to accomplish. It was a curious fact, that under those corn laws, which were said to he injurious to the manufactures of this country, he found by a return which he held in his hand, that the cotton manufactures alone had increased within the last four years to an extent so great, that the very increase was greater than the total of our manufacture of cott on a t t h e c l ose o f the war. W hen the right hon. hart. resumed his seat, the debate was ad journed. HOUSE OF COMMOMS.—WEDNEsnAY. Mr. THEsIGER called the attention of the house to the cir cumstances attending the petition against the return for the last Belfast election. The Earl of Belfast, who was one of the defeated candidates on that occasion, had petitionod against the return. He had since then, however, been raised to the peerage as Lord Ennishowen, and it was therefore con trary to the privileges of the house that a peer should perse vere in an election petition. An interesting conversation ensued, but it was felt, the point being a novel one , that there bad not been a sufficient time afforded for the consideration of the question, ami e it t s further consideration was postponed. Mr. BULLER resumed the adjourned debate on the pro posed alteration of the corn duties, and contended that the plan of the government was buts mitigated mischief. Sir W. JAMES said that public opinion was in favour of protection to agriculture, and he was quite sure that his con stituents were willing to accept the measure of the govern ment as a boon to the community. Mr. BERNAL contended that the plan of the government would nobs commercial interests, while it was re garded with distrust by the agriniturists. Mr. SCOTT supported the government. Mr. H ASTIE contended at some length that the sliding scale had the innate mischief of destroying our commerce, and ruining our manufactures, by the derangement which it occasioned in the currency, and which no system of corn laws could be exempt from if based upon a sliding scale of duties. Mr. CHRISTMAS was of opinion that by the plan of the government the growth of wheat was sufficiently protected, but he feared that other kinds of •grain were not so, and more particularly in reference to the produce of Ireland Mr. RoEnt 1 he should vote in favour of the motion )f the noble lord, but wished to guard himself from having it supposed that he and those who voted with hint were in any way to be deemed inconsistent if they should hereafter vote against the imposition of any duty at all. He thought the plan proposed by the right hon. baronet both unwise and impolitic. Although it was true that no party on either side of the house could be held responsible for the distress which prevailed, and which, in fact, was the result of the tremen dous struggle in which this country had been engaged with France, which struggle was only maintained by its manufac turing energy—still, although not answerable for its exist ence, they would be answerable for the manner in which they dealt with it, and certainly the proposition of the go vernment was by no means likely to remedy the evil. The right hon. baronet had taken ample time to consider of his plan—he had raised the expectations of the empire, and after all he (Mr. Roebuck) would leave the country to admire the bantling. It was impossible to make this a self-supplying country—it was impossible to prevent its being dependent on foreign nations for supply—they had too many mouths to feed—they should therefore give up their self-supplying no tions, and, by their commercial interchanges, preserve such a bond of amity as can only be maintained by intimate mer cantile intercourse. He could not assent to the proposition that the position of the landed gentry could be altered by the repeal of the corn laws ; regarding them, with all their beneficial influences, as. the Corinthian capitals of society, he could not bring himself to believe that all their import ance to the community depended upon a tariff—upon a twenty shilling duty. He had no doubt if the duty were repealed they would occupy just as important and just as be neficial a station in society as before; if the duty should not be repealed, perhaps the people of England may be apt to think that they have bought this Corinthian capital too dear. He denied that there were any peculiar burdens on the land which entitled them to this protection—he called upon them to prove the fact ; and if they could prove it, he would then say that the house would at once find it a matter of economy to relieve them from those peculiar burdens in order at the same time to rid themselves of the duties on corn. The right hon. baronet's character as a, statesman was at issue, and if he continued lagging behind the spirit of the age, he would not only risk being left behind altogether, but it would be said of him, hereafter, that he either had not sagacity to foresee inevitable events, or seeing had no courage to deal with them as he ought. Lord ASHLEY called the atttntion of the house to an at tack made upon him on the previous evening by the hon. member for Sheffield, who imagined that he had cheered the hon. member for Knaresborough when making some attacks which his lordship had in point of fact never heard, for he did not know until next morning that the hon. member for Knaresborough had spoken at all. Mr. WARD expressed his unfeigned regret for the error into which he had fallen, and asked the noble lord's pardon for observations which resulted entirely from unintentional mistake. Loid ASHLEY expressed himself satisfied. Lord SANDON commenced by complaining of the manner in which the language of the merchants of Liverpool engaged in the American trade, as contained in the petition he (Lord Sandon) had presented, had been commented upon by the right hon. member for Taunton. Now, although he was not prepared to deny that those merchants preferred a fixed duty to a sliding scale, still the right lion. gentleman had no right to assume that which was not the fact—viz., that in the opi nion of the petitioners the new sliding scale, as proposed by ministers, was not a great improvement upon the sliding scale as it at present existed, and that they did not believe that great benefit would resuit from it to commerce and ma nufactures. If the house would allow him he would read an extract from a letter he had received from one of those mer chants, in which he said—" You are aware that my own judg ment inclines to a fixed duty, but knowing that the feeling of the government is in favour of a sliding scale, I am disposed to look on the proposition as brought forward as a very great improvement, when I consider the very large amount of the present undue protection, while it affords an ample guarantee against our being dependant upon foreign countries for too large a proportion of our supplies." (Hear, hear, and cheers.) The danger of being dependent upon foreign nations for the supply of food was to be avoided by every country. America was fully alive to this. The late Presi dent of the United States, in his message to the Congress, three years ago, had adverted to the evils likely to result from a country placing itself at the mercy of others for its supplies of food, leaving it in the power of those foreign nations to concede or to refuse them. (Hear, hear.) He had already referred to a communication, showing that in the eyes of mercantile men the proposition of the govern ment was likely to be attended with most important advan tages to the mercantile interest. He had also had a commu nication with a gentleman connected with the milling interest, who had informed him that the government measure would have the effect of affording facilities for the trade in foreign flour which did not at present exist ; for as flour was a pe rishable article, all persons were anxious to avoid speculating for the home market under the existing system, owing to its Uncertainty, but now there would be a regular trade going on, and of course a great advantage to those engaged in it. These were the opinions of practical men, who looked upon the question of the corn-laws as a matter of business. They saw in the ministerial measure a great improvement upon the present law. He (Lord S.) thought these opinions formed a sufficient answer to the assertion put forward by the other side that the measure of the government would leave the trade in corn precisely in the same position in which it now was. He must beg to warn the house against those dreams of perfect prosperity which were. held out to the house by gentlemen opposite, as the result, if they would but accept their nostrums, of a perfect free trade or a fixed duty. Mr. Greg, of Manchester, in his pamphlets on the corn laws, the object of which was to show the advantages of a free trade in corn, had, after refet ring to the way in which British manufactures were now driven out of every neutral market by our continental rivals, and the importance of our endea vouring to regain our position, admitted that, to effect that object, a reduction in the wages of labour was necessary ; for he said that foreign nations had a decided advan tage over us in this respect, and that an increased trade in provisions would be beneficial in reducing that advan tage, though, he added, he doubted if it could be entirely removed. (Hear, hear.) But were the manufacturers alone to be considered ? Now, they had been told that the ef fect of the corn laws had been to bring into cultivation a very large amount of land in this country. which would not else have been cultivated, and which now em ployed a large proportion of our population. If those laws were repealed, and all protection to British agriculture were withdrawn, that land would be thrown out of cultiva tion, and what then would become of all those who were now engaged in tilling the soil? (Hear.) Hundreds of thou sands, nay millions, of persons would thus be thrown on the poor-rates, or sent into the manufacturing towns, to lower the price of wages there. Therefore he (Lord Sandon) held that it was the interest of all classes, not that of a few landed proprietors only, to give such a. protection to agricul ture as should prevent this calamity. It was alike import ant to all parties to consider this question in all its bearings. If they thought it necessary to reduce the present amount of protection, it was due from them as wise statesmen to make that reduction gradually, and to see the effect of such an alteration as that proposed by his right hon. friend at the head of the government, before they decided upon making so sweeping a change as that proposed by the noble lord the member for London (Lord J. Russell.) .He was of opinion that if the changes in the present corn laws were brought about with consideration, they might confer important ad vantages on our commercial interest, give the people food at a cheaper rate, and still preserve a due amount of protection. to agriculture. That important interest might, he believed, be preserved, without infringing upon any other. He thought that, by a judicious compromise like that now proposed by the government, our commerce and manufacturers might be promoted and extended, while that protection which the landed interest had a right to look for would be maintained. He would not longer detain the house. (Hear.) He had risen chiefly to state that commercial men, who were unin fluenced by mere party considerations, were to a great extent satisfied with the government measure, and accepted it as a great boon and as a large measure, conceived in most liberal spirit. (Hear, hear; loud cries of " d ivide," and "question.") Lord WORSLEY could not give his assent to the motion of •Sir R. Peel, nor could he give his assent to the proposition of the noble lord, the member for the city, for a fixed duty of Bs. The noble lord (Worsley) quoted the opinions deli vered at the hustings by many of the conservative members, and asked them how, having pledged themselves to their constituents to maintain their existing protection to agricul ture, they could do otherwise than join him in voting against the proposition of the right hon. baronet. Mr. CHRISTOPHER complained that the noble lord (Wors ley) had not fairly represented his arguments upon this sub ject. He would say, however, that the agricultural interest would prefer taking the measure of the right hon. bart. as it stood, with its defects, such as they were, rather than place themselves at the mercy of the noble lord's legislation. In reply to an imputation which had been thrown out against him, he would appeal to the government to say whether he ever had any communication with them until after he had published his opinions on the corn laws. Mr. G. BERKELEY supported the propriety of a fixed duty, and, therefore, would vote for the noble lord's motion. Sir R. PEEL said he had to contend against two classes of antagonists ; each, though joined in. opposing him, equally opposed to the views of the other ; and he had expected that the noble lord would have been more explicit in his motion or in his speech, and defined the exact nature of his proposi tion. There could be no doubt but that fixed duty lurked under the ambiguous proposition of the noble lord ; and he could not, therefore, understand how those who.were op posed to all -duty' could support a motion, however vague, which they must know was meant to be an advocacy of a fixed duty. It was tolerably clear that the noble lord could not have expected to maintain a compact alliance, unless by moving a resolution as vague and innocuous as that before the house.- He (Sir R. Peel) was not called upon that night to deal with those gentlemen who advocated a total repeal of the corn-laws, and he should therefore confine himself to the consideration of the comparative merits of a fixed duty and of a sliding scale. He did not believe that there was any material difference between himself and the noble lord, as to the extent of the protection required by the agriculturist; the chief difference between them, and to which he had to direct his arguments, being the mode by which that protection was to be practically carried out. The right hou. baronet then went on to show the advantages which a sliding scale would gave over a fixed duty in preventing frauds in the averages and gambline speculations in foreign corn. When he per ceived the violence with which he was assailed by gentlemen holding extreme opinions, some thinking that the interests of the manufacturers were not sufficiently consulted, while others thought sufficient protection had not been given to the agriculturist, he was more strongly convinced the measure was a good one, and likely to be well received by all moderate men as a great improvement of the existing law. He denied that the duties he proposes would have the effect of acting as a prohibition to importation, except when corn was below 513., at which price the home grower ought to be protected against foreign competition. His wish was to make the im- portation of foreign corn supplemental to our home supply, rather than that it should supereede it in any great degree ; for if importation took place to such au extent as to super sede home grown corn, tne dap might come when, from deficient harvests, or other causes, they might have bitter experience of the imprudence of discouraging agriculture at home. The right lion. hart. then entered into a calculation to show the advantage of the government proposition over the present law, and the amelioration it effected at various points of the scale as compared with the existing rate of duties. It might have been wiser for into, if he acted merely as a party man, to say that he would stand by the corn-laws and resist all change ; hut, as a minister of the crown, most important responsibilities were cast upon him, and he was compelled to devise a measure consistent at the same time with giving due encouragement to manutacturtng industry whileTatfoiding reasonable protection to the agriculturist. (The right hon. baronet resumed his seat amidst continued cheering.) Lord PALMERSTON contended that the measure of the government had been aptly described by. Lord John Russell, who had called it a measure calculated to disturb everything and settle n o thi ng. It was not in the power o f man t o p l ease every one ; b u t t h e government had been unfortunate enoug h to please no one b y this plan they had brought forward. The gallery was cleared for a division, when the mot i on o f Lord J. Russell was negatived by a majority of 349 to 226. After some conversation, the house adjourned to Friday. ROYAL LIVER THEATRE, CHURCH- STREEI For the BENEFIT of MADEMOISELLE CELESTE, And the List Night but Ore nr her Engagement. ~IIIS present FRIDAY EVENING, the 18th instant, the new and successful Dratea. entitled FOREIGN AFFAIRS. Count St. Louis Mademoiselle Celeste. After which, MILITARY PROMOTION. The whole to conclude with Vietoire, Henri, and Hamer, Modimoiselle Celeste, Tickets and Places for the Public Boxes to be had of Mr. J. FOGG, at the Box Office, from Eleven till Three; also for the Private Boxes for Full Dress Parties. Boxes, 3s. ; Pit, 2. will be limited). Gallery, W. (to which the number Second Price.—Boxes, 2s. ; Pit, Is. Doors to open at Half-past Six. Performance to begin at Seven. Second Price at Half-past Eight. ROYAL AMPHITH EATRE, GREAT CHARLOTTE-STREET, LIVERPOOL CLOSING NIGHTS OF DUCROW'S NATIONAL ESTABLISHMENT IN LIVERPOOL. For the BENEFIT of Mr. IV. D. BROADFOOT. THIS pre,:ent FRIDAY EVENING, the 18th instant, t ar.d TO-MORROW (Saturday), he 19th, MAZEPPA ; OR, THE WI HonsE. To be succeeded b DUCROW'S SCENES OF ' E CIRCLE ! Introducing THE RUSSIAN COTILLION; Or, The Ambassadors of Muscovy. In the course of the Pageant Signor Hillier will introduce (for the first time) the Training of THE LADY'S PALFREY, BEAUTY ! The Pageant will conclude with a Waltz, Gavotte, and Co tillion, by Trained Palfries. La Belle Assemble'e ? ! Le Petit Ducrow, the Equestrian Prodigy, will appear with the Infant Actors, in HOLIDAY ROMPS. To conclude with the laughable Farce of THE QUEER SUBJECT. On MONDAY next, the Last Appeal to the Liverpool Public, for the BENEFIT of MADAME DUCROW, a Splendid Rotation of Novelties !—Ducrow's Establishment depart on the 26th instant for Birmingham. Private Boxes may be obtained nightly for Families on ap plication to Mr. F. CARMAN, at the Box-office, from Eleven until Three o'clock. Prices of Admission :—Centre Dress Boxes. 3s. ' • Side Boxes, 2s. 6d. ; Pit, Is. 6d. ; Lower Gallery, is. ; Upper Gallery, Gd. Second Price at Nine o'clock :—Centre Dress Boxes. 25.; Side Boxes, ls. 6d. ; Pit, ls.; Lower Gallery, Gd. No Second Price to the Upper Gallery. Second Price will be taken for Children under-Twelve years of age to the Boxes only. . . Dorss to be opened at Half-past Sir, and the Performance to commence at Seven o'clock precisely. TO CORRESPONDENTS We have received a poetical effusion signed "A Fallen Star," and addressed to " M. J. C.," which we may perhaps find room for next week. We wish the young lady, whose beauty draws forth such unqualified praise, and whose accomplishments are of so high an order, had been a native of this county instead of Derbyshire, of which we presume she is, the fine scenery of that county being so often al luded to. We cannot understand the allusion to the sprig of myrtle and a tulip, though no doubt the lady to whom the lines are addressed will be able to do so. the 7.ibtrpool Atanbarb. FRIDAY MORNING, FEBRUARY 18, 1842 After a three nights' debate, distinguished on the part of the Conservative ministry and its supporters by a display of business talent and eloquence which has not been witnessed in the House of Commons since the passing of the Reform Bill, or indeed within our memory, the motion of Sir Robert Peel was carried yesterday morning by a majority of 123, the num bers being on the division— For the original motion For the amendment Majority 349 .. 226 123!! We need scarcely congratulate our readers upon this glorious triumph of Conservative statesmanship. The noble bark, which bears within her bosom the cause of the British constitution,—of British agriculture— of native industry—has passed the shallows and the hidden shoals amongst which it was so confidently predicted that she would founder; and she now floats proudly in the deep waters, rejoicing in the clear eye and the strong hands of her pilot and her trusty crew, and defying, alike, the rocks ahead, " the Battle and the Breeze." Long may she thus proudly breast the waves ! Long may a gratified and confiding people look up with pride and unbroken trust to those ener getic spirits, whose honest and determined efforts have at length brought about, for our country and her in stitutions, this happy consummation ! When Lord John Russell stooped to become the " utensil " of the league, and to lead on the forlorn hope in the House of Commons in its factious opposi tion to the government Modification of the corn laws, we do not believe that any great amount of surprise ' was felt by the country. The memory of the compact with the mendicant impostor of Derrynane, and of the tenacity with whiCh his lordship held on, through years of shame and defeat, by the tail of that " blatant " plunderer, was fresh in the minds of most men ; and few indeed tiiere were, even amongst the venal follow ers of his fortunes, who could picture to themselves a depth of political degradation to which he would not willingly descend to subserve his "had ambition." To honourable minds it might and did appear a humiliat ing office to lead on - a host avowedly ready, should suc cess attend their efforts, to turn upon their leader; a host with three-fourths of whom he could hold no opi nion in common, and whose views, denuded of the cloak thrown over them for the hour, be is bound, in consistency, to oppose. But to the little mind of Lord John Russell no such elevated feelings can find admis sion. Wrapt up in the sordid selfishness of faction, his lordship is content to tread in any path, with any allies, to dare any impunity, to embrace any degrada tion, if such a course will bring him one step nearer to the object of his dreams, by day and night,— PLACE, PAY, power for good or evil, for himself and his feeble faction an hour's triumph, if even in the next it be followed by the ruin of his country ! With such an opinion of the actuating motives which led to his lordship's motion on Monday night, it will scarcely be a matter of wonder that the public have viewed his very feeble performance with an apathy almost contemptuous. And yet, we must confess that, WE have wondered that from the lips of a statesman who has occupied so large a space in the world's eye, so - flimsy a tissue of contradictory absurdities could be allowed to fall under any circumstances. If it could ever have entered into the mind of any man that at any future time the name of Lord John Russell could be enrolled amongst the illustrious of his party—side by side with those of Fox or Burke, Sheridan or Brougham—the exhibition of Monday must for ever dispel the illusion; and whatever his lordship may himself imagine, with respect to his ability to lead the shattered forces of Whig-Radicalism in, the present day, the world, depend upon it, will pronounce, from henceforth, a judgment which it would be only folly and presumption in him to attempt to bear up against. He has fallen, with the party which he once led ; and for the future he must give place to more active and determinate spirits. Henceforth let him creep beneath the protecting shade of the " chained bully," whose energies were once devoted to his service ; and sink with him into contempt and obscurity. His lordship will never more be the chosen leader of a powerful party. Peace to his manes ! We are far from being sorry that this exhibition has been made, although we had no wish to witness the political extinction of this once illustrious scion of the house of Russell. We rejoice, because the result of the motion of his lordship, and the spirit which has seen manifested during the debate upon it, in the House of Commons and throughout the country, must effectually and for ever dissipate the illusion that upon this question of the corn laws and free trade there is any tenable middle ground between an adequate pro- tection of the interests of native industry, by means of a sliding scale, and the absence of all restrictions. The fact was admitted by his lordship—at the very time when he was moving that the measure of government should be condemned, because of its containing the principle of a sliding scale—that a fixed duty could not be maintained !---that the system of averages could not be dispensed with—that any duty imposed by the le gislature mast be withdrawn when the price of wheat advanced to 735. or 745. What then would a fixed duty —say of Ss. —as proposed thus to be remitted when the state of the averages required it, be, other than one containing the worst features of a sliding scale—viz., its sudden transitions and the encourage ment which it holci,s out to extensive frauds upon the revenue, the consumer, and the producer ? Upon this point we cannot resist quoting from the able and convincing speech of Mr. W. E. Gladstone, in which the fallacies of his lordship were held up with irresistible effect to the ridicule of the house and the country " What was now," asked Mr. Gladstone, " the objection to a fixed duty ? It was not merely that its advantages were much less than was pretended ; it was not merely that it dit] not attain any in fact of those objects which were representet] as its inevitable result; but it was this—that it was, in point of fact —(loud cries of hear, hear,)—that it could not be maintained,—(hear, hear,)—for_ this reason, for this one, single reason—that it was impossible for the legislature to sustain ought beyond a merely nominal duty on corn when prices rose to a high rate. (Hear.) The noble lord, whom he did not wish to disturb, (Lord John having been thus caught napping,' some laughter ensued)—the noble lord had said, and had amused the house by saying, that a sliding scale was a very slippery thing. (Hear, and a laugh.) But a fixed duty was a still more slippery thing,—(hear, hear,)—because under the pressure of high prices it would be impossible for the legislature to retain such a duty. (Hear, hear.) Ap preciating as he did the authority of Mr. Canning (the best representative of Mr. Huskisson's commercial views in 1827) he would declare in that statesman's words, When you have famine in the workshop and in the cottage, it is out of the question for any government to dream of levying a tax upon that food by which alone life can generally be supported.' (Cries of hear, hear, from both sides of the house.) But why, indeed, should he appeal to authority so distant? Why should he not satisfy the house by an authority added, and in the most gratifying manner, to-night? (Hear, hear, and a laugh.) It stood upon the admission of the noble lord himself,—(hear, hear,)—courageous as was the noble lord in debate, skilful as he was in the tactics of that house, able as he was in support of his arguments, be they what they might,—(hear, bear, and a laugh,) the noble lord himself had said that night, that he abandoned his former `fixed' position. (Hear, hear.) The noble lord had declared, and most truly, that it would be impossible to levy a duty beyond a certain price. (Hear.) There must be a provision, said the noble lord, enabling the government to fix a minimum price for reducing the duty in case of high prices ; the only question was in the mode of adjustment, and, notwithstanding the noble lord's abhorrence of frauds,—(a laugh)—notwithstanding all the noble lord had said and written upon the subject of a sub stituted fixed duty and its excellencies, the noble lord now was ready, it appeared, to embrace,—to swallow—the average system, and to have a minimum price fixed. (Hear, hear.) The jumps' of the present scale were great, by 2s. and 35., but the noble lord surpassed them all in jumping," and poSitively leaped Bs. at once." (Hear, hear, and laughter.) The idea of a fixed duty, then, determinable or not at any given point, is evidently totally untenable. In the one case, it opens the door to frauds upon the ave rages equal to any which have been carried on under the present " jumping " scale, holding out as a pre mium upon the success of such frauds, the remission of the whole duty, at once, whatever it may be. It knocks down, too, the most forcible argument in fa vour of a fixed duty—viz., that its greater certainty will place the distant markets of Odessa and the United States upon an equality of advantage with the nearer markets of the Baltic. On the other hand a fixed duty, not determinable, holds out every induce ment to the endeavours of agitation to overawe the le gislature, and must be swept away entirely on the first occurrence of popular discontent and co-existing high prices. The question, then, as to the modification of the corn laws must, for the future, rest, except as to trifling details, between the supporters of the ministerial mea sure and the total abolitionists. The leader of the House of Commons, upon this question, is no longer Lord John Russell, who is now virtually deposed from his usurped prominence, and must either fall back into the ranks of the supporters of protection by the slid ing scale, or follow in sullen and ignominious subjec tion, at the heels of the Cobdens and Villierses—the ultra section of the House of Commons—and join in the cry for " total and immediate repeal." " Protec tion or nos protection"—" native agriculture" or " the dependence of Great Britain for the bread of her peo ple upon the corn growers of foreign states" must for the future be the questions upon which the battles of party must be fought ; and relying, as we do, firmly and unhesitatingly, upon the stern good sense of the British people, we have no fear of the result, let agita tion do its worst. We adverted in our last to the state of demi-lunacy which had been manifested amongst the anti-corn-law gentlemen of Manchester, on first learning the nature of the ministerial corn-law measure. We did then feel a hope that time and reflection would shortly alleviate the symptoms, and that ultimately our good neigh hours would cool down into something like a surly ac quiescence with the government views ; but we have been sadly deceived in this expectation, and we regret to say that the complaint appears now to have become permanently• seated. It pervades alike male and fe male, the leaguers and the ladies ; and unless kept down by the strong hand by shaving and blistering, or by strong doses of the pump, is likely to lead to some awful catrastrophes. To enable our readers to judge of the extent of the mania, we shall give a few specimens of the proceed ings of the afflicted, from the columns of the Manches ter Guardian, Who, by the way, has at length become seriously alarmed for the results of the madness which in his very last publication he was so strenuously en deavouring to excite. On Tuesday last a GREAT Bo- ROUGH MEETING was held at the Town-hall, Man chester, convened by the Mayor, upon the requisition of one thousand and eighty-six (.9 individuals and firms, and including " a great number of the principal mer chants, manufacturers, bankers, tradesmen, &c., of the town. From such a meeting, of course, something like rational and respectable proceedings might have been anticipated ; and the public will therefore be a little surprised to see "merchants, manufacturers, bank ers, &c." deliberately "going the whole hog" of the wildest CHARTISM, and applauding incendiarism to the echo. Our readers have, we dare say, heard of a gentleman of the name of Brooks—John Brooks—and of his somewhat uproarious proceedings as a delegate to the convention in London. Of the frantic condition in which he has come home to his counting house and his calicoes let honest John himself speak : " He had been to London last week, and he had come back resolved to unite with the working classes. He had signed the document in favour of universal suffrage—(cheers)---be cause he was convinced that all their agitation was in vain ; that they never would gain any measure till there was a cordial union between the middle and the labouring classes." (Renewed cheers.) From a man who was a few years ago chairman of the committee of a Conservative candidate for Man chester, this will perhaps be considered tolerably good. A Mr. It. It. Moore rhapsodizes at the same meeting in the following style : " Oh ! I beg of you, as you value your rights, as you seek to take the power from your oppressors, be united and peace ful,—resist no power, but support no power. Don't serve as soldiers or sailors or police ; don't pay taxes in money. (Cheers.) Some of you, lam sure, have heard it already ; but I will repeat it for you :—On Friday last, about thirty or forty ladies in the bazaar signed a pledge not to pay assessed taxes in money, but in goods,—(applause)—and not to use taxed luxuries until the people obtained their rights." (Applause.) Pretty good again ! and especially that part of it which relates to the ladies. They will pay no taxes, sweet creatures (!) except in goods; and we trust the collectors will he gentle with them, and let them off easily, as all ladies ought to he. The lords of the creation, we are sure, will readily subscribe, rather than that a bailiff should rudely distrain the china, the work-bas kets, or the scissors, thimbles, or needlecases of these fair politicians. But let us see what says Mr. James Howie, who is a Radical of the first water : " For himself he might remark, that he was no new advo cate of universal suffrage. Ever since 1815, since the passing of the corn bill, he had been persuaded that the great source of all our political evils was the want of a government truly responsible to the people, instead of a government, like the present one, which depends on the will of the landed aristo cracy. (Cheers.) He had lately happened to see, in a book seller's window in this town, a print representing ' Auld Nick' sitting in council in pandemonium ; and he could not help conceiving the artist to have been a bit of a wag, for he had so contrived the picture as to make it look exceedingly like the House of Lords in 1815, at the time when the corn ill was passed. (Laughter and cheers.) In the first place, there was a strong resemblance between his satanic majesty and the Chancellor of the House of Lords ; and it so happened, that on the right hand of that personage there sat a row of fiendish-looking councillors, who reminded him very much of the venerable bench of bishops." No doubt the comparison of the " venerable Bench of Bishops" to " a row of fiendish-looking councillors" was received with tremendous " laughter and cheers" by the many " good churchmen " who were present at this meeting; but on this point the chronicler is si lent. One other quotation and we are done. The speaker, we may mention, is a Mr. Duffy—of course an emi nent paythriot of the death's-head-and-cross-bones school of oratory : " Let him remind Sir Robert Peel, that not ten years had elapsed since the masters of Paris closed their shops, shut up their places of labour, and threw the population into the streets, which sent a tyrant king about his business. (Hear.) If the master manufacturers of Manchester, of Sheffield, and of Birmingham, these great hives of industry, acting with all concord, and in the spirit of Christian feeling and good citizenship, were to close their mills and shops, and to tell the people, we cannot employ you, because we cannot reap any fruit from your labour,—we cannot secure to capital, skill, ingenuity, and labour, their just reward,' the great body of people thus thrown out of food and employment in the face of heaven, would soon vindicate their rights, and send the tories to the right-about." (Cheers.) The " true spirit of Christian feeling and good fellow ship" of the course here recommended "beats cock fighting," and is a flight above the great Daniel him self ! We may remark, in conclusion, that at this and other meetings tile monomaniacs have come to the re solution not only to refrain from the consumption of exciseable commodities but to refuse payment of all government taxes. Be it so, we say, gentlemen of the League ; refuse the payment of assessed taxes, poor rates and all, if you like, and be struck off the burgess and parliamentary registers for your pains ! Have these frantic people taken this contingency into their sage consideration ? If we were not well acquainted with the ordinary tactics of the Liberal faction ; if we were ignorant with what -facility rabble gatherings are magnified into "great demonstrations," we should have been satisfied to pass over the pitiable exhibit ion which took place on Wednesday last, at the Amphitheatre, with its fitting contempt. We should have permitted the rump of our local Radicalism to chuckle in its frothyness and feebleness; and left to its Jupiter Tonans—the amiable William Rathbone—the enjoyment of the pleasing de lusion that his nod had shaken Olympus, and his screech-owl notes had frighted tile stars into eclipse. We know these gentlemen however—their tricky dis honesty and their unscrupulous mendacity—when a party object is to be secured. 'We know , how readily tee pen of "liberal" journalism can - magnify a wren into a falcon, an owl into an eagle, the twitter of a dung-hill sparrow into the voice of the' thunder; and we are, therefore, compelled to reduce this farce, and the small beings who performed in it, into something like their proper dimensions. First, then, let us ask, who were mighty movers in the scene ? Who were the platform people ? Why, the battered remnant—the ultimate and penultimate joints of the tail of the defunct Whig body in Liver pool. Rathbone, the rejected, Holland, the rejected, Mullineui, the rejected, Blackburn, the rejected—in fine, the rejected all,—the refuse, the sweepings of the council chamber, with a sprinkling of dissenting reve rends, with all the respectables of the anti-monopoly association and a hired itinerant of the anti-corn-law league—the eloquent George Thomson ! The aristo cracy of the Liberal party of Liverpool—where were they upon the occasion ? We could have enfolded all that we saw of them in the skirts of our " Down. the- Road." But who were the audience—who were "the meet ing" in fact ? Ithprimis. A few, a very few ladies in poke bonnets, of that cut peculiar to the females of the Society of Friends; a few ladies in other descriptions of attire, all of whom we should much have preferred seeing in their various kitchens or drawing-rooms, ruling the roast and boil, sewing, knitting, or even novel reading. These, with a few male tabbies in attendance, composed the box audience ; and as for gallery, pit, and circle, " motley was your only weacr A Punch and Judy show would have attracted pre cisely the same audience—which consisted of working people going to, or returning from, their dinners ; office boys, idle carriers from the adjacent fish and fruit markets, and other similar enlightened politicians; and an exhibition of Mr. Acland, the bottle conjuror, would have succeeded in doing what George Thomson and William Rathbone, who are no conjurors, tried in vain —viz., filling the theatre. We will not attempt to characterise the rant and fustian of which the various speakers were delivered upon the occasion—how 'Wm. Rathbone was almost carried off in a whirlwind of passion, and " grinned most horribly a ghastly grin" at something or some body "in nubibus ;" how Mr. James Mullineux roared like the wind rushing past the bunghole of an empty gin vat; how Mr. Charles Holland, having hammered his head in vain to beat out an idea, took to hammering his hat crown, whicli, from the sound pro duced, seemed equally empty ; how Mr. Shiel mouthed and spit out a vast quantity of beautiful brogue; how Mr. Lawrence Heyworth, the king of the tee•totallers, turned up his eyes, looked unutterable things at the ladies in the boxes, and forthwith burst into a torrent of eloquence, which flowed for awhile like the stream of a garden water-engine or a temperance tea-not, then trickled and dribbled, and at length run itself dry; how a very nice young gentleman —a Mr. Roberts — repeated from a paper some very witty things ; and last not least, in his own estimation and that of the ladies, how Mr. George Thompson "spoke daggers" and rebel lion "for two hours, by Shrewsbury clock," whilst we went to dinner. All these things will, no doubt, be Chronicled and Journalized—borne by our "winged Mercury" to the ends of the earth, and further, as the proceedings of the GREAT LIVERPOOL ANTI-CORN LAW DEMONSTRATION. We, however, shall content ourselves with merely whispering to the world that the whole affair was a pitiful farce—a thing "full of sound and fury, signifying nothing"—a " demonstration" which is worthy of exciting just as much serious notice as the contortions of a galvanized goose or the efforts of a skinned eel to upset the dripping dish. The somewhat crotchety gentlemen, who compose the majority of the Liverpool Chamber of Commerce, have already memorialized the House of Commons in opposition to the measure of corn laws brought for ward by her Majesty's Government; and their voice has been backed by the yell of the frantic meeting held on 'Wednesday at the Amphitheatre. We have certainly not much fear that the opinions of these bodies will materially influence the determination of Sir Robert Peel, sanctioned as his measure has now been by a triumphant majority of the House of Commons; yet we cannot but suggest to the Conservative merchants, and the Conservative inhabitants, generally, of the borough, that it is not less their bounden, than it ought to be their gratifying, duty to strengthen the hands of the right honourable baronet by some expression 'of their confidence in and approval of his policy. When certain men combine good men should unite ; and earnestly, then, we call upon the Conservative body of Liverpool to let their voice be heard upon this question within the walls of Parliament, and throughout the country. We need not suggest the mode of proceeding, or say with what satisfaction such a movement of the Conser vative merchants and people of Liverpool would be welcomed—aye and echoed too—throughout Conser vative England. We have never anticipated for the states of the Ame rican union any permanent adhesion. The agitation of the " nullification" question, at the settlement of the tariff in 1833, displayed in strong and startling vivid ness the smouldering embers of future disruption; and although the events of the last ten years have, to some extent, changed the current of feeling in America with respect to the policy of maintaining the union, and the threat of dissolution now comes from an opposite di rection, its realization is not less imminent, and the fragility of the bond which cements the north and south is not less apparent. Conflicting interests, each requiring a different commercial policy, still remain ; and they are only held together now by the tenacity with which the southern states cling to that system of internal slavery, which they fear will burst in ruin on their heads whenever a dissolution of the union throws them back upon their unaided strength. We pointed attention briefly, in our third edition of Tuesday,, to a meeting which was held on the 28th ult. in Boston, at which resolutions, of the strongest and most determined character, were directed against the existence of slavery in the district of Columbia. We noticed at the same time the violent tone in which the right to petition for a dissolution of the union had been discussed in Congress. In the agitation of these questions, and in the virulence of spirit displayed on both sides, we confess, we see strongly developed the symptoms of an approaching embroilment amongst the different states of the union; and whenever that cala mity shall ar ri ve , it i s impossible, we think, th at i t can pass over without producing events, ultimately perhaps calculated to be beneficial to the human race, yet cer tain to be attended with scenes of bloodshed and horror which the mind shudders to contemplate, That the southern states, in such an event, with the freed negro population of the West Indian islands and British Guiana within sight almost of their shores, will be enabled to hold in subjection their own overwhelm ing slave population, is too problematical to be hoped for, even if hope could be justified in such a - case; and however much, on Christian grounds, or on the grounds of humanity, the liberation of the negro race through out the world may be ardently prayed for, we are not prepared to welcome such an event, achieved by means of the desolation and ruin which must attend a slave insurrection. We yield to no one in our desire to see the system of slavery put down throughout the world; but we cannot view with satisfaction that consummation ef fected by the devastation of half a continent. Such a calamity, however, we are satisfied, now threatens the southern states of America ; and in the tone of solemn and friendly warning we would urge upon our trans atlantic brethren to be beforehand with the evil—to throw from them the evil thing which presses them down into dependence, and to take their stand upon the wise and holy admonition—BE JUST AND FEAR NOT! LOCAL NEWS. The Cheshire Hounds will meet to-morrow, or (Saturday,) ' the 19th instant, at Goostrey Village ; Monday, th e 21 st, a t Oulton • Wednesday, the 23d, at'Tatton Park ; Th urs d ay, the 24th, at Withington Hall ; Saturday, the 26th, at Norton Priury.—At half-past ten o'clock. BIRKENHEAD FA IR.—The next quarterly fair is announced to take place on Tuesday next, the 22nd instant. It is ex pected that there will be an excellent show of horses, cattle, pigs, &c. Lord Sandon presented a petition from the Chamber of Commerce of Liverpool, recommending a fixed duty instead of the sliding scale, and suggesting the propriety of a longer time being given for striking the averages.—Tuesday's Par liamentary Proceedings.—[W hat length of time do the wise acres require for striking the averages? A very short one, we opine, if their " recommendation" be carried out.] CHARACTERS TO SERVANTS.—It cannot be too generally known, that an individual Who gives otherwise than a good character of his servant, is now liable to an action of libel, and to have damages awarded against him if he does not prove, to the satisfaction of a jury,, that the character is a true one. Until the case of " Fountain v. Bootle and wife," heard before Lord Denham on Friday last, these were held to be privileged communications. What will be the effect of this new doctrine remains to be proved, in case the deci sion is to be considered final. It will not be safe, as hereto fore, to plead the general issue alone. DISTRESS IN PAISLEY.—The very great distress that pre vails in Paisley, renders it necessary that some exertions should be made by the natives of Scotland in this country, who are in a prosperous state, to assist their brethren. Eng lishmen will, we are sure, join heart and hand in such a cause. An opportunity now offers of carrying out the good work, as will be seen by the announcement that, on Sunday next, a sermon will be preached at the Scotch Church, when a col lection will be made for the benefit of the Paisley weavers. ALLEGED STARVATION ON SIIIEBOARD.--10 our last we gave the evidence adduced against the captain and mate of a schooner recently arrived from Tampico, or► a charge of starving the crew. On Wednesday the case was again called on, when the captain and mate both answered. The deposi tions of the several witnesses had meanwhile been reduced to writing. They were read to the accused, sworn to. and signed. Mr. Rushton then ordered the captain and mate to give se curity to appear at the next sessions of the Central Criminal Court, to answer any indictment that might be preferred against them for murder. The sureties required from the captain were himself in £2OO, and two others in £5O each. The sureties required from the mate were himself in £lOO, and two sureties in £3O each. The captain immediately entered into the required recognizances, but the mate not being able to give bail was committed to gaol. The witnesses were bound over to appear and give evidence. NORTHERN CIRCUIT.—The following appears in Tues day's Gazette as the route of the judges for this circuit:— Durham—Monday, Feb. 21. at Durham. Town of New castle-upon-Tyne--Friday, Feb. 25, at the Castle of New castle-upon-Tyne. Northumberland—The same day, at the Guildhall of Newcastle-upon-Tyne. Yorkshire—Wednes day, March 2, at the Castle of York. City of York—The same day, at the Guildhall of the said city of York. Cum berland—Friday, March 4, at Carlisle. Westmoreland— Wednesday, March 9, at Appleby. Lancashire, Northern Division—Saturday, March 12, at Lancaster. Lancashire, Southern Division—Thursday, March 24, at Liverpool.— The judges are Barons Parke and Rolfe, and Mr. Justice Wigh tman. MEETING OF TILE DOCK COMMITTEE.—The Dock Com mittee held their weekly meeting yesterday, when the follow ing members were present :—Messrs. Horsfall, Barclay, Holmes, Middleton, Molyneux, Sandb ac h, M e ll or, E vans, Tobin, Shand, Bold, and Ripley. In the absence of Mr. Sands, chairman of the committee, Mr. Horsfall, the deputy chairman, presided. The sub-committee for the department of the telegraphs recommended John Rowland to be ap pointed to the vacant situation in the telegraph-office.— Agreed to.—A complaint by Captain Bevis, on the part of Captain Snaithit, commander of her Majesty's steamer Me dina, of the conduct of the master and one of the gatemen at Waterloo Dock, on the morning of the 15th instant, when the steamer was coming off the gridiron in Prince's Dock Basin, of insolence, and no officer being on the spot, was in vestigated at considerable length. The dock master clearly showed that he was in no way connected with the affair, and as to the gateman, whose name is Cummins it was established that he was in some d egree to blame. Hei was, therefore, cautioned to be more careful for the future. The committee then rose. IMPORTANT TO TRADESMEN.—At the t..ourt of Passage last week, before Charles Crompton, Esq., assessor, the fol lowing case was heard :—Mr. Murphy opened the pleadings, and stated that in the case his clients, Messrs. Jones add Corlett, tailors, were plaintiffs, and the Rev. J. Aspinall, de fendant. The action was brought against the latter to re cover the sum of £l3 65., being the amount due to the plain tiffs for work done for the defendant and his sons.—Mr. Raffles, counsel for the defendant, acknowledged, the delivery of the goods at the house of the Rev. J. Aspinall, in Aber cromby-square ; and also acknowledged that the charges were moderate ; but he contended that the father was not liable to pay debts contracted by his children.—The Learned Assessor said, according to the law, and especially several recent decisions of the judges, even in the case of infant chil dren, no liability could be placed on the father, except there was a distinct agreement proved to have been entered into by the parent.—Mr. Murphy thought the claim of the plaintiffs could not be disputed. One of the rev. gentleman's sons was 23 and the other 24 years of age. The goods were fur nished within thirteen months, and under such circum stances the money ought to be paid.—Mr. Murphy now called Thomas Brown who deposed, I am a boot-maker in Liver pool ; I have invariably done some little work for Mr. As pinall's family. In 1811 I did some work for the young chil dren; I tendered lay bill in the name of the Rev. J. As pinall ; one job I did was making a grown up pair of boots (general laughter), that is to say a man's pair. I took the bill for the grown up pair to Mrs. Aspinall, and she paid me for them. —Mr. Murphy, addressing the witness, is it not a custom in Liverpool for heads of families to pay their chil dren's debts ?—Mr. Brown.—l can't tell that, sir, because I'm not a law -maker.—The Learned Assessor observed that the law was particular about younger children ; but when they were 23 or 21 years of age, it was a hard case that debts could not be recovered while they were under their parent's roof unemployed ; and it was harder still that parents should not be liable for contracts made by infant children. Be hoped a speedy amendment would be made in the law in these respects.—The plaintiffs were nonsuited. lavEarooL TOWN MISSION.—On Wednesday evening the 13th annual meeting of the Town Mission was held at the Music Hall, and'•was very numerously and respectably attended. The chair was occupied by John Cropper, Esq. Mr. Jones read the report, from which it appeared that vast numbers of the local population are in a state of spiritual privation, and that the immense majority of the poorer classes are in the constant habit of neglecting the means of grace. In less than 300 streets there are upwards of 15,000 children who never frequent any schools. The present dis tress was felt to be a great hindrance to the spread of the gospel, and lead in many instances to Sabbath profanation. In 274 of the streets 9,000 families have been discovered without any portion of the word of God. The mission has 18 agents employed, who pay 1,450 domiciliary visits, and hold 80 religious meetings at the houses of the poor every week. They visit the Night Asylum five times every week, and speak of the love of God in Christ Jesus to the unfortu nate inmates of that place. Several adult schools had been opened during the year : and tracts had been distributed to the Irish reapers, the crowds collected at the assizes, the people going to the races, and those who attended the meet ing of the Royal Agricultural Society in July last. During the year the agents paid 64,565 visits, of which 14,340 were to the sick ; they held 3,152 religious meetings and 138 meet ings in the open air; they circulated 1,715 religious books and 68,000 tracts ; they had relieved 700 cases of extreme distress, out of an extra fund placed at their disposal by be nevolent persons, to the amount of £B5. Through their in strumentality 102 persons had been added to various churches during the year, and many had died in faith who first heard. the glad tidings of the gospel frenn their lips. The balance in the treasurer's hands amounted at present to £179 Ils. 6d. The Rev. Mr. Lister moved the adoption of the report ; after which several other speakers ably advocated the claims of the mission to public support. FRAUDS ON TIIE BUTTER TRADE.—The Cork,uonstitu lion of Tuesday publishes the following letter, from a gen tleman who was sent by a committee of merchants at Cork to inquire into the nature and extent of the frauds commit ted by the Hamburgh merchants : " Liverpool. F e b. 7, 1 842. " DEAR SIR,—I have made every inquiry in my po wer with respect to the butter imported here from Hamburgh, &c., and have to inform you, for the information of the com mittee of merchants, that nearly ail butter so imported was exported previously to my arriving here. There remains a small parcel of it in the bonded stores, but I have not yet been able to see it. I have given the transaction all the pub licity I could, and believe that the speculation will not be very profitable. " Some of the merchants here think it would be advisable that I should remain here some days longer, as it is probable that a new arrival may take pl ace. At the back of this you, have the places to which the butter has been shipped, to gether with the quantity:— " 1841.. December 22d .. GO firkins.... Honduras. " 1842.. January 21st.. 114 do. .... Rio de Janeiro. 14 It 22d .. 50 d o . .... Trinidad. f t 276.. 100 do. .. Malta' IS id ft 28th., 150 d o. .... B a hia. PI 11 4d 50 do. „ Honduras. 9, f • • 120 do. .... Rio. firkins. " I understand that all the 6ll above were marked on tl heads Casey Brothers, Cork,' but cannot, learn Whether tbo committees' brand was used or not. " I remain, dear sir, your's truly, " RICHARD TOWNLY. " Commercial Hotel, Dale-street, Liverpool. " To George Atkins, Esq., Cork." An event of a distressing description occurred at her Ma jesty's dock-yard, Sheerness, on Sunday, in the river, off the Pier. A boat, belonging to the Hawk, 74, capsized with nine persons, six of whom met with a watery grave. „- - - IND ISPOSITION OF THE KING OF YRUSSIA.--DUSSEL DORF, FEB. B.—We have received the painful intelligence that his Majesty, our beloved monarch, is suffering under a severe cold caught at Woolwich whilst inspecting the military esta blishments of that place and witnessing the exercises of the artillery. The consequences are viol ent cough and catarrh. On the 6th, when the king reached the Hague, the physicians in atendance on his Majesty earnestly recommended that the journey by way of Aix, Rolu, Dusseldorf, and Elberfield should be relinquished, and that the king should return by the shortest route to Berlin. His Majesty reluctantly yielded to these representations, but proposes in the forth coming autumn to pay a visit ta his beloved Rheinlands.