Northern Times. — Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1857-07-01 00:00:00

ROBERT MIILLINER, Successor to GOILST CO.), (Late with Wm. °roc, London), CARRIAGE AND Il tRNMSS INUFACTUD,ER, S 9 and al, GREAT CEIARLOTT-STREET, LIVERPOOL., MAIC7FACTUFLIC Ft OF IiVERY D CSCILIPTION OF FASHIONABLE CA.R.ItIAGES. ole Agent for the Patent Dioraples, for which a Prize Medal was asuarded at theGreit Exhibition. A Great Variety of New and Fashionable CARRIAGES always on view, which are ready tor :nainediate use. Estimates given for e pairs. CARRIAGES TAKEN IN EXCHANGE. Good Standing On moderate terms. Carriages Sold by Com a ission. Merchants supplied with Carriages for exportation on liberal GENTLEMEN'S SHIRTS, OF EVERY DESCRIPTION', Made to Measure on the most apprcred principles, combivnng a Gentlemanly Style and A CORRECT PIT. EVERY STYLE OF COLLAR MACE TO ORD R. E. BURDEN, 17, CHURCH-STREET, LIVERPOOL. Io Ilmerciat Tian. At twelve o'clock, at the brokers' office. 2, Dale . ..street, bale Gambier, 4 CaME4 Gingelly Oil, 50 casks Groune 1 Nut Oil; 45 casks Seed Oil, and 1,500 bags Ifyrabo'ains.—Browne, Hunter and Co. At ter.ive r.'clock, at the broker.' effice, 16, F ixcbange-buildings, 23 hhdi. Philadelphia Bark —J. H. tayner & Co. At twelve o'clock, at the brokers' office, 10 tons f apanvraz.d. —T. and H. Littledaie and Co. At twelve o'clock,. at Vie public saleroom, Ex , ;hangs-bnildings, los balei Madder Roots, 100 bags Sumac, and 37 casks Tatar.—Bower and Slack. At twelve o'clock, about 50 tons Myrabolam s.—Finlay, Lawrence and Lance. At twelve o'clock, at the brdker's office:, Lancaster-buildings, Tithebarn-street, 40 tons 51yrabolams.—Henry Wilde. At tyre ye o'clock, at the public sa eroom, Exchange-buildings, a quantity of Tartar.—Harpin and Co. At twelve o'clock, at the broker's office, 30, Exchange street East, 401 boxes Roll Sulphur.—Edmund Bowls. At twelve o'clock, at the broke 's offic. Exchange. buildings, 20 hales Dam - ged Cotton, and a quantity of iVet Pickings, Ropes and Rags. Michael Belcher and Co. For parthr.hT.rs see alvertisement.. AMUSEIENTS, PUBLIC) MEECING,S, arc. THIS DAY. itorn. AmPHITITEATRE—Dramatic Performance-7 p.m. V_RINGLER'S GRAND CLIQUE VARIETZ. Dale-gtrest-7 p.m. FazzmAsoN'S HALL—Gallery of Anato ny-11 a.m. to 10 p.m. HarAL CoLosserni—General Entertainment-6.10 p.m. ZOOLOGICAL GAZDENi—Grand tnd Varied Entertainments. t•' For parUculars see F. dvertisemeuts. g4e Rorthern WEDNESDAY, JUDY 1, 1857. THE DAY'S NEWS. The Select Committee of the House of Commons has concluded its inquiry respecting the Mersey Conservancy Bill. The whole' of the clauses un considered were gone through yesterday, and several amendments made. -Our readers will ob serve that Mr. Calvert made a determined effort-on the part of the Great Western aailway-Company, to secure to that body certain rights and privileges; but this Sir Jemes-Graharn resisted, remarking that the Great Western Railway Company were the pro moters of the bill, and the committee were obliged to create a new trust at their suggestion.; and yet they did not seem , to have confidence in their own trust. Failing in this attempt, Mr. Calvert next sought to have compensation for injuries sustained in consequence of the stream of the Mersey being diverted from its proper course by certain dock works on the Lancashire side of the-river The committee, although admitting that injury had been done to the Cheshire frontage, would not sonsect that the clause should -be retrospective. The °Conservancy Bill beingeompleted, a discus sion ensued, as to the course to be adopted with the Construction Bill Mr. Merewether, on the part of the. C,ornoratinn -I ,,, ti m At;r :? a would edispute the Committee's decision in the House. -of Lords. The -Construction Bill will be taken into consideration to-day. Her Xejesty the Queen paid her promised visit to the Art Treasures Ellibition, at Manchester, yesterday, where she met a cordial and -truly loyal reception. The Mayor of Manchester had the honauz of being knighted. The scene at-the Palace is deocribed as being one ofeanusualinterest. Great preparations were made 'for the occasion, not only in . Manchester, bat the borough of .Salford. Nothing could exceed the enthusiasm and loyalty of the LaWr thousands who congregated to do honour to the first of sovereigns, and the - best of ladies. - We are gratified to learn that her Majesty seemed in the enjoyment of excellent health and Spirits. The fact of the Princess Royal, and her inte-nded husband, Prince Frederick of Prussia being - present, added additional intereseto the whole affair. An address was presented to his goyal Highness from the Corporation of Man chestier. The eeretnony took place in the Town hall; and the Prince appears to have won the good opinioc. of all with whom he came in contact. Theellouse of Commons was last night engaged in dieeuesing the motion of Mr. Berkeley, for the adoption of Vote by Ballot. As a matter of course, the resolution was not carried. But the -vote of last night:is particularly interesting, from the fact that it is the first time we had the oppor unity of te.sting what real progress has been made in . the cause of Reform by the late general election s end the division list will be anxiously looked for. The debate was not characterised by any new argument, but the fact of so many election petitions being before the House, complaining of bribery and corruption, intimidation, and other acts of illegality, JAW have satiseed all sides of the House., that postpone as we may the adoption of the ballot, it must ultimately be conceded, as one of the beat meaos to do away with the many awl glaring evils connected with our parliamentary elections. TheChaecellor of the Exchequer op posed Mr. Berkeleyh emotion, on the ground that he could net consent to force uponethe people of this country institutimis altogether etheagnant to their habits and .feelings, and he morhover consi ders that the ballot w0p.14 not provide t;;a secrecy for which it was proposed. In corinceion with this subject, we may ,mention that, on Uoeday night, a large and highly iteduential meetipg was held in London, for the purpose of suppertiog the cause, Among the chief speakers were .the Eight Honourable Milnerklibs-on, who urged .at the time for argument upon the subject was gone by, and , that the present was the time for action. They had to compel Lord Palmerston to concede the ballot, and to make its part of his new Reform Bill. On a division, the motion for leave to bring in a bill upon the subject was rejected : the nunabere being 199 for, and 257 against—majority 68. We shall eablish the division list to-morrow, whereby our readers can perceive how honourable rhembers have ,acted up to their hustings pledges at the last general election The other parliamentary busi ness was net of any importance. We give-in another nart of this day'e impression, C brief report, of the exemination of Spoiler), who ie charged with the murd er o f M r. Little." The testi mony of his own daughter, Lucy, is very WON. ; against hi m , ,aed a altogether, there seems but little doubt that he has the diabolical assassin of the unfortunate Little. A telegraphic dispatch. dated yesterday evening, says that the accused maintains his composite°. The informations are in couttse of preparation by the crown, and it is supposed that the magistrates will commit him for trial when brought up this day, withoc t hearing any further evidence. What renders this case 1230143 awfully appaling, is the fact that there is reason to believe that Spollen very lately administered some poisonoue drug to his wife, and threatened to kill eny . one y. 49 would bring her doctor, Should this report turn out true, t l aere cannot be a doubt that if the wife had not ni.ade the disclosure which she did, more lives would have fallen a prey to his avarice and cupidity. The usual meeting of the Select Vestry was held yesterday, when Mr. Denton opened an irregular discussion respecting certain children who had been registered as protestants, but had been under the tuition of the Roman Catholic priest for the last twelve months. The discussion, like all other matters of a similar kind, ended in mere talk. The Chairman, Mr. Woodruff, made a statement of the efforts he and the Vestry Clerk had made on Monday, for the purpose of defeating the bill now before parliament, for the purpose of exempt ing from rating buildings erected for scientific and literary purposes. According to Mr. Woodruff's opinion, the spirit of the House is now against any extension of the principle of exemption. Mr. 'Denton's motion that, when a vacancy occurs at the Board, a fortnight's notice should be given of the name of any person to be proposed to fill up, was withdrawn by consent. We seem to be getting the annual crop of railway accidents. On Monday there was a dreadful dis aster took place at Kirby, on the Lancashire and Yorkshire line: no less than one hundred persons are said to have been seriotcly injured. The coroner's inquest on the victims on the North Kent line commenced formally yesterday, and was ad journed. The railway company and the government inspector are conducting independent investigations into the cause of the disaster. We may add that a case was heard in the Court of Exchequer yester day. A verdict of £l,OOO was awarded and appor tioned to the family of a person named Beckwith, who had .been killed on the Eastern Counties railway. If the North Kent Company are visited with verdicts like this, it will be a warning for greater - eitattion in future which will not soon be forgotten. The - Globe of last night states that it has reason to believe that their Majesties the Emperor and Empress of the French will pay a short vist to her Majesty and the Prince Consort, at Osborne, in the early part of August. It will be entirely of a private character, and it is not probable that the imperial visitors will extend their journey beyond her Majesty's marine'residence and its vicinity. The Continental intelligence this morning is of little import. From Paris we learn that a great effect has been produced by a leading article of the Journal des Debats, signed by PrevoatTaradal, a young but very able writer, in which the policy pursued by the old Orleanist organ during the elections is defended against the attacks of the Assembles Nationale and the Fusioni s t pa r ty in general, and which article amounts to a per fect and open rupture with the Fusionist party. Admiral Dubourdieu, who recently received :Prince Constantine at Toulon, has expired in the latter town from apoplexy. The deceased lost his left leg at Navaritto. Accounts from Algeria of the 22d announce that the military road constructed by the French army, along the territory conquered from the Beni-Ratten tribe, had been completed, and inaugurated with great ceremony and rejoicing. A letter from Vienna, in the Cologne Gazette, affirms that on the occasion of his second visit to Hungary, the Emperor will grant very consider able concessions to that country ; among them sn extension of the use of the Hungarian language. When the Emperor visited the public offices at Waitzen and saw documents relative to Hun garian affairs labelled in German, he inquired the reason of it, and was told that orders were given to that effect. " I never ordered anything of the kind," said his Majesty, in a tone of discontent. It is also expected that, likewise, more extension will be given to the national representation. By the arrival of the West India mail steamer Atrato, at Southampton, we have later advises frem the several islands and South America. The Atrato lost by yellow fever at St Thomas, eight of her crew, and at sea tour others. Among the latter were Lieutenant William Shaw, R.N., Admi ralty agent, and the fourth engineer. Four hands were left behind in hospital. The crew numbered 133, out of whom there had been forty cases of yellow fever, eleven proving fatal. The disease was raging among the shipping at St. Thomas, but the cases on shore were very few. The general news from the West Indies is not of im portance. The combined Court of Demerara had concluded' the business of the Session. and passed the Annual Tax Ordinance. The Import Duties were unchanged, but the Tonnage Dues had,. becia,A rocin.d . The south Pacific mail arrived at Panama on the _ _ _ Bth instant, with, 205,500 dots. for Europe. It; Chili, the fortnight had been unproductive o events of interest. The annual Congress is to meet at Santiago Business in Valparaiso has been dull, the seareity of specie continuing to create great diamlty. The new custom-house stores are so full, that Government has had to rent prlvate stores to accommodate the imports. Exports have been limited to bare, and ores of copper and silver, and hides. In Peru the revolution and the Chineha Islands still remain the. great bone of contention. As may be supposed, the revolution has by no means tendei to add to the protection of life.and property inTeru, and bad a state NS the country was in before it is still worse now, robberies and assassi , nations in the vicinity of Lima being of daily occurrence. The convention have • passed a decree abolishing the use of passports in Peru. The Screw Steam Ship Cintra arrived here yesterday morning', bringing Lisbon dates of the ,24tia ultimo, but is very meagre as regards political or general news. The Stock Mai ka:: was dull, but quotations were much the same as at the departure of the previous man. The Three per Cents. registered 4:31 to 46, and Coupons 45 to 45k. TEE recent intelligence from Hindostan is o an alarming , character. The ancient city of Delhi has been captured by a body a native troops, and after venting. their pent-up wrath against British rule and authority, they had proclaimed ag king, the son of the late filognl Emperor. The disaffection is not confined to alhi, for accounts from Ferozepore inform us that disturbances had taken place in that quarter. From answers gigten in both Houses of Parlia m-.nt, on Monday night, it appears that the Government are quite alive to the dangers of the case, and have already taken steps to send out a force of 14,000 troops, and thereby put an end to the rebellion; for such it has become in every sense of the term. The replies of Earl GRANVILLE and Mr. V. SMITH are pointedly confident that there is not any danger to the sovereignity of England over India by etliPse military emuteg, and that as soon as Gene-al ANSON appears before the gates of Delhi the mutinous troops would be subdued, and peace and order fully restored. Mr. SMITH si7o:tiea.ntly remarked, that if the mutiny was to ) e put down by vigour, judgment, or Provi df!ii.t., Lord £ANNIN, wriuld succeed. This is, !II (L)U most gratifying to the House of Commons, and the country at large. At the ti,ne, we cannot help thinking that there must be something rotten in our mode of goverhi 4. our Indian territory, when such treasonable displays are so frequent and serious. Uuder such circumstances, it behoves the 2;41 , 5 - et-flin g authorities a t h ome t o ask themsel ves the si mp l e Monday question, which Mr. DaRAELr put on night,—wh a t was the origin of the disaster ? 4nd having arrived at the true solution to such an inquiry, means can be taken for applying a more effectual remedy. There is, no doubt, very much in the character and habits of the people of India of which we are ignorant, and they have never yet been brought to feel that British control is for their advantage. The immense gulf which separates the religious and social institutions, and habits of thought of the subjects and their masters in the East has not yet been bridged over. True it is that we have not only convinced them of our power, but also protected them from the evils to which, by their own quarrels, they were exposed. Still, much more remains to be done. And before that can be executed —before the native population of India can be brought to understand and acknowledge that the British rule is for their benefit, political and social, they must be taught that all their attempts to dispute our sovereignty are not only futile, but miserable attempts to upset constitutional authority : nay, more—they must be taught, by stringent action, that they must submit to British power. Failing this, we must yield up all which the successful enterprise of the last century has placed in our bands. It is satisfactory to know that when the last Overland Mail was dispatched, active measures for the complete suppression of the rebellion were in progress. Troops from all sides were rapidly advancing upon Delhi, which was the stronghold of the mutineers. The disaffected which had committed such barbarous atrocities at Meerut had either been dispersed or exterminated, so that, as already observed, Delhi was the place where signal vengeance was to be taken for the treasonable designs and practices of a portion of our Indian army. The Com mander•-in-Chief was hasteniug forward from Umballah with her Majesty's 75th Regiment of Foot, the Ist Fusileers, 9th Lancers, two regi ments of native Infantry, and two troops of European Horse Artillery. He would find con siderable reinforcements at Meerut, and, thus strengthened, he would at once proceed against the doomed city of Delhi, the head and heart of the insurrectionary movement. In addition to this, we are pleased to learn that forces were being sent to our aid from Agra, where the Sepoy continues faithfully by the Lieutenant-Governor; and (besides other places,) from the respective provinces presided over by the constant Rajahs of Gwailor, Bhurtpore, and Putteeallah. So far, all this is highly srtisfactory and encouraging, and warrants the confident expectation, that not only shall British rule and supremacy be speedily restored, but that the instigators of these emotes shall meet and receive the summary vengeance which deeds so unholy and treasonable justly merit. Her Majesty's Government may rest assured that the country at large will support them in their endeavours to effect the foregoing purposes ; for, as Mr. DISRAELI well and truly reinarked, on Monday night, whatever might be the feeling in which the members of that House or the country might view the news from India, he was quite sure that there was a predominant sentiment, to which all others must be subservient, and that was a determination to support the Sovereign anti. her MAJESTY'S Government in all those measures which so grave and critical an emergency required-. But while we must energetically .repress all desire to dispute or subvert our authority in India, and punish those who originate such scenes as have taken place at Meerut, it is no less our duty to investigate the causes of such disaffection. We cannot afford to have such periodical risings in our Indian Poskessions. They indicate, without a doubt, that thee must be something egregiously rotten in the State of Hindostan. The interests not only of Britain, but of 100,000,000 of the human race, natives of India require that the system of government over them shall be such as to secure their allegiance. A conquered people always fear the power of .the conqueror ; but fidelity to the throne can never be secured by such a principle. We must, therefore, improve our mode of ruling over India, and induce our Indian subjects to give true allegiance to the British throne from a principle of love and respect, and conviction that from that power will spring the moral and social advancement of that great Empire. While, therefore, we emphatically repress this spirit of insubordination, we, should not ,lose sight of the fact that it is our duty to accompany that repression with acts of purification ; and if there be any truth in the statement that Lord CANNING is unequal to the duties of Governor.. General, a sense of duty should at once recall . him from his post, and the office be conferred upon a statesman who combines in his character all those qualities which are requisite for the successful government of our Indian Empire. SIR JAMES GRAHAM has been unable to induce the Dock Trustees or the Corporation to act upon his suggestions, and give up anv further oppo sition to the Mersey► Conservancy Bill. There is no doubt that Sir JAMES was by no means satisfied with this firm and judicious decision. It was to him quite an unexpected course; hut, under the circumstances, the only legitimate one which they could pursue. Had they acted otherwise, they would have deprived themselves of the privilege of adopting the " ulterior pro ceedings," alluded to by Mr. HopE SCOTT ; and we are not without confident hope that, no matter what may be the decision of the House of Com mons, the House of Lords will be slow indeed to sanction the leading principles of the bill in question, As we have before remarked, the THE. NORTHERN TIMES.-LIVERPOOL, WEDNESDAY, JULY 1. 1857. Chairman of the Committee to whom the House referred the bill, has acted in the most partizan manner, whilst the constitution of the Committee itself was most unfavourable to the interests of Liverpool. This was clearly evinced when Mr. PHILLIPS, on - Monday, objected to the clause relating to the transference of the Town Dues from the Corporation to the new Conservancy Board. He, and he alone, voted against this iniquitous attempt at public plunder, For the present, neither the Dock Trustees nor the Cor poration of Liverpool will interfere with the bill. After the Committee have considered the clauses, and reported to the House, it will be competent for Mr.HoRsFALL to move the rejection of the measure on its third reading. This we cannot expect to see carried, inasmuch as the Govern ment are pledged to its support; but, at the same time, it will give rise to an interesting discussion as to the legality of the Town Dues, and the expediency, as well as justice, of allowing the Dock-ratepayers to control and manage a property which does not belong to them. Again, when the Bill reaches the Lords, we may expect that then will be the last and grand struggle. To hear such legal luminaries as Lords BROUGHAM, ST. LEONARDS, WENSLEYDALE, CAMPBELL, &C., &C,, enunciate their views on such a question, will be interesting in the extreme; and cannot fail to satisfy the public at large as to the tampering, and we mistake the character of these distinguished noblemen if they do not efficaciously expose the fallacies propounded by Mr. HERON and his party. In discussing the Mersey Conservancy Bill, the House of Lords have several impor tant questions to investigate and determine —among them are the following : —Are the trade and commerce of the country impeded by the Liverpool Town Dues ? Have these been misappropriated ? And will it promote commerce and improve the condition of the industrial class, if they are transferred from the Corporation of Liverpool to the Mersey Conser vancy Board ? They will also require to look into the advantages to be derived from a re-construction of the Liverpool Dock Trust, as proposed by the promoters of the Bill in question. Now, any one who has perused the evidence of the supporters of the Bill, as well as the rebutting case made in behalf of the Corporation and the Dock Trustees, cannot fail to give a reply, and that, too, in the negative. First, as to the distribution of the Town Dues. Can any one dispute that they have been legitimately expended in the erection of a Custom-house, a Sailors' Home, in the foundation and support of an Observatory, in the building of St. George's hall, the widening and improvement of the streets and approaches round the Docks, the building of the great Landing-stages, and such Like useful works. From all these, the people of Liverpool are not the only persons who derive advantage, direct and indirect. The .people of Manchester, of Preston, Blackburn, Bolton, Warrington, Stock port, Rochdale, Oldham, &c., &c., can and do enjoy themselves whed they visit Liverpool. They perambulate on the landing-stage, they lounge in St. George's Hall ; the Sailors' Home ana the Custom-house attracts their attention. In fact, all our public buildings, which have been constructed out of the Town Dues, afford pleasure and gratification to our country cousins from Lancashire and Cheshire ; and it is surely great public accommodation to have such Law Courts provided for the southern division of Lancashire free of cost. We might proceed much further in the enumeration of positive and substantial advantage which these Town Dues have been conferring upon the country at large, but it is unnecessary, and all we could urge will not induce the Mersey Conservancy Bill Com mittee to undo their decision of Friday last. There is still another opportunity of defeating the measure, and surely our Corporate officials wil give the inhabitants of Liverpool an oppor tunity, in a public meeting assembled, of protesting against a measure so frought with consequences of a dan;erous character to the trade and commerce of Liverpool. WE confess that we have long been amongst those who inclined to the belief that " There was no hope for mankind on this side the grave." That the destiny of the masses was toil, toil, from morning till night—from week's end ,to week's-end—without, it may fairly be said, i a moment's cessation, except the brief period absolutely necessary to imbibe the food 'required to keep the human machile in something like working order. Political economy and economists have been alike hostile to the interests of the working classes, and utterly ignorant of their own. We boast of our abhorrence of negro slavery; we romance, we moralise, and we actually weep over the tales of African suffering, but we cannot afford a passing thought for the millions of white slaves who constitute the masses of our labouring population. What are these in reality but mere animated machines ?—employed only because it has not been possible as yet, to discover others to sup3rsede them. As their employment has been the result of necessity, and not of choice, the great object of the employer has been to tax the physical endurance of the employed to its utmost limits, and reduce the rate of remuneration to the lowest minimum. Unfortunately, the fierce competition of trade, and the usually over crowded state of tbe labour market, combined to render this state of things apparently inevitable. Strikes we have had in abundance—combi nations of workmen against masters, and masters against workmen—the results generally being ruinoas to the mass, and far from profitable to the few, while a spirit of hostility was displayed on both sides injurious alike to all. Fortunately, serious strikes have recently been of rarer occurrence than formerly : and when they have occurred, the same bitterness of feeling has not been exhibited on either side as was formerly the case. Many masters have discovered that in order to secure the willing services of their operatives, it became their own interest to extend many; indulgences which had formerly been denied them ; and all experience has shown the results to have been not only agreeable, bat profitable. The philanthropist, moralising over, and deploring the hard fate of the sons of labour, has ever admitted that nature never destined them to an eternity of toil—that they were entitled to partake of at least some of the bounties of Creation—to inhale occasionally the free and refreshing breezes of heaven, to cool their heated brow—to tread the green sward ; to listen to the songsters of the grove, or enjoy their evening stroll by the banks of some purling brook, or otherwise to taste some of the many charms of nature hitherto denied them; but then there "was no time to spare for such pur poses." The struggle for life demanded that every hour of their existence should be spew* the vitiated atmosphere of the factory or workshop,. or in partaking of that rest necessary to enable them to perform their daily round of toil ; and hence, although the hardship of their fate was deplored, and its injustice admitted, it was pronounced to be their fate, and beyond•the reach of a rational remedy. It appeared that the white slave's destiny was the result of an absolute decree of Providence—an evil beyon_l the reach of human amelioration. We have already said that, to a certain extent, we inherited this belief. A ray of hope has, however, broken in upon us. We have just risen from a perusal of the proceedings of the Liverpool Recreative Company, at their meeting held on Monday night at the Concert Hall. A Recreative Company ! What is the meaning of that ? We think we hear most of our readers exclaim. Who ever heard of such a thing ? say the Tommy Noodles and the Sairy Gamps. But, nevertheless, the thing is there, and it will, in the hands which have its direction, ultimately prove a great fact, other wise we are mistaken. The speakers on the occasion were, Messrs. J. R. JEFFERY, Chairman; W. RATHBONE, Rev. S. A. STEINTHALL, Mr. SAMUELSON, Rev. 11. S. BROWN, Mr. THOMAS, Mr. P. 11. RATHBONS, &c., &c. The speeches were all good, but Mr. JEFFERY'S was, indeed, a masterpiece. It was alike eloquent, argumentative, and conclusive. With such advocates the working daSses have no need to fear. Mr. JEFFERY'S sentiments do honour alike to the head and heart of the man who gave utterance to them, and they will find a response in the mind of every well-wisher of the working man. Mr. JEFFERY'S speech has not only done infinite credit to himself, as a philanthropist and a moral philosopher,. but it has conferred a dignity on the order to which he belongs. Here Ave have no clap-trap oratory— no appeals to the passions, prejudices, or fanaticisms of class—no electioneering perora tions about the " proud boast of Englishmen"— " the flag that braved a thousand years," &C., or " Britons never shall be slaves"—phrases resorted to by our popularity-hunters, to secure " one cheer more," or another round of the Kentish fire from their ignorant or deluded dupes. Mr. JEFFERY tells the working men that they are in reality slaves, and he points out a rational mode of obtaining rational liberty, if they will only prove true to themselves. Our own ex perience —and it has been considerable—con firms us in his statement, that the more leisure in reason you afford the working classes, the more will you wean them from habits of intemperance. But it is a libel on the characters of the vast majority of British workmen to say that they are drunkards. Of late years, the ameliOration in their condition has been considerable, and their habits have improved amazingly. In many large establishments a drunkard is even shunned by his fellow-workmen, when formerly a teeto taller would have been pointed at with the finger of scorn. We do not attribute this vast improve ment merely to the agency of temperance prin ---; ciptes. It is more the result of that steady progress which the working- man has recently been making in his material position. Take the majority of men in barragan whom you may chance to meet, even over their pint of beer, and you will find that drunkenness is: the exception, not the rule, Listen to their conversation, and you find that they read, and are capable of commenting with much shrewdnese and intelli gence on the evmts of the day; that profane language i s zare ly i n d u l ge d i n ; while, in treating on details co3nected with their business, they display a capacity e. id intelligence not possessed by their superiors. A 1 these men most require to develope their gcroci qualities to the fullest extent is, more leisur- and rational recreation. The Liverpool Recreative Company promise to provide these. and in their efforts to do so, we wish them " God speed." The perusal of their proceedings has led us to the conclusion that, after all, there is some hope for mankind. There THE COTTON S UPPLY Q UESTION.— There m ust be t wo Bides to everything, are even opp9site opinions on such a matter as the condition and prospects of our Cotton supply. As there is, however, no present opposi tion to the common impression that a regular and abun dant supply of cotton is a good thing, all opinions as to our safety or danger in regard to that supply are worth , attention. It is some time now since the Manchester Association was organised, for the purpose of obtaining' the removal of restrictions on the growth and preparation of cotton, and of spreading information and encouraging agricultural improvement with regard to a product which affords employment and subsistence to 3,000,000 cf our people.: On the 19th ultimo, a great public meeting on the subject of cotton supply was held at Manchester, when the speakers displayed a spirit of remeekable earnestness. The members of the Legislature who spoke made it distinctly understood that they wished to avoid' political discussion, in order not to complicate a pressing practical question with the perplexing r e l a ti ons of the tw o governments which rule India.. Lord Sta n l ey d eclared , and those who followed hien agreed, that all the in eting had to say about India was under the two heads of irri gation and means of transit—topics which might be treated without offence to either of the governments . This meeting was followed by a discussion in the House on Tuesday evening (adjourned to Tuesday next), on occasion of petitions from the Manchester Chamber of Commerce and the Corporation of Stockport, praying the House to promote the expenditure of capital on reproduc tive works in India. Nothing can be stronger than the representations made on all these occasions on the two , great points of the insufficiency and the precariousness of the supply of the raw material of our chief manufacture. The facts would appear too striking to admit of dissent from the popular conclusion from them; but there has been some apathy, even in Manchester itself; there have been odd incidents in the history of the last year, slowing an unaccountable officiousness in upholding the reputation of the American slave system ; and there are now scoffs put forth here and there, ridiculing the Cotton Panic, and accompanying some statements of the present and pro spective sufficiency of cotton which are worth a moment's consideration. The truth is disclosing itself at last, or people believe it is. They now perceive, or think they do, that the India Company is at the bottom of all th e opposition to thSt movement for enlarging and seaurin g our cotton supply, which to the world generally appear s to be a matter of the commonest prudence—the omission of which would be a sort of insanity. It was perplexing t o read, nine months ago, the report of an address, deli vered by a Mr. Dawson, before the section of Economic Science, when the British Association held its meeting at Cheltenham—the subject being Cotton, as the produce of Slave labour. We remarked at the time on the singular readiness of the lecturer to entangle himself in false reasonings from irrelevant facts, for the mere purpose, as it seemed, of flattering the vanity and soothing the solici tude of the Southern sleveholder. The act is now ex plained. Mr. Da,vson's paper was simply an anticipation of the pleas now brought forward by the admirers or the tools of the India Company, who aim at diverting some of the demand for improvement in India by keeping us dependent on the United States, or sending us roving ove r the rest of the world for cotton, on the strength of their assurance that we shall never get any worth having from India. Mr. DawSon's last proposition is so similar in bearing to some which have been put forth within a Week that it is impossible to doubt his being one of thong oppo nents of the new movement, who are doing the work of the India Company, while apparently consoling the British public about their supply of cotton. That proposition was as follows :—" In the present state of the commercial relations of the two countries the cotton planters of the United States are interested to the extent of two-thirds at least of their entire exportable produce in the mainte nance of the cottoa manufacture of the United Kingdom, and reciprocally, the cotton manufacturers of the United Kingdom, and through them the entire population of the kingdom, are interested to the extent of more than four fifths of the raw material of that manufacture in the existing arrangements for maintaining the cotton culture of the United States.." This is the point at which the pro moters and,the opponents of the new movement part off. The promoters see the danger of our being disappointed of a due supply of cotton from America by many accidents —by bad seasons, by a war, civil or foreign, but especially through the precarious condition of the institution of Slavery there. The foes of the movement, on the other hand, assert that as in the past we have got our cotton from America, so we must in the future; and that our prosperity, therefore, depends on every possible support being given to the existing labour system in the Slav e States, Perhaps the points of the controversy may be best given thus, the onus of the argument being necessarily thrown on the objectors to the movement :—The objectors say this—For seventy years we have derived our cotton from America; we now derive thence six-tenths of our supply. Cotton is the product of slave labour exclusively ; it is constantly and largely on the increase. For seventy years no total failure of the crop has occurred, and it is not likely that it ever will. If the slaves are freed, still they must labour to live ; •and no other sort of labourer can invade their monopoly, since none but negroes can cultivate cotton. If a war between the two countries should happen, we can punish the Americans by refusing to buy their commodity, quite as fatally as they can injure us by refusing to sell it. Finally, if the slaves should rise, they will be put down again at once, as 21,000,00:) of masters must be too much far 4,000,000 of slaves. The movers for cotton supply reply thus—That during the seventy years of our recourse to America for cotton, our supply has increased from one-third to six sevenths thence derived; and that a dependence which involves the occupation and maintenance of 3,000,000 of our people is too dangerous, and ought to be relieved by being divided aud spread over a larger area; that cotton is no longer thrphduct of slave labour exclusively, but of immigrant labour also.; and that the Germans have so greatly the advaliii74-the slaveholders in cheapness of production and thihuality of the produce, an to render 50111.3 radical social Jtages in ;the highest degree pro bable ; that such Partial -failures of the cotton crop as have occurred have cosrus so dear, as to suggest the necessity of providing ourselves airainst all future risk of the kind ; that if a war broke out, it would be no comfort to us for the failure of our raw material, that the Ameri cans were suffering equally from being unable to sell it, even if the case were true ; and, finally, that the slaves have not 21,000,000 of masters, 'but only 350,000, while every day disposes the 20,000,000 of non-slaveholders more and more to range themselves on the side of free labour against slavery. So much for the American part of the case. As for the Indiare%the opponents of the movement say this : — That Indian cotton is the worst ire the world, and that the great increase of quantity within a few years is unaccompanied by any improve ment in quality; that it is only one -seventh in value, and less than one-fourth in quantity of the American supply; that, while the whole area of India produces it, only the scantily-peopled districts have any for exporta tion ; and that, indeed, the increase of population in the valley of the Ganges prevents the exportation even of rice, its staple product ;'so,' that when this increase of population spreads, the inhabitants will have to import cotton ; that, dirty and bad as the native cotton is, other products—sugar, silk, indigo, &c.—were quite as bad till European capital and skill were applied to their produc tion ; that the value of these latter articles tieing now 15,000,0001., it is clear that cotton would have been taken in hand in like manner, if it could have been made to answer; that the products which have increased largely since trade with I n di a wa s thrown o p en are of a rune character, re qu i r i ng no a bility or skill ; and that though the Chinese can produce tea and silk with out the aid of European enterprise and capital, the Flindooe are quite incapable of any effort of the kind ; an d fi nally, that if by thanc o ori bgerera rais ed, s e d thatand crops cot t o o n f greater value irrigation or other methods, wast e l ands are restored to fertility, that fertility t would t b woulde so would be grown only as a second crop within the year. The movers for cott on supply answer thus:--:hat the very object of the move ment is to abolish the mischiefs by which Indian c o tt on is r rendered so bad as it is—the bad ness being involv e d i n the preparation of the wool, and not in the growth of the plant; that the growers of mall quantities cannot prepare the wool for want of capita!, , and are tempted to increase the weight of their com modity :by admixture of dirt ,and damp--evils which would be obviated by the establishment of the proper a PP4r4tijo 414 convenient centres, and by the opening of