The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser. — Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1846-02-03 00:00:00

Ely Etberimol .f?tanbarb. TUESDAY MORNING, FEB. 3, is kG. It is really astonishing to observe how effectually some men can blind themselves not only to the na tural consequences of their own acts, but even to the interpretation to be put upon the professed de signs of others. Some animals, we know, when menaced by their hunters, conceal their heads, and then imagine themselves in security; and there are legislators, and othe: men, possessed of intellect sufficient in ordinary matters, who, when party,ob jects are to he advanced, and party predilections to be indulged, possess the same weakness as the less noble branches of the creation ; who will not,—to use a somewhat vulgar but expressive phrase,— "look beyond their noses." Amongst this class of wilfully blind creatures, we place a late Whig Chancellor of the Exchequer, who rejoices in the title of Lord Monteagle, and is thus enabled to vent his absuOities in the upper chamber of the legislature. In the debate in the House of Lords, on Thurs day night, Lord Ashburton, a high authority, one would imagine, advanced the following remarks upon the policy of ministers •` A free trade, if it could be established, was common sense; but the question was how to establish a system of free trade in a country having such complicated interests and so artificial a system of trade as this country possessed. having other conntres with equally artificial systems of trade fencing and fie•ltting against the system of this coup try in every possible way, and the people of this country having a debt of £800,000,000 upon their shou'ders. If they could establish a system of free trade, he agreed that it would be consistent with common sense. The noble earl had said nothing about the article of lea amonest those which he had enumerated, and from which millions of revenue were derived.. This was an article of consump tion which the British farmer required, who had to enter into competition with others who obtained tea at one-third the price that he did. If they had tree trade, how were they to maintain their credit and pay their debt? They must maintain all these charges for revenue. The noble earl contended that it was an imputation on the British farmer to say that he could not meet the farmers of other countries.' He (Lord Ashburton) agreed in that; but the British farmer must not have his hands lied behind him. Did he meet the foreigner on equal terms? The farmer on the shores of the Baltic had his labour at 61. a-day to compete with the farmer of this country with his labour at 2s. a-day. It required no skill in political economy to discover that these two parties did not meet each other on equal terms." There are few, even amongst the leaguers them selves, who will be hardy enough to deny the jus tice of these remarks. They apply equally to the farmer and to other classes of producers. If we are to submit the industry of the country to the ordeal of competition with the industry of other countries, we must _not " tie its hands." A man cannot fight in fetters. It is the overweight in pro portion to the strength to bear it, which decides the race. Lord Monteagle, however, cannot recognize this doctrine. He is self-bewildered amongst the ques tions of protective duties and duties for revenue. In replying, or rather in attempting to reply, to the above, Lord Mouteagle says:— "They might argue that the revenue duties upon tea and tobacco were too high—that they had passed the maximum point of productiveness—but, until we were producers of tea in this country, and by free trade we could be producers of tobacco likewise, the tea and to bacco duties could have no more relation to the doctrine of free trade then had the state of our foreign relations at the present moment in India or elsewhere. (Hear, hear.) We cannot see how free trade is to enable us to become " producers of tobacco." It is to do great things, no doubt; but scarcely this. To come, however, to the article of tea, the high duty upon which Lord Monteagle says does not militate against the principle of free trade, or come within the scope of the opponents of protection, we must con tend that his lordship i 4 perversely blind. The tea and tobacco duties, he argues, are revenue duties ; and will, we presume, remain so, and remain intact, until we become producers of those articles ; aster which, we are to deduce from his argument, that they will be condemned by our theorists. But have the league never included these in their catalogue of restrictions upon extended intercourse with foreign nations? Undoubtedly they have. We have been told that tea is the principle article with which China can furnish us as a return for our exports ; and that we must cheapen it and increase its con sumption in this country to enable China to increase her imports of our goods. The decrease of the duty upon tobacco has been urged upon the same grounds, and also upon the ground that it enters largely into the comforts of the working man. Neither Lord Monteagle, nor the ministry, must be allowed to mislead themselves by the notion that they are dealing only with protective duties. They are dealing with the customs revenue of the country. They are bidding for an increase in the consump tion in this country, of every species of foreign produce, or manufacture, which can be made avail able, and profitable, as a return for exported Bri tish commodities. And moreover, they are driving us, by another course—the necessity, insisted upon by Mr. Baring, of every class, which is called upon to enter upon the race of competition, being enabled to do so " without having its hands tied behind its back," to sweep away, bit by bit, every duty levied upon articles imported, whether for revenue or for the protection of home manufactures. The league, on the one hand, will insist upon its bond; the con sumer and the labourer, on the other hand, will have and ought to have theirs. As a proof that the stone once set a-rolling cannot readily be arrested, and that the demand for further reductions of duties is not likely to he confined to any class or to any party, we beg to direct attention to our report, in another column, of a meeting of the East India and China Association of Liverpool, held on Thursday, to demand from Sir Robert Peel's Government a reduction of the duty upon tea. SUrely no minister, entertaining the opinions sviih respect to the advantages of free trade which Sir Robert Peel has expressed, can long resist such arguments as the following coming from a Conser vative merchant, Mr. Nicol. Referring to the great and increasing export of manufactures to China, as pointed out in a former memorial from the associa tion to government, Mr. Nicol remarked, that "If adequate returns could be found, they could scarcely know the limit to the export of the manufactures of this country, but that the trade was very much shac kled in finding returns and confined almost to silk and tea; it was pointed out that the high duty on tea acted as a great check to the consumption, and also to the returns they bad for their manufactures ; 'hey pointed out that an important reduction in duty would lead to a vast increase in the consumption, and that, consequently, the revenue would be little, if at all, injured by it, or if injured, i would be only for a short time. They went upon general principles, snail as guided men in large efforts, and they expected the statements would have met with some atten tion from Sir Robert Peel ; but not only had they been passed over altogether without notice, but he introduced a great number of paltry trifling things, the reduction of the duty on which would do a great deal more harm than good. One of the strongest arguments was, that China bad reduced the amount of duty on British manufactures, not exceeding five per cent. over head, but still the duties were left on the productions of China. How did the matter stand, on the other hand, as regarded Russia ? In Russia the duty was exceedingly high. One gentleman said he believed it to be sixpence a pound cn manufac tured twist, wkereas in China it was only a halfpenny. Yet Russia, where his duty amounted to 100 per cent., had his greatest consideration." There is both sound sense and sterling justice in these observations, and ultimately they must have their proper weight with the legislature., That they will influence Sir Robert Peel, however, to include the article •of tea amongst those affected by his present meazures, we do not believe. The sugges tion comes from an influential body of British merchants, with no party bias or combination to influence them in the course they are pursuing, and not from the members of a brawling conspiracy. It is to be laid before him for consideration in the respectful and constitutional form of a memorial, not dictated as the "sic volo sic Jubeo" of a body which holds in its hands the power of swamping the registries of the kingdom. It will he neglected therefore, for the present, although capable of being urged on the ground of morality, as affecting the sobriety and the diminution of crime, of the masses of consumers ; but it may ultimately he conceded, not for its beneficial tendency alone, but as leading to the full carrying out of the principle of Sir Robert Peel's present policy. It is not on account of any importance which attaches to the opinions of Lord Monteagle that we have made his remarks serve as the text of these observations. The most feeble of Chancellors df the Exchequer is not, even after being pitchforked into the peerage, an authority in our eyes. The remarks in question, however, afford us an opportu nity of directing the attention of our readers to the real ultimatum of the Free Trade party, and the full carrying out of their policy. Let it be borne in mind that the original argument of the league---only abandoned because it aroused the hostility of the operative masses and was too transparently selfish— was that they must have repeal of the corn laws, to enable them to cheapen the labour of their work- people * , which is as much a raw material of any branch of manufacture as the cotton, the silk, or the iron, which is its foundation. We have already cheapened the latter class of raw materials; and we shall be urged, by another course of agitation, to cheapen every article of consumption which enters into the composition of the former. 'rhe other argument upon which the league took refuge, when convinced that the cry for cheap labour would not go down with the country,—viz., the argument that we must place foreign commodities more within the reach of the consumer, so as to serve as returns for our exports,—will lead us to the same result. Both of them involve the ultimate abolition of all customs duties, and the substitution of some other mode of raising the public revenue. The able speech of Lord Ashley, on Thursday night, in urging his motion for leave to introduce a Ten Hours' Factory Bill, ought to decide the ques tion as to the practicability of such a measure being carried out, without injury either to employers or their operatives. •On the grounds of humanity and morality, the necessity of the measure has been proved years ago. His Lordship shews us now that the experiment of a reduction of the hours of labour for adults to eleven hours per day has been tried by Mr. Gardner, an extensive spinner and manufacturer of Preston; and the result has been, from Mr. Gardner's own data, that the total pro duce of working has not decreased at all. The leading argument, hitherto used against reduction, has been, that the produce would decrease in pro -portion with the reduction in time; and that, hence, reduction of wages must follow. No such reduc tion of wages has taken place in Mr. Gardner's mills. The quality of the work done was better, owing to the workers being able to retain their energies during the eleven hours of working more easily than during twelve. The health of the h'ands employed has undergone a marked improvement. In reply to Lord Ashley's question as to " the means of improvement, if any, which the diminution of daily labour was found to give to both sexes for the comfort and duties of domestic life," the follow ing statement was furnished him, by Mr. Gardner, which his Lordship considers "the most striking and satisfactory of all" : " When our mills worked 12 hours, the number that attended night school was 27, and a few months after the change they increased to 96 ; the female part of our hands turned their leisure time more to the needle, and those that are married, to their domestic concerns ; I be lieve there is a be.ter taste for reading among the work people ;' and he instances the demand fur Bibles and Testaments." We may add, that the hands themselves were uni versally satisfied with the change, and the best relations subsisted between them and their em plover. From other evidence adduced by his Lordship, it was shown that similar results had attended experi ments made in different parts of the country, where the time had been limited to ten hours a day. " In October last," he says, " I received a letter from a very large powerloom weaver in Scotland, who volun teered the communication to me, knowing the part I had taken on this question, and in what way I was likely to be engaged with it, and he says he has himself instituted the experiment, with these results :—' About six months ago we came to the resolution of employing our workpeople only 65 hours a-week, instead of 69 ; it has been entirely successful; we have had no reason to regret the change, neither have our - workpeople; we made no alteration in the wages, and there never was more earned in our works than at present by those employed at work paid by the piece. We have it in contemplation now to reduce our time to 60 hours. The morel have considered the matter, the more convinced have I become that for all parties a ten-hours' bill would be advantageous.' I have a similar report from a large worsted mill near Bradford ; the pro prietor says be has lately tried the ten-hours plan with profit and advantage I have unoiher report from a wool len mill near Leeds ; the overlooker says. the limitation of the hours of labour has been of incalculable benefit to the labourers, not only in relieving physical suffering, but in distributing the wages over a longer period. I have another report from a worsted weaver in the West Riding; he says, I have been trying the ten-hours' principle, and I get nearly as much work done as my neighbour gets, who works for a longer time.' A manufacturer in the West Riding writes, that he " used to-work 16 hours a-day, but he gets more work and better work in 10 than he ever did in 16.' (Hear, hear.) These are the results of experiments instituted in various parts of this country, and in every instance the amount of work produced has not fallen off, the wages have not diminished, the physical condition of the people has been much improved, they have turned to great moral advantage the time placed at their disposal, and the best understanding has arisen be tween the employer and the operative." As a further - encouragement to persevere in the cause of humanity, his Lordship shows, most con vincingly, the great amount of benefit to the working classes in factories, derived from past measures of amelioration, viz :—those measures of the past two sessions, by which the period of working children under thirteen years of age was reduced, first to eight hours, and subsequently to six hours per day; and that of young people between the ages of thir teen years and eighteen years, was limited to twelve hours per day. It was predicted that these changes would prove ruinous to those, for whose benefit they were expressly enacted. After noticing these pre dictions, his Lordship continues Now, let us see how far the prediction in regard to these classes was founded in truth. I shall take first the work ers between ,the ages of 13 and 18, whose labour was re stricted by the bill of 1833 to 12 hours a-day. The ave rage rate of wages for (hose young persons beforle the re striction of 1833 was ss. 4d. a-week ; the average rate of their wages since the restriction has been 6s. lid:a-week, thus showing an increase of 30 per cent. on the average drawn from the four large towns of Manchester, Bolton, Preston, and Oldham. (Hear.) It was predicted also that the wages of children would be reduced to a mere fraction. Now, observe that the average rate of wages for 'children under 13 years of age, at more than 12 hours a-day, before 1833, was 3s .ld. a-week. When the limitation took place that none under 13 years should be exposed to more than 8 hours a-day, there was no diminution whatever. Since that time Parliament has passed another law, restricting the labour of children under 13 to 6 hours. We have seen that with more than 12 hours' labour their average wages were 3s. ld. ; but during the period they have been work ing only 6 hours a-day, their average wages have been 2s. 2d. , a week. (Hear: And though the wages have in this way been less, yet, in many isastances, the families of these children have not suffered any loss. By the restriction of he hours of labour of these children, there has beep a greater demand for children of that age than formerly, and families that used to send one child to the factory now send two, by which the weekly wages are increased. (Hear.) So far, therefore, his Lordship's views are tri umphantly - confirmed, and those of the politico economical school, who opposed the ameliorations in question, have been completely 'overthrown, and proved to be worthless. Bit beyond this his Lord ship shows that these mea ,, ;, es have already exer cised a powerful effect, in ;:romoting the spread of education amongst the bily.iiring classes.— " It is difficult," he rema, " to obtain statistical in. formation as to the condition of children under 13 years of age before 18'33, but this we know, that very few were receiving any education at all. Now I have grounds to assert, there are working six hours a-day. and receiving three hours' education a-day, no less than 30,000 children between 8 and 13 years of aye. In Manchester, Bolton, and Preston, the increase of children at school is as eight to one, and these are exclusive of those who attend night schools; But the increase in school attendance of those above 13, who are kept al the .full period of labour, 12 hours a-day, is little or nothing." Of course, the latter is likely to be the case. The boy or girl, of 15 or 16 years of age, who has worked twelve hours a day in a factory, is more likely to feel an inclination for rest or sleep than for education; and by these classes, inconsequence, the night school is deserted. On this occasion, no Ministerial opposition was offered to his Lordship; and; therefore, we are as yet somewhat in the dark z; , l to the grounds upon which a Conservative Government can justify such opposition. Sufficient, however, fell from Sir Jamei Graham, on Thursday, to assure us of the fact that such opposition will be offered,—that, with respect to the overtoiled factory workers, as with respect to !-the Corn-laws, thP League and the Government are in the same boat. "; t will be expedient," Sir James says, "to postpone the discussion of the House upon the principle of this Bill until their opinion had been pronounced upon the great proposition of his Right Hon. Friend at the head of Government, in respect to the supply of Corn." But the Home Secretary leaves us in no doubt what his own course is likely to be, even should Lord Ashley he weak enough to concede to his expediency and postpone his measure until after the settlement of the Corn-laws. _ - - - - - • • " lie (Sir James) was bound to say, speaking for him self, that no decision with respect to the corn laws—inti mately connected as that subject was with the one now under discussion—could ever alter his opinion with res pect to interfering with adult labour in the manufactur ing districts. He could not anticipate that the noble lord would use —certainly he had never used—any arguments which could induce him to support the second reading of the bill. (Hear, hear.)" Sir James Graham is too much of a philosopher and leaguer to interfere with " adult labour in the manufacturing districts," or, to speak out of the jargon of political economy, he cannot bring him self to throw obstacles in the way of men, women, and helpless youth of both sexes, being worked to idiotcy and premature old age, to rear up fresh fab- THE LIVERPOOL STANDARD rics of wealth for selfish. millionaires. Yet what, we ask him, is the whole scheme of that " great propo sition" to which he refers—of the whole measure announced by Sir Robert Peel—but an interference, not only with the adult labour of the country, but of every description of labour ? There is not one branch of labour or of industry which it does not affect and unsettle. We trust that the Legislature will not, on this question of humanity, justice, and sound policy as well, he again dragooned by thei minister into stulti fying themselves, aad stifling the utterance and im peding the realization of iheir own convictions. The true interests of the agricu:turists, and of the labouring classes, have never found a more trusty, an abler, or a more chivalrous advocate than Mr. W. B. Ferrand, the member for Knareshro'. With unflinching courage he has ever, in Parliament as well as out of it, thrown himself into the breach, when the destructive and selfish policy of the day has sought to level a blow at either. He has faced the League in their strongholds; and, with a vigourons hand, has torn the mask of hypocrisy from statesmen and hollow-hearted philanthropists, whose policy, disguised by professions of superior virtue, is to "grind the faces of the poor," and to rob the labourer of his hire and his independence. During the past week, this sturdy champion has been adding largely to his claims upon the ad miration and the gratitude of his fellow-countrymen, by his efforts to arouse the Conservative feeling of the electors of the West Riding, and to secure to the Conservative party the representation of that important district of the County. But for his spirited interference it is exceedingly doubtful whether Lord Morpeth would not have been permitted to walk over the course. By. the aid of Mr. Ferrand, however, Mr. George Lane Fox will be brought to the poll ; and, whatever may be the result, it is certain that the League will be called upon to dis burse a portion of their quarter of a million fund, if they mean to carry their favourite candidate. In the mean time, the Honourable Member is engaged in the work of explaining to the working classes of the large towns throughout the Riding the character and objects of the League agitation ; and holding up to their view the probable effects of its success upon their own condition. On Wednesday last, he addressed a meeting of operatives and others, to the number of about 4,000 persons, in the Music-hail, in Leeds; and, although every effort was made by the League millowners to interrupt the proceedings —although overlooker , managers, and clerks at tended to overawe their assembled workpeople, and to give a signal for disturbance, he succeeded in carrying with him the feelings of the majority of his audience, and striking a heavy blow against the supporters of oppressive poor-laws and low wages, whilst the members of the League, by their inter ruptions, succeeded in exciting general disgust, and an impression/that they were afraid of allowing their dependents to have the truth publicly elicited. Another result of this meeting, and of the de termined stand made by Mr. Ferrand, has been to warn the advocates of League policy in the Riding of the necessity of vigorous exertion to save them selves from defeat. An extraordinary edition of the Leeds Mercury, published on the night of the meet ing, calls earnestly upon the Free-trade electors and canvassers, in a tone of evideqt alarm, to use in creased energy in behalf of their candidate. Another circumstance has occurred to increase this alarm. On Thursday,— "Mr. Anderson, of York, the Under-Sheriff, waited officially upon Mr. Ferrand, to ask him whether it wds seriously intended to contest the election, he wishing to know, in order that he might direct the-necessary arrange ments to be made ; and if so, whether he was prepared, on the part of the gentleman to be put in opposition to Lord Morpeth, to pay the usual legal expenses. Mr Fer rand said he was prepared, on the part of Mr. George Lane Fox, to say, that not only would a poll be demanded, and kept open to the latest day, but that his party were determined to win; and also that he was prepared at that moment to give a check for their portion of the legal ex penses, estimated, in the whole, at about £2,500. Mr. Anderson declined then to take a check, being satisfied with Mr. Ferrand's answer, and immediately communi cated the result of his interview to the High-Sheriff." There is no mistake, therefore, about this, or any other matter which Mr. Ferrand undertakes. He is not the man to turn back on account of ordinary obstacles. In consequence of the unfair and cowardly treat ment which he•experienced from the League hire lings on Wednesday, the honorable member issued, on the following day, an address commenting upon their conduct, of which the following are the concluding passages : " Thank God, their opposition and uproar were as pow erless as they were cowardly : the working men not only heard my voice above their uproar, but they shall have my address distribut-d among them throughout the riding. They heard toe challenge the League to an open air discussion in the Leeds Cloth-hall yard, upon the follow ing terms . . . _ " 1. That their party should be represented by a mem ber of parliament, because Mr. Cobden had always re fused to meet a working man in public discussion. "2. That all the mills should be closed, to allow the operatives to attend the meeting. " 3. That the overlookers of the League mills should not be allowed to compel the workmen to accompany them to the meeting, nor to force them to hold up their hands against their own conscientious convictions, as they have long been accustomed to do. " 4. That no working man shall be discharged. or mo lested, or fined, for attending the meeting, and holding up his hands in favour of my resolutions. " 5. To secure this protection to the working men, that the League manufacturers and their over lookers shall be excluded from the Cloth-hall yard, so that the operatives may not be entered in ' the black book.' "They heard this challenge given, and they saw the Leaguers slink away from accepting it. " The brutal treatment which 1 received at the hands of the League last night has completely opened the eyes of the few workpeople who supported them, and will cause my address to be read with ten times more attention. " Leaguers, I thank you for your services—follow me to Bradford to-night, and to Huddersfield on Saturday night—repeat the same brutal conduct, and bring the junior editor of the Leeds Mercury' with you again to propose three groans for the Queen,' which will be an appropriate conclusion to your reign of oppression and plunder. " Fellow-countrymen, I am, yours faithfully, " W. B. FERRAND.'' We shall see whether the League will accept his challenge, on these very fair and reasonable con ditions. On Thursday, Mr. Ferrand held a meeting of operatives, according to his promise, at Bradford, and there, notwithstanding every effort made by the League party to interrupt him, his indomitable courage bore him through, and the telling facts which he adduced of the selfishness of the League manufacturers and the tyranny of the system carried his audience with him; and here once more he dared the League to meet him in the open air, in Bradford, before an assemblage of operatives, on the conditions that neither masters nor overlookers should be pre sent. As a proof of the disgraceful conduct of the League, we may mention, that both at Leeds and Bradford, it was found, at the close of the meetings, that they had destroyed the bulk of the furniture of the places in which they were held. We trust that the example of Mr. Ferrand will not he lost upon the Conservative gentlemen of England. We are arriving at times in which every Englishman must be prepared to make sacrifices of ease, of comfort, and of money too, in defence of the institutions of his country, which are menaced by the march of innovation—by the treachery of rulers and the weakness of the people. If we are to witness the destruction of the best interests and the liberties of Englishmen, let us, at least, have the consolation to reflect that we have done our best to avert such a • calamity. Mr. Cobden is nowhere and nobody, if not en gaged in the game of agitation. The vanity of the man keeps him in a constant fret. He must be before the world—he must be doing something to keep the quondam Sussex farmer's son and corn. mercial traveller from sinking into the insignificance of his original position. One would have thought that the concessions contained in the proposed mea sures of Sir Robert Peel would have been sufficient to gratify any ordinary amount of craving after the world's adulations. The minister, however, whilst granting the boon of total repeal, postponed its oper ation for three years, substituting, meanwhile, for the present law, a greatly reduced scale of duties ; and Mr. Cobden, happy, we dare say, that he is not shelved for ever, by the immediate carrying out of his one idea, has eagerly seized the opportunity for a fresh career of agitation, by addressing a letter to the farmers, prompting them to ask leave to come and be 'killed at once instead of dying by degrees, which appears to he their most likely fate under the newly adjusted three years' scale. The following is the somewhat singular argument which be employs to enforce his appeal : " The Government measure proposes to abolish the corn law in February, 1849, putting on for the three in tervening years a new scale of duties, sliding from 10s. to 4s. The moment this law is passed, the duty will drop from 158. to Ct. Here will be change the first, fright the first, and with many I fear, panic the first. But thena will be no settlement. You will not be able to foretel whether the duty during the years 1847 and 1848 will be 4s. or 10s. It is quite probable that in February 1849, the duty will be 10s. ; if so, on the first of that month it will drop again suddenly, from 10s. to Is. Here will be change the second, fright the second, and possibly panic the second. The fat! of duty in these two changes would have amounted to, first, from 15s. to 4s. ; next, from 10s. to is., making, together, 20s. ; but mark, if the duty were immediately reduced, from 158. to is., the fall would be only 14s. So that by this clumsy contrivance you are not only to be kept for three years in a state of suspense and embarrassment. and exposed to double panics, but are lia ble to a drop of 20s. instead of 14s. duty ; you are actu ally subjected to the shock of the withdrawal of 6s. more of protection 1" What a notion the man must have of the intellect of those to whom he addresses this balderdash ! Drop the first, from 15i. to 4s.—and drop the second, from los. to ls. make up, it is true enough, 20s. as the amount of the two drops. But then, most ingenious disciple of Loyola !—most jesuitical of leaguers!—neither one "drop" nor the other regulates the price or the amount of protection de rived during the intermediate three years. If Mr. Cobden's prints "drop" 10s. a piece in this Febru ary 1846, and 10s. more in February 1849, is it thence to be inferred that Mr. Cobden will have been losing 10s. a piece upon his goods for the three years, or that he will lose 20s. afterwards ? The price of printed calicoes may rally after the glut or any other cause which has led to their suddt.n drop ; and the operation of Sir Robert Peel's new scale, we fancy, is likely to effect the same rise for wheat. If the duty under that scale is now likely, owing to • high prices, to be 4s. instead of 155., the low prices, induced by a low duty and extensive importations, is tolerably certain to bring into operation the other end of the scale before many months are over. A still more precious argument, however, Mr. Cobden advances to hambug the farmers. " From the moment that the new corn-law is passed" he says, " foreigners and col n importers will begin to make preparations for the day of its extinction ; they dread a sliding scale in any shape, owing to former losses, and will keep their :eyes steadily fixed upon the Ist of Feb ruary, 1849." Whereas the following, he contends, would be the operation of an immediate repeal There would then be no stock of foreign corn waiting for the opening of our ports. Nobody expected last year in Poland or America that the English corn-law would be repealed—nobody prepared for it ; not a bushel of grain was raised upon the chance of such an unlooked for con tingency. Is there an intelligent farmer in the kingdom that will not at once exclaim, If we are to have a repeal of the corn-law, give us it this spring, when the foreigner is unprepared for it, and when not a single quarter of corn sown after the news reaches him can be brought to this market in less than eighteen months.'" Of all the absurdity that ever we read, this is the most eminently absurd. With an immediate repeal we should have, in 1849, no stock of foreign corn "waiting for the opening of our ports," for the very palpable reason that we should ha , e had as much of it as our markets would sustain some two years previously; and presuming it to be correct that, "not a single quarter of corn sown after the news reaches the foreigner can be brought to this market in less than eighteen months," what is that to the purpose so far as the farmer is concerned ? His pro tection, meanwhile, will be much more efficacious, and the duty will go into his pocket, instead of that of the league speculators in grain. We should most strongly advise Mr. Cobden to lay aside such pitiful efforts as the present to impose upon the British farmer. Let him stick to declam ation and frantic abuse of the aristocracy. That is his forte. If he has anything in the shape of argu ment to advance, let him express it in the house of commons, where he may have a chance of being answered. BA.D NEWS FOR THE FARMERS. The League have always told us that, under a perfectly free trade, we need never anticipate any very large supply of foreiln grain. The Liverpool Mercury, however, has just enlightened us as to the precise quantity which we shall receive. In a leading article on Friday, in which he finds fault with Sir Robert Peel's propositions as not go ing far enough, he gravely informs us that even the shil ling duty which is to remain after February 1849 is a heavy tax upon the food of the people—" a tax amounting to at least a million sterling per annum" Now, if we have any skill in arithmetic, a million sterling contains twenty million shillings ; and, to produce this sum by a duty of a shilling a quarter, we must import no less than twenty million quarters per annum (I!) or nearly the amount of the present consumption of Great Britain. What the farmers can do with their useless fields and more useless ploughs and harrows with this immense im portation of foreign grain the Mercury can perhaps tell them—we cannot. We hope, however, our wise brother is only joking, or has put a cypher too much to his reck oning. The subject of the lecture at St. Andrew's Church this evening is " The perils and obligations, respectively, of prosperity and adversity."; We understand that the Rev. Hugh M`Neile has a work of considerable extent in the press, on the constitu tion and present state of the church in this country, with particular reference to the Tractarian heresy. SCRIPTURAL EDUCATION.—Our readers will perceive in our advertising columns that appeals are about to be made in Liverpool on behalf of the Sunday School So ciety for Ireland. We sincerely trust that the friends of scriptural education will respond liberally to these appeals, and that the excellent men who are to advocate the cause will return to their native land refreshed with the Christian sympathy and support which they anticipated on leaving family and home. From a paper which has fallen into our hands it appears that the time-honoured institution has in connexion with it 2972 schools, containing 246 788 pupils and 23,408 gratuitous teachers. Surely its claims (guaranteed by the most respectable patronage, both lay and ecclesiastical) are not to be questioned at this event ful period of Irish history. ILLEGAL DtsrILLATION —At the police-court yester day four men—e Peter M`Donald, Thomas Martin, Patrick Traynor, and James Hughes, together with the wife of Martin—were brought before Mr. Rushton under this charge. It appeared that Mr. John Walker, Supervisor of Excise, in consequence of infor ration, had gone to a house in Field. street (near the Collegiate Institution), and which be believed commanded a rent of about £3O a year, and there found the prisoners in a fighting and dis orderly state, though several police-officers were present. He there also found several gallon of what is called " low wines" (the first distillation from the malt in making whiskey), also a ten-gallon cask and several tubs used for the wash. The low wines had been spilt about the cellar floor; a ten-gallon cask and several tubs that had con tained that liquor were also found, and several bottles that had contained " the cratur" itself, but which the parties had broken in their alarm, for the purpose of con cealment. The supervisor, in fine, had found everything but the still itself, though there were appearances of such an article having been recently fixed in one of the cellars. The female prisoner was discharged, not being con sidered amenable. The rest were required to pay, under the act 7th and Bth Geo. IV., the sum of £3O each, or to be imprisoned three months. , - DAMP CELLARS IN LIVERPOOL.—We need hardly say that damp kitchens are frequent enough. We have even known a heavy rain to sink into the sandstone rock, and and force the fluid contents of the cess -pool, with which it had been previously saturated, through the kitchen floor of a well built house, so as to cover it to the depth of three inches with putrid fluid ; and sickness has followed as a consequence ! The whole of the town, including the enormous additions which have been recently made, has been built after this manner, and the consequences in the poorer districts are deplorable. Every cellar in the bo rough must be to some extent damp ; and a few years ago nearly 40,000 of our poorer fellow-townsmen lived in them. The corporation survey has 'hown that there were lately in Liverpool parish 2,420 cellars, with pro bably 10,000 inhabitants, absolutely wet or damp. Water, and the fluid contents of cess-pools, drain into these wretched abodes, and if not received into wells, they cover the floor. Mr. Samuel Holme states in his report, that he had to walk on bricks, across the flooded floor of a .cellar, to the straw litter on which a poor woman was laid, who had been confined only a few days. He says— " This is by no means an extraordinary case," for it would be easy " to find hordes of poor creatures living in cellars which are almost as bad ,nd as offensive as char nel houses." Every medical man who has been in the habit of visiting the poor can verify this statement. — From Yesterday's Liverpool Health of Towns Advocate. THE MANUFACTURERS AND FREE TRADE.—The measure of Sir Robert-Peel is bold in the extreme. It has, we conceive, gone deeper and wider than the nation anti cipated ; and its reception by the country cannot, we con ceive, at this moment be anticipated with any approach to certainty. For it is not the agricultural body only that is affected by the expansive proposal, but the manufacturing interest at large, and this universally, and,- in mauy cases, in the most sensible degree. Even the cotton manufacture, which the gentlemen cotton-spinners of the League con sidered to rest on a height of perfect security, may be af fected. The American low cottons, called Domestics, fairly undersell those of this country in the Chinese and other markets; and now, to be admitted with perfect free dom into this country, they may undersell us here too. Indeed, were it not for the seriousness of the subject, as effecting all classes of the community, the aristocracy and 'the nation at large might well laugh at the League, and thoroughly enjoy the ability with which the Premier has struck them absolutely dumb by acting on their professed but not real principles. Not one of them has dared hitherto to open his mouth on the subject, in or out of the House. What they wanted, with the fullest professions of absolute love for the most enlarged free trade, was the instant removal of the protection the landed interest of the country enjoyed, and to allow to stand over, no one knew how long, the consideration of the protection which the manufacturing interest of the country possessed ; and this happy, honest, and honourable arrangement of their mat ters they flattered themselves they had attained. " No, no, Gentlemen," says the wily Premier, "it is free trade you desire and it is free trade that you shall have. Free dom in one article would be serving your idol little ; by approaching freedom in all, I shall serve him much, and give a delight to your heart beyond your highest anticipa tions l"—Record. PRAYER BOOK AND HOMILY SOLIETY. Last night the annual meeting of the Liverpool Auxiliary to this excellent Society was held in the Commercial-hall, Glou cester-street, the Rev. T. TATTRRSHALL, D.D., in the chair. The Rev. W. MAYNARD having opened the proceedings by offering an appropriate prayer, The CHAIRMAN said that though he always rendered with pleasure every facility in his power towards the arrangements of every meeting held for the purpose of promoting the cause of God, and especially those connected with their own Church ; yet his pleasure on that occasion was considerably alloyed, be cause he found himself standing in the place which they had hoped would have been occupied by one to whom they had been for years in the habit of looking up to with the highest venera tion, and whose presence always was regarded with the greatest delight, the Chancellor of the Diocese,—one of the oldest and firmest friends of the society and of the interests they were met to promote, who would have been present but for a pressing and important engagement. The Prayer Book and Homily . Society was one which he (the Chairman) had long held in the highest esteem, and regarded as most valuable, not only for its direct, but for its indirect opera tion. To say the truth, if he wished to direct a person where to find the best defence of our Church and Liturgy, he would point at once to the sermons preached for that society, on an niversary occasions, in London; and he would mention in par ticular two of the number, which were most masterly produc tions—one bythe Rev. John Scott, and the other by Dr. Dealtry. But the society was of exceeding utility in its indirect operation ; and he would observe amongst the other benefits derived from it, that by the instrumentality of this society the ordination service was now printed in the Prayer Book ; at least, the example was first set by the society. He thought that there were few Prayerßooks now which did not contain that important and Scriptural formulary. That was not the only society which distributed Prayer Books and the Homilies, but it was the only one which professed to publish the other authorised formularies of the Church. It was also the only society which, acting as an auxiliary to the Church Missionary Society, supplied copies of the Liturgy in the language of the country in which the various missions were stationed. That was a feature of great importance. There was another of not less importance, which must be regarded with immense interest by the inhabitants of Liver pool; the society made it one of its principal objects and studies to distribute the Prayer Book and the Homilies among the seafarhig portion of their countrymen. In this work agents were employed to visit the ships, and large numbers were dis tributed in that port. The Reverend Gentleman concluded by calling on the secretary to read the report for the last year. The Rev.'Mr. MAyNAitu read the report. In this document the Committee called attention to the sphere of labour under taken by the Society, (which in this respect stood alone,) inas much as it embraced an object beyond that of the parent So ciety. It laboured amongst seamen and boatmen : it laboured at home • and it labour-et' abroad. Its labours amongst sea men had been blessed. Many a captain had been induced to assemble his crew on the Sabbath, and to join with them in the worship of Almighty God. The parent Society's report on this point was deeply interesting , and indeed affecting. The circu lation of the homilies, too, from house to house, in the way of loan, had also been resorted to with great success, by setting before the people the scriptural character of our liturgy, arti cles, and homilies. The labours of the society had not been less abroad. Some of the most useful homilies had been cir culated in no fewer than twenty-seven languages, and accounts had been received from missionaries in all parts of the globe, bearing strong testimony . to the benefits produced. With re spect to the auxiliary Society in this town, they regretted that it was in a languishing state from want of general support. One reason for this was the mistaken notion that its operations were the same as those of the Christian Knowledge Society. The two societies were, however, altogether distinct. The object of the former was to circulate Bibles and prayer books, and tracts on religious subjects of general character, and to those who ap plied for them at the repository. But the object of the auxi liary society was (according to one of its laws), to visit the sea men on board vessels, also the boatmen, tlatmen, and barge men, and to circulate amongst them the Society's addreses,calling their attention to the importance of prayer : also to supply them with prayer books at a reduced price, and with small books of select homilies gratuitously for the crew. In line, were it not for the society, the seamen frequenting the port would be left comparatively destitute of the means of grace when at sea. The good done was only known to Him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will. It became their duty to go for ward in faith, relying on the promise that " their labour should not be in vain." The report of the parent society showed that durin,,e• the past year 4,550 vessels had been visited and re visited, and of these 166 held divine service 'regularly at sea, wind and weather permitting—being an increase of 66 in the past year. The number of prayer-books sold on board during the same period was 457, and the number of homilies 184. The committee lamenteu that the funds of this auxiliary society were in a depressed state. The amount of the annual subscrip tions amounted to only about which was inadequate to meet even the current expenses, while, at the same time, there was a loss to the parent society from the sale of prayer-books at a reduced price, and for grant of books, from time to time, of upwards of ..t'22B. Surely, in such a town as this, such a state of things should not endure; and it would not be so if the clergy, shipowners, and merchants supported it as they might. The report concluded by strongly appealing to the clergy to bring the subject before their congregations, many of whom comprised the mercantile part of the community ; and a hope that, if this were done, the laity would not be back ward in doing their part, so that the parent society would be materially assisted in carrying out its labours. The Rev W. MAYNARD ' stiled that he had received a very kind letter from Chancellor Raikes, and others from the Rev. Messrs. Barry, Hunter, Knox, &c., excusing themselves from attending. The Rev. J. H. STEWART, on coming forward to move the adoption of the report, was received with loud, cheers. Fre quent as it was his lot to attend the meetings of various religi ous societies, there was scarcely one which he felt it more a duty to attend than that of the Prayer Book and Homily So ciety. He had heard that the society was in a languishing con dition ; but it should never go down to the grave without a groan on his part. It was a matter of deep sorrow and regret, that this great town could not keep so useful a society afloat ; but he trusted there would be too many groans from the Lord's praying people to allow it to be extinguished. It might be in deep waters, but an all-powerful God had said, " When thou passest through the deep waters, I will be with, thee ;" and he trusted the floods would not be permitted to overflow that ex cellent society. That was a time, above all others, when they ought to carry the society forwards. They were about build ing a princely house as a home for their sailors, and could they not raise the small sum required to keep the society from fall ing. (Hear.) It would be much to the dishononr of that great town, which had been favoured by God with such an abundant measure of his gospel, if they permitted that auxiliary to be a burden instead of a blessing to the parent society. The speaker then quoted from the report, in proof of the usefulness of the, society, Some interesting particulars respecting its operations at Yarmouth, where out of 1500 ships visited before the society had been there, only eight were in possession of a copy of either bible or prayer ' book ; lately, however, the scene had changed, and out of 858 ships, 353 were well supplied, and prayers were offered on board every sabbath, (applause) while the sacred volume and the prayer book were regularly read by the men. He instanced a case in which, by means of the society, the mate of a vessel had been converted, had left his ship to study at Cambridge, and was now a 13reacher of the eternal Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. He then referred to the operations of the society in Jerusalem and among the Jews, and it was de lightful to reflect that they united eve Lord's Day with the Lord's ancient people on Mount Sinai itself. After 'dwelling at some length on the Indian and other Foreign operations of the society, he alluded to the fact that on the day her present Majesty was crowned, the society distributed many hundreds of the coronation service a service which every Protestant in Britain, who cared for the Protestant faith and its preservation, ought to delight in .—(Applause.) The rev. gent. concluded with an animated appeal to the auditory on behalf of the funds of the society, - and resumed his seat amid loud cheers. Mr. SEAWARD, the visiting Secretary of the Parent Society, in a long and eloquent speech, full of the most interesting details and anecdotes, illustrative of the good effected by the society, which we regret our limited space precludes us from giving, seconded the resolution. The Rev. CHAIRMAN then put the question, which was carried unanimously. The Rev. HuoH M'NEILE, on rising to propose the next re solution, was received with loud cheers. It was to the effect, that, considering the important objects of the society with re gard to seamen, and what had been done for them by the Parent Society, and the loss thereby entailed upon it, had espe cial claims upon the merchants and shipowners, and urged up on them, the clergy, and the inhabitants generally, the neces sity of more strenuous exertions in its behalf. The object of the resolution, they would perceive, was to apply for funds, and the simple and soun(Preason why funds should be supplied to the society was to be found in the fact, that the society circu lated scriptural truth—to convey the one only source of real happiness to fallen man, that was, the knowledge of God in Christ Jesus. The Book of Common Prayer defined the line which our reformers drew between two very important principles—the one was, " Obey them which have the rule over you, who watch for your souls, as they who must give an account," and the other was "We should obey God rather than man." The first required of members of the Christian Church obedience to the rulers of that Church, If this gave any authority to the rulers or ministers of the Church it could only be in those things where the Bible itself— God's own Word—had given them authority. They required nothing more than the Word itself, so far as the Word went, and unquestionably it was the duty of all Christian people to obey . those who had rule over them so long as they ordered nothing which God had forbidden. If they transgressed this line and commanded anything in opposition to Holy Scripture then they arraign their own character, for the Scripture gave them authority, but not to oppose itself. Anciently our church rulers had put together a number of prayers—they had given direction about divine worship—things not found n Scripture at all ; they had set down certain words, they had given certain forms, they had prescribed times for service, different dresses for the clergy,—different postures at different times of service, and ordered certain creeds to be read. All these things were not found in the Scriptures. More than this however, came to be commanded, that images should lie put up, that holy water should have a place appropriated for it in our churches, in order that those who entered should bow down to images and cross themselves with holy wa ter. (Laughter.) These things were ordered in the church of England—(laughter)—and a great many more such things. Then came our Reformers to the completion, as it was said, of the Book of Common Prayer, and what did they do? They drew a line. They said, We must obey God rather than man," and therefore all the men in the universe won't make us bow down to the image. But they said again, " Obey them that have rule over you," and therefore they said, what God has commanded we will obey, but what Cod has forbidden we will refuse to obey. Therefore they did not take it all and throw all overboard, nor did they take all and use it ; they kept that part of it which was good, and that which was bad they eschewed and spit out. (Cheers.) That was a very simple his tory of the Prayer Book- To have taken it all would have been to reject Christianity, and to have rejected it all would have been a great piece of petulance against church rulers, and our Reformers were not guilty of such petulance. Here was a commendation of our prayer book. Here was a compi lation of primative prayers, which were to be believed because there was nothing in them contrary to Scripture.(Hear and cheers.) It was a very prudent thing . not to throw away good and badlogether, but to search the mixture and reject the bad and keep the good.—(Cheers.) Our Reformers adopted this method—they took a sort of middle way between Papists and Dissenters, the Papists have kept the whole, good awned, the Dissenters have thrown away the whole, good and bad.— (Applause.) We have kept the whole that was good, and were neither Papists nor Dissenters.—(Continued cheers.) The reverend gentleman then referred to the conduct of the creed of the Papists with respect to the Sacrament, and proved what was the real belief of the church of England, on the subject from the Rubric of the Visitation of the Sick, and the 29th Article. He then proceeded to observe that they had heard a good deal that evening about the Homilies, but none had told them what was in them. He would, therefore, read a few specimens from the Homilies. The Rev. Gentleman then read an extract from the Homily, on the "Reading and Knowledge of Holy Scripture," shewing its sufficiency in all matters relating to man's salvation. In this part of the subject, he referred to the se rmon o f D r . P u sey, preached in Oxford, on Sunday ,last, and placed the fathers referred to by him, as Titian, Ignatius, and Chrysostom, in contrast with the recommendation of the Homily, to " go to the well of life, instead of the stinking paddles of man's tradition." (Hear, hear.) He then referred to the doctrine of the fall of man, as contained in another Homily, and pro ceeded to notice extracts from the same source of the . protest of the Reformers against image worship. In conclusion, the rev. gentleman urged in eloquent terms the claims of the so ciety to the support and countenance of the shipowners and merchants of Liverpool. (Cheers). Some meetings were good for getting money, and some for preaching the Gospel. The great object of a meeting like that was to bring forward the truths which such an institution set forth. Now, what did the truths he would read from the Homilies teach them ? That by nature they were utterly and eternally ruined, and if left to themselves they must perish eternally. Oh, who could dwell with everlasting burning? Then contemplate the salvation Feb. 3, 1846. offered. God the Father's mercy, God the S on's righteousai and God the Holy Ghost's grace in the heart. oh, how hal'Y was it that they had an open Bible where they could learn to a glorious truth—where they could learn from that N'TordW te d should judge them all at the last day. But w hat they w an l e was to send this glorious truth to others destit site of it. 'li e they could not give much by way of subsc riptioll, bu t sse d smallest subscription given with self denial was m ore ble 3 to the giver than the receiver, because it proved that there r„ 5 , something real in religion ; and when a man was convinced tar, there was something real in religion, there was the germ of tt,r, happiness. (Loud cheers.) The reverend gentleman condi g n with seconding the motion, and resumed his seat amidst to cheers. Mr. JOHN EDEN seconded the resolution in a brief address; The simple object of the society was to distribute the FOY'' , Book and Homilies, and that,to o, chiefly amongst the settle It appeared that about 10,000 had been distrib u t e d during settle last year by this auxiliary, and as this had been done at a to he trusted that all who were favourable to the object would e' n tend their subscriptions. The society had a special claiin the support of the shipowners and merchants, (as referre in the resolution,) inasmuch as it addressed its efforts W great extent to seamen. The motion being carried, a collection was made. The Rev. Mr. MAYNARD proposed the best thanks of _ A tb e meeting to the Rev. Dr. Tattershall, who had been a kind zealous friend of the society from its commencement. The CHAIRMAN returned thanks in a feeling manner. g The Rev. Mr. MAYNARD announced that on to-morf, evening, (that is this day, Tuesday,) a sermon would be pre on behalf of the society. The meeting then separated. LIVERPOOL FEBRUARY SESSIONS. These sessions commenced yesterday, before Gilbert Henderson, Esq., the Recorder. The calendar Wl° rather heavy for the short time that has transpired since the last sitting of the Court, there being the names of I°° ; . prisoners for felony, and 15 for misdemeanour. it r= stated that of the whole number 6 can read and write we ll; 66 can read and write imperfectly ; and 43 can neith e r read nor write. The following gentlemen were swor n in as the GRAND JURY. Edward Gibbon, Netherfield-road, merchant, (Foreman.) George Armstrong, Abercromby-square, ditto. Gaven Brackenridge, Bedford-street South. ditto. James Cro.sfleld, fun., Temple-place, wholesale grocer. Samuel Dutton, Edge-lane, merchant. William Dalgliesh. Dingle View, Toxteth, ditto. W F. Foster, South Hill Grove, ditto, broker. Mathew Gregson, Aigburth-road, merchant. Thomas D. Headlam, Wavertree, insurance broker. Timothy Bristowe Hughes, Sea Bank, Liscard, ditto. William Henry Higgins, Hope•street, iron merchant. Timothy Jevons, Park Hill-road, ditto Thomas Critchlow Molyneux, Knotty Ash, chain cabl e manufacturer. William Mather, Finch House, West Derby, lead and coPP cr merchant. Thomas Todd, Abercrombie-square, broker. Simon Lee Trotman, Park-road, merchant. . _ Thomas Simpson, Mount Vernon-street, gent,eman. James Stitt, islington iron merchant. Alex. Shand, Elm Cottage, Ullet-lane, Toxteth, merchant . George Winstanley, Walton, wine merchant. The usual proclamation having been read, The RECORDER charged the Grand Jury. He SO that although seven weeks had scarcely elapsed since do last sessions, within that short space of time no fe than one hundred prisoners had been committed for fel long, and fifteen for misdemeanours. The most nurneroT cases of the graver kind were for shoplifting, of wbie,", there were fifteen. Several of these were of parties who had taken goods that were temptingly placed at or near, A te, l"' the doors of the premises. It had been customary P the court not to allow the expenses of prosecution. a to this practice he should abide. He thought that in sucb instances it would be well for the local authorities to ea' force the penalty of 40s. imposed by the local act on Pat' ties thus exposing their wares. Th e nex t cases wortilY, o : more particular notice were those of s t ea li ng f ro m the person. No fewer than eleven abandoned wome n awaited their trials for this ki n d o f offence. Here age' the parties who had lost their property bad shown a g reat want of prudence and discretion, w hich too often bar pened in the intercourse of men with such charactert There was one serious case of au a tt em pt t o , cocatull highway robbery ; and he regretted to say, there som e other cases of a like nature, in which the parties had 1 1 r, been apprehended and br oug ht t o p un i s h men t. , t iv should certainly deal with severity with such offenders' whenever the case was brought home to them. At th e hat sessions, an individual found guilty of the offence transported for ten years, although it was the first time D e had been brought before the court. With this exception' there was no very serious case requiring comment from him, or on which they would probably find any difficult': in deciding. He should, however, remark that these war: four instances of thieves being brought to justice through the agency of pawnbrokers. This was highly satisfsc• tory, and creditable to the latter. He hoped the examPl e : thus set would be followed, and th a t th e w h o l e o f that class would co-operate, for none had more in their power' Amongst those who had thus acted in a praisewortbl manner were Mr. Mc. Pherson, Mr. Gillaird, Mr. Moss , and another pawnbroker, whose name he had not yet as' certained. The example they had shown was well w ortbl. of imitation. He thought the g rand ju r y w ould not find anything of a legal kind with which they might be at' loss. Their province was merely that of a preliminarf character, and did not involve a trial of the accused; They should weigh well the evidence, and if it appeared conclusive, send the parties for trial ; if otherwise, an!! the probability was that no conviction would result, " would be their duty to check all further unnecessary et" quiry by throwing out the bills. The trials then commenced, but during the day wer e not of general interest. LEAGUE MEETING—LAST NIGHT. A meeting of the Anti-Monopoly Association was held last night in the Mechanics' Hall, Lord Nelson-stree t, to petition parliament_for the total and immediate xeppel of the corn-laws. Wm. Brown, Esq., was in the chair' The meeting itself, however, was a poor affair, consistiog chiefly of working men drummed up for the occasion; and the prevailing sentiment of every one present aP; peered to be, that in the measures of Sir Robert pee' they had obtained more than had ever be n expected bf reasonable men. The expi essions of all the speakers conveyed gr: titude to Sir Robert, and fulsome adulatio o for his efforts in the carrying out of their own free.trarle. notions,—mingled, however, with so me littl e contealPt for his truckling subservi-ncy, and triumph over the fact ; of his being compelled to come into th e recogn ition 0 ' their views. Lord Ashley has issued an address to the electors 0 . Dorsetshire, re g i g ni ng hi s.sea t b ecause h e i s " o f opini°;; that it is no longer expedient to maintain protections He states that he will appear on the hustings at the norsv f nation to ascertain by a show of hands the sentiments ° the constituency. ODD FELLowsutp.— Colonel Reid and Mr. Ralph Neville, the two members for the borough of New Wind, sor, have both been elected members of the Odd Felles o Lodge held in that town. : Sir T. Freemantle, S ecre t ary f or I re l ,nd, will, on h''„ appointment as Chairman of the Commissioners of CO toms, vacate his seat for Buckingham, in which he will be succeeded by the Marquis of Chandos. Lord Farnham, in a letter to a Dublin paper, 00 ; that " he does not consid er hi mse lf at lib erty to sta t e th," reasons which induced hi m t o d ec li ne secon di ng t h e Pi dress in answer to the speech from the throne, exe,sP that they had r e f erence so l e l y t o t h e quest i on o f corn.' , RAILWAY NEGLIGENCE.—At the Ilford petty session" on Saturday, Thomas Blackburne, an engine driver, Or, fined £5, for having left part of a luggage train on tu g main line of th e Eastern Counties Railway, whereby " collision was caused. A few days ago, John Burfield, engine-driver, was fined £5, at Darlington. He had charg e of the co a l t ra i n on th e G rea t N ort h o f E ng l an d lie which was run into by the mail train. The nomination for the West-Riding election will tall place to-morrow. George Lane Fox, Esq., has COt forward to oppose Lord Morp e th ; an d M r . Ferran actively engaged in support of the conserva ti ve interests' tie deserves for his st renuous exer ti ons some substao l , g , testimonial, and we hope all friends of the constitute, will help it forward. H a d M r . F ox presen t e d hi m self „ little earlier, his electi on wou ld p ro b a bl y h ave b ee n e,s it ' t vied easily, and even n ow it d oes no t seem un lik e ly °A that Mr. Ferrand's ze a l an d d evo t e d ness w ill b e croto w ," with success. ' PORTRAIT OF MR. ASKE W .—W e were extremely g r a d tified a few days sin ce by th e i nspect i on o f a we ll exe egt . '„r likeness of Mr. A s k ew , our a bl e an d l ong tr i e d barn, maser, painted in oil by M r . L ovatt, o f D u ke.stre h e g Mr. Askew is repres en t e d sea t e d i n an arm-chair scit'ea scroll of paper in his left hand; and the artist has be very successful in placing oa the canvas all the anirnat'lf intelligence, and good hum our w hi c h b eam so expres sile o in the countenance of the or i g i na l. Wh en t h e fresbn_ed of the colouring has wor n o ff th e por t ra i t w ill b e i m pror,! l ; but it nevertheless reflects, as it is, much credit on : b e artist. We believe Mr. Askew will b e h a ppy to :thew ". likeness to any of his friends at his office in the cost °o house. • r e. AUSTRALIA.—FiIes of Australia n p a p ers h av e been us t ceived to-day, extendin g th roug h t h e mon th s o f Atl e , and part of September. Th e cap t ure o f Jackey Jac:so. and other notorious bush rangers , h a d ma d e qu i te a tion at Hobart Town, where their ravages among the 1 33 i side stations of the agriculturists and sheep farmer' des created much alarm. Bu s i ness at S y d ney an d fib 00 Town was steady. The value of flour and whes t sra o 3 rising at the latter place. A s hi p arr i ve d at Sydney gel' New Zealand, and report s a mong o th er i n t e lli ge nce a chief named Noble, with his tribe, had joined the ,fed tish, in cons equence o f w hi c h anot h er tr ib e had (ins of in favour of H e ld, w h o i s now sa id to have upwar 3,000 fighting men under his command. f lit/ PROTECTION TO B RITISH I NDUSTRY .—O n s purs., the Central A g ri cu lt ura l S oc i e t y, un d er t h e pres idenclio% his Grace the Duke of Richmond, held a special ra L e e eo ef for the purpose o f cons id er i ng th e m i n i ster i a l sou fi ets and the followin g reso l u ti ons an d recommen d at ions w ith unanimously agreed to :—" That this society view g ° ,„beq the utmost alar m th e p ropose d measures o f Sir 1 "' 81 o Peel for establishing free importation, and wit hdrs, w ., protection from the producti ve c l asses ." ' Th a t t 017, 00 ciety feels convinced that the results of such vfle a : t o , would produce a r evo l u ti on o f suc h fearful extenAt;cstie involve not only the agr i cu lt ura l b ut t h e other pr°`',:coOr i classes of this cou n t r y i n cer t a i n ru i n. " "It s I' OP mended to the country a nd l oca l protect i on soc ieties 01 they do immedittely form committees, of not nor e ga rs; 12 gentlemen, to wait upo n th e mem b ers i n th e ir districts, who were elected on protective priticiPl;bel press them either to rej ec t the proposal of Sir t bel Peel, or at once to resign their seats, and appeal to ,e different constituenci es f or a sanct i on o f the nhall'' their political opinions." LIVERPOOL : TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 1846. PRINTED AND PUBLISHED tis EVERY TUESDAY MORIN-- By JOSHUA FLETCHE R LACE, of 53, Grove-street, a ll 4 LEONARD ADDISON, of 14, Great Orford-street. At No. 4, ST. GIICIRGIVII CRSICIINT, LIVEgTO4II. / . c ~_ THEa~ Linde; N OTICE._ attend e VESTR resp ecti 10 , will ernin en , other E T ills P I Will b e per, Pierre P alTi ll' The " LO VELY 1 To con Don Sell Mi TP - MOR] L IE WAN ta b t Th r aßesno. aNri7,l Pit. of ' l t• Is. 6d . , e uo Ors to ° T, Mi nenCe ' Box. Circles' Bo— the bcuse l: th l eb ° ll A si d n in e . is TH EA . t , R Under F ° l - 7 ltTli T() -D10. instant Lord shill bot, T H 51".7,-, !* 9allery,-6(1 14.6( . ; Pii, Act ••,_________ WILS( il l Which To c j t e se GRA] i Ivry T iss u , bo n c Y°CA.I A% 4 HOLD LMr. J . Tie er, Mr. roll Rand ehor a a l i tLeP accegcii Ite Jann, Wi , n 4ets Now In H4 RE N 114 with theA' ovdm. A ss . e 1 " - Y, 6d. k Ile. or op( rAdMiSSi( I, l‘ s.ar(!s of LICEN THE F insSocu p A tant. Lnnt. NSO:` p TICE ` l €l , l at the I eting for rn „, 14 , P.nY r. rtE. LI B o'c () PEN -11tr an 'r p _,ce Ni%13T13 tit ~YEA b„ thf. „ Feb r DotA i ! Oft, 1. 4 4u gu . lit t pe pi i 4 4vi es, are !Iter, ll g ob t , !R e er th e Nos eniei l e t t at it ke e rt t e RaiQuti h ns in he hear ti; t the tt issons Or e 1 h e rti f" tl Liii tle tt4l " ! , P f dir t4 lll . ttphollk; an kj et, 1, 0 11 Ntl e eet