The Express.
London, England, 1853-10-29 00:00:00

SIR CHARLES WOOD AT HALIFAX.

On Thursday evening the corporation of Halifax,
'entertained their chief magistrate (Samuel Waterhouse,
Eml.) to dinner in the New :A.sembly Rooms, liarrs3n-
road. All the members of the town council, except three,
were present, ai4o the two borough members, the borough
and resident NV, st liidi:,; magistrates, kill some of the
leading inii:il:;tants of the town.

The chair WAS ably filled by Mr. Alderman JOHN'
CRONSLEY, and oa h:s right and left sat Samuel Water-
house, Esq , the Mayor ;F. Crossley, E-q , M.P.; John
Waterhouse, E,q. ; Remy Edwards, EN.; the night H7ll.
Sir Charles Wood, Bart, M.P.; George Pollard, Esq.;
James B:arafeld, Eati. ; ead Edward Arkreyd,

The CII.IIIIMAN having proposed else tout " her
Majeci's Ministers,"
Sir CUAILLES Wools responded. Ile said lam sure that
I sholl must faithfully represent toe ntenein et my col-
leagues, as will as own feelings. evlseu I endeavour to
say hew nkteful we feel for the kiud reeepton of this
toast by the yre sent company. We te..os office under pi cu.
liar circuinsea.:ces. We here called upon to make great
personal sacrifices in er.:ec to effect the juactieu of ten
parties who, though noimated by the same principles, had
beansi•parated by circumstances fistray, to thedetri-
ment, 311 believe, of the service of this (*salary. Yet it
was not without p.in that these sacriticis seer: made. Still
I may, I believe, say for every one of my teleogues, a- well

as foimyself, tbat"we were actuated bi oue tjdahg only—
that we wuul.l do that which we believed er be (truly as we
thaug:v, mistakenly as others may thiii%), for the Lyn. tit of
the cuuntry. We took that place mad ii.:ed that part which

Gil the when,: was thought most aderiaahle and moat likely to
coneallidute the mlnsinistration and to carry OW tf, prin-
ciples which we had for yearn professed. We have been
rewarded for our eacrilices by an amount of support in a
House of CMUIIIMiii Out tea under the auspices of our op-
ponents—we have been rewarded with the pupped of the
country- to as extent 1 am proud to acknowledge, and may
hail Al a ;,roa that Out Conduct was approved by the par-
liament :tad the country. Gentlemen, I know how wrong
it would be, how highly improper, me this occ. slot' to hooch
into any subject of party or coutrovorsial polities. Fortu-
nately fur me., the MA of addresseig you upon public mat-
tets is rendered far easier by the circumstance of the pre-
sent time, when the proceedings of the hut twelve mouths
have put an end over to those nut:teens which
for the last twelve y• are had distracted mull, s in this
country. I am very glad that the government
of which I formed a part two years ego wero
turned out of oth e, and succeeded by Lord Derby't govern-
ment, and that again enceeeded by toe psi rumeot of Lord
Aberdeen; for 1 donut whether any other circumstances
leas narked caul.' have put an end to that controversy
n leizh had sa long distracted the country, but which you
will agree with me—whatever views we may have on former
occasions taken—is cow set at rest for ever. Taos' parties
which were distinguished by the watchwords of t' Protee-
tisn" and Free Tiede" have merged their differences him
one uniform feeling of approbation of the course of legless
lion upon this subject. We have had a singular proof of
ibis in a meeting which took place tecentip in a county in
the tomb of England, and in a letter addressed by a 111.111-
r of Ste protectionist party, of whom my friend her: (who
has knower him in parliament) will speal/4 as tho staia hest
advocate of protection in the house. At a meeting held in
tl:e comity of Essex, at a place coiled Castle Ileilinghain
(where two advocates of protection had put forward their
scheme for a system of indemnity and compensation
—both of which are now at last scattered to
the winds)—a lettter was read which had been
addressed to the chairman of the meeting. Most of
you may have read this letter of Sir John Tyrell to
that ai:eting. He admits that the principle they advocated
can no longer be maintained in this country, and that no
taxes can henceforward he impoacil against le many for
the benefit of the few ; that no longer can duties be pro-
posed to raise the rents of the lauded proprietors, or increase
the receipts of the caloaial proprietors. But more than
this—we have it by the admi.sion of the party themselves
that those schemes of inak ',laity and conip.mbati.it so long
t diced of are put aside for the best reasons lure sibL—that
those who called for compensation to theioselsis have
found, as some of us ventured to state several years ago,
that 'heir prosperity did not depend up..n nets of par-
liammit, but upou the prosperity and welhbeing of
their fellow-citizi as. The farmers have found out
that high prices dill not depend upon the corn laws;
and even the West India proprietors have Annul out
that their prosperity did not ulteget'ter depend upon

the protective system. Strong as sll this is, still greater
proof is furnished by the state of the shipping interest in
this country. Au interest was excited—a great and deep
anxiety was felt—amougst those who Mid co.-lured in the
',helium of the corn laws, who believed that our maritime
superiority, and the pre-eminence which this country has
occupied, depended nixie the maintenance of our mercan-
tile marine in that protected state in which it had existed
fur y.ars. Many of those who voted for the abolition of
the corn laws entertained doubts as to the ahoiitiou of the
navigation laws. Most melancholy prophecies were made
et the disastrous results of that measure—that the vessels
would rot in our harbours, that the seamen weuid be die-
charged, that distress would prevail in our porta from the
north to the south of our country, and that absolute
ruin must ensue from the repeal of the navigation laws.
And these sentiments were held by many of thus.: who
had Luken sounder views upon the cern laws. Gentlemen,
1 will appeal to you whether more utter disappointment
of opponents, whether stronger proofs of the soundmis of
the views of advocates—could by possibility have been fur-
nished, than have been witnessed by all in the course el the
last twelve months? Every ship that could be found in
our ports has been employed—every foreign vessel that
came into our ports has been taken up at extravagant rates
of freightage—ship-Willing goes on to au extent perfectly
unparalleled; and if there be any drawback to the com-
mercial intercourse between this country and other talkies,
it is, that the rates of fr, ight are so high as to ieterfere:with
the transit of commodities uotween this country and those
with which wo carry on our commercial intercourse.
(" Hear, hear," and applause.) These most melancholy
prophecies have been must signally disappointed ; and in
this branch of free trade the result has proved, far beyond
the anticipations of its most sanguine advocates, the sound

principlesimon which all restrictions upon that'as well as
other branches of our industry, were removed. Well, gentle-
men, it is a great point, I think, that these matters should
have been so satisfactorily settled, to the conviction of all,
advocates and opponents alike. Whatever future poicts
of dispute may arise—and that such will arise no man who
looks back at the history of this country can doult—(and
without party I do not know how we 6M:old get on)—what-
ever points of dispute shall hereafter arise, this we may
cougristulate ourselves upon, that those which have formed
a topic of dispute for years, litre now been quietly put to
rest, beyond the possibility of Ming resuscitated by any
circumstances which we can anticipate. Well, her Ma-
jcsty's late ministers had left us little else to do than to
maintain and consolidate those principles which had been
begun by others ; and in furtherance of these principles, I
believe, my right honourable friend the Chancellor of
the Exchequer brought forward a budget which did
moat deservedly meet the approbation of the country.
As my worthy friend the chairman has told you, there is
much to get through this evening, and therefore I will not
detain you any longer with any further reference to the
transactions of the last session of parliament. Eut the
chairman has also very properly said there never was a
time when the due and efficient exercise of the functions of
government, and of sound discretion on the part of those
who are the responsible advisers of the crown, were more
r.ecessary and important to the well-being of this country.
This I believe to be the case ; fur there is no ore who has
looked around him, and wbo is acquainted with what has
recently been going on, but must be aware that the most
vital of all questions for the welfare, not only of this, but of
every other country in Europe, is just now trembling in
the balance—l mean the question of peace or war. Now,
sir, I know not that I can say much more on this subject
than probably many, if not all of you, who have attended to
the progress of events so far as probabilities are concerned,
know; but the eyes of the country sad of all Europe are
now turned to what is called the Eastern question. (Rear,
hear.) I hope I am not too sanguine in saying that, in
spite of adverse appearances, I do still entertain a strong
belief that we shall yet be auto to avert the most fearful
calamity of war—qapplause)—at least I am sure of this,
that the must tamest and unremitting efforts will, as they
have already
been, be directed towards this end. The
conduct of Russia in occupying the Principalities have, wo
must acknowledge, given just cause of war to the Sultan,
and he is perfectly justified in declaring war, and drawing
the sword in defence of his rights. But in public as in
private matters it is not always expedient fur say one to
insist on his extreme rights ; therefore, by the advice of the
Pour Powers, as you are aware, when the occupation of the
Principalities took place, the Porte abstained from declar-
ing war, iii the hope that by their joint efforts a peaceful
so:utian of the matters in dispute between Russia and
Turkey might be arrived at, and that terms of arrangement
might be agreed to and accepted by the Sultan without at
all interfering with the independence of Turkey. I grieve
to say that those efforts have not been seta:sale),
and that the Porte has made a declaration of war
which, however much I may zegre t, one can hardly feel
surpcisod at ; for the Sultan has shown an tuncuut of for-
bearance which entitles him to our admiration and sympa-
thy. But there is such a thing as a state of uncertainty,
which may be even mote injurious mad galling than the evil
of war ; therefore I am net surprised, though grieved, that
the Porte has taken a step which is against the advice of its
hest friends. Bus, sir, we du not despair even yet of being
able to avert any formidable war from arising out of these
circumstances. That some acts of hostility may occur, is
masibly to be apprehended ; for we cannot tell what acts
large bodies of men actuated by bitter hostility to each
other,. e
zwai
ragi thht
oadur mrthismi id% tat their a&tlond .
ethrse,i
rlrtn ,
may lad
,‘ tcaa e
commit. dr
rt
u. imme-
diateh tiwhich
they
ersdifficult to pals, the winter sewn is approaching, and there
are great hopes that, even after the declaration of war,
actual hostilities may not he commenced at present; and
that the season which is approaching will give
time for reflection, ;and for the interposition of
the efforts of every power in Europe, which by their posi-
tton arc able to exercise an itilluence in the matter, and
which are interested in endeaveuring by some means, con-
sistent with the honour of both the opposing parties, in
preserving the peace of Europe. This I hope will be the
erse ; but, however that may he, I can confidently assert,
that, as from tha beginning of these differences, no eff att
has been spared by her rtline,ty's ministers in concert with
her Majeste's allies, so no efforts will be wanting in future
to bring about that end which we all so earnestly desire.
It will probably be said, by some parties who esk what we
have to de in the matter, that we should abstain from all
interference in the quarrel and let matters take their own

loarao, 1 cannot, sir, believe that such • chars. is for
•sla inter,.! of this country. No mart is more anti. am
for the maintebeate of peace tart myeelf, but in
'dewing ire question we mast lout not merely at the tem-
porary CliCatits..,lolll affecting matter, bu. at
Math r.t peace of kluespe. The oatio•la uatioas of Eur
are I cessmnaires hound together by ttAir mutual ut-
terer.. un.l no infraction of the pacers t.l. take pl..eis
without detriment to these in 1 wiil out row ge
fortieth into the partkular inter at which Es-land b. 6 in
the strati &area of peace, though from the tact of w y pre-
siding over the nice.;, of !aria it may Create a attGaget
honk; in my mind ran in the 'Limier others: bet in
order to U.. tire sad promote the perms:seat matatthanee
o;hr,, in Europe geberaily, it is deatratee that ao one
peer slowed to isfrirge the right, of other.
with itlaj.4ol.) ; the best security for peace ie t make met
p IF I. 111 114.0 if A sloes o, it will bring spun itself the
hhitility al the great rucer, of Europe. The orrieyencou-
rap sent, therefore, * hich a'.l have is sainataining the
pe.ce, is the Gat and ‘pirrebaaai a that the saurd,
drc•n, they too may ire led eves signior their Gan
ta* ,at in the terve ; and someti:nes .t may It ippea i,
as segatcts the oaten Place of peer, the threat of war is
the her security. Nohnsi) can OlNltsif woe sincerely than
Ido in the sertmenta f list tram's.* recently
moist Eilialstrgh as to the ilt4itabili:y of the mainteltallet
of peat, 1601/11VIIP mach I may differ with the is LA to the
measures twee wary to be taken fur that oar; use. I ItiaCni-
r a Peace Ornftramee oat, fitting at it uktort. At the
tire the canter nee. Lit1;111, kart pz bristled with
hay u..•. .liseet ft, us r, ur end of st to the other, and they
sent a gap.; ;;joy to tr.) te atop the war in Holstein ; but
eennot say IL? I remember the slightest success etieniltel
tu,.r esh,its, or sae likely to attend them ; therefore Ithiak
the e..nference of the representative, of the great powers
which may trot at Vienna, London, or elsewhere to reit,re
and snainta.n piece, (yen if by the threat cad Wird,'
of ear, is 'rein likely to obtain that end than tin cook:-
lace at which those amiable but theoretic views to which
1 bar, alluded sip re tau /c.•:.1. Of course it is imp' ssible
triacuk witti riy coabdcoce en the subject as it r per
sent steads. The issue, of peace and war are not in ottr
hand., mead however great our intrer may be in pre-
m.:frog pewee, we may not be abic to Ttbltlagt those trusti-
er spirits who are b nt on war. But I heLeve that the
other power of ipo are alive aaaiou4
as it is for the intr.:et hf all that the general 'Klee of
Bare,» shard .le =detained ; and 1 conclude hy
saying that, by the blessing of Providence, 1 hope we
shall yet bo aide ,to avert the greatest of all evil*, war.
(Applause.)
Rare& toasts followed, and the meeting did sot separate
till a late boar.

IRELAND.

~-_

Drntm, OCT. 28

Now that the Great Industral Exhibition is on
the eve of vanishing treat the t y._s of the good peo-
ple of Dublin, the latter are beginning to apprecia:c
its merits, and a general rush to the budding is made
b 7 all climes. Yesterday 17,104 person., visited the
Exhibition, wing the hugest attendance on any day
since the opening, except on the 15th of August, the
day of her Mai.suy's first visit; and notwithstand-
ing the multitude assembled, there was no incon-
venient throng or pressure.
The rain is still unabated, but it is gratifying to
find that few winplaints of mischief effected by the
moisture reach us from the country. The grumbling
at the ravages of the potato disease has entirely
ceased, and it is understood that a very considerable
portion of the crop will have been saved. Large
quantities of potatoes are now exported to England
from various parts of the country, and hence the
prices are sustained at a high figure.

THE CHOLERA.

Minn the General Board of Health, Oct. 254

Mbntorous.—From returns made by the Super-
intendents of the 1), H, K, L, M, I', and It divisions
to the Commissioners of Police, and transmitted by

them to the General Board of lieulth, it appears this
between the 17:h and 26th instant 20 cases of cholera
have come to the knowledge of the police in those
districts of which eight have ended rut:illy.
I,trroN.—Oct. 27. Cholera, 1 death.
B PON-TWEED (CASTLEGATE).—Oct. 27.
Cholera, 1 death.
NEWCASTLE-ow-TYNE—Oct. 26. Cholera, 1 death;
diarrhea*, 1 death. Oct. 27. No deaths are regis-
tered in this district.
The total number of deaths from cholera and
diarrluca in Newcastle during the present outbreak
to the 26th instant has been 1,537.
GAT ESIIEAD.—Oct. 26. Choleru, I.deoth.

HEwourtt.—Oct. 26. Cholera, 1 death. 28. No
death from cholera or diarrhces has been registered
this day iu the union. The above make .7102 deaths
from cholera in the Gateshead Union, and 43 from
diarrhoea; total, 64.5. Of these 412 have occurred
in the Gateshead, 98 in the Heworth, 21 in the
Whilkham district, and 14 in the Winlaton district of
the onion.
Mottriatt
death.

24. Cholera,

DVNDLY..—Oct. 26. In the lost ret tiros four cases
of cholera were remaining under treatment. Of these
two have since died and two new cases have occurred,
leaving four still under treatment.
ISTOCICTos-uPON-TLEl.—This :owa is now declared
to be perfectly free both front cholera and diarrhoea.
DowuEs.—Although from the 19th to !he 26th of
September 12 deaths occurred from the disease, they
appear to have attracted little attention ; but "ontho
morning of the 27th," states Mr. Lee, " one of the
influential inhabitants came to Newcastle by an early
train, to say that the disease had suddenly buret out
with great violence in various parts of the town. Dr.
Gavin and I immediately went down sud spent the
day in inspecting the place and advising the local
committee. 'lbis committee consisted of the guardians
of the parish, the overseers, the surveyors of the
highw.►ys, the clergy, medical practitioners, and
other inhabitants. Tney had already inspected the
whole of the place, and had removed about 121) loads
of filth. Taking it altogether, 1 have never seen a
place in such a defective sanitary condition. The
worst part of the place formerly belonged to the
corporation of Newcastle, but about 12 months ago
it was transferred to tho commissioners of the river

Tyne. The revenue of the corporation from this pro-
perty was about 1,2001. per annum, but nearly the
whole of it is stated to be houses and buildings which
bare been allowed to become so dilapidated
and orninons that it might now be taken
at 8001., or perhaps only 5001., per annum."
Bisuor AcciaANt).—On a personal inspection of

this town Dr. Walter Lewis *fates that if is in an
extremely filthy condition, no systematic attempt
at cleansing or removing the innumerable nuisances
having been made. The sir breathed by the inha-
bitants is charged with offensive effluvia, and it seems
almost miraculous that they have escaped with so
little disease as they have. There have been, how-
ever, several cases of cholera and fever in some of
the localities in which the medical officers predicted
that these scourges would bo certain to show them-
selves. The board of guardians, at their meeting on
the 22nd instant, appointed a sanitary committee,
and requested all the medical men in the union to
act as sanitary officers,,,and the police to report in
writing all noirances met with. They have also
ordered carts and scavengers to go round the town
daily, to carry away all refuse, and thus prevent
such accumulations es are now to bo seen in almost
every uhpit and middenstead in the town.

SPORTING.

ET HOUGHTON MEETING.
FRIDAY'S RACES.

Firm POUNDS for 3-yr-olds, 7.1 6lb ; four. Set 51b; five
sad upwards, 84 10Ib. A. F. The winner to be sold for
100 son. if demanded, de.
Mr. Mare's St. Faith, by St. Francis, 3 yrs
(J. Steggles) 1
Mr. Barnes's Waverley, 4 yrs (Flatni..n) 2
Mr. Bell's Alfred the Great, 4yn (tinhorn) 3
Mr. Sazou's Richard Primmer, 4 yrs (Clement) 4
Mr. S. Ileary's Evening Star, 3yn ..(A. Cowley) 5
HANDICAP SwienrslAais of 20 son. each, and only 5 ft
if declared, de., to go to the owner of the second horse, for
Syr-olds and upwards. T.Y.C. (19 subs Gof whom pay
6 eon. each.)
Count Ilahn's Szahorse, by Blackdro?, 3 yrs, Set llb
(J. Mann) 1
Lied Glasgow's g by Assault, Miss Norton, 3 yrs,
s.st (Ashmatl) 2
Mr. Drickalu's lnder, 3 yrs, sst 1211... (J. Strggln) 3
Lord Wilton's Lady Evelyn, aged, Sat 71n (11 Itmaa) 4
The following also ran: Kohinoor, Ssowdln Dunhill,
Mayfair, The G 1, Michaelmas Maid, Corybantes,
Break-o'-day-Bey, Battery, Chaffwax.
fittheinv Br.forra of 2.5 son each for 2.yr-olds. 13.24
OS salsa.)
Lord Wilton's Onon by Orlando, Sit Mhs,
(I?letman) 1
Mr. E 11. Clark's Punch-Boa, 7st 7)1. (J. Csshern: 0
Mr. Williams's St. Spiro, 7st 51bGoater 0
The following also rens—King Allred, Jonathan artin,
Ptolemy, Village Lem, Streatlam Fai Boddicot, Her.
outage, Grimalkin, Lady Napier.
HANDICAr SWITPSTAILIS of 1.5 son. each, 10 ft, for three
year ol4s and upwards. D.M. (12 subs.)
Mr. Knight's loathe, by los, 5 yrs, Bst 4lb (Crouch) 1
Biz C. Moiack's liana Mums, 3 yrs, set 1016
(J. Osborne) 2