The Sun.
London, England, 1839-02-26 00:00:00

ANTI-CORN-LAW DELEGATION.

Accounts of public meetings, in favour of the repeal
of the Corn-laws, continue to be received. Some of
the resolutions which are passed, strongly pnurtray the
intense and excited feelings of the manufacturing popu-
lation. Among the resolutions adopted at Saddle,-
worth, on Wednesday last, were the following :
" That this question is at the present time vastly
superior to all others, in point of magnitude and im-
portance ; and we shall view with the utmost scorn and
contempt the petty squabbles of political partisans for
power and place, while they basely desert the true in-
terests of the people, and leave this master mischief un-
redressed.

" That, in reference to this subject, we consider patience
no virtue. The people who tamely submit to this tyran-
nical usage deserve it ; and, should our just complaints
not be attended to, we shall then have no choice left
but to turn our attention immediately to those further
organic reforms of the Constitution which the course of
events will have proved to be imperatively necessary."
At Exeter, a meeting of Agriculturists has been
held, into which the Chartists made an irruption.
and, wiser than many of their Northern brethren, at-
tacked the Corn-laws fiercely, and so strong was the
exhibition on the part of the Chartists, that it is under-
stood the idea of a public meeting is abandoned, lest
the Chartists should carry resolutions in favour of pe-
titioning Parliament for a total repeal of the Corn-laws.
Petitions against the Corn-laws are coming in from
the agricultural districts, and from the village of Cum-
bernauld, in Scotland, there is one which is more nu-
merously signed than any which has ever emanated from
that community.

BIGOTRY AND INTOLERANCE

IN BATH.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUA.

SlR,—Accustomed as we arc to religious intolerance
in these times, the following circumstance will perhaps
excite little surprise, although it will add another to the
catalogue of persecutions to which conscientious Dissen-
ters are at present subject.
The proprietor of the Bath Chronicle has hitherto
been considered an honourable man—(and is still
so considcred)—one who would scorn to interfere
with the religious or political principles of his work-
men. Within the last month, however, the foreman,
who conducted his establishment, has b !en discharged.
It must here be stated that that individual is an
Unitarian in religion, and a Radical in politics. The
proprietor, in giving notice of his intention to dispense
with the services of his overseer, is reported to have
made the humiliating confession, tint " be was com-
pelled to take the step, although he felt that he was
severing his right arm from his body." In further proof
that this discharge has taken place in consequence of
the late foreman holding adverse political and religious
opinions, it may be mentioned that the advertisement
for his successor states as an indispensable requisite,
that the individual "must be of strict Conservative feel-
ing, and a rigid member of the Church of England."
'From these and other facts which might be narrated,
it would clearly appear that the present foreman's dis-
charge has been purely and entirely caused by his being
a Dissenter in religion and a Liberal in politics.
Enough, however, has been shown to prove that his
successor, be be who he may, must not consider his
bodily labour alone to be an equivalent for his remune-
ration, or to be solely at the command of his employer ;
but that his mental faculties and private opinions must
be entirely given up, or at least assimilated to those ad-
vocated by the Bath Chronicle.
I am, Sir, &c.

BATHONIENSIS.
P.S. I am glad to add, that_a dinner is to be given
to Mr. Hobbs, the foreman, who has been discharged
under these circumstances. Nearly 50 tickets Gave
been already token.

A Return of the Prices of Wheat, as inserted in
the London Gazette, for every week in the last five years,
has been presented to the House of Commons, from which
it appears that the average price of each of these sears
Was as follows i

Average of the Year.
1 534
1835
Id:'6

Average of the Year.
1837
1838 6ls. 7d

A correspondence has taken betwee❑ the Mem-
ber for Bristol, Mr. Berkeley, and the Working Men's
Association.

'VISE ARMED RADICALS.—On Monday even-
ing, the Radicals' chapel at Middleton was crowded to ex-
cess,- when Job Plant, a schoolmaster, from Heywood, gave
a lecture on the propriety of having fire-arms ; in the
course of which he said, that all those who iLtended to
break their shuttles and cut up their looms, if the Natioul
arehe firing
petition were rejected, must hold up their hands ; at.d thi.
was &me by about
Aiarcs
h. many
e
of
T the parties
g night
o rents
The lecturer added. that he should only wait till the 2d of
3up lawr cohrk n
g agive
.S infctee
rt ht
em2edetoifng
continues.—Manchester Guardian.

MELANCHOLY EVENT.-011 Sunday after-
noon last, a person having the appearance of a mechanic,
took
coach.
an outsidelvilen they
placea r
rfoi
vre
dat London
Attworth,by thea
the
taking refreshments, and was in the act of putting
of brandy and water to his lips, when he fell down E
iina glasst
and expired in about half an hour. He was booked in the
name of " Mr. Middleton," but was quite a stranger in
this city, and nothing is known of his friends or Con-
nections.—Bristol Mercury.
CALIFORNIA.—The British Government seem
lately to have bad some suspicion that California would be
enroached upon, if not taken entire possession of, by the
Russians who are settled so close upon its norther frontier ;
but by the latest accounts no encroachment has beon made,
nor has any augmentation been made either in the number
of people in the colony, or in the fortifications. The
danger does not lie there. There is another restless and
enterprising neighbour from whom they will most probably
soon have to defend themselves, or rather to submit to :
for although the frontiers of North America are much
more distant than the Russians, yet to such men as the
Back Settlers, distance is of little moment, and they are
already well acquainted with the route. The Northern
American tide of population must roll on southward, and
overwhelm not only California, but other more important
States. This latter event, however, is in the womb of
time : but the invasion of California by American set-
tlers is daily talked of ; and if Santa Anna had prevailed
sufficientagainst Texas,to ovear portionover-run
nCalifornia,
f the
dwh wo u inhabitantsno of thatave beer, country, c t
s
masters.—Forbes on California.
• •
REEFING TOPSAILS—It was in this position
of sailing that the several crews pertaining to the
ships of the fleet were, for a few seconds, seen awarmine;
on the topsail yards, hich had all been suddenly and si-
multaneously lowered. To the eye of the spectator is es
presented the spirit-stirring scene of two-and-twenty sell
of the line reefing topsails precisely at the same interval of
time—the exact moment— and in each ship might be seen
the many-handed mass gathering up the reef bands of the
coarse canvass, and tying round the huge yards with leer-
venous rapidity of finger the numerous platted points which
were to reduce the several sails to the desired reef. The
celerity of limb, mind, and muscle manifested by the sea-
men of the fleet, when competing with etch other in the
execution of this exciting evolution exceeded belief. The
eye could hardly give credence to the work it witnc2sed
Sixty seconds for the ships of the fleet to" take in a reef
together" was considered a protracted period. But, in
those endearing days, the " march of intellect" had not
benumbed the minds nor stiffened the muscles of his
Majesty's long-tailed tars.—Captain Glascock's Land
Sharks and Sea Gulls.