The Sun.
London, England, 1862-02-05 00:00:00

THE WESTMINSTEI? MURDER.

A notification was received yesterday at the gaol
of Newgate, directing that the sentence of death
passed upon. William Maloney at the October ses-
sion of the Central Criminal Court, for the murder
of his wife, should be commuted to that of penal ser-
vitude for life. As so long a time has elapsed since
the trial, the public may probably have forgotten the
circumstances under which the conviction of the pri-
soner took place, and which were of a somewhat
extraordinary character. The prisoner was an Irish
labourer, and he lived w ith his wife in Legge-court,
Westminster, and they were in the habit of getting
drunk and quarrelling, and on the day before the
murder, they had been to a funeral, and both of
them drank very freely, as is usual upon such occa-
sions among the lower order of Irish people. The
prisoner went home to his dinner, and very soon
afterwards, without asuar .I.rrn nr annrrel appearing
to have taken place, the deceased woman was touna
mortally wounded in the throat, and she died with-
out giving any explanation of the circumstances
under which the injury was received. The state-
ment made by the prisoner was, that he had quar-
relled with his wife on account of her having got
drunk on the previous day, and that she, in a fit of
passion, exclaimed that she would have no more
quarrelling, and inflicted the injury upon herself
with a knife that was upon the table at which they
had been dining.
The most singular part of the case was that after
the first examination had taken place before the
magistrate, a witness, a man named Saunders, came
forward, who stated that, being on the look out for
lodgings, he happened quite accidentally to down
Legge-court at the time the affair occurred, and
that he looked into the prisoner's room and actually
saw him stab the deceased in the neck. He was
severely cross-examined by the prisoner's counsel,
and also questioned at considerable length by Mr.
Justice Byles, who tried the prisoner, but his an-
swers appeared to be very satisfactory, and the jury
evidently believed the evidence he had given, as
they convicted the prisoner. They, however, recom-
mended him to mercy, upon the ground that they
believed the deceased had excited and provoked
him before he committed the act. The prisoner,
' ever since his conviction, has continued to assert in
the most positive manner that he is innocent of the
crime, and when the announcement was made to
him of the commutation of the capital punishment,
he again declared that his wife destroyed herself,
and that he had been unjustly convicted.

A telegram was received at Lloyd's yesterday, via
Alexandria, announcing the destruction by fire off Port
Philip Heads, of the Empress of the Seas, a fine ship of
1,360 tons register, bound for England. The gold and pas-
sengers are stated to have been saved.

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In reply to the toast of " The Borough Members,'
Mr. BRIGHT addressed the meeting at some
length. After some prefatory observations he said
it was matter for deep regret that there were so few
Chambers of Commerce in the kingdom, and that
their influence had hitherto been so feeble and in-
effectual. Those institutions had taken too timid
and hesitating a course, fearing to entertain many
questions of vital interest to the trade and com-
merce of the country, because they might be mixed
up with party politics, or because their discussion
might be inconvenient to a Minister. If a commer-
cial question was to be set aside merely because it
had a political bearing the sooner their Chambers
of Commerce dismissed their secretaries and turned
the key in their doors the better. Nearly 25 years
ago the Manchester Chamber of Commerce was not
deterred by such a bugbear from taking up the
and the result of their en-
familiar history. There
was
jvenot
r ofs
awt hfaasemmc
iolayr
matter
ira ws
of
England, from the palace to
cottage, which had not received
thus achieved. One
question the
benefits from h
at humblest
pt
rethe
efinstcal changes
exciting
great public interest
was the subject of maritime law and the rights of
neutrals. When a proposal was made on the ques-
tion a few years ago by the United States' Govern-
ment, several of our Chambers of Commerce ex-
pressed an opinion in its favour. The proposal was
that peaceful commerce on the oceans should no
longer be molested by those who carried on war.
That was a might have been ex-
pected to receive the approval of every man con-
nectedßut the matter
had not been pressed, and no result was come to
with regard to it. It was said, indeed, that the rule
mncmipelreciwalhipcuhrsuits.
withperoi
of exempting private property from capture could
not be adopted, because when nations Were at war
it was desirable that they should do all the harm in
their power to the enemy in order to drive him the
sooner to sue for peace. But if there was any force
in that argument, why was it not equally applied
to warfare on land as well as at sea ? The extension
of that rule which civilisation sanctioned would strip
war of some of its worst evils. Some persons said we
ought not to give up the present system because
England was supreme at sea and was able to do the
greatest amount of mischief to her rivals in war;
but if she was supreme at sea, she was also supreme
in the amount of her property afloat. For we had
almost always on the ocean Probably not less than
100 millions sterling. If therefore, unhappily, we
were at war with a maritime nation, such as
the United States, there was no manner of doubt
that our commerce would suffer infinitely more
damage than we could inflict on any other country.
Well, that was a question with which he thought
Chambers of Commerce ought to deal, and not allow
imaginary and speculative politics to bear down
their own honest convictions and intelligence.
Another point, which some thought wholly politi-
cal, but which was strongly commercial, was the
growing and extravagant public expenditure. When
Sir R. Peel, 20 years ago, brought forward his
tariff, he estimated the expenditure at £50,000,000,
and the revenue at £48,000,000. The deficit was
made up by the income tax. Last year our estimates
amounted to nearly £70,000,000, so that within that
period no less a sum than probably £300,000,000
sterling had been taken from the people in increased
taxes—an amount equal to all the dividends of all
the railways in the kingdom. (Hear.) Now, it
might be quite necessary that the expenditure
should have been increased, but the question was
certainly one which the guardians of the commerce
of England would be justified in thoroughly exa-
mining, inasmuch as the absorption of so much
money unproductively must necessarily cripple the
commerce of the country. Another question which
was at this moment exciting considerable interest
in the whole country, and an intense anxiety in the
district from which he came, related to the supply
of cotton. At this moment the peril which had
been so often foreshadowed had fallen. He alluded
to the various steps which he had taken in Parlia-
ment so far since as 1848, with the view to institute
inquiries relative to the obstacles in the way of
cultivation of cotton in India. Valuable informa-
tion had been obtained, and for the purpose of
turning it to practical account he had suggested in
1850 that a royal commission should be issued. But
nothing was done. Nothing was ever done here
so long as no great catastrophe happened. He was
told that his fears respecting an interruption of the
supply from a country where slave labour was so
largely used were groundless, and the President of
the Board of Trade opposed his motion. It bad
required no great prescience to foresee what would
come to pass, because every man must know that
in a country whose constitution declared in its car-
dinal point all men were free and equal the insti-
tution of slavery must by some means or other one
day come to an end and the industrial organisation
of the South be paralysed, if not wholly destroyed.
He had not the smallest doubt that if after that
committee had sat there had been in every district
a real effective Government, giving a fair chance
to the industry of the most docile people
in the world, and to a climate and soil
most favourable to the production of every-
thing we required, any amount of cotton necessary
for the manufactures of this country might have
been obtained, even though the cessation of supply
from the United States had been more total and
more continuous than he hoped it might be. (Hear,
hear.) He did not wish to underrate the gravity of
the present crisis in Lancashire. Whatever might
be done in India, or in any other country, could
only be done by slow degrees; in no one year was
IL ai a-4
of the last lb, 20, or it might be 60 years. There-
fore, looking at the slowness with which new sup-
plies would came in, and at the great uncertainty
of everything now passing in North America, no
question was worthy of more serious consideration
from the Government and the country than the pre-
sent position of Lancashire. They had, as was gene-
rally the case in all great questions that came before
the world, much nonsense talked upon American
affairs, They were told the blockade was a paper
one and totally ineffective, and yet at the same time
they were told that it was a grievous calamity be-
cause it was so effective—(a laugh)—and that it
was necessary to break it. Now, they knew that
while cotton was lying at New Orleans and could
be bought at eight cents, or 4d, per lb, if it could be
landed at Liverpool it would fetch readily from is
to is 2d per lb. They knew, likewise, by the ac-
counts from the South, that almost everything they
imported, if, indeed, there were any imports at all
in the country, was selling at five and even ten
times the ordinary price, and whatever they might
say of a ship escaping the blockade now and then, he
believed it could be demonstrated that never was in
the history of the world a blockade so effective as
that now existing, and over so long a line of coast.
That, however, was no particular advantage to us
who wish to have some of the produce of the Southern
States. lie mentioned it only to show that the pre-
ter.ces for interference on that ground were vain and
foolish. Peaple did not appear to understand that in-
terference meant war. There was a general impres-
sion that, somehow or other, America had gone to the
dogs, and hat this country with its vast fleet might
do anythin; it pleased with it. Supposing anybody
had asked n 1850 whether the United States was a
Power whch it was easy to trample upon, every-
body woult have replied " No." But at this very
moment the population of the States, still under the
Governmeit of Washington, was greater than the
population of all the States of the American Union
in 1850, and the white population of the strictly
Slave States. was greater now than the white popu-
lation of a the States in that year ; while, more-

over, 99 per cent., indeed he might say the whole of
whatever there was of maritime wealth and power
in the Union belong now, as it belonged before, to
the North, and not to the South. Therefore, unless
we went upon the principle that when we found a
man to whom you were very civil when he had not
met with an accident, and his limbs were all sound,
when we found him with a broken arm we might
meddle with him without danger to ourselves,
nothing could be more ignorant or foolish than the
idea that the United States, as at present existing
and governed from Washington, was a Power that
could be trampled upon as though it were a few
disconnected provinces, a prey to anarchy, which
any one might insult and injure at his plea-
sure. He believed he spoke the sentiments of
the merchants, manufacturers, and workpeople of
Lancashire when he said that any of those extremes
of interference and war which certain politicians
and newspapers advanced, would not only be peril-
ous, but absolutely fatal to the interests of that
county. If cotton be now is. per lb., it could not be
obtained from America, through war, at less than
ss. a lb.; and if there were men and families—as he
owned there were hundreds, and perhaps thousands
—who scarcely knew where to-morrow's food was
to come from, still it would be the cheapest thing
that England ever did to subsidise those families
till better days came round, rather than we should
engage in an unjust and violent attempt to break a
legal blockade, to declare war against a people
anxious to be friendly with us, and who were only
engaged in an endeavour which would be here re-
garded as patriotic—viz., maintaining the integi ity
of their Government and sustaining the permanence
of their nationality. (Hear.) He believed that the
interests of Lancashire absolutely at that moment
depended on a perfect and, he should say, friendly
neutrality on the part of our Government. So far
back as August last he said that the speediest and
surest mode of our obtaining cotton was through the
success of the Government of the United States. He
said so still. As affairs were advancing in that
country every one must see that the monster crime
of slavery had received a blow from which it could
never recover ; that, if it continued to exist, it would
no longer be an aggressive and political power, and
when it ceased to be that, we might rely upon it,
the moral sense and Christian feeling of that nation
would take care that it should not permanently en-
dure. (Cheers.) He referred to the fact that at
the meetings of the Liverpool and Manchester
Chambers of Commerce those bodies were in favour
of absolute neutrality on the question ; but he had
been told that the other day a newspaper
which professed to guide, to influence, and some-
times, he trusted, for the sake of human nature,
was found to insult public opinion, was even
taunting the people of Lancashire with the
idea that they were coming to Government
for subsidies in order that their people might live.
No such notion had ever entered the minds of the
men of property or of any other class in Lancashire.
Among the working classes there were numbers
who had not spent everything they had earned in
better years, while, on the other hand, there was
also great wealth and great liberality, and [an
almost incalculable amount of property which might
be called upon in case of extremity to assist the
suffering. At present there was a disposition among
the working people which everybody must admire ;
they knew the cause of this disaster, that it was not
the fault of their employers, nor of their Govern-
ment; they trusted that this sore trouble would not
rest on them too heavily or too long ; and they be-
lieved that there would be an honest and honour-
able desire among all, from the highest to the lowest,
to help each other through the difficulty, and an
earnest endeavour, if possible, to prevent the recur-
rence of such a calamity. (Cheers.) The hon. gen-
tleman next, at some length, alluded to the duties
of Chambers of Commerce, and to their usefulness
if carried on in a liberal and pacific spirit: He
wished that those chambers were united in an asso-
ciation, which would give them a hundredfold more
weight and influence with the Government; and
when that time came they might rely on it that if
there were yet battles to be fought and victories to
be won in that field those struggles would cause
much less labour, much less expense, and much less
anxiety than some of those conquests in which dur-
ing the last 20 years it had been, he acknowledged
—he would not say his misfortune, but his pride,
to have borne a part. (Cheers.)
The meeting was afterwards addressed by Mr.
Adderley, M.P., M. Latour (French Consul), Mr.
Dawson (Chairman of the Liverpool Chamber of
Commerce), and other gentlemen.

PRESENTATIOAT OF A TESTIMONIAL
TO TILE RIGHT HON. T. if. GIBSON, .111. P.

Yesterday an address and testimonial were pre-
sented to the Right Hon. T. M. Gibson, M.P., at a
public breakfast, in Freemason's Hall, in comme-
moration of his services in procuring the repeal of
the taxes on knowledge. A large and influential
company assembled on the occasion, and the gal,
lery was nearly filled with ladies, who took a deep
interest in the proceedings. W: Eivart, Esq.,
M P., occupied the chair, supported by Mr. Sheriff
Cockerell and Mr. Sheriff Twentyman ; and among
the gentlemen present were Alderman Salomons,
M.P., Sir S. M. Peto, M.P., Sir C. Douglas, M.P.,
Sir F. Goldsmid, M.P., W. Crawford, Esq., M.P.,
S. White, Esq., M.P., E. Baynes, Esq., M.P., A. S.
Ayrton, Esq., M.P., Samuel Morley, Esq., C.
Knight, Esq., S. C. Hall, Esq., Robert Chambers,
Esq., Dr. Gray (of the Dublin Freenzan),Thornton
Hunt, Esq., Lucas, Esq., Vizetelly, Esq., &c.
Mr. FRANCIS read notes from Mr. Cobden, Mr.
Thackeray, and Mr. Bright, regretting their in-
ability to be present.
The CHAIRMAN having given the usual loyal
•
TiSir,—We meet to-day to commemorate the total extine-
en fi:tineribtiPreaft an dlnfeeliociiitoowusintgermtwusivchasllLd

tion of the taxes upon literature and the Press, and to avail
ourselves of the opportunity to ask you to accept a testimo-
nial as a mark of our appreciation of your services during
the time you were president of the associations formed for
the purpose of obtaining the repeal of those taxes. It may
not be inappropriate here to advert to the history of this
movement. Twelve years have now elapsed since systematic
efforts were commenced for this purpose.
" Two associations were then formed—one by gentlemen
connected with the Press, regarding the taxes from their
literary and commercial aspects ; the other known as the
"Association for Promoting the Repeal of the Taxes on
Knowledge," assailing these imposts more particularly by
popular and political arguments. This latter association
took from the first comprehensive action in respect to the
three taxes—the Press Association, on the other hand, de-
termined to direct its efforts to each tax in succession ; both
associations, however, looking forward to the total extinc-
tion of Press taxation, as the final object of their labours.
" The advertisement duty was the first object of attack.
It was regarded as one of the fiscal errors committed when
the true principle of taxation was comparatively unknown
—as a barrier between buyer and seller, and consequently
not only a burden upon literary enterprise, but an impedi-
ment to trade and labour seeking a market through the ad-
vertising columns of the newspaper. The representations
made to the Government and the House of Commons, as to
the injurious character of this tax, were at length effective,
and on the 4th of August, 1853, the duty upon advertise-

meats was repealed.
The compulsory stamp became the next object of our
movement. The penny stamp was viewed as a prohibition
upon cheap newspapers, so important as agents of com-
munication, especially amongst the humbler classes of
society. The repeal was therefore urged as a matter of
justice and sound policy. It was felt that the abolition of
this tax would lead to the establishment of good penny
newspapers, and thus prove a measure of safety against the
issue of journals of a demoralising tendency. The result
has shown that the opinions held by yourself and those who
acted with you were correct. Notwithstanding the strong
opposition that was encountered both in and out of Parlia-
ment, the views of the friends of repeal happily prevailed,
and on the 15th of June, 1555, the second of the taxes upon
knowledge was abolished, leaving to the friends of complete
freedom one final struggle.
" For years, literature of all kinds has been tending toa
cheapness—to a large demand at low Prices/ instead of
small demand at high prices. But the tax upon paper
pressed most injuriously upon the AM for rolllWleratiou

of these who laboured for the instruction and amusement of
the people. Lord Brougham, who has so long and so ear-
nestly laboured in this direction, declared That the exac-
tion of the paper duty was among the greatest anomalies of
our political administration ; and that ' this tax upon
knowledge was a powerful obstruction to the education and
improvement of the people, operating directly in raising
the price and lowering the value of everything read by
them.' The repeated discussion of this question in the press,
in Parliament, and at public meeting's, at length paved the
way for the unanimous adoption by the House of Commons
of the important resolution submitted by you—' That the
omfarienvteennuanecweooufltdhbeeEimxcpisoelitoine:papeThreaspaaspsienrgmoafnetnhtissoruesorc!
tluhteiohnan—dtshoofugt
hheafsrintdrsa:rf eil.ye;baslt,zt,Tirwe:ls(,),,ieingh:necl
mem-
bers of Parliament enrolled themselves as vice-presidents of
the press associations. Subsequently you were invited to
become a member of Lord Palmerston's Administration, and
you then resigned the presidentship of both associations.
Your friends, however, are desirous that you should possess
some memento of the connexion which had so long existed ;
it is therefore with much pleasure, and in the firm belief
that the important legislative measures wr to-day celebrate,
will prove of lasting advantage to the nation, that we offer
for your acceptance this testimonial.
" The struggle in respect to the repeal of the paper duty
is too recent to require further remark, except to recognise
the signal ability, courage, and perseverance of the Chan-
cellor of the Exchequer, Mr. Gladstone—(great cheering)
—whose sound fiscal policy, though attacked through the
paper duty, at length triumphed, and the press of this coun-
try became wholly emancipated from taxation. (Cheers.)
" Signed on behalf of the Testimonial Fund Committee,
tc WILLIAM EIVAET.M.X., Chairman.
"ROBERT CITA miptc2;s,Treastzxer.
"JOHN FRINCIS, Hon. Sec." -

The testimonial consists of a centre-piece, or
epergne, after a design by Flasman, and two six-
light candelabra, all silver gilt, the whole valued
at 500 guineas ; the epergne was made by Garrard,
and the candelabra by Messrs. Barry, of the Egyp-
tian Hall, Piccadilly. The epergne bears the fol-
lowing inscriptions :
" Presented to the Right Hon. T. M. Gibson, M.P., by
the members and friends of the Associations for Obtaining
the Repeal of the Taxes on Knowledge, as a commemo-
rating testimonial of his important services during twelve
years as their president." _ _

" Advertisement duty repealed, August 4th, 1853."
" Compulsory stamp on newspapers repealed, June 15th,
1855."

" Paper duty repealed, October 4th, 1861."
The CHAIRMAN then, in a speech which reviewed
the whole progress of the movement, proposed "The
health of Mr. Gibson," upon whose character and
exertions he pronounced a glowing eulogium.
The toast was drunk with great enthusiasm.
Mr. GIBSON, who, on rising, was received with
repeated cheers, said it was difficult to find words
properly and adequately to express his acknowledg-
ments of the kindness which had been manifested
towards him, or his gratitude for the handsome tes-
timonial which was offered for his acceptance. If
his language lacked warmth, his feelings were not
the less strong. He should have felt more at home
if they had met to discuss the obnoxious effects of
the taxes on knowledge ; but he did from the bot-
tom of his heart thank those who had done him
the honour of presenting him with that testimonial,
and he also thanked his hon. friend in the chair for
the complimentary manner in which he had been
pleased to express himself as to his exertions to
the repeal of
testimonial.
wp rho
icauhr e
was
the abolitioneorfe t
e thed
thatbtyases,
Whatever he had done for that purpose had been
a source of pleasure to him ; for, during the whole
course of the movement, he had watched each step
with the greatest interest, and no one rejoiced more
heartily than he did at the ultimate triumph of the
cause. It might appear rather a curious circum-
stance that a Minister of the Crown should be re-
ceiving a testimonial of this kind for public services.
He could assure them that had it been offered for
services rendered since he had been in office, he
should have undoubtedly declined to receive. His
hon. friend in the chair had done honour where
honour was due, The repeal of the paper duty was
the act of the whole Government, of which he (Mr.
Gibson) was a member, and his right hon. friend
the Chancellor of the Exchequer, who was the offi-
cial organ of the Government in carrying the mea-
sure, did his duty in a manner to which his
hon. friend had done no more than justice. (Cheers.)
But though he should have declined to accept any
testimonial on account of the repeal of the paper
duty, he did not think that the fact of his having
become a member of the Government of Lord Pal-
merston precluded him from having some memorial
of the long and cordial connexion between himself
and the gentlemen of these two associations. It was
in that sense that he was pleased with this memo-
rial of the past, and of those old associations con-
nected with the recollection of those who had
worked with him for the repeal of the taxes on
knowledge. (Cheers.) His own efforts would
have been fruitless but for the zeal and ability of
those who were associated with him—Mr. Novell°,
the treasurer, Mr, Moore, the president, the
faithful and able secretary, Mr. Collett—(cheers)
to which he would add the name of his hon. friend
Mr. Francis, the secretary of the Press Association.
(Cheers.) When he first became acquainted with
those gentlemen the question of the repeal of the
taxes upon knowledge was slumbering. The late
Mr. Francis Place—(hear, hear)—was the first
person who communicated with him upon the sub-
ject, and suggested that some member of Parlia-
ment should keep the questions which had been
left unsolved by the Government before the Legis-
lature. The advertisement duty had been reduced
but not repealed, the stamp duty upon papers had
been reduced from 4d. to Id., which Lord Brougham
had called the last and worst pen ny—meoll.theuanr.,
and laughter)—and the paper duty was
himself in communication with others, and they
d with him never to cease working in_ the
agree
cause until they finally succeeded. (Cheers.) Diffi-
culties had been urged as standing in the way of
touched. At the instigation of. Mr. Place he put
that consummation, but the greatest difficulty of all
w pA L.. Lb wpm --.1
eulating among all classes would not conduce to the
safety of our institutions. Many persons might
not be aware that the origin of these taxes in the
reign of Queen Anne was for no other purpose than
the putting a stop to the issue of cheap news-
papers which disturbed the institutions of the
country, and repressing what was then called " the
vivacity of the Press." (Hear, hear.) An eminent
judge said, " We did not want politicians at the
loom, or statesmen at the spinning-jenny ;" but
these two associations felt that it was more in ac-
cordance with the spirit of the age that knowledge
should be disseminated among the people, and that
our institutions could rest upon no more solid basi
than the attachment of an educated andmesens
ts-
lightened community. (Cheers.) The
!feud been
by which that proposition was supported
he results were not
that it was not necessary to repeat them.
knew that their force had been appreciated, and
that public
In the year
l
ov; from day to day,
until at last the Government found themselves in a
position t ion to repeal
wellan d
opinions so frequ
had frequently l
grown
put
Theyall
public,
unworthy of these
remark if
e they contrasted the years
two e
1851 and 1861 as regarded the number of news-
papers existing at h e
1851 there were in the United Kingdom 18 daily
papers—there were now 62 in existence. (Hear,
hear.) In 1851 there were in the United Kingdom
4
so
tst axs .
periods.y
papers. (Cheers.) As the chairman had said
all these papers were doing good, They were all
teaching not politics only, but they were giving
amoan b alle
social information also to the industrious classes,
and these classes must be benefitted by the diffusion
of that social information. Why should there be any
alarm manifested about the circulation of facts
weekly weekly papers—in 1861 there were 1,027
presentedclasses of
with
the t
h communityna
narratives
s ti
ves
of
? Why shouldoceur
not-
rences, and thus be enabled to take aliving interest
in what was passing around them ? in the move-
ment they had the support of all religious persua-
sions; they had been aided by the advocates of
State education and voluntary education—for all

seemed to agree that nothing was more desirable
that the repeal of those taxes which stood in the
way of the people educating themselves, bad they
might depeud upon it that the repeal of these taxes
would be a great aid to the spread of elementary
education. There was a limit to that education when
it fell into disuse after leaving school, but nothing
tempted a poor man to read so much as the reading
of a newspaper, so a cheap press would be the most
important aid to the cause of popular education,
that could possibly exist. (Hear, hear.) There was
no need to dwell upon the evils of these taxes, be-
cause he could not suppose that any Government
would ever reimpose. (Hear, hear.) As to the testi-
monial before him, he had given the question very
full consideration, and it was not without reluct-
ance that he had agreed to receive it; fie had felt
that there was something invidiCus in selecting one
for such an honour when others had cone so much
more than he had. His work either in cr out of Par-
liament would have been as nothing, ifße had not
been aided by some of the most efficient men wild ever
carried a great public cause to a,triumphant issue,
and conferred a great national benefit on the whole
community. As a. commemoration of•these labours,
and of his association with them in these labours,
he gratefully
accepted the testimonial ; and in doing
so he hoped he had made clear the grounds upon
which he had decided to do so. In the first place,
the step to the repeal of the paper duties was the
act of the whole Government, and if
-that Govern--
single
determination t o
individualcarr y t
would have been but,
depend upon it the
efforts
ment had not been supported by a great party in.
the
as the idle wind in the face of the powerful, opPosir,
tion which had to be encountered. (Cheers.) The.
measure had been carried by unity,' fidelity, and
talent. The unity was in the Government that re-
solved upon it, the fidelity in the great Liberal
party which supported the polievifo2 Govern.'
ment, and the talent was found *la 4e most able,
and powerful organ`of the Govertilefit nrplaeing..
that measure before Parliament. (Cheers.) The
right hon. gentleman, after some observations, con-
cluded by thanking the meeting and the subscribers
to the testimonial most cordially and gratefully_for
the kindness and generosity with which he ha
been treated ; and sat down amid loud, and•con-
tinned cheering.

The other toasts which followed were the,"•Chan-
cellor of the Exchequer," proposed by Robert
Chambers, Esq. ; " The House of Cann-ions," pro_
posed by the Chairman, and responded to by Mr.'
E. Baines, M.P. ; " The Corporation of the City of
London," proposed byMr. Lucas, and acknowledged
by Mr. Sheriff Cockerell ; " The Press," proposed
by Dr. Watts, of Manchester, responded to by Mr.
Thornton Hunt ; " The health of Mr. Francis ;" of
" The Chairman," and " The Ladies."

The whole of the proceedings gave the greatest
satisfaction to the company, and the breakfast and
general arrangements amply sustained the high.
character of the Freemasons' Tavern, under its pre-
sent liberal management.