The Sun.
London, England, 1838-12-28 00:00:00

CORN-LAWS-STOCKPORT.

Mr. PAULTON.—On Monday and Tuesday evenings Mr.
Paulton delivered two lectures on the Corn-laws in the
Court-room to respectable and crowded audiences. On the
second night Mr. Paulton expressed a fear that he might be
trespassing too far on the indulgence of his audience, and
proposed to omit a part of the lecture ; but they encouraged
him to proceed by loud cries of " give us it all," followed
by a round of animating cheers. That such long lectures,
full of dry statistical details, should be listened to not only
with patience but with almost breathless interest, says much
for the strong feeling which exists on the subject as a prac-
tical question, as well as for the general talent and rheto-
rical art displayed by the teetotal.. As soon as Mr. Paul-
ton had sat down, Henry Marsland, Esq. M.P., rose to
propose that the sincere and heartfelt thanks of the meeting
should be given to that gentleman for the able lectures he
had just concluded ; and now that Mr. Paulton had done
his duty, he hoped they would not be deficient in theirs.
Mr. Marsland concluded by proposing that the thanks of
the meeting should be given by acclamation to their
worthy lecturer, Mr. Paulton. The call was enthusiasti-
cally responded to by the meeting in a round of deafen-
ing cheers, which were followed by three spontaneous
and hearty cheers, with one cheer more for the worthy
Member himself. Mr. Paulton said it would be unjust
to his own feelings, as well as to the meeting, if he did
not return his sincere thanks for the compliment they
had just paid him. For himself personally be did not
care a single pin's point what was said of him--the me-
tropolitan Tory-papers had aceused him of fomenting social
d,sunion, but his offence was only that of telling the
truth against parties whose interest lay in concealing it.
They would agree with him that the harm lay in plun-
deride-° the people, not in telling them they were plun-
dered. He rejoiced in the marks of approbation he had
received, because they implied their recognition of the
cause which he represented as a holy, a good and a
gloricus cause—a cause in which they were willing to
struggle. A fallacious notion had gone forth in regard
to the conduct of the men of Birmingham on this ques-
tion ; they had not, as had been represented, said they
would not help him and his friends to obtain a repeal of
the Coin laws ; they only said they despaired of their
success with such a rascally House of Commons, though
they were still willing to aid in the battle for it. To the
advocates of Universal Suffrage he would say, that if they
failed in gaining the object of the anti-Corn-law agitation,
the effect would be to convert the middle classes into flic.ids
of Universal Suffrage ; and if they gained a repeal of the
Corn-laws, the battle for Universal Suffrage would surely be
fought better with full bellies than empty ones.—(Cheers.)
Mr. Coppock, Town Clerk, moved that a local anti-Corn-
law Association should be immediately formed in Stock-
port, one penny to be the subscription of the working man,
and ss. that of the more wealthy who had not yet suffered
so severely from the Corn-laws, but who would soon be in-
volved in one 'common ruin unless they instantly rose in
self-defence.—The motion was seconded by Mr. Knott, and
unanimously agreed to.

EDUCATION.--In the following table a comparison
is made between the number of children who frequent ele-
mentary schools, and the who's population in different
countries .

Lombardy . . . .Ito 13
Bohemia . . . .Ito 11

Denmark . . . . 1 to 15
Bavaria . . • . 1 to 8
City of Naples . . I to 119
Russian Empire . . 1 to 924
Franco . . . . 1 to 27
Tuscany . . . . I to 60
Corsica . . . . I to 20
Duchy of Parma . . 1 to 4S
Duchy of Lucca . . 1 to 29
ICanton of Geneva . 1 to 7

Tyrol
Moravia and Silesia
Styria and Carinthia
Lower Austria .
Upper Austria .
Mean of the whole Aus-
trian monarchy . .Ito 13
England and Scotland 1. to 16
Holland . . . .Ito 14
TT •

Hence it appears that Englanid and Scotland are behind
the Canton of Geneva, Bavaria, the Tyrol, Bohemia, Hol-
land, Lombardy, Austria, Moravia, Silesia, and Denmark.
The apathy which our Government have shown these many
years in respect to education is truly astonisl:ing. No less
than 418 millions of the public money have been expended
since 1815, under the head " Army—Navy and Ord-
nance !!" One-fourth part of this sum would have been
sufficient to endow a school in almost every parish through-
out the United Kingdom. It should be remembered that
whilst military expenditure is promotive of vice—education
is promotive of virtue ; and surely to render the people vir-
tuous, is an object worthy the persevering labours of all en-
lightened rulers.

On Tuesday evening a respectable-looking woman
was taken to the police station of the U division, in Spital-
fields, in a state of intoxication, and was locked up in a cell,
where she was repeatedly visited during the night, and re-
mained apparently in the same state in which she had been
brought in ; but at six o'clock yesterday morning she was
found to be alarming]) ill, and medical assistance was im-
wmoemdiaantehl ya
(sie ne
expired,
pfiorre.d
erowaa
ssurgeonaarrdrsi vaesde,
rhtoawineevde rt,o tbhee
a widow, named Litchfield.
An inquest was held on Wednesday at the Westminster
House of Correction on the body of a young man named
Bullger, who died in that prison on S iturday last. From
the evidence it appeared that deceased, who was a shoe-
maker by trade, had been committed about a month ago
from Bow-street, for want of bail, on a charge of assault.
Previous to his imprisonment he had led a very unsettled
life, the consequence of which was that be was seized with
a rapid decline, which terminated fatally. Every attention
of
tacl the prison.beenpa Verdict—``
thetohimdicby,,officers
medical and governor
Died by the visitation of God."
SHIPWRECK.—We regret to state that the late
gales, which have been attended with so many disasters to
the shipping,
have proved fatal to the schooner Sceptre of
,greaterro part of
her
in
crew. The Sceptre
WDausnodne eh,
her
and n
passaged the
fm Port-au-Prince,
St. Domingo,
with a cargo of cotton and coffee, and the place where she
was wrecked is in the vicinity of Holyhead, in Wales. All
hands perished except the mate, William Finlay, a native
of Dundee, and a foreigner, named Carlos Tuffstrinx, of
Gotbland, in Sweden.—Edinburgh Advertiser.
SACRED HARMONIC SocISTY.—On Friday even-
ing the members of this society performed The Messiah
to a crowded audience. The chorusses were most ably
sustained, and gave as great delight as ever. Con fort ye
was sung by the veteran Braham, who was announced to
sing all the tenor solos, but through some misunderstanding'',
we believe, with the lessee of Drury-lane Theatre, he left
immediately after the first air. His place was supplied by
Mr. Hobbs, who, with Messrs. Turner, Novell°, J. 0.
Atkins, and Willing, and Miss Birch, Mr. Toulmin, and
Miss Wyndham, took the remaining solos and concerted
pieces. Amon', the company in the gallery we observed
the Grand Duke of Lucca, who seemed to pay great
attention to the performance, and appeared much delighted
with the chorusses,