The Sun.
London, England, 1847-11-24 00:00:00

LATEST PRICES OF SHARES.
I N BANKS, ASSURANCE, AND OTHER COM
PANIES' STOCK.
From the Gfficial List,

eI7BLISIIED EVERY TIIEADAT AND.FRIDAY EvENISt.
LONDON, TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 23.

JOINT-STOCK

Dividend Amount
Nair° of Company. per of Paid. Price,
Annum. Share.
s. d. $ s. d.
Australasia .......... 40 0 0 40 0 0
AritshNorth American 57. per cent. 50 0 0 50 0 0 44
Ceylon •• • • .. •• •... 61. pr cent. 25 0 0 25 0 0
;ommercial of London 61. per cent. 100 0 0 20 0 0
'olonial. 51. per cent. 100 0 0 25 0 0
Gloucestershire • • •• • • 151 per cent.
lonian -- • • .• • • 61. per cent. 25 0 0 25 0 0
Lonfin and Westminstr 61. per cent. 100 0 0 20 0 0
Ditto
13 0 0
.iondon Joint-Stock... 61. per cent. 50 0 0 10 0 0 15
Provincialof Ireland • • 81. per cent. 100 0 0 25 0 0 41
Ditto, New... • • • i 81. per cent. 10 0 0 10 0 0
National of Ireland 51. per cent. SO 0 0 22 10 0
Nit. Provnclal of Eng. St. per cent. 100 0 0 35 0 0
Ditto, New.•• •• .• • • 51. per cent. 20 0 0 10 0 0
South Australia 22 10 0
~. moil of Australia.... 61. per cent. 25 0 0 25 0 0
Ditto ...• ..... 2 10 0
L0nd0n..... 61. per cent. 50 0 0 10 0 0
Union of Madrid ..... 40 0 0 40 0 0

crease, and is large; there is also a desire on the part of
holders to sell, aid the tendency of prices is downwards
for most descriptions. In Cod the purchases made
have been unimportant. Southern is little required and
prices vary from 231 to 261 for low to fine quality.
For Sperm there aro few buyers. For Linseed Oil
prices remain much the same as those previously cur-
rent, the supply plentiful; the home trade have
been large operators, and the export demand has
been good at 23s 6d to 23s 9d. For forward de-
livery several contracts were concluded at 24s to 24s
3d, upon these terms there are not generally sellers. In
Rapeseed Oil the operations are upon a more extended
scale ; in prices, however, we have little improvement to
record. Olive is little required by exporters or the home
trade ; prices continue on the decline. Palm dots not
improve in value ; several parcels, however, have found
purchasers. Cocoa Nut is little required ; prices con-
tinue to decline.

Their Lordships re-assembled at Five o'clock.
THE ADDRESS.

vorthy condition, namely, that the Government should
.;o halves in the profits, which; by fixing the minimum
rate so high, they calculated on wringing out of the ge-
•eral distress.—(Cheers.) I say it is no answer that the
Sank did uot exceed the lawful issue. The Government
authorised them to exceed it, and for that the Government
oust come to Parliament for indemnification—for the
auction of Parliament ex past
,facto. It is no satistac-
ion to me, if I exhort or authorise a murderer, that he
lid not meet with his victim. I authorised the perpe-
ration of the crime, and morally and legally I am as
.espensible as though the crime had taken place.—
Hear, hear.) If her Majesty's Government undertook
o suspend the Habeas Corpus Act without the consent
if Parliament, in order that they might be able to ar-
...gist, without form of law, any persons under certain
ecpected circumstances, it would be no answer to us
hat the circumstances did not arise, and that no man
tad been subjected to unjust imprisonment.—(Cheers.)
['he Minister issued that authority to the Bank, and they
ire as liable to account for having done so as though the
tank had committed an undoubted breach of the law.
—(Hear, hear.) But there is a much more important
luestion remaining behind, and one which will produce
he deepest anxiety iu the minds of the reflecting people
'f this country, and require at the hands of Parliament
he most careful investigation. The avowed object of
his law was to regulate the currency of the country, and
ty applying the screw at the proper time, to check
endue speculation, end so prevent, or, in fact, to ren-
ler impossible, those panic, of which we have seen
gone more disastrous than the present. From 1844 to
1847 no pressure occurred in which the law was fairly
.vied and brought to bear; all the circumstances of these
years coincided with the law. But at length the time
same, and now the test has been applied. The Govern-
nent, under the pressure of the times, feel it necessary
arbitrarily to interfere and alter that law, which was
ound to be unequal to the emergency. Now, I ask the
.:loverntrent what they mean to do with that law?—
'Loud cheers.) That, too, is a question which the coun-
ry has a right to ask, and it is a question to which the
fountry will have an answer from those who are charged
vith the responsibility of Ministers.—(Cheers.) If the
law was wise, and just, and expedient, and, above all,
iracticable, how is it the Government is to be excused
'or violating that law; and, in defiance of an Act of
Parliament, suspending its operation? If, on the other
hand, it be only applicable to fair weather, and not for
he adverse circumstances for which it was intended to
provide, then it is your duty, charged as you are with
he affairs of this great country, to say we do not bs-
;end to maintain that law in its integrity—(Cheers)—
grid I ask you what aro the amendments of that law
vhich you intend to propose?—(Cheers.) That is a
luestion which I have a right to ask ; and with that
luestion I will now dismiss the subject altogether, re-
tenting, at the same time, my belief that her Majesty's
i-overnment acted, on the whole, with wisdom and dis-
fretion in suspending that law.—(Cheers.) Recurring
to the universal character of the present distress.
lave a right to ask the Noble Lord who
proposed the Address, and who must have found it a
:either difficult topic to deal with—l have, I say, a right
o ask the question—whence is this commercial dis-
ress? There may be, and no doubt, is a part of this
!ornmercial distress arising from improvident invest-
nents in railways, but I am inclined to think that is by
to means the largest part.—(Hear, hear.) Here we
lave a Speech from the Throne, giving an account of
sreat commercial distress; and a supporter of the pre-
'ent Government, cad the mover of the Address, attri-
buting it also to the importation of 9,000,000 quarters of
'oreign corn; but I recollect when in the discussion on
he corn-laws, two years ago, my statement met with
!ontemptuous ridicule from the Noble Lord near me
—(Lord Brougham)—when I said that when there
was no extraordinary supply, and prices ruled mode-
.ately, we might look for an importation of 4,000,000
quarters annually—(Hear, hear)—the Noble Lord
laughed that statement to scorn; but what are the facts
if the case? I will take figures furnished by the Noble
Mover of the Address; and I recollect there was no
srovision made by sowing a single additional acre of
sorn, which was considered in my calculation of
t 000,000 quarters. According to the result of the
Noble Lord's figures, in nine or ten months 9,000,000
>r 10,000,000 of quarters of foreign corn have been
brought in.—(Cheers.) And the Noble Lord, in moving
the Address, attributes the commercial distress of the
iountry at this moment to the large sum which we have
lad to pay for foreign corn.—(Renewed cheers.) On
the part of a supporter of her Majesty's Government
And a free-trader this is a valuable admission; and I
rest say, for myself and friends around me, the event
in a most remarkable manner has verified the an-
ticipations we ventured, in 1841, to prognosticate as
he result. How differently have the prophecies made
by our opponents been fulfilled! I have had sent
tile, by this morning's post, the reprint 'of a
letter published by Mr. Cobden in March,
1841, addressed to the working men of Stockport.
He says, " You will eat bread, made from American
dour, at lid. per lb. ; you will then have full employ-
ment at advanced wages ; every spindle and every loom
will be set in motion ; every shopkeeper will be pros-
perous ; every house will be tenanted ; your numbers
will increase ; and new mills, new houses, new churches
and chapels, will be built, and everything will flourish ;
if the corn-laws be taken off directly, and a free impor-
tation of corn be allowed."—(Cheers.) Now, mark ;
they have now a free trade in corn, such as the most
,ianguine supporter of free-trade doctrines ninild wish, or
indeed ever dreamt of—in nine months nine millions of
quarters I—(lear, hear.) But it is not said that we
export more manufactures. The increased exports have
been, as we told them, exports only of bullion until the
time when it rises, and the price of all commodities fall
ruinously low at home. By dint of hard work, low
wages, poor fare, and stinted time, our manufacturers
have been forced into a glutted market, despite hostile
rivals. There has been an importation of foreign corn
large enough to satisfy the free-trade prophets, but
now different the result from their prognostics ! So far
r• .m the mills being crowded, never before were there so
many mills standing still, so many men upon short time,
so many families unemployed, or wages fallen so low.—
(Hear, hear.) The exports, it is true, have fallen short
but not so short as to justify this great commercial de-
pression. The fact is, my Lords, it is the home market
which has failed ; proving, by experience, that all
'oreign markets are insignificant as weighed in the
balance with the greatest and best—the home market.—
(Cheers.) Ido not, however, attribute the whole of
our commercial distress to the repeal of the corn• laws
or to free trade ; but I say the failure of the crop in
England has anticipated the result of the corn-laws,
and showed its inevitable tendency to cause large ex •
ports of bullion from the country, and great disturb-
ances of the currency. It has also shown the utter
fallacy of those predictions of prosperity, and that, in-
stead, it tends to the ruin of both farmer and manufac-
turer. Ido not hesitate to say that the period at which
many large undertakings were commenced, large returns
might have reasonably been expected ; and that the
effects of the Bank Charter produced much of that de-
pression and suffering to which, more than an actual
want of wealth, might be attributed the panic. The
want has been the want of some exchangeable medium
in which all parties could have confidence, and the
Absence of which has caused the paralysation of trade
we have so recently witnessed—(Hear, hear)—a state of
things which has been, to a certain extent, remedied,
and which would be still further remedied if the Bank of
England, acting in co-operation with the Government,
would, on approved security, grant that temporary ac-
commodation which might bs the means, as it were, of
oiling the wheels of commerce, and of preventing, so to
speak, its machinery from standing still from the want
of some available trediu:n Of exchange.—(llear, hear.)
My Lords, I will pass over without any particular c. m-
ment that passage of her Majesty's Speech in which it is
stated that " the abundant harvest with which this
country has been blessed has alleviated the evils which
always accompany a want of employment in the manu-
facturing districts," though I trust confess I do not under-
stand the object of inserting that paragraph in the speech
from the Throne. Ido understand that every good har-
vest with which we are blessed is an increase of the
capital of the country, and that such increase of the capi-
tal of the country is naturally beneficial to its commercial
and manufacturing interests, a subject which the Go-
vernment will do well to bear in mind, inasmuch as there
is nothing that can compensate for that great deficiency
in 0-9 national capital which arises from any great di-
minution in the cereal produce of the country.—(Hear.)
My Lords, I turn now to the state of Ireland.—(Hear,
hear.) I believe, my Lords, that great exertions have
been made in Ireland to alleviate the sufferings of the
people, and to carry into effect, at great sacrifices, and
under great risks, the law which last year received the
selection of Parliament for the relief of the poor ie Ire-
land.—(Hear, hear.) The landed proprietors of Ireland
have, it is my belief, exerted themselves to the utmost of
their means—in many instances beyond their means—in
availing themselves of those "facilities which had been
placed at their disposal by Parliament, and in endea-
vouring to mitigate the pressure upon the poor.—
(Hear, hear.) I do not wish [so wo understood the
Noble Lord, whom we occasionally found it extremely
difficult to hear distinctly]—l do not wish to enter
upon the question as to how far it may be necessary
for the liberality of this country to extend itself to
Ireland. Bardens have been imposed upon the landlords
of Ireland, and those burdens, whether deserved or
undeserved, the landlords of Ireland must bear ; but,
my Lords, you must not impose upon the landed pro-
perty of Ireland that which the whole property of that
country is unable to bear. There are districts in Ire-

The Earl of SHAFTESBURY (in the absence
of the Lord Chancellor) took his seat on the Wool-
sack, as Deputy-Chairman of the House, and read
the Royal Speech. •
The Earl of YARBOROUGH then rose to pro
pose the address in answer to the speech. After
bespeaking the indulgence of the House for a Mer,i
ber addressing their Lordships for the first time, the
Noble Earl expressed his opinion that, whatever
might be, the opinion as to the propriety of the ad-
vice which the Ministers had given to her Majesty,
under the circumstances of distress with
which the country was labouring, none
could doubt of their sincerity or honesty.
Some might attribute the distress existing to Peel's
Act ; he, however, attributed it partly to the demand
for money required to purchase food, and partly to
the contemporaneous demand for money for the con-
struction of railroads. The quantity of corn im-
ported into the United Kingdom for the present
year up to the 10th of November, was 10,898,000
qrs.—(Cheers.) He understood those cheers, but
be believed that that importation had been rendered
necessary by the failure of the potato crop ; and
whatever might be the opinions of Noble Lords as t(
the policy of the repeal of the corn-laws, he believed
that they would themselves, under the circumstances.
have authorised the free importat ion of corn.—(Cheers.)
Thus, in 1845, Parliament authorised the raising of
59,000,0001. of capital ; in 1846, 132,000,0001. was
authorised to be raised. The parties promoting
these railways did not in general promote them
matters for permanent investment, but as mere
gambling speculations. These causes had partly
contributed to produce the distress; but the distress
had been greatly aggravated by a panic, arising not sf,
much from want of money, as from want of confidence.
The measures adopted by the Government had greatly
tended to dissipate this panic and to relieve the com
mercial interests, and therefore he thought their
Lordships would approve of these measures. It
was, however, a satisfaction to reflect that the
harvest had been abundant, and if next year
we were blessed with such another harvest,
it would be found that the distress would bf
greatly alleviated, but if such were not the case, he
feared the agricultural would suffer, in common wits
the manufacturing and commercial interests. Ile
believed that this country would again willingly come
forward to relieve the distresses of Ireland, but the.
would first insist that every exertion should be made la)
the landlords of Ireland to maintain their own poor, and
that the Irish people should yield a speedy and wil
ling obedience to the law; and he trusted the Govern-
ment would propose such measures as would protect
the well disposed, while they would bring to
condign punishment that band of miscreants who were
going about the country setting the laws at defiance
and committing atrocious crimes. lie believed that
they were few in number, although they inspireu
a. greater terror than the law ; but he trusted
that the Lord Lieutenant, who had professeo
his determination to administer the law wit}.
firmness, and yet with mercy, would sue
teed in making the law respected. Nearly
10,000,0001. had last year been voted for the relief
of Irish distress, of that nearly 8,000,000/. had beet,
expended. He trusted their Lordships would mak(
ample provision for the exigencies of the country
He trusted that the co- operation of the States of
Europe would restore tranquillity to Switzerland.
He was of opinion that the measures about to be
proposed by the Noble Lord at the head of the
Colonial Department for the introduction of free
labour into the West ladies would have the effect oi
alleviating the distress of the colonies. Considering
the general desire manifested for a revision of the
navigation- laws, he thought the subject was one
well worthy the consideration of the House.
The sanitary condition of the people was
also a subject well worthy the consideration of their
Lordships. If disease should be imported from abroad
into this country, its ravages would be terrific, owing
to the ill-ventilated, ill-drained habitations of the
poorer classes. The Noble Earl having apologised
for the length at which he had addressed the House,
concluded by moving the Address, which was, at.
usual, an echo to the Speech.
The Earl of BESBOROUGH rose to second the
address. The Noble Earl addressed the House only
for a short time, but he was so inaudible in the gallery
during the whole of his address that it was impos-
sible to catch even the purport of what he said.
The question having been put,
Lord STANLEY expressed his wish that some
member of the Government should have addressed the
House before he stated his opinions of the Speech
which they had heard front the throne, but, under the
present circumstances of the country, he considerea
that the Address—an echo as it was of the Speech,
and therefore singularly unmeaning its its cha-
racter—he thought it his duty to offer to the
House some remarks on the subject of that Address.
He would not allude to the speech of his Noble Friend,
the seconder of the Address, because he had under
taken to second it at a short notice.—(Cheers.) The
first and most important subject alluded to in the
Speech was the distress, and he would do her Ma-
jesty's' Ministers the justice to say that they had not
attempted to hide the universality of the distress,
but they alluded to it without showing a single
reason why they should indulge in the slightest hope
that that distress could be alleviated. There was not
one of their Lordships who would not join in the
expressions of admiration expressed by her Majesty
for the fortitude with which those distresses had been
borne ; but although the Speech expressed her Ma-
jesty's lamentation for that distress, and her lamen-
tations over the state of rreland, although the Speech
expressed lainentation for. the past, anxiety for the
present, and apprehension of the future, yet the
Ministers cautiously abstained from stating their
opinions as to the causes and the remedies for
this state of things. He called upon them
to throw themselves upon the country—to
throw themselves upon their political opponents,
who, if they (the Ministers) would take the lead, as
their position called upon them to do, would willingly,
laying aside all party spirit, aid and assist them in
passing those measures which were required for the
salvation of the country.—(Hear, hear, and cheers )
He would not be slow in carrying to her Majesty his
approval of the assistance which the Ministers in the
last extremity had extended to the commercial com-
munity, but he could not but express his belief that
had the relief been extended sooner it would have
been more effectual—(Cheers)—but still he gave them
credit for having dared to violate the law, and by
violating the law to save the country.—(Cheers.) He
would not, however, hesitate to express his opinion
that the Government required an Act of indemnity
for the violation of the law.—(Cheers.) The Noble
Lord then proceeded to say—l think her Majesty's Go-
vernment ought to declare what are their intentions on
this point, for her Majesty's Speech leaves the matter
entirely in doubt—(Cheers.) I noticed in the Address
some difference, some little variation, from the terms of
the Speech, though I was not able, from the hasty man-
ner in which the Noble Earl read the Address, to catch
the precise terms of that variation. When there is no
intention to call on Parliament for an expression of opi-
nion on any particular question, it has hitherto been
customary, as a matter of form, that the Address shall
be as close a copy as possible of: the Speech from the
Throne. But the Speech proceeds to say that her
Majesty "has great satisfaction in being able to inform
us that the law has not been infringed ;" and,
therefore. if the Address be an exact transcript
of that, I cannot agree with it, because I believe
that the law has been infringed, though not by the
Bank.—(Cheers.) I will not now go into the merits
of the law, as to whether it is only fitted for fair weather
and incapable of standing a storm, or whether in certain
cases some modification of its restrictions were not neces-
sary, which being so was in itself a condemnation of the
law ; but the law prescribes that the Btnk, except a cer-
tain amount, shall not issue notes unless 'she has the
bullion. In the present ease the Bank was brought so
near that point that it was impossible to issue another
note ; and that whereas, under ordinary management,
the reserve ought to amount to 3,000,000/. or 4,000,000 L,
the actual amount of the reserve was only 1,300,0001. or

TALLow.—Prices have undergone little variation on
the spot, since our last report ; on the part of holders
there is however a desire to realise. The demand from
the town and country trade has been good for im-
mediate consumption, still they are not inclined
to hold large stocks, on account of the many
parcels that are yet to arrive. For forward delivery
the purchases mada have been of little moment, although
there are sellers at 43s 6d to 43s 9d, up to the close of
the year, and at 44s to 44s 6d for spring months. Home
made met with a ready sale. In the value of other sorts
of tallow there is little variation to report.

l CANALS.
i ,
.; 'Dividend
Names of 'z'Dlr I a e n d Names of 2.).
. ... i Price. ier prim
Companies. A per Companies. A Annum. •
1 I or: 1 Annum. c
X , £
Ishtn& Oldh 97 51.58. pC 70 Macclesfield. 100 - 15
Barnsley.. • .1160, 121. 180 Neath ••• • • • 100 201. 340
lrknk&Abrg 150 5/. 85 Oxford... •• • 100 201. 200
Birmingham' 35 41. 86 Peak Forest. 78 31. 40
Coventry .. • • 100 251. - Regent's ...• 33, 1/. 45. 18%
lierbl• ••• • • , 160, 61. 63 Rochdale ... • 851 41. 54
Ells r re&Chs 133' 41. 54 Somrset Coal 1501 7/. 10s. 130
F.:e 0. ash .• . ,100 321. - Do.LkFd St 121 81. p. c. -
tirandJunetn 100 51. 80 Stfird &Wore 140 281. 275
GrandSurrey,loo - 1 30 Shrewsbury- 1251 151. -
~.rand Union,loo 11. 105. 21% Stourbridge..
Grantham • • 'l5O 121. - Severn and? 145 201. 305
Kennt & Ant; 39 78. 6d. 5% Wye Rail.
26 11. 88. 30
Leeds& Livrpllool 341. 505 Warwick& "I
Leicester .. • • 140 101. 75 Bfrming. J I°o 51. 63
1 Leicstr &Nth 83 41. 36 Warwick/CI ,
Louqhborogh ,142 701. " 530 Napton.. J ' - 46
Monmouthshlloo 81. - Worestr &I 78 27. 41%
Mntgemrysh 100 Si. - Birming..l
MeltaMwbry 100 101. - Wilts & Brks 67 11. 10
I INSITILA.NCE COTKPILICIIES.
1
' Dividend Amount
Name of Company. per of Paid. Price.
i Annum. Share.
1
£ s. d. 1 X s. d.
Llbion •.--.• • • • • •• 3/. 10s. 500 0 0 50 0 0 75
Alliance Brit. and For. 6 per cent. 100 0 0 11 0 0 17%
Ditt ) Marine. ••• • • • 61. per cent, 100 0 0 5 0 0 53%
Atlas . -
British Commercial - 7s• per share 50 0 0 5 8 0 6%
Cleriel,Med.& Gen• Life 51. per cent. 100 0 0 10 0 0 20%
C3nnty .............. 31. 100 0 0 10 0 0 -
Crown
13s. 50 0 0 5 0 0 1l
Eagle • -
Eng.& Scot. Law - -5/. per cent. 50 0 0 212 6 -
European Life •• -•• 5% per cent. 20 0 0 •11 paid. -
FamilyEndowme t Soc. 41. & bs. 40 0 400 I -
Freemasons' .•• • • • • 51. per cent. 20 0 0 3 0 0 -
Globe - 123
Guardian ............ 51. per cent. 100 0 0 36 10 0 45
Imperial Fire ...• •• • • 12 per cent. 500 0 0 50 0 0 214
Imperial Life •••• • • •• 12s. 100 0 0 10 0 0 14%
Indemnity Marine •• • • 11. sh. & la. 100 0 0 513 1 -
Law Fire .. .. •• •• • ... - 100 0 0 210 0 3
Law life.. •• •••• • • .. 11. ss. 100 0 0 10 0 0 45
Legal and General Life - 50 0 0 2 0 0 -
Linden Fire ........ 105. 25 0 0 12 10 0 13%
London Skip • ... •• -10 s. 25 0 0 12 10 0 13%
- 100 0 0 15 0 0 -
Med. Invlid& Gen. Life 434/. per et. 50 0 0 20 0 2%
, National Lean Fund.. 51. per cent. 20 0 0 210 0 -
National Life. -
Palladium Life.. ..... -
1 Pelf: an - - - 37
Priceaix • 31. p. et. & be. - - --
Pt otector Life.... - 54. per cent. 20 0 0 1 0 0 11. 31.
Provident. Life ........ 11. ss. 100 0 0 10 0 0 -
Rock Life..." •• •• • • 48. 5 0 0 010 0 4%
Royal Exchange 5l. per cent. Stock. - -
3un Fire. . 61.105. - - -
Litt& Life . • - - -
Universal Life lO%l. pr cut, 100 0 0 810 0 -
V iztoria Life • - - 4 0 0 -
LIST OF SCOTTISE CODIPII.IITIES' PRICES.
r Dividend Amount
Name of Company. per of Paid. Price.
Annum. Share.
---- -
X s. d. X s. d
Bank of Scotland
British Linen Company 81. per cent. 100 0 0 100 0 0 200
Caledonian Bank
City of Glasgow Bank
Clydesdale Bank.• •• •• 61. per cent. 20 0 0 10 0 0 121108
Commercial Bank •• • • 71. per cent. 500 0 0 100 0 0 160
. Eastern Bank.. ••• . . . 61. per cent. 25 0 0 10 0 0 10%
Edinb.& Glasgow Bank 6/. per cent. 5 0 0 5 0 0 61 Os
Exchange Bnk of Scot. 61. per cent. 100 0 0 50 0 0 4934
Isle of Man. Company 71. per cent. 10 0 0 7 0 0 8%
National Bank 6l. per cent. 50 0 0 10 0 0 13
North of Scotland Bank 71. per cent. 20 0 0 5 0 0 6%
North British Bank *.• • - 50 0 0 10 0 0 6%
Royal Bank of Scotland 61. per cent. 100 0 0 100 0 0 148
Unionßank of Scotland 81• per cent. 100 0 0 50 0 0 87
Western Bank- .. .• • • 81. per cent. 50 0 0 50 0 0 70
Aber.' een Fire and Life 121. per cent. 12 10 0 2 0 0 811.6 d.
B. Accord. Life and Fire - 20 0 0 0 11 0 9s.
British Guarantee Ins. - 10 0 0 1 0 0 12s.
Caledonian Fire Insur. Ill• per cent. 100 0 0 10 0 0 22%
Church of England Ins. - 60 0 6 2 0 6 2
City of Glasgow Life.. 51. per cent. 25 0 0 2 0 0 21. 8s
Edinburgh Life Insur. Si. per cent. 100 0 0 12 10 0 18
East of Scotland Life - 10 0 0 0 15 0 12a.
Eng. & Scot, Law Life 5/. per cent. 50 0 0 217 6 234
Elercules Insurance Co. 71. per cent. 100 0 0 10 0 0 12
Insur. Co. of Scetlnd - Si. per cont. 100 0 0 10 0 0 •
Life Assoc. of Scotland Si. per cant. 10 0 0 1 0 0 11. 645
Mercantile Life . . - 10 0 0 •10 0 7s.
National Fire and Life SI. per cent. 10 0 0 1 • 0 24s 6d
North British Insur.
North & West of Scot - 10 0 0 1 0 0 11. la
Scottish Life and Guar - 20 0 0 011 0 , %
Scot. Alas. and Gen. Life 5/. per cent. 1 0 0 015 0 138. 6,1
Scottish Union Inarnes. 6%1. pr cent. 20 0 0 1 0 0 ; 11. 3s
StanJaid Life ...... . 51. per cent. 50 0 0 4 5 0 I 9%
United Dep. Assurance 51. per cent. 10 0 0 1 0 0 : 13s.

IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT.
ROUSE OF LORDS, Nov. 23.
The Imperial Parliament was this day opened by
Commission for the dispatch of business, with the
usual formalities. The hour appointed for the Com-
mission was two o'clock, but as early as 12 o'clock
the usual search was made by the officers of the Lord
Chamberlain under the House of Lords, in order to
guard their Lordships from the danger of another
Gunpowder Plot. The proceedings consequent upon
the opening of the Parliament attracted compara•
tively little interest, partly in consequence of its
being known for some days past that it was
not the intention of her Majesty to open
the House in person and partly from the un-
favourable state of the weather. When the galleries
of the House of Lords were opened at one o'clock
there was a very fair sprinkling of ladies on the back
benches of both sides of the House. The scene was
by no means so brilliant as on the occasions when her
Majesty comes down to the House in state. The
greater portion of the ladies wore bonnets, and with
the exception of the Commissioners, who were in their
state robes, all the Peers present were in plain dresses.
Among the earliest arrivals were the Duke of
Wellington and the Marquis of Londonderry.
The Earl of Sheffield having been chosen Speaker
pre tem., prayers were read by the Bishop of Roches-
ter, after which several Peers took the oaths, among
whom we noticed the Earl of Warwick, the Earl of
Zetland, &c. The' Bishops present were the Bishop
of Durham, the Bishop of Rochester, and the Bishop
of Asaph.
Shortly after two o'clock the Marquis of Lans-
downe, the Marquis of Clanricarde, Earl Spencer,
the Earl of Auckland, and Lord Campbell, took their
seats as Lords Commissioners, when
The Marquis of LANSDOWNE commanded the
Usher of the Black Rod to summons the Commons
to the bar.

In a few minutes the Speaker, attended by a large
body of Members, appeared at the bar, when
The Marquis of LANSDOWNE read her Ma-
jesty's most gracious Speech, as follows :
Mr LORDS AND GENTLEMEN,

Her Majesty has ordered us to declare to you
the causes which have induced her to call Parliament
together at the present time.

Her Majesty has sees with great concern the
distress which has for some time prevailed among
the commercial classes. The embarrassments of
trade were at one period aggravated by so
general a feeling of distrust and of alarm,
that her Majesty, for the purpose of restoring con-
fidence, authorised her Ministers to recommend to
the directors of the Bank of England a course of
proceeding suited to such an emergency. This
course might have led to an infringement of the
2W .

Her Majesty has great satisfaction in being able
to inform you that the law has not been infringed;
that the alarm has subsided, and that the pressure on
the banking and commercial interests has been miti-
gated.

The abundant harvest with which this country
has been blessed, has alleviated the evils whinh always
accompany a want of employment in the manufac-
turing districts.

Her Majesty has, however, to lament the recur-
rence of severe distress in Ireland, owing to the
scarcity of the usual food of the people.
Her Majesty trusts that this distress will be
materially relieved by the exertions which have been
made to carry into effect the law of last session for
the support of the destitute poor. Her Majesty has
learnt with satisfaction that landed proprietors have
taken advantage of the means placcd at their dis-
posal, by the liberality of Parliament, for the im-
provement of land.
Her Majesty laments that in some counties of
Ireland atrocious crimes have been committed, and
a spirit of insubordination has manifested itself
leading to an organized resistance to legal rights.
The Lord Lieutenant has employed with vigour
and energy the means which the law places at his
disposal to detect offenders, and to prevent the
repetition of offences. Her Majesty feels it,
however, to be her duty to her peace-
able and well-disposed subjects to ask the
assistance of Parliament in taking further precau-
tions against the perpetration of crime in certain
counties and districts of Ireland.
Her Majesty views with the deepest anxiety
and interest the present condition of Ireland, and
she recommends to the consideration of Parliament
measures, which, with clue regard to the rights of
property, may advance the social condition of the
people, and tend to the permanent improvement of
that part of the United Kingdom.
Her Majesty has seen with great concern the
breaking out of civil war in Switzerland.
Her Majesty is in communication with her
allies on this subject, and has expressed her readi-
ness to use, in concert with them, her friendly in-
fluence for the purpose of restoring to the Swiss
Confederation the blessings of peace.
Her Majesty looks with confidence to the
maintenance of the general peace of Europe.
Her Majesty has concluded with the Republic
of the Equator a Treaty for the Suppression of the
Slave Trade. Her Majesty has given directions that
this treaty should be laid before you.,
GENTLEMEN OF THE HOUSE OF COMMONS,
Her Majesty has given directions that the Esti-
mates for the next year should be prepared for the
purpose of being laid before you. They will be
framed with a careful regard to the exigencies of the
public service.

Mr LORDS AND GENTLEMEN,
Her Majesty recommends to the consideration
of Parliament the laws which regulate the naviga-
tion of the United Kingdom, with a view to ascertain
whether any changes can be adopted which, without
danger to our maritime strength, may promote the
commercial and colonial interests of the empire.
Her Majesty has thought proper to appoint a
Commission to report on the best means of improving
the health of the metropolis, and her Majesty re-
commends to your earnest attention such measures as
will be laid before you relating to the public health.
Her Majesty has deeply sympathised with the
sufferings which afflict the labouring classes in the
manufacturing districts of Great Britain, and in many
parts of Ireland ; and her Majesty has observed with
admiration the patience with which these sufferings
have been generally borne.
The distress which has prevailed among the
commercial classes has affected many important
branches of the revenue. But her Majesty trusts
that the time is not distant when, under the blessing
of Divine Providence, the commerce and industry of
the United Kingdom will have resumed their wonted

activity.
At the conclusion of the reading of the Speech the
Speaker and the Commons retired, and the Lords
• Commissioners having left their seats, the swearing in
of Peers was again proceeded with.

1,400,000/. At this time the commercial pressure was at
the greatest, and from the knowledge that under the ope-
ration of the Bank Charter Act it would be necessary
for the Bank to suspend its issues, and anticipating
that she would be unable to give further ac-
commodation, the private banks and many large
houses hoarded up in their coffers a far greater
amount of bullion to meet the coming pressure than
would have been ordinarily required. Thus, in the
coffers of the private banks, and in other private hands
bringing
throughout England, there was a large amount of bul
lion locked up by the indirect operation of the Bank
Charter Act, and the panic prevented any man from
it out except for his own necessities. At the
same time gold was coming in; that is, the Bank had
reason to expect that gold would come in. And yet,
under the stringent law of 1844, the Bank of England
was unable to issue notes, though 8,000,0001. of gold
lay untouched in their coff!rs.—(llear, hear.) These
were the circumstances under which her Majesty's Go-
vernment, wisely, and I give them credit for so doing,
interfered.—(Hear, hear.) In the first place, with
laudable intention to prevent undue issues and
lavish accommodation, and distrusting. the pru-
dence of the Bank, the Government, though it autho-
rised the Back to increase the accommodation at the risk
of violating the law, imposed au invidious and un-
worthy condition. The Government, under their hand
and seal, under the signature, I believe, of the Primo
I.itaister and of the Chancellor of the Exchequer, au

land, where if, at this moment, you were to take every
shilling of the rent—nay, even the fee simple of the
district itself—it would not be sufficient to maintain its
poor.—(flear, hear.) And, my Lords, you must not
tail to remember, also, that there are places where those
very landlord, on whom you so loudly call to maintain
the poor around them, to give work and employment to
the people, and even to borrow money to enable them to
effect these desirable objects, are themselves rendered

absolutely penniless by the prevalence of an organized
conspiracy to resist the payment of their rents.—(l-lear,
hear, from all parts of the House.) My Lords, I am
not myself in a distressed—at least, comparatively—l
am not in a distressed part of Ireland ; awl though I
believe I have as good a set of tenantry as most proprie-
tors in Ireland, and have been ready, when it has been

thorised the Bank of England to violate the law on their
' responsibility, by issuing a lar4er amount of notes than
they were able under the Bank Charter; at the same
time, imposing a condition, in the first place unconsti-
tutional, and iu the next, of a chart,cter wholly no-
wwhy of a great country, or of the Government of a
great country—(Cheers)—!Or the purpose of getting
usurious interest on all accommodation.—(Cheers.) This
was neutralising with one hand the boon you held out
with the other to the commercial sufferers from your
Bank Charter.—(Cheers.) This was unconstitutional,
because it was intended to raise money on the subject,
not only without the express consent of Parliament, but
in direct contradiction to the law. It was an wholly un-

necessary to make abatement, the rents being generally
punctually and fairly paid, yet such was the expendi-
ture to which I was subjected by the state of Ireland,
that, during the last half year, I did not receive one
shilling from my property in that country.—(Bear.)
I am speaking now of a comparatively comfortable, and
of a well-disposed body of tenantry ; let me, then, ask
your Lordships what must be the state of those land-
lords whose sole resources consist of rent derived

from an impoverished tenantry ?—(Hear, hear)—and
who are, nevertheless, called upon to perform all the
duties of property ?—(Hear, hear.) My Lords, it is a
sense of the duties that are demanded of them, and not

a feeling of self•interest, that maintains such men at
their posts under circumstarcrs such as these—(cheers)
that maintains them at their goats though even at the

THE SUN, LONDON, WEDNESDAY kVENING, NOVEMBER 24. 1847.

risk of their lives.—(Hear, hear.) Mies, then, my
Lards, I sneak of the state os Ireland, I saes that I an
justified in repeating. that such a cendition is weree thee
a state of civil war.—(Hear, hoer.) Preadlul, as en-
questionably it would be, to enlisted its the ranks
against a nation of one's countrymen, still, such a eentest
is an open struggle, and yen meet your enemies
though those enemies are Toth. countrymen with
arms in your hands.—(Hear, hear.) But now the Lest
landlords—those who have expended both time, labeur,
and wealth in certain parts of Ireland—those who have
sacrificed everything, and abandoned all the comforts of
civilised life, in order to do their duty by their tenantry
and dependents—these very men are Low—nay, I could
name Members of this House who are in this position—
(Hear, hear)—prisoners in their own houses—(Hear,
hear)—and driven to the necessity of fortifying their
houses and gardens—(Hear, hear)—with the knowledge
circulated through the whole surrounding country that
their names are down upon a " black list," end that they
are marked out for assassination.—(Hear, hear.) And
yet, my Lords, they remain at their posts—they are not
deterred—(Cheers)—they still remain, and endeavour
to do their duty, whilst they enlist, I trust, the sympathy
of your Lordships aead of their country.—(Cheers.)
They see their neighbours cut off by the hand of the
assassin, and they wait till that slow but certain hand
against which there is no protection, shall come upon
themselves when unguarded, unassissed, and unprotected,
or, if protected, protected by the daily presence and
espionage of the police—(Hear, hear)—and this, perhaps,
at the very moment they arc on their way to the board
of guardians, or engaged in some other duty cornected
with the relief and assistance of their fellow country-
men. One by one they fall victims to the assassin's blow
—a blow of which they have been publicly forewarned
—and this, too, in some cases, in the bosom of their
families, and, perhaps, as in a recent unhappy instance
in the very arms of their wives, in the °den day, and
with the full knowledge of the connivance of half the
county in which they live.—(dear, hear.) Thus is it
that these men are, to the disgrace of a civilised c, en-
try, cut off by the hand of the assassin; and this, my
Lords, is 0 e state of things with which you have to
deal in Ireland.—(Hear, hear.) This country (Eng
land) has no doubt been disgraced by many and great
crimes; but here the sympathy of the whole country is
ever in favour of the victim of assassination.—(Cheers.)
The whole country is awake to vindicate the law, and,
at all events, to bring the vengeance of the law to the
punishment of the perpetrators of such nefarious
actions. But one feeling prevails—a desire to vindicate
the law, and to secure the punishment and repression o.
outrageous crime. But, my Lords, this is not the cash
in Ireland.—(Hear, hear.) There, throughout thr
whole country—whether from timidity or same cube,
cause—no hand is raised to stay the assassin's blow—
(Hear, hear)—and, worse then that, after the blow i:
struck, no voice is raised to dsnounce the assassin—
or, if a voice be raised, it is at the peril of hini
that shall dare to raise it.—(Hear, hear.) My Lords,
in Ireland it is safer to violate than to oboe
the law.—(Hear, hear.) But, my Lords, I now ap-
proach a far more painful and serious question than ever
this. And here let me add that I hope I shall be for-
given for entering upon these painful details, forced
upon me as they are by the present lamentable circutn
stances of Ireland, and referred to, es those circumstances
are, in the Speech from the Throne, and particularly at L
period when I feel there is no subject that more irnpera
tively demands the immediate attention of Parliami nt.
or which Parliament would be more fully justified in
legislating upon.—Ofear, hear,) I speak, my Lords,
with all respect of the Roman Catholic clergy. I be-
lieve that it they are not all men of education, yet that
they are all pious and indefatigable in the discharge se
their religious duties, that they are devoted to their
flocks, and that they spare no pains, time, or trouble is,
the performance of those duties the discharge of which
they believe to be incumbent upon them. But, my
Lords, whilst I say this, I must not conceal—it would
be a crime to do so—that however much the Roman Ca
tholic clergy, as a body, are desirous of suppressing
offences, they do not, as a body, lend themselves to the
support of the law.—(Hear, hear.) I believe there is a
rivalry of authority, in regard to criminal offences in
Ireland, between the Roman Catholic clergy
and the law.—(Hear, hear.) I believe that the system
of confession to the elegy in Ireland, and the sacred-
ness in which that confession is held, is carried to a
degree that is dangerous to constitutional government.
and to the peace of the country.—(Loud cheers.) The
secrets of the guilty man are confided to the Roman
Catholic clergy at confession. Now, I have heard many
denunciations of informers in Ireland, and informers in
Ireland are all men who are the means of bringing
offenders to justice in that country ; yet, though I have
heard these denunciations without end, I have never
heard of any recommendations having been either pub-
licly or privately given—either in pastoral letters, or in
private communications, or yet in the chapels of God—
of the duty of every member of the community not
only to abstain from crime himself, but also to de-
nounce to the authorities those he may know to have
been guilty of premeditated crime.—(Loud cheering.)
Among all the merits of the Roman Catholic clergy
—merits which Iby no means deny—l do not find
that they recommend and enforce, as a solemn duty,
the denunciation of crime which they know to be pre-
meditated, and of those who may have afterwards
perpetrated it.—(Hear, hear.) I must say that, in
the recent instances, accounts of which I have seen,
there have been addressed to a perhaps too excitable
peasantry such denunciations of individuals as could
hardly fail to stimulate the people to acts of violence—
(Elear)—and, in one recent and most melancholy case,
the assassination followed but two days after the priest
had asked, and from the altar, whether " such a man
deserved to live?"—(Hear, hear.) Her Majesty's Speech
holds out the expectation that some measures may be
asked for, on the subject of crime in Ireland; and I will
say for myself, and I am sure I may say for my Noble
Friends near me, and in the name of England, of hu-
manity, and of civilisation, let those measures, what-
ever they may be, be effectual, and let them be prompt.
—(Cheers.) Do not let any fear of loss of support—
any apprehension of being taxed with inconsistency, or
being accused of acting in opposition to theories of con-
stitutional government—let not any such considerations
sway you against doing that which you may feel to
be your duty on this subject.—(Hear, hear.) Throw
yourselves upon the generosity of the country, and
the justice of Parliament, and believe that you will re
ceive from us no unworthy or ungenerous taunts—no
hesitating or ambiguous support.—(Cheers.) You (the
Government) are responsible for the security of life and
property, and life and property are above all constitu-
tional theories; they are the foundation arid basis of all
constitutional rights, and you are the Ministers that are
charged to maintain them.—(Hear.) Demand of the
Irish landlords what sacrifices you will—see that they
do their duty—compel them to do it, if you will; but, in
God's name, let them be protected, and their helpless
dependents.—(Loud cheers.) I well remember, my
Lords, that, many years ago, and in another place, I was
almost cried down for giving utterance to an opinion
which I entertain now as strongiy as I entertained
then, that " the law in Ireland must be feared before
it can be loved"—(Cheers)—it must be looked up to for
protection, and as a check to the designs and
climes of ill-disposed men.—(Cheers.) To you, then,
are the lives and properties of your fellow-countrymen
confided. I give the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland my
cordial weed of praise, and feel that he has done all that
he could do, and acted to the fullest t xient that the law
allows him—that he has executed the law with vigour
and fidelity--(Hear, hear)—but the more firmlite'and
vigour he has shown, the more manifest is the proui: that
the present law is not sufficient—(Hear, hear)—that
further powers are required—(Hear, hear)—anti it is
upon you, the Government, that the responsibility rests
of asking for those powers. Anti I will not believe, my
Lords, Mat this House or the other—that the represen-
tives of the people,whose prime object ought to t e the pro-
tection of the people, the preservation of property from
destruction and life from a-sassination ---I will not be-
lieve that either in this, or in the other House of Par-
liament, you will find any resistance against granting
you such further powers as, upon your own responsibi-
lity, you may come forward and prove to be necessary.
--(Loud cheers.) Lord Grey was as consistent a Whig
as any Noble Lord whom I see on the opposite side,
and he did not hesitate a moment to ask Parliament for

full and sufficient powers; and I trust, too, that you
will not fail to do the same, and that you will not
hesitate to ask for such measures as you feel to be
requisite to arrest this " reign of terror" in Ireland—
for such it is—(llear)—and s') to savo the people of Ire-
land from a contingency I will not imagine possible to
arise.—(Hear, hear.) My Lords, the subject on which
I have just been speaking is one of so great importance
_ .

that I hardly know how To refer to other and less impor-
tant topics of her Majesty's Speech. I confess that, on
' the subject of our foreign relations, I thought that some
allusion would have been made to the war now carried
on in Mexico by the United States—(Hear, hear)—and,
with reference to interference in the internal affairs of
other countries, I advise her Majesty's Government to
interfere in such matters as little as possible. You did
interfere last year in the affairs of Portugal. I then
took occasion to remonstrate against that interference,
but that remonstrance was disregarded. You said that
the civil war in Portugal was at an end, and you un-
dertook to guarantee the performance of certain condi-
tions you then made with Portugal ; and I now ask
you if you have been able to fulfil those conditions ?
and whether the Sovereign of Portugal has implicitly
followed the advice of those by whom alone her throne
could be saved, or whether the result is not this, that
whereas you have undertaken the anomalous duty of
" Minister of the Interior" in, Portugal, after a system
of intrigue, of violence, and corruption of the Cortes,
you now see the restoration to office, and that under 11
British influence, superintendence, and surveillance, ut
that very Minister whose arbitrary cetnluct had been the
cause of the late rebellion against the throne and Go-
vernment of Portugal?—(Cheers.) I say nothing more
on this subject: if the Portuguese accept that Mi sister,
in God's name let him be Minister; but this I till say,
in respect of interference in the affairs of foreign coun-
tries, that I protest against this country undertaking
tasks that she cannot perform, and of which the results
must inevitably be such, as in the case I have referred
to they have been in Portugal. After a few words on
the subject of the civil war in Se iozerland, which se
could not hear, the Noble Lord ,aid—Bu.-, my Lords,
I hold the affairs in Switzerland to be of infinitely,
less importance than that struggle between antago-
nistic principles now going on in Italy—(llear, hear)
—and at the head of which, on one side, is a most
enlightened sovereign, though one most arbitraryt in
religious matters—(llears and a laugh )—that revo-
lution in Italy, which nearly threatens the existence
of the balance of power in Europe. I know not what
the Government are doing on this subject ; all I hope
is, that they are altogether abstaining from med-
dling with it.—(`sear, hear.) I think, however, on the
occasion of an extraordinary, assembling of Parliament,
it might have been decorous to have made some refe-
rence to this matter; • and I only hope there is no truth .
in the report that a raeuther_of her 11ajestie Govern-