The Sun.
London, England, 1841-10-06 00:00:00

THE SU', LONDON, WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 6, 1841.

children to sleep, and in the morning they told them they
had purchased them from their tarents, who had left
them. It having been observed that they seemed to be ,
in the habit of selling children, and the witness being
asked how they avoided being apprehended, that witness
replied that the children were seldom aware of the fate
of their parents, and in general they were sold to
persons well acquainted with the nature of
their pursuits. Another person, a Zemindar,
or commander of those gangs, said, that after the cap-
ture of Bhurtpore, five 'patties came to him with four
travellers and thtiir four children, inviting him to partake
in their murder, which ho 'consented to do ; and with
the assistance of his gang they strangled the whole of
them, preserving the children, whom they sold for a
sum of 120 rupees, equal to about 12/., half of which was
divided among the members of his gang. The witness
said, that after that affair, he had resolved on selecting
for his victims the poorest class of travellers, whom he
murdered for their children, for whom there was so great
a demand in all the great cities, since which, he had
committed a number of murders, which number he gave.
Another Zemindar said that he had left home with a
gang of 40 ; they succeeded in seizing two men and
two women with their three children ; the four
older travellers were murdered. After throwing
the bodies into the river, he took the children
to an encampment near the village, where he Ald
the two females for forty rupees, and the male
for five rupees ; so that the murder of these four persons
had been committed for a sum of about 41. Anothet
witness stated that he and his party encamped near
grove where several travellers were inveigled. Among,
the rest was a father with three daughters ; a Brahmin
with his wife and daughter ; another Brahmin with
daughter twelve years old, and re son three years old.
They then went to the village, and two hours after nightfal
one of them proposed that they shoirld go down• to the
sacred stream of tlia Jumna. ; they all went down, and
murdered seven men and women, throwing their bodies
into the river. They then took,,away the nine children,
who cried a good deal after.their' parente.but they quieted
them the best way theY qould with
,sweatmeats
and caresses. They then came to 'a 'village
and encamped in a grove. The dapgliter'andesen of the
Brahmin were extremely beautifuLeand low they left
for sale ; a woman who kept a heuse of prostitution
came 'and purchased all the children. ' Such .were the
statements contained in the Report. human. language
sank under-the vain attempt to give utterance to the,
mingled feelings 9f pity and of horror
_ffhieh must:
arise in every !egotist on reading such atrocities :as
,ateree
there detailed. Me defied any man to devise-Oinks
more strange, more revoking, than those narrated in
the simple statement of thii wretches themselves. But ,
these crimeseweie 'the fruits of that infernal slave traffic
still carried on. by the Spanish and Portuguese, with the
connivance of nations more civilised and humane.
Africa itself never presented a more appalling example
of the proneness to take away human life of
that utter indifference to take away human life
with which the traffic in human beings ap-
peared to blight the heart in every region
where it was permitted to degrade our speciee..
They ought, on hearing those details, to reserve part al"
their indignation for that system which had given rise
to atrocities such as these; and their Lordships might
be assured that so long as it was possible to hold human
beings in slavery, the dealing in slaves could not be emit
down, and atrocities such as those which he had mimed
it his painful duty to lay before the House would, in
one shape or another, never cease to exist., He had no
doubt whatever but that the advice given by a Noble
Friend of his, formerly Secretary to the Colonial De-
partment (Lord Glenelg), a few months before he hid
left office, with regard to the acceleration of the eman-
cipation of the slaves in Ceylon—he had no doubtimit
that the advice contained in his despatch of tlui menth of
November, 1838, had been taken into mature and:barly
consideration by his Noble Friend at the head of the
India Department; and he fondly hoped that some
means would be taken for insuring the total abolition of
slavery, which was the only real and effectual remedy
against the recurrence of such atrocities as those he had
described.—(Hear, hear.)
The Earl of RIPON said that he had not been pre-
viously aware of the facts which his Noble and Learned
Friend had detailed, and his only object in rising on that
occasion was to advert to the statement of his Noble and
Learned Friend at the commencement of his speech, re-
lative to a matter of which he (the Earl of Ripon) was
more personally cognizant. His Noble and Learned
Friend had asked whether there would be any objection
to lay upon the table of the House the Report which Dr.
Madden had made to the Colonial Secretary. He could
assure his Noble and Learned Friend that he felt so
anxious that every information should be given on the
subject that it was not without considerable regret that
he was bound to state, upon a very attentive considera-
tion of the document, its common with his colleagues in
the Government, that they did not think it would be ex-
pedient to lay it before the House. The statements it
contained were of an exceedingly confidential nature,
relating to a great variety of most important matters con-
nected not only with the state of different settlements
belonging to us upon the western .coast of Africa, and
alluding, among other things,' to-the particular state of
their defences against external attack, but also involving
matters very intimately connected with our relations
with other countries. Besides, many of the statements
related directly to particular individuals ; and he was
sure that under those circumstances his Noble and
Learned Friend would see that it was impossible, without
great public inconvenience, to produce the document in
question. He felt that its production would defeat,
rather than forward, the object which the Government
had in view of making the most minute and particular
inquiry into the subject, in order that they might judge
of the operation of the present state of the law. The
attention of his Noble Friend at the head of the Co-
lonial Department had been specifically directed to an
inquiry into all those points relating to the legal bearings
of the different. Acts now in force, and of course it would be
for her Majesty's Government, when in possession of the
necessary information, to see how far it would be prac-
ticable to amend the law in order to bring within its
operation cases which in spirit required as much to be
legally dealt with as those other cases upon which no
legal doubt could be entertained. That was the utmost
he could say for the present, and he hoped that upon
the assurance of the intention of the Government to con-
sider the subject as speedily and as effectually as possible
his Noble and Learned Friend would see that it would
not be advisable either to move for the documents to
which he had referred or to call upon the House to take
any steps upon the subject for the present.
Lord ELLENBOROUGH expressed his surprise that
his Noble and Learned Friend, who took so deep an in-
terest in every thing connected with the slave trade, had
not been aware that the Report from which he had
quoted, had been laid upon the table of the House of
Commons, and printed some time since. His Noble and
Learned Friend would see that it was a very inconve-
nient thing to read a few extracts only from a Report
containing 900 pages. A very valuable and interesting
Minute had been yesterday placed upon the table of the
House, written by his Noble Friend Lord Auckland,
the Governor-General of India, to which he wished to
direct the particular attention of his Noble and Learned
Friend. He knew the high value which his Noble and
Learned Friend set upon the opinions of Lord Auckland,
and he (Lord Ellenborough)entertained a similar respect
for his great abilities, nail, at the same time, for the
kindness and good sense which he was sere he would
apply to the consideration of the question. He should
observe, in relation to one part of the speech of his
Noble and Learned Friend, that if he were to go to any
particular part of the world, even to the most civilised
ecuntries, he could find particular instances of atrocity,
equal perhaps to those read that evening by his Noble
and Learned Friend. He believed that Scotland was
generally considered the most moral part of the United
Kingdom, and yet in Scotland a very few years ago
persons had been murdered for the value of the dead
bodies, He believed, too, that if his Noble and Learned
Friend would look more closely into the matter, he
wonld find that those atrocities had much more connec-
tion with what was called Thuggee than with slavery.
It was well known that there was now a body of men
in India, whose passion it was to commit murder,
for the benefit they thought it would confer on the par-
ties murdered, Those persons seemed to think that the
best thing they could do. fur people was to send them
into another world ; and although the whole force of
the Government had been directed against the system,
it had not, in all cases, been entirely suppressed. His im-
pression was that many of the cases to which his Noble
and Learned Friend had referred, might be traced to that
system. He (Lord Ellenborough) thought that much
more likely, because the value of the children was lite-
rally nothing at all ; and the value of the bodies of the
fathers and mothers would have. been far greater. He
would again direct the attention of his Noble and
Learned Friend to the minute of Lord Auckland, which
would throw some light upon the subject. His Noble
and Learned Friend was aware that the Parliament of
1833 had directed that the Government of India should
take into its consideration the subject of slavery, with a
view to ameliorate the condition of the slaves, and ulti-
mately to extinguish slavery itself. The subject had
been referred to the Lords Commissioners, who had
made their Report, and the matter was now under the
consideration of the Government of India, Parliament
having, as he (Lord Ellenherolegh) tlloll4llt wisely,
directed thattethrEeariounriotiatttohivedieerashlloowcuailtdlh
bketnhot:wklsee:dbgjbeeye
subject
the Indian
nnwdteil
the
iGn°finirtenlnywbnett'
authorities in this country, But whenever any legis-
lative measure might be forwarded in this country by
the Government of India, his Noble and Learned Friend
might depend upon it that it would be taken into im-
mediate consideration by the Government here, and
with every disposition to carry it into effect.
fiord BROUGHAM said that after the statements
of his Noble Friends, which were very gratifying no
doubt, he would not bring forward any resolutions upon
the subject of Dr. Madden's Report. He had to observe
that he did not agree with hie Noble Friend who had
first addressed the House upon the subject of those atro-
cities, to which he (Lord Brougham) had called the
attention of the House. His Noble Friend would find
,""at the profit to be derived from the sale of the chil-
dren sva4 the main Inducement with the guilty parties.
He was well aware of the exisltieinicehoefllidiuegigt6d m
oe ; but
t
the murderers in the ease
wtoaspaartrt4iceuoldairnzglayn),ursn.lucH:,)is. Noble Friend,
in the reference
hhheeaviha should uemll cloandsgeaYtd,o
atrocities formerly committed in Scotland.
The facts referred to favoured bis (toed Woe;h em's)
uctristaunid to the connection between these
m
and the expediency of effectually
h
from which they
tilslraevgerayr,l
preventing this recurrence by extinguishing slavery
nd had kindlydirec-
ted that to which his Noble Frie
have found any instance more favourable to had their rise. Indeed he could nut
his position
his attention. It
happened strangely enough that
three or four years befope those eereere hed ogenrred
several friends of his had been discussing thp enormous
prices which anatomical subjects fetched at the
time, when he (Lord Brougham) ventured to
predict to his Honourable Friend (Mr. Smith)

the late M.P. for Medhurst, that while dead bodies
fetched 201. or 25/. if something was not done to remedy
that defect .and to procure subjects at a lower rate they
would be sure to have murders committed upon poor
persons for the sale of their bodies. He recollected that
his Hon, Friend had' afterwards called his attention to
that conversation after the atrocities alluded to had
taken place. There had been a great want of subjects, and
the enormous temptation afforded to unprincipled men
to obtain such subjects had given rise to those horrors ;
and precisely in like manner, the stave market being
always open in which these children would always fetch
a certain price, not a very high price perhaps, yet he
believed a prime for India not much less
than that which being given for subjects in Scotland
had led to the murders to which his Noble
Friend had alluded—it was the fact of the slave market
being ever open which had led to the perpetration of
those enormities. Instead of being an argument against
him, it was an argument in his favour. Let them act in
the present ease as he had done in the one to which the
Noble Lord had alluded. They had brought in a Bill
which had had the effect of enabling anatomists to pro-
cure subject? at a reasonable rate in a legal manner, and
there had not been; the slightest repetitions of those atro-
cities since. Ile had not been aware that that Report had
been laid on the table of the House of Commons so early
as April, but he had rot returned to England until two
months after that period. He had never heard of it until
about a week or ten days ago. He should have great
'satisfaction in examining the documents to which his
Noble Friend had - alluded ; and after what had fallen
from him he would not press his motion.
The motion was then withdrawn, and their Lordships
adjourned at a Quarter after Seven o'Clock.

THE' CORN LAWS
AND COMMERCIAL REFORM.

CHELTENHAM ANTI-CORN-LAW MEETING.
On Monday evening a meeting took place at the Music-
hall, in Regent-street, to consider the propriety of
addressing her Majesty at the present crisis, begging
her Majesty not to consent to a prorogation of Parlia-
ment until the distress of the country had been consi-
dered.

F. MUNRO, Esq., President of the Anti-Corn-law As-
soCiation, was called to the chair.

The CHAIRMAN said, we are met here, in a constitu-
tional manner, to do what lies in our power to stay the
plague which is sweeping through the length and breadth
of our land. We 1091( round us, and what do we see ?
We see thousands of our fellow-creatures pining with
f,.want, and weitre led to inquire what is the cause of
such a" state of things.—(A. cry, " Class-legislation.")
'Exactly so ; it is a system of class legislation, and we
areinet here to propose a remedy for that legislation ;
and the way to do so is to remove the Corn-laws, one of
the most deplorable effects of this one-sided system of
legislation. 'We are told that the agricultural interest
wants protection ;
_but I ask, why should the strongest
and most powerful interest need most protection ?
The word of God says that every herb bearing seed shall
rbe for the sustenance of man. The law of human legis-
•lation says that we shall not avail ourselves of the bounty
which God has vouchsafed to the world.—(Hear, hear.)
Before I conclude I will just glance at the state of our
relations with America. Fifty years ago not a single
pound of cotton was imported into this country from
America • now the importation of that article averages
three hundred millions of pounds annually, or upwards
of four-fifths of our whole consumption. See the effect
of this: we are brought into the closest commercial rela-
tion with the slave-growing States of America, but de-
barred from trading with th northern and free States,
although they have an immense quantity of corn they
would willingly exchange for our manufactures. The
Chairman sat down amid loud cheers, and called upon
the Rev. Mr. Parkyn to propose the first resolution.
The Rev. N. PARKIN, Minister of the Cheltenham
Tabernacle, on rising, said—l have but recently left
Rochdale, the very heart of a manufacturing district,
where I have had abuadant opportunity of witnessing
distress to a frightful extent. No Government, what-
ever the station, rank, or wealth of its Members may be,
can long succeed in ruling over a starving population. In
passing through our great seats of manufactures you will
find factories, which formerly gave employment to hun-
dreds and thousands of labourers, no longer resounding
with the din of bustling industry, but empty, and de-
serted, and silent ; and what is the consequence ? This
depression of trade is followed by a corresponding mea-
sure of want and misery. The consequences are not
only felt by the labourers themselves, but extend to the
tradesmen as well, who, instead of selling by the pound,
are content to sell by the ounce, and instead of taking shil-
lings of their customers, they are content to take the pence.
I have seen thousands walking about the streets with-
out the luxury of shoes, their clothes in rags, and, of
necessity, those who formerly supplied them with clothing
must suffer severely from the change. I was myself in
company with an ironmonger in Rochdale, who assured
me his takings were now 601. per e eek less than when the
labouring portion of the inhabitants were in a better
condition. But, however trying to the tradesman, it is
on the poor operatives themselves that the distress chiefly
falls ; they are those to whom any change for the worse
brings absolute destitution, if not starvation, and it is on
their behalf we are now assembled.—(Cheers.) The
condition of the hand-loom weavers at the present
moment is harassing in the extreme. I have been
in conversation with many of them, and, on inquiry
into their moans of living, I have found that
oatmeal and water formed their chief article of
diet.—(Shame.) No bread, no butter, no animal food.
—no potatoes even ; but oatmeal and water was the in-
variable diet for breakfast, dinner, and supper.—
(Shame.) Whatever may be our political feelings or
opinions, if we could but see their miserable condition,
we should require nothing else to induce us to condemn
this atrocious system. Sir, they are literally starving.
My residence was in a secluded part of the town, and I
may safely say the number of beggars soliciting charity
at our gates would exceed belief ; whole families were
depending on the sympathy and charity of the public. I
have witnessed robust men pining away for the want of the
necessaries of life ; females with emaciated and care-
worn countenances, bearing about their wretched off-
spring, who had learned thus early the sad lesson or
misery and privation.—(Cheers.) Last winter some of
the inhabitants of Rochdale established a soup kitchen,
and I firmly believe but for that salutary measure, pesti-
lence, the usual attendant of famine, would have ravaged
the town, and laid hundreds in the dust. Between two
and three thousand persons daily availed themselves
of this means of sustenance, and came to carry
the welcome meal home to their starving families.
We cannot suppose men will much longer see their
friends and those who are dear to them go down to the
grave without putting out their hands to help dim.
No ; we have struck the fetters from the black slave,
and I hope ere long we shall burst the white man's
chains also.—(Cheers.) His advice to the meeting was
meet and petition, petition and meet—use all constitu-
tional means for the furtherance of their object, and
they may yet live to sing with the widows and father-
less, " Monopoly is fallen, fallen, fallen, fallen to rise
no more." The Reverend Gentleman sat down amid
loud cheers.
Mr. WELLS seconded the resolution.

After the passing of a second resolution, a proposition
was made that the words class legislation should stand
part of the resolution, which was adopted by the meeting.
Mr. S. OXLEY moved an address to the Queen, in
conformity with the objects of the meeting ; which,
having been amended to meet the spirit of the amend-
ment introduced in the last resolution, was unanimously
agreed to.
The meeting then separated.
PUBLIC MEETING AT PAISLEY.

A public meeting of the inhabitants of Paisley was
held in the Old Low Church, on Wednesday evening,
for the purpose of addressing the Queen, praying her
Majesty not to prorogue Parliament till both Houses of
Parliament shall have taken into their serious consider-
ation the existing distrws of the country. Provost Bis-
set was called to the Chair by acclamation.
The first resolution was moved by the Rev. Mr. KEN-
NEDY, seconded by Baillie MURRAY, and carried una-
nimously.
1)r. BURNS, of St. George's, on rising, was received
with load cheering. After assigning reasons why Clergy-
men with propriety might take an interest in such pro-
:ceedings, he said:—Mr. Chairman, I am amazed at the
apathy which has led so many either to shut their eyes
to the existing suffering altogether, or to disregard the
claim it has on considerate humanity. It is not with
the old impotent poverty of Scotland we have now
to do ; and to talk of the abundant relief of the poverty,
the alms of kirk-sessions, and heritors, is to add
insult to injury. We have now to mourn over society
as in a diseased state, in consequence of the inability of
respectable, able-bodied, and well-disposed industrious
men to obtain the means of supporting themselves and
their families. This ought not to be in any free country
under heaven, and, least of all, in a country so favoured
as Great Britain. It originated in something essentially
wreug somewhere ; and policy and public duty called
loudly for a searching inquiry into its nature and. causes.
I am not one of those who trace all the evils that afflict
the world to ORC source ; neither do I expect that one
solitary panacea shall be ever found out as the cure.
There are many considerations to be taken into view ;
but sure I tun that the system so long acted on, of com-
merce restricted by the most unreasonable and absurd
impositions ; of friendly feelings among men outraged
and destroyed by short-sighted monopolists and selfish
policy ; of taxation to an enormous extent on the bread
and the provisions which are essential to the sustenance
ao
the
f men
r;
et
eh at
of h
these,that t
e d
with their
;
andattendant
tthat, a
evils,lie
cure,greatlya
ll
impediments in the way of an honest man's labour being
turned to the best account possible ought to be swept
away, all class monopolising- put down, and every
encouragement that is possible afforded to the open-
ing of new channels of commercial industry, and
that the labours of the industrious may receive
an adequate reward. Such facts as the following
speak volumes as to the necessity of a change in the ex-
isting system of things. From the Report of the
" Hand-loom Commissioners," a document which I have
Perused with the deepest attention, and which I hesitate
not to pronounce (notwithstanding the sneers of the
Tinies), one of the most business-like, talented, and im-
partial documents which modern times have witnessed
in the shape of Parliamentary reports, it appears that
from every part of the kingdom, with one solitary ex-
ception, and that owing to Chartism (which, after all, is
not in opposition really), all the witnesses examined do-
notince4l opposition
z- ft
40'17194 ER ql,f* egtlan of the exist-
ing distress, and their repeal or modification demanded
as the first and most effectual remedy. Mr. Symons, the
Assistant-Commissioner for Scotland, particularly states
that " by the manufacturers and weavers, as with one
voice, the duties on the importation of foreign corn are
alleged to be the chief cause of the depcessiou ha all the
depaFtments of mannfactiiring i4criistry, I:mt more espe-
cially that of hand-loom weaving; as being the
weakest, and therefore the first to suffer, It is repre-
sented by both parties as the great incubus on the Qom-

coerce of the country; ate pernicious influence of which
the mighty progressing machinery and the energy and
skill of her artisans have hitherto alone and wonderfully
enabled us to withstand. They state, moreover, that the
sarne'vantage ground which these elements of superiority
have hitherto afforded us in the commercial relations
of the world can no longer be obtained ; that the Corn-
laws prevent our receiving the chief wealth which the
continental merchants have to give in repayment for our
goods. By accumulated evidence they show that, in con-
sequence, we are forcing corn-growing countries, less
adapted for manufactures, to erect factories of their own,
whilst the low price of provisions enables them to work at
low money wages with comfort to thei'operative."—(Report
page 52.) It is a curious fact with regard to some manu-
factures that are liberally protected—the linen and silk
manufactures, for instance—that these two branches of
industry have been more frequently in a greater state of
distress and misery than any others. In Saxony, too,
with a population of more than a million anti a half, the
import duties are very trifling, and it is a valuable fact in
commercial legislation that in Saxony, a country by no
Means naturally rich, yet there, without any protection
whatever, manufactures have thriven more than in
any other part of the continent of Europe.—(Hear.)
As to the Continent, we know very well that so long as
its chief nations were the seat of war, and many hun-
dreds of thousands of its best inhabitants were yearly
drafted to the army, and all things wore a military cast,
agriculture and manufactures were both neglected, and
Britain gained by this, though in a way not favourable
to national morals ; but since the battle of Waterloo,
agriculture and manufactures have both been attended
to, and England has consequently been the sufferer.
There is not a more intelligent nation on the face of
the earth than Prussia, and if you will read the geo-
graphy of it. or if you will cross over and ask every in-
telligent Prussian you meet with, you will receive the
same answer in every case ; you compelled us to manu-
facture. Our farmers now sell to our manufacturers, and
are certain to get on without you. Go to a German ma-
nufacturer, ask the most intelligent of that class anywhere
on the Continent, what it is they really want, and they
will tell you that it is the repeal of the Corn-laws of
England, for that will cover the Continent with British
goods. Ask the cause why so many of the finest lands
in the interior of Europe and on the banks of the Da-
nube lie waste, and you will get for answer that the
English Corn-laws prevent an outgate for the. produce,
and that there is enough already grown for all that life
requires. With regard to our American colonies, Mr.
M•Greger, the author of the " History of the British Co-
lonies in North America," gives it as his deliberate
opinion, that if the restraints in the trade of those
colonies were removed, and the Custom-houses
put down, protection' to timber would become
unnecessary ; and he states a fact, that is disgrace-
ful to us, namely, that the colonies are not allowed to
import one pound of tea from the United States of
America; but they either get their tea direet from this
country, or else by smuggling from the United States.
Another example of the same cursed policy is, that the
Canadians send vessels from the colonies to Madeira and
other parts with fish, but they cannot brine. back ashes
in return without paying a high differentiarduty. The
same intelligent statesman, who has resided at the Courts
of nearly all the kingdoms of Europe, tells us in his evi-
dence that so far from the continental nations being
averse to free trade with Britain, the universal cry was
against the English tariff as the death of all international
commerce. Some terms in that tariff are exceedingly
funny. If you wish to import from the Continent a
donkey to amuse the ladies at the Paisley races, you
must pay 10s. of duty, which is perhaps fair enough;
but if you want an honest pawky of a milch cow, you
cannot get her at all ; she is prohibited I If you want a
mule you have to pay the same as for an ass; but if you
take a fancy for a sheep or a pig from Saxony or Hol-
land, you must keep your fancies to yourself ; nothing
of the kind. A horse you may have on paying 205.; but
the less magnificent animal called a goat you cannot
get at any price. A barrel of ale you cannot get
without paying 535. For -coffee and cocoa you must
pay 15d. for every pound. If you wish a bit
of smoked beef, you must pay at the rate of 20s.
the hundred weight; or a slice of tongue, 4d. a pound
must be laid on as duty. Of fresh butcher's meat
abundance may be brought by the steamers ; but, alas !
it is all prohibited ! Various garden seeds our horticul-
tural and florist societies would like to import and to natu-
ralise even in Paisley, but there are duties amounting
to 50, 100, and sometimes 200 per cent. that stand in
the way ! Some persons may think the language of the
resolutions strong. We are now arrived at that state of
things, Sir, when nothing but strong language will suit
the case. No one will attend to you if you don't use
strong language. They don't think you in earnest.
The crisis is exceedingly momentous, and every man in
his station, whether in the church, or in society at large,
must take an interest in it. Let us go to the throne,
and tell her Majesty the reality of the case ; and let us
go to Parliament and demand that they shall do their
duty to the people whom they represent, and to the na-
tion at large.—(The Reverend Doctor sat down amidst
loud cheers.)
A person in the body of the meeting attributed all the
existing distress to the evils of class legislation.
The meeting was afterwards addressed by Mr. Hen-
derson, the Rev. Mr. Cairns, Baillie Ritchie, Baillie
Barr, and others.

The resolutions were unanimously agreed to, and the
meeting separated.
EDINBURGH.—MEETING OF THE GUILDRY.
On Thursday there was a numerous meeting of the
Guildry called by requisition, ld in the Merchant's-
hall, to consider the propriety of itioning her Majesty
not to prorogue Parliament. sbine able-speeches
a petition was agreed to unanimously, and directed to be
forwarded to Lord Melbourne, to be by him presented to
her Majesty.

have said, " we have come to your Majesty through elec-
tion bribery—(Cheers)—we were ricier than the Whigs,
and we bribed higher—we had more power, and we used
it for the purpose of intimidation to a greeter extent.- -
(Hear, hear.) We have come to tell your Majesty that
the people shall still eat dear bread, and use bad timber.
We will religiously preserve all abuses, we will not allow
the Whigs to abolish one of the many iniquitous laws we
glory in."—(Loud and long-continued cheering.) After
some further remarks upon the shuffling and blinking
policy of the Peel Cabinet, as regarded every branch of
their policy, and deprecatory of the now rapidly increa-
sing Chartist tumult, the Gallant Gentleman concluded,
amidst loud applause from the great majority of the
meeting by seconding the resolution.
After some confusion, occasioned by amendments put
by the Chartists, the resolution was carried by the Corn-
law repeaters, amid the most tumultuous outcries from
the Chartists. After the Chairman left his position, the
Chartists remained in possession of the Hall, and an-
nounced their intention to oppose another anti-Corn-law
meeting, to be held in the district this week.
ST. MARTIN'S-IN-THE-FIELDS.

The Churchwardens of St. Martin's-in-the-Fields, in
pursuance of a requisition, numerously and respectably
signed, have convened a public vestry meeting of that
parish, for the non-prorogation of Parliament.
POPLAR.

A public meeting of the inhabitants of Poplar was held
on Friday, at the Poplar Literary Institution, when a
memorial was adopted for presentation to the Queen.
CHRISTIAN MINISTERS AND THE CORN- L AWS.

The Christian ministers of Paisley, Stockport, and
other towns, in which distress exists, have agreed upon
solemn addresses to the Queen. At almost every anti-
Corn-law meeting we find ministers of various denomina-
tions delivering animated and effective speeches. We
regret extremely that the crowded state of our columns
prevents us from enriching them with such eloquent
speeches as those delivered at Exeter, Southampton, Li-
verpool, and many others that might be named. At
Manchester a large meeting of lay church officers is
about to be called to promote the same object. We have
no doubt that the example will be universally followed.