The Sun.
London, England, 1850-02-28 00:00:00

Mitening aint

LONDON, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 28 1850.

The second reading of the Marriages Bill was yes-
terday brought furward in the House of Commons by
Mr. STUART Wonrnny, and although the entire day
was consumed in the discussion, the debate was ad-
journed on the uoderstanding that it should be re-
sumed on Wednesday next. The opponents of the
measure have mardf2stly determined to adopt the
Fabian policy. They will accept no compromise,
be conciliated by no concession. They still desire to
bind the consciences of their fellow-men, and to compel
the community in general to be guided by the
limited and narrow views by which they themselves
are actuated. It is eminently a question of civil and
religious liberty, affecting the most sacred relation of
life—the right of selecting a partner for life, a com
panion in richness and in health, in poverty or
affluence, through good report and through bad report.
No merely political disability can be tor a moment
considered as of equal importance. In one
case your honourable ambition may be
thwarted, a grievous slight may be inflicted
which can be easily submitted to "for conscience
sake ;" but, on the other, the happiness of life may be
blighted, the best feelings of mankind seared and
slighted, and the supreme law of nature controlled
and set at nought. We should rather have said
attempted to be controlled and, set at nought, for
experience has shown, that no human legislatiam can
have any practical effect in restraining them, and that
the Commissioners appointed to inquire into the
state and operation of the law of marriage
as relating to the prohibited degrees of affinity, and
to marriages solemnized abroad, or in the British
colonies, were fully justified in stating their belief
" that the statute 5 and 6 William IV. had failed to
attain its object," and in expressing a grave doubt
" whether any measure of a prohibitory character
would be effectual." No person can deny the
accuracy of the conclusion at which they arrired,
after the most stringent and searching investigation
into the entire subject, that " these marriages will
take place where a concurrence of circumstances give
rise to mutual attachment ; they are not dependent on
legislation." _ _

The parties who still desire to retain these absurd,
unjusi, and inoperative laws are those who would
gladly repeal the " Emancipation," and reimpose the
Test and Corporation Acts, who would bring back the
" good,old times" when Dissenters were regarded as
rebels to the authority of the :.:30VEILEIGN, as persons
placed beyond the pale and protection of the law of '
the land, who might be tortured with impunity, or
put to death at their own thresholds,
in the presence of their weeping and
terror-stricken families, for the- high Crime and
misdemeanour, of worshipping their CREAToR in the
manner which, in their souls and consciences, they
deemed most proper. Are the sentiments and opi-
nions of such persons so universally recognised that
they will now be acted on, or that they can be per-
mitted to impede and obstruct the progress of a mea-
sure in which the welfare end happiness, the future
position and standing in society of thousands and
tens - of thousands of their fellow-subjects
are so deeply involved ? Most decidedly not. The
voice of public opinion has loudly proclaimed that this
unjust and impolitic law must be repealed, and no
Parliamentary strategies of a minority can be sufferi d
to defeat the clearly expressed determination of a
large and ovi,r whelmning majority of the people.
But even the ministers and members of the Church
by law' established are by no means unanimous on
the point. Some c.f the most le.arned, pions, and un-
eXecp clergymen have expressed their views in
the mosttecisive mtnner in favour of the removal of the
pro;!;;}i:i.qh such In n as the llon. and ;tev.
YONTAQ;iO VILL!Fiv.?, the Rev. Tnoraas DALF, the
W. GziAMl'NErs, the Itnv. J. 1.1. GURNEY,
and a host Gf o hers of almost equal standing, have
boldly
_come rorwar(i—vilitn many_ of the most
ainiA,l;l6.preltea have signified their decided opinion
that there is nothing immoral or contrary to the law
of G(AS iii such a connexion—when even .the peti-
tioners from the University of Cambridge have
abandoned the untenable ground, the. ridi-
culous *.• pretext that marriage with a, de-
ceased 'wife's sister is prohibited by Scripture,
and rested their objections to the measure solely on
the ground of social inexpediency—it cannot be as-
serted, with even a semblance of truth, that the law 1

of the Church is clearly opposed to such unions, and,
even were it so, how could the religious doctrines of
one church control or affect those who owed-it no al.
legiance, and who were strengthened in their own
conscientious opinions by the unanimous judgment of
their pastors—of the men whom they reverence and
respect, and under whose ministry they sit ?
We regard the exertions of Mr. STUART WORTLEY
in thiscause with unfeigned respect. It is to himwe are
indebted for bringing the matter prominently before
Parliament. It was on his motion that an address
was presented to the Crown, that led to the appoint-
ment of the Royal Commilsion that so fairly and
impartially considered the entire question. We
would not, therefore, willingly be considered as cast-
ing a censure upon the Right Hon. and Learned
Gentleman. We must, however, emphatically warn
him against the danger of procrastination and the pos-
sibility of the mattei being postponed for yet another
year, if he should lose a single opportunity of pressing
forward the Bill thiough all its stages. Let him
consider what occurred during the past session—the
various frivolous prel`e'xts which were made use of
to retard its progress, and its consequent withdrawal
at the very close of the session, after having been de-
tained from February until August on the table of
the House of CJrnmons. He must also be well aware
of the inutility of any concessions, and yet he has
yielded in one point of no ordinary importance,
a vacillation against which we must enter our most
solemn and earnest protest.
We cannot conceive any grounds upon which the
prohibition against marriage with the niece of a de-
ceased wife can be retained or justified, when that
with a nearer connexion, a sister, is ratified. Such
marriages are, undoubtedly, of rare occurrence ; they
are few in comparison to those which take place
with sisters-in-law; but surely that is the very
reason why our statute-book should not be
encumbered with any useless law on the sub-
ject.

If the restriction should be continued
t would cast a certain degree of odium on the
unions that were sanctioned and recognised by the
Legislature; and it would prove utterly unavailing,
for, to use again the language of the Commissioners—
" these marriages will take place where a concurrence
of circunzstances give rise to mutual attachment ; they
are not dependent on legislation." We trust, there-
fore, that this ridiculous distinction may be abolished
in Committee, and that marriage may be legalised
with the Deices as well as with the sisters of deceased

wives.

One Porcius has recently chaunted a most eccen-
tric Jeremiad on the fortunes, or rather, we should
say, the misfortunes of agriculture. A pamphlet on
a pamphlet* has been the vehicle of his lamentations,
and these lamentations are in tone, at least, if not in
principle, so different from any that have hitherto is-
sued from the lips of the farmers of the United King-
dom, that they deserve a somewhat more attentive
auditory. Even the title of this fantastic lucubra-
tion, as may be seen from our foot note, is an oddity,
provocative of a close and scrutinizing examina-
tion ; and quaint though the garb may be,
the form of argument concealed under it
will ha found one entitled to something more
than a merely flippant or superficial criticism. For
Porcius, though decked out for the nonce in the

masquerade of comedy, has within him the sobriety
of one authorised to preach the funeral oration of
Monopoly. His voice and manner, it is true, have
each their incentives to laughter, but all his conclu-
sions are as dismal as his prophecies are dolorous.
At the outset our pamphleteer is more than usually
humorous—setting out with a sort of spasm of face-
tiousness on his Quixotic adventures against the
dragons of Free-trade doctrines. He begins, for
example, by likening certain agricultural
speculators with the " wonderful black fellow
in the Deccan," who on inserting a seed in
a pot of mould, , and muttering over it,
"some hocus-pocus of charm or conjuration" could
almost in the twinkling of an eye cause a plant to
arise from the germ, its branches to sprout forth, its
buds to expand into leaves, its blossoms to open, and
its fruit to ripen into the most delicious mangoes.
Such men, says Porcius, as Mr. Maccnr and Mr.
CAIRD are kindred in ambition at least with the con-
juror of the Deccan. " They profess," says he in
Intinuation, " to teach the farmer how he may grow
wheat and feed cattle at prices and in• quantities
that have hitherto been unknown." Strange, in-
comprehensible, miraculous as those professions
may appear to those who are resolved to be
unbelievers, to ui they are nevertheless perfectly
natural and conceivable. Nor can we 1),! charged
with any very excessive incredulity when we reflect
upon the yet more astonishing marvels that have been
accomplished in our own times. To our thinking
there is nothing whatever incomprehensible in the
notion of increasing the fruitfulness of the earth by
the application of chemical agencies—after the per-
mance of those yet more astounding marvels which
have latterly come to be regarded as the every-day
performance of scientific dexterity. Now-a-days,
when we may be carried with astonishing ra-
pidity to any quarter of the land, nay, if we
will it, to the very opposite extremity of
the European continent at the tail of a fiery dragon
of a steam-engine—when we can, out of the sediment
of a transparent liquid grow a film of gold or copper
upon the surface of a metallic substance—when we
can soar into the clouds with the eagle aided by the
science of aerostation—when we can convey our
thoughts with the velocity of lightning along a wire
stretching from London to Liverpool—when we can
do all this, and more than this, is there any-
-thing, we ask, so incredible or impossible in
the notion of increasing the abundance of our
crops with the assistance and under the guidance of
the agricultural chemist ? And yet the bare idea of
such a scheme in this year 1850 appears to be one of
such utter extravagance to the imagination of Por-
cius, that he classes the believers in it with the
trickstering conjurors of the Deccan. He admits, of
course he admits—for not to do so would be a fla-
grant proclamation cf his ignorance—that " through
the aid of chemistry we have gained an immense ad-
ditional and minute knowledge of - the immediate
fertilizing agents that we can now analyse
manures and that we know what nitro-
gen is, and how . it passes into ammo-
nia." Yet, while acknowledging. that the
storehouse of scientific knowledge has had of late a
new and wonderful harvest of facts, he cannot, for the
lire of him, credit bow all these things can affect our
national agriculture to the dissipation of all its dreams
of ruin and desolation. Now to us we must confess
there does not 'appear to be anything so very wonder-
fully rash in the assertion that " the conditions of
wheat and turnip growing, of cattle feeding, and ma-
making are reduced within the cog-
nizance of fixed principles." To assert other-
wise would be as frivolous as to deny
the fact that the electric current is incapable of
passing along a metallic conductor to any con-
siderable distance, or as to gainsay that steam can
be applied as a motive power. Experiments have
been made And have proved eminently successful.
To talk derisively of these " fixed principles," because
of the possible recurrence of " a wet or ungenial
season is mere quibbling; and the derisive re-
mark that all . Mr. 1113XTABLV8 professions
amount merely to Follow my example,
put your faith in pig's dung, rear pork, trea-
sure ammonia, and I promise you a large
amount of produce"—is nothing more nor less than
so much perverse evasion of a truth that is beyond
the reach of contradiction.

n ure

Other pamphleteer?, with all the earnestness •of
Porcius, but without a particle of his amusing eccen-
tricity, are just now industrious in bewailing the
catastrophe of the fortunes of British agriculture.
Atn'ong. these the more noticeable are the writers of
the series of brochure:ft now appearing under the
authority of the National Association for the Protec-
tion cf British Capital and Industry, in whose argu.
meats it is impossible not to recogniz-, in spite of
their abounding fallacies, the fervour of belief and the
emphasis of Conviction. So stubborn, however, is
this belief, and w irretrievably blind this conviction,
that it sets at nought the force of flab, the demon-
strations of logic, and the persuasiveness of elcquence.
Thy have eyes,. but they cannot see. Alas ! it were

* " Mr. auxtable arid his Pigs." By T'orcius.
pp. 30. Blackwood, Edinburgh and Loildon, 180.
t " Tracts on Protection. No. 1. latrodUctory Tract.
No. 2. The Occupations of the People. No. 3, An Ab-
stract of Political Opinion." Bvo., pp. 46. Wirier,
London, 1850.

vain to offer them any longer the spectacles of expe-
rience, or the telescope of reason ; like the Scandina-
vians before Freya, they behold only beauty in the
hideous idol of Protection.

We call the attention of our commercial readers to
a report of the meeting at the London Tavern of
the "Benevolent Department" of the Provident Clerks'
Association, and, in doing so, we concur in the al-
most unanimous expressions of regret at the slow
progress made by this branch of the association.
When we look back to tLe formation of this fund, in
1840, by the munificent donations of merchants and
bankers, amounting to nearly 10,0001., it appears
quite unaccountable that the clerks themselves should
not have followed the example of their employers, and
by this time have raised their permanent fund to
treble its present amount.

It was vary justly stated that all classes, from the
highest to the lowest, supported a benevolent fund
fur the relief of their distressed brethren—let us ask
why the clerks should not do the same ?

We have often commended the association, because
we know that it has conferred great benefits upon
clerks, their widows and families, and we now urge
the body at large to exert themselves and raise a
fund which will enable the association to dispense
with certainty all the benefits to those who may re-
quire them.

In order to avoid misapprehension, our remarks
apply to the benevolent department, the mutual in-
surance department of the association continuing to
progress most satisfactorily.

THE FRENCH REPUBLIC.

We have received the Paris journals of yesterday.
The Assembly on Tuesday voted the second read-
ing of the Bill.for regulating education, by a majority
of 436 to 205.
It will be remembered that on Sunday, the anni-
versary of the revolution, several persons adorned
with crowns of immortelles the column of the Place
Bastile, beneath which the patriots who fell in defence
of liberty in July, 1830, and in Feb., 1848, are buried.
These crowns were removed in the night by certain
officious agents of the police, and several of them were
destroyed. In the morning of Monday M. CHARLES L
GRANGES, accompanied by those who had deposited
those crowns, waited on the authorities and demanded
the restoration of the crowns, which they claimed as
their property. The mayor and the commissary of
police of the quarter did not seek to justify the act
of spoliation, not to say of sacrilege, which had been
committed; but, clothed in their official robes, they
accompanied M. CHARLES LAGRANGE and his friends
to the column, and restored the crowns of immortelles
'to their places. A collection was made amongst the
crowd, and subscribed to by the inhabitants of the
neighbouring houses, for the purchase of fresh crowns
of immortelles and of laurels, and the railing
was decorated with these emblems and with ribbons.
In the evening a large crowd was assembled around
the column, but the utmost order prevailed, the people
continually observing to each other, "No impru-
dence; what we now want is tranquillity to ensure
the success of our elections."
In the Assembly, on Tuesday, M. FERDINAND
BARROT, the Minister of the Interior, was questioned
on the subject, and he declared that the removal of
the crowns had taken place without authority, and
that the police agent who had perpetrated the out-
rage should be dismissed.
The Moniteur of yesterday publishes the following
communications on this subject from the Minister of
the Interior :
" This morning the chaplets which had been deposited
at the foot of the column of July, on the Place de la
Bas ille, had disappeared; they were taken away during
the night without any order. The Prefect of Police,
when informed of the fact, immediately gave direction
t',at they should be replaced, and a comm.ssary of pc-
lice, in his insignia of office, presided, over the opera-
tion. An iLquiry is ordered to ascertain the author of
this unjustifiable act, and severe justice will be exercised
on him.

" A. peace-officer, during last night, removed the
chaplets which had been deposited on the 24th of Fe-
brutry round the column of July. The Prefect of Po-
lice, after demanding instructions from the Minister of
the Interior, immediately dismissed this agent, who so
far forgot his duty and acted contrary to bib instructions.
The chaplets mere replaced during the day by the care of
the authorities."
Grievous complaints are made of the unconstitu-
tional conduct of certain of the prefects of depart-
ments in, interfering with the elections, and the
conduct of the Prefect of the Loire et Cher in pre-
venting the addresses. of candidates from being posted
up, was brought under the consideration of the

Assembly by M. SALYAT. The Assembly, however,
refused to entertain the question, and passed to the
order of the day by 414 :o 203. After this decision,
we trust we shall hear no more complaints of the
commissaries of M. LEDRU ROLLIN, or of the circu-
lars of M. CARNOT ; the present proceedings of the
reactionary party furnish an ample ex post facto
justification of the conduct of both these gentlemen.
The following semi-official announcement has been
communicated to several of the journals
The Minister of Finance having been requested to
attend the committee ou the budget fa. regulating the
estimates of the receipts for 1850, he did so yesterday,
and declared that ho has no intention of proposing any
new tax for these estimates, and could provide fur the
public service without having recourse to a loan. lie
added that he would ba able to arrive at an equilibrium
f receipts and expenditure without applying for any
new credi'. The committee on the budget, wishing to
preserve the principle of the uniform postage on letters
at the same time that it studied the interest of the Tres-,
sury,. has, in accordance with the Minister of Finance,
modified the original Bill. It has confined itself to add-
ing 5 centimes to the present charge, making it 25c. in-
stead of 20c."

The Patrie has the following relative to the va-
rious rumours which were in circulation during the
course of Monday :

" A thousand rumours have been current since yes-
terday. This is the ordinary macmuvre of the partisans
of disorder at the approach of the elections. According
to some we are on the point of a military occupation of
the Swiss frontier to defend the territory and protect
the Helvetic Republic against foreign aggression. War
battalions had, it was said, received orders to march.
We think that we can take upon ourselves to state that
all these rumours are destitute of foundatign. The re-
port that M. Dupin has given in his resignation as Pre-
sident of the National Assembly is untrue. M. Dupin
is indisposed with a hoarseness, caused by the fatigue of
the sittings of last week, but it is hoped that in a few
days be will be able to resume his difficult functions,
which-he performs with so much courage and talent.'!
The reactionary journals have agreed to give their
support to those of the three re -actionary candidates who
shall obtain the majority on the preliminary scrutiny.
M. FERDINAND For is the 'candidate of the Orleanists.
M. ARIGHI DE PADOIIE has published an address to
the electors, in which he declares his complete adhe-
sion to the policy of the PRESIDRNT of the Republic.
Several rumours, says the Constitutionnel, were
yesterday in circulation. In addition to that relative
to the mobilisation of a corps d'arinee, it was pre
tended that M. FouLD had manifested an intention to
resigna report which, it is unnecssary to say, rests
on no foundation whatever. It was also said that the
National Discount Bank had some idea of entering into
a loan of 20 millions to the civil list, and that, if it
did so, it would issue obligations of I,ooof. for the
amount at 6 per cent., and reimbursable. at I,loof.
in ten years, by lot. If this assertion prove exact,
it is probable that the first subscribers will be the
creditors themselves of the civil list, and that they
will exchange their vouchers for the obligations thus
created.

The report of the committee appointed to examine
the proposition of M. ST. PRIEST, on the subject of
usury, ha° just been distributed. The committee is
of opinion that the present laws on the subject are
capable of improvement, and it has, accordingly,
drawn up a new Bill, in forty-four articles, founded
on M. ST. PRIEST'S views. It declares that every
loan at interest, above the rate fixed by law, consti-
tutes the offence of usury, and that the persons so
offending may be prosecuted by the law-officers of
the Republic. The lenders can be condemned to re-
store the sums improperly taken, and may incur the
penalty of fines with imprisonment, of from six days
to sight months, as the case may be.'
The Memorial de Rouen says :—" A strict search
has been made in this place as well as at Havre and the
neighbourhood, in consequence of the discovery of a
Legitimatist conspiracy, the centre of which is said to
be Amiens.. Several arrests have been made, but tli•
parties are men without any influence ; poor devils
who have been led into a stupid intrigue.'
The insurgents of June detained at Lorient, in
consequence of the late revolt at Belle Isle, have Leen
removed from the prison at the former place, and
taken to Vannes, where they will be tried at the ap-:
proaching assizes.
General CHAISGARNIRE on Monday reviewed the
lit and 2d Cuirassif.rs, the 2d and 4th Dragoons, the
sth Lancers, and the squadron of Guides, in all 20
squadrons of cavalry, and 62d, 3d, and 21st regi-1
merits of the line, with a battery of artillery, in the
Buis de Boulogne. A great concourse of people had
assembled. The Patsinns-r of the Republic, accom-
panied by an aide-de-carnp, who was taking a ride on
horseback, arrived during the filing off, and stopped
to witness it.
PARIS BOURSE, FEB. 27.—Latest Prices—Five per
Cdds., 95f. 20c.; Three per Cents., 57f. 40e. ; Bank
of France, 2,200 f. •
-
BUSINESS DONE IN FOREIGN RAILWAYS AT THE
LONDON STOCK-EXCHANGE, FEB. 27.
Dutch Rhenish, I::%—East Indian, s,4—Luxembourg,
—Namur and Liege, 6%—Northern of France, 13%—Or-
leans and Bordeaux, 2%B—Rouen and Havre, 9%. •

THE SUN, LONDON, THURSDAY EYRNING, FEBRUARY 28, !ftso

)IS-JE 14nd CO3IIIERCIAL NEW!".

CITY, QUARTER TO THREE.
The sales of Cotton at Liverpool yesterday were esti-
mated at 3,500 bales. The market was steady.—ln
Railway Shares a very limited business was done, and
pric)s continued to decline.
At Vienna, on the 2d inst., Austrian Metallics were
93 11-16ths. In the Amsterdam market the Dutch Funds
were less firm and with limited transactions. The Two-
and a-Half per Cents. were 55. Foreign Securities also
were duller.
Advic s of the most recent date from Copenhagen ad-
vise us that the Bolt and the Sound were entirely free of
ice, and the mails had resumed their ordinary course.
A new discovery is said to have been made at the
Constantinople Mint of a combustible matter. An offi-
cial was preparing a mixture of nitrate of potash and
other substances, when a startling explosion occurred,
and the operator being unable to resume his experi-
ments, they would be prosecuted by the Academy.
The speculation in Coffee at Hamburgh has resulted
in the suspension of Messrs. A. Herbert and Co., with
liabilities amounting to 250,000 mares banco.
It is stated in the Corn Exchange this morning, that
the failure of an Irish factor, reported two days since
by our morning contemporary, the Chronicle, is not
correct.
An interesting inquiry to City-men is made and an-
swered in some observations by Mr. J. Toulmin Smith,
headed " What is the Corporation of London, and who
are the Freemen?" The writer desires to abolish the
payment t f tines and stamp duties on the admission of
free men of the city of London, and to make arid keep a
roll of the citizens of the said city, and remarks upon
points of some importance to our merchants and whole-
site dealers. He says—
. " As regards the question of residence raised by some
persons anxious to maintain by any tortuous quibble the
wholly illegal system of exclusiveness which
now rears its head within the city of London,
it will be sufficient, out of many authorities
which might be quoted, to quote one, which rchoose
both because of its high authority and because it will
show how long ago the idea has been scouted of its being
necessary (as such arguers would persuade us) to con-
vert'London or other places into prisons in order for
their c.fzens to be accounted free." The writer then
quotes Coke's reports.
Upon the question of taking up freedom in com-
panies, the author explains that " the term freeman,'
as an exclusive one, grew into use, beyond doubt,
in reference to particular trading companies which
existed within the City, but which are altogether
independent, as companies, of the Corporation,
although all the members were and are, as individuals,
members of the body corporate. Hence the continual
question whether a man was free' of this or that
company. This simple explanation clears many diffi•
culties and inconsistencies that would otherwise
appear ; and it is supported by many relics
of forms which are still met with. We do not find a
man ever described as a freeman and mercer,' i. e., _a
citizen or member of the body politic of the corporation
of London, and free of the particular company; in re-
ference to which latter the term freeman' may be,
therefore rightly enough used.
"Besides such existing relics illustrating this point,
I have referred to a long series o f private deeds in my
own possession, running back to a remote period, and
find that, invariably, individuals among my own ances-
tors who have been members of the corporation of Lon-
don are described unquestionably according to the then
usual form, as 'citizen and goldsmith," citizen and mer.
cer,' &c. The term freeman' is not to be found."

The following, from Aris' Birmingham Gazette, is
rather an unsatisfactory statement upon the Iron trade:
—" Within the last week or ten days an unwelcome lull
has again crept over the market, and there appears but
little anxiety to do business. Notwithstanding the re-
ported large influx of orders to different ports, but few of
them seem to find their way here; in fact, the demand
of the last fortnight has fallen considerably short of the
previous one, and, though such ebbs and flows are con-
tinual and unavoidable, yet, considering that the
present and the next two months are usually
the most busy period of the year, the confi-
dence in looking forward to an early improve-
ment in prices is becoming less sanguine. At
present, however, this relaxation cf demand has not

reached such an extent as to induce any perceptible
want of activity among our mills and forges; and if, as
some suppose, it is only dependent upon the slight ru-
mours that have lately prevailed of threatened disturb-
ances among our continental neighbours, or re-
sults from the exposure of unsuccessful tactics
among Scotch pig speculators, and the renewed
indifference with which railway investment is again
regarded by our capitalists, there is room to hope that
the cloud will speedily be blown away, and we may yet
look for the approach cf the halcyon days' of free-
trade promise. But there are parties, and those whose
opinion on such matters are not in general to be disre-
garded, who fear, that more powerful causes are in ope-
ration, and that it is scarcely piobable that the future
progress of the Iron bade in this country will again be
marked by those attractive opportunities which in times
gone by have been so well improved, and have led to the
engagement in its_ undertakings of men of the highest
station, ability, and capital.
" The avowed attempts of our commercial politicians
to convert this country into the workshop of the world,'
are said to have aroused universal attention, and to have
provoked the jealousy of other nations, lest the labour
of their own populations, and the developements of their
own industrial resources should be encroached upon.
" In a long and able letter in one of the United

States' journals, the position of the Iron trade there is
represented as most lamentable, not more than two out
of fifteen rolling-mills beir.g in operation. This para-
lysis is referred entirely to the ruinously low prices at
which immease quantities of iron find their way there.
The remedy proposed is a duty almost prohibitory, a
determined agitation for which is being carried
on, and should it succeed only to a partial ex 7
t-,nt, it must prove a great discouragement to
our connexions in that quarter. In France, al-
though on the other hand a relaxation of import
duties has been granted, extraordinary efforts are being
made to compete with the cheap productions of this
country, and t.) substitute their own home produce fir
the supplies of foreign manufacture. The quantity of
iron made, as appears from the official returns, has, within
a few years, been, more than doubled, and the cost of pro-
duction reduced one-half. The same progress is obtain.

ing in almost every country where the, materials are
found."
The Funds this morning do not support the highest
quaations which they touched yesterday, viz., 951 i;
Consols having been 948 to 958 for Transfer, and the
same for Account. The French rentes come lower, but
this was to be expected after the fiat reports received from
London, and we find no political or others news of im-
.

portance to act upon prices this morning. The New
Three-and-a-Quarter per Cents. have been 97* to 974,
and the Three per Cents. 951 to 954. Bank Stock has
been 206* to 2078. Exchequer-bills are 545. to 575.
premium
Foreign Securities have been very dull, this being
settling day. Spanish Five per Cents. have been
17* to 18, and the Four per Cent. Portuguese Bonds,
311 to 32*. Mexican Stock has been inactive at 29k.
Dutch Two• and-a-Half per Cents. are 54* to 558.
Railway Shares are still neglected.

ONE +;.i.t.;,1 0
Pal' Zn in, •ILITISti YilliDzs O'CLOCK. PRICES.
auk Stock
g per Cent. Reduced Anne ... 951/06% 95%
3 per Cont. Consols Annuities... -... 94% 25% 94% 94%
Nr.wr 314 per Cent. Anns. ....
[dont! Anns.to expire Jan.1860
Ditto 30 years, Jan. 5, 1860. 8 5-16 8 5-16
.n,ii:., Bonds, I,OOOL
Ditto under 1,0001.. B4 87 p 87 p
south Sea Stock
Ditto Old Annuities
Ditto New Annuities ......
Consols for Account 94% 95% 95
xchequer Bills. 1,4 d. & zd
1,0001. June
5001. June
Smlll. Juns 54 57 p

57 p
57 p
57 p

IILOSIIN 0
PRICES .

t•RICES OF FOREIGN FUNDS. oNE
O'CLOCK.
NI exican, 5 per Cent.lB46, with Coupons—
Ditto, Ex Jan. Coupons 29% 2914,
eeruvian Bonds, 4 per Cent 7B 763% 7714 77%
Ditto, Account . llll.l. 78
Ditto Deferred
Portuguese .5 per Cents.
Ditto, 4 per Cent.
Ditto, Account 32% . 32/s.
Russian Bonds — ... .
Ditto Scrip
-pganA 18h 5 per Cent. 1840 17% 17%
Ditto, Account
Ditto, Passive. 3% 334
Ditto. 3 per Cent
Venezuela Bonds, 2 per Cent
Dividends on the above payable in London
French 3 per Cent
Exchange , 2sf. 50c.
l)titcL 2141 per Cent., 12 Guild. .. 551/a 54% 55 5514
Ditto. 4 oer Cent. Certificates 86% 86 41
PRICES OF PAID. BUSINESS DONE CLOSING
A i LwAY SHARES. AT ONE O'CLOCK. PRICES.
Caledonian
.;bester and Holyhead... 50 ...... •••
Ditto, Preference l5 ...... 9 1,4 3,1 95,1
9:uteri' Counties........ 20 ...... 6% 7 s.d 7l/4 x.d
0 itto,Extension, 5 per
Cent., No.l 61. 13s. 4d.... p
Ditto ditto, No.' 2..6/. 13s. 4d... % p
Do. North. & Eastern,

- lAz P •
P

6 per Cent. .... 5O ......
Ditto. 5 per Cent.... 50
heat Northern
Do., 5 per Cent. Pref. 121/2 105¢% lO%
t4reat Western 100
Ditto-, 14 ShareS
Ditto, Fifths .. 20
Ditto. New 171........ 15 .... . ...... 7 x.d.
Hull and Selby .. ...... 50 .....,
Ditto, Half Shares ... 25 ...... 47:14 x.d 4734 xd
Lancaster and Carlisle... 50 -
Lancashire& Yorkshire 100 „
Do. Quarters ..-..... 23% lO% ....
Do. Thirds ... .. .. ........ 18
Le,,ds raid Bradford 5O ...... 97%
. London & Black wa11...11/. 6s. 3d... 3% xd. 3%x.d
London, Brighton. tad
South Coast_ ,„ . 103
Do., New; guarantee?
6 per Cent ..........100 134
L ndonandGreenwich 12/15s 4d... .. —-- • •••
Ditto, Preference., . 20
London and N Western 100...102 1021/2 1013/4:x.d. 1021,¢xd
Ditto, New Quarters.: 12 ..... ll% x.d.
i'to, Fifth. l2 ..... 113474 x.d 11% x.d.
London & &Western ..100.... 63 62% 63%x.d 63%2t.d
Manoheiter,Buxton,and
Matlock 5
Midland
4
•• .
Do., 50/. Shares
..... 30 ..... 4% 3't
Do. Consolid. Bristol and
.
Birming., 6 per ct.,...100 ..... 42% 122%
Norfolk • •• • 100 • ". ' ....
Do. Extension ......... 20

101,4

79%

. ,
North BrigAii ........ .- 25 .... , 10 ...
Ditto Preference
North Staffordshire ... 17% 6 I
Oxford, Worcester, and
Wolverhampton
Reading, Guildford, And
Reigate l5 ....• —. . ...
Shrewsbury and Bine— 12%...... --
Ditto ditto, Ciass B. 8
South En-tern
Do., No, 2. r,3i
Do., Registered No. 410
South Wales
York, Newcastle, and
Berwick..—• ....... ..„. 25
Do. Newcastle Eaten, 20
Do. G.N.E.Prefennce 8
York and North Midland 50 ..... 17 Vi 144 •
t)' tto Preference ...... 10
FOREIGN RAILWAYS.
Boulogne and Amiens... 20
MINES.
Santiago de Cuba... lO
United 11 exican
JOINT STOCK BANKS
Australasia

8%
13/4
[74,

LLOYD'S SHIPPING—(THIS DAY.)
LONDON, FEE. 28.—Wind E., light airs and hazy.
DEAL, FEB. 27.—Wind S. to S.S.W.—Arrd. from the
River and sailed Bermondsey, New South Wales; Prin-
cess Royal, Launce►ton, Van Dieman's Land; Stag,
Adelaide, South Australia; Cuba, Algoa Bay; La.,y,
Dominica; Prince Albort, Azores. Sld. James Whi•e,
Bombay; David Faye, Porto Rico.
LIVERPOOL, FEB. 27.—Wind S.S.E.—Arrd. Nile,
Balderston, Calcutta; Princeton, Russell, New Orleans;
New York, Marshall, New Yoik; Nova Scotian, Can-
ning, St. John's, N.B. Ski. Patna, Shangbae; Ann
Nelson, and Thomas Brockelbank, Calcutta; Brothers,
Africa; Chemboraz ), Valparaiso; Fatima, Rio Janeiro;
Lady Charlotte Guest, Barbadoes; Elise, St. Thomas;
Jane Smith, Santa Martha; Henry and Mary, Vera
Cruz; Elizabeth llastings, Tampico; Chesapeake, Balti-
more; Switzerland, New York. Put back, Britannia
for Wilmington, leaky. Off Port, Mail (telegraphed),
Africa.

PORTSMOUTH, FEB. 27.—The Caroline Frances is
aground at the entrance of Langston harbour; assis-
tance has been sent to her. Sld. Prince Albert, New
York; Joseph, Havannah. Off Port, Crisis, Shanghse.
SCILLY, FEB. 26.—Some more casks of palm oil have
been picked up off here, making in all 250 or more; they
appear to have been but a short time in the water. A
brig and a schooner have also been seen collecting them.
Part of the poop of a large vessel, apparently not long in
the water, was s(en off here on the 24th, and piece of
the top side§ of a vessel (fir), apparently a long time in
the water, has been likewise picked up.

MARKET NE WS.—(THIS DAY.)
NEWGATE AND T.E.ADEATHALL.
The general demand ruled heavy tt,-Jay, at barely
stationary prices. Beef, from 2s 4d to 3s 4d; Mutton,
2s 10d to 3s 10d; Veal, 3s to 3s 8d; and Pork, 3s to
4s per Slbr, by the carcase.
NAY 141ARIEETS.
SMITHFIELD.—Meadow Hay, 2/ lOs to 3/ 10s; Clover
ditto, 31 Os to 4/ lOs ; and Straw, 1/ is to 11 >is par
oad. Both Hay and Straw moved off slowly, at the
above quotati ms.
CUMBERLAND.—Meadow Hay, 2/ 88 to 3/101; Clover
ditto, 3/ Os to 41 6s; and Straw, 1/ 2s to 11 9s per
load. Trade dull, at late rates.
WHITECHAPEL. Meadow Hay, 2/ 8s to 3/ 10, ;
Clover ditto, 3/ Os to 4/ 10s; and Straw, l/ is to 1/ 8s per
load. Supply good, and trade dull.
DIEEILT
SOUTHALL, FEB. 2,.—Beat=, the supply of which
was good, sold heavily at drooping prices. In other
kinds of stock only a limited business was transacted,
at late rates. Beef from 3s to 3s 10d; Mutton, 3s 6d to
4s 6d; Veil, 3s 2d to 3s 8d; and Pork, 3s to 3s 8d per
81bs, to sink the on'.
ROMFORD, FEB 27.—Our market to-day was fairly
supplied with each kind of stock, the demand for which
ruled heavy, on the following terms:—Beef, from 3s to
10.1; Mutton, 3s 4d to 4s 6d; Veal 3s 2d to 3s 8d;
and Pork, 3s 2d to 3s 8d per 81bs. Suckling Calves,
18s to 255; Quarter•old Store Pigs, 16s to 21s; and
Mileh Cows, with their small Calf, 161 to 181 each.
HAILSHAM, FEB. 27.—The general demand ruled
heavy, and prices were with difficulty supported. Beef,
from 2s 10d to 4s; Mutton, 3s 4d to 4s 6d; Veal, 3s 2d
to 3s 6d; and Pork, 3s 4d to 3s 8d per 81bs.
ARUNDEL, FEB. 26.—Prime Sheep sold at full prices.
Otherwise the demand ruled heavy. Beef from 3s to
4s;. Mutton, 3s 8d to 4s 6d; Veal, 3s 4d to 3s 6d; and
Pork, 3s 4d to 3s 8d per 81bs.
CHICHESTER, FEB. 27.—We had a slow trade ti-
day, yet prices were well supported. Beef from 3s to
4s; Mutton, 3s 8d to 4s 4d; Veal, 3s 4d to 3s 8d;
and Pork, 3s 4d to 3s 8d per Blbs. Suckling Calves,
183 to 265; Quarter-old Store Pigs, 16s to 19.3; and
Milch Cows, 151 to 18/ each.

CORN AVERAGES.
GENERAL AVERAGE PRICES OF BRITISH CORY
For the Week ended Feb. 21, 1850, made up from the Returns of the
Inspectors in the different Citiesand Towns in England and Wales
per Imperial Quarter.
. I WHEAT. I BARLEY.' OATS. RYE. I BEANS. I PEAS.
PRICE 37s lld 23s 7d I Iss 6d 20s 10d I 24s 8d 126 s Osl

DUTIES ON FOREIGN CORN.
viIEAT. I BARLEY. I OATS. I ATE. I BEANS. I PEAS.
Is Od Is Od is Od Is Od is Od is Od

HOUSE OF LORDS.—(THIS DAY.)
The' House sat to-day to hear appeals. The Lord
Chancellor, Lord Brougham, and other Peers were pre-
sent. Nothing of any interest came before their Lord-
ships during the whole morning.