The Sun.
London, England, 1844-03-19 00:00:00

THE O'CONNELL BANQUET.

()from the Weekly Chronicle.)
The Tory press has been driven frantic by the success of
the demonstration in honour of Mr. O'Connell, which, though
not attended so largely as it would have been, by public men,
had a little more care been taken to disconnect it from the
repeal agitation, was certainly most remarkable both for the
talent displayed in its proceedings, and for the enthusiasm
and unanimity that prevailed.
Hence the bitterness with which it is assailed. The Times
calls it " a wretched mummery ;"—a display of " ill-conditioned
folly, and unblushing indecency;"—" a sympathy with sedi-
tion, worse than that of American Sympathisers, who, at
least, have the excuse of belonging to a hostile race!" The
Standard talks of " a convict dinner," " attended by a rabble
of the very lowest description"—the " Canaille of Great Bri-
tain ;"—" men who would not be displeased to see the whole
of society dragged down to their. own level !" And it ends
this infamous calumny by as infamous a perversion of Holy
Writ, for it applies to itself, and its political friends, whose
rancorous bigotry has disturbed for fifty years the peaceful
relations between this country and Ireland, and made the
stability of their future union doubtful, a passage of Scrip-
ture, which says, " Happy art thou, 0 Israel ! Who is like
unto thee, 0 people, saved by the Lord—the shield of thy help,
and who is the sword of thy excellency. And thine enemies
shall be found liars unto thee, and thou shalt tread upon the
high places."
We bate this desecration of the Bible—this impudent, and
profligate, attempt to debase that, which all must desire to
reverence, into an instrument of party, and personal, spite.
Why, if "IsraFl" mean the Government,—and "the People,"
the Conservative party,—as the Standard would imply,—it
is the Lord Chief Justice Pennefather, that has saved them
in their struggle with Repeal, not that higher Lord, to whom
they prcy appeal ! He is their " sword !"—A packed
jury their ‘` shield !"—And to couple the success of such
trickery with high, and holy, things, requires a brazen
hypocrisy,inconceivable to ordinary minds.
Let no man accuse us of irreverence in speaking thus. The
blame, and the responsibility, lie with those, who first invoke
Scripture as a cloak to their dirty designs, and then, upon
the strength of its sanction, calumniate the rest of mankind.
Does the Standard dare to assert that no man is a good
Christian, who thinks that Mr. O'Connell, in the recent pro-
ceedings against him, has not had fair play ? Is there
Scriptural authority for the chicanery of Mr. T. B.
Cusack Smith ? And are the thousands of honest, and in-
telligent, men, who, at Birmingham, and in Covent-garden,
have recorded their belief,—in the words of Lord John Rus-
sell,—that, with an English judge, and an English jury, upon
the same evidence, the verdict, in Mr. O'Connell's case
would probably have been reversed,—to be classed as rebels
against the authority of Heaven, instead of as men denounc-
ing justly the infirmities of an earthly judge?
There was a time when cant was all-powerful in this coun-
try, and that time the Standard would willingly, bring back.
We have little fear of its succeeding; but still it behoves
men to keep their eyes open. Religious diseases are, of all
others, the most insidious. The snake may be scotched, not
killed. It is, certainly, not at Covent-garden, however, that
any symptoms of its resuscitation must be sought, for the
change that has taken place in the sentiments of the English
middle classes was never more strikingly marked. Forty
years ago, nothing short of a miracle would have induced
eleven hundred men, few of whom are known as strong poli-
tical partisans, to meet together, to do honour to a Catholic,
and a conspirator, whom the law of the land is about to con-
sign to prison, and whom the religious prejudices of our an-
cestors declared unfit to participate in political rights.—Now,
the difficulty was to find admission for the numbers who
wished to be present, and to restrain, within decent limits,
the warm sympathy which they expressed. Whence the
change? Is it folly? Is it wisdom? It is, at all events,
the most unmistakable proof, that men are beginning to
think, and act, for themselves!
We only regret, as we began by stating, that from the
sweeping terms, in which the invitation to Mr. O'Connell
was worded, and the unqualified admiration which it ex-
pressed "of his political conduct for the last forty years"—all
of which a little care might have avoided—hundreds of
Liberal men, both English and Irish, who sympathise as truly
as any of those present at the dinner, both with his country
and with him, were prevented from being present by the fear
of being supposed to have abandoned, or compromised, their
own opinions upon the question of Repeal.
But though their concurrence might have given a less ex-
clusive character to the list of stewards, and filled the cross
tables with higher sounding political names, they could have
added very little to the gratification of those present, 'for
nothing could be better than the way, in which the proceed
ings of the night were conducted, or more catching than the
spirit infused into them from the chair. Mr. Duncombe never
exerted his very remarkable talents with happier effect.
Every speech told. There was an almost startling novelty in
his mode of introducing even the most ordinary toasts ; and
both his eulogy of Mr. O'Connell, his dissection of the ma-
jority against Lord IS ormanbys motion in the House of
Lords, Lord Ellenborough sending his proxy from Gwalior,
Lord Tweeddale from Bombay, and Lord Sidmouth rising from
his coffin, to record a last vote against that Ireland, which
lie had so deeply injured while in power, were all perfect in
their way.
Mr. O'Connell's speech was, of course, the great attraction
of the night ; but there were others that deserve remark.
Lord Shrewsbury's broad and bold distinction between a legal
and a constitutional right,
~ is one that all parties will do well
to bear in mind in the times that are at hand ; and the en-
thusiasm with which Mr. Henry Berkeley's hint was re-
ceived, " that en extension of the franchise was the best
security for the maintenance of those rights, which the gen-
tlemen now in power—in virtue of their legitimate descent
from the Ministers who passed Gagging Bills and suspended
the Habeas Corpus Act—would so gladly curtail," may help
to avert the dangers which he apprehends.
The Sun newspaper afforded a remarkable proof, on Tues-
day, of the rapidity with which the Press performs its duties
upon great occasions. Before the meeting broke up a full re-
port of the speeches of Mr. Duncombe, Mr. O'Connell, and
.
Lord Shrewsbury was everybody's hands. It seemed as
if the words must have impressed themselves on paper as
they quitted the speakers lips, without any of those inter-
mediate processes to which we know that we are indebted
for the perfection painfully attained.

A vast accession to the frequenters of the North and South
American Coffee-house took place yesterday, there being
as visitors the American Dwarf, and a comparative giant in
the form of a Missouri, or stark Indian. The little
specimen of the human species went through his
exhibition of the Grecian statues, and sang " Lucy
Long ;" and the " Red Man of the Woods," in costume,
danced the "war dance" of the natives of the interior. It
was certainly a remarkable sight to find such distinctions—so
small a dwarf, and so tall a man from the same continent.
The former can well cradle' himself on a couch (a gilded and
velvet-hued specimen of which was shown sufficiently capa-
cious only for a six-shilling wax doll) to be placed in
pleasing posture by tiny hands. Afterwards the differential
specimens of humanity paid a visit to the Stock Exchange
and the Hall of Commerce. The semi-wild man, a Bull—the
tiny one, a Bear—of inches and of weight.

SPIRIT of the PUBLIC JOURNALS.
FROM THEIDAILY PAPERS OF YESTERDAY.
STANDARD.—The &bate on Lord Ashley's
Bill will be resumed to-night. Whatever the re-
sult of the present discussion, we regard the im-
mediate result as comparatively indifferent, because
the question of the fate of the ten hours' restric-
tion is merely a matter of time—earlier or later
the restriction will be adopted. Nine years ago
we said of the clauses respecting the illegitimate chil-
dren in the New Poor-law, and of the univer-
sal application of the workhouse test, that
they must be given up; and we have lived to see
them both abandoned. With equal certainty do we
predict that the ten hours' restriction must be adopted
sooner or later, and we found our prediction upon
the same grounds—the total absence of sound argument
in favour of prolonged labour, and the repugnance
of the universal feeling to such cruelty. The
present Parliament may give this cruelty a little
longer lease, but that is all ; it may make, as in the
case of the cruel clauses of the New Poor-law, a
temporary addition to the sum of human misery ; but
the addition can be but temporary, and finite. The
sentence has gone forth—the tyranny of prolonged
labour is doomed. Cant—the cant of political eco-
nomy—which so long protected it, is dead and gone,
and the arguments which it has been attempted to substi-
tute for cant give way to the gentlest breath of reason.
Mr. Bright says that an abridgement of the hours of
labour will reduce wages, and that it will also raise
prices. How can it do both? We believe, indeed,
that it will do both, but in a very different sense
from what Mr. Bright threatens ; we believe that it will
reduce daily wages and greatly augment annual
wages, by giving constant employment in-
stead of monthly gushes to be followed by
half-yearly gluts; we believe that it will
raise prices, by restoring the character in the
market of British fabrics—for paste, starch, gypsum,
and devil's dust, will not be the resources of a
steady trade, such as a short time Bill must ne-
cessarily enforce ; and so confident are we in
this respect, that we believe that nothing but a
short time Bill can save the manufacturers of
this country from early destruction ; but we shall
not go further until we hear, what we have
not yet heard, a plausible argument against
Lord Ashley's motion. By the way, we
omitted to notice on Saturday the finest thing
that has occurred in Parliament for many years—
Quaker Bright's attack upon Lord Ashley, and
Lord Ashley's reply. Nature seems to have
moulded the two men, in form as well as in mind,
to represent the extremes of the species ; within
a species no contrast was ever so strikingly complete.
The Quaker accused the nobleman of having acted with
generosity and courtesy towards a wretch who had
proved himself unworthy of credit ; and then, upon
the evidence of this his rotten witness, he made
a charge of subornation. Lord Ashley was compelled
to plead guilty to the charge of generosity and cour-
tesy (they who know the Noble Lord best know that
he is overwhelmed with such sins), but showed that
he had never suborned the informer or used his
evidence. Thus the account stands—Quaker Bright
is innocent of generosity or courtesy, but he know-
ingly uses the testimony of a corrupt witness. Of
generosity and courtesy to an unworthy person Lord
Ashley stands convicted ; but of using, or intending
to use, the fellow's testimony, the Noble Lord is as
guiltless as the reader of these lines.

GLOBE.—The Standard doubts whether any
existing law, ecclesiastical or civil, will reach the
case, the recent self-exposure of which has conferred
unenviable notoriety on the Rev. Herbert Marsh.
We should have expected that this would have ex-
cited unqualified regret in a journal which pro-
fesses superior zeal for the stability and efficiency
of the National Church—results which depend, to a
very considerable extent, on the reputation of its
clergy in the estimation of the laity. This, however,
is not the case. Our Contemporary remarks :—" We
regret that the Church cannot be relieved of the un•
worthy Rector of Barnack ; but we own that our re-
gret is somewhat alleviated by the consideration that
the escape of that unworthy person spares the Bishop of
Peterborough a fine of 1,0001., and it might be 2,000/."
That the Church cannot be relieved of the unworthy
Rector of Barnack, is a subject of regret. But how much
more deep would be the sorrow, because so much
more would be the calamity, if the Church Discipline
Act took a wider range, and instead of limiting the in-
terference of the Bishop to offences committed within
two years, extended his episcopal powers over licen-
tious and profligate conduct in clergymen, belonging
to his diocese, to four or five years ! This would be
truly afflictive to the Bishops, and entitle them to
commiseration from all who love and venerate the
order ! We are not convinced by the reasoning
of our Contemporary of the fact which he
labours to establish that the pecuniary cost to
the Bishop, in prosecuting,
.and thus condignly
punishing, a flagrantly immoral clergyman,
would be a more serious infliction on the Pre-
late's purse, than to permit such a scandal to con-
tinue fastened on the Church itself. The sons of
Eli "made themselves vile." Their father—invested,
as High Priest, with the power of putting the pro-
fligates out of the priesthood, which they had pol-
luted and disgraced—suffered himself to be influenced
by parental affection, and merely expostulated,
when the strong arm of authority ought to have
arrested them, and punished their debaucheries.
Need the consequences be told ? It is bad enough
that the son of a Bishop, who was therefore placed
in possession of one of the richest benefices in the
kingdom, the patronage of which pertained to the see
of Peterborough, which his father held, with the addi-
tion of a canonry in his father's Cathedral church,
should thus debase himself and disgrace his order.
Elevated as he was in ecclesiastical station, and
enriched with worldly wealth, we say it is bad
enough for it to be made public, that de-
plorable depravity has been the habitual course
of a Church dignitary's life. But that his es-
cape from punishment should be regarded rather
as matter for congratulation than regret, and this
solely on such considerations as those stated by the
Standard, is not merely matter of surprise, but—
aside from all party distinctions—we unfeignedly
say, of surprise and sorrow. While the matter re-
mained concealed, the offence was limited in its
results to the individual. To his own conscience,
and to the solemn responsibilities of another state
of being, the guilty individual was alone ac-
countable. But when proclaimed abroad, as
his conduct has been, the Church to which he
belongs becomes subjected to the obloquy of
his offences against morality ; and, if she fail
to roll away the reproach, and to wash her hands
from the iniquity by thrusting the offenders from
her altars, the effect of such connivance, indifference,
or even inability, by defect in her laws, to reach a
case so fraught with scandal, cannot fail to be most
injurious to her character, if not perilous to her safety
as a national institution. Ths Standard asks—" Is
it politic thus to impose a penalty upon the Bishop's
vigilance, and to make it thus his in-
terest to connive at the offences of those
whom he is appointed to superintend?" We think
the penalties arises out of the responsibilities which
every Bishop assumes when invested with the episco-
pate. If he be not vigilant, but dilatory in the dis-
charge of his duties—if instead of enforcing the disci-
pline of the Church against any immoral clergyman
whose delinquencies may be brought before him, he be
"thankful" for any loophole of escape from the impera-
tive obligation, and claim credit for having evinced a
" backwardness" to interfere—if, in fact, from any
merely personal considerations, he " connive at the
offences of those whom he is appointed to superin-
tend"—we think he becomes "a partaker of their
evil deeds." A Bishop's want of vigilance will give
a tacit encouragement to vice. He will thus not
only draw down upon his own head a fearful
weight of punishment; he will expose the Church,
of which he is required to be a light and a
defence, to the dangers which result from
laxity of morals and impurity of life in those who
are appointed to the office of the ministry within her
pale. Talk of the hardship of exposing a Bishop,
with a revenue of several thousands a year, and a
large extent of patronage, to the " penalty" of an
occasional pecuniary outlay, in the shape of costs, for
prosecuting and punishing a grossly immoral clergy-
man ! Will the Standard ascertain the " penalty"
to which a Bishop exposes himself for screening such
a clergyman from punishment ? Besides, if a Bishop
present an individual who is utterly unfit for his
office, ought there not to be a "penalty" for having
done so? As the rectory of Barnack is a preferment
in the Bishop's gift, if the Bishop's predecessor, by
virtue of his right, presented an unfit person to the
living, his successor ought to be content with having
the presentation for the " penalty" of getting rid of the
nuisance. A half-year's stipend would more than cover
the costs of ejecting the "gallant, gay Lothario ;" who
might then take up his residence at Madame Lodon's
establishment, uninterrupted by the necessity of tak-
ing his turn in residence, as one of tie canons
of Peterborough, and undistracted by the duties
of the cure of souls at Barnack. There is really

something appalling in the way in which the Bishop
of Peterborough explained what he could unques-
tionably do, under the circumstances of this pain-
ful case. He could procure from the Archbishop
a permission for him to be non-resident ! That
which would be refused to a poor rector, except for a
limited period, and then only under circumstances of
extreme necessity, might be obtained for an habitual
profligate, as the most ready way of getting rid of
him, and of his scandal ! A curate, to whom he
would have to pay less than a tithe of his income,
would do all the duty; the rector might then vary,
at pleasure, the scenes and the subjects of his guilty
amours. The revenues of the Church which he had
disgraced, and of the ministers he had dishonoured,
will supply the means !
ADVERTISER.—We hope that the numerous subjects
which press on the attention of Government, will not with-
draw that attention from the report which was made during
the last session, on the subject of shipwrecks. Sir Robert •
Peel, in reply to the question lately put by Mr. Rice, with
reference to harbours of refuge, referred to the Report of the ,
Committee as a subject now under the consideration of the
Government, and one which will lead to the adoption of
some measures of a remedial character. The parties to whose
attention this important subject is referred, ought not to
allow a single day to be lost in bringing a measure into
Parliament founded on the very ample materials with which
they are now furnished. Shipwrecks, and the consequent
loss of human life, have, of late years, occurred with a fre-
quency so alarming as to produce a very general conviction
that our marine arrangements demand a careful scrutiny,
and will admit of great improvements. From our insular
position, our populousness, and the advanced state of our ci-
vilization, we are necessarily a maritime nation, and must
expect to pay our tribute (alas ! how precious), to the sea.
It is unreasonable to hope that the highest improvements in
naval architecture and the utmost skill of seamanship would
in every case bring " the good ship safe to land." Should
science have published all her discoveries, and prudence have
furnished all her precautions, and benevolence have contri-
buted all her treasures, the sea would still be the scene
" Where hostile elements conflicting rise,
And lawless surges swell against the skies ;
Till hope expires, and peril and dismay
Wave their black ensigns on the watery way."
Those who traverse the uncertain element must always sail
"within an inch of eternity," and we shall ever have among
us widows and orphans, to mourn over "those who go down
to the sea, and do business in great waters." Still, however,
it is imperative on the Legislature to ascertain whether, by
the adoption of various nautical improvements, it may not be
possible to effect a great diminution of the fatal calamities to
which our marine population are exposed. If, upon inquiry,
it should be proved that by a culpable parsimony, vessels
that ought to be broken up are sent to sea—that the govern-
ment of ships is left to inexperience or intemperance—that
the duty of anticipating and preparing for the worst is
' frequently neglected, and that it is quite possible to re-
, duce the „number of wrecks to a mere fraction of their
present amount, then the necessity of immediate, wise,
and efficient legislation on the subject will be demonstrated.
There is scarcely any subject which has a stronger claim on
the attention of a British Senate than the state of its marine.
Our Monarch is the Ocean Queen, whose island kingdom is
theen produce
ched semoufchherbyewthhe
domain.exotic
swasoftuerd
eteounhterrysihsoer
commercial, the British flag floats on every sea, our cornu-
copia is filled with the fruits of every clime, our mansions
eminently
as
entblyy
are adorned with the treasures of the most distant lands,
while their owners are attired and decorated in the silks, and
furs, the jewels and gold, to collect which our commerce
must range between both the Indies and both the Poles. The
wealth of many of our great commoners is derived wholly
from the shipping interest, while not a few of the noble
" Order" wear their coronets in virtue of the naval skill and
prowess of their ancestors. Attention to the security of
those noble and hardy men whose lives are spent in the
maintenance of our prosperity, is obviously one of the first
duties of a British Parliament.
TIMES.—We will not here enter upon the proposed re-
medies for duelling. Yet we cannot avoid an observation on
one or two of them. One of Mr. Turner's correspondents
proposes that any person who had been engaged in a duel,
either as principal or second, "should be considered ineligible
to hold any office in the army, navy, Colonial, Foreign,
Home Department, Horse Guards, Admiralty, and (Mr.
Turner thought the writer said most wisely) the Privy Coun-
cil." The bench of Bishops and that of the judges, are the
only objects to which the ambition of the duellist is still to
be allowed to aspire. This, we presume, is an oversight ' •
but supposing it amended, there is, it must be allowed,
nothing intrinsically and eternally absurd in the suggestion—
nothing that would not be enforced when a high moral tone
pervaded the whole of society. But it must also be ad-
mitted, that in England, and in the present state of the
English nation, to dream for the briefest instant of
the practicability of such a scheme, shows an en-
thusiasm which, laudable as it is, must have long
taken leave of discretion. We are glad, however,
that there are people in the world to make such de-
mands. Men often accomplish what is difficult by attempting
what is flatly impossible. Such thorough-going projectors
are the pioneers of reform. By an uncompromising use of
sterling principles they hack and hew the public mind into
a state which renders practicable a measure of improvement
which nobody before them would have dreamt of. The sugges-
tion of Mr. Turner's correspondent is an excessively valuable
rtt think, the
It
one—not, however, to be enacted, but to be looked at. Another
samepr
oposmale,riiiti:paonrdtedis fnrootmilSl wdeiaitzterwlainthd,
bhy Sir
asnoßt,ob wee
is suggested that the survivor in an affair of honour should
be saddled with the debts of the man whom he kills. , The
operation of this enactment would be somewhat grotesque.
Let us conceive, with Sir Robert, the re-appearance of that
happily extinct animal, a professed duellist. ConCeive
the principles on which, from a mere regard to his
pocket, he would find himself obliged to choose his amuse-
ment. Conceive him wandering through the Exchange
to pick out for his victims, as a butcher does his sheep,
the fattest and most responsible of our City merchants,
avoiding, " cane pejus et angue," the lean and embarrassed
debtor. Conceive the sudden immunity from insult enjoy-
able by a banker whose solvency was " blown upon," and
the shield of triple brass, invisible but insurmountable, behind
which the proclaimed swindler, with debts enough to sink a
frigate, would be enabled to insult and defy the world. Mr.
Turner probably conceives that under the improved law no
man could well be found daring enough to challenge his
enemy without an examination of his banker's balance.
This would doubtless be a discouragement to gentlemanly
" satisfaction." But still let him recollect that there is
another side to the question, and imagine the enthusiasm
with which a generous insolvent would court death at the
hands of a Baring or a Rothschild from a devoted sense of
duty to his creditors. But we will quit the subject, lest our
observations should act as a discouragement to the fertile
imaginations of our allies. Let them go on inventing. They
will often be wrong, but never mind—
" Nil sine magno
Vita labore debit mortalibus."
They will be right at last, and then they will find their
reward.

MONEY MARKET and CITY NEWS.
TIMES.—The reduction of the Three-and-a-Half per
Cents. naturally affects, either directly or indirectly, nearly
all the opei ations of the money market, and among these
maybe mentioned the value of terminable annuities issued by
the National Debt-office. It has been obvious to those who
are acquainted with the true value of securities of this
description, that the rate fixed by the Government must
render them shortly a subject of demand among those who
are seeking to invest their capital to the best advantage. A
small party of private capitalists have therefore, it is said,
formed a junction for the purpose of buying up the whole
quantity of such annuities which the Government is autho.
rised to create, and hence private individuals wishing to
bestow their capital in that manner will have to go to these
parties, if it is an absolute condition with them to ob-
tain Government security. This would appear at first
view to be something like an unfair advantage to be
taken of the public generally, but it may be observed
that the expectation which led to these purchases may
not be realised, and further that the exacting too high terms
would have the effect of driving the purchasers of annuities
to the annuity companies, some of which may be said to enjoy
a degree of credit nearly equal to that of Government itself:
Hence the speculation can do no great harm, and is only
mentioned to show the sagacity and speculative disposition
which is always at work in the money market.
Some statements having got into circulation respecting
certain meetings of private bankers, indicating a disposition
to force, if possible, some declaration from Sir IL Peel as to
the course he intends to take in reference to the currency, it
is proper to state that these are at present altogether prema-
ture. Something of the kind is certainly in progress, which
has as yet led to no visible result; but it is understood that
a deputation from the private bankers were to have an inter-
view to-day with the Prime Minister, of which nothing has
yet transpired.
The Bankers' Circular states that some of the Scotch banks
have given their adhesion to the project said to be entertained
by Sir R. Peel of establishing a sole bank of issue.

At the Manchester and Leeds meeting an increased
dividend of 3} per cent. for the half-year was declared on the
paid up capital of the 1001. and the 501. shares, the dividend
of i the quarter shares
remaining, as before, at 5 per cent.
The working of this railway is improving in a very satisfae •
tory manner, and the total income for the last six months
has reached 132,345/. The revival of trade is stated to have
produced a desirable change in the traffic returns, which have
weekly showed an increase since the last report, while the
gross excess of receipts as compared with the last half-year
amounted to 13,231/., of which 11,533/. had accrued from an
increase in the carriage of merchandise.—Times.
HORRIBLE MURDER AT WEDNESBUBY, STAFFORD-
SIIIRE.—The following is an extract of a letter received by
a friend, from Weduesbuiy, in Staffordshire, yesterday :
" We have been startled from our usual quiet here yesterday
(Saturday), by one of the most daring and horrid murdersi
have ever heard of. It was committed, it is supposed, about
half-past 10 to 11 o'clock yesterday morning, at the house of
John Crowther, Esq., who lives at Oakswell End in this
town, the unfortunate victim being the housekeeper of that
gentleman, a female of about 38 years of age. The crime
seems to have been committed first by beating her about the
head, apparently with a hammer
or axe, and then
cutting her throat, or rather sawing it to the bone
with a desert knife. The murder was not discovered
until two o'clock, and no conjecture can yet be
formed who the miscreant is. It is supposed, however, that
he was disturbed by the butcher, who rang the bell at half-
past ten, but could gain no admittance. There is very little
property missing at present, and. that, it is supposed, may be
mislaid. Mr. Crowther is a gentleman of very secluded
habits, and the house in which he lives, which is very large,
is nearly built round with high walls, and stands back from
the road, which is a great thoroughfare, and not more than
from 150 to 200 yards from our market-place, and close to
several other buildings. There are gates opening to the fields
at the back, and those fields are also very public, with a
brick-yard not far off; and how the villain escaped is a won-
, der, unless he did so between ten and eleven o'clock, when a
very heavy storm of snow took place, and probably pre-
vented his being seen. It is thought, from the appearance of
t the body, that he must have been nearly covered, 151 h blood."

Of the various extraordinary assertions with which your
speechabotuidad, the One which 'excited-my astonishment
th the most, was e declaration that there *is not a single
thing in which you then stood but could be got 40 per cent.
cheaper on the Continent. I would not, on any account,
deny this allegation; but I must confess that I find it im-
possible to conjecture in what you could then be standing.
Coats, hats, stockings, linens, cottons, and even boots and
shoes, and all the various articles ordinarily used for clothing
in civilised life, are actually made cheaper in this country
than abroad. It is quite clear, then, that if your statement
was true, that you were standing in none of these. You
must truly have presented an extraordinary appearance be-
tore the " numerous and highly respectable assemblage" at
Shap, and I would recommend that, provided your speech
be printed as an Anti-League tract, your portrait (for the
benefit of those who had not an opportunity of witnessing
the figure you cut) should appear at the top, with this in-
scription, Edward Wilson, Esq., of Abbot Hall, as he ap-
peared when he delivered his celebrated speech at Shap." It
is, however, clear that you wished to impress upon your
audience the belief that English manufacturers cannot com-
pete with foreign. For what purpose, then, do foreigners
impose the heavy protective duties to which you made allu-
sion? You refer to the Prusso-Germanic League; pray ex-
plain why it is that every article coming from England is
charged 50 per cent. (as you affirmed), if on the Continent
they can manufacture 40 per cent. cheaper than ourselves.
Every quarter of corn you stated, imported from abroad dis-
placed the same quantity at home—this would be true if all
the people were fully fed, but the fact is, that many millions.
of our fellow-subjects are constantly in a state of partiat
starvation.

If an extra supply of food were admitted it would
of necessity be consumed by those who now lack ; for those
who have now sufficient could under no circumstances con-
sume more than they do at present—every quarter of corn
would have to be paid for directly or indirectly in manufac-
tures ; this would set to work those who are now unemployed,
and who, in consequence of their condition, so far from being
customers to the British farmers, are as paupers mere
burthens on the country.
You wind up your intelligent harangue with the followibg
quotations from the President of the United States of
America, "Nothing could be so foolish—nothing so intjurioue
could beset the interest of a cotuatry, as to cease tp give etik.
couragement to the interests of agriculture, and not to grow
its own corn for the consumption of its own inhabitants." To
cease to encourage agriculture is folly indeed, and I for one
denounce the corn-law, because it discourages that necessary
pursuit. The object of the corn-law, and the object of
agri-
culture,
are diametrically opposed ; " agriculture is an inven-
tion to have coin, the corn-law is a device not to have it." It
is folly you say, in a country not to grow its own corn for *lle,
consumption of its own inhabitants. Let me ask who wishes,
the agriculturists of this country not to grow corn ? Certainly
not the free-traders; they say that the capabilities of the soil
are not made the most of, and are ever urging the necessity
of producing more. What the free traders affirm is this, that
it is folly
.and worse than folly—an iniquity—to deprive the
starving inhabitants of this country of food by a cunning in-
strument called a corn-law.—Yours, &c. TARSUS.
London, March 14, 1844.

NAVAL INTELLIGENCE.
(From the Hampshire Telegraph.)
PORTSMOUTH, MARCH 16.—The Tortoise store-ship, COM.
Finlaison, arrived yesterday from the Dore, on her way to
Ascension, whither she proceeds to-morrow, with 400 tons of
coal on board, and 300 tons of other stores, together with a
number of officers, lOr the coast of Africa. She will call at
Plymouth. A. Karley, Esq., one of the Master Attendants at
Chatham, with a party of riggers, are on board the Tortoise,
for the purpose of conveying the Forte to Deptford, where
some of her ribs and trucks will be useful in the Dockyard
supplies.
The Prometheus steamer, which sustained an injury to
her steam-boilers, on her passage to the coast of Africa, is to
come to this port to be repaired Mr. Seaward, the engineer,
will meet her to superintend her re-equipment.
The Ringdove, 18, Commander Sir NV. Daniel, is ordered
from the West Indies, to assist in the blockade of the coast of
Africa.

The Surge, for Hong-Kong, the Pekin, for Madras, and:
the Gladiator, for New York, all sailed this morning, from
Spithead.
In Harbour—St. Vincent, Victory, Excellent, Victoria, and
Albert, Fearless, Black Eagle, and Echo steamers and Nau-
tilus.

At Spithead—None.
Davomsoirr, Msnex 15.—The Hamoaze and the Good-
will lighters arrived from Chatham with stores last Thurs-
day. The Lucifer steamer, Commander G. A. Fraser, arrived
from Woolwich en Friday, was paid in advance on Monday,
and sailed on Thursday, to survey the coast of Ireland. The.
Rochester lighter sailed on Saturday with stores for Ports-
mouth. The /Etna, 6, Lieutenant C. G. Butler, was paid off
on Monday ; and the Prometheus steamer, Lieutenant Pasco,
arrived on Monday, with both her boilers unserviceable, one
of which was damaged before she reached Madeira, where
she remained six days, and the other rendered unserviceable
soon after she left on her return to this port. The Nettly-
tender sailed with stores for Falmouth on Wednesday; andt
the Aid lighter with stores for Woolwich. The Dee steamer;
Mr. T. Laen, Master, arrived from Portsmouth on Thursday.
In Harbour—Caledonia, San Josef, America, Larne, Dee,
and Confiance steamers.

In Barripool—Prometheus steamer.
PROMOTIONS AND APPOINTMENTS.
PROMOTIONS.

Commander—W. A. Willis (1835), of the Frolic, '46 the
rank of Captain.
Commanders—C. Thruston and C. Taylor (both Of 1812),
to the list of retired Captains.
Lieutenant—James Cannon, to be Acting Commander of
the Queen. _ _ _

Mae—John F. C. Hamilton (1843), of the St. Vincent
(for services in China), to the rank of Lieutenant.