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

THE SUN is published EVERY MORNING at FIVE O'CLOCK, in Time for the EARLY TRAINS and TOWN DELIVERY; a SECOND EDITION (Evening Sun) is Published in Time for the AFTERNOON TRAINS
and a THIRD EDITION at SEVEN O'CLOCK, for POST, containing PARLIAMENTARY and all other NEWS in LONDON up to that Hour.

BANK OF 11.11101,AND, it 12, 1844.
rtfi'l COURT of DIRECTORS of the GO-
VERNOR and COMPANY of the BANK of ENGLAND,
give notice,
That a GENERAL COURT will be held at the Bank on THURSDAY,
the 21st instant, at Eleien o'Clock in the forenoon, to CONSIDER
of a DIVIDEND ,
And also, that another GENERAL COURT will be held at the
Bank on TUESDAY, the 9th of April next, from Ten o'Clock in the
forenoon till Four in the afternoon, for the election of a Governor
and Depnty-Governor for the year ensuing (which will be declared
that evening); and .the same Court will be continued by adjourn-
ment, and held at the same place, and during the same hours, on
Wednesday, the 10th of April next, for the election of Twenty-four
Directors (which will also be one of the Quarterly General Courts
appointed by the Charter), and the election of the Twenty-four
Directors will be declared as soon as the scrutiny is over.
Printed Lists of the Proprietors having votes will be ready to be
delivered at the Bank on Tuesday, the 26th of March.
(Signed) JOHN KNIGLIT, Secretary.
N.B. By an Act passed in the 7th year of the reign of George 111.,
no person will be entitled to vote at the said election who shall not
have been sax calendar months possessed in his own right of the
Stock for welch he shall then give his vote, unless the said Stock
shall have been acquired, or shall have come by bequest or marriage,
or by succession to au intestate's estate, or by the custom of the
City of London, or by any deed of settlement after the death of any
person who shall have been entitled for life to the dividends of such
Stock.

NATIONAL ANTI-CORN-LAW LEAGUE.
THE COUNCIL OF THE LEAGUE beg to
announce that tie next Meeting. in COVENT-GARDEN
THEATRE,- will take place To-Nioltßow EVENING, the 20th instant.
The Right Hon. the EARL of RADNOR will take the Chair pre-
cisely at Seven o'clock.
Richard Cobden, Esq., M.P., Thomas Gisborne, Esq., 3f.P., Mr.
Charles Lattimore, of Whethampstead, Hertfordshire, and other gen-
tlemen, will address the meeting.
Registered Members admitted as heretofore.—Doors to be opened
Half-past Six o'clock.

LONDON and BIRMINGHAM ItAILWAY.
Notice is hereby given, that all ABTICLES.which have been
LEFT hi the CARRIAGES of the COMPANY, or have been FOUND
upon the RAILWAY, between the let of January and 31st of De-
cember, 1843, and which are not CLAIMED within One Month from
the date hereof, will be SOLD to defray expenses.
. By order, R. CREED, Secretary.
Offices, Euston-station, March 13, 1841. ,

• ST. JAMES'S THEATRE
FRENCH PLAYS. •
M. Melesville's most clever and amusing comedic vaude-
ville, in five acts,.entitled La Fille de Figaro, was produced
for !the first time before an English audience, at this theatre, •
lash evening, with the most complete success. When pus
comedy was originally brought out in Paris, it had a run of
upwards of a hundred nights. We are not surprised at this, for
La; Fille de Fiyaro is certainly one of the most lively of modern
French plays. Madame Albert sustained the character
of the heroine, Aspasie, a revendeuse a la toilette,
that is to say; a milliner,. who, from her lively wit, her fas-
cinating manners, and her talents for intrigue, has acquired
the sobriquet of La'Fille, de Figaro. The scene is laid in
Paris at the commencement of the Consulate, and when the
curtain rises we are introduced to the shop of Aspasie, where .
Painela, Louise, Julie, and several others of the employes of
Aspasie, are at work. An unknown individual, enveloped in
a large cloak, enters, calls Pamela aside, and in a very rays-,
terious manner delivers to her a note, charging her to give
it to Aspasie. Victor D'Heigny (M. Gaston), a lieutenant
of the army of Italy, then enters to purchase a cashmere shawl,
and, while he is so doing, Aspasie arrives, and lets him have
a superb one on credit, to be paid for when he shall be pro-
mdted to the rank of captain. Pamela then delivers to her
the note, which it appears is from Celene,a young lady, whose
mother had prevented Aspasie from committing suicide—
had enabled her to start in business in Paris, and had, on
her death-bed, commended Celene to her care. The note
states that M. St. Reant—a rich army contractor and her guar-
dian, was determined on marrying her—that lie had endea-
voured to ruin his younger brother Edouard, to whom she
was attached—and that she claimed the protection of
ASpasie, in whose house she intended to take
refuge. Shortly afterwards St. Want (M. Barqui), the
vefry beau ideal of a rich and vulgar fop, arrives and in-
sists on searching the house for Celene. Whilst he is making
hie search Celene arrives, and, by the ingenuity of Aspasie,
manages to elude him. The second act takeS place in the
barrack-rooln of a cavalry regiment. Edouard (M. Bazin)
sits, in a melancholy'mood, apart front his brother officers,
who are carousing. .Aspasie enters; they all..greet her nd
insist on her singing a Sp.nhfl song. She theii-g7v-eir
a note from Celene, appointing a meeting for the evening;
but, alas! the officers are all under orders not to quit their
barracks. The indefatigable Aspasie, however, by the timely
present of a cap to the Colonel's wife, procures for Edouard
leave of absence for two hours. While she has left the room
on this mission, Madame Duperron (Madame Couturier), the
wife of the sous-directeur a la guerre, and the lady for whom
Victor had purchased the cachemere, enters, but hearing As-
pasie approaching on her return, she is obliged to hide her-
self in Victor's chamber. Aspisie arrives with the leave, and
is immediately followed by Pamela, who states that M. St.
Reant has discovered Celene, has taken her away, and has,
as her guardian, declared that unless Edouard obtains his
promotion to a captaincy before night, and as a captain
claims her hand, he will marry her himself. Aspasie
bids her not despair, for she, La Fille de Figaro,
will procure for him his commission and his bride
before night. The trumpet, which announces, that the
adjutant is on his rounds of inspection, is heard, and As-
pasie and Pamela arc hurried into different rooms, and, while
the adjutant is inspecting the troops, Aspasie, Pamela,
and Madame Duperron, all veiled, are very adroitly conducted
td the door, not however until Aspasie has recognisd the
cachemere. The third act takes plaee in the cabinet of
Duperron (M. Cartigny), the sous-directeur ala guerre.
St. Want calls on him, and urges him by no means to con-
sent to recommend Edouard for promotion, while Duperron,
a weak-minded, self-sufficient old man (admirably acted by
M. Cartigny), always forming irrevocable resolutions
only to break them, promises to conform to St.
Reant's desires. When St. Reant leaves • him, Aspasie
enters, and at once tells him that he must recommend
Edouard for promotion. He says that the only vacant
captain's commission had been promised, through the inte-
rest of a high and powerful lady, to Victor, and that lie must
keep his promise. The stranger, who had brought the note
to Aspasie, now enters in the same mysterious manner, and
iinplores protection from his pursuers. Duperron, who enters
into the joke.of a man escaping from bailiffs, gives the
stranger his own dress and his wig and hat, and thus dis-
guised he escapes. As soon as he is gone Duperron asks
Aspasie who he is. " George Cadoudal," is the reply—
" and if he is taken it will be found that have
lent him even to my very wig," exclaims the old man in an
agony of terror. " I will save you if I have the commission,"
says Aspasie, and Duperron sits down to prepare the neces-
slary documents, when his wife enters, and insists that the
Commission shall be given to Victor. Duperron is called away
to the Minister at War, and the ladies are left alone. " Quit
the room," exclaims Madame. " Not until I have the com-
mission, Madame," answers Aspasie, " and have it through
your interest. M. Victor bought the cachmere you wear at
my shop this morning. Three women, veiled, left the bar-
racks this afternoon—l was one of them, and a lady who
wore the caehmere was another. Now shall I have the commis-
sion ?" At this juncture Duperron returns, and announcing that
the Minister had informed him that Cadoudal had been taken
in the morning, and that lie was out of the power of Aspasie,
sits down to fill up the commission, but, to the surprise of
the old man, his wife now insists on the commission being
given to Edouard, and Aspasie goes off in triumph. The
fourth act introduces us to the boudoir of Josephine, in the
Tuileries. Aspasie manages to introduce herself here, and by
her address and tact induces Josephine to promise her inte-
rest in Edouard's behalf with the First Consul. Acting on
the superstition of Josephine with regard to the future,
Aspasie undertakes to tell her fortune. They are inter-
rupted by the announcement of the arrival of the
Emperor. " Ali ! if he should find you here," ex-
claims Josephine. "La Fille de Figaro is prepared
for every emergency," answers Aspasie, and, closing the
doors for an instant, she throws off her female costume, and
appears attired as a young cavalry officer. Taking a letter
from the hand of Josephine, "Room for the bearer of dis-
patches for the First Consul," exclaims Aspasie, and the
guards salute her as she struts out. The scene of the fifth
act is laid in the gardens of the Hotel St. Rant, which are
illuminated for a fete given by the owner in honour of his ap-
proaching nuptials. Maskers are seen parading the grounds ;
Duperron is among. them' and having heard that Cadoudal
was still at large, is full of fears. The Marchioness of
Miremont is announced, and Saint Remit starts.
Aspasie enters masked, and demands a few minutes' conversa-
tion with him ; at first, he treats the matter as a joke, but
hearing the name of a certain Father Dominic, he becomes
alarmed and grants her the interview. She at once tells him
that he cannot marry Celene, as he has a wife already living
whom he had deserted, and driven to attempt suicide. ".Oh,
that was a sham marriage," exclaims St Want. " What if,
thanks to the care of Dominic, it should prove a real one,"
replies Aspasie, " and what if I have the evidence of it in my
possession at this moment, which shall only be given up to
you when your brother is married to Celene ?" Reluctantly
he consents, and in the presence of the company states his
willingness to give Celene to Edouard, but adds, that unfor-
tunately the condition required by the First Consul has not
'
been complied with, as Ldnuard is not a captain. Madame
Dnperron presents
him with the commission. He publicly
joins their hands, and then the espiegle Aspasie delivers up the
certificate, the more willingly she says, as there is no-
thing in it to compromise him. It is too late to recal his consent,
and he is almost suffocated with rage and disappointment,
when Duperron enters, dragging in the supposed George Cadou-
dal attired in his own coat, hat, and wig ; but this is only an-
other trick of Aspasie. The supposed George was a gentle-
man well known to all present, who was actually escaping
from bailiffs at the time that Duperron aided him. Nothing
could exceed the admirable manner in which Madame Albert
sustained this. character; her transitions from grave to gay
and from gay to grave, were very frequent, and always appro
palate, and we scarcely know which to admire the most—her
delightful light-heartedness and fascinating gaiety,_ or her
exquisitely touching pathos ; both were beautiful exceedingly,
and La Fille de Figaro is one of the greatest triumphs which
even this accomplished artiste ever achieved. She was
called for at the fall of the curtain, and received with most
rapturous applause. The house was exceedingly well
attended, all the elite of the beau monde being present.

•
JY AUTHORITY of his MAJESTY the
EMPEROR of AUSTRIA.
Will take place irrevocably, the ISTRIBUTION of NINE boantiftil
ESTATES of a value from 1,480,054 Francs, and MONEY PRIZES
;rem 150,000 Francs down to 125 Francs of Common Bonds, and in
'he Special Distribution of the Red Bonds 32,509 gains will be obtained,
and each Red BOnd most gain a higher or lower amount. Price of a
Common Bond, 1/. ; a Red Bond, 2/. ; for 5/. Five Common Romig and
one Red Bond ; for 10/. Eleven Common Bonds aid Two Red ; for
20/. Twenty-three Common Bonds and Three Red.
• Apply, without delay, to Messrs. JACOBS and Co., Bankers, Frank-
fort-on-the-Maine ; or to save Pestages, Letters may be addressed:to
Mr. Jacobs, 34, Wellclose-square.

ROYAL POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTION.
The various ARTIFICIAL LIGHTS in Ancient and 3lodera
Use aro familiarly explained by Dr. Ryan, at Two o'clock daily ,
illustrated by the LAMP of the ANCIENTS, the FIRT IMPROVE-
MENT by ARGAND, the RUDE, the DRUMMOND, the BOCCIUS,
the PELLETAN, the C4MPHINE LIGHTS, New FRENCH
LAMPS, BEALE'S LAMPS, &c., &c. The First Lecture, by Pro•
lessor Bachhoffner, Ph. D. M.A., is at a Quarter-past Three o'clock.
ARMSTRONG'S HYDRO-ELECTRIC MACHINE at Three o'clock
and at Eight in the Evenings. NEW DISSOLVING VIEWS,
DIVER and' DIVING BELL, Among the recent Deposits is the
HEAD of a MUMMY from THEBES, very remarkable.
Achnission, Is.; Schools, Half-price.

THE NEXT DISTRIBUTION OF MONEY
DIVIDENDS AUTHORISED and GUARANTEED by HIS
MAJESTY the EMPEROR of AUSTRIA contains Money Dividends
of— £6B £7O £72 £BO £9O
£lOO £llO £l2O £l5O £2OO
£250 £3OO £5OO £6OO £750
£l,OOO £1,200 £1,750 £4,000 & £21,000
Amounting together to £154,308 sterling.

EAST INDIA HOUSE, JAN. 31, 1844.
THE COURT of DIRECTORS of the EAST
INDIA COMPANY, do hereby give Notice.
That a QUARTERLY GENERAL COURT of the said COMPANY
will be held at their House in Leadenhall-street, on AVEDNE.DAY, the
20th March, 1844, at Eleven o'Clock in the Forenoon.
JAMES C. MELYILL, Secretary.

This Distribution contains as many Dividends as Bonds. Every
Bond a Dividend !
Smallest Dividend - £6B
Largest Dividend - - £21,000
Direct for Prospectus, with full particulars, without delay to
lIEINE BROTHERS, at llamburgh.
- Or to HEINE BROTHERS, at Lubeck.

EAST INDIA HOUSE, Miacn 13, 1844.
THE COURT of DIRECTORS of the EAST
INDIA COMPANY de hereby give Notice—
That a Proprietor of East India Stock has postponed, until the
Quarterly General Court of the said Company, appointed to be held
at this House in Leadenhall-street, on WEDNESDAY. the 20th instant,
the motion of which he had previously given notice—viz.:
" That the dispatch of Loid Auckland, of the 17th Nov., 1838, by
which leis Lordship rejected the proposed plan of the Bengal Go-
vernment, and recommended the annual money payment of 6,0001.
to the Temple of Juggernaut (to which recommendation the Di-
rectors assented by their dispatch of the 2d June, 1840) be cousidered
by the Court of Proprietors, on a motion for abrogating such money
payment upon the ground of no original pledge or engagement having
ever been given for the same by, or on behalf of, this Company, as er-
roneously alleged by Lord Auckland in his Dispatch."
That another Proprietor has given notice that at the said Quarterly
General Court, " He will call the attention of -the Proprietors to the
subject of Appeals from the Courts of Sudder Adawlut, in India, to
the Privy Council, with the view to the substitution of a less expen-
sive, and as regards the law administered in the Native Courts, of a
more efficient Court of ultimate Appeal."
That another Proprietor has given notice of his intention to submit
the following motion at the said Quarterly General Court, viz.:—
" That there be laid before the Court of Proprietors Copies of all
Minutes of Proceedings of the Court of Directors, together with all
opinions that may have been recorded by individual Directors on the
affairs of Sinde."

THE MERCHANT'S WIDOW.
MESSRS. GLYN, MILLS, and Co., Bankers,
Lombard-street, City, have kindly consented, from their
perfect knowledge of the parties, and very distressing case, to RE-
CEIVE SUBSCRIPTIONS for the WIDOW of a MERCHANT of
the City of London, whose bankers they wort for many yeture, but
whose unfortunate speculations have reduced his widow from afflu-
ence to absolute want. She is now lying on a sick-bed helpless, and
destitute of the means of procuring any necessary in life ; having sur-
vived those nearest and dearest to her, she is left in the most forlorn
state ; she therefore prays this may meet the eye of seine charitable
Christian blessed with the power to relieve the unhappy widow
under such peculiarly distressing circumstances. The bankers will
give every satisfactory explanation, where donations will be most
gratefully acknowledged, and also by the widow herself.

THE AMERICAN ROCKING CHAIR.
None are genuine unless they Intro " Luck, Kent, and Cum-
ming" printed on the bottom. This Chair, so much admixed by all
who have 'visited America, for the remarkable ea:l,, pleasure, and-
comfort which it affords, is.juSt imported and S,r SA.Os at the exten-
sive Carpet and Upholstery Establishments of -LUCk, KENT, and
CUMMI N G,1:o. 4, Regent-street ; Carpenters' Hall, 68, London-wall ;
and William Cumming and Co., 98, Hatton-garden. It Is asserted
with confidence, that there is no piece of furniture In use in eivilsed
society more sought after and approved of when known.
The price is 255., with a liberal discount to the trade. Stout per-
sons and invalids will find these chairs invaluable.

AVIZA, DOMECQ, and other SHERRIES,
kj of first-rate shippers:—The following unprecedented terms, for
GENUINE WINES, arc quoted only for cash on delivery, which
will be found from 15 to 20 per cent. under usual credit prices :
Sherries, pale and brown, at 255. 278., 305., 365., 425., 485., 50s. ;
Ports, from the wood, 268., 305., 345. ; crusted, in bottles, from 368.
apwards ; ditto, very choice, highly flavoured, from five to ten years
old, from 455. to 548. ; Clarets, 335., 408., 70s. ; Champagne, sparkl-
ing and creaming, 488., 605., 725. ; Hocks and Moselle.", 405., 505.,
605., 705.; Marsala, 235., 265.; and all other wines equally mode-
rate, in quantities not less than one'dozon. Delivered free in London.
All country orders, accompanied with a remittance, or a reference
for payment, will meet with immediate attention from J. SC lIWE PPE
and CO., 51, Berners-street, London, importers of German Seltzer
Water, in quarts and pints.

JAMES C. MELVILL, Secretary.

LONDON, EDINBURGH, and DUBLIN
LIFE COMPANY, 3, Charlotte-row, Mansion-house, and
18, Chancery-lane, London.
The indisputability of the policies granted by this Company;
The obligation to pay the sum assured although the debt for which
the policy was taken may have been paid before the claim arises ;
Whole-world policies not confined to the limits of Europe ;
Option of half-premium payment for the first seven years.
These form a combination of advantages which can be obtained
only from the London, Edinburgh, and Dublin Life Company.
ALEX. ROBERTSON, Manager.

NATIONAL LOAN FUND LIFE ASSUR-
ANCE SOCIETY,
26, CORNHILL, LONDON.
Capital £lOO,OOO.
Empowered by Act of Parliament.
The many novel and varied advantages bestowed by this Institu-
tion, both in its life assurance and deferred annuity departments, par-
ticularly the power to borrow two-thirds of premiums without ex-
pense er ferfeiture—the great reduction of rates on short policies—
the option of selecting benefits and converting policies so as best to
suit the interest er necessity of the policy-holder during life, as well
as to afford the full benefit to his family at death, and annual division
of profits, have already been so well appreciated by the public, that
the Society's great success and growing prosperity enabled the Di-
rectors, at their general Meeting in May last, to add to each policy
en the profit scale a bonus averaging fifty-five per cent. on the
amount already invested; and this bonus, aceording to an equitable
scale, may either be paid in cash, or applied in reduction of future
premiums.

COURT CIRCULAR.
His Royal Highness Prince Albert left Claremont at,half-
past:six o'clock yesterday norning, and proceeded to the
Esher station of the South-Western railway, where a special
train had previously arrived from the Nine Elms terminus.
His Royal Highness was attended bk:Mr. George Edward
Anson and Major-General Sir Edward Bowater. The Prince
and suite took their departure for Gosport, to embark for the
Isle of Wight, for the purpose of his Royal Highness inspect-
ing Osborn House, near Cowes.
The Queen walked in the grounds in Claremont Park.
The Hon. and Rev. C. Leslie Courtenay remained at Clare-
mont on Sunday night. Yesterday morning the Hon. and
Rev. Gentleman left Claremont for town,
Their Royal Highnesses the Prince of Wales, the Princess
Royal, and the Princess Alice, were taken an airing yester-
day in;Claremont Park.
Major-General, Sir Robert and Lady Gardiner, were ex-
pected to dine with her Majesty and Prince Albert, at Clare-
mont, yesterday evening. •
Her Royal Highness the Duchess of Kent, attended by
Lady Fanny Howard, left town at half-past nine o'clock yes-
terday morning, for Frogmore Lodge, near Windsor. Her
Royal Highness returned to her residence, Clarence House,
St. James's, in the evening.
Mr. Wickham, Chairman of the Stamps and Taxes, had
an interview with the Chancellor of the Exchequer yesterday,
at his official residence, Downing-street.
Several of the Cabinet Ministers had interviews with Sir
Robert Peel yesterday.
Dispatches from the Governor of Van Diemen's Land
were received yesterday, at the Colonial-office. Dispatches
were also received from the Governor of South Australia.

FASHIONABLE INTELLIGENCE

ADVERTISEMENTS INSERTED- in ALL THE THREE PAPERS, Morning, Noon, and Night, thereby insuring a TOWN and COUNTRY CIRCULATION, at ONE CHARGE.

ARRIVALS.
The Earl and Countess of Belfast, from Brighton ; Lady
Charlotte Bertie, at Grafton's Hotel, Albemarle-street; Cap-
tain and Mrs. Dalton, at the Burlington Hotel, Cork-street ;
Mr. and Lad); Charles M. Stuart and family, in Portman-
square Colonel Wade, . Assistant Adjutant-General, from
Dublin ; Gregson, Esq., at Christie's Hotel ; Colonel
Munro, R.A., from Dublin ; J, Gladstone, Esq., from Brighton ;
the Earl of Longford, in Grosvenor-street, from Madresfield
Court ; Lord Delawarr, in Upper Brook-street, from Vale
Royal, Cheshire ; the Duchess of Marlborough and Lady
Loursa Spencer Churchill, at Farrance's Hotel, Belgrave-
street ; Sir -Edward and Lady Butler, from the Continent;
Charles P. Leslie, Esq., in Harley-street, from his seat, Mo-
naghan ; Mrs. Edward Romily, in Stratton-street Pieeadily ;
Major-General Reeves, C.B.
, ,CIIANGES.
Lord Sidney Osbiwne, at his seat near Marvborough,
Queen's County, from Dublin ; Sir Richard Robinson, at
Cheltenham, from his seat in Ireland ; the Marquis of Water-
ford, at Curraghmore, from Mallow, near Cork; Lord Somer-
ton, M.P., from Florence, on a tour in Italy; Sir William K.
Ball, Bart., to Brighton, from a tour; Lady South and the
Hon. ThomasPlunket, at South Hall, Ardee,from

DEATH OF THE .DOWAGER COUNTESS OE CIA-
NENDoN.,—The above venerable Countess expired yesterday
morning at Clarendon-house. The Earl and Countess.of
Mornington were with the Dowager Countess at her dissolu-
tion. The deceased Countess was daughter and co-heir of
the late Hon. Admiral Jain Forbes, her twin-sister being the
Countess *f Mornington, who survives. Her Ladyship would
have completed her 84th year in May.

THE FACTORIES BILL.
'We return to the debate of Friday, the subject of which
was continued last evening, and brought, for the time at
least, to a very unexpected but welcome conclusion. Lord
Ashley's speech cannot fail to .produce everywhere the same
deep and even glbomy impression which it evidently did
produce in the House. It exhibits a vast and apparently
incurable state of wretchedness in the very heart of this
great and wealth), country. It cannot be refuted. It is
truth all over. The details are true ; the style is unaffected ;
the tone is even, deep, and broad ; the convictions of the
speaker are sincere, his object disinterested, and his prin-
ciples beyond dispute. Notwithstanding the unavoidable
length of. the speech, and the multiplicity of its parts, the
reader is carried forwards by a kind of mournful curiosity
through a succession of miseries, all so closely and yet so
naturally arranged, as to preclude relief to the eye, and
almost hope to the mind. He sits down from the perusal
with spirits prostrated and nerves paralyzed. He' has re-
ceived a tremendous blow, and is stunned. Fora time he
cannot get over it, and has not his wits about him. At last
he revives and reflects.
Even Sir James Graham, proof as he npust be against all
kinds of rhetorical battery, is staggered. He replies as if
from a mere dogged adherence to the plan of his Bill. He
sticks to it as a kind of refuge. He cannot be eloquent, as
if his position may perhaps be right, but is rather anti-heroic.
The succeeding speakers have had time to recover, and show
greater fullness, freedom, and argument. But yet all, even Mr.
Bright, betray an impression most creditable to Lord Ashley,
and deeply responsive to the truths and duties he has
declared.
But the blow, great as it is, does not wholly and utterly
destroy recollection, and stupify the senses. As soon as one
recovers enough to bring the speech to a test, much is found
in it that the Judgment cannot approve.
In the firstplace, lon as the speech is, there is one capital
omission, thus briefly recognised :
" It is not my intention to enter into the commercial argu-
ment of the question. I hold that which is morally wrong
never can be politically right ; and, therefore, I will put the
question on the grounds on which I have always endeavoured
to put it—theSe of.justice and humanity.,—saidAsilima-3said,
physical welfare of a large portion of our countrymen."
Now, what does this really come to ? What is meant by
" the commercial argument of the question," and treating
the question " on the grounds of justice and humanity ?"
At first, it sounds rather grand, for " commercial arguments"
are something very mundane, and " justice and humanity"
very celestial. But the basest and vilest things are often
necessary to the highest ; and the same mysterious law of
Providence which makes meat and drink necessary to a hero,
the kitchen to the dining-room, the factory to Almack's, and
the labourer to the Lord, does also establish a link, which
Lord Ashley can neither break nor disregard, between com-
mercial arguments and grounds of justice and humanity.
You must first put your hands into your pockets, and have
previously filled those pockets in somehonest way, before you
can play the benefactor, either on a private or a public scale.
We must stoop to be reasonable, and condescend to work.
Providence has implanted in us heavenly instincts, but made
us men.
The most important question just now is—not the question
of fact, which, after ten years' continual exposure, is by
this time known to all men, and, we maintain, should forth-
with be acted upon without a month's further delay ; but—
the question of ways and means. It is proposed to reduce
by nearly one-sixth the working time of nearly the whole
amount of labour—some people say it virtually involves the
whole—at the command of the manufacturer. He replies,
that such a reduction will ruin him, and his workmen too,
for of course they hang together. They just go on as it is;
and even one hour's less working power will stop the whole
machine. Now, we cannot go the length of Mr. Senior's cal-
culation on the subject, which, like some other of that gen-
tleman's theories, requires a large accommodation to practice.
But we do say, that we wish we could be sure that the
ten hours' time involved only a reduction to ten hours'
wages. The operative is associated with a mighty coadjutor
—the mill—whose wages cannot be lowered to a ten hours'
time, and for whose fatal obstinacy the living agent must
make up, besides the reduction on his own account. There
are, happily, some qualifying considerations—such as that
ten hours' human labour is worth much more proportionably
than twelve, and that such a restriction will have a tendency to
equalise supply and demand; but the broad facts of the case
are as we have stated them ; and we cannot refuse the testi-
mony of those most conversant with the subject, confirmed as

it is YtlYejommon sense of all men. At least it is a ques-
tion,
and a very necessary one. There remains, too, another
and equally necessary question—how is that loss to be met ?
that ruin to be provided against ? But what does
Lord Ashley say ?—" Gentlemen,—l am going to prove
an immense amount of misery. The master manufac-
turers are working their people beyond the limits of human
endurance. I propose to stop them. 'lt is not my inten-
tion to enter into the commercial argument of the question.'
I shall not inquire what loss my measure will entail on the
employers—whether it will close their mills, and bring the
whole population to most horrible wretchedness, starvation,
and death; nor shall I inquire whether the class to which I
belong has had any hand in producing this state of things—
whether we can make any sacrifices to mend what may be
partly our fault, and whether the nation can or ought to help
the millowner. I hold that which is morally wrong never
can be politically right ; and therefore I will put the ques-
tion on the grounds of justice and humanity,' ' &c. Why,
what sort of justice and humanity is this?
Lord Ashley need not have been ashamed to confess him-
self not quite up to the commercial argument. All men
have their lines, and this is not his. But we will tell
him what he might have done. He might have said—" I
will leave to others the commercial argument, and if they
make out tolerably to my satisfaction that the present is
really a question between over-working and death—that my
ten hours' time is not practicable, unless the landowner not
only talks, but puts his shoulder to the wheel—and that it
will cause such a reduction of profits as must be met in some

way or other by the nation at large—then I, for one, am quite
prepared to abide the result of the inquiry, and recommend
to Parliament some relaxation of the burdens which pecu-
liarly affect manufacture. That which is morally right can-
not be politically wrong; and I will accordingly stand all the
consequences of an act which is incumbent on the broad
grounds of justice and humanity." There would have been
nothing grovelling, or commercial, or inconsistent with the
highest regard for justice and humanity in such a declara-
tion. The absence of it is not a little calculated to damage
his cause.
Another deficiency in the speech is one, perhaps, not so
much in Lord Ashley's power to amend. The black cata-
lohrue of miserable facts which he recites is not a catalogue
raisonnge, but an auctioneer's list—a mere column of acci-
dents and offences. We allow that he has evidently used
not only all the diligence and research, but almost all the
penetration and judgment possible to one in his position.
One can see that where he has alleged facts by fives, he has
rejected them by fifties. and has been conscientiously and
nervously careful not to be misled by partial or hasty in-
formants. But this has not proved sufficient, as anybody
internally acquainted with the manufacturing system would
see, or rather feel, in a moment. He tells facts, important
facts, picked facts ; but even when a man is telling facts, and
that truly, it is always possible for those actually initiated in
the subject to say whether he knows them experimentally or
only second hand. There is a way of describing things pecu-
liar to those who live in them, and which cannot be bor-
rowed by one who is forced to "get up" the subject. The
speech as a whole, is erroneous and unfair just as Martin's
black, or red, or blue paintings are erroneous and unfair, if
meant for representations of nature.
His narrative is all one and the same; but the actual
state of the case endlessly varied and involved. There is the
greatest actual difference between millowner and millowner,
town and town. Some masters bestow an attention to the
comfort and improvement of their people which and land-
owner in England might do well to copy. Some mills are
worked by picked men, women, and children ; and others by
refuse and riff-raff. Some persons, and even populations,
are intrinsically and incurably corrupt and reckless, and
would be so anywhere, whether in or out of a mill. Some
parents will neglect their children ; some operatives will save
money, others will not. But it is useless to go on. Every
one who has lived in a manufacturing town knows that it
affords as great reliefs and exceptions as any other state of
society.
Again, who would guess from the speech that all
and almost every one of the inmates of this house of
bondage had, in fact, taken refuge in factories from a
still lower hell—an inadequately employed agricul-
tural population ? If things are bad in Lancashire,
they must be wore elsewhere ; for we may de-
pend on it all these hundreds of thousands have not jumped
out of the frying pan into the fire. The most wretched of
the manufacturing class, and those who have doubtless fur-
nished most matter to this tale of woe, are the Irish immi-
grants. Parts of England also have sent there a quota not
much better. A brief personal history of every individual
alluded to by Lord Ashley would in most cases greatly
exonerate the factory from the charges of corruption and
oppression, and throw them back on the rural districts.
We are sorry to recur to the " commercial argument,"
but it is impossible to legislate fairly • and wisely on this
subject- without taking a comprehensive view of the state of
British labour and its existing relations to wealth. Thus,
the over-working of the operative is only another form of the
same evil as the under-paying of the labourer. If
it were possible to cultivate our fields with steam
and light them with gas, we should soon have to ask a Short..
time Bill for the country as well as for the town. Nature
times the labourer, so he is pinched in his pay. The old poor-
law was a sufficient pay act for the labourer. Mr. Senior, or
any other out-and-out political economist, would tell us at
once, that it and the Ten Hours' Bill stand on the same
footing. The nation no longer interferes between the farmei
and his labourer to protect the latter. The result is, that
rents have risen and wages fallen.. Yet persons acquiesce in
that cessation of interference, and profit by it, who are now
for interfering between the mill-occupier and his operative,
to the almost certain loss of the former. . Can any legislation
be just and permanent which is not consistent and compre-
hensive?
But we are
eforced to point out the deficiences of Lord
Ashley'sspeech,what must be said of Sir James Gra-
ham's ? The commercial argument omitted in the former
is the substance of the latter. The two speakers pursue
lines so wholly distinct, and yet severally so true, that they
may run on in parallel directions for ever, without a chance of
meeting. Lord Ashley aims at a legislative maximum of la-
bour, Sir James Graham a minimum of profit. Humanity
without political prudence, and prudence without humanity !
Is there no middle term ? Is it impossible to be just as well as
generous? Of the two, we prefer a humanity, which acts
blindly perhaps at first, but feels its way to a happy result.
With Sir James we can have no sympathy. Even with truth
in his mouth, he drives us to the other side. His former con-
federates and his present confederates alike deter us. When
and see him supported by Mr. M.
we listen to his arguments,
Gibson and Mr. Bright, the mind seems to waver between
sight and memory, and we doubt whether the scene before
us is not merely a vision of the past.—Times.

WILSON'S SCOTTISH ENTERTAINMENTS. Last
week Mr. Wilson visited Edinburgh and Glasgow, and gave
two• Entertainments in each place with great success, the
rooms on every occasion being crowded to excess. Last
night he was at his post again in Store-street, was never in
better voice or spirits, and delighted a very numerous audi-
tory, every private box being filled, and the area crowded.
The entertainment was " Anither Nicht wi' Burns," in
which Mr. Wilson recited the humorous poem of " Tam o'
§hanter" with great point.