The Sun.
London, England, 1850-10-17 00:00:00

r r. ..t .

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7

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N°. 18 117.] LONDON THURSDAY t
3 ,
kt! 11:1 N 9 OCTOBER 17, 1850.

CATHOLIC LAW AND GENERAL LIFE
ASSURANCE COMPANY,
8, NEW COVENTRY-STREET, LEICESTER-SQUARE, LONDON.
'the Foußvi ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING of the Proprie-
tors of this Company took place on the 25th instant, at the Head
Office, at One o'clock precisely. The following is extracted from the
_report, which is too lengthy for publication :
Dining the past year no claims have arisen from deaths in Englerf,„
and but two in Ireland—one for 5001. and the other for 2301.—malting
together 7001., which have been paid. This is far below the expected
mortality, and is especially favourable, when it is remembered how
severely the life offices generally suffered from the epidemic of last
year.
The number of lives assured between the Ist of June, 1:49, and
the 31st of Nay, 1850, was more than double the number issued in
the twelve months preceding.
l'rop ,sa!s were made for 139 Policies, amounting to 52,9631.25. Cd.:
of these 121, comrrising 106 lives, were accepted for 45,1251. Is.
Sixteen Policies lapsed, representing 6,048 i., upon which 3201. 32.
was received by the Company in the shape of premiums
Since the c anmencernent of the Company to the Ist of Juno last,
assuran es were effected to the extent of 110,972/. l'ts 6d., pro-
ducing in annual premiums 3,7321. 11s. 6d. Of these 54 lapsed,
amounting to 23,910/. 16s. Id., of which the annual premiums were
7411. is., leaving the yearly Income on the Ist of June last equal to
2,991/. 15s. I Id.
since last meeting loans were applied for to the extent of 17,7001.,
but 1,1831. I Is. 10d. only was advanced.
The Directors were also highly gratified to report that within the
last four months they had considerably extended their business on
the Continent, having appointed, as Head Agent in France, Monsieur
de l'Etang, a gentleman of high standing in Paris, distinguished fur
his integrity and shinty in financial and in all assurance matters,
who, under the sanction and patronage of the Archbishop of Paris,
the Cardinal Archbish-p of Lyons, and Monseigneur Parisis, Eveque
de Langres, has already within the last three months effected a com
sidera-b:e amount of business, not only in Life Assurances, but in An-
nuities both Immediate and Deferred.
After various resolutions, approving of the Report, and returning
thanks to the Right Reverend Chairman, Bishop Morris, the Vice-
Chairman, Actuary, Secretary, and Medical Officers of the establish-
ment, the meeting separated, highly gratified at its present results
and future proscects.

SWANSCOMBE, KENT.
TO be LET, in this beautiful Village, a desirable
FAMILY RESIDENCE, in complete repair, and containing,
breakfast, dining, and drawing-rooms, Ave bed-rooms, excellent
offices, two-stall stable and coach-house, kitchen-garden, large pad-
dock and well stocked srchard ; a good supply of excellent spring
water.

have hitherto constituted the pride and security of this
country, but at the subversion of the rights of pro-
perty, and of all order in society." The Luddites at
this time destroyed machinery, to which they attri-
buted their sufferings—riots broke out in Lancashire

an average one, corn rises—if the quantity of money
be decreased, prices fall.—(Hear.) A. very bad or
deficient harvest, is an exceptional case ; corn
then rises to a famine price, from the scarce-
ness of the commodity, as, with a very abundant
harvest, it falls from the plentifulness of the gifts of
Providence.—(Hear.) how then do facts bear out
this theory of common sense? There have been two
periods of great increase of money. One, in the time
of Queen Eliz ibeth, from the discovery of the Ame-
rican mines ; the other when Mr. Pitt carried out
the system of a paper currency. What was the effect
of the increase of the circulating medium in Eliza-
beth's time ? From 1499 to 1560 the price of wheat
was 103. and 5-12ths a quarter; from 1561 to 1601
wheat was 475.5 1-3,1. a quarter.—(Hear.) What was
the cause of this enormous rise ? " The discovery of
the abundant mines in America," says Adam Smith,
" seems to have been the sole cause of this diminution
in the value of silver in proportion to that of corn. It
is accounted for accordingly in the same manner by
everybody ; and there has never been any dispute,
either about the fact or about the cause of it." ,How
few things are there about which Adam Smith, or
any other man, could say, and say truly, " there
never his been any dispute !"—(Hear.) Look next
at the still 'greater increase of the circulating me-
dium which took place in Pitt's time. What was
the state of the country in 1797—the period of
the Bank Restriction Act? After a. long and ex-
pensive struggle with, our American colonies, and
being at war with France, the gold and silver
of the country was nearly all drained away. The
Bank could no longer panits • -litotes -in gold, and
afford assistance to Government.' Our gold and silver
was exhausted: but were we therefore poor ? No,
the real wealth—the land, the mines, the houses, the
workshops of-the world—remained.—(Hear, hear.)
Our ships covered the seas, bearing away the produce
of our looms and mills, to exchange for the riches of
every clime. And, above all, our country was full of j
men—(Cheers)---of an industrious, energetic, and
persevering population—a bold Anglo-Saxon race,
with stout hearts and willing hands, equal to all emer-
gencies, and prepared to encounter and overcome any
difficulties. These constitute the real wealth of a
nation.—(Cheers.) And what did Pitt's measures do?
Why they provided a representative for all this real
wealth. A paper money which might distribute com-
modities—might enable men to exchange the produc-
tions of their industry, to buy and to sell, to pay
rents, taxes, and debts—in a word, to discharge, as
the bank notes did discharge, all the functions 'of
money.—(Hear, hear.) Every sovereign we have 11n
this country we have bought with our goods. So it
was then ; while the paper money was circulated 'at
home, our 'merchants were exchanging their goods for
other commodities, and gold and silver among othler
things abroad ; and this gold and silver were sold to
Government, and with it our troops were paid arid
foreign powers subsidized.—(Hear.) "
ed:Tu p
(faleiatr.e of
)Uwnadre.” rthiFsosrys;
tern the country flourished in spite of war, and all its
attendant evils. I say
adopt the opinion of a man who has been a warrior
from his youth up—the Duke of Wellington—in
calling war " the greatest of all ,evils."—(Loud
And Tolitically, war is
cheers.)
etermostds.
to dreadfulvistirta ei Ysec'
ao srut°r:g.i_ea
(wßht he
wPerdo vc ihdeeenrci
cheering.)
gh. s p
Thiser
country felt, and felt severely at times, the evils of
war. The closing of ports and markets by Frendh
influence was an evil. The seizure of ten millions Of
property belonging to British merchants in the Baltic
cans
ss
tcoa
tuaskeed
ourm u cgh o
od s, distress.of w
hTi
ch e
he refsevenusal
millionso the AMe
an-
nually were sold in the States—inflicted much suffer-
ing on our manufacturing districts. Still we spent
much in war—we lent large sums to Government—
we paid heavy taxes—and the nation progressed and
prospered.—(Hear, hear.) The reason of this was
that an adequate and abundant circulating medium
was provided. In 1797, the bank notes in circula-
tion were 8,601,964/. ; in 1807, the circulation was
16,724,3681., or nearly double ; in 1814, it was
28,291,8321., or more than three times as much
as in 1797.—(Hear, hear.) 'With this increase ill
money prices rose. The Committee of the House
of Commons reported, in 1815, that the price
of wheat in this country, on an average of five
years, had never exceeded 503. a quarter. But the
average price of wheat, from 1794 to 1820, was 87s.
10d. a quarter, from 1809 to 1820, 98s. 9d. a quarter!.
And observe there was no protection then.—(Hear.l
We were then a corn importing• country, and lan
was constantly being brought into cultivation. Porter
states that, from 1797 to 1816, no less than 1779 In.:
aaßmwnmiuuyt :shut
anai
closure Bills passed. We had also fewer mouths to
feed. The population of Great Britain, according td,
Mr. M'Culloch was in 1801, 10.943,000—white in
1848 it was 21,000,000.—(Hear.) But it may be
said that this was a "fictitious price"—that it was
paper-money
d
y like
ours
the price.aeeprice,dapb rdre represented
nebublyt tere
sdtai
taxation,
remunerative, a highly
mustaxe
(e)onulYntar
s
be comparatively high ; for this' reason—that the far-
mer and every producer, to get a remunerative price
ought to be able to add the amount of taxation to the
cost of production.
se—onwsb(tael
al
abundant circulating medium. become six to make it remunerative.—(Hear.)
uxdot
b,anuyt.
co
afcnoTna,
unhyor,
:no pluyarsrnoypddes
txtuei
aicemsnee
ngtr article
qcbpluuer
of paper money in operation during the war supplied
this abundant circulation, and therefore enabled the
country to bear its heavy burdens, and to prosper in
spite
efforts
crowned with' an universal
peace
The nation's lastnilaaetior's rejoicings were scarcely'
them.—(Hear.)
weree
The
n.n
over before a period commenced of dreadful distress.—'
(Hear.) How was this brought about? Immedi-'
ately after peace was proclaimed, the Bank was in-
formed that its notes must be paid in gold at a fixed'
price (viz., 3/. 17s. 100. an oz.) Accordingly the'
Bank proceeded forthwith to draw in its notes. The
circulation, which, according to Mr. Loyd, was at its •
highest in 1813 and 1814, was diminished nearly one-
half in 1816 and 1817. The country bankers were
forced to do the same. Prices declined immediately
—ruin followed. In March, 1815, the Corn Law
passed, which was to secure to the farmer 80s. a
quarter for his wheat ; in the following' December,
the monthly average was 555. 9d. a quarter, or 30
per cent. less than the law of March had fixed as a
remunweraasttievreripfic.
price.—(Hear
is
eart,he description o
hear.)Thedfisittrgeissveolif
1816
in January, 1817, by Mr. Tierney Each succeed-
ing year since the war ended," said he, "has only
made things worse ; the distress, at first confined prin-
cipally to our agriculture, has s
of trade and industry, and the national misery has
reached a point wholly without a precedent since the
Norman 'Conquest."
The people were aghast, and
asked the cause of all this. They were told by their
rulers that it was the sudden transition from war to
peace which was ruining the country
great indeed,'
1_(1-leer, hear.)
not 1816," it
terayd to every branch
How was this distress removed? That question was
faonrsewtehreedcboymtmheittßeeanokf dliBrelc9t:o_rs,i,nwthaesir evidence be-
pyl oe t haveu i:.
and
ds
agriculturalasked,
answered Mr. Harman. " Did not that distress ren-
der it necessary to relieve the public by an increased
issue of bank-notes?"
the distress vanished.
" Were
en
t infuotl the
er
c advancesulati ?
made in that year lay the Bank to Government, a
great instrument of relievingmtandee di
sot
nr ee sys
spoken of, by affording more
" Yes ; inasmuch as they
Money was made plentiful, and
—(Hear.) But Government persevered in urging on
cash payments. Peel made his first public change of
opinion, and came out of the Committee of 1819 a
bullionist. In January, 1819, the country had fully
recovered from its prostration, The Prince
Regent told Parliament that be had the " great-
able to
'est satisfaction in being inform them
'that the trade, commerce, and manufactures
of the country were in a most flourishing
condition."— (Rear, hear.) The average price of
wheat for 1818 was 84a. a quarter ; agriculture was
therefore also flourishing. The revenue of the coun-
try, without a new tax, increased in 1818 no loss than
4.700,000/. Peel's Bill passed on July 2, 1819.
The consquences of that measure shall be described
to you by Mr. Matthias Attwood . In a speech de-
livered by him on June 8, 1830—(vehich contains, I
venture to affirm, more statesmanlike principles, more
profound and sagacious views on monetary science
than any speech delivered on thisj subject in either of
the Houses of Parlionaent)—in thatspeech he
says,
" That Act fell on the calm prosperity and labours of
the people—on the prosperous industry of the coun-
try—to confound, and disorder, and to destroy. All
the calamities of 1816 were renewed. The blow was
first felt by the manufacturing population. Without
employment—without wages—without the means of
subsistence ; suffering from artificial famine in the
midst of plenty—ignorant from whence the blow
came, by thousands and tens of thousands, the mann.
facturing population prepared for resistance." In
November of the same year, Parliament was called
together again. The Prince Regent thus :addressed
them. " I have observed," he said, " with great
concern the attempts made in some of the
manufacturing districts to take advantage of local
distress to excite disaffection to the insti-
tutions-and government of the country. A spirit
is now fully manifested utterly hostile to
the constitution of this kingdom,
and aiming, not only
at the change of those political inetitutions which

;he farmers suffered next—thousaands were en•

The premises are a short distance from the Greenhithe Pier,
where bolts call to and from London frequently in the day, and only
half-a-mile from the Northfleet Station.
For terms, &c.. apply to A. It. Steel, Esq., No 1, Lincoln's Inn-
fields ; or to Mr. Frederick Goodeve, Ingress Abbey.

'irely ruined—(Hear)—wheat want down fa' 6.45.• n
quarter—incendiary fires spread throughout the rural
districts.—(Hear.) The Habeas Corpu:. Act was
suspended—and a special commission sent out to try,
condemn, and execute the rioters and rick burners.-.-

-1-110 PARENTS and GUARDIANS.—A prtion
of the extensive Premises in Regent-street, occupied by
.NICOLL, will in fsture be devoted for the production of
IiOYS' and YOUTHS' CLOTHING, such to exhibit unusual good
taste, style, and linisl4, besides having a further recommendation in

(Hear.) Tne distress continued ; in 1820 wheat was
sold at 534. 11d. a quarter, in 1821 at 46i.:.21.'
quarter, and in 1822 at 3Ss. ld. a quarter.—
(" True Remember, there was no tree trade
then.—(Elear.) The agriculturists were told that
their distress now arose from over production—

their durability and very moderate cost.
College Caps and Gowns, with every kind of Garment calculated
for pleasure, duties, or exercise, and such as are worn by Young
Gentlemen at the Colleges and Great Punlic Schools. These are al-
ways ready to be met with at the Warerooms of 11. J. arid D. NI-
COLL, Merchant Clothiers, Paletet Patentees, and Manufacturers of
Cloth, Regent-street (from 114 to 120 inclusive), and 22, Cornhill.
CAUTION.—Many have assumed the use of the word " PA.LETOT,"
but Messrs. NICOLL are the Sole Patentees of the design and ma-
terial (in Winter or Summer Substances) employed in the manufac-
ture of this inexpensive and gentlemanly article of costume.

(Hear and laughter)—Providence had been too
bountiful, and their crops too good.—(Hear, hear.)
Again money was made plentiful. Lord London-
derry's Small Note Act, allowing 11. and 21. notes,
passed. By loans to Government, loans to the landed
interest, loans on public works, money witefterced•
into circulation. Four millions were thus .added
to the circulation. The country revived. Mr.
Tooke says that the circulating medium al-
together became 50 per cent. greater in 1825 than it
had been in 1823. The Sing, in his speech, said,
" There never was a period in the history of the ceein7
try when all the great interests of society were, at the
same time, in so flourishing a condition." Prices
rose ; it became more profitable to the foreigner to
take our gold than our goods ; and by the end of 1825
scarcely a sovereign was left in the Bank. The cir-
culation was therefore rapidly contracted, by the
Bank withdrawing its issues, and in December, 1825,
broke out the panic.—(Hear.) The blow fell first,on,
the bankers. One-eighth part of the country banks
in England, and six of the London banks, stopped
payment. They were told that they deserved their
ruin—it arose from over-speculation—(Hear)—that
over-speculation which, it it existed, Government
had done everything in their power to encourage.
The traders and manufacturers of the country speedily
felt the ill effects of the panic of 1825. They were
told that their sufferings arose from an over produ9-
tion of commodities, They had worked too hard,
risen too early, been too ingenious in increasing
the produce of their industry.—(Hear and laughter.)
Yet the poor in the manufacturing districts
were starving, " with food in abundance staring
them in the face," says Mr. Francis ; and 200
families were officially declared to have among
them only four blankets. The country contirmed
to suffer.—(Hear, hear.) The agricultural distress
of 1829 and 1830 was most extreme, and the House
of ConaMons was assailed with petitions from all parts
and from all interests, which even now cannot be
read without shrinking from the details of the misery
which they record. In 1832 occurred another panic,
though less severe than that of 1825. The Reform
Bill, which distress had driven the people to demand,
brought no relief. In 1834 wheat was sold for 41s.
5d., in 1835 for 365. Bd., and in 1836 for 365. a
quarter—still, no free trade, wheat being protected up
to, 701. a luarter.--,(-lear, bear.) In 1837 came a
panic -eglain,„and in 1839 theßank had to borrow 2i
millions of specie from the Bank of France to escape
bankruptcy.—(Hear hear.) Government, in 1843,
propounded the doctrine, that indirect taxation had
reached its limit. The Whigs went out, leaving a
deficit, the effect of bad money-laws, of 10,072,6381.,
and Peel again came into office and imposed th,e in-
come-tax. In 1844 Peel introduced his Bank Char-
ter' Bill, in doing which he said that "during the last
20 years four decisive proofs, at four distinct periods,
had been given, viz., in 1825, 1832, 1837, and 1839,
that under the present system of currency
the principle of convertibility is endangered,"
This was the condemnation of his Bill
of 1819 by himself. He therefore proposed
to take "effectual measures"—the matured wisdom of
Bullionism—to prevent such evils recurring. Mr.
Goulbourn called this measure " a perfect system."—
(Hear, hear.) In. October, 1847, came another dreadful
panic, in which the Bank was only saved from stop-
ping payment by the interference of the Government.
The late Lord Ashburton, therefore, justly called the
Bill of 1844 " a great experiment which had signally
failed."—(Hear.) Gentlemen, I have entered into
these details to show to you the repeated proofs
which we have had of ,the imperfection of our mone-
tary system; to show how this country has been
forced for the last thirty years to alternate between
prosperity and distress, and to make it plain that,
whenever we have had an adequate circulating me-
dium, prices have risen to a remunerative level and
we have enjoyed prosperity; and that whenever Peel's
system has come into active operation, and the circu-
lation has been contracted, forced cheapness has re-
sulted, and distress, misery, and ruin have pervaded
all classes.—(Hear, hear, and cheers.) But it were
useless to point out these evils unless we could also
point out their remedy. This can be done. The great
evil of the present system is the fixed price of gold.
The obligation on theßank to. buy gold when it does
not want it, and to sell it when there is a drain, causes the
arbitrary expansions and contractions of the currency.
With gold at its market price the country flourished
during the war, and would again do so. Paper-
money, in which gold might rise and fall in price,
and which should be a legal tender for all pecuniary
obligations, might be provided in sufficient amount;
and made perfectly secure. There are various ways
in which this might be done. Pitt effected it by a
Bank Restriction Act. I proposed a simple method.
some time since, which might, with ease and
ty,
be adopted, viz., to release the Bank from its obliga-
tion to buy gold when it had a certain sum, say four-
teen millions, of specie in its coffers, and also to re-
move the restriction of never issuing beyond the sum
of fourteen millions on securities. In the event of a
drain of gold, I would allow the Bank to issue notes
beyond this limit, on securities, and not only, as is
now the case, on the gold locked up in the issue de-
partment. Thus, when gold leaves the country, the
void created in the circulation would be immediately
supplied by bank-notes.—(Hear.) But perhaps no
plan has commended itself so generally • as the one
proposed by Mr. John Taylor, of London, a gentle-
man who has thoroughly mastered the question, and has
philosophically examined and elucidated it. He pro-
poses that a national paper money should be issued, of
1/. notes and upwards, which issue should never exceed
n a year the amount of the annual taxation. This

CORN AND CURRENCY.
THE MARKET BOSWORTH FARMERS'
ASSOCIATION.
(From the Leicestershire Mercury.)
As we briefly stated last week, the members of this
association commencemed their autumn session by
considering how " the currency affects the interests
of the agriculturists of Great Britain." Mr. R.
Smith, of Sutton Cheney, was in the chair.
Mr. N. GnusoN moved the first resolution, as fol-

lows :—" That the question of the currency is one
which materially affects the agriculturists of Great
Britain, and becomes indispensably necessary to be
considered since the principles of free trade have
been adopted." It might be asked, perhaps (said
Mr. Gimson), why the farmers should take up this
question ? what had they to do with it—and did
they understand it ? If they did not understand it,
that was because they had not yet studied the ques-
tion.—(Hear, hear.) As to its not affecting them, he
would remark that the farmers found, owing to 'the
reduction in the price of agricultural produce, that
they were paying 2/. for every 1/. they were receiv-
ing—(Hear)—and they all knew that our present cur-
rency system was based on the corn-law, which esti-
mated the average price of wheat at 80s. a quarter ;
that wan, no foreign corn should come into this
country under 80s. a quarter. He did not mean
that the farmers received 80s. a quarter for their
corn under that law—(Hear, hear)—but that they
were supposed to be receiving 80s., and that their pay-
ments *ere based on that supposition.—(Hear,
hear.) They had now, however, to sell two quarters
for that supposed price of one ; and that being
the case, was it reasonable that the landed interest
should be called upon to pay two pounds where be-
fore they only had to pay one.—(Hear, hear.) The
other day, as he wanted a new coat, he went into! a
tailor's shop to ask the price of one—he was told 50s.
He told the tradesman that money was a scarce com-
modity with farmers now ; but that he would give
him a quarter of corn for his coat.—(Laughter.)
The tailor, however, said no; the principle of barter
would not suit him ; and so (we understood) the bargain
was notstruck.—(Hear.) • TheSe re`nittiks w'ere.verly
general, he was aware, and he refrained from going fur-
ther into the question as the Rev. Mr. Twells would
shortly address them at length,upon the subject. But lie
(Mr. Gimson) would beg to remind' the meeting that
they had a mighty struggle before them, for which
they must arm themselves well. They had justice on
their side ; their arms must be the goosequill and
discussion ; and, clothed in a panoply of hope, assu-
rance, and indomitable perseverance, he had no fear
of the result.—(Cheers.) They had no corn-tax--
they would have no hank-tax.—(Renewed cheers )
Mr. BURBERY briefly seconded the resolution ; after
which the CELAIEMAN said he had now the pleasure of
calling upon the Rev. John Twells, of Perlethorpe,
Nottinghamshire, to express his opinion upon the
question now before the meeting.
Mr. TWELLS then rose and spoke as follows :—ln
venturing to appear amongst you, I must request
your indulgence, both as a stranger and as one
whose profession may appear to disqualify hini,
in some respects, for taking a part in the public
discussion of the question which calls us together
to-day. I can unaffectedly say, that nothing but
an overwhelming sense of the importance of this ques-
tion to the country in general, and at this time more
particularly to the agricultural interest, would have
induced me, here or elsewhere, to have come forward
as I um now doing.—(Hear.) Yes, gentlemen, it is
a deeply .rooted conviction of many years' standing,;
founded on a deliberate and impartial consideration of
this question, and an attentive observation of the facts
of the case for the last thirty years, which has in-
duced numbers of thinking men—arguing from the
experience of what has happened in this country, to
abstract principles as to the causes of what they have
witnessed—to devote their time and energies to this
little-understood question : because we believe that
the interests of all, rich and poor, manufacturers and
agriculturists, are so deeply involved in it, that per-
manent prosperity can never (under any circum-
stances) be secured, till we have a thorough reform of
the present monetary system established by Peel's
Bills of 1819 and 1844 —(Cheers.) The resolution
which will be put from the chair for your adoption or
rejection, declares" That the question of the currency
is one which materially aflects the agriculturists of
Great Britain." And with respect to the importance
of the question to the agriculturists, and all other
classes, I beg to call your attention to the opinion of
the late Sir Robert Peel in his speech of May 6,
1844, on the Bank Charter Bill. Speaking of his
Currency Bill he says, " There is no contract,
public or private, no engagement, national or indi-
vidual, which is unaffected by it. The enterprises
of commerce, the profits of trade, the arrangements
to be made in all the domestic relations of society,
the wages of labour, the transactions of the highest
amount, and of the lowest, the payment of the na-
tional debt, the provision for the national expendi-
ture on the one hand, and the command which the
coin of the smallest denomination has over the neces-
saries of life on the other, are all affected by the deci-
sion to which we may come on that great question
which I am about to submit to the consideration of
the Committee." With this comprehensive and well-
expressed statement of Sir Robert Peel I entirely
agree. Money is one half of every bargain made be-
tween man and man. In early times, all traffic was
a matter of barter. Each man bartered the super-
fluity of what he possessed for that which he desired
to possess. But it soon became requisite to have some-
thing for which all should be willing to exchange
commodities. That something was called money. In
different countries various commodities have been
considered money, but the precious metals, as they
are called, gold and silver, have, from their portabi-
lity and durability, been generally adopted for that
purpose. Ooe of the earliest instances on record
of a precious metal being a medium of exchange
is that of Abraham, with whioh you are all fa-
miliar. Abraham bought the field of Machpelah, of
Ephron the Hittite, the son of Zohar, for four hundred
sheckels of silver. This silver was " current with the
merchant," but it was not coin. "Abraham weighed
to Ephron the silver." The word sheckel comes from
the Hebrew shackal, to weigh. Calmet affirms that
the Hebrews had no coined money till Antiochus Si-
detes, King of Syria, granted to Judas Maccabwas
the privilege of coining money in Judaea. Now the
value, of any commodity—corn, for instance—would
depend on two things : the supply and demand of
corn, and the supply and demand of silver. And here
you will, I think, begin to see clearly how the cur-
rency question affects your interests. The farmer is
a manufacturer, so to speak, of corn and cattle. He
takes the superfluity of his corn and cattle to market,
and with them he buys money. He must possess
himself of money, for money is the only legal tender
for his rent, his taxes, and his debts. And hence the
farmers seem to me to have been much mistaken as to
their interests when they directed their attention
solely to the laws which were made about corn, and
entirely neglected to take into consideration the laws
which were made about money.—(Hear.) They
ought to have attended to the laws made about both.
For their interests are as much affected by the laws
made respecting what they buy, viz., money, as those
made about what they sell, viz., corn. In 1826, Sir
J. Graham, in his " Corn and Currency," said, " The
value of money is in the inverse ratio of its quantity ;
the supply of commodities remaining the same, in-
crease the quantity of money, prices rise; decrease
the quantity of money, prices fall. On the other hand,
the quantity of money remaining the same, increase
toho u makeldbe
well understood.
the quantity of commodities, prices fall; decrease the
quantity of commodities, prices rise." I will endea-
vouriufn
dpeorssstiobloed,.
opdloapizert,hbeenc,aAuisre.
thls s
Mill's illustration. Suppose there to be 100 loaves,
and 100 shillings to exchange for them. Each loaf
would command a shilling. The loaves remaining
100, increase the shillings to 200, and each loaf would
command two shillings • decrease the number of shil-
lings to 50, and each loaf would then command only
sixpence. On the other hand, the number of shil-
lings remaining 100, increase the loaves to 200, and
each shilling would command two loaves; decrease
the loaves to 50, and it would then take two shillings
to buy one loaf.—(Hear.) Here, then, is the common
sense view of the currency question. If the quantity
of money in circulation be increased, the harvest being

imt
:sox noe esffiy:
e porausi,lddf
oanrwe
vat
the
b bydei
, Gei
diotevhneerdrs ne n for the salaries o
nanclexefeogra
norall elxiapbelnesetso,
would be a legal tender, and being receivable for
depreciation. As the penny postage-stamps, collect
the whole revenue,of the Post-office, so would, this
money collect the whole revenue of the nation.—
(Hear.) The arrangement of this plan bvould be
matter of detail, and presents no real difficulties. As
to private banks and banking companies, I would in-
terfere as little as possible with them—only taking
care to make their issues as secure as possible, that so
the currency of the nation might be rendered per-
fectly safe as gold itself.—(Hear.) Thus with' a
paper-money system similar to that which we had
during the war, but better—improved by all the sug-
gestions which experience and philosophy can present
—is it possible not to see that the prosperity and hap-
piness of this country might be increased to an extent
scarcely yet contemplated.—(Hear.) We can tell
how this currency would increase the nation's
wealth :—I. It would replace a very expensive
medium of excharige-,-gold, by a very cheap
one—paper. The fifty or sixty millions of gold
'which are now supposed to be in circulation,
and which are merely used as counters, would
be then replaced by notes. Here at once would be a
saving of mare than two millions a year, by convert-
ing this large amount of dead stock into active, pro-
ductive stock.—(Hear.) • Suppose a farmer had been
taught that it was necessary to use a golden plough-
share worth 1,000/., and a man came to him and said,
" I will make for you a ploughshare of iron, for
100 pence, which will do the work just as well —it
is plain that the farmer would have the difference
between 1,0001. and 100 pence to employ as active
capital.—(Hear.) He could improve his land, drain,
manure, and what not, when he ,had substituted a
cheap ploughshare for a dear one.—(flear, hear )
ll.—But we say that a representative paper currendy
would benefit the nation by rendering one circulating
medium independent of the foreign exchanges. When
gold flows into the country, the Bank increases its
issues, for it is forced to buy gold at a fixed price with
its paper. The rate of interest is lowered, and specu-
lation is forced upon the people from the difficulty
of obtaining a profitable investment for capital. When
ruin,
h ()Haas re
idnnicrielgBm2os begins,eylBl33e2c,o
panicme s
1837,e exceednlsu
gold goes out of the country, the Bank contracts its
issues, for it is liable to pay its notes in gold at Si.
ingly scarce, interest rises enormously, prices fall,
17 s . 10 d . an
raa
nol
ydu
snecde,
and 1847, follow.—(Hear, 11( ar.) The effect of the
panic of 1825 is thus described by Sir James Graham
atrnaddedisi
in his " Corn and Currency" :—" Commerce is stag-
nated, manufactures suspended; masters.are without
distress and
money, and men without employment; and ruin and
insurrection stalk throughout the land." " I be-
lieve," said Mr. Richard Cobden, in his evidence be-
fore a Committee of the House of Commons, " greater
evils have been occasioned to the trade and manufac-
tures of the country in 1836 and 1837, and the sub-
sequent periods, by the fluctuations in the currency;

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e 2-o-g_--

[PRICE SD.

AND STEAM-BOATS.

Boat and bargemen, and women 2,516
lightermen
If watermen 1,654

greater evils—pecuniary, social, and moral—than by
the direct failures of all the banks of issue since they
were first established in the country.”—(Hear.) The
Manchester Chamber of Commerce in 1836 declared
that the loss on cotton, wool, silk, linen, and hard-
ware, amounted to forty millions through the Cur-
rency Laws. In 1847, the loss to the country, as
stated by Mr. Richard Spooner in the House of
Commune, was upwards of 250 millions. These
ruinous fluctuations and panics would be obviated
under a well-regulated currency.—(llear.) lII.
But the most important advantage of a representative
paper currency is this—that we should obtain a cir-
culating medium capable of expansion, a money in
which prices would be able to rise as taxes are im-
posed, so that taxes might he added to the cost of
production, and a remunerative price be'ebtained.—
(Hear.) And further, as our population increased, and
our commodities increased also—in other words, as
our buyers and sellers increased,• and the things to
be bought and sold increased—money, the me-
dium of exchange between man and man,
might increase in due proportion. People some-
times ask me why the law which governs, or which
ought to govern the currency, cannot -be discovered ?
It is discovered. " Supply and demand," I say, is
the law of the currency. As men increase, more
food is required, and more clothes are required ; and
if left to itself the supply will increase with the de-
mand. Sp it is with money. Make paper money
as safe as you please—make it as safe and secure as
gold itself, and this we can prove can be done—and
then.leave the trade in money free. Leave it to the
pure), the universal law of trade, viz., supply and
demand.—(Hear, hear.) I say, that experience fully
histifies the expectations of an improved state of
things 'resulting from an alteration of the- currency
laws. rsay.that the paper money system, which en-
abled this country to prosper in spite of war, would
produce tenfold advantages in a time of peace.—
(Hear.) Observe, Ido not say that paper money
would do everything. I do not say, for instance,
that it would enable a farmer to prosper without
skill, labour, judgment, and a fair amount of capital.
—(Hear.) Ido not say that it would supply the
place of science and of knowledge in the direction of
a man's energies. I know that under any financial
system vice, improvidence, and ignorance will bear
their pernicious fruits. Butl do say that it would secure
Ito labour its just reward; that it would afford to every
man of integrity, talent, and energy a fair oppor-
tunity of improving his condition ; that it would pre-
vent the attempts which are made for raising the con-
dition of the people from being counteracted by the
frequent recurrence of those periods of severe distress
and privation in which their moral condition inevitably
deteriorates.— (Cheers.) I say that the paper-money
system, which enabled this country to lend to Go-
vernment 600 millions, would. enable the country to
pay off the debt, and thus cause a reduction of
nearly thirty millions of taxes. I believe that
this country might then advance to a greater
height of happiness and prosperity than ever-;--
that instead of disunion and ill-will, we might
see all classes flourishing, and contributing to each
other's prosperity; that the. well-being of the poor
would, furnish the best secnrity for the-possessiens of
the "rich,i,,thEp men would learn, to prize the
undeir whin
theylived happily ; and that
England would become the instrument, in the hand of
Providence, of civilizing, elevating, and christianizing
the whole world.—(Loud cheers.) But, gentlemen,
I must apologize for taking so wide a range, as well
as for intruding thus long on your attention.—(No,
no, and cheers.) I thank you very sincerely for
the patient and indulgent hearing which you have
afforded me, and I commend this important sub-
ject to your examination and consideration. The
statements I have made are open to investiga-
tion—l submit them to your inquiry. Quod dixi,
dixi.—(Cheers.) Discussion is -V best friend of
truth.—(Cheers.) I wish the su%Tect to be fairly ex-
amined into. We have no party, no class interest, to
serve : " For each and for all, is our motto."—
(Cheers.) To extend commercial enterprise—to re-
store to agriculture its just remuneration—to ensure
to the rich the safe enjoyment of their abundance, and
to the poor man the just reward of his labour—this is
our object.—(Cheers.) I advocate the currency
question, in a word, because I wish to promote the
greatest possible happiness of the greatest possible
number, with the least possible injury to the least
possible number.—(Loud cheers) And the success
of this great question is a matter only of time.
Sooner or later, it will prevail. But we must all, in
our day and generation, do our part : for the inscruta-
ble decrees of Providence ordain, that every great and
good cause by which the happiness of our fellow-
creatures has to be promoted, must, under the blessing'
of heaven, be worked out by the persevering energy
of man himself.—(Loud and general applause.)
The resolution was carried unanimously.
The second resolution, proposed by a member of
the association, and seconded by Mr. BRICKWELL, was
as follows :—" That this meeting is of opinion that the

farmers of Great Britain must look to an alteration of
the laws of currency as one just means of relieving
them from their present state of depression ; and they
therefore direct the committee of the society to take
steps for obtaining a revision of the present monetary
system established by Peel's Bills of 1819 and 1844."
Carried unanimously.
Mr. CHAMBERLAIN moved, and Mr. HARRISON Se-
conded, a vote of thanks to Mr. Twells for his able
and eloquent address.
Mr. lIARRISON observed that this was not the first
time they had met in that room, and that more than
once, during their discussion on other topics, some of
them had expressed their opinion that the existing

currency system had a great deal to do with the pre---
sent position of the farmer.—(Hear, hear.) For
himself he did not think they would ever get
their rents reduced to their proper level, until
the currency-laws were reformed.—(Hear.) Mr.
Harrison then rapidly gave a sketch of his
owu experience as to the extraordinary fluc-
tuations in the price of stock as well as
produce, which had taken place concurrently with the
various alterations in the Bank issues and restrictions
of issue since 1819-20 ; but we are here compelled by
want of space to conclude our report by stating that
Mr. llarrison, after strongly repeating his conviction
of the necessity of the Currency Reform Movement
being vigorously pushed onward, said the question
having thus been once formally mooted among them,
he trusted it would not be allowed to drop.—(Hear,
hear.) They must look on this as only a preliminary
meeting. They must get further information ; and
they must discuss it again and again, to see whether
they were right in their views or not, though they
would not always be as fortunate as they had been
that evening in securing the assistance of so able an
expositor as Mr. Twells.—(ilear, hear.) Truth, how-
ever, was truth; truth and justice only had been ad-
vocated in that association ; and so long as their body
held together, he believed they would be advocated
there.—(Cheers.)
Mr. TWELLS briefly replied, and added that it gave
him great pleasure to visit so practical an association
as that at Market Bosworth.
After a vote of thanks to the Chairman, the meet-
ing—the interest of which was kept up to the very
last—separated about half-past six o'clock.

THE LONDON WATERMEN, LIGHTEREMEN,

" Rare John Taylor, the water poet," in the days of
James I. and Charles 1., with whose name I found most
of the watermen familiar (at least they had heard of
him), complained of the decay of his trade as a water-
man, inasmuch as in his latter days " every Gill Turn-
tripe, Mistress Tumkins, Madame Policot, my Lady
Trash, Froth the tapater, Bill the tailor, Lavender the
broker, Whiff the tobacco seller, with their companion
trulls, must be coached." H• complained that wheeled
conveyances ashore, although:they made "the casements
shatter, tatter, and clatter," were preferred to boats,
and were the ruin of the watermen; and it is somewhat
remarkable that the waterme❑ of our day complain of
the same detriment from wheeled conveyances on the
water.

The census of 1841 gives the following result as to
the number of those employed in boat work in the me-
tropolis:— _ _

5,673
The increase of the river team-boats from 1820 is
evinced by the following table:—
Years. No. of River Steamers. No. of Voyages.
1820
1830
1835
—Chronicle.

TIIE DODDINGTON MURDER..—BRENTWOOD, WED-
NESDAY.—In accordance with the instructions of the magis-
trate, who opened a special court on Sunday for the purpose„
of hearing the charge of murder against Thomas Drory, the
prisoner was brought up last evening before Mr. Leisher, one
f the county justices, and Mr. C. C. Lewis, the coroner, who
also acts as clerk to the bench of magistrates. Mr. Leisher,
hearing from Mr. Lewis that his investigation had been ad-
journed for the purpose of receiving some important facts in
relation to the tragical occurrence, determined for the present
on not clashing with the proceedings already commenced, as
it might have the effect of impeding the ends of justice.
evidence of Superintendent Coulson as to the apprehension
of the prisoner, the body of the deceased, and other details,
were therefore taken, so as to justify his detention, and the
magistrate, after duly cautioning him, remanded him until
after the sittings of the adjourned inquiry of the coroner. lie
appeared little concerned at the awful position in which he
was placed.