The Sun.
London, England, 1845-01-20 00:00:00

ATTEMPTED MURDER AT
UXBRIDGE.

Since 'Wednesday last the greatest excitement has
prevailed throughout the town and neighbourhood of
Uxbridge, in consequence of a most diabolical at-
tempt made by a young man, named Thomas Deck-
man, to murder his wife and child by means of poison.
From the inquiries made into the circumstances by
Inspector Cooke, T division, and other officers of the
metropolitan police, it appears that Thomas Deckman,
who is not yet twenty years of age, and is by trade a
journeyman baker, was married to his wife, Eliza-
beth Deckman, last October twelve months, and they
have one child six months old. For some time past
the husband has been out of work, in consequence
of which they had been compelled to remove from
their lodgings, and took up their abode at the house
of the wife's father. From the period of their mar-
riage they had slot been a happy couple, and the hus-
band had often threatened to do for her, and had on
one occasion sharpened a razor, and placed it under
his pillow for that purpose. On the morning of Wed-
nesday last the husband got up before his wife, and
left the bed-room, saying he was going to enlist for a
soldier. Before, however, he left the house, and while
he was in the sitting-room, the wife heard a rattling
of crockery, and thought that her husband was get-
ting himself breakfast. She afterwards got up, and
made some coffee, and about nine o'clock sat down
with her sister to breakfast. On adding sugar
and milk to the coffee she noticed that
the milk immediately became curdled, not-
withstanding which, she, however, drank the
contents of the cup, and, in less than five
minutes afterwards, was seized with a feeling of sick-
ness. She then poured out another cup of coffee, aiid
again added sugar and milk, when the latter was again
curdled, when her suspicions became excited, and she
poured some coffee into a basin, and added some milk,
and found that it did not curdle. She then tasted the
sugar in the sugar-basin, and finding that it had a
strange taste, she concluded that some poison had been
mixed with it, and sent her sister with the basin and
contents to the shop' of Mr. Chace, chemist, in the
High-street, who, on tasting and examining the sugar,
declared it to be mixed with oxalic acid. The wife
was, during two hours after taking the coffee, exceed-
ingly ill, and it was only by administering emetics
that the poison was extracted from her stomach in
time to save her life.

Information of the occurrence was immediately
forwarded to the police station, when a search was
made after the husband, but he could nowhere be
found. A deserip, ion of his person was then distri-
buted throughout the police districts, vs hick re-
sulted in his apprehension in the course of the fol-
lowing night. On Friday he was brought up for
examination before Mr. T. T. Clark, a local magis-
trate sitting at the offices of Messrs. Riches and
Woodbridge, the clerks to the. magistrates at Ux-
bridge, and, after a short examination, Was remanded

until the result of the analysis of the sugar remaining
in the basin, which has been placed in the hands of
Mr. Rayner, surgeon, of Uxbridge, to analyse, can
be ascertained. The magistrates room and the road
outside was crowded by hundreds of persons anxious
to hear the evidence, and to obtain a sight of the pri-
soner. On Saturday our reporter ascertained from .‘i r.
Rayner that be had found in the portion he had al-
ready analysed, a quantity of oxalic acid.

LAW INTELLIGENCE.
VICE-CHANCELLOR'S COURT, Jan. 18.
EX-PARTE THE VICAR OF TWIVERTON.

This was a petition by the vicar of Twiverton, other-
wise Twerton, Somersetshire, and the provost and scho-
lars of Oriel College, Oxford, for payment out of court of
a sum of money paid in under the Great Western Rail-
way Act, and that the Railway Company might pay the
costs thereof. The vicarage, with the garden, orchard,
and offices belonging to it, was purchase d by the Great
Western Railway, and the purchase-money was paid into
the Bank of England, as directed by the Act, and laid
out in the purchase of 2,8861. 17s. 9d. Three per Cent.
Consols. The Act contained a direction that in case the
Railway Company required the vicarage and land, the
purchase-money was to be laid out in the purchase of other
laads, or in erecting another vicarage-house. The vicar
upon his house being taken, purchased land as a site for
a new vicarage for the sum of 1,2861., which money was
paid out of Court for that purpose, and the costs paid by
the Railway Company. A new vicarage house had
since been built by the petitioner for 1,7751. 16s. being
more than the residue of the sum paid by the Railway
Company for the original vicarage. The present peti-
tion was by the vicar and the provost and scholars of
Oriel College, Oxford, who were the owners of part of
the land about the vicarage, and it prayed that the re-
mainder of the snm of 2,8861 17s. 9d., might be paid out
of Court for the building of the new vicarage-house, and
that the Railway Company might be ordered to pay the
costs thereof.

Mr. Osbozue, for the Great Western Railway Com-
pany, contended that the Court had no power to direct
the Company to pay the costs.
The VICE-CHANCELLOR said he had nothing to do
with the abstract juctice of the matter, nor could he
speculate upon what the Legislature intended to do ;
he could only construe a certain set of words con-
tained in the Act of Parliament. His Honour then read
the 9th section, as before quoted, and stated that, in this
case, the application was, not to have the purchase-money
paid out of Court simply, but to have part of the money
paid out to defray the expense, not of purchase of land,
but of building the vicarage-house on land which had
been purchased by the Government securities already
paid out by order of the Court. He could not, there-
fore, allow his mind to be influenced by his personal
notions of what was justice in the abstract. He could
only say, that on the true construction of the Act, the
case for which the vicar contended had been omitted or
had not been provided for. The vicar must, therefore,
pay the expenses; but as to the costs of this application
he had a discretion, and he should not give the costs to
the Company.

EXCHEQUER CHAMBER, Jan. 18-.

THE IPSWICH MURDERERS-APPEAL TO THE JUDGES.

The judges assembled this afternoon in the Exchequer
Court, for the purpose of hearing the argument of
counsel on behalf of the two Howells and Shipley, who
were sentenced to death by Mr. Justice Williams, at the
late Ipswich assizes, for the murder of a policeman
named MTadden. The error assigned was the inadmis-
sibility of certain evidence received. The evidence was
the confession of the parties.
Mr. PRENDERGAST, who appeared OR behalf of the
prisoners, addressed the Court in a long and ingenious
speech, contending that part of the evidence adduced on
the trial was inadmissible; and in support of his argu-
ment quoted several law cases to show that the evidence
in question ought not to have been admitted.
Mr. GORDON arose and was about to address the
Court, when
Lord DENMAN, on behalf of himself and his learned
brethren, intimated that they did not think it necessary
for him to do so, as they (the judges) were of opinion
that there was no argument before them to show that
the evidence was not admissible. _ _

The decision of the judge who tried the case was,
therefore, confirmed, and the unfortunate men are left
for execution.

CONSISTORY COURT, Jan. 18.
BRITTEN V. BRITTEN.
This was a case of divorce by reason of adultery, pro-
moted by Thomas Britten, Esq., against his wife, for the
commission of adultery with Mr. Edward Henry Keeling,
of the firm of Clark, Keeling, and Clark, wino brokers,
in Great Tower-street, City.
Shortly after the case was opened by Dr. Addams, the
Court inquired whether it was a suit in prenam?
Dr. ADDAMS—It is, sir.
The COURT—I have no sort of occasion to trouble you.
Dr. ADDAMS—I submit it is clear.
The COURT—It is impossible that a case can be more
clearly proved. It is quite unnecessary to enter into the
circumstances of the case. It can do no good to the
parties or to the public. Let the parties be called.
The REGISTRAR—They have been called.
The Court then signed the sentence of separation.

SHERIFFS' COURT, Jan. 18.
(Before Mr. Commissioner Buu.oczc.)
FORD V. DAVIS.

Mr. VALENTINE LEE, who appeared for the plaintiff,
stated that his client is a bootmaker, on Holborn-hill,
and had brought this action to recover 141. from the de-
fendant, Cyres Davis, the ex-pugilist and landlord of the
Plough public-house. in Giltspur-street,West Smithfield.
In the month of October last a watchmaker named
Shimmell, being in want of money, deposited a gold
watch with the plaintiff as a security for 141. Shortly
afterwards, Shimmell told plaintiff that he could dispose
of the watch, and it was deposited with him, the defen-
dant undertaking to pay the plaintiff the 141. in the
event of a sale, or to return the watch. •Ford having
ascertained that the watch had been raffled in a billiard-
room belonging to Davis, called on him and asked for his
money in the presence of witnesses, and on that oc-
cusion the defendant said that he had forgotten the cir-
cumstance, but would settle with him in a few days.
Several days elapsed, and no money being forthcoming,
Ford again applied to Davis, when he guaranteed the
payment of the money. High words then ensued ; the
defendant calling the defendant a - liar, and, finally,
putting down two 5/. notes, and offering to bet that
amount that he had never made any promise relative to
the watch or money. The plaintiff, in his excitement,
was rash enough to put down a similar amount, where-
upon defendant handed the 201. to his wife, saying,
" Here, old woman, you stick to this," and the same is
still retained in spite of the interference of mutual friends,
so that Ford is minus his 101. and his watch, or the value
thereof. This action, however, was only brought for the
141., leaving the bet of 101. the subject of future pro-
ceedings.
Two respectable witnesses were called, and they proved
the promise to pay the 14/, and also the raffle. For
some reason, however, unknown to them, he (defendant)
handed the amount paid by the subscribers to the raffle
to Shimmell.

Mr. Lusn, for the defence, contended that there was
not sufficient proof that his client was bound to restore
the watch, or give 141. to the plaintiff. The defendant
had the watch raffled, but he considered that it was for
the mutual benefit of Ford and Shimmell, and he thought
they would settle the matter between them. Mr. Davis
was willing to restore the watch, and would have done
so on the first application, but his son, who was the
winner of it, had gone to the theatre with it on his
person. On the following day it was offered to the
plaintiff, and he refused to accept it.
Mr. Shimmell was called for the defence, and, in his
cross-examination, he admitted the receipt of the produce
of the raffle, and the application of it to his own use, and
that he afterwards placed in defebdant's hands a watch
of much greater value as a security to repay the plaintiff,
which watch was, to the best of his knowledge, in de-
fendant's custody. He added that he was present when
Davis objected to pay the 141., and had recently heard
him say that he would bet 101. that he never undertook
to pay the 141. He saw each of them put down 101, and
likewise saw the defendant pass the 201. to his wife,
telling her to keep it. He believed that it was in her
possession at the present time—in fact, he heard de-
fendant admit that such was the case within a very
few days.
Mr. LUSH here rose from his seat, and consented to a
verdict for the plaintiff for the 141.
Mr. VALENTINE LEE remarked that the matter would
not end there, it being his client's intention to take other
proceedings for the recovery of the 101.

IN,I,OLVENT DEBTORS' COURT, Jan. 18.
THE HIPPODROME RACE-COURSE.-IN THE MATTER OP

JACONI CONNOP.

An application was made in the case of this insolvent,
who had been connected with the Hippodrome Race-
course, to appoint an assignee before the hearing, with
the view of making the property at Notting-hill available
for the numerous creditors under the estate. The in-
solvent had sojourned among the Poor Knights of Wind-
sor, and a question was raised whether his residence in
the Castle-yard, New Windsor, was for him a privileged
place. He had, however, been taken in execution, and
was now a resident in Reading gaol, and his case had
been appointed to be heard on Feb. 7, before Mr. Com-
missioner Pollock on the ensuing circuit. The schedule
filed by the insolvent for public inspection, of which
notice has been given to the creditors, extends to
many pages. The debts in the aggregate are set
forth at 67,240/. 1 ls. 3d., and the debts owing to
the insolvent, all of which are bad and doubtful, to
36,239/. 12s. The consideration debts from January,
1840, are mentioned at 63,232/. 95.; those without eon.
sideration, 2,2001.; and those more than twice entered,
to 1,571/. 2s, 3d. The insolvency is attributed to the
insolvent not having had sufficient capital to work so
extensive a building speculation as the Hippodrome, and
farther, to his liabilities for three persons, inserted as
debtors in his schedule. He was a bankrupt in the year
1829, when he obtained his certificate, and the debts
still unpaid were in amount 80,0001. It seems that the
insolvent's income had been about 2,000/. a-year, and his
wife had a separate property of 2501. From a statement
in the general balance sheet, it appears that the insolvent
has an expectation that if the property be properly
worked it would produce as much as 10,000/. over the
debts due on the same. The debts due to various
creditors on simple contracts, for work don© and mate-
rials supplied, amount to 9,000/.; and the charges on the
buildings to secure debts to creditors, are in amount
40,3691. There are 106 creditors and nine debtors in
the schedule.
Mr. WOODRUFFE now applied to make the rule, which
was granted a few days ago, absolute, for the appoint-
ment of Mr. R. Laurence, a builder, who was a creditor
for upwards of 2,0004, as assignee. The Learned
Counsel remarked that the insolvent had been lessee of
the Hippodrome, and employed the various parties to
erect buildings on the ground, which belonged to Mr.
Ladbroke, who was 4112C10113 to benefit the creditors. The

arrears of ground rent amounted to about 800 L, and
work had been done by the simple contract crzditors to
about 12,0001. ; and Mr. Ladbroke had it in his power
to work a forfeiture, but he was willing to continue the
leases on the payment of the ground-rent. The object
of the application was, therefore, to clothe a creditor
with the office of assignee, in order that the buildings
might be completed and sold for the benefit of the
creditors.

The CHIEF COMMISSIONER asked whether the insolvent
was in attendance ? _ _

Mr. WOODRUFFE said he was not, but he supposed be
would like to be ; he was in Reading gaol.
The Learned COMMISSIONER said he meant whether
he showed cause ; he might have been out on bail.

The COURT ordered Mr. Laurence to be appointed
assignee.

POLICE INTELLIGENCE.
(SATURDAY.)
MANSION-HO U USE.

BURGLARY.—Thomas Howell, Frederick Smith,
and Robert Franklin, were brought up for final ex-
amination. It will be recollected that two of the pri-
soners were found concealed in a chamber at the
George and Vulture, Cornhill.
The depositions of the witnesses were read over and
signed, and the parties were duly bound over to pro-
secute.

Howell and Smith were then fully committed on
the charge of burglary, and Franklin as an accessory.
The prisoners displayed the most hardened indif-
ference throughout, Howell humming a tune the
greater part of the time.
Howell addressed his Lordship about the cab fare
havingteen taken from his pocket. It was 4s.
LORD MAYOR—Apply to the Court at the trial.
Howell—Till then I suppose my wife must go with-
out. I never rode in the cab. It is not proved.

The LORD MAYOR—I cannot interfere.
The prisoners were then removed.
GUILDHALL.

A smartly-dressed young man, of the name of El;is,
who is supposed to be some City warehouseman, was
charged with having offered a dozen silk handkerchiefs
in pledge, the same being suspected as stolen.
Mr. Attenborough, the pawnbroker, of Fleet-street,
said that on Friday afternoon the prisoner came to his
shop, and desired to pledge a piece of silk handker-
chiefs for four shillings. There appearing something
suspicious about his behaviour, he was induced to ask
him several questions respecting where the property
came from, and where he lived. The prisoner replied
that he had purchased it in the early part of the week
for l Os., at a public-house, and that he resided some-
times in Laurence-lane, and at Cole's-place, Com-
mercial-road East. He them requested him to walk
with him (witness) to the former address, so as to
ascertain whether he spoke correctly, and on their
way there the prisoner stopped and admitted that
he had told falsehoods respecting his address. Wit-
ness then, believing that the property had been im-
properly obtained, gave him in custody to the first
policeman he met with.
Mr. Alderman MUSGROVE—WeII, prisoner, per-
haps you will tell me where you got the handker-
chiefs, and your right address ? The prisoner gave
the same story as he did to Mr. Attenborough, and
remarked that he should not have attempted to pawn
them, had he not been pushed for a little money.
Mr. Alderman MUSGROVE wished to know whether
the prisoner was known.
The prisoner said his friends were highly respect-
able. He had two brothers filling very important
situations in the City.
A person here, in the body of the Court, cried out
that the prisoner's friends were highly respectable,
but they would not help him now he had gotinto such
a disgraceful situation, as he had mixed with bad cha-
racters.

Mr. Alderman MUSGROVE observed that he could
not part with the prisoner until some inquiries were
made about him, and accordingly remanded him till
Wednesday for that purpose.
WORSHIP-STREET.

Thwailes, a weaver, was placed before Mr.
Broughton, for final examination, upon a charge of
embezzling upwards of 401. worth of silk velvet, which
he had been employed to weave for Messrs. Everson
and Co., silk manufacturers, in Spitalfields.
Mr. Humphreys attended for the complainants.
The prisoner, it appeared, had three looms, and at
different tines since September, received materials to
make three pieces of velvet of thirty yards each, re-
ceiving, as the work progressed, a more than usual
advance of cash on account of wages. Mr. Gascoigne,
the foreman, visited occasionally to inspect the works,
and on the last occasion, in December, the prisoner
said, "if you come on Christmas-eve you shall have
the whole.' When he next went, however, he found
the place empty and locked up, the looms and the
whole of the property were gone, and the prisoner
had absconded. Last week the prisoner was discovered
at work at Loughborough, and there apprehended,'
brought to London by railway, and delivered in
custody at this Court. It was now proved that dur-
ing the progress of the work he had contrived to draw
his wages in advance to the amount of upwards of
101. from his employers, whose loss altogether was
little short of 501.

The prisoner admitted having made away with the
work, but alleged that he had been driven to it by the
persons employed under him, who got from him more
than he received, and reduced him to distress.
Mr. BROUGHTON said it was a most aggravated
case, and a person plundering his employer of even a
twentieth part of the property, under other circum-
stances, would be liable to transportation, but he
could only sentence the prisoner, under the Silk Act,
to three months' imprisonment—a punishment wholly
inadequate to the offence.
MARLBOROUGH-STREET.

An information against Mr. Hunt, the proprietor
of Morland's Hotel, Dean-street, for keeping (as
alleged) his house open for the sale of liquors
after twelve o'clock on Saturday night, was heard
before Mr. Hardwick, the sitting magistrate.
Inspector Squires, of the C division, proved that he
went to the defendant's house about half-past twelve
o'clock on the previous Saturnay night, and on gaining
admission he went up-stairs, and in a room on the
first floor he saw nine or ten gentlemen seated around
a table, with refreshments before them. Everything
wore the appearance of a convivial and social meeting,
and one of the party was singing at the time witness
male his appearance. When witness entered the
room he was told by the company that the society
was a literary one, and that they were in their own
club-room. Witness went over the defendant's
house, but with the exception of one person before
the bar, and the gentlemen up-stairs, there was no
one in the house. The lights were also extinguished,
and the house was otherwise closed.

Mr. Duncombe, who appeared for the defendant,
said his answer to the complaint was, that the police
had intruded themselves into a place where they had
no business to show themselves. A number of lite-
rary gentlemen and artists of celebrity had for many
years rented rooms of the defendant. In these rooms
they established a club, the members of which met to
discuss subjects connected with literature and the arts,
and to refresh themselves with a social glass. They
had a right, he contended, to remain in their own
room as long as they pleased, and to be exempted
from the surveillance of the police. The information
could not be sustained against the defendant, he being
charged with "keeping his house open for the sale of
liquors after twelve o'clock on Saturday night," be-
cause the principal witness himself proved the house
for business purposes was closed, and that the only
part of the house in which persons were found was a
club-room, over which the defendant had no control.
Besides, no proof had been given that liquors had been
served after twelve o'clock.
The proprietor of the hotel proved by the books of
the club proceedings, that the room in which the ten
persons were found by the inspector was rented of
him by a number of gentlemen, who paid him a yearly
rent, and who had appropriated the room to the pur-
pose of a literary and scientific club.
Mr. llARDwrcx said it had been distinctly proved
that the room visited by the inspector, although
forming part of the defendant's house, was in reality
in the nature of a separate tenement. The landlord
received a yearly rent for his room, and therefore
the right of occupancy was entirely vested in the
members of the club. The renters of these rooms
had a right to use them for their own purposes, and
if they so pleased, to remain in them all night. He
must therefore consider that everything done in these
club-rooms was precisely the same as if done in the
next house, or any house not a public-house.
The members of the club had a perfect right to
indulge their convivial tendencies, but then, if the
landlord of the house supplied them with refresh-
ments after the hour of twelve on Saturday night,
the landlord committed an offence and was clearly
liable for:having violated the provisions of au Act of
Parliament. The evidence before him went only to
show that a number of gentlemen were in their own
club-roomwith refreshments before them, but in a
case like the present he considered it was his duty, in
order to justify a conviction, to have proof that the
defendant actually served liquors after twelve o'clock.
Inspector Squires said he had a witness who would
prove that a person came out of the house with a pot
of porter after twelve o'clock at night.
Mr. Duncombe, with considerable warmth, pro-
tested against the course pursued by the inspector.
The inspector had closed his evidence, but finding he
had not stated enough to ensure a conviction, although
sworn to speak the truth, and the whole truth, he at-
tempted to re-open the case by introducing evidence
of a totally different character. Had the inspector
attempted such a proceeding at the Central Criminal
Court the judge would have instantly ordered him
out of Court.
Inspector Squires said he had only partly given his
evidence, when he was interrupted by the defence set ,
up by Mr. Duncombe.
Mr. HaanwfcK said he actually thought the evi-
dence on the part of the police had ceased ; otherwise
he should not have offered the remarks which he had
just uttered. He did not see that he could with pro-

priety allow evidence of another character to be pro.
duced, now that the peculiar circumstances relied
upon by the police in the first instance had not been
found suMcientte warrant a conviction. Mr. Hard-
wick then dismissed the inforthation,

WINGER WORTH FARMERS' CLUB

(Abridged from the Derby Reporter.)

FIRST ANNUAL MEETING.

On Tuesday last the first annual meeting of this
flourishing Club was held at the house of Mr. Turner,
Nag's Head, Wingerworth, near Chesterfield.
At the appointed hour, a large party of members
and friends sat down to a dinner comprising the usual
delicacies of the season, and which was served up in a
manner highly creditable to the host and hostess. The
dessert and wines were also excellent. John Brown,
Esq., Vice-President of the Society, occupied the chair;
Mr. Samuel Denham the vice-chair, &c.

After the usual loyal toasts had been given,
The CHAIRMAN having called for a bumper, rose to
propose the toast of the evening—" Prosperity to the
Wingerworth Farmers' Club." It had been said that
farmers' clubs were designed more for the benefit of the
landlord than the tenant. lie (the chairman)• disputed
this. No doubt in this, as in every case where the tenant
learned to cultivate the soil upon improved principles,
the landlord would reap a proportion of the benefit; but
by improved culture the tenant derived increased pro-
duce, and ampler returns.—(Hear.) Farmers' clubs
afforded facilities to farmers which they could not obtain
from any other source. By assembling together, and
communicating the results of their respective experi-
ments, they diffused a knowledge of schemes beneficial
to the farmer within the range of a very large circle,
and induced, by their example, a very general adoption
of systems of improved culture.—(Cheers.) Some farmers
thought that it was a great disadvantage to them for the
landlords to learn too much; but he (the Chairman) was
certain, that the more landlord and tenant met together,
and discussed questions affecting their mutual interests,
the better would it be for both parties.—(Cheers.) The
late Lord Leicester, one of the greatest practical agri-
culturists of the age, knew how to appreciate a good
tenant, when a careless or an ignorant landlord could
not. In the one case the tenant was placed in a right
position ; in the other he was placed in a false one ; and
let the active and enterprising farmer not suppose, there-
fore, that his interests could be permanently promoted,
unless his landlord was capable of appreciating his worth,
his intelligence and industry.—(Hear, hear). Having
offered these few very imperfect remarks, he would
submit the toast for their approval, merely adding, that
so long as he remained in the neighbourhood, the Win-
gerworth Farmers' Club should re eive his cordial sup-
port.—(Cheers).
The toast was drank with three times three, and " one
cheer more."

The CrwastAN next gave the health of "The Lord-
Lieutenant of the County." (Drank with musical
honours and three times three).
The CHAIRMAN, after passing a few complimentary re-
marks, which were loudly applauded, called upon Mr.
James Brotherton to propose the next toast.
Mr. BROTHERTON, on rising, was received with loud
cheers. He said, Mr. Chairman and gentlemen—The
toast I shall have the honour to propose, is one which I
trust will meet with a cordial response from every indi-
vidual in this room. It commenoes with "Success to
Agriculture." And, gentlemen, I know of no period in
the history of this country, when that sentiment was
more pregnant with meaning, or more suggestive of
topics for calm and serious reflection, than the times in
which we live.—(Hear, hear). For with the apprehen-
sion of supposed danger from without, and the existence
of yet more formidable difficulties and hindrances within,
it may well become a question of grave import to the
farmers of England, how is the occupation in which they
have embarked their capital, and by which they are
striving to subsist, to be best maintained and its interests
most permanently secured.—(Loud cheers.) With re-
gard to one branch of this question, viz., so far as it
affects the mere practical cultivation of the soil, I am
happy to say the difficulty is comparatively small. For
in the improvements which have taken place during the
last twenty years, and more especially during the last
ten years, it must be obvious to every intelligent ob-
server, that an entirely new era has opened upon British
agriculture. Science is now lending her powerful aid to
combine sound theory with practice. New facts and
principles are almost daily being developed, which worked
out to their legitimate results, bid fair to secure to the
agriculturists of England a position and a fame equal
to any which has yet been enjoyed by those who are en-
gaged in the other branches of our national industry.—
(Cheers.) Of the advantages of combining theory with
practice in the cultivation of the land, few persons, now
a days, will have the hardihood to dispute. But if proof
were wanting, I know not that amongst a variety of
ethers, I could select a more notable instance than that
which is related of Lavoisoir, a celebrated French che-
mist. It is said that this intelligent individual (without
a minute knowledge of the art of farming), by fol-
lowing an enlightened system, doubled in nine years the
produce of his lands in grain, whilst he at the same time
quintupled the number of his flocks.—(Cheers.) But,
gentlemen, it would be impossible for me to give you
even a faint outline of the numberless advantages which
may be daily derived from the application of science to
farming. Take one branch only. It is scarcely possible
to enter upon any investigation in agriculture, without
finding it more or less connected with the doctrines and
elucidations derived from chemistry. For instance, if
land be unprodnctive, and a system of amelioration is to
be attempted, the only sure method of obtaining the ob-
ject is by determining the cause of its sterility, which
must necessarily depend upon some defect in the consti-
tution of the soil, and which may be easily discovered by
chemical analysis. Now there are some lands, as you
are, no doubt, most of you aware, which, though of good
apparent texture, are yet sterile and unproductive in a
high degree ; and common observation, and common
practice afford no means of ascertaining the cause, or of
removing the effect. The application of chemical tests
in such cases, therefore, must be obvious ; for it is evi-
dent the soil must contain some noxious principle, which
may be easily discovered, and in all probability as easily
destroyed. For example : are any of the salts of iron
present?—they may be decomposed by lime. Is there an
excesiof silicious sand ?—the system of improvement must
depend upon the application of clay and calcareous mat-
ter. Is there a defect of calcareous matter?—the remedy
is obvious. Is there an excess of vegetable matter in •
dicated ?-..it may bo removed by liming, paring, and
burning. Is there, on the other hand, a deficiency of
vegetable matter ?—it is to be supplied by manure.—
(Hear, hear.) Again—a question often arises concern-
ing the qualities of different kinds of limestone employed
in cultivation. To determine this question fully and
accurately, in the common way of experience, would
demand a considerable time, perhaps some years, and
trials which might be injurious to crops ; but, by the
simple chemical tests, the nature of a limestone is dis-
covered in a few moments, and the fitness of its appli-
cation, whether as a manure for different soils, or as a
cement, determined.—(Hear, hear.) Another example—.
peat earth, of a certain consistence and composition, is
an excellent manure ; but there are some varities of

peats which contain so large a quantity of ferruginous
matter, as to be absolutely poisonous to plants. Nothing
can be more simple, we are told, than the chemical
operation for determining the nature and probable uses
of these and other substances of their kind. Now,
gentlemen ,+ these, and numberless other instances— as
cited by :Sir Humphrey Davy, Liebig, Johnston, and
other great chemists—might be adduced to prove the
desirability of combining science with the practice of
agriculture ; but I am sure you are too fully convinced
of the truth of the proposition, to render any further
details on this head necessary.—(Hear,' hear.) But,
gentlemen, great as the advantages to be derived from
the application of science to the art of farming may be,
high and important as the principles which it deve-
lopes undoubtedly are, unless preceded by other con-
siderations, which, in my opinion, are of paramount
importance, they must, to you, as tenant farmers,
be comparatively useless. And here, gentlemen, I ap-
proach a branoh of my subject, upon which I am anxious
to offer a few observations, and to which I respectfully
solicit your indulgent attention. But, first of all, allow
me to state what I conceive to be the object and design
of farmers' clubs. I look upon farmers' clubs as esta-
blished, not only to discuss and promote the improve-
ments which are more immediately connected with
the practical cultivation of the soil, but also as afford-
ing to the tenant-farmers an opportunity to discuss, and
so lay the foundation for removing, the obstacles which
cripple their energies and prevent them from deriving
that fair proportion of advantage from the prosecution
of their trade, which they have a full and perfect right
to expect.,—(Cheers). lam aware that in most of the
farmers' clubs which have been established in different

parts of the country, great anxiety has been evinced
by certain parties to exclude the discussion of what they
call (and I believe them), " obnoxious subjects"—such
las rents, leases, and game.—(Loud cheers.) But some
how or other, in almost every club of whose proceedings
I bare seen any account, these " obnoxious subjects"
have crept in, in spite of all the shifts and manoeuvreswhich have been resorted to to keep them out.—(Con-
tinned cheers and laughter). And, gentlemen, I think
it perfectly right that these things should be discussed.—
(Renewed cheers). There are times when farmers
must speak out, not only about guano and drilling, but
about land agents, land valuers, and game preservers—
(Loud cheers)—and indeed it would be no compliment to
a landlerd to suppose that he would wish you to keep
silence upon those topics which affect the privileges
and just rights of your occupation, acd more especially
upon those grievances which it may be in his power to
alleviate or remove.—(Vociferous cheering.) For if it
be desirable to discuss the expediency of the introduction
of a new " drag" upon the land, surely it is equally
desirable to discuss the propriety of taking an old one off
it—(Cheers and laughter)—and one too which is much
more obnoxious than even the new ono is beneficial.—
(Renewed cheers.) If it be desirable to introduce a new
presser on the land, is it not equally so to remove those
older pressers which operate upon the farmers' pockets
rather than on his land ?—(Cheers renewed.) Weil
then, gentlemen, the first of these obstacles to improve-
ment upon which I shall offer an observation, is the te-
nure of land—(Hear, hear)—and upon this subject, viz.,
the relation between landlord and tenant, I will quote
the opinion of one who is much better entitled to your
consideration than any unsupported opinion of mine on
such a subject could possibly be—l mean Mr. Low, the
Professor of Agriculture in the University of Edinburgh,
who, in a work just published, "On Landed Property
and the Economy of Estates," (a work I would strongly
recommend to the notice of the club), says—
" Not even the accumulation of capital, to the degree
of stocking the farms of the country, will avail for giving
to agriculture the means of successful cultivation and
improvement. The owner of this capital must have the
means of employing it with advantage, by security of
possession, by the privileges required for the proper
management of his business, and by that fair and lenient
exaction upon his industry, which will enable him to
employ his capital with a profit."

Now, gentlomer, is not this perfectly true ?—(Hear,
hear.) And yet there are not a few landowners who
seem to think that if tenant-farmers can pay their rents
and just rub along, they have tie right to expect more.—
(Hear, hear.) Tell a landlord—of course there are ex-
ceptions, but the exceptions prove the rule—that any
particular tenant is making a profit, and he will imme-
diately think, and not unfrequently act upon the thought,
that the farm has been let for too little rent.—(Hear,
hear.) Now let us see what has been the effect of these
notions amongst the landowners of England. Upon this
point Mr. Low says :
"In the finest parts of England funds have been pro-
gressively accumulating for stocking the farms to a
degree unknown in any other country in Europe ; but
the essential conditions having been too often wanting,
of security of possession, and a beneficial connexion be-
tween the landlord and the tenants, agriculture has re-
mained comparatively fixed, while every other branch of
industry has been advancing."
—(Hear, hear.) Compare this stationary state of agri-
culture with the onward progress of other branches of
British industry. Mr. Low says :
" The manufacturer of cotton, of wool, of iron, has the
assurance that the machine which he constructs and
improves for the purposes of his trade is his own, and
that the more perfect he can render it the more profit-
able will the use of it become to him. The farmer who
lays out capital on the great machine on which his all
depends—the earth which he tills—has often no such as-
surance. It is the property of another, who in the end will
profit by all the improvements which the skill of a tempo-
rary possessor can make upon it. The manufacturer re-
ceives, directly, the profit of his stock in trade; the farmer
must share those profits with another, who undergoes no
part of the labour and risk ; his industry is fettered by
conditions imposed upon no other class of traders ; and
the inconveniences of obtaining returns for a present
expenditure more slowly than in any other profession
are frequently aggravated by the uncertainty whether
he will ever have the power of recovering the capital
advanced." _ _ .

—( Hear.) Now, gentlemen, we hear a great deal about
" mutual confidence," " tenures," " tenant rights," and
so forth. Listen again to Mr. Low :
" The only fitting security for a man who has capital
to employ in the cultivation and improvement of land is
a written covenant, subsisting for a definite and adequate
period. Tenancy at will, it must be apparent, so much
extended over the richest parts of England, is in no de-
gree an adequate substitute for the lease, ensuring to the
tenant his right of possession for a determiued period.
Habit, indeed, may reconcile the tenantry of a country
to such a species of tenure, and a kind of confidence
may arise that a tenant will not be capriciously dispos-
sessed, nor an unfair advantage taken of his expendi-
ture 4 but this confidence, however great, is not to be
compared, as the means of inducing men to spend capi-
tal on land, with that sense of security and indepen-
dence which is the soul of industry and exertion. It is
impossible to divest the tenant-at-will of the knowledge
that every improvement which he makes upon his farm
gives it a higher value to another, and adds to the means
of raising the rent against himself."
—(Hear.) Now, gentlemen, who can doubt the truth or
the justice of these remarks ? And I beg of you to
give them your serious attention. We now come to the
subject of rents ; and upon this point the Professor
serves :

" The tenant who takes land, and the landlord who
lets it, should so adjust the rent, that the tenant shall be
able to bear the pressure of deficient crops, or of low
prices arising from favourable ones; and no prudent
man ought to contract for rent which will nut allow him
to meet that contingency of his trade which arises from
a fluctuation in the amount and prices of his commodi-
ties. . . . The landlord who would secure a prospe-
rous tenantry, and improve his estate, must not trust
to his per tentage or bounty on an audit day, but must
place his tenants in the condition which will, enable them
to fulfil the obligations under which they engage in
virtue of a fair and well-considered covenant,"

—(Loud cheers.) Now, gentlemen, these remarks have
evident reference to corn rents, and upon this subject
just allow me to state the relative positions in which
English and Scottish farmers are placed to each other;
the Englishman paying a fixed money rent, the Scotch-
man, a corn rent. We shall take a farmer at 200 'acres
at 255. an acre, money price, which, farmed upon the
five course system, will, I suppose, have about 40 acres
of wheat in each year. Adopting the general notion
that wheat must pay the rent, then it will require at
least two-thirds of the wheat crop upon the forty acres
to satisfy the landlord for the rent of the whole farm.
Let us now see how a corn rent will bear upon landlords
and tenants. The English landlord asks, as I have be-
fore supposed, 255. an acre for his 200 acres, and the
English tenant accepts the offer. The Scotch farmer,
on the ether hand, bargains with his landlord to
give him four bushels of wheat, or half a quarter
of an acre. Now, supposing that these bargains are
entered into with wheat at 50s. a quarter, as long as
this price continues all parties, both Scotch and
English, stand upon the same footing, paying 255. an
acre rent. But let us suppose that wheat falls to 405.,
how will matters be then ? Why, the English farmer
will continue to pay 255. an acre, whilst the Scotch
farmer pays 20s.—a difference, be it observed, of 501.
upon the 200 acres, or of 255. an acre on the 40 acres
growing wheat !—(Loud cries of " Hear, hear.") 'l'en
shilling a quarter is, however, by no means the limit of
the fluctuation to which the farmer is liable. In 1835
the average price of wheat for the whole year was under
40s. a quarter. At that time the tenantry of England
held their farms at a rent calculated upon the under-
standing that wheat was to sell for 60s. at least, which
price it was believed the Act of 1828 would secure. We
all know the distress which then overtook the English
farmers, as proved before the Committee of 1836. But
we also know that the Scotch farmers, paying corn rents,
who were examined before that Committee, gave a very
different account of their condition ; and one of the
most intelligent farmers in the county of Haddington-
shire has since stated that he cleared more money from
his farm in 1835 than in any year since.—(Hear, hear.)
And the difference in the state of things in England end
Scotland was caused by the difference in the terms of
renting, for whilst the Scotch farmer paid 4001. to his
landlord, the Englishman paid 6001. In fact the English
farmer is now paying three times as much rent for his
land as his grandfather paid about seventy years ago,
whilst his wheat is actually selling under the price of
that period.—(Cheers.) Now, gentlemen, these are facts
which demand very serious reflection at your hands,
and I think these farmers' clubs may be made very useful
instruments in leading to a right understanding both
upon these and various other topics in which your in-
terests are concerned. You begin to talk them over
amongst yourselves, and having talked together, you will
soon learn to act together. For, depend upon it, the
want of unity of purpose and of action has been one
great cause why the present vicious system under which
you are suffering has continued so long.—(Loud cheers.)
I had intended to say a word or two about game—(Hear,
hear)—but I have already trespassed so long on your
indulgence upon other topics that I must pass on.—
(Cries of "Go on !") I have now done with agricul-
ture; my toast, however, goes somewhat farther, and
embraces " Manufactures and Commerce." And, gen-
tlemen, I think I can by way of conclusion very briefly
show cause why these two branches of our national in-
dustry are as much entitled to your good wishes as your
own occupation of agriculture. For, gentlemen, great
as your predilections and respect for the pursuits of agri-
culture may be—honourable, invigorating, and benevo-
lent as its principles are, dating from the very birth of
time, growing with every growth of civilisation, and ad-
vancing with the advance of light and knowledge—in-
dispensable as are its aids to the public welfat e and the
national greatness, I very much question whether you
could conveniently dispense with the other ingredients
of my teast.—(Hear, hear.) We are no longer able
to become a nation of shepherds if we would. Manu-
factures and commerce have materially assisted in
fixing our high position with the nations of the world,
and so much so, that although, as was observed by
an eloquent statesman, " the pipe has always been
recognised as the pastoral instrument, we must rely
on manufactures and commerce to help us to
pay the piper."—(Cheers, and laughter.) Agriculture
furnishes able and vigorous hands, but we must also rely
upon commerce and manufactures for some of the open
and capacious mouths.—(Cheers and laughter.) And
gentlemen, the more we look into every employment and
every interest that engages the various classes of man-
kind, the more we shall find that we stand in need of
each other.—(Hear, hear.) Moreover, although I may
be as ready as any man to cry " Speed the plough," I
must recollect that ploughs to be used must be manufac-
tured, and though we read in ancient story books of the
dragon's teeth growing up into a crop of armed men, I
doubt whether any of the most sanguine competitors is
drill or broadcast, could succeed in turning up a plough
ready made.—(Cheers and laughter.) Gentlemen, I
might pursue this subject, but I think that the few ob-
servations I have already made on this branch of my
toast will be sufficient to establish the claims of com-
merce and manufactures to be allied with agriculture.—
(Hear, hear.) They are the leading branches et in-
dustry, and when you reflect besides all else what com-
merce does to develope the resources and augment the
welfare of the country—how much it does to unite the
scattered branches of the human family—to unite nation
and nation—clime and clime—man and man in one
cemented bond—to soften the asperities of international
jealousies—and to calm the savage tendencies to strife
and to murderous war—l think you will agree with me
that commerce ought to be associated in the same goodly
fellowship—and therefore it is with confidence and plea-
sure that I now call upon you to drink—" Agriculture,
Manufactures, and Commerce."—(Mr. Brotherton re-
sumed his seat amidst reiterated plaudits.)
Mr. BiNsis (of Tupton Hall) was called upon to re-
spond to the toast. He regretted that it was not in his
power to give expression to his thoughts with the same
fluency and eloquence Mr. Brotherton had displayed in
proposing the toast, to which he had been unexpectedly
called upon to respond. If he had the power of expressing,
with equal felicity, his own thoughts upon the subjects
of agriculture, manufactures, and commerce, they would
be a complete reiteration of Mr. Brotherton's speech.—
(Cheers.) Though a small farmer himself, his principal
pursuit was commerce, and his experience had taught
him how intimately connected were the real interests of
agriculture and commerce.—(Hear, hear.) Sec how
they mutually assisted each other. If the firm with
which he was connected were deprived of the support
which the operations of agriculture afforded them, they
must cease to produce. The firm were indebted to the
agriculturists for the consumption of something like
40,000 tons of lime per year; and on the other hand,
the farmers of the district were equally indebted to
them, for the firm paid in wages alone about 40,0001.
annually, a great proportion of which was expended
in the agricultural produce of this district.—(Cheers.)
It was impossible, with any degree of common sense
or notion of right, to separate the two interests.
Mr Brotherton had alluded to the land agents, against
whom a heavy score was laid. Now he thought that
class of people were rather too roundly rated, and that
more was fathered upon them than they were justly on.