The Sun.
London, England, 1844-03-13 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, WEDNESDAY EVENING, MARCH 13, 1844,

„..........--
parative prosperity and ahuridance.—(Cries of ” Hear, hear.") the expense of the rest of the community. The Hon. Mem-
By leaving the question in doubt they were preventing the ber for Roxburghshire said he was the poor man's friend. So
application to the land of
of rent, and by thus of that skill and capital which were ne- were they who supported the motion; it was to affect the poor
landlords)securityrepressing enter- man's food that they were making exertions. He
prise they (the
cessary for the
were in reality injuring themselves. thought that the prosperity of the manufacturing and
--(Hear.) When it was said by Hon. Gentlemen opposite agricultural interest ought to go hand in hand
that free trade produced insecurity, and when they described it and he was convinced, that what injured the one was detri-
as something horrible and frightful to contemplate, he would mental to the other, for the removal of restrictions from trade
ask them to look back for the last 15 or 20 years of the corn- had always a tendency—always enriched—the best customer of
xnereial history of the country, and to point out any instance the agriculturist. He concurred with the Hon. Member for
in which measures of relief, or approximation to the free trade Stockport, that rents would not be materially decreased
tocreased by the
principle, had not materially tended to produce wealth and con- operation of free trade. However, they. ought have the
fidence.—( Hear, hear. He would put the question at issue Committee and investigate the truth, and if, after a careful in-
on that point alone, and he would abandon the argument if vestigation, they saw protection was necessarily just, and
tcaeln-
they could show him a single instance in which an alteration culated to promote the general welfare of the community, h
in favour of the free trade principle diminished wealth or les- let protection be adopted ; but if it should be shown to be un-
sened the confidence of the classes more immediately affected just, impolitic, and calculated to injure a great portion of the
by it.—(Hear) No doubt all alterations produced at the time community, then let it be done away with. They only asked
some extent of mischief, but the evil was to be laid at the door for justice, and lee trusted the country wouldt ultimately in-
of those who built up a house on a false foundation, on which duce the House to give. that justice. to the counry.
it was impossible that it could have stood, and not to those who Colonel WOOD said that if the Hon.. n who had
witnessed the fall. The Hon. Gentleman then read an extract just sat downhhaatdo,f itnwsetenatd-tohfrecoenefionninntgiesh,isexrteentudrends
tohfemthteo
from Cobbett's Weekly Register, stating that the corn-laws populantiitoendto that
Kingdom, he wouldy have found that instead of the
were prejudicial to the farmers and agricultural labourers, and the U
proportions which he had detailed to the House of the pointing out the cm sequences of admitting foreign corn into p
agricul-
the country. He then continued to say that it was impossible. turalrop to other classes of the population, the proportion of the
that a sufficient supply of corn could be produced ir, this former to the manufacturing classes was as two to one, and he
(Colonel Wood) was satisfied that they contributed to the ex-
country for all the manufacturing classes, and that when they
were thus unable to give them a sufficient supply of bread, they penses of
,the Government at least in proportion of two to ens
ought not to prevent them from manufacturing goods for those as compared with the n.anufacturing classes. He deprecated
who would give them food in return. He considered. that agitation on the one side and the other, and he wished he could
corn ought to be regarded as being as much a portion of Bri- see an end of all associations. When the Hon. Member for
tish trade as any branch of their manufactures. In various Stockport said that the expenses of cultivating 400 acres was
years when foreign corn was admitted they found no conse- 790/., and that the rent was 800/., he must be very little
quent distress attend the agricultural labourers, but directly acquainted indeed with agricultural matters to have believed
the reverse.—( Hear.) lie then read a passage from a pa- such a statement. He should like to know whether that was
per written by the Right Hon. Gentleman, the President of the the statement of a man farming his own land, or of a tenant-
Board of Trade, describing the necessity of having the manu- farmer.
facturers placed in a position to compete with the markets of Mr. BROTHERTON explained that he had not included
the world, and then continued to say that he did not think they the great manufacturing counties of Lancashire and Yorkshire
should have a Minister of the Crown putting forward such in his statement.
statements for his private interests out of that House, and pur- After a few words from the Earl of SHELBURNE,
suing the course which they had witnessed that evening as a Colonel SIBTHORP said that the Hon. Member for Stock-
Member of the Government.—( Hear.) They had no right to port was included in the list of stewards who were to officiate
increase trade at the expense of the manufacturers, as they at a certain banquet that night with their white wands.
had witnesses in many instances in the tariff of last year, while (Laughter.) And if he (Col. Sibthorp) were honoured with
they, at the same time, refused to allow them the proper oppor- such an office at any assembly he would have thoughtl it hisduty
tunities of procuring food in return for their goods. He was not to be absent. Under the circumstance he (Co Sibthorp)
certain the speech of his Hoe. Friend, the Member for Stock- did not expect such a motion to be brought forward,
port, would produce a very great effect upon the country, and He trusted the Hen. Member was not ashamed to
bepresent;
he could tell Gentlemen in the lower part of the House that for his own part he would say with Sir John Falstaff, "I would
if they had to go before their constituents in some great town not march through Coventry with them.” —(Laughter. ) As
in Nottinghamshire, they would find the question of the repeal for the Association to which the Hon. Member belonged he
of the corn-laws one of much greater importance than they knew not in what terms to speak of it. The language in the
might at present be inclined to suppose.—( Hear and laugh- organ of that Association, he meant, The Anti- Corn-law Cir-
ter. He would give his most earnest, though humble, support cular, was past endurance. The usual epithets applied by that
to the motion of his Hon. Friend the Member for Stockport ; journal to the supporters of the agricultural interest were " re-
and he was certain that the question which that Hon. Gentle- lentless demons," " heartless fiends," " inhuman, merciless,
man so ably advocated would, before long, produce practical foot-pacts"—(Laughter)—and such like. But the farmers and
results of the greatest possible advantage to . the country at labourers of England held the party in as much contempt as he
large,—(Hear, hear, and cheers.) in his capacity of an humble Member of that House did. He
Lord POLLINGTON opposed the motion. He said it was was sorry to say that, much as the agriculturists might be in
impossible to deny that the question before the House was one favour of a conciliatory course, a different feeling seemed to
of very great importance. It was his belief that a people could pervade the manufacturers.
enjoy no greater blessing than free trade; but, in order to Mr. VILLIERS said that the Hon. and Gallant Mem-
make it a blessing, it was necessary that it should be entirely ber for Lincoln had alluded to the formation of certain societies
free, and not consist of that kind of free trade which the late within the last few years, and had said that some of those
President of the Board of Trade so much admired—namely, the societies were formed in self defence for the protection of
free admission into the country of the produce of ether coun- British agriculture. Now he (Mr. Villiers) thought that the
tries that continued to impose heavy duties on English goods. world must be astonished to perceive no sign of the practical
—(Hear.) He trusted they would hereafter see the day when utility of those societies in any of the numerous counties in
all the great commercial nations of the world would awaken to ,vhicir they had been formed, and also to find that the
tkerr true interests, and open their respective harbours free to Honourable Members for Dorset, Wiltshire, and those counties
all the world. He did not consider the Right Hon. Baronet most prominent for meetings, and at which strong language
at the head of her Majesty's Government altogether opposed was used, and ardent professions of interest in the condition of
to the principle of direct taxation, for, by resorting to it, he the labourer and the tenant-farmer, had shown themselves per-
had already restored the equilibrium between the revenue and feet mutes, and never came forward to express their opinions
the expenditure of the empire. The Noble Lord concluded by or make up their minds. When any one of those rose to ex-
referring to a mistake made by the Morning Chronicle, in a press their opinions upon this question, the whole gist of their
leading article, in confounding the Chairman of the Tory Corn- discourse was simply nothing more than an expression of dis-
mittee at Bradford with a Mr. Ram, who presided at a recent trust and discontent of her Majesty's present Ministers.—
meeting of the Anti-Corn-law League. (Cries of " No, no," from the Ministerial benches, answered
Mr. 'SCOTT slid it was not his intention to trespass on the by " Hear, hear," and cheers from the Opposition.) Hon.
time of the House ; but as the Scotch Members had been Gentlemen cried " No, no," but why did they call upon the
alluded to, he did not think it right to remain altogether silent. Government to go back to its allegiance, and to remember
He would feel obliged to oppose the motion of the Hon. Member from whom they derived their power? He approved of the mode
for Stockport, because, though he believed him to be a sincere in which his Hon. Friend brought forward the motion. He
advocate for the interests of the League, still he did not regard (Mr. V.) had made a motion of a similar tendency upon
him as filling the like character towards the class whom he at the subject of the corn-laws for many years, and the reasons
present professed to support. The Hon. Member said if the assigned by Hon. Members in that House for refusing a
Committee were granted he would only examine before it land- Committee was, that they thought the present
.law
lords and tenant-farmers ; but he would ask, why should the tended to serve the tenant-farmers and laobaorudrers. The Right
of Trade had said
agricultural labourers he left out ?—( Hear.) The next matter Hon. Gentleman, the President of the 3 .
referred to by the Hon. Gentleman was the corn-law of 1815, that it was invidious to seek an inquiryintothe state of the
but if he understood the question at all he believed the corn- tenant but not of the landlord. But he (Mr. Villiers) asserted
laws to be in existence since the time of King Charles 11. that. it was not a landowner's question. In another place a
Why, then, did he not refer to the corn-laws which had been Noble Duke, who was styled the farmer's friend—(Cries of
passed since that time ? All the corn-laws, in the meanwhile, " Order, order," from the Tory benches.) He was in order.
bore as much upon his subject as the present, and they had as That Noble Duke had asserted that the landowners
much relation to the corn-laws of 1815. He believed that the had not the slightest interest in this question,
interests of the manufacturers and the agriculturists were really and that it only affected the tenant-farmers,
the same, and it was unjust and pernicious to attempt to raise a What were protective duties? Nothing more than impedi-
differenoe between them. The landlords wished for plenty in ments to commerce, making scarce the articles of food and general
order to improve the condition of the labourers, and not for consumption. They did not attempt to deny that these duties
scarcity, in order to afflict them. The condition of the people were injurious to commerce and manufactures. He remem-
was better now than it was sixty years ago, when we had only bered an Hon. Gentleman some years ago saying that this was
one-half the population, and only one-third of the taxation. a question of great national policy, and he (Mr. Villiers) said,
The Hon. Gentleman (Mr. Cobden) brought forward the case in reply, that they were bound to show some evidence of good
of wool to show that when the duty was small the from such a great national evil. He therefore asserted that his
consumption was great. But he overlooked the fact that Hon. Friend was perfectly justified in seeking for this inquiry.
the wool imported was chiefly from the colonies, His object was to give Hon. Gentlemen opposite an opportunity
and therefore there was no parallel between the cases of wool of proving that the tenant-farmers and labourers were well off,
and corn. The Hon. Gentleman had also done an injustice in while, if they made such an attempt, he had ample
comparing the amount of wages paid by landlords and manu- evidence to prove the reverse, and to show that
facturers, for he did not tell the House that the landlords de- in no part of Europe were the agricultural popula-
rived very small profits from large capital, and the manufac- tion in a worse condition. The Right Hon. Gentleman
turers derived large profits from comparatively small capital. the Secretary of the Board of Trade had said that the facts
As to the statements made respecting Dorsetshire, he (Mr. stated by the Hon. Member for Stockport were isolated cases ;
Scott) had no doubt that Dorsetshire would defend itself. The but he (Mr. Villiers) said that they were most numerous and
statements (if true) were such as to make the heart bleed.— general through all the middle and northern counties. Why
(Hear, hear,) But the Hon. Gentleman had the assurance to what did a clergyman in the county of Dorset state, in a letter
speak of Scotland.—( Laughter. ) The Hon. Gentleman in one of the daily papers a short time ago? The Hon. Mem-
seemed to him to depart from accuracy just in proportion as he ber for that county had left the House immediately after the
departed from the " tall chimneys" which he so much admired. speech of the Hon. Member for Stockport, because he felt the
—(Laughter and cheers.) The statements which the Hon. facts to be true ; and consequently, as be would not vote
Gentleman had made respecting respecting Scotland were un- against his conscience, he declined voting at all. The Hon.
founded in fact, notwithstanding the assurance of the Hon. Mem. and Rev. Mr. Osborne, to whom be bad just alluded, was op-
ber. The lion. Gentleman stated that he was totally ignorant of posed, perhaps, to the Anti-Corn-law League as much as any
the subject. The official returns, as to the duration of life in Lion. Gentleman opposite; but he addressed a letter to the
agriculture and manufactures, showed that the average dura- " great friend of the farmers," and proposed that in any Com-
tion of life in the agricultural districts was 32 years, whilst in mittee which might sit upon this matter, that a certain number
the manufacturing it was no more than 16 or 17 years, or of witnesses from the agricultural districts should be examined,
about one-half.—(Hear, hear, and laughter.) Then, as and said that those most capable of giving evidence upon the
respected the advantages to be gained by free-trade, in conse- condition of those persons would be the medical officers of the
quence of the supposed increase of trade to ensue upon it, was poor-law unions and the undertakers.—(Hear, hear.) The
it all clear that the corn-growing countries would take our same Reverend Gentleman, in the same letter, went on
manufactures in return for their produce? The utmost amount to say, that if they treated the agricultural labourers as well as
that capital invested in land produced was about 3 per cent., they did their catttle, their lot would be a happy one, but that
whereas 50 per cent. was frequently made by those who invested no animal in England was worse off than the labourer. These
their capital in manufactures. The Hon. Mover had also were the words of a clergyman, and yet they asked what con-
accused the landlords of being the cause of pauperism, but he nection there was between the agricultural population
was satisfied that more pauperism was created by the manufac- and this motion. Did any man mean to say that the present
turers.—( Hear, hear.) The Hon. Gentleman had also called state of the country was satisfactory, or that there was nothing
upon the gentlemen connected with Scotland, to state what in it to excite alarm? For the last twelve years, from one
was the feeling of the farmers in that part of the empire ; and cause or another, agitation pervaded the country ; and he felt
he (Mr. Scott), as the representative of a Scotch county, would sure that they would not put an end to it by refusing an in-
answer, that the farmers in that country were entirely opposed quiry.—(Cheers.) They admitted that those laws restricted
to the Honourable Mover, and regarded the question as one commerce, and that some of those protective laws should lie
mhich concerned them, and not the landlords.—(Hear.) curtailed. The Government proposed no means of increasing
Lord WORSLEY had not intended to trespass on the the employment of the people, but said they would support a
House upon this question, because he thought that if the mo- law which tended to restrict commerce, and prevent the ad.
tion was carried it would lead to a renewal of the import du- mission of food into the country, and that' because they were
ties. But having heard the speech of the Hon. Member for afraid of their own supporters. He did not approve of unne-
Stockport he saw -that it was part of the object that the Com- cessary agitation, but still, if that House refused to grant an
mittee should inquire into the management of land. The Ho- inquiry, they would be doing that which would promote agita-
nourable Member for Stockport had stated that the re- tion, but must also promote general anger, ill-will, and dis-
rnunerating price of the present rates of the market was content throughout the country.—( Loud cheers.)
sufficient for the farmer if he paid only an adequate rent. But Mr. BANKES said, if he thought the Committee proposed
he (Lord Worsley) had received a letter from a farmer in by the Hon. Member for Stockport would do anything to pro-
Lincolnshire, which stated in detail the whole of the receipts mote the interests of the labouring classes, he would most cor-
for his produce in four years, which showed that the market dially support the motion ; but, when he saw that no such
price did not repay the expense of the labour alone. The result was likely to arise from it, and that it would tend to raise
Hon. Member for Stockport had excepted the county of Lin- expectations, which could not be realised, of a numerous and
coin from the charge which he made against agriculturists for most important class of persons, he felt bound to exercise his
giving too low wages. He (Lord W.) must admit that the judgment, and notwithstanding the eloquent appeal of that
wages said to be given in the south were not such as could Hon. Gentleman, to give his cordial and cheerful vote against
sustain life ; and he must also say that he knew it was the his proposition. He thought this Committee would be very
fact, that although the wages in Yorkshire and Lincoln were likely to excite that feeling, which was now fast subsiding
higher than those paid in the south, they were not throughout the country. He could confidently assert that, at
sufficient ; but they bad the effect of procuring the the present moment, there was not the slightest feeling of
work to be better done, and the farmers found that distrust towards her Majesty's Government in the minds
their money was well laid out, and the labourers were more of the agricultural classes throughout the country. He could
contented than he was afraid they were in those countries where state avast decidedly that such was the case with respect to the
wages were lower. He would also admit that the law was county which he had the honour of representing. The Hon.
working better than the farmers had expected, but yet what Member then proceeded to read several documents, to show
they received was not enough to pay them. It had also been that wages in Dorsetshire and Wiltshire averaged at least I Is.
said that in the southern districts wages would not be raised a week, besides other advantages or perquisites ; and con-
without the system of leases. But in answer to that he must eluded by avowing his determination of strongly opposing the
say that in Lincolnshire leases were the exception. But then it motion.
was the practice in that country to allow land to be held in sue- Mr. BRIGHT said, that when his Hon. Friend introduced
cession from father to son—(Hear)--and the result was to create his motion to the notice of the House, he felt convinced that
confidence on the part of the farmers, and also on the part of every possible party feeling would be for one evening driven
the labourers._( Cheers.) Last winter, wages were lower than out of the doors of that House, and that there would be an
-usual, but they had not been lower than 9s.—(Hear, hear, from almost unanimous opinion in favour of the motion which had
Col. Sibthorp.) Yet the usual rate of wages was 12s. a-week, been submitted to the House. He believed his Hon. Friend's
the whole year round.— (Hear, hear.) The general custom statement to be perfectly accurate, and to be altogether un-
in that country was to pay by task-work, and he believed he answerable ; and whatever fate it might meet with in that
was correct in saying, that the average earning in those cases House, he-was well assured of the fate it would meet with in
was from 13s. 6d. to 16s. a-week.—( Hear, hear, from Col. the country. He would not have risen to take up any of the
Sibthorp, and a laugh.) Although he did not agree in all time of the House, had it not been for epeeches which had
subjects with the Hon. Member for Stockport, he thought that 'seen made since his Hon. Friend sat down. He, however,
gentleman had done much good by drawing the attention of confessed that he found extreme difficulty in attempting to dis-
the landlords to a subject which he feared was too much ne- cover anything further that could be said on the question then
glected, namely, the condition of the labourers.--(Cheers.) ender discussion. He thought nothing could be more reasonable
He thought they should be impressed with the conviction, that than the case which had been submitted to the House,
tne payment of adequate wages would be most advantageous, that there should be a Committee of Inquiry into the alleged
as well as most creditable to themselves—( Cheers)—and that fact, that protective duties in general had been serviceable to
they would find themselves repaid by the productivenes of the tenant-farmers, and the farm labourers of this country.
their land and the increased content of the people.—(Cheers.) It was quite true that the questfon of sugar, and coffee, and it
He thought, if they went into Committee, there would be might be of timber, and some other articles, might come under
such a diversity of opinion as to the remedy to be applied to the the consideration of such a Committee ; but they did not hesi-
state of affairs complained of by the Hon. Member who brought tate to avow that the object was specially that there should he
forward the present motion, that no
and he must, therefore, refuse to good
would be effected, a thorough investigation into the effect produced upon two
Mr. B. COCHRANE begged giveto state lgsupport to the motion. classes of our countrymen, by the operation of that particular
a letter from the Hon. Member who hadtat he had received law which was passed with the avowed object of giving these
meat on this subject (Mr. Fernand), stating notice of an amend- two classes protection. Now, that this question was one of
to bring it forward in consequence of his having that he was unable extraordinary importance, no man in that House would deny.
the Yorkshire Assizes. ing been detained Its importance was admitted by Hon. Gentlemen opposite, be-
at Mr. CURTEIS said that, in the part of the countrrepealthe
agriculturists o f the
tthis
awciul
country,d be
(Sussex) with which he was connected wages wererequallyy 'nose
r Productive cti v theye
of hf
ogurge ahtt th a
distressth teo
high. He gave his own labourers, generally, 12s. and to all persons connected with agriculture. Out of doors
and he gave them not more than his neighbours. 3,1 e witnk, there were some who thought with those Hon. Gentlemen, and
Member for Stockport had not convinced his (Mr. Curties's) it might be that the majority of the tenant-farmers of,
this
u llethlettaotf tthhee Anti-Corn
mind, and tbough he was in favour of a fixed duty in prefer- country,
vjit. and the majority of the owners of land also thought
tray
ence to a sliding scale, yet, if he were much pressed, he would gotra.
-olfawthis League,
eonat r
yo n
de
ehpe endede o n -
from a fixed duty to a sliding scale.—( A laugh.) He cones- on the re cal
i:)-laat law, and upon the adoption
dered the agricultural interest the paramount interest of the of the rend lesof free trade, which they believed
country, and that interest he was determined most cordially to to be the only just and honest principles upon which the Go-
support. He must give his opposition to the motion of the vHeorunsmeentht
actoualgdrbeeedcowndituhettehde.m
?WzreHetahrerenone out of that
numbersw were Hon. Member for Stockport.
belie,Linegt
ththaetmif
ere few in
Mr. BROTHERTON said that the speech of the Hon. not suppose that because their('hear.)
byfew everywhere
Gentleman who spoke last showed him the truth of the adage, that House, that therefore they
else. Let them not,' deceive themselveerse
" Convince a man against his will,
their speeches were not the sweat eloquent and their arguments
He's of the same opinion still."
--(Laughter.) The question was, who was in the right, who not the strongest, that there were not men in every
art of
in the wrong ?
—whether protection to agriculture was for the country as intelligent as any man in that House wholelt con-
benefit of the farmer and agricultural labourer, or not? As the vinced of the justness of the principles which the Anti-Corn.
' dby hundreds or thousands,
question was controverted he concurred with the lion. Ale
ber for Stockport, that the best way to ascertain which m-
law League
espoused. Those men who believed in such
was principles were not to be estimate
right was to investigate the subject thoroughly,which in
could be best done in the Committee for which the Hon. Me
ber had moved. The Hon. Gentleman who spoke lastsaidm- proof of it they should have that proof. There had been
he deputations to the Government from various parts of the coun-
considered the agricultural interest the paramount interest. t • 0. districts only, but
He (Mr. Brotherton) was at issue with the Hon. Member try—not from the manufacturing from the
on rural districts—deputations of 500 persons at a time—asking
that subject. He believed the agrieulturul labourers, farmers, the Government - consider this question and to repeal this
and graziers of the country formad not one-tenth part of the law. They
d tiolad.
ithsoo,ooo signatures one
population of the country. In the agricultural counties they year—a million the petitions with
and a half rise third, and
next,. a million
were not one-third of the people employed. He had examined between two and three millions the fourth. For all these peti-
the condition of twenty-three counties, the principal part of tions they had cared little,but they had seen subscriptions
which were agricultural ; and he found that out of their pope- three or four years a
s__to
the
lation, amounting to 6,038,833, there were employed in trade, funds of the Anti-Corn-law
amounting to ,009/.
they w League. The second year
and various other occupations, 1,559,612 persons; and in agri- came to 12,000/., the third year
culture, including farmers, graziers, yeomen, and agri- ; and this year they found that the League
fund
was rapidly ap-
cultural labourers in the whole of those twenty-three I proaching 100,000/. That proved nothing with respect to the
counties, 585,104, making a total of 2,144,716, and truth of the principles which the Anti-Corn-law League had
showing that all the classes of agriculturists together bore only I adopted—it merely proved that there was a great and growing
the proportion of 27 per cent. to the whole number employed, opinion in their favour among nearly all classes of the popula-
while those engaged in trade and otherwise were 33 per cent.
11 Lion of this country. Now, they were charged with exciting
of the whole. In the agricultural districts of Lancashire there the people to violence and insurrectionary movements.--
were not mere than 32 per cent. employed in proportion to the I (Cheers from the Ministerial benches.) One Hon. Gentle.
whole population. He contended, therefore, that the agri- man opposite, one of the Members of one of the divisions of
cultural interest was not the paramount interest of the country, 1 Warwickshire, and a magisti ate of that county, had stated, and
and that they ought not to have a law for their own benefit at be (Mr, Bright) believed that be bad stated Ain that House..

at anyrate he had stated it at two public meetings—that he had
' the means in his possession of proving certain heavy charges
which had been brought against the League, and that as a ma-
gistrate he was cognizant of facts which proved some men to be
guilty of crimes of which, as far as the charge had been made
public, they had stated they were innocent. If that Hon.
Gentleman knew anything of that kind, he (Mr. Bright) said
that the Hon. Gentleman himself must be accessory to the
crime if he, as a magistrate, concealed such facts from the
knowledge of the Right Hon. Baronet the Secretary of State
for the Home Department. It would be more honourable and
much more becoming in the Magistrate and a Member of Par-
liament if he were to lay that statement before the Govern-
ment, when it would be fully investigated, rather than making
it at a meeting where only one side was allowed to be heard,
and where the friends of the Hon. Gentleman and his party
were only allowed to be present. It might be thought that the
Anti-Corn-law League excited the people. He (Mr. Bright)
never denied that they did so. They did excite the people,
and they should continue to excite the people. The pamphlet,
which had been written by the Rev. Mr. Osborne, which had
been often spoken of that night, gave a little insight into
what amounted to the charge of exciting the people.
The writer said that agricultural labourers were discouraged in
every possible manner from attempting to set forth the griev-
ances of their condition. Did the labourers find any:gentleman
who might seek to bring to light any injustice towards him—
that friend met with nothing but remonstrance, and he was
told that he was endeavouring to set man against maser, and
endeavouring to drive the people to acts of violence. No man
(continued the Hon. Gentleman) could go to the manufacturing
or agricultural districts, and address large meetings of the
people on the subject of their distress, and tell them what was
the fact, that that distress was attributable 'to certain acts of
misgovernment, without incurring the censure of exciting the
people to insurrection. The Hon. Gentleman opposite had
charged the League with exaggeration, and the League charged
them with exaggeration and with wrong-doing, and wrong-
doing with a full knowledge of the circumstances.—(Hear.)
The Members of the Government were not able to settle the
public mind. At one of these meetings held in Yorkshire for
the protection of agriculture, a speaker expressed very serious
misgivings of the fatal bias of the Right Hon. Gentleman the
President of the Board of Trade, and the agricultural gentle-
man would not be surprised at any change in the Right Ho-
nourable Gentleman at the head of the Queen's Govern-
ment. How could this question be settled if not before a
tribunal of the House of Commons. Why, his Honourable
found the Member for Stockport had given them the option of
appointing a majority of protectionists on the Committee, and
that their witnesses should be agricultural labourers, indepen-
dent landowners, and tenant-farmers. The case of the corn-
law repealers was based upon facts and upon experience ;
the case of the corn-law maintainers upon anticipationa of
future evil if the corn-laws were abolished. The corn-laws of
1815 were a continued fraud upon the finances of the country.
He could show, from irrefutable documents—from reports of
Agricultural Societies—that, in 1815, the laudowners had
legislated upon the anticipation that corn would be 80s. a
quarter, and gave leases on that foundation ; but the average
prices of corn, from 1815 to 18 41 or 1842, had not been more
than 60s. a quarter. The Hen. Member for Wiltshire declared
that no rent could be paid unless prices were higher than they
had been from 1815 ; but yet high rents were maintained.
Nay, the rent of lands in many parts of the country had in-
creased—greatly increased. They prophesied that low prices
would throw land out of cultivation—they prophesied that
agricultural labourers would be thrown out of employ-
ment—but the fact that additional land had been
engaged in culture sufficiently disproved this part of the pro-
phesy. Those agricultural law-makers were very poor sooth-
sayers indeed.—(Laughter.) The Hon. Member then read
an extract from the Report of the Barnstaple Agricultural So-
ciety, which stated that the Act, passed in the 55th year of the
reign of George 111., had not answered its object, inasmuch as
it did not secure the grower 80s. for wheat, 40s. for barley,
and 275. for oats, as was promised ; and further, that the prices
for corn were not one half as high as the agriculturists had a
right to expect. It was stated that seven-ninths of the
people of this country were engaged in agriculture ; but he
thought it would be found, by the census, that the tenant-
farmers did not comprise more than 1 per cent. of the whole
population of those agricultural labourers employed in the cul-
ture of wheat, or 1 per cent. more. The Hon. Member for
Haddingtonshire had, at a meeting of that county, told his
constituents that if the corn-laws were repealed foreign corn
would be sold at 20s. a quarter, Now, that was absolutely
untrue ; but if it were, did it never strike that Hors. Member
what a gross injustice he was inflicting en the great bulk of
his fellow-countrymen by countenancing so vile a lay ?—( Hear. )
What was that but asserting that, when the farmer had the
law in his favour he overtaxed the manufacturer for the food
which he sold him. If he bought a larger quantity of the goods
of the trader and the manufacturer, he did so with their own
money, and not with any extraordinary exertion of his own
industry. The Noble Lord, the Member for East Suffolk,
stated, on a recent occasion, that " the object sof the free traders
was to bring down the price of labour in this country to a level
with the amount paid to the labourer on the Continent.—( Loud
cries of " Hear, hear," from the Ministerial benches.) They
had, however, he believed, already gone in that respect farther
than the three clever gentlemen who sat in Somerset House,
and who, it was generally admitted, did not overflow with the
milk of human kindness. But with all their anxiety on the
subject, and with all the aid of the poor-law guardians through-
out the country, they were unable to keep the paupers in a
state of health without incurring a greater amount of expense
than the labourers could afford in their own homes. Was there,
he asked anything on the Continent worse than that, or ex-
hibiting a greater degree of human misery than they had that
night heard described as existing in Dorsetshire ?—(Hear,
hear.) Could there be anything discovered on the Continent
more appalling than what he himself had been told while tra-
velling in Scotland two months ago? An extensive farmer in
Kirkudbright told him that he was able to pro sure drains to be
cut in his land 19 feet in length, 30 inches in depth, and 18
inches in width through a hard and stony soil, the labourer pro-
viding himself with spade, shovel, pick-axe, and crow-bar, at no
more than 3d. each drain.—(" Oh oh.") He would givegentle-
men further information of a like kiad, if they required it, in
addition to that of the farmer, who, he might add, did not
agree with him on the subject of the corn-laws. That farmer
had told him that he had one workman who was able to cut
five such drains as he had described in a day, and thus earn
15d., but it was considered good work for a man to cut four of
them in a day. The Hon. Gentleman then read an extract
from an Oxford newspaper, as quoted in the Times of the 14th
of February, in which some outrages committed on the property
of three farmers in that county were described, and it was stated
that a fragment of paper had been left on a plough that had been
broken on the occasion, containing the words, " A full belly
does not know what an empty one feels." He wished gentle-
men on both sides of the House, accustomed as they were to
good and comfortable living, would bear those words in their
recollection. He also read several passages from a letter of
Dr. Marsham, containing the result of various visits which he
had paid among the poor of Leicester, and describing the
abject poverty which he had everywhere met with, and also a
passage from.a newspaper with which, he stated, it was generally
believed the Hon. Member for Berkshire was connected, de-
scribing the poverty existing among the agricultural labourers
of Wiltshire, and likewise an account of a case at petty ses-
sions, where a poor man, earning but 6s. a week, was com-
mitted for a month to prison in default of paying 275.
penalty and costs for taking a branch of an ash tree for
firing, at a time when his wife was in her confinement.
On that occasion the magistrates, including a clergyman, in
passing sentence, said, " If such offences as this were allowed
to go unpunished, there would soon be an end to the rights of
property." What could you expect that man to be when he
come out of gaol? He would now state to the House a series
of facts which his Hon. Friend had omitted to lay before them.
There were gentlemen in the House connected with Hampshire
who could correct any error into which he might fall. The
statement was, out of fifty tenants who were thriving before
the protecting duty was put on, the majority were ruined, or
nearly so, during the eighteen years of protection. Ten of the
tenants had died, and their children were now labourers.
Twelve of the tenants had been sold up, and were paupers.
One was a bailiff, and one other had committed suicide. Thus
twenty-four out of the fifty were provided for.—(Hear, hear,
and a laugh.) But ten only of the whole number continued to
t
t
(
suffered
vaue.,
ffvuetlwred
enadaas tenants,
,os ,
aalaitsn
et and
Cobden),
statements
bthohedrtemeoes
aaoneert
fi)n.
,wt)to
ssfe
but
ibTre(ubl
jithesbfetnpecheaaneteatrhedHofiher,
eottt,eeyoefi
vahnndpii
ngoe.
nlhebLdaffciaAoer
udiaptnn.
which—hei
benefited
emeafiyo(
nluotbHnef:
rc sldotherthtLhan.
whetherif riedor) n,
Lincolnshire.
attemptedDect. hi
DoaoloreisnorenoaHt,
Dorsetshire.
et Lincolnshire
hopetel)i
sfreetrchoseohli
attri-
butedvhtarrHi
hetneastr odet6d.eo.
had expressed his satisfaction at the altered tone of his Hon.
contradict Friend)
(Mrhis
uuttlphidheneern
oso
tutrhppsiaeerntoert county,—(Hear,
protection
oeonnnni
ttcdyeh:tlahtda
theirtHhea peoplee could
sixty years the population of Dorsetshire had doubled, and slow
as was the increase that increase was still going on. Would
there be more farms in ten years more? This was a matter
which the Government ought to consider more than con-
ciliating those who asserted at public meetings that they
would keep them up to the point.--( Hear, hear.) It was
said that the treatment of the manufacturing labourers was
worse than that experienced by the Poles from the Emperor
of Russia, and the Secretary for the Home Department had
dwelt with rapture upon the enjoyments of the agricultural
labourers.—(Cheers and a laugh.) But if there were not those
long dull lines of towns at which the Right Hon. Gentleman
sneered, what would become of the increasing population of the '
agricultural districts ?—(Hear.) This was ;a question which
the Government ought to consider more seriously. But every-
thing else was attended to, and that was neglected. The
object of the motion was to prove that those tenants and la-
bourers had been injured more than any other class by the
system of protection.—( Hear, hear.) He asked the House if
they believed, whether the Committee were granted or not, the
corn-law would be maintained? Did they believe that the
Right Hon. Gentleman, the President of the Board of Trade,
with all his tendency in favour of free trade, would continue to
support these laws; that the Right Hon. Baronet, who they
knew sprung from trade, would be so denied of gratitude as to
continue to support those laws which were laughed
at abroad—(Loud laughter)—but were anything but
a subject of laughter at home—rather a subject
of intense hatred to the greater portion of the community ? He
and the Hon. Member for Stockport would again go through
the country and explain to the farmers how a motion for a
Committee of Inquiry had been refused to them. The land-
lords told their tenants that they had peculiar burdens to bear,
yet when the Hon. Member for Sheffield moved for a Com-
mittee of Inquiry into those alleged peculiar burdens of the
landlords, it was refused. And why ? Because they were
conscious that they had no case to make out. Passing from
town to town, and from county to county, he and his Hon.
explain to the constituencies of the empire that
their representatives, who had been sent to that House to le-
gislate for the general interests of the country, did not hesitate
to vote as though they were a corporation for the sole purpose
of supporting their own interest in the rental of land.
dNsohE.oIuI:IDEGATE said the Hon. Member for Durham
had accused him of making assertions in packed and exclusive
meetings, which he would not make in a general and miscel-
laneous assembly. To show that what he asserted was
true, with respect to the League, he would state that shortly
before the disturbances which took place in his neighbourhood
occurred, three persons who were connected with the Anti-
Corn-law League were down there, and took part in the pro-
ceedings which occurred before the outbreak. He had been
ptabtunableFerelrpAeittecilhresthnr.o.dto obtain their names, however, as he was not allowed
to inspecte
aßtrlihgo oae ttnwhag.weßeal
irilnseNts
t connected
the G
eha iedLeague, CouncilthTawht
This the
wheot
hhf
called
tahnhl
Hel the
odiaeALn Anti-Corn-law ti- Corn-law League.
objects of so graveii Gentleman.a charge as that brought against them
and said he could Gentlemannot get
inspecting the books of the League. Now the Hon. Gentle-
man eould do this by subscribing /50 . to the League Fund.
Allusion had been made to a
of the English people in "Question," "Order.") A
meeting
elsewhere.—(Cries of
heltd to express the sym-
pathy( Renewed and vehement cries of "Question.") He repeated
that there was a demonstration in another place that even-
ing which might have proved a most instructive
lesson to her
Majesty's Ministers.—(Laughter, and cries of " Question.")
The Hon. Member had connected the Anti-Corn-law League
nti
ef
anvinao
m‘glnr
eo
swoo.
fparliageot
nphnou eneehai: Gentleman
partiesnit mwejl injured
ihrtot eomhdenbhwinewaac mrudhi a
tamnehbr.
uoeagt—eunhde n
-tee,
with that meeting, and he (Dr. Bowring) had a right to reply
to those observations.—(" Question, question.") It might be
very well for Hon. Members to disregard such demonstrations
of public feeling.—(Great uproar.) He was aware that some
Hon. Members opposite had not their feelings under the most
perfect control, but they should at least consider that it was
not very, becoming in them to refuse a Member the opportunity
of speaking on a topic which had been already mooted before
the liouse..-(Renewed cries of " Question, question!") lie

repeated that he had a right to reply.—(Here the confusion.
became so great that the Hon. Member, after having three or
four times ineffectually attempted to obtain a hearing, sat down
amid much confusion. )
The gallery was then cleared for a division, but none took
place. On our return to the gallery we found.
Mr. W. 0. STANLEY on his legs. Although not a
member of the Anti-Corn-law League, he thought the motion
of the Hon. Member for Stockport so reasonable, that he
should give it his support.—( Hear, hear.) The statements
which had been made, during the debate, on the sufferings of
the agricultural labourers, were confined principally to the
southern and south-eastern counties of England ; but as he
knew the same distress to exist in the county which he had
the honour to represent, he could not remain silent without
stating the fact to the House. He was aware that fully one-
sixth of the whole population of that county were now receiv-
ing poor-law relief.—( Hear.) The same distress exist,...cl in
the neighbouring county of Carnarvon. He would feel htm-
self guilty of a dereliction of duty if he did not state the matter
to the House, and he should, therefore, give his vote for the
motion of the Hon. Gentleman, though he, at the same tit ne,
should admit that he disagreed in many particulars from tbe
Anti-Corn-law League.
The House then divided, when the numbers were—
__

For the motion
Against it ........................................ 224
Majority against the motion -91
On our return to the gallery we found--
Sir ROBERT PEEL stating that he ha 4 been charged by
the Hon. Gentleman opposite (Mr. M. Gibson) with having
made a mis-statement regarding the consumption of sugar. He
(Sir R. Peel) had only quoted from the returns laid on the
table of the House.
Mr. MILNER GIBSON said that he would not press the
matter further at present, and that he would withdraw the mo-
tion respecting sugar, of which he had given notice.
On the motion of Mr. W. GLADSTONE the House re-
solved itself into a Committee to take into consideration the
laws for preventing frauds and abuses in the making of gold and
silver ware in England.
The resolutions upon which a Bill was to be founded were
then agreed to in Committee, and the House resumed.
The resolutions were then reported to the House, and leave
given to bring in a Bill.
Mr. GLADSTONE brought in a Bill to amend the law
relating to international copyright.
The other Orders of the Day were then disposed of, and the
House adjourned at Half-past One.

THE NEW HISTORICAL ROMANCE.
In 3 vulg., post Bvo.,
A THIRD EDITION of " WHITEFRIARS;"
OR,
THE DAYS OF CHARLES THE SECOND.
IS NOW READY AT ALL THE LIBRARIES.
Henry Colburn, Publisher, 13, Great Marlborough-street.

NEW WORK by the Author of "HENRY DE POMEROY,"
" WHITEHOODS," " TRELAWNEY," &c.
Just ready, in 3 vols., post Bvo.,
COURTENAY of WALREDDON.
A ROMANCE OF THE WEST.
By Mrs. BRAY.
Author of " Henry de Pomeroy," " Whitehoods," &c.
" how hard it is to hide the sparks of nature !
These boys know little they are sons to the King ;
Nor Cymbeline dreams that they are alive."—Shakspeare.
Richard Bentley, New Burlington-street.

THEATRE ROYAL, DRURY-LANE.
THIS EVENING, MARCH 13,
Will be performed the Opera of GUILLAUME TELL. Arnold,
M. Duprez ; Gessler, Mr. G. Horneastle•; William Tell, Mr.
Stret on ; Lutern, Mettle. Albertazzi ; Matilda, Miss Romer;
Martha, Miss Betts. _

After which,
Will be repeated Albert's celebrated Ballet of THE BEAUTY
OF IiHEN P. Marquis de San Lucar, M. Albert ; Bene,tict, M.
Hoguet Vestris; Beatrix, Mdlle. Fleury; Agnes, Mdlle Clara
Webster; Julia, Vadame Pctit Stephan; Diana, Mdile. O'Bryan.
Dress Boxes 78., Second Price 3s. 6d. ; Upper Circles of Boxes 58.,
Sxond Price as.; Pit 3s , Second Price Qs.; Middle Gallery 25.,
Sxond Price Is.; Upper Gallery Is., Second Price 6d.

THEATRE ROYAL, HAYMARKET.
MR. BENJAMIN WEBSTER, LESSEE.
THIS EVENING, MARCH 13,
Will be educed a New Petite Musical Drama, called DER
NECHT TEprUFEL. Baron Gillestern, Mr. Strickland Oscar, Mr.
Howe; Baroness, Mrs. Glover; Matilda, Miss P. Horton; Ca.
roliae, Miss Julia Bennett.
After which, FOREIGN AFFAIRS; or, The Court of
Quven Anne. Count St. Louis, Madame Celeste ; Baron Fitzstoutz
Mr.S
Mrs.trickland , H•
.SmirbyJames Courtall, Mr. Webster; Bareness
Fitzstoutz,
After the Drama, Mr. JOHN PARRY will sing " Mama is so
very Particular,"accompanying himself on the Grand Pianoforte.
After which will be repeated JOSEPHINE; or, The Fortune of
War. Guillot, Mr. Buckstone • Josephine, Mrs. Fitxwilliam
To conclude with the Farce of TOM NODDY'S SECRET. Mr.
Thomas Noddy, Mr. Strickland; Inkpen. Mr. Buckstone ; Ga.
bridle, Miss Julia Bennett; Mary, Miss Mattley.
Orchestra Stalls, ss. ; Boxes, ss. ; Pit, 3s. ; Gallery, 28.; Upper
Gallery, Is. Half-price—Boxes, 3s. ; Pit 25.; Gallery, ls. ; Upper
Gallery, 61. Doors opened at Half-past Six, and the Performance
commence at Seven.
Tickets and Places to be had of Mr I. T. Archer, at the Box—
office, from Ten till Five.

PRINCESS'S THEATRE, OXFORD-STREET.
LESSEE, Mr. J. M. MADDOX.
THIS EVENING, MARCH 13,
Will be performed THE ANGEL OF THE ATTIC, in which
Messrs. Walton, Walter Lacy, and Madame Eugenie Prosper will
perform.
o which will be added GONE TO TEXAS, in which Mr. and
Mrs. Keely will perform.
After which, a New Petite Comedy, called AGED FORTY. Sir
Harry V% ilder, Mr. Walter Lacy; Mr. Dapper, Mr. Oxberry ; Lady
Clifton, Miss Fortescue. .

To be followed bra New Farce, in Oue Act, entitled THE
YOUNG SCAMP; or My Grandmother's Pet. Joseph, Mrs.
Keeley; Mildew, Mr.Feeley.
To conclude with a 14,w Grand Ballet, entitled LEOLA; or, the
May.day Bride. Patrick, Mr. Chichelcy; Phelim ; Mr. Gilbert ;
Rhona, Miss Charleton ; Leola, Miss Bailin.

THEATRE ROYAL. ADELPHI.
THIS EVENING, MARCH 13,
Will be repeated, by permission of Charles Dickens, Esq., THE
CHRISTMAS CAROL. Principal Characters—Messrs. 0. Smith,
Wright, Lyon, Maynard, Forman, Mias Woolgar. Mrs. F. Mathews,
Miss Chaplin, and Miss Lee.
To be followed by ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA MARRIED
AND SETTLED. Antony, Mr. Wright; Cleopatra, Miss Woolgar.
After which, ULRICA ; or, The Prisoner of State. Principal
Characters—Messrs. Lyon, 0. Smith, Maynard, Forman, Wieland,
and Hamilton ; Mesdames Yates, D. Lee. and Chaplin.
To conclude with DEEDS OF DREADFUL NOTE. Timid,
Mr. Wright; Fright, Mr. Forman; Mrs, Fright, Miss Emma
Stanley.
Boxes, 4s. ; Pit, 2s. ; Gallery, Is. ; Second price at Nine, Doors
open at Half-past Six, commence at Seven o'Clock.

DAYIDGE'S ROYAL SURREY THEATRE.
THIS EVENING, MARCH 13.
Will be performed a New Drama, entitled THE LAST SHIL-
LING, supported by all the Company.
After which, DON JUAN ; or, The Feast of the Spectre.
To be followed by CRAMOND BRIG.
To conelude with Three Comic Scenes from HARLEQUIN
GRAMMAR.
Places and PllV2te Boxes to be had of Mr. Kerschner, at the Box..
oßce, from Eleven to Four.

THE WEATHER.—SUN OFFICE, MARCH 12.
THERMOMETER, Lowest, 35; Highest, 45 ; Noon, 42.
BAROMETER, 30.—M IND, 'W.
NOTE.—The number 32 on the Thermometer denotes the
freezing point, and 55 temperate. In Barometers fair is
usually placed opposite 30, and rain at 29.

lIIGIi WATER AT LONDON-BRIDGE THIS DAY.
Morning .. 25 minutes after 8 I Evening • • 13 minutes ar

globe, was, 'notwithstanding all her great services in the
common cause, still treated as an outcast and an alien,
and prohibited by a dominant party from partaking in
all the rights and privileges to which they have the same
indubitable claims with the rest of their countrymen.
This was the mainspring of the vast and glorious move-
ment which will spread joy throughout Ireland, make
a deep impression upon foreign States, and ulti-
mately lead to measures which neither religious bi-
gotry nor selfish class legislation can long gainsay.
11,,Tr. O'CONNELL justly said he did not accept the high
honour conferred on him for the humble services he had
performed, he accepted it in behalf of his afflicted coun-
tryman, who had long struggled for their liberty, and
who were determined, as one man, to obtain it, but with-
out shedding a drop of human blood; and they will ob-
tain it, when Englishmen and Scotchmen join them with
a resolution like that displayed last night. Let not Mr.
O'CONNELL and his countrymen despair. They have
with them all the good and not a few of the great men
of this country. They have what is more, a just cause—
IN sacred cause, and though their freedom by the in-
vet-utak:le decrees of PROVIDENCE has been long delayed,
the dawn of liberty has at last burst forth, and ere long
wilt rerieh the meridian day. Let them persevere
in the same peaceable course, and before two years
elapse the cry of " Justice to Ireland" will be re-echoed
throughout every part of her MAJESTY'S dominions, and
our beloved SOVEREIGN will obtain the wish dearest to
her heart—the reconciliation of her loyal Irish subjects
—the cordial and complete union of two countries that
can bi separated only by the destruction of both.

Mr. COBDEN brought forward his motion last night
in the House of Commons for a Select Committee to
inquir e into the effects of protective duties on imports
on th e interest of the tenant-farmers and farm-
laboui •ers. His object, he said, in introducing this
motior y was to show that protection, as it is called,
instead: of being beneficial, was in reality injurious to
those who imagined that they were gainers by it, and
this he Ives fully prepared to demonstrate on the evi-
dence sf tenant-farmers themselves. The Member for
Stockp ort is a close and searching reasoner, who wastes
no time- in superfluous declamation, or in conjuring up
phanton is—as Tom Thumb did giants—for the purpose of
battling with, and overthrowing, them ; and we
know •not that he ever exhibited his superior
argumentative powers to greater advantage than
he did last night. Fact after fact, each more
striking--each more pungent than its predecessor—
was poutred forth with a profusion that seemed inex-
haustible ; and the inferences deduced from these stub-
born facts were such as could only have been gainsayed
by men whose inveterate prejudices blocked up all the
avenues to reason. Every prediction, observed Mr.
COBDEN, that was now uttered with regard to corn, had
been previously uttered by the Protectionists with re-
gard to wool. " But what was the result ?" asked the
Hon. Member. " Did they lose all their sheep walks ?
Had they no more mutton ? Were there no more sheep-
cots ? So far from this being the case, when wool was at
the highest price, the largest quantity had been
imported, and when it was at the lowest price, then the
smallest quantity had been imported." Mr. GLADSTONE
made an attempt to answer Mr. COBDEN'S nervous,
practical reasonings ; but acute, and skilful debater as
he is, the task was too much for him. In some portions
of his reply he gave us the idea of a man who was
placed in a false position, and was speaking against his
own internal convictions ; and this gave a certain vague-
ness and feebleness to his statements and hypotheses,
which are by no means of common occurrence in his
Parliamentary speeches. How puerile was his objection
to the appointment of a Committee, on the score that
it would unsettle the minds of the people, and
paralyse those departments of trade and revenue
to which its inquiries had reference ! Precisely
the same objection might be urged to the Irish
Landlord-and-Tenant Commission, or any other great
public inquiry. Nothing can tend more thoroughly to
unsettle the minds of both landlords and tenants in Ire-
land than the investigation now in progress ; but who
denies that it is called for—who denies that it is one of
paramount necessity? There never yet was a Committee
appointed for a public object that the minds of some
classes were not unsettled by it ; yet Government has
never been in the habit of allowing this consideration to
stand in their way, when once they have decided on its
appointment. Now, however, when it happens to serve
their turn, it is brought in without the slightest hesita-
tion. In the course of the evening, by way of giving relief
to the debate, and infusing into it a little sprinkling of
Attic salt, Colonel SIBTHORP rose, and with that bril-
liant wit which is ever at his command, cracked not less
than three jokes consecutively, on the subject of Mr.
COBDEN and his white wand, as steward of the O'Cow-
NELL dinner. The House laughed, but whether with
the Gallant Colonel, or at him, we do not pretend to de-
termine ; enough to say it laughed, and that the Mem-
ber for Lincoln triumphantly succeeded in his ambitious
efforts to excite the risible faculties of his audience. In
the midst of much that captious critics might call irrelevant,
one fact of importance was elicited in the course of his
speech—and that fact is, that he never reads the Anti-
Corn-law League Circular !He scorns even to give
house-room to such a revolutionary, atheistical docu-
ment ! This, we repeat, is a fact of moment ; and if i t
do not give an awful shock to the patriotic sensibilities
of the Member for Stockport, it will at least oc-
casion him some moments of uneasy meditation.
But we are not without a longing hope that the Gallant
Colonel—whom, after all, we respect for his frank and
manly plain-speaking, however, we may smile at his
political heresies—will relax in his present inveteracy of
purpose ; read the obnoxious Circular with avidity, and
like another NICOMEDUS, sit reverently at the feet of
that instructive GAMALIEL, the Anti-Corn-law League.

The accounts from Madrid are to the 4th inst., but
they are as usual destitute of intelligence. Another
dispatch had been received from General RoxceLr, in
which he attributes the small progress made in the siege
of .Alicant to the boisterous weather.

The Three per Cents. were done at 30 3-16 for
cash, and 301 at 60 days ; and the Five per Cents. at
22i at 60 days.

Long debates took place in the French Chamber of
Deputies on two important questions—the rejection of
M. CHARLES LAFITTE, who had been returned a second
time for the town of Louviers, and the fortifications of
Paris. A third election, of course, must be made, and
from all accounts, the inhabitants will return the same
Member by a larger majority. This contest between
the Chamber and the electors, which is in many respects
similar to the WILKES' contest, has caused an excite-
ment both in the Chamber, and out of doors, difficult to
describe. M. C. LAFITTE belongs to the Ministerial
party. M. ARAGO began the discussion on the fortifica-
tions. He called them the palladium of Paris, but was
opposed to their being mounted in time of peace. M.
PAIXHANS and other Ministers addressed the Chamber,
when the question of discussing the law passed in 1841
was rejected by a large majority. The subscriptions for
a sword to be presented to Admiral DUPETIT TRoUARS
are still going on, and the slight punishment inflicted on
the boys of the Polytechnic School has only incited
other boys to imitate the example, and even double the
amount of subscription. According to accounts from
Brest, no doubt remains that Admiral DUPETIT THOUARS
is to be superseded forthwith. Admiral HAMELIN is
mentioned as his successor.

The Three per Cents. were quoted at TORTONI?, on
Sunday, at 82f. 80c.

IMPORTANT NEWS FROM PARIS,

The following intelligence was received on Monday
by the French Government:—
TELEGRAPHIC DISPATCH.

" BAYONNE, MARCH 11.
" Alicant and its garrison have risen against the chief,
Bonet, who has taken to flight. The town and the fort
are in the hands of the Royal troops."
Accounts have been received in Paris announcing the
death of the Duke of Angouleme.

In the Committee on the Secret Service Money Bill,
the President of the Council, the Minister for Foreign
Affairs, and the Minister of the Interior, were heard ;
and their explanations were considered satisfactory by
eight of the Commissioners out of nine. M. Guizot
announced that Mr. Pritchard, the English Consul at
Otaheite, had been recalled.

THE LAST CAMPAIGN IN AEFGHANISTAN.—The
" Narrative of the late victorious Campaign in Affghanistan
under General Pollock," from the pen of Lieut. Greenwood,
of her Majesty's 31st Regiment, is, we hear, to be published
immediately. The contents of this volume are likely to prove
most powerfully interesting to the English public at the
present time ; for while almost ever?, one has read, in the
works of Lady Sale and Lieutenant Eyre, the sad tale of our
disasters in Affghanistan, no account.has hitherto appeared of
the glorious successes which crowned the advance of Sir
George Pollock's army. Lieutenant Greenwood's work is,
we understand, an offhand soldier's narrative, which, while
it contains the most authentic information, warmly excites
the sympathies of the reader in the numerous stirring scenes
and adventures in which the author took part.
ALARMING ILLNESS OF THE COUNTESS OF UX-
IIRIDOE.—It is with extreme regret that we announce the very
serious indisposition of the Countess of Uxbridge. The Countess
was confined yesterday week, and it appears that on Friday symp-
toms of an alarming nature were too manifest, and the medical
gentleman judged it prudent to order that the Countess's head be
shaved, which was done on Saturday. However, her ladyship con.
tinued gradually to get worse. We are happy to hear that a
change dee dedly for the better took place yesterday, and the
report of Drs. Bright and Stone last evening was, on the whole,
favourable. The inquiries of the nobility have been exceedingly
SlUMeiMid.

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44

SECOND EDITION.