The Sun.
London, England, 1844-01-30 00:00:00

ADELPHI.

which does not tend to the develoi ?merit of_the plot. The
interest never flags. The scenery 13 beautiful, and the
manner in which the piece is rit up, m the stage is be-
yond all praise. This piece will nc doubt carry Mr.
Gladstone on successfully to the end c •f the season. Mrs.
Yates was called for at the fall of the curtain, and re-
ceived with loud applause. The hous e was very well
attended.

THE CURRENCY.
TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN.
_ _

Sin—ln a letter published by you some time ago,
you invite the attention of all parties to the conside-
ration of the renewal of the Bank charter; and you
dwell upon the dismal effects which have proceeded
from its management. Upon the almost incalculable
importance of a system of money, at once abundant
and secure, in its bearings upon the capital and in-
dustry, the agriculture and commerce, the revenue
and debt of the country, there is not, I suppose, any
doubt, in any quarter. But whether the fault of the
present system proceed from the mismanagement of
the Bank Directors, or from the wrong position in
which they are placed, is a point of some consequence
to be sure of. I will state, without much formality,
and as shortly as I can, wherein, as it appears
to me, the evil consists, and what will be
the remedy. The evil proceeds from the depend-
ence of the circulation of commerce upon the precious
metals. The remedy will be in causing it to depend
upon fixed capital. By the circulation of commerce,
I mean that business which passes betwixt dealer
and dealer, so long as any commodity continues to
form a part of the circulating capital of the country.
What passes between dealer and consumer—the cir-
culation of consumption, is another affair. But it is
from not duly conceiving of the essential difference, in
principle, between those two branches of circulation
that the evils of which you speak have arisen. In
the circulation of consumption it is essential that the
buyer, or consumer, give to the dealer, or seller, a
real equivalent—something of equal value to the
article to be consumed, as gold or silver coin, or notes
convertible into them; because that is the only
safe condition upon which the dealer can carry on his
business for any length ;of time. A shopkeeper who
sold all upon credit would soon have done. The
articles he deals in being placed in the stock set aside
for immediate consumption, no longer form any part
of the circulating capital of the country ; and, there-
fore, cease to be articles of commercial exchange. So
far every man is instructed by common experience.
But, in the transactions between dealer and dealer,
that is in the circulation of commerce, the case is es-
sentially different. In that the commodities, al-
though changing hands, are not consumed, and they
do in themselves form the true basis of commercial
circulation. The proper idea of it is the transfer from
one man's obligation to the shoulders of another, as
the commodities themselves change hands. This is
done by the operation of credit. And the instrument
of commercial credit is an acceptance by the party re-
ceiving the commodity, or a draft upon a third person.
So long as the idea of the commodity and responsibi-
lity shifting together is preserved in the mind, there
can be little difficulty in apprehending how the com-
modity is the real basis and equivalent of the respon-
sibility—and that, as often as the commodity changes
hands, the responsibility should shift with it—which
is, as has been said, the proper notion of commercial
circulation. But, as in the variety and complication
of mercantile affairs the certainty of the two being
together cannot be known, it is necessary, in relieving
one man's responsibility, to bring forward a third
party, who will certify that all is right—which is
meant by discounting. Still it is, if properly under-
stood, an operation of credit, and not of money. Nor
is there any need of money appearing at all in a
well arranged commercial circulation. That this is the
fact will appear, even from considering the present
mode of business, faulty as it is in one particular.
When a merchant of Liverpool provides for his ac-
ceptances, whether directly or through his banker, it
is not with money—gold and silver, or bank notes—
that he provides, but with other paper, the circulat-
ing credit of other men.. Perhaps, if all the gold, and
silver, and bank notes were forwarded by railway at
once, they would not be sufficient to meet the en-
gagements of Liverpool in London fora single day.
Yet its engagements are fulfilled ; its bills are paid,
without the provision of one farthing !! ! How, then,
are the London bankers to liquidate the thousand
millions which they have yearly to pay, when it
forms no part of their system to make advances at
nll ? How is the enormous wheel of circulation kept
in motion, but by the impelling power of credit ?
But perhaps the London bankers do advance the
money. They do so in part, and only in
a small part. The far greater part of
the business is settled by means of what
may be not inaptly termed that fiction in com-
merce, the clearing house, where one banker, at the
Close of the day, sets off his claims against another.
Although nineteen-twentieths of the commercial cir-
culation is so settled without the use of money, yet
there is not any part of it of which it can be abso-
lutely predicated that it will not be called for in
money. Money, therefore, to some amount, must 'be
provided. Whilst matters go on smoothly the pre-
sent system works well—every man of credit can
meet his engagements with comfort. But now comes
the radical defect of the present system. The Bank
of England is liable to pay all its notes in gold and
silver. When, therefore, any cause reduces its
stock of bullion, it is driven to reduce its accommoda-

tion, until the scarcity of money, and the consequent
high rates of interest, make it for the interest of par-
ties to keep their money at home. All other in-
terests are put out of sight to secure the Bank's own
safety. The regular circulation of commerce is
thrown into disorder, and that frightful overthrow
of the best-laid • schemes follows, of which you
speak. When the sum of Bank notelis diminished,
by the lessening of the stock of bullion, common
sense would suggest the propriety of increasing the
issue upon other securities. For it is no necessary
consequence, that the wants of commercial circu-
lation diminish as the stock of bullion diminishes.
Contrariwise, that is the time when the greatest spur
should be given to the productive industry of society,
the greatest facilities afforded to the wants of com-
mercial interprise, to increase and circulate at home ,
and abroad the exchangeable-produce of the industry '
of the country, At present the order is reversed
The Bank of England is most ready to accommodate 1
when accommodation is least wanted ; and when it is
wanted, she tightens the screw. Whether a corn-
mercial circulation of more than a thousand millions
annually, shall proceed or not in its regular course, is
made to depend upon the presence or otherwise of a
few millions of the precious metals. If, indeed, they,
as a portion of the circulating capital of the commer-
cial world, were indispensible for the completion, for
the perfect working of its circulation, it might be im-
possible to get over the inconvenience of their absence ;
but when it is notorious that they do not, whether pre-
vent or absent, enter into such circulation, is it not worse
than folly to make the wholesome circulation of com-
merce depend upon them ? Still I
resume not to
blame the Bank. The fault is not with it ; but is
p
owing to the false position it is placed in. When the
stock of bullion is much reduced, no other course is
open to it, whatever individual suffering is entailed
thereby. And so long as the circulation of con-
sumption, which cannot be otherwise based, with
Safety, than on the precious metals, so long as the,
circulation with foreign nations, which must depend
altogether upon the precious metals, and the circula-
tion of commerce at home are carried for-
ward by the same war, the community will
be exposed to like periodical returns of those
evils which. have occurred within the last fifty years.
Perhaps there was a time when the present system of
money might have been adequate to the
wants of the
country. Amidst the stupendous and almost bound-
less extent of its commercial relations at the present
day, it is utterly defective. There is now wanting a
great commercial road, so to speak, capable of car-
rying on it the whole internal commerce of this
great country always safe and always open. And
that road must be formed upon the solid ground of
its fixed capital, and not upon that unstable portion'
of its circulating capital, its silver and gold, which is
here to-day and gone to-morrow.
My object and design is to introduce and establish
a fresh system of discounting—that is, of circulating
commercial credit, whereby greater security and
greater facility shall be given than exist at present.
The end is the same, the mode different. I seek to
establish that power amongst themselves which mer-
chants and manufacturers have now to seek for in
London, and often to seek for in vain, or under
most embarrassing and ruinous circumstances. I
seek to make their own fixed capital the instrument
of circulating their credit, instead of being dependent
upon the monied interest, as at present, for that pur-
pose. The circulation of commerce, implying the
transfer of one man's liability on to another, as the
commodities are transferred, all that is required for
that purpose is an establishment whereat each man's
credit, at the moment of transferring his own liability
on to his neighbour's shoulders, shall be as-
certained in an assay room, as it were, when
the value of every mans provision to meet his
engagements shall
be tested. Of such a nature
was the Bank of Amsterdam in its ori-
ginal intention, as detailed by Adam Smith. A
certain portion of the circulating capital of Amster-
dam was converted into a fixed capital. The money
deposited in the vaults of the Bank circulated no
longer, no more than if the whole had been laid out
in a railroad. The intention of that Bank in issuing
its bank money, as it was called, was notito pay bills
in reality, but to furnish a standard of value, accord-
having bills to pay had to
ing to which merchants
provide. Whatever might be the nature of that pro-
vision which satisfied the holder of Bank money, the
merchant payer having received the amount he
needed, was thereby enabled to meet his bill with
Bank money.. But nothing was paid by the Bank.
The bill had been provided for out of the Bank, and
the transfer in the books of the Bank, or the' pos-
session of Bank money,was a certificate that provision
had been made according to that standard by which
all bills were required to be paid.. Perhaps the prin-
ciple of that, Bank's operations had not been always
understood. However, it is enough for my present
purpose in showing how a fixed capital was made the
means of ascertaining , tho circulating commercial
credit of Amsterdam. Moreover, it is obvious that
the only use or the bullion, or coin, lying in the

A new three-act play, from the pen of Mr. T. Mor-
ton, entitled Judith of Geneva, was produced at this
theatre last evening with great and deserved success.
Judith (Mrs. Yates), a mechanic's daughter, has in her
youth been betrothed to Julius St. Val (Mr. Lyon), an
advocate, but his father disapproves of the connexion,
and, in order to break it off, he entices Judith to his
house, under a pretence of an assignation with her
lover. He places in her way a diamond necklace—lie
girl, believing that this is a present from her lover,
adorns herself with the jewels, and is instantly given in
custody by the father, on a charge of theft. She is
convicted and punished, and St. Val leaves her to her
fate, although he knows her innocence. The con-
victed thief is deprived, from that moment, of all
chance of gaining an honest livelihood—she becomes
the head of a gang who spread terror throughout
France and Switzerland. Herself and her asso-
ciates are arrested at Lyons. By her charms she
captivates the Count Malvoisine, who procures her par-
don and marries her ; but her associates are condemned
to imprisonment for life. The Count dies, and at the
opening of the play we find the Countess living at her
chateau in the neighbourhood of Geneva, the Lady
Bountiful of the district, and beloved and respected by
all the world. Her daughter Amy (Miss Chaplin) is on
the point of marriage with Capt. Henri St. Val, the son
of the advocate, who does not recognise in the Countess
Malvoisine his old flame Judith. On the morning of the
wedding St. Val receives a letter, informing him that the
man to whom he has entrusted the whole of his property
is a bankrupt, and that he himself is a beggar. He is
desirous of breaking off the match, but the Countess in-
sists on its proceeding, and the young couple are accord-
ingly married. On the same morning La Vogue
(Mr. 0. Smith), a member of Judith's gang, who
has escaped from prison, arrives at the chateau,
and recognises in Rose (Mrs. D. Lee) the lady's maid
of the Countess, his own wife. and in the Countess her-
self Judith, his former leader. The interview be-
tween La Vogue and Judith was admirably acted by
Mrs. Yates and 0. Smith. She at once throws off the
mask, and tells him that this appearance of virtue has
only been assumed to make a grand coup. She has been
getting up private theatricals in honour of the wedding,
and has taken care to cast the parts so as to include all
the rich persons of the neighbourhood ; and her plan is,
when they have divested themselves of their jewels in
order to assume the characters allotted to them, to seize
the jewels and decamp with them. La Vogue, who has
been appointed her steward, determines to be beforehand
with her, and accordingly directs the carriage to be in
waiting an hour before the time she had appointed,
and deposits the jewels in ono of the pockets of the
carriage. In the meantime the marriage has taken
place, and Judith then discloses to St. Val her real his-
tory, and tells him that the haughty family of St. Val,
which was too proud to suffer its representative to con-
tract an alliance with the poor, but innocent Judith, has
now connected itself with the base-born daughter.of
Judith, the swindler and thief. This, the most power-
fully written scene of the play, was acted with a thrill-
ing intensity by Mrs. Yates and Lyon. Oh ! how she
triumphed in her vengeance—how she revelled in the
enjoyment of gratified Malice. St. Val, horror-struck,
sinks to the earth, and in that state his son finds him,
Judith having left him to prepare for her flight. St.
yes father has died in his grandson's arms, after hav-
ing read and destroyed a letter informing him of the
mesalliance which his - grandson had made, which
letter bad been conveyed to him by Judith. St.
Val determines to fly from Geneva with his
son for ever —he sees the carriage waiting
in the court-yard—forces his son to enter it—
with him and departs. Instantly Judith gives the
alarm, and accuses St.' Val of robbery ; be is pursued,
arrested, and the jewels are found in the carriage. He
is now condemned on circumstantial evidence, and again
Judith triumphs. " You now drink of the bitter cup
which Judith drained to the dregs," exclaims she in the
ecstacy of her revezige. Nicholas, the coachman
(Wright), deposes that the carriage was ordered by La
Vogue, and sets forth in pursuit of him, declaring that
he, and not St. Val, is the robber. Rose, too, who
fancies that she has placed La Vogue out of the reach
of justice, declares that he is the robber. At that in-
stant he is brought in by Nicholas, who has seized and
arrested him, and he declares that the robbery had been
planned by the Countess herself, who is no other than
the infamous Judith of Geneva. Baffled and discovered,
Judith rushes to the balcony, which opens on the water,
throws herself into the lake, and the curtain falls. The
piece was excellently acted throughout. Wright, as Ni-
cholas, the servant, was exceedingly quaint and hu-
mourous—his look was sufficient to set the house in a
roar. Great praise is due to Mr. Morton for the artis-
tical manner in which he has developed his plot, and for
the great care with which he has written the dialogue.
In this respect ../tulith ih a east improvement upon the
I usual run of Adel Phi pieces. There is not a word too
much of the dialogue, nor is there a scene introduced

THE SUN, IxONDON, TUESDAY EVENING, JANUARY 301 1844.

vaults of the Bank was to give a credit or secu-
rity for its issues of Bank money; and it is equally,
plain that any other fixed capital of ascertainable,
known, and convertible value would perform just as
well the same function. The Bank of Amsterdam
assayed credit by the means of a deposit of the pre-
cious metals of standard value. I propose to assay
credit by the means of fixed capital of sterling worth.
To perfect a system of commercial circulation four
conditions would seem to be required—that it be
self-dependent, self-adjusting, abundant, and cheap.
If it depend at all upon causes extraneous to itself,
then its power of completely fulfilling its object will
depend also upon the co-operation of causes over
which it can have no control. If it be not self-ad-
justing, if it do not possess the property of dilation
and contraction, according to the demands of an
ever-varying commercial circulation, then that power
of accommodation which may be equal to the wants
of to-day, may be quite unequal to the wants of to-
morrow. If it be not abundant there can be no
certainty that there will be enough for all the
purposes of legitimate credit. If it be not
cheap, then that adage is untrue—that low in-
terest is the soul of trade. At all events, the
profits of discounting capital should bear a due pro-
portion to the profits of capital generally. Accord-
ing to the working of the present system I suppose
it bears very little. I will now state in what way, as
it appears to me, every condition of a perfect system
of commercial circulation may be fulfilled. I would
propose the establishment of a Bank of Transfer, with
a capital equal to the discounting, if required, the whole
commercial circulation of the country :
The capital to consist of property having a market-
able value, as bullion, Exchequer bills, Bank stock,
India bonds, funded property, railway shares, canal
shares, and generally of any fixed property having a
marketable value.

The deposits to remain :the property of the de-
positors.
The rent, or dividends, accruing from the deposits
to be theirs also.

The deposits to be withdraWn at the will of the de-
positor (when no debits in the Bank books stood against
their credits).

A credit in the books of the Bank to be given to
each depositor, according to the nature of thr deposits.
To the amount of each individual credit, the de-
positor would be at liberty to lend or sell his credit,
that is to discount on whatever terms he might choose
to accept.
To prevent any improper use of the credit, each
depositor to balance his account within stated times.
The Bank would neither pay money nor receive it,
except to the amount of its commission, say of one-
eighth per cent.

-The depositor receiving all the profits belonging to
his deposits, would seem to expect little more for dis-
counting than a fair guarantee commission for the
credit he might advance, and for the risk he had to
run—his deposits would be a source of double in-

come.
To those who had no occasion to raise money upon
such property the inducement of a moderate additional
profit by discounting, would offer an easy and safe
field for the employment of capital.
This is my idea of a system fitted to accommodate
the wants of commerce, at once secure, expansive,
abundant, and cheap.
Having trespassed so far upon your valuable space,
I will not presume at present to go farther into detail.
I am, Sir, &c.
RICHARD WADESON CARTER.
Kirk Andreas, Isle of Man, Jan. 9, 1844.

SIR H. POTTINGER AND THE
AMEERS OF SINDE.
TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN.

Six,—Circumstances over which I had no control have
prevented me from seeing or noticing, sooner, the corre-
spondence and remarks arising out of a letter said to be
written by Sir Henry Pottinger, and published in the
Morning Chronicle of the Bth instant. The last mail
brought me two letters from Sir Henry, but there is no-
thing, either in them or my former letters, which enables
me to deny or admit the authenticity of the letter so
published, as they make no allusion to it whatever.
I must be permitted to add, with reference to one
letter published by you, that any one who can imagine
that, under any circumstances, Sir Henry Pottinger
could proclaim a falsehood, proclaims himself utterly ig-
norant of the truth, honour, and integrity of my brother,
and has, in consequence, imagined that which must
prove destitute of foundation.—l have the honour to re-
main, your most obedient servant,
WILLIAM POTTINGER.
Major, 6th Royal Regiment.
Stockport Barracks, Cheshire, Jan. 25, 1844.

SAVINGS' BANKS.
TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN.

Sin, aA mis-statement, either ignorantly or wilfully,
is put forth at this time connected with banks for sav-
ings. There has been during the last year an increase
in the amount of deposits over the preceeding year ; and
it is made to appear as the best proof of a better condi-
tion in the working classes. That there is a partial
improvement among those classes must be evident, but
it is not of such a nature as to admit of their saving and
investing in a public Institution—'tis out of the question.
The increase in amount of deposits is no criterion ;
the description of depositors can only be fairly looked
at. Increase in amount of deposits over the prior year
arises from the fact of other individuals than working
people investing their money for themselves, their chil-
dren, and as trustees for so and so. And this is done
because those individuals obtain a better rate of inte-
rest than what is given in the regular banks.
The truth should appear to the public.
I am, Sir, your obedient servant,
Jan. 29, 1844. A MANAGER.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN.
SIR—I shall feel obliged to any of your readers
learned in constitutional law, who will resolve an im-
portant problem, viz.,
Whether, in the event of Mr. O'Connell and his " co-
seditionists" (to use the modest language of the Times),
being convicted, Sir Robert Peel and Sir James Graham
are not liable to be impeached for enormous dereliction
of official duty ?
The reason for adopting the afermative of the propo-
sition is simple. If the assembling a " monster meet-
ing," and addressing them in the language Mr. O'Con-
nell has invariably adopted, be an offence against the
Crown, the Constitution, and the security of the common-
wealth, it was as much an offence at first as at last, and
Ministers, who suffered scores of these acts to be accom-
plished without interference, assuredly deserve impeach-
ment as richly as ever public officers have done since the
days of Alfred.
What should we say, if the Home Secretary, knowing
that A.B. had in January, murdered C.D., should take
no steps to apprehend him, but leave him to slaughter
E.F. in February, G.H. in March, I.J. in April, and so
on to the end of the alphabet and year, and should in
the last month of it become awake to the propriety of
stopping the murderer's career? Should we not have a
cry through the length and breadth of the land, for the
impeachment of such a Minister?
Either Mr. O'Connell ought to be acquitted, and the
Ministry kicked out for fools —or condemned, and Mi-
nistors impeached for gross neglect of duty.
PHILO-JUSTITUR

A REVERSE OF FORTUNE.
On Friday last, at the sale-rooms of Messrs. Oxenham,
in Oxford-street, amongst other property disposed of,
were six lots, three of which consisted of female wear-
ing
apparel, dresses, lace of a costly description, ri-
bands, &c., the trunks in which they had been packed,
and several sets of artificial teeth mounted with gold.
The other three lots were—a lady's gold watch, with
jewelled movements, a massive neck-chain, with run-
ners, three seals, and a key, all gold, a pair of spec-
tacles, and an eye-glass, several finger-rings set with
pearls, diamonds, &c.; a pair of pearl earrings, brooches,
and other articles of jewellery, all mounted in gold.
These lots created some interest, on account of it being
stated that they were the property of a female pauper
who had recently died in St. James's workhouse. It
should be mentioned, that instead of a maker's name on
thewatch there was engraved the name of Harriet Blake,
and on one of the seals was cut the word " Harriet;"
and another bore the motto, " True to her Trust."
Some remarks were made upon the extraordinary cir-
cumstance of a person possessed of so much property as
this being the inmate of a workhouse, enduring all the
privations and misery of such an establishment„.but the
following explanation was given. About three years
ago, an elderly lady put up at an hotel at the west-end
of the town, and upon her exhibiting unequivocal symp-
toms of insanity, application was made to the parish
officers, and she was removed to the workhouse. No in-
formation could be obtained from her, except that her
maiden name was Harriet Blake, and that she had been
married to a Mr. C—, who was at one time Mayor of
Bristol, and who died shortly after the marriage, leav-
ing her, as was supposed, an annuity, which, however,
had never been traced. The unfortunate lady was af-
terwards sent to Bethlehem Hospital, where she passed
a year. From thence she was removed to Hanwell,
where she died. She was apparently about 70 years of
age at the time of her death. The proceeds of the pro-
perty are to be applied in defraying some portion of
the expenses to which the parish had been subjected, by
taking charge of the unfortunate deceased. In this sad
reverse of fortune, it was said that the sister of the de-
ceased had been a sharer, she being at present an inmate
of St. Martin's workhouse, and as ignorant of the where-
abouts of the deceased's annuity as everybody else ap-
pears to have been.

Pugilistic contests between Horridge and Jemmy
from Town, Toni the Greek, and Simmonds, near Birming-
ham ; 111‘Phee and M'Kenna, near Glasgow, will be re-
ported in Bell's Life in London, of Monday, Feb. 4. The
memorial relating to Qui Tam actions regarding horse-
racing, coursing, and other manly sports, was given at length
in Bell's Life of Sunday last, Jan. 28.
LONDON NEWSPAPERS —The increase within the
last ten years in the number of newspapers published in
London has been so great as almost to exceed belief.
The weekly average of the number dispatched by the
mails to the provinces was, in December, 1833, 200,000
—in the present month it exceeds 470,000.- The news-
papers, too, have so increased in size that, while at the
former period the weight per week was about nine tons,
it now exceeds forty tons. But within the same week
a great disproportion exists, the papers published on
Saturday much exceeding thOse published on, any other
day. The weight of newspapers now passing by the
Pails on every Saturday night is not less than eleven tone

THE ANTI-LEAGUE AGITATION.
MEETING AT STEYNING.
Yesterday a meeting of farmers and others interested
in agriculture, was held at Steyning, pursuant to public
announcement, for the purpose of forming a society, to
be called the " Sussex Society for the Protection of
Agriculture." A commodious hustings had been erected
in an orchard adjoining the White Horse Inn, and some
time before the hour at which the proceedings were an-
nounced to commence, the hustings were crowded with
noblemen and gentlemen, intermingled with a consider-
able number of the neighbouring farmers. The agents of
the Anti-Corn-law League were in the town actively
distributing their tracts. The meeting was cancel for,
twelve o'clock, but the proceedings did not commence
until half-past.
Among these on the hustings were the Duke of Rich-
mond, the Earl of Egmont, the Earl of Winterton, the
Duke of Norfolk, the Earl of Sheffield, the Earl of
Abergavenny, Lord Gage, Sir H. Shiffner, Sir C. M.
Burrell, Bart., M.P.; Colonel Wyndham, M.P.; Colonel
G. Wyndham, the Earl of March, M.P. ; Hon. R. C.
Scarlett, MP. ; Mr. C. Goring, M.P. ; Mr. G. Darby,
M.P.; Mr. R. Prime, Mr. R. Hasler, Mr. R. Hurst, Mr.
J. B. Dunbar, Mr. W. W. Richardson, Major Sandham,
Mr. H. Ingram, Mr. H. Penfold, Mr. H. D. Tredcroft,
Mr. W. Borrer, jun., Mr. J. Scott, jun., Mr. H. Hullick,
Mr. R. W. Blencowe, Mr. H. Bates, Captain Richard-
son, Mr. L. Wood, Mr. F. Smith, Mr. C. S. Dickens,
Mr. C. Dorien, Mr. C. Shirley, Mr. J. King, Captain
Paine, Mr. D. Lyon, Mr. J. Barton, Mr. C. Mitford,
Mr. T. Thomas, Mr. C. S. Finbury, Mr. Pringle, Mr. J.
Dennett, Mr. J. Smith, Mr. A. Smith, Mr. J. 1). Smith,
Mr. T. Coppard, Mr. J. W. Ladbrooke, Mr. W. New-
land, Mr. Fitzgerald, Sir 11. Symons, M.P.,-&c. There
appeared to be about 1,200 persons present.
On the motion of Mr. BARTON, of East Leigh, near
Havant,
Mr. J. ELLMAN, of Line, an occupying tenant, was
called to the chair at 25 minutes to two o'clock. He
said, no doubt they would feel disappointed and sur-
prised at seeing a small proprietor (though a consider.
able occupier) in so prominent a situation on so impor-
tant an occasion ; but this was a meeting of occupying
farmers ; and as he had for the last 30 years never
shrunk from expressing personally and in print his
opinions in favour of protection to the farmer, he did
not think he ought to refuse to stand forward now.—
(Hear.) If anything could have been required to pre-
vent a doubt that those opinions wers general, it was
afforded by the highly respectable and numerous meet-
ing of tenant farmers whom he saw here to-day. It had
always been said that they had been incited by their
landlords, but he thought that meeting, and the fact that
he, an occupying tenant, was placed in the chair, were
a sufficient answer to such a charge, let it come from
whatever party or from whatever source it might. The
cause of the meeting was obvious. They all knew that
the last crop of corn, as well as the previous one, had
been below the average, and yet they had seen that the
prices were such that the tenant could scarcely pay his
way.—(Hear.) That was the real cause why it was
incumbent on the agriculturists now to make a stand
against the advances of the Anti-Corn-law League.
That was the one bond of union amongst them. It had
brought together on that occasion noblemen and gentle-
men of opposite 'political opinions, but all harmonious
and agreed in their determined antagonism to the
League.—(Hear.) He very much regretted that they
could not see among them a Noble Lord for whose
personal character as well as those who now heard
him, entertained the highest respect, and whom the agri-
cultural body had honoured with the Vice-Presidency
of the Smithfield Club—he alluded to Earl Spencer.—
(Hear, hear.) He very much deplored the adhesion of
that nobleman to the Anti-Corn-law League, and he
still more deplored that he should have chosen such a
time as the present to declare it.—(Cheers.) Lord
Ducie, also, who was called the best arable farmer, as
Earl Spencer was termed the best grazing farmer, was
now giving his declared support to the League. The
agricultural body were under great obligations to Lord
Ducie for his improvements in agriculture, as exem-
plified in his " model farm," but he was not acting as
their friend in abetting the League. He (Mr. Ellman)
could only say, that it it was well for the farmers to imi-
tate Lord Lucie in his farming proceedings, their imi-
tation should extend no further.—(Hear.) Lord West-
minster also had written a letter to the papers supporting
the League.
A Voice—Ah, but he don't grow corn.—(Laughter.)
Mr. ELLMAN—Ay, that's true ; but we could not but
regret to see such noblemen as these countenancing the
League—those who by their blasphemous publications
were attempting to sow the seeds of disunion everywhere;
separating the tenants from their landlords, and the
labourers from the farmers. Mr. Ellman then proceeded
to attack the principles of the League in detail,
He denied that this was solely a question of rent, as
asserted by Messrs. Cobden and Bright. He also denied
that Scotland was with the League, and in contradic-
tion to that statement, he would only point to the late
meeting in the Lothians. He then quoted the opinion
of Mr. Huskisson in favour of agricultural protection.
That friend to free trade said there would be no effec-
tual security in peace or war against repeated returns of
scarcity, except a proper protection of our home supply.
Let the bread we eat be of home production, and then
let it be as cheap as it can. At a late meeting in Scot-
land Mr. Fox Maule said, that no settlement of the corn
question would be satisfactory that did not involve total
repeal. Was that true?—(A general cry of " No, no.")
Now, they were met there especially to combat this doc-
trine, and the League as its expounders. Whatever
Minister might be in power—whether Whig or Tory—
if he attempted to take away one iota of the protection
on agriculture, let the farmers rise up as one man and
tell him that they would not submit to it.—(Cheers.)
Mr. WYATT (also a tenant farmer) moved the first
resolution—" That while the tenantry of the country,
and others investing their capital in agriculture, have
had their protection greatly reduced by recent legis-
lative enactments, and their prices seriously affected
by the constant agitation of the Anti-Corn-law
League, it is the opinion of this meeting that
it is the duty of the owners and occupiers of land, not
only on their own account, but also for the welfare of
the numerous labourers, tradesmen, and others depen-
dent on them for support and employment (the interest
of all being indissolubly united), and for the general
welfare of all classes of the community, to use their
best endeavours to counteract the designs of the persons
confederated together under the title of the Anti-Corn-
law League, the attainment of whose object would, in
our opini. n, produce a crisis we cannot contemplate
without the greatest apprehension."
Mr. W. TANNER seconded the resolution.
A Mr. DUDMAN, of Brighton, who stated himself to
be a mechanic, here addressed the meeting at some
length. He attacked the Anti-Corn-law League, he
said, not so much because he was friendly to the agri-
cultural interest, as because he thought the League the
greatest " humbug" of the two.
The resolution was then agreed to.
Mr. W. STACE (a tenant farmer) moved the second
resolution, expressive of the sense of the meeting, that
the protection of agriculture was necessary to the main-
tenance of the best interests of the empire, and that no
amount of foreign trade could compensate for its de-
struction. This speaker, like the previous one, addressed
his observations to the refution of the arguments and the
denunciation of the designs of the League.
The resolution having been seconded by Mr. HAMP-
TON (a farmer), was agreed to.
The third resolution, for the formation of the Sussex
Agricultural Protection Society, was also agreed to,
having been moved by Mr. IV. C. Newland, and se-
conded by Mr. C. Beard.
The other resolutions, which were of a formal nature,
including the nomination of the Duke of Richmond as
President, and the Earl of Egmont, Lord Gage, the
Earl of Sheffield, Sir C. Burrell, and Colonel Wyndham,
as Vice-Presidents of the Society, were severally pro-
posed by farmers and unanimously agreed to.
The Duke of IlicnsioNn then came forward and ad-
dressed the meeting. He said he was anxious to express
his sense of the high honour they had done him by
making him their President. His services might not be
of much use, but they should always be, as they ever
bad been, at the disposal of the farmers of the empire.
He had felt it to be his duty as a landlord to attend there
to-day at a meeting called by the tenantry of his native
county, and to co-operate with them to the utmost of
his power in the promotion of every object that would
be beneficial to agriculture. He should feel that he was
base indeed, if he could desert the farmers in the mo-
ment of danger.—(Cheers.) He could not approve of the
proceedings of the Anti-Corn-law League. He had
heard with surprise, not unmixed with indignation, that
their leaders had threatened to interfere in the election
of Members of Parliament, with the money which their
dupes had placed at their disposal.—(Hear, hear.) He
felt sure that the farmers would not attempt to follow so
bad an example—this Society was formed for self-de-
fence, and for self-defence alone.—(Hear, hear.) Were
free and independent men to suffer themselves to be
trodden under foot, by a Society such as the Anti-Corn-
law League ?—(Hear, hear.) No ; they little under-
stood the stuff the British farmer was made of, if they
supposed that they could do it.—(Hear, hear.) He re-
peated, however, his belief that the farmers would not
follow the bad example of the League—they would not
attempt to set against each other classes whose interests
were identical. Nor would they send delegates into the
manufacturing districts, to excite the passions of the
people, and to inflame the minds of the operative against
the manufacturers. No ; on the contrary, confiding in
the justice of their cause, they would seek by all legiti-
mate means to combat the arguments of the League, and
dispel the fallacies by which they attempted to support
their views. At the same time he begged to say, that he
thought they ought by no means to confound the League
with the manufacturers and the commercial classes.
It was true that the Anti-Corn-law League did boast
and claim that they were the representatives of the opi-
nions of 'the commercial and manufacturing interests ;
but it was no such thing—a large preiportion of the most
influential and honest of the" men who pursued those
most useful and honourable avocations disapproved of
the conduct of the League as much as they did.—(Hear.)
They disliked the agitations--they considered it to be
morally wrong—they knew that if the corn-laws were
repealed, a large quantity of land must be thrown out of
cultivation—they knew, also, that they would lose their
best customers, and they knew something else, too—
which was, that success did never yet produce modera-
tion in any political party.—(Hear, hear.) They knew
well that, if the Anti-Corn-law League were now to
succeed, they would not stop there, but that they would
go on creating anarchy and confusion in the country,
taking away from us everything that was dear to us as
free Englishmen— they knew that they would attempt
to defraud the public creditor of his due.—(hear, hear.)
He (the Duke of Richmond) believed that they would
agree with him, that the demonstrations that had taken
place in different parts of the country had given a decided
negative to the Anti-Corn-law League when they said
that they had succeeded in convincing the farmei-s
-that the question was not a tenant's question, but
that it was only ak?uestion of rent between land-
lord and tenant. felt that the managing coin-