The Sun.
London, England, 1842-07-29 00:00:00

By GEORGE

AVERAGES OF THE LA ST SIX REEKS.
Wrek ending WHEAT. !BARLEY. OATS. RYE. BEANS. PEASE
.........-7 ..7.....1 .......-. ..,,.................. -
June 17 63 10 25 10 21 6 36 10 34 9 32 6
25 63 11 27 6 21 7 31 7 34 4 33
July 2 64 3 27 7 22 4 32 3 34 9 35 6
9 64 10 27 5 22 2. 29 5 35 1 34 a
16 65 .8 27 4 22 0 08 6 34 10 35 5
23
IMPERIAL AGGREGATE AVERAGES OF THE SIX wEarics
Wheat......... 645. 7d. Oats ........ 21s. 10.1.1 Beans ats. 841
gar1ey......... 27a. 6d.1 Rye
DUTIES ON FOREIGN CORN.
Wheat Bs. 0.1, Oats
Barley 9s. Od. I Rye

THE MAItKETS.-YESTER DAY.
COLONIAL MARKET.
There is no particular change to notice in this Market. A
steady business was done in most kinds of merchandise, and
prices were firmly sustained. In West India Sugar a fair busi-
ness was done, at very full prices, especially for the middling
grocery sorts. Mauritius and Bengal firm in price, and mid-
dling and good yellow Mauritius 625. to 685., and low to good
white Bengal 635. 6d. to 695. 6d. per cwt. In the value of
Refined goods no alteration took place.
TEA MARKET.
A tiir business was done in Congou, chiefly at Is. 80. to
Is. Hid. per lb. ; and the market exhibited a firm appearance,
wilt large deliveries and decreasing stock. Company's Congou,
Is. 9d. per lb.

TALLOW MARKET.
The market was dull, but prices do not vary. Fine Yellow
Candle at 48s. on the spot, and 48s. 9d. for delivery in the last
three months of the year.
WHITECHAPEL HAY-MARKET.
The market was well supplied, with a very limited demand.
Clover, 21. 10s. to 5/. 10s. ; Hay, 21. ss. to 41. 4s. ; New
Hay, 31. to 4/. ; Straw, 11. 10s. to I/. 14s.

[ADVERTISEMENT.]
SODA WATER.
ROUGIISEDGE and SUMMERS have hitherto relied on
the discernment of the public to discover and appreciate
the superior quality of the iErated Water produced by
their manufactory, and they have scorned to have re-
c.)urse to any tricks. In the present day some persons
consider it requisite to make use' of puffs and quackery
in order to extend the sale of their own productions by
detracting from the merits of rival establishments. R.
and S. have such strong grounds of reliance on the supe-
riority of their own soda-water and lemonade, founded
on the recommendation of the most eminent of the
faculty, on the results of the most searching chemical
analyses, and the extensive and still increasing demand
for them by the public, both at home and abroad,
that they have hitherto treated the insinuations
of quackery alluded to with the contempt they
deserve. But if these indirect insinuations are
still to be' obtruded on the public, R. and S. feel
themselves justified in offering those explanations that
may enable the public to judge for themselves. If R. and
S. have placed the name of.Schweppe upon their bottles,
it was never to mislead the public as to connexion with
that firm, but for the purpose of announcing a legitimate
fact, and always subordinate to their own. Without im-
puting undue credit to the name of Schweppe, they have
simply stated that they came from the house of Schweppe
and Co.,—an undoubted fact, or doubtless it would have
been denied. For five and twenty years, during the very
period that the waters sold by Schweppe gave to that
name all the celebrity it ever obtained, Mr. Summers
was the engineer and manufacturer of the waters sold
by that house in London, Derby, and Bristol. It is
many years since any person, having the slightest
connexion with the name or family of the late Mr.
Schweppe, has been connected with any house in the
trade. In the year 1834, the proprietor of the busi-
ness carried on under the name of Schweppe and Co.
sold his interest to persons with whom R. and S.
declined to remain : they preferred employing their in-
dustry and practical knowledge in establishing a business
for their own mutual profit. Whether the waters since
manufactured by the present firm of Schweppe and Co.
retain the quality which acquired for that house all its
celebrity, R.. and S. decline to give an opinion ; but, in
justice to themselves, they do, with the most perfect con-
fidence and- good faith, say that—highly as some ma-
nufacturers seem to estimate the bottles which bear
their name (expensive an item as bottles are), and diffi-
cult as it is to prevent retail tradesmen from returning
wrong ones—there is no bottle bearing any other than
their own, however celebrated, to which Roughsedge and
Summers would wish to add the reputation to be derived
from filling them with waters of their own manufactory.
RoUGESEDGE and SUMMERS only desire such patronage
as may be deserved from the }Erated Waters produced
at their own mitt/factory, and sold under the labels of
their own name.-37, Bridge-street, Bristol.
DEAFNESS.—Sound Magnifiers, and Invisible
Operative Voice Conductors, to enable persons at an advanced
age, and of old standing extreme deafness, to join in general
conversation, and to catch the sound of a distant low speaker
at a publie assembly; they are the size of a very small gold
seven shilling piece, and when in the cavity of the ears, they
arc not in the least perceptible nor more uncomfortable than
having a small piece of fine wool in its place ;. and although they
are so extremely smal yet they enable those afflicted with ex-
treme deafness to hear in every respect equal to those of most
acute hearing.—From the late Henry Cowper, Esq., of Tewen
Waters, Herts., to Messrs. S. and B. Solomons, 39, Albemarle-
street, Piccadilly, opposite the York Hotel, and 76, King William.
street, Bank of England.—" Gentlemen, having been deaf for
many years, I was induced from recommendation to try your Invisi.
ble Voice Conductors, and I have great pleasure In telling you that
they enable me to hear persons in company and at a place of wor-
shipmost distinctly; and in consequence of the great advanbs. s
which I have derived, I have recommended many persons to you,
and their report is similar to mine—most favourable. The Spec-
tacles and Hand-glass which you have sent me are very excellent,
and suit my sight precisely, and surpass any thing of the kind I
have ever tried ; the transparency of which is se brilliant, that,
although I have passed my 36th year the 22d of May last, yet they
enable me to read, &c., by candlelight with the greatest ease and
comfort to myself.— Gentlemen, I return you my best thanks,
and remain your D sat obedient servant. HENRY COWPER.-
June 22, 1839."

LADvERTIsEMENT.I
IMPORTANT TO ALL THOSE WHO EXPECT TO DE.

...-
RIVE BENEFIT Piton DRINKING SODA WATER.—Schweppe's
Soda Water is so universally known and appreciated, not only
throughout the United Kingdom, but throughout the civilised
world, that any enconium ore its merits might appear super-
fluous; but as since its original introduction, upwards of half
a century since, many imitators have started up, with more or
less claims to public patronage, J. S. and Co. take the liberty
of reminding their friends and the public that the above Cele-
brated Water continues to be manufactured •n the largest
scale and upon the most scientific principles at their chief es-
tablishment, 51, Berners-street, London; and also at their
three branch Manufactories in Liverpool, Bristol, and Derby ;
raid that, consumers may be supplied with the genuine article at
most of the respectable Chemists, Confectioners, and Italian
‘Varehouses in every province of the United Kingdom. The
just reputation of their manufacture, and the consequent de-
mand for it, have tempted unprincipled persons (many of them
of apparent respectability) to practice a deception, against
which Schweppe and Co. are anxious to caution the public.
The deception referred to is that of passing off a spurious
article for " Schweppe's," by selling it in Schweppe's marked
bottles. The temptation to this is, the cheapness of the infe-
rior water, although in most cases the consumer is charged the
same. By this artifice a common water is surreptitiously
palmed on the public for the genuine—the reputation of the
latter is prejudiced by the substitution of a bad article—and a
certain proportion of the public patronage diverted from its
legitimate channel. To obviate these several evils, Schweppe
and Co. have adopted the plan of placing a Red Label over
the cork of each bottle, representing the Royal Appointment
in the centre, and the name of their firm on each side, with-
out which none is genuine. Schweppe and Co. refer with
pride to the fact that they constantly supply the Royal Palaces
of London and Windsor, as well as the principal Nobility in the
three kingdoms ; nor is the demand for their Soda Water less
constant on the continent and in other parts of the world.
Merchants and Shippers in general connected with the Ea,t
and West Indies anti our numerous Colonies are continually
transmitting orders received from their respective agents and
correspondents, and highly gratifying is the testimony
Schweppe and Co. are in the habit of receiving from gentle-
men returned from abroad, of the luxury afforded them by their
Soda Water when met with in tropical climates, and of the
high condition in which it is generally found. The Water
ordered for foreign countries is manufactured with an express
reference to its destination, and it is well known that no other
can equally well endure the variations of climate. Schweppe's
Lemonade is an elegant preparation of mere recent intro-
duction, but from its refreshing and wholesome properties is
rapidly getting into extensive reputation. It is an effervescing
draught of most agreeable flavour, and made of the best mate-
rials, without regard to cost. Physicians and medical men
constantly recommend it in cases of fever, &c., nor is it less de-
sirable as an article of luxury. Every genuine bottle will
have a yellow fable on its side, with the name and address of
the firm. Schwenpe and Co. are the largest importers of the
German Seltzer Water, which they receive direct from the
springs, in quarts and pints, and which they offer to the public
in the original packages. N.B.—Export orders for all climates
executed on the shortest notice.
THE METROPOLITA N btrROVEMENTS.—WedDeSday
some of the Committee of the St. Martin's-in-the-Fields and
St. Anne's Association for watching, the Metropolitan Improve-
ment Bill, with Mr. Morgan, the Chairman, waited upon the
Commissioners of Woods and Forests, at Whitehall-place, for
the purpose of ascertaining the determination of the Commis-
sioners respecting any intended alterations of the original de-
sign with regard to the new street that was projected from Co-
ventry-street to Long-acre. Many of the inhabitants are
leaving their houses, induced to believe that the impovements
were to be prolonged to an indefinite period. The deputation
had an interview with Mr. Pemberton, Secretary to the Board
of the Commissioners, who stated that a meeting of the Board
of Commissioners was held on Tuesday last at Whitehall-place,
when it was resolved that they should not interfere with the
original designs. and that the whole lines throughout the me-
tropolis should be carried into effect forthwith, the objection
against any alteration being the difficulty of interfering with
the existing arrangements.
In the High Court of Justiciary, Edinburgh, on
Monday forenoon, Eugene Ernest Augustus Guelph (styling
himself Prince of Osnaburg, and claiming to be the son of the
Duke and Duchess of York) was accused of assault by stabbing
and cutting, and to the effusion of blood, with the aggravation
thaw the offence was committed un an officer of the law engaged
in the execution of his duty. The Jury returned a verdict of
guilty, with a recommendation to the leniency of the Court.
After an admonition from the Court, the Prince cf Osna-
burg " was sentenced to imprisonment for six calendar months
in Haetlington gaol.

ANTI-CORN LA.VV CONFERENCE.
The 'members of the Conference met yesterday-, at
the King's Arms Hotel, Palace-yard, at the usual hour.
P. A. Taylor, Esq., in the Chair.
Tile CHAIRMAN opened the prcceedings by reading
the following communications :
National Anti-Corn-law League, Manchester, July 26.
"Dear Sir,—l send you, as promised in my last, the
letter received this morning from Bloxwich.
" The. Manchester market to-day has been, as I am
informed, much the same as last week, but I don't need
to tell you not to take the Guardian as an authority.
"I have great pleasure in forwarding to you a copy
of the IlAsolution passed at a meeting of the Association
this evening :
" Moved by Mr. Andrew Hall ; seconded by Mr.
Tho:nas Woolley :—"lhat the members of the Deputa-
'lion in London be requested to take into consideration
the expediency of creating, in such way as may seem to
them most advisable, an interest in favour of our prin-
ciples in the Methodist Conference, now about to com-
mence its sittings in the metropolis.'—Carried unani-

mously.
" We had a good and full meeting this evening, with
some animating speeches.
" The insolent expressions of the coxcomb Stanley to
the Deputation of merchants, as reported in the Morning
Chronicle, is about to be published and placarded on the
walls of this town and North Lancashire.
" I am, Sir, yours very respectfully,
"JOHN BRINDLE,, •
" Secretary to the Manchester Anti-Corn-lawAssociation.
To Mn.
" Bloxwich, July 27, 1842.
" Dear Hickin,—l received yours this morning ; not
knowing you were in London I wrote to your chambers
at. Manchester on Monday evening last, ai:d lest they
may not have forwarded the letter to you, I repeat the
contents. On Monday morning. the Birchills miners
and iron-men (being under notice to drop from 2s. 6d.
to 2s. 3d. per day) struck, and on the same day pro-
ceeded to visit all the works in the neighbourhood, and
actually succeeded in stopping them every one without
resorting to any kind of violence, except throwing a few
flats into the canal at the Birchills at starting for re-
fusing to go with them.
" Yesterday the town was full of working men, and
two troops of soldiers are quartered in the town ; the
Yeomanry Cavalry are also parading the town, although
.there has not been any attempt at a breach of the peace.
As to the state of trade, it never was anything like so
bad as it is now since I have been in business. Trades-
men in general have not more than two days' work a
week. Some of the wiseacres attribute this state of
things to machinery. and castings, but this is all a farce,
as awl-blades, chains, and other trades that neither
machinery nor casting moulds can touch, are in equally
as bad a state as the trades in which machinery operates.
Believe me, dear sir, yours truly,
"BENJAMIN WELCH.
" P.S. The works are all still, and likely to con-
tinue so."
"TO THE CHAIRMAN OF THE ANTI-CORN-LAW LEAGUE,
" Old Grafton House Oxford, July 27, 1842.
" Sir,—l have to acknowledge the receipt of severe
communications from your body, for which I and.m3
friends tender our most cordial thanks.
" On the return of our delegate, Mr. Towle (who sa
for a week at your conference), we called a public meet-
ing at our theatre, to adopt resolutions witn regard to the
immediate repeal of the abominable Corn-laws. After
several long addresses, which were listened to with
marked attention, an elector moved as an amendment, in
consideration of the present character of the House of
Commons that the People's Charter is the most de-
sirable object to secure the present prosperity of the
people of this country,' which was carried by a large
majority.
" The last Anti-Corn-law meeting held in Oxford
(prior to this), several hundred citizens were asembled
in the Town-hall, when it was suddenly broken in upon,
almost at the commencement, by the members of the
University, who rushed from prayers at their respective
college chapels, and conducted themselves like furies from
the regions below, dealing blows and execrations on all
around, which lasted for some time ; windows, doors,
beads, and benches, were broken, and the city authorities
could only disperse these educated physical force, embryo
divines; by extinguishing the gas-lights, and thus leaving
the numerous combatants in impenetrable darkness !
" I have lived in. Oxford about forty years, and never
knew it so dull and be-gloomed as at the present time.
Numbers of shops are closed in all the principal streets
(ailing unknown a few years ago), and in the lower
many more. I counted seven houses closed within a
stone's throw, in a new and once populous neighbourhood.
" Poor rates are increasingly heavy ; the workhouse,
too full for this season of the year, containing several
persons who once moved in most respectable circles; the
out-door relief last Thursday amounted to about 601. for
the eleven united- parishes.
In the large University printing-oflice,wherethey used
to employ 60 or 70 press-men for bibles and prayer-books,
and where they use all paper duty-free, steam-presses and
machinery are introduced—their hard-working old hands
are paid off, and many of them, with their families, are
driven to the poor-house, when (Oh! most astonishing
selfishness and cruelty) these same wealthy heads of col-
leges refused both individually and collectively to bear a
just and equal burden of the poor-rates ! ! Grasping and
selfish as landlords, overbearing and exclusive as cus-
tomers, haughty and disdainful as neighbours, though
they themselves are represented in Parliament, they ex-
ercise gross oppression and intimidation with the fran-
chise of others. Toryism and Puseyism are the pre-
siding demons of this den of semi-Protestant priestcraft,
where the tree of liberty is stunted in its growth, and the
souls and bodies of men are placed under the ban of fana-
ticism by a proud and sensual banditti, who hoist their
Church and State banner of ' passive obedience and non-
resistance.' I, myself, have been a grocer in Oxford
nearly twenty years, and once could put by a respect-
able sum annually; but owing to the reduced means of
the multitude through the exaction of a million a week
for misgovernment, and a million a week for the insolent
aristocracy, I am prepared to swear that my income is
now less than 1501. per annum, and shall suffer the spoil-
ing of my goods, rather than submit to be Peeled by a
Paul Pry Income-tax.—Sir, I remain, your obedient
servant, "J. J. FAULKNER.
" Chairman of the Oxford Board of Guardians.
" P.S. As Mr. Towle will not have occasion again to
meet you, you are at liberty to make what use you
please of this communication."
Mr. J. CROSSLEY (of Brighouse, near Halifax), then
addressed the meeting. He said that Brighouse till
within the last eighteen months was one of the most
flourishing little towns in the West Rie:ing of Yorkshire,
but now they were participating in the general depres-
sion. His own business of a grocer and tea-dealer had
fallen off to a great extent, but he was happy to say that
the cause of the repeal of the Corn-laws was progressing,
and he should return to Brighouse determined never to
cease his exertions till they were abolished.
Mr. Crossley then read to the meeting the following
letter :

"TO MR. CROSSLEY.

" Brighouse, near Halifax, July 23, 1842.
Sir,—l now sit down to attempt a description of the
state of this neighbourhood for your use in discharging
your duties in London. I confess I scarcely know where
to begin, not that I have not material sufficient to work
upon. God knows I have too much of that.
" Within the last fortnight the stone merchants here,
almost to a man, have cut down their workmen to half-
time, viz., three days a week, in addition to a reduction
of wages upon these three days, and the principal em-
ployer of workmen in Southowram (Mr. Freeman) says
that he shall be compelled to force another reduction in
a week or two. What are left of the fancy, weavers and
others engaged in the fancy trade in Rastrick, are in a
pitiable state of destitution ; but you are aware that
those who could have emigrated to other lands, and others
are now preparing to follow them, aided by the as-
sistance of the Poor-law Guardians. Some of them
never picked a shuttle since Christmas ; others have not
had more than a month, and the best not one-third of
employment. One man Sohn Firth, -of Castle-hill,
in Rastrick, weaver, lived in his own house two years
ago, when he was obliged to sell it for debt, and has
since lived in it, but never paid one farthing of rent, hnd
on Monday last he told me had only earned six shillings
singe Christmas, and this was by haymaking, and had it
not been for what he picked up under the hedge bot-
toms he should have been starved to death. I have
known him all my life as a sober, industrious man.
Another man in Bone-gate (William Armistead), a stone
scourer, is setting cards, and can only earn a penny a
day on an average, if he makes three halfpence he has to
work late and soon. Another, James Wood, who is a
better hand, works hard a whole week for a shilling—
and remember these arc fathers of families, too.
" I could not set forth the number of empty houses in
Rastrick, 6ut in a short time I believe one-half, at least,
will be tenantless., In Bone-gate, out of thirty able-
bodied men, only three are employed. On Tuesday last,
between the George Inn and the railway station, a dis-
tance of about 300 yards, fifty-seven were counted stand-

ing all out .of Work-
The unemployed here have looked forwards to the
hay harvest with certain hope of relief, but, alas! they
are miserably, disappointed. Last year only 2s. 6d. a
day was given for a good haymaker : this year ls. 2d.
only is given, and thankfully received. It may be ne-
cessary to state who it is that is giving these low wages..
I may say it is general, and, as an instance, I will give
you one of your nearest farmers, James Manley. Mr.
Mooney, of Fartown, has had all his hay made by able-
bodied men out of Huddersfield for their food only, and
has refused scores more who offered on the same terms.
" The effects of this destitution are now beginning to
tell upon the middle classes iu more ways than one. The
unemployed will nut starve. Hornier is a sharp thorn,
and it is driving them into the fields. Where potatoes
are grown there is scarcely a field or a garden in
Brighouse, Rastrick, and Southouram that does uot pre-
sent effects of the --, I uas about to say midnight
thief, but I will say of the perishing workman. On
Tuesday night, Benjamin Goofier had seventy or eighty
yards stolen, and this, too, in the field adjoining your

" PS.—Two years ago, now, Messrs. Hepworth of
Brighouse had from twenty to thirty journeymen em-
ployed ; they have now three, and in this town there are
not six journeymen in the trade of a joiner and cabinet-
maker in work at all. T. J."
A short conversation took place on the present value
of land in Yorkshire, Mr. Crossley stating that the land
in the neighbourhood of Brighouse was not morta than
two-thirds of what it had been two or three years ago.
Mr. Fixcu (of Liverpool) communicated the follow-
ing letter, from a party engaged in the iron trade of
Liverpool :
" Mr. Bills, of Darlaston, called upon me this morning
(25th July), and says that an attempt is making to re.-
duce the thick coal-getters from 4s. to 3s. 6d. per day,
and it is expected that the consequence will be a general
turn out of all the colliers. A very erroneous impression
of the wages of colliers was given by Sir Robert Peel in
the House of Commons last week. when he -stated that
the dispute was between 4s. and 3s. 6d. per day. It is
true that is the universal wages given for the thick coat-
getters, but the thin coal-getters, and the ironstone-
getters, are reduced to 2s. 9d. per dey- ; and none of the•
colliers scarcely are doing more than two or three days'.
work per week.
" The. League and Anti-Monopoly Associations, with
the assistance of the colliers, have the power of com-
pelling the aristocracy, in less than one month, to abo-
lish the Corn-laws altogether, and to compel them also
to grant the People's Charter. Let the colliers in alit
parts of the kingdom cease working for one month, and
the thing is done ; they have only to insist upon these
measures, before they go to work again. This is the
most simple and efficient measure that could be adopted
to get all we want, without spilling a drop of blood, or
causing any commotion of any kind. The city of Lon-
don would be without fuel, and all other concerns must
come to a stand till it was settled."
The CHAIRMAN said this would not be understood as
a rectimmendation of the Conference, but it was a proof.
of the great feeling that was abroad against these laws.
Mr. T. EWENS (of Bridport)read the followingletter:—
" Bridport is chiefly engaged in the manufacture of sail
cloth, nets, lines, twines, and shoe-thread.
"The state of trade in this town is extremely de-
pressed ; in most of its branches there is not more
than half the usual employment.
"The importation of flax and hemp, the staple com-
modities of the manufacture, has fallen off more than one
third, it being, in 1838, 2,778 tons, and in 1841 only
1,677 tons.
" The number of manufacturers in the town and
neighbourhood has been greatly reduced by failures and
declining business. In 1837 there were upwards of sixty
persons so employed, at the present period the number is
reduced below forty.
" Wages have decreased in almost every description of
labour since 1338, generally to the extent of 10 per cent-
and in some cases much more. The amount of weekly
wages paid in the town, on a moderate computation, does
not exceed one half of what was paid two and three
years ago at the same period of the year, and it is worthy
of remark that the highest wages have generally been
paid when the price of bread has been lowest, and as
bread has advanced in price they have declined.
" For many years there have not been so many persons
out of employ ; the poor-house is completely crowded.
and the rates greatly increased, with great difficulty in.
collecting ; seventy persons and upwards at a time have-
been summoned before the Magistrates for" non-payment.
The number of collections for the pool: during the year
1386 did not exceeA six, while nine were required for the
past year, and an equal, or greater number, will be
wanted fur the present year.
" From 1832 to 1837 unoccupied houses were scarcely
known ; and although, during this period, a considerable
number of houses were built, they were occupied as fast
as they were finished; but now, owing to the want of em-
ployment, the poor are crowded into small tenements and
lodgings, and there are numerous instances of families,
who formerly occupied 10/, houses, from poverty, and the
necessity of selling their furniture for means of subsist-
ence, being compelled to live in rooms at ls. and Is. 6d.
per week. The number of unoccupied houses is now
very •arge, and consequently there is but little employ-
ment for masons, carpenters, bricklayers, plasterers,
painters, and glaziers.
" Drapers, grocers, and other shopkeepers, all unite in
saying that their weeklyl sales have considerably fallen
off, and that they never, at any period, took • so little
ready money, which their dealing., with the poor chiefly
consist of.
" The number of children attending the various day
schools has considerably fallen off, from die poverty of
their parents.
"The increase of the number of paupers in the union
workhouse is as follows :
January 1837
1838
1839
" Out-door relief is increased in the same proportion.
" Li January 1837 the number of paupers residing in
the house belonging to the parish of Bridport was 32, in
1842 it is 66, being about doubled. The union consists
of 19 parishes, and the total number of paupers being
fully quadrupled, shows that there is a larger increase tu
the agricultural parishes."
Mr. CHAPMAN, of Loughborough, next addressed the
meeting. He said, having had occasion within these
few days to visit the hosiery districts, I took the oppor-
tunity to make inquiry respecting the state of the popu-
lation, and although delegates had been here from those
towns, perhaps a few facts he had collected might add
to fill up the picture of distress already presented
to them. At Hinckley, which he did not visit, the
season for their goods is over, and the hosiers were
fetching in the presser of each stocking frame, a part
without which it cannot be worked, from all in Hinckley
and the four surrounding parishes. Total or nearly
total silence is therefore by this time reigning in their
workshops. The little business latterly been done here
has been in the hands of persons of small means, who
have sold the goods for less than they cost in order to
raise funds to go on with, trusting to reimburse them-
selves by a reduction of the workmen on the next lot.
It is clear that only the most deplorable want of employ-
ment would suffer the existence of such a state of things.
At Leicester trade is somewhat better than it
was a few weeks ago ; their season is just com-
mencing. Yet at the height of the season they reckon
on having from 1,000 to 2,000 hands out of employment.
At.the end of the season, about next November, they
will be in the same state as Hinckley, is now. Antici-
pating this, they are reserving 1,0001. of a late sub-
scription to assist in sustaining the extreme pressure
they expect then. If Sir Robert Peel should happen to
hear that Leicester is better off now than a few years
since, he will doubtless quote it as a proof of returning
prosperity, whereas it is merely the effect of the re-
turning season. It should be borne in mind, that if
all were right, Leicester would be better off all the
year round than it is now during the few months of
the season. One important function of capital is to lay
up goods made by regular and continuous industry,
until the season comes for their appropriate use. This
function of capital the present system suppresses, and
the demand is so reduced that it may be supplied
by a fitful and sessional production. Leicester is some-
what relieved by a great deal of spinning being done
there for exportation. This, while it helps for the mo-
ment, is grievous evidence of decay. The yarn ex-
ported was heretofore worked up in Leicester. He
(Mr. Chapman) was in company with a manufacturer
who has a machine in his possession which he believes
would make stockings much more rapidly than the com-
mon stocking-frame will do ; but he remarked, that at
present, the rate of wages is so low, that no possible
saving by improved machinery will pay the risk and ex-
Ponse of setting it to work. Loughborough is acknow-
ledged on all hands to be better off than any other town
in the hosiery districts. Yet here a singular fact oc-
curs. Inquiring of a medical friend the state of various
instantions in the town, the conversation fell on the
Disnnsary. He said, that now many workmen, who
when in the receipt of good wages, spent 20s. or 30s. a
year with an independent medical practitioner,now go to
the Dispensary, and the cases have so much increased,
that the' managers have been obliged to solicit charity
sermons from the various religious congregations in' the
town. An annual ball, in addition to subscriptions,
formerly sufficed for the support of the institution ;
but merriment is not now enough ; a stronger principle
—religious charity—must be appealed to. It is, how-
ever, especially to be.*remarked, that the majority are
now starvation cases, and so common are these, that a
large vessel is constantly kept at hand of a preparation
of gentian and cascarilla, from which the starving appli-
cants arc served. This preparation, by restoring the
tone of the stomach, induces a feeling of hilarity to which
the sinking operative is too much a stranger; and althoughhe may have no better prospect than heretofore of obtain-
ing needful food, it relieves him for a time of the depression
occasioned by the want of it. The gentian pot has, there-
fore, become quite a favourite with the working-classes
there. When a dinner or two can be procured for any
of these half-famishing applicants, they are not heard of
again as patients. And this takes place in a town
whose condition is admitted by every body to be better
than that of any other employed in the same manufac-
ture. At the committee of the Anti-Corn-law League,
a very intellig,ent working-man said, that be estimated
the advance of distress to be ten times that of the Poor-
rate,—that is, if the rate rises one per cent, the dis-
tress rises ten per cent. ; so much misery does, he thinks,
exists amongst those who are not yet sunk so low as to
need the aid of the poor-rate, and, of the greater number
who will suffer almost any extremity, rather than enter
the union house. Without asserting the numerical cor-
rectness of this ratio between the rate and the distress,
the speaker remarked that the observation showed that
there are amongst the operatives, men who closely and
accurately observe that which passes around them, and
that, if the proposed ratio be only an approximation to
the truth, it gives a most terrific amount of misery. Dis-
inclination to enter the union-house does not here arise
from any want of comfort in the house itself. A gentle-
man who had lately gone over it, told the speaker that
its comfort, and the quality and quantity of the provi-
sions would, in present circumstances, be really a tempta-
tion to great numbers of working-men in that vicinity ;
but the unwillingness arises from an honourable reluct-
ance to give up their liberty and independence ; against
this sacrifice, numbers of them struggle to the last extre-
mity of want. The opinion of Mr. 'White, a large manu-
facturer, of Loughborough, of the effect of the repeal of
the Corn-laws on the American trade has not been suffi-
ciently adverted to. A large Boston merchant had said