The Sun.
London, England, 1842-03-10 00:00:00

principle. The English manufacturer went to the -foreign market
but he could not demand for his broods the price which he might
choose, but he must reduce the cost of the production of his mall'.
facture to the cost for which the foreign manufacturer could pro.
duce a similar manufacture, and in that way the English ma-
nufacturer and artisan suffered.—(Hear, hear.) It had always
been said in former debates, that the manufacturer could
trust to the home market ; that would supply all deficiencies
in the foreign market, and that in the home market the manufac-
turer would find his best safety. But when, in consequence of the
Corn-laws, corn was at such a price that the labourer was obliged
to spend t he greater part of his earnings in food, then the diminution
in the sale of manufactured articles was so great that, in some
districts, they found thousands of artisans, as was the case last
year, were reduced to a state of the greatest possible distress.—
(Hear, hear.) Thus there were two causes operating to produce
distress, the first, foreign competition, which was gaining on us
year by year; and secondly. the diminished quantity of food in
the country, as compared with the population—(Hear, hear)—
and both these circumstances ter.ded to produce distress among the
people of this country. With such causes existing it was to be
expected that the effects would not have been wanting, and un.
happily they knew too well of the existence of intense distress at
the present moment, unhappily they knew too well that in certain
districts of the country there were thousands of persons wanting em-
ployment, and whose ciminished means enabled them to consume only
so much food as with difficulty kept them alive.—(Hear, hear.)
While such was their condition, it was the duty of the Legislature
to provide some remedy that should be potent, immediate, and
effectual, and what could be a more important remedy than an alte.
ration in the import duties on corn ?—(Cheers.) He could not
agree with the Right Honourable Gentleman in his his view
of the state of the country. It seemed that the Right Hon. Gen-
tleman considered the present was one of those ordinary transitions
in commerce and manufactures in which, after a period of great
trade and production, distress naturally followed. He (Lord J.

suds a disadiantage as Dantzic and " some other places. He
wished in what he now stated, considering the length of the de
bates, to co dine himself to the particular subject they had dig.
cussed, the relative merits of the fixed duty, and the fluctuating
scale, and if the Noble Lord had wished to enlighten the House
upon the subject he would have explained what he meant by
justice to the agriculturist. The Noble Lord stated that he did
not expect that a is. duty would diminish the price of corn—
how, therefore, he would ask, could it be considered as a settle-
ment of the Corn.laws ? Those who were for the repeal of the
Corn-laws said that the Bread.tax was odious and unjust. The Noble
Lord told them they did not think that a fixed duty would materially
reduce the price. It, therefore, could not be expected that such
a proposition would act as a permanent settlement. The Noble Lord
who spoke early in the debate, the Member for Sunderland, not
only admitted that the proposition was an improvement on the
old system, but that it would be productive of an increase
to the revenue; he also drew a favourable contrast between
the proceedings of the present and the late Government, in re.
spect to the measure now before the House. Having determined
on the alteration of the Corn.laws, he (Sir R. Peel) had thought it
his duty to put it in her Majesty's Speech, and they had brought it
forward as early as possible; the question affected great interests,
in respect to which the minds of. lion. Memhers were divided.
In dealing with the question, he felt that it was desirable to bring
it to a practicable conclusion. He did not wish to bring forward a
measure stating general principles, which, upon consideration,
could not be carried into effect. wished to bring forward a
measure, not to give universal satisfaction, for of that he despaired,
but to give to the rational portion of the community—(lronical
cheers from the Opposition, and cheers from ttlie Ministerial side of
the House.) Yes (continued the Right Honourable Gentle_
mars), and I have done it; and what make your debate
so dull, it is because the country has decided in its favour.
But he was speaking of the agricultural community, and be be-
lieved that among the trading, manufacturing, and commercial
classes there was • strong conviction that the measure whioh he
proposed, looking to the distressed state of the couutry, was a
fair and just arrangement.—(Loud cheers.) If it had been other-
wise, he would have found the debates in that House carried on
with vigour and a little more courage—(Continued cheers.) Well,
the question was, what should be done with this law
upon the second reading of the Bill. The proposal was to reject
the Bill. Why, the division that night would be no indication of
opinion on the subject of the Corn.laws, because it would be his mis.
fortune to find opposed to him those who were with the Noble Lord
in favour of a fixed duty. Was that the fixed duty of last session or
the fixed duty of this ?—(Loud cheers and laughter.) He would
tell the Noble Lord that when he said he spared his agricultural
friends from being threatened with the ghost of the late Govern.
ment in " Palace-yard," if that Government were an indication of
the present Government, the apparition would not be an uncem.
lovable one.—(Cheers and laughter.) Would the Noble Lotd,
when lie made that offer, tell him ? As he said before, when'the
Noble Lord made that offer, he was bequeathing to him (Sir Robert
I'eel) one of those legacies the late Government on their death bed
left to an admiring couutry. He did not tell him (Sir R. Peel) whe.
ther he meant the fixed duty of Is., which was to he the amount
proposed by the late Government, whatever might be the
pr ice of corn, in order to insure a permanence of commercial ar.
rangements, or whether it was a modification of the fixed duty,
which it appeared the Noble Lord bad proposed, in the course of the
next Session—the present one, which adopted the average—for it
was necessary to the working of the system, and which provided that
when corn should arrive at 735. there should be a sudden drop in
the scale from Ss. to a nominal duty. Therefore the Noble Lotd,
when he made that offer, should distinctly explain the nature of it.
He was saying whom he should have the misfortune that night of
having opposed to him, and who were the advocates of a fixed duty.
All those who thought there ought to be a fixed duty as counter.
vailing the burthens on land; and those who were with the Noble
Lord, the Member for Tiverton, thought there ought to be a
bread tax upon foreign corn imported, not for the purpose
of protections but for revenue.—(Hear, hear.) Those who opposed
the Noble Lord, and were for a fixed duty of 55., and those Ho.
nourable Gentlemen opposite who opposed any duty whatever.
Then he was afraid he should be opposed by those who, differing
with him in the details of the measure because they thought that
his propos.J' endangered the prosperity of agriculture. Then he
was afraid he should be opposed by some of the lion. Gentlemen
ftorn the sister kingdom—(Laughter—who are the loudest advo.
cates of free trade, and who gave the support to the measures of a
Government when it was only the ghost of a free trade principle.
The Noble Lord had proposed a duty of 3s. 2d. on oats, when the
price was at the highest, and yet his (Sir R. Peel's) measure was
considered inadequate, and pregnant with danger to the interest
of the grower ; at any rate, the protection he offered was prefer.
able to that of the Noble Lord. Now, he asked Hon. Gentlemen
entertaining these different opinions if they could agree with the
Noble Lord. He did not think the Noble Lord
would vote willingly, for he knew that he was in
a minority. He thought the advocates of increased pro-
tection in Ireland, and those Gentlemen who thought that
there should be increased protection to wheat—although
they might think he did not go far enough, yet they
would see in the present state of parties, and the state of
the public mind, it was not possible that any increased protection
would give general satisfaction. If they found amongst the most
intelligent of the agricultural community an opinion that increased
protection could not be maintained, he hoped they would add
their influence, and that his Hon. Friends, if not agreeing in the
details of tie measure, yet he hoped they would themselves give it
their support. The Noble Lord ridiculed the prejudices and ap.
prehensions of the agriculturists. Now the Noble Lord ought to
be sparing in his ridicule. He was perectly right. He ( Sir
Robert Peel) did not question his right to corn.
plain, but he ought to do it in a manly and
courageous manner on those men of more extended views. The
Noble Lord ought to have some mercy on the ignorant farmer who
had prejudices and apprehensions as to agricultural affairs, because
if ever there was a public man who wrote in a manlier calculated
to excite those apprehensions, that man was the Noble Lord.
The Right Hon. Member for Dongarvon was all for oats.—(An
Hon. Member on the Ministerial Benches here made a suggestion
to Sir R. Peel, which was understood to be to the effect that the
prese .t Member for Dungarvon was representative for Tipperary at
the time the Right Hon. Baronet alluded to.)—That was exactly so
(continued Sir Robert Peel); the Member for Tipperary was
then all for oats, and the Noble Lord (J. Russell), then
Member for Huntingdon,hire, was all for wheat.
Other Hon. Members had their agricultural partialities,
and the maxim of each Hon. Gentleman would sppear to have
been trbque prior, its pares—(Hear, hear, and laughter.) What
would be the consequence if the measure then proposed by him
(Sir It. reel, was rejected, he offered, immediately upon the passing
of it, a great mitigation in the amount and wet': of distress at
present suffered throughout the country. Reject that Bill, what
other would be proposed. Was the Noble Lord opposite (Lord J.
Russell) able to propose or strong enough to carry out any other
measure.—(Loud cheers and counter cheers.) Was there any
other party able or strong enough to carry out a
better measure than that now before the House.—(Cheers.) No,
—the only result, if it was attempted, would be that the question
might remain the subject of long discussion ; that it would dis-
turb that connexion which should subsist between landlord and
tenant, making it impossible for any man to know what were the
circumstances in which he was placed. Upon the whole he be-
lieved that the measure he proposed was as large as any man
could propose. He believed that the agriculturists of the country
were anxious for the passing of that Bill, and that they were
anxious for a practical proof of the working of it.—(Hear.)
That being the case, although he could not anticipate the support
of Hon. Gentlemen opposite, he did hope that the Bill would have
the support of a majority of that House on the present and future
readings.—(Cheers.)

Russell) attributed the distress to the operation of causes, which
would not pass away in that manner. He attributed that distress
'to the operation of the present Coin-laws, and of the sliding scale,
and he could only look to the remo►al of that cause for an efficient
remedy.—(Hear, hear.) The Right Honourable Gentleman
had seemed ♦ery anxious throughout the discussion to
weaken the force of the argument respecting the trade in corn
with America. He had felt the great disadvantage under which
the corn trade of America laboured ascompared with the corn trade
of other countries : he had felt the impo: t once of nut discouraging
the corn trade with that country, but he had lelt likewise that the
sliding scale was a great obstacle to that trade. With a duty
of eight shillings a merchant might be enabled to send his corn
to this country, and to obtain g profit on the transaction,
but if on its arrival in this country he found a duty of 18s. or
2115., he could not enter it for consumption except at a loss In
order to get rid of that difficulty, the Right Hon. Gentleman
had been obliged to make allusion to voyages of unexampled raai-
dity which had taken place two years and a half since. Under fa-
vourable circumstances, it might, no doubt, be possible occasionally
to make the voyage in time, but he would ask the llouse if the better
way would not be not to make a law interposing a difficulty. There
were largeland fertile regions in the country producing corn in abun.
dance, from which the starving multitudes in this country might
be: supplied, which was anxious to supply us and to take our
manufactures in return. What must be thought then of the Par-
liament sitting here and of the Congress in America—of the Ugh..
latures of the two most free and enlighted nations in the world
legislating as if their objects were to interpose obstacles to prevent
the enjoyment of those blessings?—(Cheers.) The Right Hon. Gen.
tleman had spoken of a price of 725. offering a greater inducement
to the importer than could be offered with a fixed duty of Bs.
But if at the price of 565., with the duty of Bs., the merchant could
import corn so as to obtain a profit equal to that which he would
obtain on any other commercial transaction, was it to be supposed
that he would abstain from doing so?—(Cheers.) No doubt the
Honourable Gentleman's 725. would hold out a great induce..
ment, because he might make one hundred per cent. profit
by that transaction, while by the next he might lose fifty
per cent. (Hear, hear.) That was not the trade that
oughtto be encouraged.—(Loud cheers.) The Right Honourable
Baronet was right to hold out that inducement with the sliding
scale. It was the only way in which the Bill could do good ; be.
cause the merchant would calculate that though upon one transac.
Lion he might ba obliged to sell at a loss, another time he might be
enabled to make an immense profit. But this was the very foot.
ing on which they ought not to put it. It was the very induce.
ment which they ought not to hold out. He must beg pardon for
referring to what had been the policy in 1804. It was to
have three duties—one a prohibitory, the second extending over a
large number of prices, and another which was merely nominal.
But looking backwards he found that in the year 1703 the duty
was Bs. 6d. from 555. to 82s. That was the rate of duty in the
reign of Cl•arles the Second. But in 1774 a change was made, by
which the duty was reduced to the nominal one of 6d.—(Hear,
lie.ir)—and during the period of 134 years, from 1640 to 1774,
the rate of duty was under 9d.; and in that period the price of corn
remained more steady than it ever had been since. Instead of a
sliding scale, the policy of all former times was to have a fixed
duty of about 85.—(Hear)—and now the Right Hon. Baronet pro.
posed an average duty of 18s., coming down to 75., which lie called
a modification of the law.—(Hear, hear.) It was to be remembered
that when the attempt was made, in 1815, to raise the protection,
it was in a depreciated currency— (Hear, liear)—but now
that by the Act of the Right Honourable Gentleman
(in 1819) the country had got a currency payable in
gold, they ought to go back to as liberal a principle as their ancestors
had pursued. But he would ask, why cid they think It ne-
cessary that in these days it was necessary to uphold a protective
system ? It had been for a long while the favourite principle of
politicians to extend protection to every part of industry. But
Mr. Huskisson and Lord Ripon abandoned that view, and saw
that it was a mistaken policy to continue such protection. They

chancel the system of protection in respect to cotton, silk,
gloves, and other articles of manufacture, and instead of
injury, those engaged in the manufacture cf those articles had ul-

timately derived the greatest advantages.—(Hear, hear.) Those
who proposed such changes were not deterred by the apprehensions

_ ..
of the manutacturers.—(Hear, hear.) Neither ought the Legisia•
Lure now be deterred by the apprehensions of some of the land-
holders from applying the same principle to the production of

core—(Hear, hear)—for in the end these would find their into•
rebts as little damaged by the change as were those of the mauu-

_
tacturers by the change to which he had referred.—(Hear, hear.)
With respect to the agriculturists:themselves, who had been the
_ . .

effect of modifying other protections which they had enjoyed?
One of their valued protections was that of the duty upon
_ _

the importation of foreign wool. His Noble Friend the Duke

of Riehn.ond—(Hear, hear)—applied himself to that subject, and

assisted in procuring a repeal of the duty; and so far from a dimi-
nution of the value or quantity of the home production, there had
been a great increase.—(Hear.) Why, then, was it not possible
that all which theory taught, and all that experience confirmed in

respect to other products, should not be verified in the case of
corn ? There was, however, an objection to the pet feet ameliora.

tion of the law, which depended more upon political than commer_
cial considerations. It depended more upon the state of parties
and the wishes of the Right Hon. Gentleman to conciliate his sup.
porters, than upon any commercial grounds.—(Opposition cheers.)
The Right Hon. Gentleman had to some extent carried an altera.

tion of the law, wl.ich many of his supporters disapproved. But by
what argument was it carried ? Nut on account of the impolicy of
the law; not became, as the Right Honourable Gcntletnan
" '

himself had admitted, the present law was, to a certain
extent, a cause of the distress of the country, and of the
manufactures especially, but because the failure of the Bight
Honourable Gentleman's proposition would cause what was worse
:till, another change of Government.— (Hear, hear, and laughter.)
That class of the Right Hon. Gentleman's supporters were told,
that if the measures of the Right Hon. Gentleman were not car.
tied, they could not pass through Palace-yard without meeting the
ghost of the late Government.—(Hear, hear, and great laughter,)
It was by such argument that Gentlemen opposite were
induced to support the proposition. If such argu •
ments were good for anything, they would be good
for another and a better change.—(Hear, hear, and laughter.) If
such a change could be made, then the late Government would be
glad to remain in abeyance until it was carried through.—(Cheers
and laughter.) A gentleman in Liverpool had said that the ques.
Lion at the general election was not whether the late Government
should remain in power, but whether the Right Hon. Baronet,
even under the auspices of the Duke of Buckingham, would be able
to form a Government.--( Cheers ) But he should not so much
complain of that course of electioneering policy, if he could see a
sound commercial principle introduced in legislating upon other
questions which at the present time were before the House,
—such as the law of marriage, Ike. The object was avowed to be
the removal of an evil. But in legislating upon this subject,
the argument was that corn ought not to be reduced so low
as 43. a quarter ; that it was horrible for food to be provided
from foreign countries in too great abundance. For his part, it
was not his wish that corn should be at 545. or 565. ; but that
it should be at the lowest price at which it could be obtained
with due protection to the home producers of this commodity.
He would not have the farmer bring his corn to market loaded with
imports, to which those of other countries were not subject. But,
lie thought that, without lowering the remuneration to the farmer,
there would be a great increase of trade, and all the financial diffi-
culties we had to contend with would be overcome.—(Hear.)
He hought that with such an increase of trade, the landlord;
themselves would greatly benefit.
S'r R. PEEL then rose to address the House amid much cheer-
ing. He must first offer his acknowledgineats to the Noble Lord for
the liberal off..r he had been good enough to make him of the Bs.
duty.—(Hear, hear.) The Noble Lord had said that he was perfectly
welcome to take possession of it,and that probably, if he adopted it,
his Friends and supporters would be compelled to sanction it.
He would not adopt it because he totally disapproved of it. He
disapproved of it when in Opposition, and he disapproved of it now.
The Noble Lord was no doubt aware that he (Sir 11. Peel) would,
in the present session, propose an alteration in the Corn.laws, and
he therefore need not taunt him with inconsistency in bringing
forward the measure he had done. If he (Sir R. Peel) had proposed
the Bs. duty, he could not defend it on the principles of the Noble
Lord, because he had told the House that he did not wish corn to
he lower in price than was consistent with justice to the agrieul.
turista. Now, having made that statement, it was, in his (Sir R.
Peel's) opinion, incumbent upon the Noble Lord to inform tie
House what he considered to be justice to the agriculturists. He
apprehended that, in coing so, he would labour under pretty nearly
the same difficulty that he (Sir R. Peel) laboured under, as he was
not aware of the distinction in principle between himself and the
Noble Lord. He had been blamed for stating that corn would
probably vary between 545. and 585., and the Nobie Lord had said
would be any material difference in the price of corn.
he did not apprehend theme
that if he adopted his Bs. duty,

Sir CHARLES NAPIER rose amidst loud cries of " Divide,
divide," and gave way for

Lord WORSLEY, who addressed the House in a very inaudible
tone of voice, said lie would not have hesitated to give way to the
Right Hon. Baronet, but that he was anxious to move for the ad.
journment. He (Lord Worsley) might have adopted the same
course last year, but he felt that he should no'. have been acting as
H e was
confidence fter
war
d
an independent Member of Parliament if he voted for the mea.
sure proposed by her Majesty's Government.
called Inconsistent, because he recorded hvote to oexpress
in the Government, arid when he was asked by his constituents if
he would withdraw his confidence from the then Government, he
said he would not, because, from what he knew of the political
a
conduct of the Right Hon. Baronet, he could not be depended upon.
It might he said now that the House hart pledged itself to inquire
into the subject of the Corn-laws ; but who made that pledge I
There was an amendment to the address, moved by the Right
Hon. Baronet. It stated a willingnes; to inquire into the subject
of the Corn-laws. It was moved by the Hon. Member who before
with the single exception of the Right Hon. Baronet, those
who
objected to the measure proposed by her Majesty's Government,
opposed that measure did so on the ground that there should
be no alteratirn in the Corn-laws. This Bill, in his (Lord Wors-
Icy's) opinion, was not calculated to promote the interests of the
agriculturists, and he did not think that the manufacturers con-
sidered it as contributing tiwards their welfare; and then it could
not be denied, and it was the general feeling throughout the
country, that this would not be a final measure. But the Right Hon •
Baronet said that the country was equally willing with
himself to adopt this measure; but that was only because the
cceintry knew that the Right Honourable Baronet had power to
carry any measure he brought forward. He (Lord Worsley)
did not think that the Government of the country showed
that interest in its welfare which had hitherto characterised
its proceedings. It had been said that if Gentlemen
could trot agree to the measure of the Right Honourable
Baronet, they must either take the fixed duty, or revert to the old
law. He (Lord Wortley) wanted to ensure a plentiful supply of
corn in this country, but unless they put on such a duty as would
prevent corn coming in when there was plenty at home, they would
be doing that which, whilst of little benefit to the consumer, would
greatly injure the honest grower of corn at home.—(Hear, hear,
hear.) He had received a letter from a gentleman at
Manchester, recommending this Bill on two grounds—first,
because it would lower the price of corn on the Continent, and
secondly, because it would not secure a regular supply here; but
these were the very grounds on which he (Lord Worsley) thought
this Bill ought to be opposed, because if It were enacted, and if
such were to be the results, much of the land In England
now employed in agriculture, would go out of cultivation, and
the agricultural labourers sufhbring in consequence, would be
driven to the manufacturing districts, and universal distress must
ensue. The Noble Lord concluded by withdrawing his motion.
The SPEAKER having put the question,
Sir C. NAPIER said that he wished to observe, in reference to
the papers for which he had moved the other evening, in the pas-
sage from Liverpool to America and back, fißy.one days would
elapse before the merchant's order for corn could be executed ;
why, then, he wanted to know, should not the duty be paid accord-
ing to price that existed when it was shipped.—(Cries of " I)ivide,
divide."
The House then divided, when there appeared—
For the second reading ............... 284
Againstit ................................. 176
RAILWAYS BILL.
Majority for the second reading

(Hear.) In speaking of the present price of corn
he could not go along with the Noble Lord, because his opinion
was, that under his proposition a considerable re,luction would
take place in theprice of earn He (Sir R. Peel) should not have
thought it necessary to have adverted to the speech which he made
in bringing forward this measure if the Noble Lord had not taken
notice of it. He (Sir It. Peel) had been told that in bringing for-
ward this measure he had stated that he did not contemplate any
relief to commerce from it. Now, this was what he did state ; he
had not corrected it, but he must express his surprise at the fide-
lity with which reports had been falsely given in that
House. He found from the document he held in his hand
that be stated that when he brought forward the Corti-
laws that he found great attempts had been made
to create excitement by declaring that distress was attributable to
the Corn-laws. Ile found that there was great distress, and that
efforts had been made to inflame the passions of the people with the
cry of the Corn-laws, and that the distress in the great agricultural
interests of the country was inflamed for the purpose of keeping
up the Corn-laws. Now the language which he made use of was
this, that he felt it to be his duty to declare, that he could not re-
commend the proposal he was about to make by stating that it
would tend materially to mitigate commercial distress ; and the
Noble Lord stated that iti that respect he took a view not
materially different from his (Sir It. Peel's). Ile then went on
to say that he thought he should practice a delusion if he stated
that if an alteration ig the Corn-laws he proposed would make a
material alteration in commercial distress. He then added that
lie mbnitted the existence of commercial distress, and deplored the
sufferings occasioned by it, yet he felt bound to declare that he
could not attribute that distress to the extent to which it was sup-
posed
by some to be caused bp the operation of the Corn-laws'.
Such was the statement he made, and he adhered to i'. Ile
thought that the effect of the Corn.laws had been greatly exaggerated.
He stated that there were many other causes of the distress, but
that he did not despond. That was one of the misrepresentations
which, in the course of ten nights' debate, had been made
with respect to what had been stated.—(Hear, hear.) It was
said that he had brought forward the measure without the
slightest hope that it would do any good. Then with respect to
the importation of corn, the Noble Lord had said that he (Sir It
Peel) had taken a practical instance with respect to the imports
from the United States. He admitted that he did take an instance
of imports from the United States for a short period, and the Gal.
lant Commodore, the Member for Marylebone, wished to have same
pYork in 1841, and the ft
information with respect to the period which vessels took in coming
fromou New
(Sir R. Peel) had an ac.
nt of l-ork
vessels to iLiverpool.
sailed Now
from he
New
v thater
average duration of each voyage was twenty.three days. Now if
that was the case—if they permitted, by an alteration of the duty,
a more regular trade in corn than under the existing law, he thought
t it would appear clear that the United States watt not placed at
count thirty

- 108

To be reprinted in the mean
This Bill went through Committee, pro forma, and is to be
The Orders of the Day were then proceeded with, and the House
ttiamkeet.i into consideration on Monday.
adjourned at Two o'Clock.

ROLLS' COURT, March 9.

!THE SUN, LONDON, THURSDAY MORNING, MARCH 10, 1142

COURIER.—The Bombay government was stated,
to have been in the receipt of various despatches from
the northern frontier ; but their contents were not
suffered to transpire ; " the most rigid secresy " had
been maintained respecting them. The fact is of bad
omen, for if the intelligence so communicated had been
in any way encouraging, it surely would have been al-
lowed to find its way to the public, if only to alleviate the
poignant anxiety of so many families in that city who
had friends or relatives among the forces in Cabool.
The only favourable feature in the news from India
now received, if so purely negative a fact may be s 6
considered, is that General Sir R. Sale still main-
tained his ground at Jellalabad, and from accounts would
be able to maintain himself there, but nothing more.
Such is the deplorable scene of disaster and disgrace
which winds up the melodramatic horrors of that tra-
gedy of Affghanist,an, the joint composition of the
Whig Board of Control, headed by Sir John Cam
Hobhouse, the " juvenile" Whig Foreign Secretary,
Lord Palmerston, and that very staid and soft-looking
personage the (now) Earl of Auckland. That tragedy
opened with a deafening flourish of trumpets; gorgeous
was the spectacle ; orientally blazing the decorations ;
the managers excellently well 'entitled to placard
themselves as having spared neither pains nor expense
in getting up a show that should' astonish the world.
And the world will be astonished as much as the Bri-

STATE OF TRADE.

(From the Manchester Guardian.)

SPORTING INTELLIGENCE.

LATEST BETTING AT MANCHESTER-TUESDAY.

LAW INTELLIGENCE.
COURT OF CHANCERY, March 9.
The LORD CHANCELLOR sat in Lincoln's Inn Hall.

SPRIIT of the PUBLIC JOURNALS
FROM THE EVENING PAPERS OF YESTERDAY.
GLOBE.—We are glad to see the attention of
Parliament at length called, with a serious purposei
to the shocking and swelling nuisance and danger
4of interments in London and other large towns.
And we are glad to find Sir James Graham admit-
ting that " the time has arrived when some legis-
, lative interference upon this subject is necessary."
We only hope that the measures which have be-
' come imperative will be made efficient. In Mr:
Mackinnon's motion for a Select Committee to
consider the expediency of framing some legisla-
tive enactments for the abatement of this nuisance
(which the City of London, and many other places,
have at length become sensible of,) a proviso is in-
serted for due respect to the rights of the clergy.
We corceive that the clergy can have no vested right
in pestilence, though the doctors may ; and, indeed, it
is the latter learned profession in our principal towns,
that we should have supposed chiefly interested in keep:
ing open that foes etfomes veneni,which multiplies death
and disease in the whole vicinage of city church yards.'
The shafts are invisible, and therefore the pest has been
deemed non-existent, so long as it was possible to
shut the other senses against it. This is no longer
possible ; and the excess of the evil will at length, it
may be hoped, force the remedy. We do not for a
moment disguise our own conviction that the cure
should be made more radical than, we fear, is at
present likely. We look upon the enclosures
around places of worship as, from that very circum-
stance, the most unfit places possible for the purpose
of sepulture. Churches and chapels are always built
either where a large population exists, or as near as
possible to considerable numbers of people. They form
natural centres of population, the nucleus of enlarged
neighbourhoods. To make them receptacles, to an in-
definite extent, of the relics of mortality, is to secure
that the remains of the dead shall be intei :eel as
near the living as possible, when the objeCt of
wise regulations should be to remove them to the
greatest practical distance. Xliere is, therefore, a
radical vice in the very selection Of church-yards as
grave-yards. We know that, in country places, this
objection is less palpable ; and that a great deal of sen-
timent, and a great deal of superstition, is arrayed in
favour of the practice. We protest against sentiment
being mistaken for sound feeling, or superstition for
religion.

STANDARD.—How is it that the Whig party
never possessed office without drawing some signal
and enduring disgrace upon the nation—the expedi-
tion to the Dardanelles, the capitulation of Buenos
Ayres, and this last and worst disaster ? How is
this war in Central Asia to end ? Let those who
embarked the nation answer. They ought to be
made to answer. Although we could have much to
say of the condition of the army at Jellalabad, as
described in Sir Richard Sale's despatch, our atten
tion is called to the other Whig-born war, the war
in China. Accounts from Macao, to the 13th of
December, describe the British forbes, naval and mi-
litary, as inactive, waiting for further re-inforcements.
That is to say, we are at an enormous expense
maintaining a fleet and an army at the other side of
the globe, which are inactive because they
are too weak to act with any rational pros-
pect of success. What does the Chinese Government
care for their presence ? What Motive can this
alone supply for coming to terms of accommodation ?
We may in this way exhaust the whole resources
of the empire, without in the slightest degree
improving our position. But then this fleet and
army will be re-inforced. Sir Robert Peel's Go-
vernment must make the best 'of the disastrous
legacy bequeathed to them. This fleet and army
will act, and act successfully. What then ?
Suppose them to reduce in succession all the great
towns and cities upon the coast—and we are not to
expect, or to fear, that Sir Robert Peel's Govern-
ment will play the Affghanistan game by hazarding
a British army at a distance from the coast—all the
great towns along the coast reduced in succession ;
again, what then ? The fate of Canton, once
more preparing for resistance, proves that we
cannot count upon their continued submission
unless we occupy them. But this is, happily,
impOssible, from the number of troops that
would be required, and the distance. Still
what then ? We have proof that unless utterly pros-
trated, the Chinese Government will not yeld a jot ;
and this not stupid obstinacy, which we might hope
to overcome by perseverance and continued persecu-
tion. It is sound policy. The prestige of pre-emi-
nence and invincibility are the Emperor's title; let
him abandon that, in however slight a degree, and his
Crown is not worth a day's purchase. Such is the
second legacy of the Whigs ; but we have no pleasure
in dwelling upon such things.

fish nation is now scandalised and humiliated, when
the bill of particulars shall come to be published of
commencing triumphal processions and parades, end-
ing in the mournful consummation of the wreck and
ruin of military enterprise, with the blood-stained
scene of the finale on which drops the curtain of
Whig recklessness, rapacity, and imbecility, never we
hope to be raised again. The Affghan piece, the
crowning achievement of Whig-Aadical misrule, is
damned to everlasting infamy.

MANCHESTER.—We regret to say, that the depression
in this market continues, without- the slightest abate-
ment ; and prices, both of goods and yarn, gradually
recede from day to day ; the decline in nearly all des7
criptions of yarn since yesterday fortnight, amount-
ing to a full farthing per pound, with a corres-
ponding reduction upon most manufactured fabrics.;
and, even at these miserably low prices, the demand
is exceedingly limited:' We understand that a large
spinning and manufacturing firm in this town
have decided on stopping their factory on Friday next,
by which upwards of a thousand hands will be thrown
out of employment ; and it is to be feared that, unless
a favourable change should speedily take place, their
example must be followed by many other concerns, and
the consequences to the labouring classes will be most
disastrous. The gloom which prevails here has recently
been increased by one or two failures in the town, and
by one at Belfast, with respect to which some rather
exaggerated statements have been circulated. We un-
derstand that the debts owing in Manchester—which
have been represented as amounting to 30,0001. or
40,00 CL—do not really exceed eight or ten thousand ;
and this is divided amongst so many parties, that no
very serious loss will be sustained by any one firm. .
ROCHDALE FLANNRL MARKET, MONDAY, MARCH 7.

—The flannel market has been thinly attended to-day,
and, if possible, less business done than on the preceding
Monday. In the wool market there is no change.

CH ESTER Cur.-7 to 1 agst Lanereost (offered)-11 to 1
agst Marshal Soult—l2 to I agst Vulcan (t)-15 to 1 agst
The Squire-16 to 1 agst Alice Hawthorn-13 to 1 agst Bet-
lona-20 to 1 agst Rhodanthe-25 to 1 agst Satirist-30 to 1
agst Disclosure-30 to 1 agst Rory O'More-30 to 1 agat
Johnny.
DERBY. —9 to 1 agst Attila (t)-23 to 1 agat Dirce c (offd)
—25 to 1 agst Chatham-30 to I agst BaUankrole-35 to 1 apt
Auckland (t)-45 to I agst Meteor-50 to 1 agst Joanna c
(0-4,000 to b 0 apt Canadian (t).
OA ICS. —9 to 1 agst Passion-10 to 1 apt Syren (t)-13 to
1 agst Adela f-13 to I agst Sister to Yorkshire Lad.

IN THE MATTER OP THE CLARENCU RAILWAY.
The arguments in this part-heard case wire resumed and con-
cluded today.
The LORD CHANCELLOR said he should take time to consider his
judgment.
CLARKE P. TIPPIN.

This case came before the Court On demurrer. The case is of no
interest except to the parties concerned, and the arguments were
not concluded when his Lordship rye.

JOHNSON V. TOLD.
The arguments In this cue were resumed to.day, and engaged
the Court to the time of its rising.
HIS LORDSHIP rose at half-past three o'clock.

VICE-CHANCELLORS' COURT, March 9.
(Before Vice-Chancellor WIG RAM. )
No case involving any feature of general interest was heard In
tbia Court up to its rising.

EVSOLV.ENT DEB TO t?S' COURT, March 9.
The Court was occupied during the greater part of the morning
in hearing bail cases, of which there were seventeen town and five
country cases. Most of the sureties offering themselves were re-
ceivedi and the insolvents liberated until the day of hearing. Not
the slightest feature of general interest appeared in any of them.
RE THOM&S MILDNAY.
The insolvent, who described himself as a student of medicine,
was opposed by a tailor, named Wilson, for a trade debt amount..
ing to 27/. WE. The names of several other creditors appeared