The Sun.
London, England, 1842-02-23 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, WEDNESDAY MORNING, FEBRUARY 23, 1842.

that under the present system the tithe had risen
five per cent. ( Hear.) The Honourablo Member
had also spoken of the number of petitions against the Corn-
law, and the thousands by whom they had been signed, but
with all the exertions of the Anti-Corn-law leaguers, and the
expense of hiring Anti-Corn-law orators, there were only
400,000 who signed these petitions, whereas in the last
year they obtained 1,300,000 signatures.—(Loud cheers.)
Did he not see in t-'4is very circumstance that a reaction had-
taken place amongst the labouring portion of the people ? Was
it net clear that they had begun to see what would be the effect
of a repeal of the Corn-laws upon their wages ?—( Hear, hear. )
Attempts had been made to get up petitions against those laws
by the agricultural labourers. Not a single petition,
however, had been obtained from that class of society.
—( Hear.) The agricultural labourers all knew, that if
a repeal of the Corn-laws took place the inevitable effect would
be to reduce the price of labour in proportion to the reduction
in the price of corn. The amount of wages paid to the agri-
cultural labourer of- this country was at present 11. upon every
quarter of wheat. If they imported two millions quarters of
wheat they must grow two million quarters less ; and thus
there would be 2,000,0001. lost to the labourers. —( ) That
was a truism of which the labourers themselves were cognizant.
—(llear. ) Now it had been stated that there was great
distress existing in the manufacturing, districts, and he ad-
mitted the truth of that statement. During the war, the ma-
nufacturers of this country had a perfect monopoly, nearly of
every article of manufacture. One of the immediate conse-
quences of peace was, that foreigners endeavoured to obtain
for themselves a share in those advantages which had hitherto
been exclusively enjoyed by our own countrymen.—( II ar.)
He had the means of knowing, that they were at the pre-
sent time rivalled by continental nations in many of the use-
ful arts, and that in cotton goods, stockings, and several articles
of manufacture they were constantly being undersold by
foreigners. They need not be surprised at that state of things;
for what was said by the manufacturers on the Continent ?
" Unless your best hands can work for sd. a day, we can and
will beat you ; if you cannot reduce your wages, we will con-
tinue to beat you. —( Hear, hear.) He recollected when gen-
tlemen in that House contended for an alteration in the
Corn laws, on the ground that it would reduce wages.
Now the same Honourable Gentlemen contended for an
alteration on the ground that it would raise wages. —( Hear,
hear.) He was an advocate for cheap corn.—( Hear, hear.)
He did not stand there to plead for any class interest, but -for
the country; he advocated cheap corn, but he was riot merely
for having cheap corn, but for enabling the labourer to purchase
it. He had always thought that 565. was the price at which
corn should remain. So confident was he of that, that before
the measure of the Right Hon. Baronet was proposed to the
House, he had pulled out his pocket-book and written down
that.—( A laugh.) Forty shillings was, in his opinion, the
extreme price at which foreign corn would be brought
into this country. His constituents, as well as himself, were
extremely anxious that this Bill would be passed into a law. In
letters which he had received from them, some of them stated
that they would rather suffer by a low price of wheat, than
that the price should be kept too high; the only thing which
they dreaded was the reduction of the wages of the labourer.—
(Hear, hear.) He hoped that no amendments would be pressed
by those Gentlemen who were friendly to protect'on, but that
they would all unite in passing the proposed measure into a
law.—( Cheers. )
Mr. M. GIBSON said the Hon. Gentleman had tannted
the supporters of the Anti-Corn-law cause, with having failed
to obtain such a number of signatures to their petitions as
would show that any considerable number of the people were in
favour of a repeal of the Corn-laws, but if they were to infer
from that remark that any number of signatures would induce
him to agree to a repeal of those laws, he was afraid that they
would be very much mistaken.—(Hear, hear.) Certainly he
agreed with one remark which the Hon. Gentleman had made

namely, that no person ought to make inflammatory remarks
on that subject, and, let them come from where
they might, ho (Mr. Milner Gibson) should disapprove
of remarks which deserved such a description. But there
were occasions, and this was one of them, in which it did be-
come Members of that House to call things by their right
names.—( Hear, hear.) The present was one of those occa-
sions in which they would not do their duty unless they spoke
up to their convictions; in which they ought not to fear the
giving offence to the over-refined and the over-delicate, or to
shrink from declaring to the country what they believed to
be the nature and object of the laws under discussion. There
was one position, it was admitted by all parties
in the House, with the exception, perhaps, of the
Right Hon. Gentleman the Paymaster of! the Forces, which to
his mind was highly satisfactory, namely, that the Corn-laws
could no longer been maintained, merely for the benefit of a
class, but could only he vindicated upon the ground of the
general good. The Hon. Gentleman who had just sat down
declared that he was of no class—he was for the country.
This was a most satisfactory statement. Hon. Gentlemen
now began to admit that different orders of men had a
right to increase their industry in different ways,
and had a right to bring the produce of that
industry into the markets of the country, and thus no obstruc-
tions should be thrown in their way which were not thrown in
the way of any other class of the community.—( Hear.) Hon.
Gentlemen began to see that the corn and the cattle which
were inipor ed into this country in e schange for our manufac-
tures and coals, were just as much the produce of British in-
dustry as though they were grown on British soil, and that
the Legislature had no right to raise obstructions to a fair ex-
change between nation and nation. This position was ad-
mitted, and a very important position it was, compelling those
who defended the Corn-laws to d fend them on certain reasons
of state, ant of public utility, and also on the ground that
there were certain burdens upon the landed interest
which did not fall upon other classes in the community.
But before they discussed the question itself, it behoved them
to bear in mind the position which the supporter& of the
Corn• laws held in that House and in the country. They could
not forget (he said it in no obnoxious sense)—they could not
forget that Hon. Gentlemen opposite had a personal inte-et in
the question, and therefore it would be proper to subject the
reas sis which they act anted in support of the course they were
pursuing t., a more rigid and seal thing investigation, than if
they were perfectly disinterested parties.--( Hear, hear.)
Th. re was one thing wh eh gave their cause a very
unpleasant complexion ; the country believed these laws were
made by the landed interest for their own especial advantage,
and when Hon. Gentlemen opposite attempted to justify them,
they differed in the reasons they advanced for that purpose.
One Hon. Gentleman said one thing, and another Hon. Gentle-
man took a different line of defence. They all knew that when
parties charged with an offence in a court of law differed with
each other in their defence, it gave a suspicious complexion to
their case. They found in this Session of Parliament the
Noble Lord who moved the Address stating that the Corn-
laws were maintained for the purpose of enabling the
landed proprietors to bear the general and local burdens
of the country. The Right Hon. Baronet at the head of
the Government said that they were passed simply in
order to enable the landed interest to bear the special burdons
imposed upon them, while the Right Hon. Gentleman, the
Paymaster of the Forces, said that the object of those laws
was to keep the landed aristocracy in their present station in
society. Now their different statements were at variance with
each other ; and therefore threw a suspicion over the sincerity
of the parties who brought forward such defences.—( Hear. )
He believed that any party enjoying the power of the landed
aristocracy of this country would convert that power to the
same purposes to which they had converted their power. He
did not say that the landowners of England had less bene-
volence or a less sense of justice than other men ; and he
dared say that legislators of any calling would endeavour to
benefit that particular calling. Adam Smith stated that
in his day no person, of the same trade could meet
together without entering into some contrivance for raising
their prices to the injury of the public generally. That
was the disposition and tendency of human nature, and it
behoved Hon. Gentlemen opposite to cons:der that that was
the position which they occupied in the minds of the people in
this country. It was believed that they were maintaining a
particular law for their own advantage. If Honourable Gen-
tlemen opposite were to witness a combination of workmen
forcibly preventing other workmen from offering their labour
in the corn market, they would hesitate before they almitted
that these parties were acting for the general good, and not for
their own particular benefit.—( Hear, hear.) It should not be
forgotten that Lion. Members had not lost their characters of
men in entering that House, and that they were just as likely
to use the power they possessed for their own advantage as any
other men. Let them consider what were those special burdens
to which land was subjected, which the Right Hon. Baronet at
the head of the Government offered as a defence of the Corn-
laws, and he (Mr. M. Gibson) did not admit that special
burthens always formed a just ground for compensa-
tion to the landowners. If that were the case any parties
who were more heavily taxed than others had a
right to ask for compensation from the public. It would be an
argument, for instance, for those who paid heavier highway-rates,
or Church rates, than their neighbours, to ask for compensa-
tion, or a diminution of such burdens. But tithes existed before
the Corn-laws; and he would ask any Hon. Gent. whether it
could he contended that, if the Corn-laws were repealed, the
should puy no tithes. That was the position, however, which
Hon. Gentlemen opposite had taken ; and such an argument
must of necessity create great alarm among those who consider
Church property as vested property, and that the Church had
the same right to tithes which the landlord had to his estates.
—( Hear.) He would not go into the question of special
burdens, as it had been already so ably discussed by the Hon.
Member for Renfrewshire. With regard to the argument of
the advantage of our being independent of foreign supplies,
he was surprised to find that an Hon. Gentleman opposite
had pointed out no single case of a country dependant for a
supply upon other countries, which had failed to get that sup-
ply when they had the means of purchasing it.--( Hear, hear,
hear.) On the means of purchasing, the certainty of
the supply entirely depended. He was perfectly cer-
tain that if we were dependent on our own landlords
for our supply of food, and had not the means of purchasing it,
we should never get such a supply from them.--( Hear,
hear, and a laugh.) But the Right Hon. Baronet the M. m-
her for Dorchester had quoted Scripture for the purpose of
showing that a country shoulit seek to be independent of other
countries. He told his constituents that there were two countries
mentioned in Holy Writ, namely Tyre and Judea; and that Tyre
which was a powerful country, had a quarrel with
Judea, which was a weak country, and ambassadors were
obliged to go from Tyre to Judea to solicit peace, because the
latter country was supplied by the former. The flight Hon.
Baronet told his constituents that that particular passage was
written for their use and instruction.—( Hear, hoar, and
laughter.) He said that it went to the essence of the question,
and that it showed the necessity of an independence
of foreign countries for supply of food. But did it not occur
to the Right Hon. Baronet that that very dependence was the
means of insuring peace, and putting an end to war? The
passage which the Right Hors. Gentlemen quoted offered one
of the strongest arguments in favour of maintaining a system
of mutual intercourse with distant countries.—( Hear,
hear.) But the Right Hon. Gentleman the Member for
used in the four years ending4l:iin:l:B:4ditt
Tamworth would not admit that the Corn-laws had been to any
considerable extent the cause of the distress now prevailing in
the country,- and he attributed that distress to over-specula-
tion, to the connexiou between master manufacturers
and joint-stock banks, and to the facilities for
obtaining credit, which induced parties to manufacture
more goods than they could reasonably hope to sell.
But he wished to call the attention of the House to this cir-
cumstance—that in the cotton trade there had been no over-
production, and the quantity of raw cotton brought in for
consumption during the four years ending in 1837
was less by many thousand pounds than the quantity
t
.:met
losoall.tr:ekutuee_
had of late fallen off, and that was the reason why a greater
quantity of cotton goods had been exported of
r 0 The
ta:heolim4vl
tslsiet-es than
at preceding periods. The Right Hon. eseetlerhan ss
head of her Majesty's Government,, had also stet,
o,_ _ there
bad been a decline in our exports vicii
Honourable Member for Pe.,,i+:i cpwr4dielio'claihalsilt the
should receisre scnria accurate informatieri_ and 4 n mrliO fit''rth Ze
isno:nnat;tic
Illanodn
that the increase elf population 11.44 tleell
t
greater i
tiislys:jec7.llXft
factoring than in the ageicoliuttaltOtit§l t m4"-
WhiPh slloW4l the necPsity for eliGnliraing was a fact
Rave employment to the sit. plus
population manufactures which
parts of the country. T.
stated that a re
due,ago in rin cuitr tio the
price of food would be attended with a •
the wages of labour; but he (Mr G" retslicl lon
044'1 w ottl d put
it to Honourable oposlt wholer time,
was,
any fOree 414 algUillent, In his belief the wages
ttf labour. were totally irrespective ef the Price
of
f.
If wages were reduced .PmfietiOcns would not rood.
labourer be better off i( could get a larger amunt oief
rciffoi hit eaps
_tin if lie could only get a
smaller 'l_
Cheers. Honourable Gentleman had in-
stituted 'a comuarison betweekk the English labourer

and the Prussian labourer.—( Hear.) Did the Bight
Honourable Gen:lemati mean to say that if there had
been less food in Prussia, the Prussian labourer would have got
more—(Hear, hear )—and that if there tad been a greater
amount of food in England, the English labourer would have
got less ?—( Cries of " Hear, hear.") It appeared to him
(Mr. Gibson) that if wages were reduced by foreign
competition, the difference in the price of food would make a
vast difference in the welfare of the English artisan.—( Hear. )
]f there were more food in the country, undoubtedly he would
get more; and if the quantity of food in the country were re..
duced, undoubtedly he would get less. —( Hear, hear.) But
how was it possible, he would ask, for the English manu-
facturer to compete with the foreign manufacturer,
if they forced upon him the necessity of pur-
chasing his agricultural produce at a greater cost
than tile foreigner ?—(Cheers.) Hon. Gentlemen opposite
were not perhaps aware of the quantity of agricultural pro-
duce which was used in certain branches of our manufactures.
—( Hear.) In many instances the quantity of agricultural
produce consumed in the process of the manufacture
exceeded in certain branches the amount of agricultural pro-
duce consumed by the people employed in the manufactories.
If the manufacturers had to pay a large amount:for the produce
thus employed, was it 110: evident that an additional difficulty
was thrown in their way of competing with those who could pur-
chase this produce at a less rate. The action of the Corn-laws on
the manufacturer was in the first place to limit his power
of exchanging the produce of his industry, and in the next to
render the -process of manufacture more exponsive.—( Hear,
hear, hear.) This was a most important question in
reference to the employment of the people. How could
they extend their manufactures if they limited the
manufacturer's power of exchange, and if they would not allow
the manufacturer to take what other nations offered hint in ex-
change for his commodities ? Gentlemen opposite seemed to
read the amount of our exports as if they were jealous '
of our foreign trade—as if they imagined they saw a
species of rivalry existing between commerce, and manufac- •
tures, and agriculture ; as if they were afraid of every advance of
the commercial classes, and viewed them as a power desirous of
deriving them of the stations they occupied. It was in a jealous
spirit t hey read the list of the exports. They said you have added
much toyour exports this year, are you not satisfied?—(Cheers.)
Now it appeared to him (Mr. Gibson) that the question ought
to be not what was the amount of the exports, but were they
as great as they might have been if they had not been re-
stricted by Act of Parliament ?—( Cheers.) Was it right
that trade should have only so much extent as the landed
proprietors chose to partnit ?—( Hear, and cheers. )• Were the
merchants and manufacturers to be considered only as a
secondary class, dependent upon the indulgence and pleasure of
the landowners ?—( Hear.) Was it right that they should be
allowed to trade to a sufficient extent to minister to the luxuries
of the higher orders, but be debarred from trading When they
caught to benefit the condition of the humble?—_( Hear, hear.)
They might be allowed to import wines and every other
article that ministered to the splendour, luxury, and greatness of
the aristocracy, but they must not be permitted to import
bread to better the condition of the working classes.—(Loud
cheers.) The competition for farms, to which an allusion
had been made by the Hon. Member for Sheffield, was another

t consequence of the Corn-laws.—(Cries of " Divide ! divide. ;)
t The farmers were complaining that by damming up all
the channels of trade and commerce. They were unable to pro-
vide for their families, except by bringing them up to agricul-
tural pursuits, and hence the ruinous competition for farms
which the lien. Member had described. Was not such the
case ? Had not the farmers sons and daughters • and how
were they to be provided for, if all the Channels of
trade and commerce were dammed up? He had ob-
served in the Murk Lane Express, which he believed
was the organ of the Corn-law supporters, that the Editor ex-
pressed his surprise at the extraordinary apathy existing among
the farmers upon the question of the Corn-laws. He (Mr.
Gibson) was not surprised at it. The farmers knew well that
it was a question of rent—( Loud and continued cheering)—
and that if prices were reduced they would be enabled
to make their agreements accordingly ; and whatever
might be the state of the Corn-laws, they knew very well that
competition for farms was so great that they would never be
enabled to get mere than ordinary profit for their capital.—
( Hear, hear.) The present system had a tendency to make
the occupation of the farmer more dangerous than it ought to be.
The farmer must, under it, be prepared to meet, first
the usual hazard of his calling; secondly, the chance
of a repeal of the Corn-laws—(Cheers)--and thirdly, the
chance of the Corn-laws not fulfilling their purpose.—( Loud
cheers.) The Corn-laws had proved faithless to the farmer.
They were a rotten foindation, and the farmer, when making
his agreement on the faith of the Corn dews, thought anxiously
of that period of agricultural distress against which the Corn-
laws had failed to protect him. He would admit that
the agitation of Corn-law repeal made the application of ca-
pital to land perilous. He admitted that that agitation was an
evil, but whose fault was it? Certainly the fault of those who
maintained the law.—(Cheers.) So long as the Cern-law re-
mained, so long would they have Anti-Corn-law agitation.
It was therefore entirely the fault of those who maintain the
Corn-laws. —( Cheers.) He did not lay any blame to the Anti-
Corn-law League. Ile believed they were performing a sa-
cred duty in endeavouring to expose unjust legislation.
He would advise the farmers to be cautious in taking their
leases. He knew the amount of this agitation. He knew what
bitter feelings were rankling in the minds of many who did
not openly express them. From Iris place in the House of Com-
mons he called upon the farmers to pause before they
allowed themselves to be again deluded by the Corn-laws.
—(1-leer, hear, and loud cheers.) The proposition of the
Right Honourable Baronet could not be considered as anything
like a permanent settlement of the question. —(Loud
cheers.) He was not ono of those who would hold
out to the landlords the hope that the Corn-laws could be re-
pealedO Hear.)
He
could
cheapring t o
bt,heeaidr property.—(
couldrosm b
e btainede ei y.—
and high rents maintained, at the same time.
He believed that, ultimately the landlords would share
in the general prosperity which must follow a repeal of the
Corn-laws, but he believed that that could only be obtained at
the expense of some present sacrifice, and if the
aristocracy were so very patriotic —so disinterested, so
high-minded, and so magnanimous, as they repres nted
themselves, he would call upon them at once to make
that sacrifice, and not for the sake of high rentt risk the per-
manent safety of the country. —( Cheers. ) lie would call upon
the landlords not to be so blind to their own interests as for
the sake of grasping at some temporary advantage
to peril the permanent welfare of the country, and he would
bid them recollect that it was impossible that a temporary good
should be long based on injustice and wrong.—(Cheers. )
Mr. ESCOTT said it was impossible for any Hon. Mem.
her in that House to be impressed with deeper feelings of the
immense importance and very great difficulties of the question
they were now called on to decide than he. It was said on
the opposite side that the plan now proposed was for
the interest of but one class. ( Hear, hear.) He
(Mr. Eseott) tbegged to tell- Honourable Gentlemen
that, if euels were the case, no consideration would ever induce
him to rise in that House as the advocate se such a class. He
:mould not conceive how this earnour with respect to the agri-
cultural interest of the country had been raised. He could not
but recollect the part taken by Hon. Gentlemen opposite on
this question during the last Session of Parliament.
Tnat part was now being played over again, but
for different results. If ever there was a plan of
mischief devised by the curnmingest of men in any
country, it was that of proclaiming cheap
bread in a partly dis-
tressed country. it was striking upon the most tender, the most
vital, the most vulnerable point—the life and existence of all
those who lived by land. f he question now raised must be
met be argument, not by assertion. Before the lion Member
for Wolverhampton (Mr. Villiers) called on them to
repeal the principle of a law under which
the agricultural interest was protected, and the people
of England supplied with foreign corn for more than twelve
years, it appeared to him (Mr. E.) that the Hon. Gen-
tleman ought t ' prove two propo•itions—first, that the distress
which they all lamented was the consequem ce of the principle
of the law which he would repeal,
and next, that the repeal of
the principle of that law would not cause greater distress to
the agricultui al interests of the country than the benefits which
on
no.
landowners
nhoheu.
eobatmoney
and
he thought it would confer on the working classes.
Ile (Mr. E.) never heard one of those propositions either
ar ued or proved in that House ; but until that were the case,
that man must be a madman or something worse who sought to
unsettle the principle of a law under which the great agricultural
interest had thriven, and recovered from the reverses into
which it, as well as the other great interests of the country, had
fallen during same years preceding. The commutation of tithes
had just taken place, and before the commutation deed was
dry would they pass a law that would have the effect of bring-
ing down the price of wheat in this country to that of wheat
Russia—namely, 405., and make that the standard
oinfPlarnumilsolardosr' rents, and the amount of tithes to be received by
dependedet eantwn'tvearss
not onlywh aotna
those to whom such should be paid ? They talked of free-trade
in corn. Was that a free grade when the produce of every
other commodity in England was protected by a heavy
ad valorem duty ? Did they think that wheat should be the
only untaxed article, whilst every other article of production
was heavily taxed? Did they forget that if they were to have
a free trade there was no class in the community so able to
bear free trade as the agriculturists were ?—(Loud cries
of " Hear, hear," from the Opposition benches.) Let
them not talk of free trade, and mean a different thing?
It had been admitted by the lion. Member for Wolverhamp-
ton, that the agriculturists had exclusive burdens to bear, but
that a proposition for the reenoval of those burdens would be
submitted to the House. His (Mr. E.'s) answer to that was,
they did not wish to break up the financial system of the country.
If they did get an increased price for the articles they pro-
duces& in consequence of the heavy expense of taxes, what
would the Hon. Member do? He would, by introducing an
unlimited importation of foreign corn, deprive them of getting
that large price.—( Hear, hear.) He'admitted that they paid
the malt-tax—( Hear)— the highway-rates, the tithes, and the
land-tax--( Hear, hear)—he.admitted that they paid theso
things, but then he said fleet they went into'the price of corn,
and then he proposed a plan to bring the price of wheat down
was a gross fallacy : cheap bread
to ss. a bushel. That was the sodrtivoidfef.,r,e)e trlaldee whichßight came
from the Right Hon. Gentlemen opposite.—( Cries of " Ques-
tion, question," and " Divide,
Ho-
nourable Gentleman who spoke last night, the
cheapthe and dear
.
whether bread ought to be cheap or dear. The question of
for Edinburgh, acid that thtekeypri
csyv,l:aersaeap
goodoo dear,rnly ti;ienli
relative
tt,hiseh eortieiei
rieimei opinion, b e
in circulation.
supp
cheap-
ness, did not see that they were far more likely to ruin the
land,
He was astonished that those who were_ crying out for
manufacturer and trade,than the. because the land they
ly and demand, but also
laughter.)
he owed to
owners never owed to them—t
~St. them their very
d. [Tighter, and
existenee—(Hear)—and the MITA alsotheir
Oto.r!mem her whence
cries of
The manufacturers owed to the
in the origin.
They derived
them from. that co mercial system country which they
lose they had unless
manufacturers to adopt the co too much
would now annihilate. He could not think what had induced the
theycoul d derivedl'ot theirai annihilate.—(Hear,
htte.
prosperity— (lleaan:
prosperity had driven them
Ma
the
" Divide, divide.") He believed r neglect of domestic ,
agriculture had been the offorerutiln.ewer.the miseries a the
people. It put him in mind of ti, .s
the f the Roman poet,
and he woold read the original,
.i; th Is
e -souse would bear
with him. [The Honourable Member read the nefo..
he et • damid considerable langhsee .
which r mire ,
...Lion to
wa. ,
The meaning of that quotation . • and confusion. J
plain of farmers reduced to - , -- stus—he did not corn-
lords, or of a stem"' roveray, of the cruelty of land-
hem he did not
knew ''s'. •"g I'M" ;• Speak of classes,
setter than to consider agriculture as a class in-
of the
erest—he spoke of the life of all, . whole people of his
l
I •
provision not
-on
Country, reduced to fifteen days' not because they
dicl net import corn, but because they would import it
beeause they preferred a precarious commerce to the improve-
Ment of their own lands.—( cheers, laughter, and cries of
" Divide, divide.") It was the same thing here.—(Cries of
" Oh, oh.") There was no country in the world, nor in any
period of the world's history, in which such an experiment
was more likely to fail, or more certain to be attended with
extensive misery.—(Tory cheers.) He would now say one
word more on the measure of his Right Hon. Friend.—
(Cries of " Divide, divide.") lie could well understand the
argument, that Parliament ought to stand upon that which
lemei proved to be good, rather than experiment upon that
which might be supposed to be better. But there was
another and a wiser course to be,, taken on this oc-
Oattion.—( Cries of " Short, short, and .s Divide.")
They must divert mischief by time means which Providence
had put into their hands for avoiding mischief; and he thought
it wise to aocept the present measure as a Present. settlement
of the question. —( Renewed confusion, and er *3 of "Divide.")
He had not forgotten the year 1829, and the events conse-
quent upon that unhappy era—(Laughter and renewed confu-
sion)—nor the impetus given to the downward movement by
thelyonla land-
questionl
the

I the misguided efforts of well-intentioned men.—(Tory cheers.)
• lle was sure that some of them had retreated from their mis-
taken line of conduct, and when he looked roucid he could not
but congra'ulate some upon their glorious retreats as the
most glorious of recorded victories.—(Hear, and immense
cheering, hooting, and laughter.) The Noble Lord who had
led that movement was beginning to perceive his error.—(oh,
oh, and laughter.) The Noble Lord admitted, that
while the agricultural interest made no aggressions
upon the other interests of the country, it must
constitute the leading party in Parliament.—(Tory cheers.)
But the adherents of the Noble Lord said that this was a
farming Parliament ; and under this present Constitution it
was impossible to obtain redress for the wrongs of the people.—
( Loud cheers on bath sides. ) He asked, would the Noble
Lord follow the leaders of the downward movement ?
(Cheers.) Would the Noble Lord hold back and trerpble
when pressed to juin the democratic school of Parlia-
mentary Reforetere ?—(Cheers, and cries of " Divide.")
Whatever the Noble Lord did, or the new school to which
he long belonged, he (Mr. Escott) was resolved to
stand by the landed interest, which was well called the Eng-
lish interest—(Cheers)—and he would resist the schemes of
those who, by their conduct in this debate, showed their utter
incapacity to govern this country. (The Honourable
member sat down amidst loud cheering, and cries of " Divide,
divide.") _ _

On the motion of Mr. ENVART, the debate was adjourned.
The House resumed, and the CHAIRMAN obtained leave to
sit again to-morrow.

The House then Adjourned at Twelve o'Clock.

COURT OF ALDERMEN.

Yesterday a Court was held for the despatch of business.

BAPTISM OF THE PRINCE OF WALES.

Mr, FIRTH, of the Town Clerk's-office, read the following
official record of the reception of the Lord Mayor and the She-
riffs at Windsor Castle, upon the ceremony of the baptism of
the Prince of Wales :

" The ceremony of the baptism of his Royal Highness the
Prince of Wales having been fixed to take place in the Chapel
of St. George at Windsor Castle, on Tuesday, the 25th day of
January, 1842, the Lord Mayor and the Sheriffs had the ho-
nour to receive, through the Lord Chamberlain, her Majesty's
gracious invitation to attend the same ; they were also further
honoured with invitations, through the Lord Steward, to the
dinner at the Castle after the Christening, and to a banquet in
St. George's Hall in the evening. Apartments were provided
for the Lord Mayor in the Castle, and for the Sheriffs at
Frogmore. In obedience to these commands the Lord Mayor
and the Sheriffs left London on Monday, the 24th of January,
and upon their arrival at Windsor Castle in their state car-
riages, were received by the Earl de la Warr, the Lord Cham-
berlain, whe conducted them to the Waterloo Gallery, where
all the distinguished guests invited to the ceremony were to
assemble previously to their going to St. George's Chapel ;
and at the hour appointed the Lord Mayor and the Sheriffs, as
well as the other guests were conveyed to the Chapel in the
Royal carriages.

At the dejeuner after the ceremony the Lord Mayor and
the Sheriffs retired to the apartments provided for the Lord
Mayor in Lancaster Tower, to which they were conveyed in
the Royal carriage, and after attending a Levee, held by the
King of Prussia in the apartments allotted to his Majesty,
when they were respectively presented to his Majesty, the Lord
Mayor and the Sheriffs again assembled in the Waterloo Gal-
lery, and at the hour appointed proceeded to the banquet at
which her Majesty presided. They also joined with the other
distinguished personages in the Royal party in the drawing-
room, and after having drank bumpers of_claret to the health
of the Prince of Wales, attended the Court in the evening,
and quitted the Castle at half-past eleven o'clock, and returned
to London on the morning of Wednesday, Jan. 26.
JOHN PIRIE, Lord Mayor,
WILLIAM MA GNAY, Sheriffs.
A. ROGERS,

OFFICE OF CORN INSPECTOR.
Upon the motion that Mr. Levick should be appointed to the
office of Corn Inspector, vacant by the death of his father,
whom he had ably assisted as deputy for many years,
Alderman COPELAND raised a question as to the propriety of
electing an Inspector pending the proceedings in Parlisment
on the subject, but stated, in consequence of the representation s
of several members of the Court, that he would not make any
motion.

Mr. Levick was then unanimously elected.
The Rev. W. Wayte was elected Chaplain of Giltspur-streei
Compter, in the room of the Rev. W. Boddington, resigned.
The Court then adjourned.

MARYLEBONE BANK.
A meeting of the Shareholders of this Bank was held last
night at the Boar and Castle, Oxford-street, for the purpose
of receiving a statement of the affairs of the bank, and trans-
acting other business relative to the accounts and prospects of
the Bank.

Mr. PARNELL was proposed, and took the chair.
The minutes of the last meeting were confirmed.
Mr. ABRAHAM said that since the last meeeting little
had been done in the affairs of the Bank beside
litigation on the part of the Directors against some of the Pro-
prietors. With respect to Mr. Hannay's meeting, on 31st Ja-
nuary, they (the Proprietors) fully expected that at that time
the accounts would have been gone into, and that they would
have been able to have ascertained what was the real position
of Mr. Hannay's affairs. They had had a communication with
Mr. Roy the day previously, and he simply stated that he had
a letter from one of the Directors in the country, stating that
a meeting of the Direction would be called in the course
of the week. Mr. Bebb and himself (Mr. Abrahams)
had seen the official assignee, asho stated at that time that in all
probability the meeting of the creditors could be adjourned for
the purpose of giving time for investigating the affairs, and
Mr. Hebb received a letter from Mr. Hannay, stating that be
should be most happy to meet him at the official assignee's the
following day, in order to look over the accounts. In conse-
quence of this note Mr. Bebb saw Mr. Hannay on the 29th of
January at the official assignee's, and they went over the ac-
counts, but they were not so explicit as they could have wished.
The official assignee said, that Mr. Hannay had been engaged
many days in writing the statement of his accounts, but they
were not sufficiently plain, and therefore, an adjournment
must take place. Mr. Hannay was told that if he did not pre-
pare his accounts, so that they could be understood, an ad-
journment would take place sine die. This Mr. Hannay did
not seem to care much about this, for he said if it
was so it must be so.—( Hear, hear.) The offi-
cial assignee said, if Mr. Hannay did not produce
a satisfactory statement of his accounts, it would be of no use
to address the Commission for the purpose of naming a specific
day for the adjourned meeting. The meeting was ultimately
adjourned for three mouths. The Committee, upon considera-
tion, thought this was a reasonable time. Soon after the last meet.
ing four gentlemen were served with writs. Not from Ray and
Co. ; they were ashamed of the transaction ; but they were from
Mes•rs. Richards and Walker, As soon as these writs were
served Mr. Bebb wrote a (letter to Messrs. Richards and
Walker,this means they would decide
the whole question without the additional expense. This
theyrefused, askingl
four,
as continueb their actions upon one bill
insteadby this
and placed on the record, and this was the present state
read a letter from Mr. Ray, the Solicitor
of
tie
and wholethem
shortlyto afterwards a declaration was issued
to the Directors, recommending an amicable arrangement of
othe
r .
atffaebi
rr
sa.l Abraham it:teh ni. Bebb was defending these actions
A r
the expenses
CommitteeAugustr
very
last,
extravagant. anl they
Thewould
expenses
thatnas
Abraham) would tell them what their
had not been paid out of the fund, but had been paid
out of the pockets of himself and of Mr. Bohte. Mr. Bohte's
account, as secretary, would be about 13/. or 141., and he
thought his (Mr. Abrahams) own was something like IU. or
had
beenhads notince been v
121., and 20/. for printing, and that was all. They had endea-
voured to save as much as possible. He concluded by moving
that the meeting at its rising be dissolved.
A Proprietor thought that an amount, say 100/. might be
granted to the Committee to defray these expenses.
Mr. ABRAHA Ms said they could not piss a monied resolu-
tion without first calling a meeting by circular for the purpose,
with a week's notice.

Mr. DEEK seconded the resolution of Mr. Abrahams, which
was carried.

Mr. DEER proposed a resolution, to the effect that the Com-
mittee should be empowered to get in any accounts, and eater
into their examination, in order that they might be laid before
the Proprietors at the next meeting.
Mr. ABR A lIA lts seconded the resolution, which was carried.
Mr. SALTER moved that the Committee should put them-
selves in communication with the Directors, in consequence of
the letter received from Mr. Ray.
Mr. \Vann seconded the motion, whish was carried.
The meeting shortly afterwards separated.

EASTERN COUNTIES RAILWAY.
.1 Special General Meeting of the Proprietors of this Com-
pany, was held yesterday, at the offices of the Company, Shore-
ditch, for the purpose of raising a sum of money by creating
riew Shares, and also for declaring certain Shares to be forfeited.
lIINRY DOSANQUIT, Esq., took the Chair, and in
doing so, said the meeting had been called at the
earliest moment subsequent to the last meeting,
this being the first legal opportunity, after due notice
had been given of the meeting. in order to put them in pos-
session of the details of the plan they intended submitting to
the meeting, for the purpose of raising the remainder of the
funds necessary to carry them to Colchester, the resolution
prepared by their legal adviser, would be read. These pro-
ceedings would not have been necessary if they could have bor-
rowed tho money under the provisions of the Act of Parlia-
ment, viz., 2,300,000/.
Mr. Huta. then read the resolution to the meeting, which
was extremely long, empowering the company to issue new
shares.

Mr. HESILTINE, in moving the resolution, wished to ask
whether, it the money was paid immediately, there would bo
a dividend allowed upon the new shares at the next distri.
but ion.
The CHAIRMAN said that if the money was paid up in full
interest would be allowed up to the date of the last call, but
no dividend would be allowed, because that would be unjust to
the other shareholders.
HESILTINE—Then they
.will only participate in divi.
dends after July.
The CHAIRMAN—That is so.
Mr. HESILTRUE then moved the resolutions, which were
seconded by Mr. ESDAILE.
Mr. HAMILTON said it did not appear to him that their pro.
ceedings were being conducted with their usual fairness to the
debenture holders. The debentures were equal to 81. s. 8k
paid up, while the Shareholders had paid up, but
61. 6s. Sd., yet the Shareholders were entitled
to the same amount at the distribution, as those who tad
paid 8/. 6s. Bd. This was giving to the Proprietors
agreat
advantage over the debenture holders, althoust g
te hd paid up 30 per cent, less, He thought,
`.%iereforeh, thy aat in
fairness the last sell on the sharesont-
then they NvOttid all stand ~ •, nt to be made, and
were adopted and the iro an equality.
If this course
of their being in 0,- ...nediate payment demanded, instead
ing 200,00^'
e receipt of 50,0901. they would be receiv-
the Ts
The upon Hon. Gentleman concluded by urging
the Shareholders.
,Jirectors the necessity of making the last call of 21. upon

The CHAIRMAN said the question had been under consi-
deration for some time, arid they had come to the determina-
tion of not making the call, as the old Shareholders had borne
the battle which the Company had been fighting for upwards
of seven years. —( Hear, hear.) If they made this call they
would not get what they wanted, as that would only realize about
40,0001. or 50,0001. He would state two facts in reference to
this subject. The Birmingham Railway had not made their
last call, and the Great Western had only called 651. out of
every 1006, and yet they were borrowing money and increasing
their stock. The Company had done all in their power to
keep faith with the debenture holders. and they would do so still.
Mr. KENNEDY wished to ask when the interest would com-
mence on the new shares?
N HALL said it would commence on the 4th of July, and
on the 4th January next a dividend would be declared with the
other shares.
Nlr. HERBERT wished to ask whether it was the intention of
the Company to make any call upon the 21. per share not
paid up during the time the new shares were paid p r being
The CHAIR:4w said the question had better
no-tbe pressedi-.
41
at that time, and it was withdrawn.
The resolutions were then put and carried.
A Paoritirrort said he had noticed in the Railway Times
a paragraph stating that a reduction had taken place in the tolls
upon the railway from 4d. to 21/2d. ; and he wished to know if
such an arrangement had been entered into.
The CHAIRMAN said that a
negotiation had been entered
into between the Company and the Northern and Eastern
Company respecting the tolls on goods, which had been arnica.