The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1839-06-04 00:00:00

Nmptriai Varliamtitt.

HOUSE OF LORDS.—THURSDAY.
THE MEDEA COLLISION.
Lord STlt ANGFORD wished to know from the noble lord at
the head of the admiralty, whether he had received any official
information regarding the collision that had taken place be-
tween her majesty's steam-ship, the Medea, and a French

titoop of war.
Lord MINTo was extremely indebted to the noble lord
affording him this opportunity of explaining a
had attracted a good deal of attention,
which ilad been the subject of a good deal of misrepre-
sentation. It was very true that a collision had taken place
between her majesty's steam-ship, the Medea, and a French
sloop of war, but which was wholly accidental. As soon as
the circumstances were made known, the French officer made
every apology 'that could be possibly due for the consequences
of the accident. He (Lord M.) was more fortunate on this
occasion than on the last, because he was now in possession
of a full detail of the circumstances from the commanding
He had both a private and a public letter on the
object, dated on board the Medea, at Bermuda, on the 20th
April, which stated the circumstances under which it oc-
irred, and from which it appeared that the French sloop
;Id mistaken the British sloop for a Mexican cruizer,
ad that when she ran across the French sloop, the French
flu -!ted one shot to be fired, although by some unac-
w itable circumstance six shots were fired into the Medea,
P ouch one man was wounded, and his leg immediately
rwbrds obliged to be amputed. Altogether, it was one of
'e unforeseen accidents which would at times happen, and
'cent of which nothing culpable was to be attributed to
side. If there was any aggression, it must have arisen
Ir s'nip running across the French sloop. The noble
sted that this explanation would be satisfactory both
'use and to the country , and he regretted to have
its on this subject circulated which were calcu-
y to eNcite an unnecessary feeling and high-
,x.ss in sensitive people.
BEER BILL.
In reply to a question from the Marquis of Westminster,
Lord BitZTJGHAM said that nothing should induce him to
postpone the consideration of the Beer Bill beyond Monday.
T:IF. DISTURBANCES IN CANADA.
Lord BROUGHAM moved for papers connected with the
case of Colonel Prince, who, after a defeat of American sym-
pathisers, near Sandwich, Upper Canada, ordered several
prisoners t i be shot.
The motion was partially acceded to by the Marquis of

ofiicer

otticer curt

!ell state:

lazed certain!

011 M ANBY.
The Duke of WELLINGTON said that a warfare of the great-
est horror was now carried on in Canada. At this moment
our guards and picquets were necessarily kept on the whole
line of frontier, from one end of the country to the other.
If by any accident we were obliged to withdraw our
troops from one part of the line, the persons very appro-
priately designated brigands came over in sledges, or some
other description of carriage, crossed the country, and the
houses of the inhabitants every where in that particular di-
rection were destroyed, life taken, and property plundered.
All along this frontier there was a perpetual fire kept up from
the side of the United States, across the imaginary line,upon
. as, our picquets, and even on the single sentinels
along the line. In war, every means was justifiable
on boths sides to get the better of the enemy ; but certainly
he had never before, in the whole course of his experience,
heard of such a thing as firing on single sentries, not to say
guards or picquets. Yet this species of warfare was going on
at present in this province.—Adjourned.

HOUSE OF COMMONS.—Tuunsnay.
LONDON AND BIRMINGHAM RAILWAY BILL.

Tice London and Birmingham Railway Bill was read a
third time and passed, after some amendments had been
agreed to.

BIR7,IINGTIAM EXTENSION RAILWAY ;JILL,

ILMOT said that on Tuesday he presented several
etitions against the Birmingham Extension Railway Bill,
which were ordered to be referred to the committee. The
committee met on Wednesday, and found that they had not
been presented within the requisite number of days, and that
they could not receive them. The circumstances of the case
were these :—On the 14th of this month the bill was read a
time, and the house adjourned on the 15th to the
th. The notice of the committee was given for the 22d.
'o business was done on that day in consequence of the
speaker, and; therefore,' the only day for the pre-
on these petitions was Tuesday last, and, conse-
quently, they could not comply with the standing orders of
the house. There were no laches on the part of the peti-
tioners ; and he therefore hoped the house would, under the
peculiar circumstances of the,case, direct these petitions to
be laid before the committee.
Lord STANLEY said it must be a strong case which would
induce him to relax the standing orders, because the house
had, upon very good grounds, declared that it was necessary,
in railway petitions, that three days' notice should be given
to the parties on the other side, in order that they might be
prepared to meet the allegations; and in the only case in
which hardship could arise to the petitioners, an exception
was made by the standing orders, when the petitioners
found al on matters which had arisen before the committee,
out when the circumstances were al known, if they once
made a deviation from the rule which required notice to be
given, they would receive endless applications, and defeat
what appeared to him to be a very salutary rule. (Hear.)
Lord SANDON said, in this case, if the parties had been
required strictly to adhere to the standing orders, they would
have had imposed upon them an impossibility. Now what
was the fact? On the day after the second reading of the
_

election

bill, the house adjourned fo the 27th May, when it met again
for the purpose of electing a speaker. He had the petition
in the house at the time, but was precluded from presenting
it by the circumstances to which he had alluded ; he, there-
fore, thought he had made out a case which would show the
house would be doing the greatest possible injustice by shut-
ting out parties who might have the greatest possible interest
in the bill.—(Hear, hear.) He, therefore, trusted the house
would not refuse the application.
Lord STANLEY. : After the statement made by his noble
friend, which he was not aware of before, he would withdraw
all opposition; he, therefore, suggested that it be an instruc-
tion to the committee that they have power to take these
petitions into consideration, notwithstanding the standing
orders have not been complied with.
The SPEAKER then put the question, that it be an instruc-
tion to the committee on the Birmingham and Manchester
Extension Railway Bill, to take into consideration the peti-
"TriengW'Atatindrersigalliatitigthlig.henregoleirll'a7htithu
petitions respecting national education would forthwith pre-

sent them. The house instantly became a scene of extraor-
dinary confusion. About twenty members ran simultane-
ously in all parts; and the noise was so great that, for some
minutes, none of them could be heard; at last Sir E.
KNATCHBULL rose to order, and expressed an earnest hope
that hon. members would preserve more order and decency
in their proceedings. (Loud cries of " hear.") A great
number of petitions were presented against the proposed
measure, and were hailed with loud cheers from the opposi-
tion.

CALL OF THE HOUSE.

Lord ASHLEY said, that as the noble lord the Secretary of
State for the home department had at last fixed a day on
which he intended to submit a motion on the subject of
national education, he would take the liberty of giving notice,
that on Tuesday next he should move the house be called
over on Friday, the 14th June, being the day appointed by
the noble lord for the discussion of that plan. (" Hear,
hear," from the conservative benches.)
Lord J. RUSSELL : I beg leave to second that motion.
WEST INDIA DILL.

Mr. LABOUCHERE moved, according to notice, for leave
to bring in that bill for the settlement of the Jamaica ques-
tion which the government had now prepared as a substitute
for their lately abandoned measure. That abandonment, he
said, had not been the result of any change of opinion. He
wished the former measure could have been carried with
such a strength as would have 'enforced a due regard to it ;
but it would have had little effect, even if passed, had it been
passed with the sanction of only a very small majority. He
would make no charge against the great party opposed to
him ; but if colonial questions were to be made questions of
party, he could not help anticipating much of general mis-
chief, and much of disgust among the inhabitants of our
colonies. The present bill was founded on the principle of
calling the assembly together again, and giving them what
had been called a locus ptenitentice. He had not much faith
in the success of the experiment, but government intended
to give the assembly a fair trial. There were several subjects
u bids the assembly itself had represented as urgent ; such
as those of vagrancy, of the relation between master and
servant, and of unauthorised occupation of land (commonly
called squatting), as also the state of the militia, and the
qualification of electors. Moreover, there were no fewer
than seventeen annual acts of importance which had been
suffered to expire. Their expiration, especially that of the
police law, had been extensively mischievous ; and the
present bill proposed to give the assembly time for the re-en-
actment of them, with power to the governor or council to
revive them, if the assembly should do so. The principle
of this bill was contingent legislation. With respect to
those matters which did not fall under the head of expired
enactments, particularly those of vagrancy, master and ser-
vant, and squatting, it appeared from Sir Lionel Smith's
despatches, that some new provisions were urgently required.
On these there had been orders in council transmitted to the
crown colonies, that is, the colonies governed not by local
legislatures, but by the king in council ; and the orders so
transmitted had there been successful in practice. The
assembly of Jamaica would be referred to those regulations,
and called upon to legislate, not indeed according to their
letter, but in conformity with their spirit. If this should li
not be done in such a way that the governor could properly
give his assent, then, after a certain interval, the governor
in council would be authorised to make the requisite laws
on those models, =taus mutandis. Thus had the proposed
interference of the imperial parliament been reduced within
the narrowest possible merits, consistent with the protection
of the interests which the great experiment of emancipation
had been intended to secure totheilegroes._

Sir ROBERT PEEL said, he should not only offer no oppo-
sition to the bill in the present stage, but abstain from saying
anything which might go to prejudge the subject of it. En-
tirely reserving himself as to the merits of the bill, he con-
curred in the general principle that the wisest course was to
presume that the assembly intended to do its duty ; and he
would say that its duty, as well as its interest, would be to
legislate in such a spirit as should leave no doubt of its de-
sire to do full justice to the negro. Nay, more; this coun-
try, in return for its magnificent grant, had a right, in the
negro's behalf, to insist that he should receive, not merely
the nominal, but the practipal advantages of freedom. But,
after the great experiment of emancipation, he should not
have liked another great experiment, in the shape of a sus-
pension of the colony's constitution ; and on this ground,
and by reason of the present relative state of the white and
black population, he had opposed the former measure. With
respect to the permanent legislation, which the present bill
proposed to require of the assembly, he repeated that he
must wholly reserve himself on the question, whether the
subjects were of such a character as to demand this mode of
intervention. The. right hon. mover had deprecated party
feeling, which it was always specious and plausible to do.
Certainly it would be unfair to oppose a government for the
sole purpose of embarrassing it on a mere colonial question,
especially with reference to the altered state of the negroes.
Bat if, bond fide, he and his friends considered the alleged
grounds insufficient to justify the suspension of a constitu-
tion, surely they had as much right as the government to
choose their own course ; and when it once was chosen,
party tactics would necessarily attach, and the fullest procu-
rable attendance would be mustered on both sides. And the
mover must recollect, that the division against the bill had
included not only the conservative phalanx, but likewise ten
of his own friends. Where these charges of party are made,
the whole question turns on the sincerity of the proceeding ;
and as I was sincere, I resolved that my opposition should
be a real and not a merely nominal one.
Lord JOHN RUSSELL insisted on the necessity that, what-
ever it might be proper to do, should be done in the present
session, and that the Jamaicans should not be left to pervert
obsolcte•and imperfect laws to purposes of oppression. He
only regretted that England had, improvidently, paid the
compensation to the planters before she had got the freedom
-of the negroes established to her own entire satisfaction. As
to the recent Jamaica'bill, he would admit that the opposite
leader
had a right to proclaim and act upon his hostility to it,
and that his friends in general would naturally and fairly
follow him ; but government did feel that certain of those
friends of his connected with Jamaica, and possessing a deep
interest in it, and a thorough knowledge of its affairs, ought
to have been left free to follow their own opinions, already
expressed and actually communicated to government,—that
they ought not to have been obliged to bend their opinions
about Jamaica to the objects of party in England. He
thought, therefore, that Sir Robert Peel had acted in a men-

ner which was not only unusual as regarded party warfare
but at variance with his own declarations.

Mr. GODSON protested against the disposition of the go-
vernment to bring forward bills of pains and penalties.
Mr. HUME thought the government had made no better
case for this than for the former measure. He begged to
ask had government ever sent any answer to the inquiry of
the assembly, whether the colonial parliament was in future
to be allowed the privilege of legislating for the colony ? If
ministers had not answered that inquiry, they had no right
to complain that nothing had been done by the assembly.
Sir CHARLES GREY addressed the house in support of the
motion.

Mr. LABOUCRERE excused the government for having sent
no answer to the assembly's inquiry, on the plea that it was
impossible to give the answer till parliament should have
decided on the course to be pursued.
Sir EDWARD SUDDEN begged to vindicate his friends from
the charge of having been actuated only by party motives in
the late vote. He said he had read with attention every paper
on the Jamaica, as he had done on the Canadian question ;
and though he had begun with no little prejudice against the
planters, his opinion had been so greatly altered as he had
read on, that, if his friends had taken a different line from
that which they did pursue, he should have felt himself obliged
to act in opposition to them. The government seemed to
think that, because the conservatives had consented to a
suspension of a constitution in Canada, they must perforce
give the same sort of concurrence with respect to Jamaica ;
but he did not take the suppression of a constitution to be
quite so much a matter of course as they appeared to regard
it.—Leave was given to bring in the bill.
Mr. CRESSWELL moved for papers relating to the duties
paid on manufactured woollen goods exported to the United
States, After a short conversation, the motion was agreed to.
Mr. M. GIBSON obtained leave to bring in a bill to prevent
persons in England and Wales, once registered, from losing
their votes at an election by reason of removal after the
preceding registration.

THE CURRENCY.

Mr. ATrwoon, after a long speech in his usual style, on
the state of the currency, moved a series of resolutions on
the subject, which the London newspapers have not thought
worth the trouble of publishing.
They were seconded by Mr. WALLACE.
Lord JOHN RUSSELL moved the previous question.
Mr. WARBURTON was of opinion that the proposition
contained in the hon. member's resolutions was a dishonest
one. It amounted to this—that men who borrowed at 20s.
in the pound, wished to pay at 195., and then at 18s., and
then at 175., and so on to an unlimited series of reductions.
[Mr. ATTWOOD : "Ay to 10s. in the pound if necessary."]
He (Mr. Warburton) called that a dishonest proposition ;
and whether it proceeded from whig, tory, or radical, he was
sure that the house and the honest people of this country
would nevar agree to it.

The motion was negatived without a division.
On the motion of Mr. Serjeant TALFOURD, the custody of
infants' bill was read a second time, and ordered to be com-
mitted on Wednesday, the 12th of June.
The house adjourned at half-past eleven o'clock.

HOUSE OF LORDS-FRIDAY.

The Bristol and Gloucester railway bill was read a second
time, by a majority of 11.

MINISTERIAL POLICY.

The Earl of WINCHILSEA required of Lord Melbourne
an explanation of the principles on which the cabinet has been
reconstructed—and an exposition of the measures to which
the country may now look forward.
Lord MELBOURNE observed that he had already furnished
what he believed to be a most satisfactory explanation of his
conduct. He and his colleagues had resigned, because, un-
doubtedly, they did not possess in a sufficient measure, the
confidence of parliament. He and they had, subsequently,
resumed office; in obedience to influences which it was utterly
impossible for him and them to resist. He perfectly admitted
the existence of the difficulties by which his government
was surrounded. It was possible that the causes which
occasioned these difficulties and the late change of govern=
ment might still be undiminished ; sure he was they would
not be diminished by any abandonment of principle on his
part, or that the government would be conducted on any other
principles than those upon which he understood it was
originally framed and conducted throughout. Those princi-
ples unquestionably were principles of progress and reforma-
tion ; he had always been for adopting every measure which,
in his opinion, would tend to promote the good and advantage
of the country ; but he never had been, and he certainly was
not now, for purchasing or obtaining support, either by
bringing forward or advocating measures contrary to his
opinions and conscience. His opinions on most of those
subjects of political discussion which now agitated the public
mind were perfectly well known. They were perfectly well
known in 1835; just as well known as at present. He would
not declare and repeat them on the present occasion ; he
would only say that to all measures of reformation, he was a
warm and anxious friend ; but he was not prepared to adopt
measures contrary to his feelings, opinions, and conscience,
for the sake of gaining the support they might conciliate.
The noble lord had adverted to the difficulties with which the
country was surrounded, difficulties unquestionably both
intecnal and external. (Hear, hear.) He did' not mean to
extenuate the difficulties which might prevail, or the dangers
from disorderly tumult raised and excited within the bosom
of the country. It appeared to him, not an inattentive ob-
server of public affairs, that something of a new feature had
of late presented itself; he knew not whether it was a more
or less dangerous symptom, that while in former times such
designs were always glossed over with something of pretend-
ed measures of reformation and amendment, in the present
day there had been at all public meetings, and on the part of
persons of no small influence and power, an open profession
of intentions of plunder, of violence, and of blood. He knew
not whether this was more or less a dangerous symptom ; he
trusted it was a less dangerous symptom of the times, be-
cause if it were a more dangerous symptom, they must sup-
pose the country to be so infected to the core that it would
be impossible to hope for its salvation by any measures that
could now be adopted. His lordship concluded with the
following somewhat whimsical declaration :—He did not
know what was the best ministry in itself considered ; but
this he did know, that unquestionably the worst ministry
was that which did not possess sufficient of the confidence
of parliament and the country to carry those measures which
they thought necessary for the well-being of the state ; and
he trusted, for the benefit of the country, if there was a de-
ficiency in that respect, thewisdom mid prudence of parlia-
ment and the good sense of the country would supply the
defect.
severity on the indecent use which the ministerial support-eis
had made of the Queen's name in order to prop up a falling
administration. The private, individual, personal feelings
of the Sovereign had, he said, been made the topic, at every
riotous meeting after dinner, at every still worser meeting of
mobs in the morning, and during the day, of every harangue
of all the demagogues who had been called to the support of
the sinking administration. They had nothing to say for
themselves, they had no measure to promise, they had no
defence of their policy to make, all they uttered was the
name of the " Queen, Queen, Queen," dwelling on the feel-
ings of their royal mistress, the bedchamber quarrel with
respect to promotion, and to sum up all in one sentence,
which he took fairly and impartially, for it was used by no
friend or kinsman of his, but the friend and kinsman of the
noble viscount, his private secretary and own nephew—con-
gratulating themselves that Sir Robt. Peel's formation of a go-
vernment had been defeated by two ladies of the bedchamber.
This was the unfair, the unmanly, part of the business.
They were called upon to discuss a grave question of state
policy, to discuss and consult touching the sum of affairs,
to argue respecting the government of the whole realm com-
mitted to the care of the Queen, and at the same time they
were called upon to discuss it on such terms, upon an issue
so taken, that whoever differed or dissented from his noble
friend, incurred the hazard of being taken to make a personal,
and invidious, and offensive opposition to the sovereign. The
noble viscounl had stated that he had lost the confidence of
the country and of parliament so as to make resignation
necessary ; circumstances had arisen which, in the opinion
of his noble friends at least, rendered it their duty to resume
the government ; and then, when an adjournment of 12
days had been granted, every one was entitled to expect
there was to be a reconstruction of the government, or a
change in its policy ; but though he was sure that it was not
so intended by his noble friends, it did so happen that the
period in question was not used for either of such purposes—
it was used by their supporters out of doors for the purpose
of raising a clamour—of appealing to mobs 10,000 times less
knowing than themselves in the subjects upon which they
were appealed to—working upon the credulity and the pas-
sions of those multitudes by the most scandalous mirepre-
sentations, taking the chances in the meanwhile that the
government would regain some portion of the parliamentary
confidence which they had, as it was hoped, only temporarily
lost. The noble and learned lord proceeded to observe,
that it did occasion him no small surprise that his noble friend,
in addressing the house, had not spoken out his mind in
reference to that portion of his supporters towards whom he
could not help feeling the utmost disgust, as regarded whom
he could not help feeling, that if he truckled to such men,
they would abandon him • that if he consorted with them, he
would be despised ; and if promoted them, he would be op-
posed • that if he permitted himself to hold intercourse with
them, 'he would be contaminated ; and that if he raised them
to the bench he would be impeached. After some further
remarks, he stated that he had never before known a
whig government establishing itself upon a bedchamber
question resting its whole claim to support upon its
care for the personal feelings of the sovereign. He de-
nounced with great force the gross and infamous false-
hoods put forth by the friends of ministers on the question
which had arisen between Sir Robert Peel and her Majesty
respecting the ladies of the court, and ridiculed with cutting
sarcasm the queer doctrine now promulgated by the whigs.—
That when a ministry said they resigned, they meant only
that the husbands resigned, and that the wives, upon the
principle of non-conformity, did not follow their husbands ;
that half went out, but that the better halves remained in ;
and that when a government came down and said in the usual
and customary form appropriate to the occasion, " We are
only in office until our successors shall be appointed," they
meant, "We are only in office until our wives and sisters
shall succeed in preventing our intended successors from
taking it." One word more with respect to the illustrious
person who had been so much alluded to. He deeply grieved
that her Majesty should be placed in this position. (Hear.)
It was not the fault of parliament ; parliament had spoken,
fairly enough : neither was it the fault of the illustrious in-
dividual herself, inexperienced as she must necessarily be at
her age. But it was the duty of those who were about her
to inform her of the solemn, of the ancient, of the known and
established principles of the constitution of this country.
They ought to have done so with every possible delicacy, with
all imaginable tenderness ; but while they used this tender-
ness, while they showed all the reverence and all theprofound
respect and veneration which the most devoted courtier could
profess, they ought to have towered above all pettier consider-
ations, and for the sake of their characters as men, as states-
men, and as the sworn advisers of the Sovereign (cheers,) es-
pecially when they were her first advisers, the counsellors of
her earliest youth, to whom she had proved a most confiding,
most gracious, and most kind mistress,—for all these reasons,
it was the bounden duty of those advisers to have told her
what they could but know, that the constitution of this coun-.
try admitted of no divisum imperium ; that it would not
tolerate the holding of office by the wife of a leader of the op-
position. (Hear, hear.) They ought to have said that such
a thing was unknown to the constitution, that unnecessary
changes in the household were to be carefully avoided, but
that under such circumstances as the present the retirement •
of the ladies was as necessary a part of the change as the re-
tirement of their husbands and brothers. He (Lord Brougham)
hoped, he trusted such information had been afforded, but of
this he felt sure, if for want of due consideration, if for want
of appropriate counsel, if for lack of the requisite information,
a most illustrious, amiable, and upright princess was brought
prematurely into collision with the wisdom, or what was the
same thing in effect, with the will of parliament, and the in-
terests of the public received, as they must receive, detri-
ment from such a collision, he was sure that the advice to
which such a state of things would be owing must have been
given not by trustworthy counsellors, but by servile courtiers,
base flatterers, and worthless parasites. He denied the pos-
sibility of its having proceeded from his noble and hon. friends
in office—that was out of the question (a laugh,) he knew the
fact was not so. But those who had given such pernicious ad-
vice had acted in a manner most injurious to the interests of
their confiding mistress. To their counsels would it have to be
attributed if, at the commencement of her reign, a con-
fliet took place between the parliament and the Sovereign,
upon personal grounds--a conflict always to be avoided,
even by a Sovereign who, by a long and beneficent
reign, had laid the country under a load of gratitude,
but more especially to be avoided by a princess who
had just ascended the throne, and had had no time to
entitle herself to any such gratitude ; to those counsels must
it by attributed if her reign began by a personal coldness and

alienation between the country and the Sovereign, which it
might take long to remove. He knew that his noble friend
near him would be the last man in England to tender any
such advice. He was convinced, from his personal know-
ledge of his noble friend, that he would make no sacrifice of
character for the purpose of retaining office, but there might
be others who had given such counsel, others who were
anxious tc, keep, or hungering and thirsting to get, who felt
that appetency of office which arose from possession ; or that
still greater lust of place which was felt by those who had
only seen power at a distance, and perceived its sweets with-
out knowing the bitterness by which they were alloyed. Such
persons would do well to avoid pursuing their system too
far ; they were putting the principles of monarchical govern-
ment to a severe trial. (Hear.) Let it not be strained too
far, lest, peradventure, it should crack. The noble earl who
had addressed the house thought that there now existed a
conspiracy against monarchy in this country, and that there
was a design among a portion of the people to pull it down ;
the noble earl seemed to expect a revolution for the purpose
of destroying regal government. It might be so ;he (Lord
Brougham) did not believe that such a portion of the people,
if such portion there was, was respectable in point of num-
bers, but he was sure it was not in capacity and intellect.
But if he thought there was any such party in existence, he
vowed to God he could not look with any feelings, but those
of the most serious apprehension and dismay at the unwise,
ill-considered, and, he had almost said, reckless course,
which was now about to be taken—that of risking the stabi-
lity of the monarchy upon a mere bedchamber squabble, and
of placing the personal feelings of the monarch in conflict
with the wishes of the country. (Hear, hear.)
The Duke of WELLINGTON made a few remarks, which, if
correctly reported, seem to imply-Ist, that the noble Duke
thought that, the government had upon the 7th of May no
good reason for resigning their offices ; 2dly, that if the noble
Viscount would persevere in the course which he had re-
solVed upon taking, and which he had announced to the
house during that discussion, and would perform his duty
not only in parliament but out of parliament also, he might
trust to the good sense of the people of this country for
support.
The Marquis of NORMANBY concluded the evening's con-
versation by emphatically declaring that on the day when the
resignation of the government took place he had had a con-
versation with his noble friend behind him (Viscount Mel-
bourne) on the subject of the ladies of her Majesty's bed-
chamber. None of them (the ministers) had ever doubted
the power of her Majesty to retain them ; but he stated that
it was very possible his connexion with the late government
might place Lady Normanby in a very different position
from that which others occupied ; and that it might, therefore,
be proper that she should cease to hold her office in the
Queen's household. He had heard nothtng whatever of the
difficulty in which the new government was placed with re-
ference to this point till subsequently, when he went at night
to his noble friend's residence, and the moment he returned
home he communicated to him and to Lady Normanby his
desire that she should resign. That resignation took place
the first thing the next morning.—Adjourned.

HOUSE OF COMMONS.-FRIDAY.

Mr. FRENCH gave notice of his intention to move an ad-
dress to her Majesty on the subject of railroads in Ireland.
Mr. WARBURTON adverted to Lord John Russell's state-
ment on the subject of an alteration of the postage ; and
wished to know whether the postage was to be one penny or
twopence.

Lord J. RUSSELL answered that the plan would be a uni-
form penny postage. He added, that the plan, if it received
the sanction of the house, could not be carried into effect
for several months. He also mentioned that he should deem
it his duty to submit a resolution, pledging the house to
make good any deficiency in the revenue that might result
from its adoption.
Mr. LABOUCHERE brought in his new bill regarding the
enactment of laws for Jamaica, which was read the first time,
and ordered to be read the second time on Friday.
. .

The ATTORNEY-GENERAL called attention to the decision
of the Judges of the Court of Queen's Bench, in the case of
"Stockdale v. Hansard," and said that as Lord Denman
and the other judges had unanimously decided in favour of
Stockdale, and against the right to cover with parliamentary
protection the sale and publication of the Commons' printed
papers, it was urgent to ascertain what course ought there-
upon to be adopted. He, therefore, proposed tne revival of
the select committee on this subject.
Considerable conversation ensued; but Sir R. PEEL, and
other members, admitted that not a moment ought to be
lost in the institution of inquiry.
The remainder of the sitting was occupied with the second
reading of the County Courts Bill, the consideration in com-
mittee of the Prisons Bill, &c.

DREADFUL STEAMBOAT EXPLOSION

(From the True American, New Orleans, May 8.)

The steamboat George Collier, which lay at the wharf op-
posite the Custom House, to undergo some repairs for some
time past, left this city on Saturday evening last, between 5
and 6 o'clock, for St. Louis. When near the mouth of Red
River, about 80 miles below Natchez, at half past 1 o'clock,
a.m., a serious accident occurred, which proved dreadfully
destructive of human life. The piston rod, which works in
the cylinder, and by which the engine is propelled, being at-
tached by a key or bolt which passes through the tea head,
gave way, at the rent which received the bolt, and being re-
lieved from the immense weight against which it had to strug-
gle, was driven through the cylinder head, and gave free room
for the steam to escape. The aft doors of the deck room
were closed; consequently the effects of the steam were un-
avoidable upon the locum tenentes; The stands were thrown
from under two boilers, but the concussion was not severely
experienced on the boat. The most of those killed and in-
jured, were in the berths, on the deck aft of the boilers. So
soon as the accident occurred, many of them rushed forward
unconsciously in the face of the danger ; and inhaling the
heated vapor, instantly perished, or lived to linger a few hours
in indescribable misery.
It is supposed that between 40 and 60 persons were scalded.
The clerk of the Collier rates them at 44, consisting of deck
passengers, and part of the crew who had retired or were sta-
tioned on watch.

We crossed over yesterday to see the Collier and examine
the extent of her damage. No explosion seems to have taken
place, baut t
the
ehe immensekey,
therebyfodricseenogfatghie sungtdhdeepnronpiepllitunrge
poof
wtheer
from the machinery by which the boat was moved, impelled
from the screws the cylinder head, and deranged the boiler
eipukutttre- --;-^ of --- fn nennr,a_
-
We have scarcely ever seen a more heart-rending specta-
cle than the dreadfully scalded, yet ekeing out their few brief
hours of maddening misery, who are yet on board the Collier,
where every attention and kindness is paid them that could
be expected, and which may tend to lessen their agony. There
were aged mothers, with faces, and hands, and necks, and
every portion that could come in contact with the hot air,
dreadfully blistered, and presenting a horrid spectacle, calling
for the lost ones whom they will see no more for ever. There
were strong, stalwart men, calling aloud in their misery for
their Great Protector to relieve them. How noble did the
fortitude of some of the females appear ! The fair skin had
been curled and crisped, and the bright and histrous eye had
been quenched, or the irritation had closed up the swollen
lids and shut out the world's light. What must have been
their agony !—the flesh falling from the red lips—themselves
becoming of a sudden soft and ready to fall and leave the
" face divine" a horrid spectacle.
We cannot conceive how the accident might have been an-
ticipated. We do not remember to have heard of one of a
similar kind. The steamer George Washington came down
about an hour and half afterwards, after the accident, and
towed her down. Every assistance in his power was promptly
rendered by Captain Quarrier, of the Washington, than
whom there is not a more amiable, attentive, high-minded,
and honourable officer on the western waters. We take plea-
sure in according to Captain Quarrier his just deserts. The
accident occurred near Tunica Bend.
[Here follows a list of the killed and scolded—all of whom,
with the exception of Wm. Blake, Dederick Cross, and
Joseph B. Bossenil, of Boston, Mass.—killed—belong to the
South and Europe.]

THE COTTON TRADE.

(From the New York Herald, of MaylB.)

Important as this staple is to the general weliare and growth
of the country, so much interest and anxiety seems never
before to have been excited at one time as is now evinced.
The remarkable operation of Mr. Biddle seems to have
drawn out the lights and shades of the business iu a greater
degree than was ever before evident. The past year has been
one scene of contention between spinners and holders. The
former have evinced a spirit of opposition clearly against
their own interest, and which must have had its origin. only
in a mistaken view of the trade as regards this country.
They were, apparently, alarmed at the momentary discrepancy
which existed between the prices they were paying for the
raw material and those they were receiving for their manufac-
tured goods. Being thus alarmed they attempted to knock
down the prices of cotton rather than to wait until the re-
newed demand from this quarter should, by competing with
the continental buyers, raise the prices of their wares. It was
this policy which rendered them so backward in believing the
statements of a short crop, and nothing but the fearful results
which would follow a discharge of their workmen at a season
of high prices of corn induced them to continue their move-
ments ; as it was, short time was adopted to such an extent
as to reduce the quantity taken for consumption, up to our
present dates, nearly 100,000 bales.
It is no wonder that such a course should, in some degree,
shake the nerves of those more directly interested in cotton,
and create uneasiness in the monied circles, knowing, as
they did, that the south had resumed too soon, arid that the
proceeds of the crops was the only sheet-anchor by which
they could ride through the storm. Notwithstanding this,
the firm conviction that the crops were short has enabled
them unflinchingly to maintain their ground. The prices
have been fully maintained at the highest points. There
remains now but for the Manchester demand to become
again so active as to enable the holders to realize, and the
affairs of the south will be placed in such a condition as to
enable the suffering planters and traders of that section to
come forward and make large purchases of those goods of
which they now stand in so much need. These will be,
without doubt, to a very large amount, causing a gt eat
demand for manufactured articles, and bring up the prices
to a point which will be remunerating, even at the present
rates of the raw material. As the rise in the price of cotton
took place after it had mostly passed from the hands of the
planter, he has not had the benefit of it ; and if the present
crop is short, by reason of the want of means which existed
last year, how much more will the next be affected by an
aggravation of the same causes. We will here give a com-
parative table of the receipts, exports, and stocks for three
years, from October Ist up to the present time.
1839. 1838. 1837. _
Receipts, 1,225,553 1,523,107 1,181,961 11
Exports, 664,079 1,013,162 881,720
Stocks, 366,512 399,446 269,969
Crop, 1,427,500 1,801,497 1,622,930
This crop for 1839 is the medium of the numerous state-
ments which have been published, and will prove nearly cor-
rect, although there are a number of those who, at first,
doubted that the crop would be short at all, are now con-
vinced that the amount will be even short of the figures given.
It has been reported, among the stories of the day, calcula-
ted to reduce the price of cotton, that, although the number
of bales is actually less, yet their weight has been much in-
creased ; therefore, that the quantity of cotton is •nearly the
same as last year. In answer to this, the exports from
Mobile, for the month of March of the two years, were as
follows :

March, 1838, bales 40,089, lbs. 23,702,061, ay. 4861. lbs.
11 1839,. „ 28,293, 15,151,448, „ 463 1-6
Showing a decrease in the weight of bales of about 5 per cent.
The same fact has been apparent in other cities. Now,
therefore, with these facts before us, that, during the past
year, while trade has been very dull, the supply of the raw
material was increased nearly 25 per cent., yet the prices
went up rapidly, and are new higher than in 1837, and busi
ness just upon the point of revival, what prospect is there for
a decline in cotton ? Why, says the spinner, the growing
crop will be in the market before trade revives in any great
degree. This is, however, not the case. In the southwest-
ern states, we have good authority for saying, the next crop
will be even less than this. In the southern states the drought
which has prevailed since the time of planting has much re-
tarded the growth, and in some sections the quantity will be
much reduced. There is no alternative, therefore, but a
maintenance of present prices, if not a further rise. In the
the present early stage of the season, it is, however, in our
view, impossible to form any accurate opinion as to the crop.
We can only judge from the operation of general causes :
these are, however, not sufficient to risk an opinion with any
degree of certainty.