Star.
London, England, 1818-03-20 00:00:00

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• PARLIAMENTARY %.PROCEEDINGS.
.. ,i.,•••.---Ip..
HOUSE OF LORDS, MARCH 19.
The R Aiscnt was declared by Commission to the Bank
Tohene' the iS ilkniand Fishery Oaths' Bill, the Scots
o
Aqua Vitx rt
'cruces, and to Five Bills of a Private 'or Local
description.
The Lords Commissioners were, the Loan Cuawczkcoa, the
Duke of Morraoor, and the Earl of Snarrsantrar. -
The Earl of BESBOROUGH presented a Petition from the
Corporation of Cutlers and others of the Town of Sheffield, and
the Inhabitants of the District called Hallamshlre, contiguous
thereto, in favour of the Chimney-sweepers' Regulation Ball.—
Ordered to be referred to the Lords' Committees on the said Bill.
Mr. TossiiNs, front the Vice Treasurer of Ireland's Office,
presented an Account of the number of Warrants which passed
through that Depariment in the year ending Jan. 5, 1818.
Mr. Ckaaci, from the Privy Council Office, presented an Ac-
count of the state of the Churches and Parishes, the number of
resident Incumbents, Curates, &.c. in fingland and Wales, pur-
suant to a recent order of the House.

Mr. Joinssoe, from the Chief Secretary for Ireland's Mace,
presented the Sixth Report of the Commissioners for auditing
the Public Accounts in that part of the United Kingdom. These
Documents were severally ordered to be laid on the table.
The Longitude Act Amendment Bill was brought up from
the Commons, and read the first rime.

Mr. Scan, from the Chamber of the Cit of London, pre-
sented an Account of the Expenditure of the hans' Fund,and
also sundry other Accounts from the said , which were
laid.upon the table.
The Earl of SHAFTESBURY moved the third reading of
the Bath Gas Light BBL
The Earl of LAUDERDALE said, what he principally rose
for was to observe, that he had strong reason to suspect the Cor-
poration were not latterly so careful in purifying the Gas as they
had been at first ; the consequence was, that in many cases the
tuba became so foul as not to afford a free or adequate passage
for the stream of gas. If such a circumstance were to become
general, it would not only go to deprive the metropolis of light,
but, iu fact, be of dangerous consequence to the inhabitants
themselves. Ile thought it but proper to state this thus pub-
licly, in the hope that those cono:•rned may be careful in endea-
vouring to obviate what was complained of.
The Earl of SliA FTESBURY stated, that the present, like
all other Bills of the kind, contained a clause, authorising the
prosecution of the parties in the case of such misconduct.
The LORD CHANCELLOR observed, the most effectual
way would be to enact a clause, that in case of such misconduct
the Corporation should be dissolved.
The Bill was then read the third time, and passed.

The Agricultural Horse Duty Bill was read the second time.
The Hone! then, on the motion of the Earl of tinArrEsauay,
adjourned (for the Easter recess) until that day fortnight.

HOUSE. OF COMMONS.

About half-past three the House being summoned to that of
the Peers, the Seeamme, accompanied by some Members, at-
tended, and on his motion, iaformed the House of the Royal
Assent baying been given to several Public and Private Acts—
(for which see the Peers' Report).
Mr. Junt.srose, from the office of the Chief Secretary for
Ireland, presented the Sixth Report of the Commissioners for
auditing the Public Accounts for Ireland.—Ordered to he on
the table.

Several other public accounts and papers were presented.
Mr. SWA N presented the Report of the Committee on the
Waterloo Bridge Petition, which was agreed to.
An I,..count was presented of the Receipt and Expenditure
of the Orphans' Fund.
........--.—.. . . . _

Genera TIIORNTON said, that towards the close of the
last Session he had given notice of his intention to move for
leave to bring in a BLS for the Suppression of Public Masque-
raies ; but, flora communications with several Members, having
tcason to suppose that he should have no chance of success, he
begged leave to withdraw his notice.
The Mock Auction Fraud Bill was read a first, and ordered
to be read a second time on the 3d of April.
Lord CASTLEREAGH moved—" That the Time at its
rising do adjourn to Thursday the 2d of April."—Agreed to.
Sir W M CURTIS moved—" That part of the Order i
directing Returns of the Amount and Fatpenditure of the Funds
of the City of London, Accounts of the lit idge House Fstates,
&c. as far as related to the latter, be rescinded." He was of
opinion that the Honourable Member (Mr. 11. Sumner) bad
gone too far in this motion ; as it would seem to require the
production of the contents of the Title Deeds under which these
Estates were held.

Mr. D. SUMNER explained, that he never had any Idea of
its being necessary to produce the Title Deeds, and consequently
lEt had no objection to the motion of the worthy Baronet. Ills
object WAS to have an account of the Amount and Expen-
diture of the Moneyi arising from the Bridge House Estates.

The part of the Order in question being rescinded,
. Sir WILLIAM CURTIS then moved in lieu of it—" That
an Account be laid before the liinise of the produce of certain
Estates called the Bridge House Estates, for five years, ending
the 27d of December, 1817, with the uses for which the sums
have been invested."

After a short explanatory conversation between the SPEACLII,
Alderman Aranis, and Mr. Hose Strom, the Motion was
agreed to.
Sir M. W. RIDI.EY presented a Petitloo from the Inn-
keepers of North Shields, complaining of the heavy License
Llaties.---Read and ordered to fie on the table.
Mr. PELL moved fur leave to bring in a Bill to alter the
pt.nishment for Private Stealing in Ireland, which was now
ci.,.med felony without benefit of Clergy. His object was to
repeal and amend this part of the criminal code.— agreed to,
and the hill brought in, and read a first time.
Sir SAMUEL ROMILLY moved the Order of the Day for
a Committee on the Privately Stealing in Shops' Bill, for Eng-
land ; which being agreed to, the blanks were filled up.—Report
on Friday, April 3d.
The Innkeepers' Allowances Bill was read a second time.
Lord A. HAMILTON moved fur an Account of all Persons
who held the offices of Commissaries and Conunissaries Clerks
in FKAti4IICI on the nth day of Jane, 1814, as also the authority
on whi.:h such appointments were made, and the salary rce.ived
by each Person, as far as such accounts can be made out.—
Agreed to.—Adjourned to Thi.rsday, April 2d.

A return of the Offices held under the Crown now
granted in reversion, has just been printed ; and in
addition to the grant of the Rangership of Bagshot
Park in reversion to the Duchess of (iLoucEsTxn, we
find that the reversion of the Clerk and Keeper of
the Register of Sasines at Edinburgh was granted to'
WILLIAM DUNDAS, Esq. on the `2sth January, 1806,
OR the death of ROBERT DUNDAS, Esq;
In Ireland the reversionary office of Chief Remem-
brances of the Court of Exchequer was granted on
the 20th November, 1800, CO RICHARD Ai' ELLESLEY,
Esq. on the death of the Marquis WELLESLEY ; of
the office of Craner and Wharfinger of the Port of
Dublin, to Lord Gnome Szvmous CONWAY, dated
7th August, 1802, on the death of Lord HENRY'
SEYMOUR CONWAY, during the lives of Lord GEORGE
SEYMOUR CONWAY, and GEORGE HAMILTON SEY-
MOUR CONWAY; and the office of Second Remem-
branceT of the Court of Exchequer to lIUGH STEWART
and MEnvym STEWART, Esqrs. sons of Sir JOAN
STEWART, Bart. dated the 26th March, 1805, on the
death of RICHARD Earl of DONOUGIIMORIL

By an account of the total net produce of the Re-I
venue of Great Britain and Ireland, distinguishing
that of Great Britain and that of Ireland, in each of
the years ending sth of January, 1811, 1812, 1813,
1314, 1815, 16'16, 1817, and 1818, it appears that
the total Revenue for Great Britain and Ireland
was, in 1817, 61,675,327!. Is. 9}cl. and in 1818,
51,629,6091. 14s. 8-}d. The separate Revenue of
Ireland was, in 1817, 4,314,6001 14s. 214. and in
I'llB, 4,352,130/. 16s. being an excess of Revenue
in the last year of 381000/. beyond the Revenue of
the preceding. year. Our Readers recollect the con-
fident predictions of a falling off in the last year in
Inland beyond the former one. The year #lBlB com-
prehends the Income Tax.

The QUESTION betteeen the COTTON SPIN-

NEES and their LABOURERS,

TO TIM EDITOR OF TIM STAR.

Sin—Sir RODIIRT PEEL'S Bill, now under the con.

sideration of Parliament, which involves the grand
question at issue between the Owners of Cotton F AC-
tOries , on one hand, and the Friends of Hum A N I ry on
the other, touching the extreme men.snres of labour at
present imposed on children and others entplved in
those Factories, is calculated to interest the feelings of
every man whose heart is alive to the cause of truth
and justice, and open to the tender claims of weak-
ness and of youth. As one who is not insensible to
any of these impressions, and feels besides some re-
gard for the reputation of the town of Manchester, I
beg to offer a few reflections on this most important
and interesting subject to the notice of the candid and
the humane.

And that I may not lose sight of JUSTICE in re-
membering MERCY, let me first profess that, deeply
as I deplore the evils of a system which seems to me
to rival in wretchedness that of a slave plantation un-
der the torrid zone, yet am I far from imputing
cruelty of disposition to the owners of cotton mills in-
discriminately. That there are amongst them Gen-
tlemen of enlarged minds and real benevolence, I
am disposed to believe, and it is the more lamentable

to reflect, that the associations of habit and self-inte-
rest should have power to warp even the gentlest na-
tures, and blind the most virtuous and honourable
minds. It is on this principle no doubt, that we are
to account for the line of conduct which, I under-
stand, has been adopted by the proprietors of these
establishments, in strenuously opposing the Bill now
before the House of Commons, for curtailing the
present exorbitant hours of labour ; for surely those
are exorbitant hours, which oblige children of even
six, seven, and, eight years, to toil in heated rooms fur
FOURTEEN and FIFTEEN hours in a day, and grudge
the little labourers the fresh air of Heaven, ant the
noon-tide rest, e:!j7yed by the very beasts ofburdcn.—
There is a written law, Sir, that will not, I am sure,
be denied by the Gentlemen in question, Which says,
" A good man is merciful to his beast." How much
rather, I would ask, will he be merciful to his ser-
vants ? Put the case, then, that those servants are
CHILDREN, how gentle and how just will be the good
man's authority over the meekest and the gentlest of
the human race ! But this is a strange world, and so-
ciety teems with contradictions. There seems to be
something in the nature of a cotton mill, I know not
whether it be steam or bad air, or the scintillations of
lucre amidst the precious flocks, that can work up
. . . _

into activity the worst parts of our nature, and deface
the best, so that the warp of human kindness (to
speak in the idiom of " the trade,") shall become, as
it were, lost in the nifyl of sordid gain, and the man
be no longer recognized in the manufacturer. Certain
it is, be the cause what it may, that in those towering
buildings where art and science contend for pre-emi-
nence, and illumination bursts from an hundred win-
dows, which are the property and under the control
of persons not wanting, in general, either in virtue
or philanthropy in those splendid fabrics ; I say,
practices are resorted to, and miseries engendered,
which require only to be KNOWN, UP revolt the minds
Id all good and enlightened men, and suffuse every
Christian eye with tears. Shall I disclose the secrets
of the prison-house ? Will it be credited by a Bri-
tish public, that such are the extreme measures of
. . _

labour exacted in some of these factories, that it is
found necessary to have recourse in the evening to
ropes and straps, to rouse the little wearied victims,
all 4 FORCE exhausted nature from sinking into sleep
in the midst of its dreadful and inhuman task ? Can

be heard without emotion, by any man who knows

the consequence of breathing heated air, and the tem-
perature in which these wretched children perform
their Egyptian toil, is not unfrequently from 80 to
90 degrees ; that in general no time is appropriated
for breakfast, or even the afternoon's repast, but that
they must snatch a mouthful of refreshment as they
can during the progress of their stated work !—yea,
to crown the whole, that it is actually a common
practice in most of these establishments, during three
or four, and in some of them even five days in the
week, to employ the children during the time that
should be spent at dinner in cleaning the machinery,
and quickening those wheels which revolve for nearly
15 hours a day—too long, alas ! for humanity, TOO
SWIFT for Mercy's claims! yet not long enough, it
seems, nor sufficiently swift to keep pace with the
avaricious propensities of man.
Doth my Reader startle at such facts as these ?
Seems it incredible to him that he should have been

living for years in the neighbourhood of such enor-
mities, unconscious, perhaps, of their existence ? Let
net this too much amaze him. There are intelligible
reasons to account for the mystery, and were he near
to my elbow, I should whisper them in his ear—
Meanwhile let me request so much of his confidence,
as to rest for the present on this SOLEMN ASSURANCE,
that 1 have indisputable authority for the truth of my
statements, and proofs within my reach too many,
GOD know•eth ! and too affecting, to leave even the
shade of a doubt as to the accuracy or the certainty
of these sad realities. It may be stated generally in
part of such proofs, and those the most afflicting, that'
numbers of the unhappy subjects of this oppressive
servitude, become in consequence, deformed in their
legs, knees, and uncles, and still greater numbers rs-
dically injured ere they reach maturity ; and doomed
to waste what should be the best of their lives, in
lingering disorders which end in an untimely rave!
It is with serious pain, Sir, that I have Sketched the
outline (for it is only an OUTLINE) of this melancholy
picture, moved thereto by no selfish or party•feeling,
having no connection with trade, and without a par-
ticle of jealousy or towards the Gentlemen
who are owners of cotton factories—some of whom
merit and possess much of my respect ; the facts and
reflections which I now submit to you, have no other
design than the simple exposure and reps obation of
a system which I judge to be barbarous, and there-
fore unwarrantable, which I know to be the source of
unnumbered sufferings to the rising. generation, and
therefore feel it a duty at such a crisis to hold ,it up
to the notice of the friends of humanity in this seat
of commerce, distinguished as it has hitherto been,
not more for its trade than for its known philanthropy.
Would it earn a fresh title to honourable fame,
and raise for itself an imperishable monument of the
purest praise? An opportunity is not wanting to
augment its laurels. Mercy with a weeping eye in-

LONDON.

FRIDAY, MARCH 91, 1818.
GOOD FlLlDAT.—}foliday at all the Public Offices.

Both Houses of Parliament adjourned yesterday to
Thursday the '241 of April.

Hitherto the subjects of the different Garman
States have been complaining that, notwithstanding
the many promises made to them, of free Govern-
' ments, on the bask of the Representative System,
nothing has been done since the expulsion of the
French to realize the hopes that had been held out to
them ; but that, on the part of the Rulers, a new
league, under the name of a Holy Alliance, had been
formed, on which their subjects had not been con-
sulted—to which they had not been made consenting
parties, the objects of which had never been fully
explained—or so far as explained seemed to threaten
the people with the expressed will of the Sovereigns
as the supreme law. In the mean time, the freedom
of the press in most of these States exists only in
name, and in some of them is not even spoken of.
We arc now assured, in an article from FrankfOrt,'
that Constitutions are arranging in Germany for the
purpose of introducing a Representative System into
the different States. It is added, that the Diet will
decree the principles which arc to be common to all
the Governments with regard to individual liberty,
the liberty of the press, the equality of men in the
eye of the law, and the privilege of not being taxed
without their own consent.

Such principles must ultimately pi evail in Cer-
! many ; but they have yet many enemies. The poli-
tical tempest having been allayed, certain men, :chow
hearts were than failing theme for fear. have again
taken courage, and persuaded themselves that they can
awe the people into silence, and withhold t-rom them
the constitutions which were promised. Mistaken
men ! The people, who had physical strength to
expel an invader, have moral abilities to comniand
compliance with their wishes. On this topic the
Met:item, received this morning, quetcs sonic obset.

vations from the Annaks Pai;;7„,
subjoin a translation:
" Many persor.s r...peat, v..iti: ..!
-the Journals present twi 10iy..: ..
lie curiosity, and that tI:,,T, is. :: ~..
teresting political event;. It ;. ....•
have ceased to teem with 1.! 'ii .IL
which changed the destiny (.1* E;•,,,
do we see Kings despoiled ; Ti.r... •
dams created; no longer do vo-: c;
thers, three sisters, and one acloi•- I
governing at one time at N.tplt:,
Milan, at Turin, in Spain,in Iluil...rd,
no longer do \Le behold an EIH.'. •
the borders of the Tiher lo tie.. . . :.
Conqueror threatening Europe wi:
narchy.
" 13'4 if the gigantic entf..-rplii.
follies of ambition have ceased t.., .... •
...
the world, still the world presc:.:.•...
of attention and of interest. T
carnage is past : the nations of I: •-
, ing peaceably to more ~:i.i ..
having wasted, during so ina:.y
and their strength fur intere ;..
often foreign to them, tl-e.y are 1...'
selves to recover rights of which d
dality have despoiled them. A .
towards a political regeneration. E
lic opinion pronounces itself in tat
sentative system. Every where til,.•
the Liberty of the Press, which c::
all rights. Opinion marches w it:7 -
even armies—it penetrate', and 0....
to in the Camps and Council,. ~: i.i

" The time is come wi:ea :;•,7:. •
pated by the wisdom oc K T:.
been begun by the supprvssi..a c 7'
Slaves; even the Courts of MAdi
been obliged to renounce it. Sti:i
Slaves in the North of Europe ;
peror Alexander, gene: oli;ly
the age, has abolished the servitude
in Courland and Esthonia, and ts:7e
hoped, a similar' emancipation will .
" The system of representative

enjoyed in England, is establi%hcl
Netherlands :in many States of Cl,:.
nations are now demanding it
Frankfort.

" The progress is slower in Li i
and in the Austrian States;
many minds ripe fur a
have seen the shadow of it. a•.l th
reality. Since Spain has had i t• :
tion has lost its autos da : .
'subjected to imposts; the
not exempt from obligatory
States have been many times traver..
mics; these armies are withdrawn, 1
the age travelling with them, has i
Vienna, at Venice, at Milan.
" One of the grand characters
all Sovereigns appear averse to NV
revolutions; that the people expect
reason without thinking of extor:.-
violence—that the Heads of Sta:
to rest their authority upon lav:s c:::.
late the exercise of it and to prevL.:
"In France the important discuss:,,

laws, the establishment of represer.t.eiv
the remarkable progress of the new•
struction, in spite of the obstacles op]
ranee, by passion, and by prejudice ;
bels and of pamphlets, the acts
the repression of delicts of the pres, ti
of the army, the Concordat, the BuJi:
of the Chambers, with a variety cf
must long serve to furnish ample fo.A
riu,ity. The French aie no lo.lger a
luus people ; and since they have ri!.
to understand them, and to judge fr,
position, what they have to hope or
ititure."

Yesterday Viscount CA STL ERYAI•II
STER had audiences of the Pa'. RI
tnn House.

The Duke of Your: tranbaovd
with the PRINCE REGENT.

Yesterday the Duke of Sr :srx
and Duchess of CI:s:BERL ND.

The Duke and Ducheis of CUM 9!.
dinner patty yesterday.
The Court Mourning for the late K;:
terminated yesterday. Its duratie.,
The French Court has gone into .
weeks on the same occasion ; the first
black, and the remaining tea in v
The ensuing Ball at the Manson-h.lt
Monday, is to he conducted on a a:;;gr.
extensive scale tlian formerly. Ilithert
of tickets issued, (from ,ix to ses-ta thr,
only to create th; utmost contusion,
point the anxious in the enjoyment
The LORD MA von, on the prescnt et:
not more than t 2,004) or `_',3oll.

It appears. fioni P.ipers laid beEre
Comrticns, that 59ti Meinotials, B:1:.
British protection. have made claim, J,
(;overnment under the toilvenik:-. •

ISIS.
ncarlv (20

The enturen,l6llis they tel

(•• 1:.i~ic•:.

subjects of the Allies, if converad into
at the price stipulatea by the Convc
amount to about :Oti Freud' miliiops
liquilation of rt•c?.-1
as 11

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