The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1842-02-15 00:00:00

MURDER IN WILTSHIRE

An inquest was held last Wednesday, before Mr. W. B.
Whitmarsh, at Coate, in the parish of Chiseldon, on the
body of Sarah Crook, 42 years of age, who died from the
blows she received from her husband (who is a shoemaker at
Liddington). The following evidence was adduced at the
inquest : _ _ _ _

William Bramble, landlord of the Sun Inn, at Coate, de-
posed that the deceased and her husband (Robert Crook)
came to his house at about 2 o'clock on Monday evening,
and remained until 11 o'clock, when they left to go home;
that no quarrelling took place whilst in his house, nor did
they appear in liquor.
Mary Ann Horton (daughter of the deceased by a former
husband, and wife of William Horton, of the Spotted Cow,
situate about a quarter of a mile from Coate, on the road to-
wards Liddington,) deposed, that about 1 o'clock in the
morning she heard, whilst in bed, the deceased scream out
" Mary Ann !" and whilst getting out of bed, Robert Crook
said, " Get up, for I have got a drunken woman." Witness
went down and opened the door, when Crook carried the de-
ceased in his arms, and placed her in the tap-room. She
_ _

groaned very much, and complained of cold. Her face was
much cut and bleeding. She had neither bonnet nor cap on,
and her hair was hanging loose about her head and neck.

Her clothes were nearly Corn from her back, and her bosom
was exposed. She was totally unable to stand upon her legs.
Witness lighted a fire, and soon after Robert Crook carried
the deceased to bed, where she died about eight o'clock on
the same morning. Witness 'asked her mother how she be-
came bruised, but she was incapable of speaking. An hour
previous to her death, her husband sent for a surgeon, but
she died previous to his arrival. Witness added, that her
mother was always a sober, temperate woman.
William Warman, No. 126 of the Wiltshire constabulary,
deposed that he took Robert Crook into custody bout nine
o'clock on the same morning, at the Spotted Cow, at Coate.
On saying that he had him in charge for beating his wife, lie
replied—" It is a very hard job indeed ;" and seemed in-
clined to say something mote, but witness told him that if he

on the subject he would take it down in
_
writing and hand it in. Crook then said, "My wife and I
went to Swindon yesterday to pay a bill, and the bill was .C 2
more than I thought it was, which made me angry, and we
quarrelled on that account. I struck her and knocked her
down, but I helped her up' again. I had more beer than I
ought to have had, which made me do it." Witness said he
then took him to the station-house at Swindon, and at about
three o'clock in the afternoon Crook further stated, " that
be struck his wife on the face, which made her fall back, and
he thought it was that which did it." Witness asked if he
took her up? and he replied;" Yes, but she fell down again."

had anythitig to s

He was much agitated, and said, " What a pity it is that a
poor soul should be hurried out of the world so soon! I did not
think she would have died, or I would have sent for the doc-
tor sooner.:" He then paused and said, " what shall I have
to answer for this ?"

Mr. Davies, surgeon, deposed that having been sent for, he
10 saw the body of the deceased on Tuesday. nan external
examination there were lacerations and contu ns on various
parts of the body. There was a contused wo don the scalp
at the back of the head, and upon making a ost mortenz ex-
amination on that day (Wednesday), he found a considerable
quantity of effused blood on the brain, occasioned by the
corresponding external injury, which caused her death.
A very respectable jury attended the inquest, who returned
a verdict of" wilful murder" against Robert Crook, and the
coroner issued his warrant for his committal to the. Devizes
prison, to take his trial at the next assizes to be holden at
Salisbury.—Devizes Gazette.

CLERICAL INTELLIGENCE

(From the
_o.zford Herald.)

The Right Hon. Lord Wharncliffe was on Saturday last
elected a Governor of the Charter-house, in the room of the
late Earl of Westmoreland. At the same court the venerable
Archdeacon Hale was elected to the Mastership, in the room
of the late Dr. Fisher... A paragraph has gone. the round of
the papers confounding this office with the Head Master-
ship of the School, with which it has no other connection than
that the latter is one branch of the noble foundation, the
whole of which is under the superintendence of the former.
The same accurate account states that the Archdeacon has
for some time been engaged in assisting Dr. Goodenough (a
Westminster man, who never was connected withthe Charter-
house at all) in the tuition of the upper lasses. We need
scarcely add that that there is no truth in this statement. By
this election the Preachership of the foundation becomes
vacant, for which the Rev. Mr. Dicken is a candidate. The
election is fixed for the 10th of March.

THE PROFESSORSHIP OF POLITICAL ECONOMY.—We are
requested to state that Mr. Roundell Palmer, of Magdalene
College, has no intention of becoming a candidate for the
Professorship of Political Economy.
A Convocation will be holden on Thursday next, at twelve
o'clock, for the purpose of electing a Fellow,on Mr. Viner's
Foundation, in the room of Henry Denison, 8.C.L., late of
All Souls' College, resigned.
The Professor of Political Economy will deliver four lec-
tures on the causes which determine the rate of wages, on
Tuesday next, and the following days,. at two o'clock at the
Clarendon.

The Margaret Professor of Divinity will begin a Course of
Lectures on Tuesday, the Ist of March, at one o'clock.

The Professor of Moral Philosophy intends to resume his
Lectures on the Nicomachean Ethics of Aristotle on Tuesday
nest, at two o'clock.

On On Saturday last, Mr. William Edward Crauford Austin,
Scholar of New College, was admitted Actual Fellow of that
Society.

Yesierdav, Mr. George Wingate Pearse, Commoner of
Trinity College, was elected to a Scholarship of Corpus.
The Rev. J. H. Stuart, M.N., late of Trinity College, to
the Rectory of Ampton, Suffolk ; patron, Lord Calthorpe.
The Rev. J. H. S. Burr, M.A., of Christ Church, to the
Vicarage of Tidenharn, Gloucestershire', vacant by the resig-
nation of the Rev. .W. Pulling, of Sidney Sussex College,
Cambridge ; patron, D. H. D. Burr, Esq.
The Rev. P. H. Morgan, M.A., Scholar of Jesus College,
to the Perpetual Curacy of Bettws, Breconshire, vacant by
the death of the Rev. Canon Williams.
The Rev. David Davies, M.A., of Worcester College, to
the Rectory of Kevenilys, Radnorshire, vacant by the death
of the Rev. G. A. Barker ; patron, the Bishop of St. David's.

The Rev. G. E. Maunsell, 8.A., of Christ Church, and
Rector of Thorpe Malsor, Northamptonshire, has been ap-
pointed by the Earl of Westmoreland one of his Chaplains.

PROMOTIONS

Rev. F. E. Baker, M.A., some years since Curate of Sut-
ton Mandeville, Wilts, to the Vicarage of Allensmore,
Herefordshire ; patron, the Dean of Hereford.

W. Willan, Esq., 8.A., of. Christ's College, Cginbridge,
has been elected to the office of Vice-Principal in the Colle-
giate School of Huddersfield.

Rev. Dr. Archdall, Master of Emmanuel College, and
Vice-Cliancellor. of Cambridge, hr,a been appointed by the
Lord Chancellor to the Stall in Norwich Cathedral, vacant
by the death of the Rev. Philip Fisher, D.D., of University
College, in this University.
Rev. R. Butler, B.A.has been nominated to the Curacy
of St. James's, Heywood, in the diocese of Chester, by the
Incumbent, the Rev. H. O'Bryen.
Rev. J. R. Young, of Kilmarren Glebe, has been appointed
the Rev. R. J. L. Magee, son of the celebrated R. J. Magee,
to the Curacy of his parish of Tydavnet.
Rev. W. Henn (lately resigned the Curacy of Garvagh)
has been appointed by the Lord Bishop of Derry to be his
Lordship's Private Secretary, and to be one of his Lordship's
Chaplains.
Rev. John Judkin Butler, M.A., has been appointed by
the Rector, the Rev. F. Langford, to the Curacy of Kilcor-
nan, diocese of Limerick.

Rev. John Sabine, 8.A., of St. John's College, Cam-
bridge, to the Rectory of Thorn Coffin, Somerset, vacant by
the cession of the Rev. Alfred Tooke; patron, the Rev. A.
Tookg

Rev. Isaac Hitches, M.A., formerly. of Pembroke College,
Cambridge, and Curate of Holy Trinity, Clapham, Surrey,
to the Head Mastership of the Collegiate School, Glasgow
Rev. 0. Morgan, 8.A., has been appointed Chaplain to.
the Vindictive, 50 guns:

During the hurricane on Wednesday week seven large elm
frets iwere blown down on the estate of Mr. Twinberrow, at

tne-nsely large, and supposed to contain nearly 130 teet
timber ; several tons. of earth were displaced by its roots
Worcestershire Chronicle. • • •

FOREIGN INTELLIGENCE

FRANCE

The Soult and Guizot Cabinet had another triumph in the
Chamber of Deputies, on Friday, the proposition of M. Gan-
neron, for taking into consideration the propriety of electoral
refo‘rm, having been rejected by a.majority of eight 'votes.
---- attempt to claim this small majority
..re evidently mistaken, for their
numbers would have been considerably greater, if, in lieu of

The opposition
0 a moral viot,

pers
, but they

. „
a motion for taking into consideration,` 'the plan itself had
been submitted to the chamber. No doubt the majority was
swelled by the votes of ministers and placemen ; but such is

the ease in representative chambers like those of England
and France, and the beaten party have no more right to com-
plain on this occasion than they have on any other when the
government has an interest at stake. The numbers were,—
For

gai ftst

Majority

PORTUGAL

Intelligence has been received from Lisbon to the Bth ult

be Duke de Palmella had failed to form an administration,
t to the Queen late on the 7th ult. The
he palace when the despatches left, and

appeared

.ers were at

zain reinst;

spired. that the troops in Lisbon were not much to be de-
pended on, every regiment almost being split into rival poli-
tical factions. Some troops treated the Duke Terceira rather
unceremoniously a few days before, shouting out vehemently
for" the constitution of 1838." Bloodshed was expected in
Lisbon before many days passed over.

UNITED STATES

We have had two arrivals from America since our last.
The Columbus, which sailed from New York on the 19th
ult., arrived at this port on Friday ; and the Stephen Whit-
ney, which left New York on the 25th ult., reached this port
on Sunday, after a quick passage of seventeen days.
The charge of conspiracy against Nicholas Biddle and
others, to defraud the United States Bank, came on before
the Recorder of Philadelphia on the 13th ult., and closed on
the 17th. The Recorder considered there was evidence suf-
ficient to justify him in binding the defendants over, which
was accordingly done, each in the sum of 10;000 dollars, to
appear at the Court of General Sessions, to answer the
charges brought against them by Austin Montgomery. On
the 18th the parties appeared, and severally justified in bail
as follows :—For Nicholas Biddle, Messrs. Com. Biddle and
E. C. Biddle ; -for Thomas Dunlap, Messrs. N. Frazier and
J. W. Perrit ; for John Andrews, Messrs. James Tyson and
E. Shaw. Mr. Samuel Jaudon was committed to the cus-
tody of an officer, and a habeas corpus immediately issued
by his counsel in his behalf. On the 19th an application
was made to send up bills against Nicholas Biddle and others,
but the request was not complied with by the nourt. A rule
was, however, taken out, calling on the defendants to come
into court on Saturday, and enter in recognisance to appear
at the next term of the court. The sequel is not given in
the'papers. A habeas corpus having been taken out for Mr.
T. Dunlap, late President of the United States Bank, as well
as one for Mr. S. Jaudon, the hearing of the cases would
take place about the 25th ult.
Both the House of Representatives and the Senate had
agreed to the Treasury Note Bill. The Bankrupt Act Re-
peal Bill had passed the Representatives' house, but much
doubt is expressed as to its ultimately being agreed to by the
Senate.
The new Governor-General of British North America had
been sworn in, and was received with every demonstration
of respect.
The British and North American royal mail steamer Bri-
tannia, which left Liverpool on the 4th ult., reached Boston
on the 22d, after a tine run, considering the season of the
year and the unfavourable winds, of, eighteen days. She
carried out the news of the appointment of .Lord. Ashburton
as Special Minister from Great Britain to the United States.
The appointment, wherever the intelligence of it had reached,
seemed to have given general satisfaction. It was considered
as in every way a highly proper, and dignified, and concili-
atory course on the part of the British government. It
offered, the Americans thought, an opportunity, of the most
favourable kind, of bringing the differences between the two
countries to an, amicable adjustment, and of establishing
their relations upon a footing of permanent peace and good
will.

Cincinnati had been the scene of an alarming, but singular,
as to its cause, riot. In the city, it appears, there were
several what are called " shin plaster " institutions, or indi-
vidual responsibility banks, which, like all the banks in the
United States, issued paper largely. By a recent decision of
the Ohio Court, the notes of these and all other unauthorized
banks were declared illegal and uncollectable by law. As the
amount of paper which these banks had put into circulation
was large, two of them, the Miami Exporting Company and
the Bank of Cincinnati, resolved to close. The Miami Ex-
porting Company made an assignment of its effects on the
evening of the 10th ult., and the Bank of Cincinnati closed
its doors on the morning of the 11th. The mob, exasperated
at the stoppage of these banks, attacked, first, the Bank of
Cincinnati, then the Miami Exporting Company, next the
Exchange Bank, owned by a Mr. Bates, and ended with the
Exchange-office of Mr. Lougee. The rioters were principally
Dutchmen, who had suffered most by losses from the oper-
ation of these irresponsible banks. They forced open the
vaults, stole some specie and bank notes, as well as notes of
companies which had been redeemed, and destroyed every
thing they could get hold of, throwing the remains into the
streets, and leaving little more than bare walls. The police
were quite unable to quell the riot or to save the property of
the banks. A few military were hastily collected : they fired
among the rioters, who returned the fire, and several were
wounded on both sides. The disturbance only ended with
the day. Whilst it lasted, some of the responsible banks
had runs made upon them, which were promptly met. The
runs were not renewed on the 12th ult.

The President of the Senate laid before the body, on the
20th ult., a message &ova the President, of the United States,
covering a communication from the Department of State,
containing the protest of the officers and crew of the Ameri-
can brig Creole, and the correspondence between the Ameri-
can Consul at Nassau and the British authorities, in relation
to that subject. The papers were sent in compliance with a
resolution offered by Mr. Calhoun, on the llth ult.

The money market. was decidedly easier. The reports of
the state of the Liverpool market at the beginning of the
year had made the holders of cotton firmer. Not much busi-
ness in exchange had been done for the Sheridan. The rates
are without change, or if there was any, it was a trifle lower.
The market was not expected to be active until operations
commenced for the Britannia on the Ist instant. Very little
had been done on France for the packet : the rates closed at
5.31+ to 5.30.

COLONIAL INTELLIGENCE.

WEST INDIES

Accounts from Jamaica to the 9th January have been re-
ceived by a private ship. The planters there, following the
example of those in some of the other colonies, had held a
meeting jointly with the labourers, on the subject of equal-
ising the rate of wages with the quantity and value of the
prodnce from the estates. After the abolition of the appren-
ticeship system high rates had been given, in order to induce
habits of industry, the prices of sugar, &c., warranting the
amount so paid. Since then it would appear that, owing to
the fall in prices, the proprietor can no longer afford to pay
the same wages as heretofore. Several letters had been re-
ceived in Jamaica, stating either that a reduction must be
made in that branch of the expense. or it would be impera-
tive upon the owners to abandon the cultivation of the es-
tates. The managers, therefore, had, upon consultation, de-
termined that Is sterling per day for first, and 9d for second
class labourers, and is per. week would be equitable rates.
This had been recommended to the labourers, several of
whom had given it as their opinion, " that the general wel-
fare of the country depended entirely upon the sugar estates
being cultivated," but requested time for considering the re-
solutions.

A collision had taken place at Carthagena between her
British Majesty's brig Charybdis and Carmona's squadron,
the latter having fired at the former. It was immediately
returned by Lieutenant De Courcy, by which the admiral
and about forty men were killed. The Charybdis suffered
no loss. The British consul at Carthagena and several Ame-
rican merchants had been obliged to take refuge on board
this vessel, in consequence of Carmona continuing to fire
-upon the town. The lives, property, &c., of British subjects
were not safe from the ruthless depredations of the merciless
Carmona and his partisans. A public meeting of the inha-
bitants of Jamaica was held on the 22d December, to take
into consideration the flagrant acts of violence committed
upon British ships by the adherents of Carmona at Zapote.
During one of these outrages, Colonel. Gregg* and three other
companions in arms, whilst on board a British vessel, had
been pursued out to sea by armed gun-boats, and the four
brave fellows were ultimately dragged out of he vessel, and
brutally murdered. M uch indignation was expressed at these
inhuman barbarities, and redress was demanded for the injury
sustained. Great resentment is felt at the supineness of the
British forces on the West India station.
* This gentleman was a native of Dublin, and brother of
the Rev. T. D. Gregg. lie was in the South American ser-
vice.

COURT OF CHANCERY, FRIDAY, FEB. 11

BLUNDELL V. GLADSTONE

The arguments in, this case were resumed to-day. The
question arises upon the will of the late Mr. Charles Blun-
dell, of Ince Blundell, in Lancashire, who devised his estate
to the second son of Mr. Edward Weld, of Lulworth. The
proprietor of Lulworth is named Joseph, and his eldest son
was baptized Edward Joseph, but is known only as Mr.
Edward Weld. The plaintiff in the cause, Mr. Thomas
Weld, is the second son of Mr. Joseph Weld, of Lulworth,
and he claims to be the intended devisee, and contends that
his father is called Edward by mistake.
The ATTORNEY-GENERAL continued his address, com-
menced yesterday, on the part of the plaintiff, and argued,
that the effect of the decisions was, that where a will was im-
perfect, the Courts would admit evidence in explanation. It
is admissible where an ambiguity arises from a description
which raises competition between two parties. Correct the
name of Edward in the will into Joseph, and all the other
indicia of the testator's intention are satisfied in the second
son of Joseph Weld. Lady Stourton is the sister of the pro-
prietor, as described by Mr. Blundell, and all the other
limitations are intelligible, if the alteration in name is made
as suggested. The learned gentleman said the Courts would
always presume a devise to be made to an existing person,
rather than one who might or not hereafter be born. One
direction in the will was, that the devisee, whoever he was,
should take the name and arms of Blundell immediately.
After quoting and commenting on the various authorities
upon the subject, he concluded by praying that an issue or
inquiry might be granted to ascertain who the testator really.
meant. _ _

The Solicitor-General replied, and again urged that the
name and description of Edward were accurate, and the
Court would not alter it, There was no foundation for saying
that courts in general would hold conclusively that testators
necessarily contemplated existing devisees. In the present
case the testator had made various limitations to non-existing
parties, and if Mr. Blundell had intended a person then living,
he would have accurately named him, and not merely de-
scribed him. If parol evidence of the intentions of testators
were once to be admitted, it would be of most dangerous
consequence, and the courts would never know where to stop.
A testator must express his own intentions, and Mr. Blun-
dell had done so with sufficient certainty. The learned gen-
tleman said, upon the whole it was clear Mr. Blundell had
used the name of Edward, not by mistake, but designedly,
and the Court would decree that the plaintiff had not made
out his case. _ _ _

The Lord Chancellor rose at five o'clock, and said he would
consider his judgment.

THE LONDON ANTI-CORN-LAW CONFERENCE.—WC
think it our duty, on behalf of every respectable person in
Manchester, of whatever sect or party, to denounce and dis-
own the blackguard proceedings (a milder term would be out
of place) of certain parties, now in London, calling themselves
anti-corn-law delegates, From the inditing of that impudent
letter to Sir Robert Peel, which bears the signature of Mr.
John Brooks, to the pickpocket-like rush into the lobby of
the House of Commons—which, by the way, was very be-
comingly treated by the proper authorities in such a case—
viz., the police—the whole of the proceediugs in London
an could
fo tools worstno
have been such, as would have reflected disgrace on the in-
mates of the lowest haunts of infamy. If the very scum and
dregs of society—if
the
.Phisotransackedwork
oft
theirh
e for
league
glory,
og appropriateruye ,
d Boeotian purlieus of Liverpool or Manchester, had been
toohtles hihonourfallen
hf
of
a tee purpose,
Gt
town,
aei 1
abler
l 'es o
i trl,
eh
11anchester paper. tetatr
hn them
have it all to themselves.-4 dirty.
uthe.

VIE PROPOSED SLIDING SCALP

(From the Ma'

ester Courier.)

gh the maximum duty is lower than was antleipated
Ale prevent;

wo are bound to admit that the prop(
a in almost every point of view

;mat advant

If neither

exposes the consumer to injury by its. tendency to keep up
prices, nor yet the agriculturist by offering• any inducement
to him to withold his. corn until he is defeated by the low

duty and consequent influx of for

will likewise be benefited

The revenue

the duties will no long(

range so high as to induce the holders of foreign grain to
keep back their importations until the duties have fallen to
the minimum point. Nor will the dealer derive less benefit
from the new scale, for his arrangements will no longer be
frustrated by sudden fluctuations acting upon the markets.
Hitherto, during' the first two or three weeks'iu September
of each year, the influx of foreign corn has been very great.
This has been especially the case as regards the last two
years ; for during the early part of September in each, we
find the duties ranging from Is. to 2s. Bd. This, occurring
just at the time when they were thrashing out their wheat to
meet their rents, bore very heavily upon the farmers in the
North of England. We do not say that the new scale will
absolutely reverse this state of things, but there is no doubt
that the comparatively trifling variations in the duties will
offer less inducement for the importation of foreign grain at
that particular time.
We believe that Sir Robert Peel's plans will be favourably
received by the landed interest: and-we are persuaded that
they will be heartly acquiesced in by all moderate and
practical men. We do not expect that they will satisfy
either the party at the back of Lord J. Russell, or the in-
sensate rabble who herd and bellow with Mr. Cobden. But
although they are not calculated to find favour with the place
hunters or levellers, they will disappoint no one, for Sir R.
Peel gave parliament distinctly to understand, before the re-
cess, that he should adhere to the principle of the sliding
scale; and we are very sure that none of the journals which
support his government have ever held out any prospect of
his departing from that principle. Yet the empty and ob-
trusive member for Stockport rose immediately before the
adjournment of the house in an agony of what he meant to
be taken for the very quintessence of bitter disappointment ?
Disappointment? Pooh! When or by whom was Mr.
Cobden's baffled hope engendered bnt in a "fool's paradise"
—a lunar a non lucendo—of his own creating ?

(From the London Times.)

Upon the whole, we repeat what we began by saying, that
this change will approximate, perhaps as nearly as it is pos-
sible for any modification of a sliding scale to do, to the ad-
vantages which might be expected from a moderate fixed
duty. It will discourage gambling speculations in corn, and
in the same degree encourage a steady trade in that com-
modity. The uniformity of the rate of reduction, and the
comparatively narrow limits Within which it operates, will
both of them tend to give confidence to merchants, and in-
duce them (in the same way that a fixed duty would) to em-
bark in the corn trade as one of which the results will be sus-
ceptible of previous calculation. Below 51s. the duty will be
fixed, and at no unreasonable rate, if either the average prices
in the corn-growing countries, or the degree of protection
necessary to insure a plentiful home supply, are to be con-
sidered. At 645. ie falls to Bs., the point at which the late
ministry proposed to fix it ; and when the price rises beyond
this, the consumer and the importer will have the benefit of
a corresponding reductiot of duty. The possible effect of
this arrangement will be to keep the price of wheat, under
ordinary circumstances, at about Ms. per quarter, subject,
of course, to those occasional variations, from the accidents
of seasons, against which no legislation can provide.
That these changes will be unacceptable to the extreme
agricultural -party who claim a vested interest in the • full
amount of protection which they at present enjoy, may be
considered certain from the opposition offered to them by
the Duke of Buckingham ; ,and again, it is clear, from the
speech of Mr. Cobden last night, that they will give no satis-
faction to the violent politicians on the Anti-Corn-Law side,
who are for sweeping away protection from the face of the
earth. But moderate and practical men will not think less
favourably of them on account of the disapprobation of these
two parties, and we feel convinced that this third class, com-
prising as it' does the great and influential majority of the
merchants, manufacturers, and agriculturists of Great Britain,
will unite in accepting them as a valuable boon from the
hands of the conservative ministry.

EAST INDIA SUGAR,

(From the Morning Herald.)

The Bombay papers contain an interesting account of the
progress of sugar cultivation in that presidency, under the
superintendence of the Jooneer Company. In the year 1839
a gentleman was despatched to Bewra, to take charge of the
works, and who, immediately upon his arrival, commenced
operations by buying up the whole of the Mauritius sugar-
cane in the district, which amounted to eight bighas ; of these
five were made into sugar, and the remainder reduced to
-plants. The quality of the sugar was good, and the tnanu-
facture being conducted upon the plan adopted in the West
Indies, the difference could scarcely be perceived. The
quantity produced was 1,2771b5. of sugar and 5071b5. me-
• lasses, which was less than might have been expected, but
the falling off was attributable to the system pursued by the
ryots of yearly exhausting the soil, in order to reap the
greater crop. The plants were sufficient for 38 bighas in the
ensuing season. Of these 22 were made into sugar. and 18
reserved for future planting. The produce of the 38 bighas
was 9,8311b5. sugar, 4,5201b5. molasses, and 7271b5. gool.
The quantity of plants being sufficient for 100 bighas, that
quantity of land was prepared, towards which operation the
ryots, having now become fully aware of the value of the cul-
tivation, willingly subscribed, arid would have gone much
further had it been considered advisable to have extended the
operation of the company beyond their means, which at that
time were limited, or beyond what the manager could perso-
nally attend to. Of the 100 bighas, 77 were converted into
sugar, and 23 allowed to go to ,seed. The seed was appor-
tioned to plant 125 bighas on account of the company, and
50 bighas on native account, with the understanding that
when the canes arrived at maturity, the company should
have the priority of purchase. The produce was esti-
mated to be 52,0001b5. sugar, 7,0001b5. molasses, and
4,000 gallons rum: This spirit is represented to be very
superior, and a portion of each return of a still is found to
be highly rectified, equal to all the purposes of spirit of wine,
and generally above 50 and GO degrees 0. P. Thus in'three
years several small patches-of cane originally planted on -trial.
by government over eight bighas, have, by concentration and
cultivation, increased to 175 bighas ; and from the disposi-
tion of the ryots; it was inferred that it would extend over
the whole of this, and even through the adjacent districts.
The canes are now grown under contract by the ryots of tour
or five villages, having good garden land, or even fair black
soil, with water sufficient for one to three bighas to each well,
according to their means ; and advances in money, and
plants for the land, are made at the rate of 20 per cent. on
the crops to be 'planted ; the money is for the purpose of
the necessary utensils, &c.;
procuring the manure,and the
canes are bought, when ripe, at the maximum price of 100
rupees per bigha, and lower in proportion to the quality.
It was expected that two years hetise sufficient would be-
grown by the ryots on their own accounts. to supply the
works with cane, and that tliey would endeavour to produce
oetter canes than those grown under contract,- in order to
ensure a higher price. The ulterior advantage to the natives
was looked upon as likely to be great, in giving extra labour
and employment to many individuals who otherwise would,
probably, be a great burden on their own limited resources,
and remain in a state of all but idleness, and by which they
have an opportunity of improving their habits, and learning
another business., It is also suggested that these establish-
ments' would prove useful to the class of .Anglo-Indian lads,
by putting them to acquire Practically a knowledge of cane-
planting, sugar-making. and distilling,.especially now that
the cultivation of sugar is extending in the Deccan, about
Poono, Shplapoor, and,in some parts of Kandesh.

THE KING OF PRUSSIA AND HIS DONATIONS

We are informed that his Majesty entered the harbour at
Ostend shortly after daybreak on Saturday morning week,
after experiencing a delightful voyage.
His Majesty, shortly after his landing, wrote an autograph
letter to our beloved Sovereign, acquainting her Majesty of
his safe arrival at Ostend, vith which a courier was despatched
immediately, who reached Windsor on Sunday.
The subjoined is a list of some of the munificent donations
given by his Majesty to the different charities and establish-
ments in the metropolis :
To the Society of Friends of Foreigners in Distress £5OO
„ the Dreadnought Hospital Ship
„ the Shipwrecked Fisherman and Mariner Society 50
,„ the German Catholic Church
„ the German Lutheran Church (Savoy) 5O
„ ditto ditto ditto (Little Ailey-str.) 50
ditto ditto ditto (Hamburg Church) 50
It
„ the German Reformed Church (Hooper-square) 50
His Majesty, as has been before announced, gave £5O to
the workmen of the Thames Tunnel, and to the attendants
of the Great Western Railway his Majesty, before leaving
this country, sent the handsome sum of £lOO.

The royal bargemen who assisted at his Majesty's landing
at Greenwich, have been presented with £25.
To the Queen's household at Windsor Castle, comprising
the domestics in the departments of the Master of the Horse,
Lord Chamberlain, and Lord Steward, his Majesty has left,
with regal munificence, the sum of £l5OO.
To the poor of Windsor the King previously gave £lOO.
The domestics at Buckingham Palace have, in addition to
those of Windsor Castle, been left £lOO..
The. six beautiful vases presented by his Majesty to the
Queen and Prince Albert, are reported to be unique, and of
inestimable value. They are of the finest porcelain, covered
with exquisite paintings and elaborately ornamented, and
stand six feet high.
They were conveyed from Berlin in 18 cases, and their
value may be judged, for they were insured at Antwerp for
"sea risk" to this country for 100,000 francs.

His Majesty, we understand, gave the liberal sum of XGOO
.to be divided among the crews of the Firebrand and Shear.-
water steamers, proportionate to the rank of each person em-
ployed on board.
As is generally the case when a crowned head visits the do-
minions of a friendly state, the King of Prussia came pro-
vided with a number of valuable gold snuff boxes for pre-
sentation. • _ _

His Majesty has, we hear, presented handsome gold boxes
to the Earl of Jersey (Master of the Horse), the Earl of
Delawarr (Lord Chamberlain), and the Earl of Liverpool
(Lord Steward of the Queen's Household). The boxes are
very valuable, being set with brilliants of the finest water,
surrounding a miniature of his Majesty on the lid. They
may be considered the finest specimens of Berlin workman.
ship, and the value of each box is said to be upwards of
£7OO. _ _

The Earl of Hardwicke, Capt. Meynell, R.N., M.P., and
Colonel Arbuthnot, the lord, groom, and equerry i❑ waiting
to the Queen, selected for the honour of attending on his
Majesty, have, we understand, also been presented with
similar tokens of his Majesty's esteem,

a,,,......,..,.......i.,.
HE WORE HIS CHAIN OF OFFICE

Hail ! tailless bully, Dublin's great Lord Mayor,
As senator rejected and disdained,
Thy friends have raised thee to the civic chair,
But don't forget, great brute, to send thee chained !
Feb: 11. R. J

The Irish papers generally assert that Dr. O'Brien, Dean
of Cork, and son-in-law of the Chief Justice of the Queen's
Bench, will be the new Bishop of Ossory.
EXTENSIVE EMBEZZLEMENT.—Information has been re-
ceived by the police of an extensive robbery committed by
two lads in the employ of Mr. Salmon, a linendraper, of
London, whose service they absconded from on Wednesday
evening, carrying off with them cash in gold and silver to the
amount nearly of £4OO, besides four £lO Bank of England
notes. The number of the notes are fortunately known, and
will, it is hoped, lead to the detection of the culprits; but
hitherto no clue has been obtained of their destination. The
oldest boy, named John Ogilvie Martin, is only 17 years of
age; the name of the other boy is Jones. A reward of £5O
has been offered for their apprehension.
DEPARTURE OF LORD ASHHDRTON.--PORTSMOUTH,
THURSDAY EVENING.—His Excellency the Right Hon.
Lord Ashburton embarked this afternoon on board the War-
spite frigate at Spithead. He left the harbour between two
and three o'clock, accompanied by Lord John Hay, in the
adMiral's tender, and was saluted by the forts with nineteen
guns as he passed. When he arrived on board the Warspite,
the yards were manned, and .he was received with another
salute of nineteen guns. Shortly after the frigate was:hove
short,. and at four o'clock got under weigh, with a light
breeze; from about which will just enable her to My
her course down channel,

connexion with that very seditious set of personage's caning
itself the Great Anti-Corn-Law Conference—a body which,
as may be supposed, has been in its glory, now that Sir Ro-
bert Peel has given it something
.definite to quarrel with.
Their debates on the occasion fairly put to shame, in quan-
tity, Sir Robert's speech itself, and in quality, we will do
them the justice to say, quite equal those of their past or
present parliamentary representatives. Indeed, two of these
gentlemen, Colonel Thompson and Mr. O'Connell, who took
a part in the morning's amusement, were by no means the
lions of the occasion, but seem to have been fairly thrown
into the shade, judging at least by the relative proportions of
" tremendous cheering," " renewed laughter," and such like
tributes of admiration, to a very vivacious gentleman, of
whose speech, the most effective morsels, judging from the
aforesaid symptoms, seem to have been of the following pe-
culiar character :

"A sliding scale ! What was a sliding scale ? A key to turn
the lock on the door of the storehouse of the Universal Fa-
ther of the World—(great cheering,)—a law that took away
the bounty of God freely sent for the support of his children,
sent them into prison, placed them under bondage, and pro-
hibited the thousands and tens of thousands from that which
they had already earned. Cursed law! doubling the primeval
curse, turning the warm sweat of industry into the chill damp
of starvation. (Tremendous cheers.) He denounced that law.
(Cheers.) It was an impious law. (Cheers )
(Cheers.) If they persevered thus to the end, and did not
remain waiting for three months, they would succeed. Saul
at Tarsus acknowledged his Master on one day, and the next
he was preaching to the Gentiles. (Loud cheers.) Display
the zeal of new converts. (Cheers.) Rejoice that you, did
not see the iniquity before. (Cheers.) Redeem the time.
Take your arms from the skies, and fight this Goliath of the
Philistines. (Loud cheers.) He wanted to get their fee
upon a rock. (Cheers.) If they departed from principle,
and made the question one of time, or place, or circumstance,
or harvest, or averages, or prices, they committed themselves
to a sliding scale. (Cheers.) There were other sliding scales
than those of Sir Robert's. (Hear, bear.) While they de-
nounced his they should not adopt one of their own. (Hear,
hear.)"

One scarce knows which to wonder at most, the liveliness
and exertions of the speaker, or of the audience, in this re-
markable and very offensive specimen of half pulpit, half
hustings oratory. There is scarcely anything which more
moves our indignation, or is more disagreeably characteristic
of real dissenting sedition, than this fashion of scriptural
garnish which our orator so freely adopts ; especially when
such passages are introduced and succeeded before their
lines are over by " renewed laughter." Indeed this alter-
nation is so rapid and inexplicable, that we cannot help
thinking that there must have been something very facetious
in the speaker's phYsiognOmy—he must have had the power
of exhibing some peculiar Listonian contortions of face or
body—indescribable, and therefore unreported—to produee
such results on the nerves of the audience. For example,
he takes en him to speak in " Cambyses' vein " of one of
the miracles recorded in the gospel—the multiplication of
the five loaves " rather than the poor should go hungry
away." (Cheers.) Now for " Sir Robert Peel's speech,"
he proceeds,—(" laughter"—adds the reporter.) We may
be very stupid, but for the life of us we cannot see the joke,
either of the words or of the transition ; and can only fancy
this sudden emotion excited by one of those grimaces with
which it is easy to imagine that such a speech might be
accompanied.
"He was glad," he shortly proceeded, that a gentleman
on the right of the chair severed the speech of the minister
from the Sovereign " (whose head, another orator insists,
shall not be cut off). " The ministers were for (qu. against ?)
them—the Sovereign was not. What ! a Sovereign—a wo-s
man—a.wife—a mother—a patriot Queen, sanction that ini-
quitous' mockery of the wrongs of the people! " (Great
cheering, and cries of ' No, no.') No. Not then for their
Queen,

" `Now 's the day and now 's the hour—
See the front of battle lour,
See approach proud faction's power,
Peel and Buckingham,' " &c.
f'However, we are spending too much time in introducing
our readers to a specimen of great anti-corn-law conference
oratory. We should say a word or two on the substance of
their proceedings. In the first place, like the leaders of the
masons' strike, and the Lord Mayor of Dublin, the great
conference finds it necessary in the person of its chairman to
remind " gentlemen" that they must " have for the struggle
the sinews of war,"—(hear)—" and that they must open
their purse-strings." And this, although he has " got in-
telligence that the Manchester Bazaar has already realized
£10,000." Now this we are always glad to see. When men
of this kind begin pulling at one another's pockets it is a
symptom of the beginning of an end. Nothing has such a
disabusing power over Englishmen as an attack in that
quarter; and nothing, of course, so certain to betray a rogue
as the command of funds. If there is money flying about,
we may safely calculate on the speedy absconding ofa secre-
trry or two—events which will have more effect on the sub-
scribing members' politics than a library of pamphlets, or a
whole menagerie of members of parliament.
Next, it is to be observed who it is they choose as their
parliamentary leader—as the representative of the people's
interests, who, in opposition both to Sir R. Peel and to Lord
John Russell, is to move for the-total abolition of the " bread
tax." Mr. Villiers, the quondam employe of the Poor Law
Commissioners. Truly if these gentlemen were really so
anxious that the spare diet of the poor should be increased,
their comforts multiplied, their independence secured, it
might have been expected that they would have betaken
themselves to some party rather less identified with their
gruel, close cells, galling restrictions, and all the other enor-
mities of the red-brick bastiles, than the hon. member whom
they have selected, or who has selected himself, to be their

advocate. Nor in that case would they make them-
selves, what in fact they are, though they try to dis-
guise it. by a few hard words, the t^,-0, and supporters
of these Would-be ministers, to whose uulc. ;.g theories, and
hard mechanical practice, so much misery and oppression is
to be traced. This, if nothing else, would prevent our be-
ing deluded into any sympathy with these demagogues—that
while they are blustering and labouring, to invest a desired
commercial reform with a popular character which is not its
own, and which can only be fastened on it by the most false
pretences, they overlook a plain system of practical oppres-
sion, which does not depend for its proof on extended exami-
nations, intricate calculations, and nice deductions, but stares
them in the face as a fact which. may be grappled with, not in
its supposed causes, but in itself tangibly and immediately.

THE AFFGEIANISTAN WAR AND RUSSIAN

INTRIGUE

The Times of yesterday notices at some length the occur-
rences which induced Lord Auckland to plan, and the home

government to approve, our great expedition beyond the
Indus. Our contemporary first quotes 'largely from the
the despatches to Lord Palmerston and from the communi-
cations of his lordship, and proves from these, as well as from
other circumstances, that the war of Affghanistan was un-
undertaken against Russian influence, and then proceeds as
follows:—We feared not the Afghans, we feared not the
Persians, but we had irrefragable proof that the policy of
Russia was sufficiently formidable to demand " a prompt,
active, and decided counteraction." On this point there can
be -no difference of opinion between any people who have
taken the trouble to read the evidence laid before Parlia-
ment. But the question as to the nature of that counterac-
tion, and as to the best measures to be adopted for the pur-
pose, is quite a distinct matter. Was it wise for us, a mara-
time power, to select the deserts of Central Asia for the
scene of operations intended to repel the aggression of Rus-
sia ? Was it politic for us to act as a belligerent power,
incurring all the outlay, and (as the result has proved) much
of the danger of distant warfare, when the power we really
meant to cope with was not in the field at all, and, in fact, no
military resistance was opposed to us ?
But the dates of these transactions are still more extraor-
dinary, for it appears from them that at the very time our
armies crossed the Indus to establish Schah Sojah in Cabul,
and to quell the alarming progress of Russian influence
amongst the Affghan septs or clans, Russia had not only to-
tally disavowed all her emissaries and intrigues in that quar-
ter, but Lord Palmerston had accepted M. de Nesselrode's
explanations as "entirely .satisfactory," in his despatch of
the 20th December, 1838. The siege of Herat had been
raised, the Schah had retreated, the Russian government dis-
owned all its acts—nevertheless the expedition proceeded.
The case then appears to us to stand thus : if the explana-
tions of Russia were believed to be " entirely satisfactory."
the whole case for the war falls to the ground, for it is only
as a war of defence against the intrigues of a great power that
it can be justified; but if those explanations-were false—if
Russia was convicted, by numerous and unquestionable
proofs, of having carried on a grand system of policy hostile
to British interests and the security of British India (a sys-
tem which her subsequent disavowal only renders more sus-
picious)—if, in short, war was believed to be the only means
of protecting our empire and checking these encroachments,
then, in such a case, the war should not have been a " little"
war, without an avowed enemy or a fair field, but the really
" prompt, active, and decided counteraction" should have
been applied by British men of war in the Black Seu or the
Baltic.

These retrospective considerations are not without a direct
application to the present state of affairs in Affghanistan.
The military demonstration, which began with the defeat of
Dust Mahoined and the capture of Ghuznee, and. has ended
with the insurrection of Cabuli was intended to eradicate the
influence which Russia had acquired over the Sirdars and
native;chiefs. We encounter no enemy in the field; the
Sirdars are abandoned by Russia to their fate; all the known
emissaries of St. Petersburgh are disavowed, some are re-
called, some perish in strange ways; we occupy the country
in comparative security, when a sudden but general insur-
rection breaks out on various points, at the season of the
year most disastrous to our troops. The first victim is Sir
Alexander Burnes, well known (and denounced in M.
M. Vicovich's despatches) as the most vigilant servant of
Great Britain, and the keenest antagonist of the Russian
agents. The operations of the natives bear marks of a good
understanding amongst the rival tribes and great uniformity
of combination. They must be attributable to some efficient
cause, beyond the mere irritation of an ill-used tribe. Is
there any other cause so efficient or so probable as that
power whose growing influence amongst those tribes first
called for our interference?

We throw out these remarks as conjectures ; they can be
no more. But the point is reducible to this very clear pro-
position :—lt was demonstrated, in 1838, that Russia had
made considerable progress in extending her influence by
emissaries throughout Central Asia, and that a treaty bad
been signed by the rulers of. Candabar, under her Minister's
guarantee, containing stipulations " injurious and offensive
to Great Britain ;" such are Lord Palmerston's just epithets
applied to it. It must now, therefore, either be supposed
that Russia has entirely relinquished the objects she had then
in view, which is not her usual practice ; or that she has
availed herself of the earliest opportunity to turn the forces
of the country against us.

MODES OF LIVING.—The clergy live by our sins, the
medical faculty by our diseases, and the law gentry by our
misfortunes.

A very serious accident by misadventure happened on Sa-
turday morning at the shop of Mr. Allen, a butcher in South
Audley-street, London. Two lads were playing together in
the shop, when one of them put the head of the other on the
block, and jokingly said, " Now, I'll cut your head off," at
the same time drawing, as he supposed, the back of the knife
across his throat. Unfortunately, however, the edge was di-
rected,to the boy's neck, and being very sharp it cut through
the handkerchief, and inflicted a wound of considerable depth
in the throat. The boy, whose name was James Gibbs, was
removed to the Middlesex Hospital, where he is going on
well.

MYSTERIOUS AND SUSPICIOUS CIRCUMSTANOE.—OII
Thursday week, as some labourers were removinc, some ba-
ring from the limestone quarries, in property belonging to
Walker Smith, Esq„ of Brotherton, near Ferrybridge, they
discovered a human skeleton, buried little more than two
feet below the surface, and about thirty yards from the great
north turnpike road, which, from the accompanying circum-
stances, gives ground for suspicion that the body must have
been murdered. The circumstance of a reaping sickle and a
pocket knife having been found together with the bones, as
well as fragments of 'leather, and a coarse kind of greenish-
coloured cloth, gives rise to strong suspicion that the indi-
vidual met with an untimely end. There is evidently an
appeainnce:of a fracture in the skull; and all the teeth are in
a perfect state which may lead to supposition that it has been
a young corpse. The remains must have been in the ground
for a great number of years, and most probably are those of
some Irish reaper, perhaps murdered by his comrades when
returning home with his harvest labours.—Leeds Mercury.

We endeavoured, in our publication of Friday, to
convey to the public the feeling with which the pro-
posed measure of Sir Robert Peel had been received
by the commercial people of Liverpool. We took
every: pains, which our opportunities of observation
afforded, to arrive at the truth ; and, having done so,
however disagreeable to us it might be to notice that
the first impression created was of an unfavourable
nature, we did not hesitate fully and unequivocally to
admit the fact,—accompanying, however, the admis-
sion with an expression of our belief that, upon mature
consideration and a better acquaintance with the details
of the government plan, it would receive eventually the
cordial approbation of a majority amongst onr best-
informed mercantile men. In this anticipation we are
happy to say that we have not been disppointed; and
we trust that the candour, with which le‘recorded the
unfavourable impression at first evinced, will bespeak
for us the confidence of our readers whilst describing
the feeling which time and consideration have contri-
buted to produce.

The prevailing opinion amongst ail classes, and
especially amongst those of the greatest standing and
weight in this important mercantile community, is
now, we can state without hesitation, unequivocally
favourable to the ministerial measure, as one admirably
calculated to reconcile conflicting interests, and to effect
a settlement, at least for some time to come, of this
much-agitated questiOn,' As a matter of course, the
opponents of all restrictions upon the importation of
food—the ultra free-trade party—it has not satisfied.
In fact, it is not too much to assume that the very
reasonableness of its nature, and its tendency to con-
ciliate the support of moderate men of all parties, is its
greatest fault in the estimation of these violent politi-
cians. The very fact that it is based upon the princi-
ple of protection to the home agriculturist, is sufficient
of itself to ensure the bitter hostility of men in whose
jaundiced eye the owners and the cultivators of the
soil are objects of unrelenting hatred, and who would
gladly witness their utter prostration, in order to erect
an overriding tyranny of capital and " liberalism "
upon their ruins.

There are some, too, we are ready to acknowledge,
amongst our moderate men, who, although favourable
to the degree of protection which this measure is cal-
culated to afford to the agricultural interest of the
country, are yet predisposed in favour of a fixed duty
to effect that object. With such a duty, fixed even as
high as 10s. or 125., it is argued that foreign grain
might be made a safe vehicle of remittance in return
for British exports ; whilst the principle of a sliding
scale, however regulated, is considered as one unfa-
vourable to regular investments by merchants gene-
rally, and as leading to hazardous speculation. These
views, however, we believe that consideration has
greatly and favourably modified ; and the impression
has gained ground that, by the proposed measure, the
hazard, which has hitherto attended operations under a
sliding scale of duties and averages, will be much less-
ened, and that in practice the scale will seldom vary
further than from 12s. per quarter dovrn to 65., be-
tween which limits the great portion of foreign corn
required for consumption in Great Britain will be im-
ported. Substantially, therefore,• the measure of Sir
Robert. Peel is regarded by them as imposing a fixed
duty between these limits, the gradations of the scale
only operating when the pressure for food would other-
wise render necessary the resort to an order in council
for its admission duty-free.

By the manufacturing interest of Manchester, we
need scarcely intimate that it has been received with
very general dissatisfaction—so far at least as we have
had an opportunity of ascertaining. We are satisfied,
however, that the public at large have been quite pre-
pared for this feeling ; and, at all events, we are confi-
dent that the merchants of Liverpool will not be de-
terred from awarding their cordial approbation of the
measure which is now offered for their, acceptance, by
all the ravings of the Manchester monomaniacs. There
are very, very few men to be found upon our Exchange
or in our streets, disposed to barter this chance of a
fair and reasonable settlement of this great question for
the prospect of a total repeal:of all protection upon na-
tive agriculture, which the league-men hold out as the
only measure to which they, in their high mightiness,
will condescend to listen. We have noticed the freaks
and the temper of these gentlemen in another article,
to which we refer our readers.

We have nothing to add to the gratifying report
which we are this day enabled to present to our read-
ers upon this subject, except that the extensiou of the
number of towns, from which returns are to be made
for the purpose of regulating the averages, and by
which it was feared by some of our best informed corn
merchants that the measure might be impaired in va-
lue to the consumer, has been received with perfect
satisfaction. No indirect attempt has been made, in
the selection of those towns, to act prejudicially upon
the justice and fairness of the general plan. That our
readers may upon this point be enabled to form a
judgment for themselves, we give here the list for
Cheshire and Lancashire, with which, we are confident,
they will be fully satisfied. For Cheshire the returns
have been made hitherto from Chester, Nantwich,
Middlewich, Four Lane Ends, and Knutsford. To
these towns Sir Robert Peel has added Congleton,
Macclesfield, and Stockport. For Lancashire the re-
turns have been hitherto made from Liverpool, Ulver-
ston, Lancaster, Preston, Wigan, Warrington, Man-
chester and Bolton. To these are now to he added,
Ashton-under-Lyne, Blackburn, Bury, Oldham, Orms
kirk, and Rochdale.

There is one feature in the proposed corn-law mea-
sure of Sir' Robert Peel which we do not think has
attracted the not ice which its importance demands. We
have been told, again. and again, by the free-trade agi-
tators that, as applied to the corn groWers of the United
.States, the very principle of a sliding scale is, per se,
an effectual bar to importation from that country into
Great Britain. Now what, let us inquire, is likely to
be the operation of the proposed scale with respect to
shipments from the United States ?
I'm' some time, it is well known that a contraband

trade in wheat has been carried on, along the Canadian
frontier, by which .American wheat has been intro-
duced into the British possessions, and thence found
its way into British markets, in the manufactured state,
as flour, the produce of a British colony,—paying a
duty at the rate of ss. per quarter when the average
price in Great Britain was. under 675., and at the rate
of fid. per quarter when the average exceeded 675.
The necessarily hazardous and expensive nature of this
trade has to some extent operated as a check upon it;
yet it is notorious that considerable quantities of grain

lave for some time been forwarded down the great

rivers and lakes i!1 the interior, and have been tran-
shipped from the River St. Lawrence to this country.
The effect of the measure introduced on Tuesday

last by the Vice-President of the Board of Trade, for
the first time legEdises the introduction of American
grain into Canada, upon payment of a duty at the rate
of 3s. per quarter, the corresponding duty upon the

dinission of Canadian wheat into the United States

being 10s. per quarter. The measure, however, of
Sir Robert Peel reduces the scale, at which the ex-
treme duty of ss. upon Canadian grain into Great

ritain is charged, from 675. to 545., from which it

;radually descends to is. on the average reaching
Bs. Upon the present average, therefore, of 61s. 3d.,
he duty upon American wheat, transported through

anada, or shipped at a Canadian port for Great Bri-

min, would be 4s. per quarter (3s. for tiro import duty
into Canada, and is. as the duty upon Canadian pro-
duce on importation into this country); and in no case
could the exports from the United States, if shipped
from a Canadian port, exceed Bs. per quarter. The
only condition which would be required on the part of
the American grower, to enable him to avail himself
of this boon, would be that his grain should be ma-
nufactured into flour within the British possessions.

Undoubtedly we have here a large concession to the
corn growers of the United States, and one which
effectually neutralizes any disadvantage, which on the
score of distance from the British market, they can
sliding scale. •
sustain fr.nn the existence of a To the

Northern States of America this market is always
open, at a duty never exceeding Bs. ; and,. although
some additional expense of freight will of course be
incurred, it is unquestionable that the agriculturists of
those States must be very largely benetitted. It may
perhaps be a question how far this change may be for
the advantage of the Canadian or the British farmer.
Looking, however, at all the circumstances—bearing
in mind that by this means the employment of British
shipping froth Canadian ports will be greatly pro-
moted—considering, too, the beneficial results which
may be created, by the impression to be established in
the minds of our American neighbours, that the ex-
istence of Canada as a British colony is essential to the
preservation, to them, of Great Britain as a market for
their surplus produce, we are not disposed to offer any
serious objections upon the subject.
As a great boon to the people of the United States,
the proposed arrangement is viewed, we understand,
by those of our American merchants who have turned
their attention to the subject; and when added to the
concessions which are made to them by the measure
of Mr. Gladstone, ought surely to induce them to
listen in a kindly spirit to a modification of their own
tariff in our favour. But will they do so, we ask ?
We fear much, notwithstanding the predictions of
the anti-corn law league, that no such result will flow
from any liberality of ours.

The measure introduced on 'Wednesday evening by
Mr. W. E. Gladstone, the Vice-President of the Board
of Trade, to reduce the duties upon foreign produce
imported into our colonies, was received with the
strongly marked approbation of both sides of the
house ; and whether we look at the judicious or well-
considered nature of the proposition itself, or at the
admirable manner in which it was introduced to the
house, we cannot withhold from the honourable gen-

tleman, or from the government of which he is an effi-

cient and valuable member, the expression of our sin-
cere thankfulness. By the colonies to which Mr.
Gladstone's measure applies we have no doubt that it
will be received as a boon of very beneficial nature,
and as an earnest, as well, of the careful attention
which colonial interests are about to receive from the
government of Sir Robert Peel. As such only they
can view it with any great satisfaction ; for it cannot
be disguised now that the position of some of our co-
lonies is one of far too great difficulty and peril to be
seriously henefitted by any measure of this descrip-
tion, however intrinsically excellent.

We called attention recently to the state of things
by which the prosperity of the West Indies is retard-
ed, and which threatens ultimately to effect their utter
destruction as valuable producing colonies. In Bri-
tish Guiana and in others of those noble possessions
the cultivation of the soil with a view to the supply of
the markets of the mother country with tropical pro-
duce must shortly cease, unless some efficacious mea-
sure by which a large supply of labour can be afforded
to the planters is devised by the home legislature. By
the recent advices, brought by the arrival of the West
India mail, the views which we hare previously held
with respect to the condition and prospects of these.
colonies are fully confirmed; and we cannot but de-
spair of any remedy being adopted by the colonists
themselves which can do more than protract for a few
seasons the entire abandonment of the attempt to com-
pete by free labour against the produce of foreign slave
states. This great experiment must be given up, and
With it must be dashed to the earth the fond hopes of
millions of the human race, whose liberties are in-
volved in its successful issue. It is painful to contem-
plate such a lamentable contingency. To the people
of Great Britain—to the humane and good of every
clime—it will be a subject of inexpressible grief and
disappointment if that experiment, in which they have
embarked so large an amount of money and of sym-
pathy, should result only in failure. And yet, advisedly
and deliberately, we must express our sincere and sor-
rowful conviction that to such a result it is at this mo-
ment rapidly verging.

So far as the supply of labour, the'great desideratum
in the West Indies, can be increased by the efforts of
the planters themselves, we are informed by the last
advices that there is no longer ground for hope. Im-
migration from Sierra Leone, and the migration of la-
homer, from other places to British. Guiana, where
their aid is most needed, appear to have ceased. An
attempt is indeed being made to reduce the exorbitant
rate of wages, and to provide for continuous cultiva-
tion, by internal arrangements between the planters and
their workpeople ; but from this attempt we must con-
fess that we anticipate no permanent benefit to arise,
and we are rather inclined to fear that it may terminate
in the production of ill-feeling and bickerings on the
part of the negro population towards the proprietors of
the soil. We are satisfied that there can be no effec-
tual cure for the evil which presses upon the prosperity
of West India cultivation, except in a measure to pro-
mote extensive immigration into those colonies ; and
we have hoped, and still hope, for such a measure at
the hands of the present government.
So far as it goes, we are quite ready to acknowledge
that the measure of the Vice-President of the Board
of Trade will alleviate the severe pressure at preseni
existing upon the West Indian planters. To some ex-
tent it may decrease the expense of cultivation, and al
low, perhaps, a small margin of profit upon their ship-
ments of produce to Great Britain. But whilst the
giant evil prevails—so long as the present scarcity and
costliness of labour remains—we can see no hope of
their being enabled to compete with the Brazilian or
the Cuban planter. This, if the noble effort of Bri-
tish humanity is not to be made in vain, is the object
to which the measures of a wise government ought to
be directed. To effect this the West India proprietor
must not only be relieved from every impost which
presses upon the cost of production, but, above all, he
must be relieved from the jealous suspicions of the in-
judicious friends of the negro race, who, in their dread.
of promoting any system the most remotely resembling
that of slavery in those colonies, do not hesitate in cast
every impediment in the way of those supplies of free
labour being procured, without which it is perfectly
evident that cultivation can go on no longer.
Notwithstanding the declaration of Lord' Stanley
that he is unprepared with any large measure to pro-
mote emigration, generally, from great Britain, we
trust that neither he nor the government of which he
is a member will overlook the urgent nature of the
difficulties under which these colonies are fast Sinking"
into ruin. Lord Stanley is deeply pledged to the suc-
cess of the measure of emancipation. Ile is well aware
how vast are the interests which depend upon that suc-
cess ; and he cannot be blind to the fact that unless'
an effort is made now, and that effort an effectual one,
to arrest a disaster which humanity shudders to:con-
template, the great cause of negro emancipation, 'so far
as it can be affected by the issue of the experiment to
raise the products of the tropics by means of' free la-
bour, will be lost beyond the possibility of redemp-
tion.

We shall return to this subject upon an early occa-
sion, in order to point out the kind of measure` With
which the proprietors of the West Indies will be sa-

tisfied

The receipt in Manchester of the details of Sir Ro-
bert Peel's modification of the corn laws appears to
have driven the good people of that town to a state of
mind which calls more loudly for a prompt supply of
strait jackets than for the sympathy and respect of
their fellow-countrymen. Stark frenzy has seized upon
the cottonocracy, one and all; and, from Thursday
morning until the hour at which we write, denuncia-
tions the most violent and furious, against the govern-
ment and the aristocracy of the country, have unceas-
ingly disturbed the " air serene" of the land of spin-
ning and weaving. Meetings have been held and
speeches spoken ; last night the anti-corn-law ladies
danced destruction to the sliding scale; this day a great
gathering, under the patronage of his worshipful the
mayor of Manchester, is to strike terror into the hearts
of monopolists and landlords ; and were it not that the
people—the working classes—are most provokingly
apathetic, and have a very low opinion of the disinte-
rested patriotism of the gentlemen who are enacting
this storm in a teacup, we should be led to anticipate'•
an insurrection, if not some more dreadful calamity,.
Amongst the loudest of the agitators upon this oc-
casion is our friend the Manchester *Guardian. He,
good man, is perfectly shocked, and "cannot rod
without disgust the almost heartless allusioni which
Sir Robert Peel,. in his speech of Wednesday evening,
made to the patience, with which the.great body of the
have endured the sufferings, to which the un- •
People

feeling and ignortatt policy of our landed aristocracy
have so long subjected them." The Guardian evi-
dently wonders, if he does not even regret, that the
stones don't rise in the streets, that factories are not
burnt down, bread-shops gutted, and other enormities
committed, in order to give a colour to the fierce ra-
vings of his fellow-bawlers. It is painful, we admit,
to such people as the Guardian, to contemplate the
quiescence of the working classes amidst unparalleled
efforts to excite them and undoubtedly severe priva-
tion, and to listen to the well-deserved eulogy with
which their conduct is dwelt upon by Sir Robert Peel;
but we apprehend that by far the most painful reflec-
tion to the mind of our contemporary is the conclusion
which 'is deducible from that quiescence, that the

working classes have no confidence in, no

with, himself or his .fellow-repealer
dined to be misled into turbulence

some may endeavour, for the grati

selfish and factious purpos

propriety

and are not in-
'•°ntly

1 owcver vu

ation of their own

to drive them from their

We cannot too forcibly deprecate the to

and spirit

of the article of our contemporary which has led us
into these remarks. It is, throughout; an incendiary
appeal of the basest and most wicked character. - Hap-
PUY, however, we are satisfied that it will produce no
effect upon those to whom it is addressed ; for by the
working classes of Manchester ti

3 Guardian is per-

fectly and intimately known. Though labouring now
most zealously to promote excitement amongst them,
the working men of Manchester have an accurate re-
membrance of the fact, that on every past occasion
when they haVe been led into violence of feeling and
conduct, their most virulent opponent has
journal which is now disposed to play the ii
They will not dance to your piping, most amiable con-

been the

lcendiatv

temporary,

for they know you,

"Nero fiddled," we are told, "whilst Rome was burn-
ing;" and the ladies and gentlemen of the Anti-Corn-
Law League appear to have been well disposed to follow

Ten thou

so laudable an example

nd pounds have
the before-mentioned ladies and gentlemen coaxed out
of the pockets of the half-witted people—male and fe-
male poodles, and other nondescripts of doubtful gen:-
der—who have attended their most outrageous farce;
and last night the climax was perpetrated by the ex-
hibitors perpetrating A DANCE, as if in mockery of the
suffering poor, in whose behalf, ostensibly, but, in

- -
reality, to furnish funds for the support of a set of itine-
rant mountebanks, for whom the whole affair has been

got up. We shall not attempt to characterise this flagrant
violation of the sacred name of charity, but pass it by

more in sorrow than in anger. !"Ti; strange 'tis pity
Pity 'as 'tis true." We should not have thought
that go close an imitation of the conduct of the Roman

emperor, whose memory all good men scorn, could
have emanated froth' the self-righteous and humane
friends of the suffering people, who ctirnpt

e the cotton-