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

THE LIVERPOOL POLYTECHNIC SOCIETY

The monthly meeting of this society took place on Friday
evening, at the lecture-room of the Royal Institution, in Col-
quitt-street, and was most respectably attended.
At the conclusion of the private business in the committee-
room, the members assembled in the lecture-room. and Mr.
ADIE read a long and interesting paper

ON VENTILATION.
The lecturer commenced by stating that he had no new
theories to advance, his sole object being to apply existing
laws to explain well known phenomena, most of the results he
was about to show being already no doubt attained by others
' whose attention had been drawn to the physical laws in force
for the maintenance of the wide extended necessities of life,
while all the results could be arrived at by any member of the
society who would direct his mind to their mode of action.
He proposed, first, to consider the chief ventilatory aera-
tory forces of the atmosphere ; secondly, the aeratory forces
of the ocean ; and thirdly, to endeavour to show what venti-
lation would have been in an atmosphere often by geologists
supposed to have existed round our globe at the commence-
ment of the first transmutation of the matter at its surface :
this was an aqueous atmosphere, the greater part being sup-
posed to consist of the vast waters now forming the
ocean. He bespoke the indulegence of his auditory.
inasmuch as his paper, previously written, was on the
solicitation of their indefatigable secretary, remodelled for
the occasion. He then proceeded to show that the atmos-
phere as to moisture, and consequently its conducting power
for caloric, governed to a considerable extent the diffusion of
the artificial gases given out at a temperature 20 or 30 de-
grees above the surrounding atmosphere; while it would be
found that gases thrown off at the existing temperature of the
soil, only obeyed one set of laws, whether they were elimi-
nated by the acts of men, or by the infinitely more extended
processes of nature. The laws which appeared to act as
direct age is in ventilating our atmosphere were, Ist, the law
for the diffusion of gases discovered by Dalton and Graham ;
2d, the winds now said by meteorologists to be of two kinds,
ascending currents, and impelled currents; 3d, the ascending
and descending currents of air, which show that in a serene
atmosphere the air derives its heat by contact with the earth ;
4th, the elastic state of the atmosphere; and sth, evapora-
tion. Proceeding to diese heads the lecturer furnished a
most ingenious exposition of the laws regulating ventilation,
but we regret that the subject is of so extended a nature that
justice cannot be done to it within the circumscribed limits
of a newspaper, particularly at a time when political subjects
almost exclusively occupy the public mind. Suffice it, for
the present to say, that he displayed great research and in-
genuity in his expositions, which he couched in language at
once select and comprehensive, showing the relative powers
of diffusion of the various gases, natural and artificial, the 1
winds prevailing in different parts of the world, the diffusion
of chaloric, the electric forces, evaporation, seasons, climate,
currents of the ocean, &c., quoting the most distinguished
authorities, explaining several phenomena, and expressing a
hope that the study of the subject would lead practical scien-
tific men to the most beneficial results, in introducing an im-
proved and effective system of ventilation of towns and
public buildings.
An interesting discussion took place, in which several gen-
tlemen took part, and which elicited some satisfactory ex-
planations from the lecturer, who was listened to with great
attention, and sat down amidst much applause.

ON THE RISE, PROGRESS, AND EXTENSION OF TUE
ALPACA MANUFACTURES.
_

Mr. William Danson, wool broker, of the firm of Ed-
wards, Danson and Company, of this town, read a very
interesting paper on this subject, for the origin of which,
he stated, the members were indebted to the late secretary of
the society, Mr. Dirks, who had urged him to the present
essay three months ago. He furnished a succinct view of the
manufacture from the introduction of the wool to the present
time, and exhibited many beautiful silky specimens, in various
articles of wearing apparel. The article was first introduced
as a marketable fabric by Mr. Benjamin Outram, a venerable
and scientific manufacturer of Greetland, near Halifax, who.
twelve or fourteen years ago, sold it in the form of ladies'
carriage shawls and cloakings, as curiosities. He had spe-
cially to order the wool from Peru, and it could then be ob-
tained only at high prices, so that half a square of the cloth
sold for from £3 to £4. Several of the specimens exhibited
had been in constant wear for upwards of eleven years. For
two years the manufacture was necessarily limited. About
1832 his (Mr. D.'s) opinion was taken as to the properties
and capabilities of the article, and he advised his merchant,
Mr. J. J. Hegan, of the firm of Messrs. Hegan, Hall, and
Co., of this town, that it might be safely imported at certain
prices, and if supplied in large quantities would become an
article of general use in our manufactures. Those gentlemen
consequently wrote to their own house in Peru to buy and
contract for all they could procure, at an unlimited price, and
the official account of the subsequent imports from that coun-
try was as follows :

From Islay. From Arlen.
Quintals. Quintals.
1834
1835 1834
1836..
1837 3858
1838 , 4593
1839...,...... 8555 4700
1840 l3OOO 3500

32,996 8,200
Being a total of 41,196 quintals, of 1001 b. each, which was
4,200,0001 b. ; and in 1841 there had been imported into Li.
verpool probably about 2,000,0001 b., as in February alone
1,000,000 was introduced. Some also was brought to Eng-
land from France and America, and during the above period
a good deg was imported as sheepa' wool and llama wool ;
so that within 7 years fully 8 millions of pounds had been im-
ported, constituting the foundation of the alpaca manufac-
tures, the fabrics of which are now in such general use. The
stocks of the raw material accumulated until 1839, when a
speculative demand eased the market of perhaps £50,000
value at 2s. to 2s. 6d. per lb.,—the manufacture still going
steadily on,—when in September of that year the subject was
brought before the British Association, at Rirmingham,
where specimens of its manufacture, black as jet (without
dye), were exhibited, and tested by Mr. Addams. lecturer on
chemistry, So„ who stated that the natural black colour
co:mid not be pharkged by chemical action.
Foreseeing the impossibility of obtaining anything like an
adequate supply of the raw material from Peru to satisfy the
demand of our manufacturers, his (Mr. D.'s) attention was
directed to the importation of the animals; and the subject
was brought before the Natural History Society in that
Royal Institution, from whose deliberations emanated the
publication of' the pamphlet on the Naturalisation of the
Alpaca," patronised and sanctioned by the Earl of Derby,
who had declared his unqualified opinion that the animal
might be climatised in this country, for the benefit of our
manufactures. Copies of the pamphlet might be had at Mr.
Wareing Webb's, Castle-street, a gentleman who, himself
from Birmingham, and connected with the nobility in the
midland districts, appreciated the value and importance of
the subject, by patronising the society ; and four living spe-
cimens of alpacas were exhibited at the Liverpool Mechanics'
Institution in July 1840, as well as at the meeting of the
British Association., in Glasgow, in the same year.
In 1840 and 1841 the alpaca mßrinfactures made the most
rapid progress, and he now came to the epoch of its esta-
blishment as a national staple manufacture. In 1839 the
yarns of alpaca were regularly sent to the French manufac-
turers, who employed them in their fabrics in imitation of
silk, they being very much cheaper ; and its use was obser-
vable in the goods retailed in many of the towns and cities of
the Continent, as recently noticed in the Athenceurn. One
manufacturer alone was using the wool weekly in quantities
amounting to nearly double the annual production, accord-
ing to the statistical table given, as the exports quoted were
the accumulation of many years. Looking, therefore, to
the extension of our alpaca manufactures, we must seek in
.vain to find an adequate supply from Peru, the animals being
chiefly concentrated in one district, a great distance from the
shipping ports, Islay and Arica being the only twn from
which any Alpaca wool had been eported. In Lima and
Valparaiso the animals were go scarce, that they were con-
sidered curiosities, as in fingland.
The alpaca manufactures were extending in Scotland as
well as in Ireland. He (Mr. D.) had letters from Inver-
ness, in the north of Scotland, for yarns, to beautify the
Scotch tartan manufactures ; and also from the county of
Kerry (in the south of Ireland,) where the refuse of alpaca
wool was spun by the mountaineers into hosiery and other
fabrics. Thus were the alpaca manufactures extending
rapidly throughout Great Britain.
" Every thing," said Mr. Danson, " has been done by the
wool stapler and manufacturer to depreciate the raw material,
in consequence of the badness of the times, and the difficulty
of selling goods; yet the alpaca manufactures command a
free sale in the London, Yorkshire, Manchester, Paisley,
and Glasgow maricpto ,• and 'the fabrics In Mouselin-de-
laine, Chusan crapes, ohene, cloakings, ' Norwich novelties
de sersenet,' hosiery, coats, surtouts, cravats, vests, and
fringes, as well as mixing with sewing silks, and other in-
numerable articles are of this fine material, exhibiting the
skill and enterprise of the British manufacturer."
He next noticed the difficulties attending the dyeing of de-
licate colours in this wool—such as royal blues, scarlet,
greens, and oranges, and which has been completely over-
come, from time to time, as indicated by the different and
beautiful colours in the pattsrns of mouseline-de-laine, and
ladies' dresses. One of the latter was exhibited, and cost
only 50s. The royal blue was a splendid specimen ; some of
them had been in use in his family for four years. He then
showed 24 Peruvian costume drawings, just received from a
friend at Arica, in which the colours of the qaments were
beautiful. The alpaca seemed by nature to be provided for
the protection of man, as well a.; of itself, from the in-
cessant torrents of rain that fell periodically in the mountains
of the Andes. He also exhibited a species of baize made in
England, to supercede the alpaca domestic manufactures of
the country, and considered it only fair that we should take
their fine soft wool in exchange. He showed a variety of
vests, stocks, &c., of the alpaca, which had been in wear for
years, and which appeared as rich and glossy as silk,
and exceedingly durable ; also specimens of the wool in
its raw state, including a sample (staple) of black, taken
from a black alpaca, exhibited at the Royal I,l7rnglish
Agricultural Show here, in July last, belonging to earl Der-
by, ,and Mr. Foot, his lorckhipi,a farm-agent, stated that
this animal had IT lb. of wool- (alpaca) on it, which is now
worth 2s. 6d. per lb., and very saleable; whereas the usual ave-
rage of the fleece of a Scotch sheep is but 6 lbs., and the value
of it 4icl. per lb., and bad to sell. The alpaca wool alluded
to appeared to be upwards of a foot in length of staple. A
dozen specimens of beautifully figured shawls were also ex-
hibited, splendidly worked in flowers. These were only 163.
each, and black and other colours of figured and plain alpatia
manufactures, called Orleans cloths, value 2s. to s. per yard,
in imitation of silk, well calculated for ladies' dresses : but
the shopkeepers did not know. them as alpaca manufacture.
Mr. Danson concluded by inviting the company to an in-
spection of the different articles, which were examined with
much interest, and excited great interest.

GRANT'S PATENT FUEL.
Mr. B. PLATT brought forward some samples of Grant's
Patent Fuel, which is composed of anthracite coal and mi-
neral pitch, and moulded into bricks, one pound of which is
expected to evaporate eight pounds of water. He stated that
there were no coals in this neighbourhood suitable for this
manufacture, the best he had used were raised by Messrs.
Tayleur and Co., and one pound of which, by the admiralty
test evaporated Gibs. lloz. of water. From a F,e1*.13 of experi-
ments made, he stated that he had ob,tained the greatest heat
from an admixture of anthracite ooal, coke, and mineral
pitch. This, he considered, would be the best and most effec-
tual fuel, and would evaporate more water than Grant's
Patent.

The public business of the evening being now concluded
the members retired to the committee room, and partook
of tea and coffee before separating.
The forthcoming papers announced are :—On Flame.—On
Iron as applicable to ship building.—On Geology, as appli-
cable to the obtaining of permanent building materials.—On
Rotary Steam Engines.—On Hanging Iron Gates.—On
Climate.

The half-yearly meeting of the Lomlen and Birmingham
Railway Company took place on Fiiday, when n dividend of
41 per cent. for the half-year was declared.

LOVE IN A UNION.-A. woman with several children, ail
belonging to the parish of Olney, was a few months since ere
inmate of the union workhouse at Newport-Pagnell ; in the
same domicile, with three children, was a blind man—" Love's
blind they say,"—belonging to the parish of Lavendon.
After a residence there some time, a professional gentleman
from London applied to the governor to see the woman, and
ultimately succeeded in obtaining for her £4OO or £5OO to
which she was legally entitled. No sooner in possession of
her property than she sent for the blind man to London, pail
his passage, and married him immediately ! Thus, Love.
thou art confined to no rank or station : splendid palaces and
luxurious enjoyments, as well as poor-law bastiles and pauper
privations, all own thy despotic sway as omnipotent and
everlasting.—Bucks Gazette.

CORRESPONDENCE.

STIPENDIARY MAGISTRATES

TO THE EDITOR OF THE LIVERPOOL STANDARD

Stu,—When a gentleman of high legal acquirements, wt.
draws annually on our townspeople for fifteen hundre
pounds, condescends to feel himself aggrieved at a suppose:
imputation of partisanship, it is a matter of difficulty, as w•el,
as of danger, to express publicly certain feelings of dislike to
his occupancy of the first form in the school of the new po-
lice, though such dislike separates itself from anything per-
sonal.

If stipendiary magistrates arc such a blessing, suppose,
Mr. Editor, that you or I were appointed to the chair of
our public office to-morrow : suppose that, being vested with
all the powers belonging to such an office, the chief of which
would be to administer the law as it is, and, where the law
provides not, to do justice to all men, according to the best
of our judgment, one of us entered on its duties : would
there be anything in the principles; we carried with us into
our new situation, for the professem and practice of which
the common council selected us for it, that our situation
would make us ashamed of ? Truly I think not. if as
conscientious Roman Catholics we had been selected, and
as such entered on our duties, considering, in the true spirit
of the papacy, that no oath was binding that was against the
interests of our church ; should we for a moment relinquish
what we conscientiously believed, though, in the same spirit
of the papacy, for the furtherance of the same interests, we
might feel it prudent to conceal, yea occasionally to deny it?
Or, would not our consciences revolt against us, if, where it
might be done with safety, we forbore to let our belief influ-
ence our decisions ? I trow not. If as sincere Socinians we
had been selected, with an avowed disbelief of a fallen spirit
as the chief agent of wickedness, a natural proneness in every
man to evil, a hell for the reception of the workers of ini-
quity, or a Saviour who is God and man in one Christ ;
could we throw off our disbelief for the sake of our office,
and act in a manner contrary thereto—that is, by letting our
disbelief sway our decisions against our consciences? Could
we so act without insincerity? Surely not. And if as con-
scientious Protestant churchmen, who reverence the Bible,
and all laws resting in their better parts on the infallible
Word of God, differing in our belief and in our disbelief
from the Roman Catholic and the Socinian in the particulars
already named, we had been selected for the place ; would
we give up our convictions for any man, or be ashamed to
let them dictate to our judgment in our public capacity ?
Never—nay, God forbid !
With our convictions as conscientious Protestant church-
men, we believe in such things as false witnesses and fallible
magistrates. As to both of these, numerous intimations
abide in the Book of God : there, indeed, we read of corrupt
magistrates, of unjust judges, of men whose office it was to
administer the law acting contrary to the law ; and all his-
tory since Scripture times reiterates the same truths" As
Christians, we believe that there is bet a man upon earth
that doeth good and sinneth not; neither magistrates nor
kings are exempted from this propensity ; a natural prone-
ness to evil abides with them as well as the rest of mankind.
With the appointment of stipendiary magistrates in our hands,
then, our selection should be made from such whose qualifi-
cations of grace to execute justice and to maintain truth, •
respond to our consciences ; as it is plain such appointments,
affecting in a high degree the happiness and the misery of
thousands, involve awful responsibilities.
If we believe that true repentance, whereby men forsake
sin, is the gift of the Almighty—as we must believe if we
believe in Christianity at all—it will appear that no punish-
ment, in those flagrant cases of iniquity which, from the si-
knee of the Bible or our own laws, are left to magisterial
discretion, can avail to work that permanent cure by which
alone society can be benefitted, or tyranny excluded from a
severe infliction respecting them. A magistrate ought in all
such cases to instruct before he inflicts, or to give opportu-
nity for instruction before he punishes ; yet there seems an
absence of this disposition to instruct about our public office,
and a presence of a disposition to punish, which cannot but
force painful reflections into exercise in every feeling mind.
There is no law respecting the punishment of a drunkard
in the Bible, and it is difficult to say if the laws of England
provide a punishment for drunkenness, beyond the infliction
of a fine, or, in the event of its not being paid, a putting in
the stocks for six hours. Now the latter, considered as a
substitute for an unpaid fine—where a payment of it, or an
imprisonment of three days, has a tendency, by emptying
their cupboard, to punish a poor drunkard's unoffending fa-
mily—is an excellent provision ; and, I must say, would have
availed quite as much to the suppression of drunkenness, if
not much more, than the introduction of an imprisonment
of half a week in the Borough Gaol : especially as, at the
time of its introduction, the conduct of the then governor
and chaplain thereto rendered any prospect of amendment
under their discipline truly ridiculous. I believe this impri-
sonment is still inflicted. I must farther say, that if I were
a common-councilman, I would do all in my power to unseat
the person who persisted in it ; not but that I hate drunken-
ness, but because its suppression in this way does not appear
to me to be either merciful, politic, or altogether legal.
As Christian Englishmen, we are free to think that if a
magistrate gives not a prisoner at the bar, or a defendant un-
der a summons, every opportunity of eliciting the truth from
an accuser or a witness, that magistrate acts most unfairly.
It is not merely because it is fairplay such persons ought to
have this privilege ;—it is because that the histories of Jo-
seph, of Moses, and of others, speak of false witness—it is
because the reading of the ninth commandment in the deca-
logue every Sabbath, supposes the continuance of it day by
day—it is because the wisest judge that ever graced a judg-
ment seat, made frequent mention of it in his proverbs—it is
because the history of modern times assures us that, under
certain circumstances, no oath can be considered binding on
a Papist—it is because a Socinian witness can perjure him-
self without the troublesome contemplation of the burning
lake before his eyes—and it is because it was a privilege writ-
ten in the statute book with the blood of reformers—that
such persons ought to have it. I say this much by way of
introduction to an illustration, contained in the following
case, which, for certain reasons, I put in the subjunctive
mood. If it occurred in Liverpool, a notice of it here will
only serve to show what serious injustice may be done to an
innocent person's reputation when their legal privileges are
withheld, and how persons, who choose to tell falsehoods
ppon oath, may escape. _

. .
A certain wife, whose subsequent conduct prove her not
the most truth-telling woman in existence, summoned her
husband before a certain stipendiary magistrate, ostensibly
for an assault, but in reality with a view to obtain a separate
maintenance, on the plea of ill-usage. She bore not the
slightest mark of violence that-was apparent ; but her state-
ment, on oath, was to the effect that her " back was black"
from some blows inflicted upon her. The husband, in his
defence, insisted that she should show her back to the court
—(this might have been done privately);—but the magistrate
refused, fined him, and held him to bail, and, as may be sup-
posed, the complainant's object was accomplished. Now,
had there been no blackness, or traces of blackness, on the
person sworn, her complaint would in some degree have been
shewn to be a conspiracy, and the case ought to have been
dismissed : but the decision being contrary to a dismissal,
what a wound was given to the defendant's character ! If it
might be true that Mr. Rushton was the magistrate, who, it
appears, is as sensitive of his own character as anybody else,
let him think that he will never retain "his place on the bench
he now occupies with that man's good will. But then this
case may be, after all, supposititious.
I have little more to add now. lam a conservative, and,
as I do not know that conservatism contains anything wrong,
would, if electel to the stipendiary magistrate's place by a
majority of conservatives, carry my conservatism with me as
my proudest badge. I am confident that, if so elected, my
liberal friends would never give me credit for one impartial
decision, nor should I expect it. On the contrary, if I was
elected as a conscientious radical, and knew radicalism to
contain nothing wrong, I should never be ashamed of the
principles derived from it being apparent in everything I did:
but if," being a radical, I knew radicalism contained some-
thing wrong, I would either disavow it altogether, or resign
my situation. Therefore, with these views of the subject,
giving him every credit for distinguished abilities, for private
worth, for decisions in which I agree--(yet disagreeing with
him in many of his decisions),—for an excellent judgment in
the general—(though in some particulars there appears to me
to be errors in judgment),—and, on the whole, feeling to-
wards him as I would feel towards a parliamentary or local
candidate of opposite opinions, where the dizierence was too
great to allow of a conscientious assent of support, even in
the best arranged matters, A should like to see a successor
to our present stipendiary magistrate. I remain, sir, your's
respectfully, C.
Fehruar, VIA, 1842,

THE PROTESTANT OPERATIVES

TO THE EDITOR OF THE LIVERPOOL STANDARD.

Sin,—l trust a few words from a humble operative will
not be refused admission into your valuable paper, or deemed
impertinent to ears polite, for our objects must, I think, be
the same, although there may be some difference.% between
us in the mode of going about it. We must all wish to pre-
serve entire our glorious constitution in church and state,
and, although our high mercantile conservatives may place
ships, colonies, and commerce as their motto, 1 trust we
humble men, although quite as much interested in the pre-
servation of them as any others can be, are not out of order
in looking higher, and taking " the preservation of our glo-
vions constitution in church and state," and " the Protestant
religion and the liberties of England," as our mottoes. A
little injustice is done to us when it is surmised that we would
not care for creating a split in the camp to carry our point.
Undoubtedly, if a bad Protestant was brought forward, we
should not consider we were stepping beyond our Christian
privilege in withholding our votes from such a man ; but in
minor matters, of course, we feel hound to submit to those
more competent to judge, and who, from their standing in
society, we would look np. to as our superiors. I, for one,
would frankly z.dmit that, in the late case, I was not for some
time aware of the soundness of our present worthy member's
vipwa as a Protestant; but immediately that this was known,
any attempt at opposition ceased. Although the Protestant
operatives, as a body, would like to see something more done
than to " preserve that which remains," they would like to
correct our past errors, and put right what we 'nave done
wrong. For instance, the Maynooth grant is wrong in prin-
ciple, and it has failed in its proposed objects ; therefore
would we say, " stop the grant, or, at any rate, move for
" a committee of inquiry..' The Irish education scheme,
we see, has worked badly : the same plan we so dislike in
our own town, that we have, thank God, got rid of it, and the
xne.n upholding it ; therefore we would say of the scheme in
Ireland, get rid of it, give the people the Bible, the whole
Bible. Again, churches, we see, are wanting, and public
money can be granted for other less important matters ;
therefore we would say, encourage those who are so liberally
subscribing to build churches, by meeting them with a grant
of public money. These are, I think 1 may say, the views
of a very large body of the operatives of Liverpool, and I do
think while their objects and desires, so holy and so just, are
properly and respectfully addressed, they are fairly entitled
to some consideration, and should not be treated with that
disparagement, and, must say, contempt, which some few
of our conservatives are inclined to treat them. We ask no-
thing c.f these gentlemen ; we labour for our earnings, and
era content to- receive the earnings for our labour; and, al-
though we do think that we might expect to have the advan-
tage of the business of our conservative leaders, in preference
to the hordes of papists now employed by them, we do not
even urge this point ; but we do hope to be treated with some
degree of respect. Worse conduct than we have experienced
from a few of our great conservatives we never received from
our radical leaders, even when we were ourselves blind lead-
ers of the blind ; and I must, with humility, give my opinion
that such conduct is doing, and will do, serious injury to the
cause which we have all so, much at heart. I beg to remain,
gentlemen, your obedient,
AN OPERATIVE PROTESTANT.

r.S.--1 must, in conclusion, thank you, Mr. Editor, in
the name of my brother operatives, for your noble article in
the STANDARD. of Friday last, and I really think it would be
found, upon examination, that the operatives are not the worst
amongst the supporters of your truly Protestant paper.

Mmi. TO LANCASTFR.—Arrangements are in course of
being made for establishing a daily mail coach from Newcas-
tle-upon-Tyne to Lancaster, by Durham, the Aucklands,
Staindrop, Barnard Castle, Bowes, Staimnore, Brough, Kir-
by Stephen, Sedbergh, and Kirkby Lonsdale, and so openin4
out an important communication with Liverpool, Manches-
ter, and all parts of the west and south of Englarka, as well,
as Ireland and Wales. The Lord Exmouth cniAch has long
been the only conveyance through this district, and save the
Newcastle and Carlisle Railwry, the only means of crossing
the country between the east and west coasts. The Post=
office authorities have made arrangements with the proprie-
tors for converting the coach into a mail, and it will leave
Newcastle about raid-day and Lancaster on the arrival of the
London train at eight in the morning.

SECOND EDITION.

Standard-office, Elevcn o'clock

HOUSE OF COMMONS-LAST NIGHT

CORN QUESTION

On the motion that the Speaker do leave the chair,
Lord JOHN RUSSELL said he felt he should be very ill
fulfilling his duty did he trouble the house with any prefatory
remarks on a subject of this importance. The first minister
of the Crown had come down with a proposition. The cry
was no longer "No surrender." The question was merely
as to the terms of capitulation. (Loud cheers.) It was im-
portant that if a change were made it should be made upon
sound principles—it was important that it should be satisfac-
tory to the people, and of such a character as at once to
cause the cessation of agitation. Although it might be wise
to concede, yet when concession was made it should be made
with a view to conciliation and settlement. To disturb and
not to adjust (loud cheers) would be the most imprudent
course the government could propose or the parliament
adopt. (Cheers.) He thought it necessary, however trou-
blesome, to state as briefly as he could the general principles
which he thought ought to guide our legislation on this sub-
ject. It would be, perhaps, argued that the general principle
was one of not legislating at all upon the subject. The ques-
tion as a general one was a question merely in relation to
purchaser and seller. Legislation had no place in the
subject. The community themselves were the best
judges as regarded production and sale. This was a
generally acknowledged principle, although one that
was greatly violated in practice. There was no ge-
neral principle, however, without some exceptions.
A question of this sort would be regulated by the
cost of production. If it was found that there were extraor-
dinary burthens on the producers, there would, of course, be
certain protections tending particularly to relieve the pro-
ducers of the weight of these extreme burthens. But with
regard to the proposition now before the house, although it
might be applicable to some isolated state, how could it
possibly be considered to be applicable to a principle of inde-
pendence. Whenever England had fed herself without
foreign supply, there had been loud complaints of agricultu-
ral distress. But even if she had enough food within her
own resources, it would be a dangerous measure to reject all
foreign drafts if commerce were thereby checked. In his
opinion a nation should rely upon the natural operations of
commerce. The proposition now made maintained the
principle of a sliding scale, and also the principle of a
high duty. Now, the first objection he took to a sliding
scale was, that it always kept up a prohibitory duty.
What was the first item in this scale? A duty of 20s. was
to be imposed when the price was under 525. The latest
documents they had on the subject were those the consuls
returned. They showed that the prices at Dantzic and Stettin
were about 40s. to 435., the freight about 3s. Another ac-
count stated it at 40s. to 445., the rreight about 3s. Another
account stated it at 40s. to 445., and the charges at 4s. to
ss. Gd. This would make the price 455. Gd. What was the
duty to be here ?-20s. ; a sum which was, in point of fact,
a prohibitory duty. At Odessa the price was 265., and the
charges about 10s. But the duty here of wheat was 205.,
so that even in this case the duty would be prohibitory.
He did hope we had come to a period in this ques-
tion when something more might be done than to make
a show of doing justice to the people. The noble lord
then proceeded to say that in whatever way the averages
were taken the quality of the corn was still unknown.
For it had been shown that when the averages at two periods
were the same, and the duties the same, there was still a great
difference in the price of corn to the consumer. Another
defect in the system was that it often caused a contraction
of the currency. The system of prohibition at one minute,
and of admission the next, could not but aggravate such an
evil. Another evil was, that frauds could not be prevented
under the system. The most serious evil was, that it confined
the supplies to the north of Europe. If corn were brought
from more distant countries, in all probability when it arrived
it could not be sold at a remunerating price, and thus thecar-
goes were thrown on the bands of the merchant. The United
States of America were by this system precluded from trading
extensively with us in corn. The great population of the
States cultivated immense tracts of arable land, and if they
could afford to send their corn to this country they could not
but be glad to rceive our manufactures. They there had
an opportunity of extending their commerce ; but as long as
the sliding scale existed the Americans would think it a gam-
bling and an uncertain trade. He thought it monstrous that
they should now be legislating not equally for all countries.
The produce of the world was open to them, and they need
not fear a frequent scarcity. He proposed a moderate fixed
duty. Such a duty had been recommended by persons of
great authority. By Mr. Malthus, by Mr. Ricardo, and
Mr. M'Culloch. The committee of 1821, comprising many
men eminent in agriculture, recommended a moderate fixed
duty. That committee expressed a doubt whether the only
solid foundation on which agriculture should rest was not the
absence of protection or prohibition for the application of ca-
pital in evert- branch of industry. Mr. Huskisson, in his
speech in 1830, doubted whether in the present amount of
taxation the corn laws could be continued. He (Lord J.
Russell) had proposed, that in case of scarcity, there should
be a discretionary power in the crown to open the ports.
(Ministerial cheers.) That which was really important was,
that there should be aconstant trade; that corn should never
be shut out, and at a certain price it should be let in more
easily. There was another point to which he would refer.
It was the distress which existed in the manufacturing
districts both in England and Scotland. The right hon.
gentleman said that the corn laws did not cause the dis-
tress. lie (Lord John Russell) thought those laws had,
however, aggravated it. The major part of the wages of
the labouring classes was spent in the purchase of corn.
If then they had a freer admission of foreign corn these
classes, being able to purchase food at a cheaper rate,
would consume more manufactures. The right honourable
gentleman thought that the distress was caused by over
protection, increase of machinery, and other causes.
That was not according to his (Lord John Russell's) belief
the true cause. As to the increase of machinery lessening
employment,thought
that
some
mweasreld
welli knownmig tboeboebatafianledlaeyb.y
a The
eanpgee in
people
these laws. If the house did not grant a total repeal, they
should meet their wishes by a material alteration. The
right honourable gentleman said that an alteration of these
laws would not improve the condition of the people. (Hear.)
That he (Lord Russell) believed, certainly, as regarded the
proposed measure of the government. (Opposition cheers.)
lie thought they could not legislate to any purpose unless
they rejected that measure. They could then consider the
wishes of the people and the burdens affecting agriculture
and the interests of every other class. If, however, the
measure of the government were carried, discontent would
reign in England, and the people would attribute to their
representatives a bias towards the agricultural interests, and
with a partial view to their own advantage. (Loud cheers.>
It was his hope, however, that they would make a decision
for the benefit of the whole community of Great Britain. The
noble lord then concluded by the motion of which he had
given notice.

Mr. GLADSTONE then rose to reply, and was left speaking,

TIME AND TIDE WILL STAY FOR NO MAN!

0, Y 1 MORTALS!

After the late great storm was hushed and finished, I came
on the sea shores of Liverpool, and took an hour's view of
that old place ! ! Your town-hall be very, very handsome,
truly ! If good old "King Foster" be alive, give my love to,
him, for he had a hand in that nice, fine building, as well as
in my docks, and other property along the strand.
Ilut why cannot ye agree, according unto right, in plans
for my new docks ? All I want there be this : plenty, plenty
of good sea room, and great despatch in completing the work.
For do ye think I can spare those old possessions for a tedious
course of years? Nay ! Nay ! I consent but to one or two
summers, and no longer. Take heed, and agree amongst ye,
speedily. Forty old merchants meet together, and each have
two votes who has lived for sixty years. Then will I be in
good humour again, and your ships shall sail in safety from
sea to sea, and unto the world's end !

THY KINGDOM COME

BY ELIZA COOK

Tis human lot to

The common ills of human lii
There's not a breast but hath it

Of bitter pain and vexing strife
The peasant in his lowly shed—

The noble 'neath a gilded dome—
Each will at some time bow his head,
And ask and hope " Thy Kingdom come

When some deep sorrow, surely slow,
Despoils the cheek and eats the heart,
Laying our busy projects low,
And bidding all earth's dreams depart,—
Do we not smile and calmly turn
From the wide world's tumultuous hum,
And feel the immortal essence yearn,
Rich with the thought, "Thy Kingdom come

The waves of care may darkly bound
_ And buffet, till, our strength outworn,

We stagger as they gather round,
All shattered, weak, and tempest-torn

's a lighthouse

ms to a s

It safely guides throu
It shines

est tides

gdom come

To gaze upon the lov'd in death,
To mark the closing beamless ey

This—this is life's worst agony.
But God, too merciful, too wise
To leave the lorn one in despair,
Whispers, while snatching those we prize,
"My Kingdom come!" Ye'!! meet them there