4,64. 



Political Affairs in May. 



[June 1, 



benefit on the farming interest. This, 

 liowcTer, is a mere trifle in the mass of 

 ideas afloat. Time mellows and levels all 

 things; and we may well hope, that the 

 general adjustment of by-gone contiacts, 

 to a certain immediate standard, will. 



to 4s. 6(1.— Pork, 3s. Od. to 5».— Bacon, 

 3s. 4(i. to 4s. 4(1.— Raw fat, 2». %d. per 

 stone. 



Corn Exchange: —\V\\e?it, 42s. to 72«. 

 —Barley, S-is. to 44s.— Oats, 26s. to 33s. 

 — London price of best bread, 4lb. for 



due time, be followed by the settling of l()i(/.— Hay, o5s. to 90s.— Clover, do 



over-fertile and active brains to the ge- 60s. to 96s.— Straw, 4V.?. to 52s, 



nuine standard of common sense. Coals in the pool, Son. 6(1. to 41s. 6d. 



Smithjield:—Tieet', %. '2(1. to 4s. 4'/.- Middlesex ; Mity ^3. 

 Mutton, 3s, 4(/. to Is. 6(i,--Veal, 3s. 6(2. 



POLITICAL AFFAIRS IN MAY. 



GRE.\T BRITAIN. 



ALTHOUGH the present Session 

 of Parliament has been distin- 

 guished for much eloquence and exer- 

 tion, yet there is little eiiected for 

 record. The extraordinary conduct 

 of the Grand Juries of Dublin, in re- 

 jecting: Bills against some persons of 

 the Orange faction, who had insulted 

 the Lord Lieutenant, has led to an 

 enquiiy before the House of Com- 

 mons, in regard to the conduct of the 

 sherifi's in selecting or i)acking the 

 jury. The evidence is concluded, 

 but the House has not decided upon 

 it : but no doubt can remain, that 

 this is another instance which proves 

 that all sherifls should be compelled 

 to summon all jurors in exact rotation 

 from different parts of tlie jurisdiction. 

 Till a regulation of this kind take 

 place, no positive security is afforded 

 from trial by jury, and the pannel is 

 in danger of being vitiated at its 

 source. So dangerous a power ought 

 to be left to no public officer, as is now 

 exercised by sheriffs, and masters of 

 courts of law, or often by parish con- 

 stables, in summoning inquests. The 

 names should be taken in the exact 

 rotation of residence from not less than 

 three localities in the district. Why 

 should it not be so ? There can be no 

 otlier reason, than to aflb' d facilities to 

 packing, — to corruption, — to i)artiality, 

 — to undue influence,— and to destroy 

 the very essence of the jury system ! 



On the 20th Sir J. Mackintosh moved 

 certain resolutions, for a mitigation of the 

 severity of the criminal law ; and ooncluded 

 an able speech, by contending, that it was 

 perfectly reasonable, in questions relative 

 to criminal law, to appeal to the feelings of 

 mankind. There was no other viay of 

 ascertaining ihe wisdom of .such laws. It 

 was not declamation, it was human nature 

 itself, that rose up against them when they 

 provided punishments disproporiioned to 

 the crime. His object was to make penal 

 law the representative of the public con- 



science, and consistent with moral senti- 

 ment — to array the feelings of all men 

 against the dangerous criminal— to place 

 liini in that moral solitude which would set 

 every good man against him ; to separate 

 the punishment, however, from any taint of 

 cruelty that had the appearance of hard- 

 ness of heart. Mr. Peel agreed, that, in 

 some cases, the punishment of death might 

 be properly dispensed with; hut main- 

 tained, that it would be far better that spe- 

 cific and separate measures should be in- 

 troduced, than that the House should 

 pledge itself to sweeping and general de- 

 clarations. Mr. Buxton, Mr. Scarlett, 

 and Mr. K. Martin, supported the resolu- 

 tions, which wtue opposed by the Attor- 

 ney-General, and, on a division, lost by 

 86 against 76. 



The conflicting interests of the two 

 Indies have created questions relative 

 to East and West India sugars. 



On the t!2d Mr. JVhitmoie moved for a 

 Select Committee to inquire into the duties 

 on East and West India sugar, with the 

 view of equalizing such duties. He stated 

 that there weie two duties, one of tOs. and 

 the other of 5s. payable on sugar from the 

 East Indies, aijove what was imported 

 from the West Indies, which was a great 

 injustice to our subjects in Hiudostan ; 

 and, if persisted in, would produce conse- 

 quences which must render our dominion 

 over thent extremely insecure. The 

 opening of the ti ade with India had caused 

 a most extraordinary revolution in com- 

 meice; for, l»y it, a mart had been disco- 

 vered for British manufactures, on winch 

 nobody could have calculated before it 

 was actually found to exist. The exports 

 of woollen goods from Europe to India 

 amounted, in 1815, to I83,430i. but in 

 1822 amounted to 1,421,649<. Formerly, 

 also, we had imported certain cotton goods 

 from India ; now we were actually supply- 

 ing the natives with those articles at a 

 lower price than that for which they could 

 afford to mauufactuie them. In 1815, the 

 export of cotton goods to the eastward of 

 the Cape of Good Hope, amounted to 

 109,480/.; in the year 1822 they had 

 increased to 1,120,325/. We now im- 

 ported the raw material from India, and 



itent 



