1843.] 
THE GARDENERS 
CHRONICLE. 
63 
19th, and was numerously attended. The chair was occu- | 
pied by Mr. George Wilson, the president of the council. 
Mr. Thornely, M.P., gave an account of his recent visit 
to the United States. He said he had made an abstract 
of the reduction which had taken place on several articles 
of American exports, and, when he visited Washington, 
he presented one of the written statements he had so 
drawn out to the President, assuring him that in many 
respects those reductions would increase the trade and 
commerce between the two countries. The President, who 
was an agreeable, light-hearted man, immediately replied, 
that he saw not how the Americans could ship corn to 
England under the existing corn-laws, and added—‘ 1 
wonder you do not take our Indian corn, but I have heard 
your horses would not eat our American Indian corn.” 
He (Mr. Thornely) assured him that he was in error upon 
this point, inasmuch as the English horses evinced more 
wisdom than their masters, because they ate all the 
Indian corn laid before them. It was well known that in 
the last session of Congress the Americans had been im- 
posing duties on imported goods; but this fact made him 
the more anxious to bring about a repeal of the Corn-laws, 
in order to affect the commercial legislation of the United 
States, because the Congress at present sitting would 
come to an end upon the 4th of March, and because it 
was confidently believed that the future Congress would 
be iderabl re fi ble to free trade.— Mr, 
Ricardo, M.P., then addressed the meeting. He said, that 
@ would not oppose the corn monopoly a whit more 
strenuously than he would oppose any other that might 
appen to exist. He would oppose any attempt to create 
4 monopoly for the cotton manufacturer or the potter by 
restrictive laws. He believed that no restrictive laws 
were required, and that any enterprise which depended on 
protection for support was resting on a rotten foundation. 
He believed that the first effect of the repeal of the Corn- 
laws would be to throw bad lands out of cultivation, and 
that “ protection’ meant high rents. He wished that this 
objectionable word had been blotted out from the tariff 
altogether ; and he asked} how it came that we had aban- 
doned the system by which we had become wealthy? He 
contended that all nations were free-traders in the outset ; 
that subsequently they abandoned the principle ; and that 
it then took years of struggle and sacrifice to regain their 
Position. He believed that Sir R. Peel would help the 
League if he dared. He could not believe that a states- 
man of Sir Robert’s experience and unquestionable ability 
could be blind to the fact that some further development 
Was necessary to be given to our- resources and industry. 
he meeting was subsequently addressed by Mr. Moore, 
Mr. Rawson, Mr. Brookes, and Mr. Brotherton, M.P. 
Newcastle—On Friday last the inhabitants of New- 
castle entertained Mr. Cobden, Colonel Thompson, and 
Mr. John Bright, the deputation from the League, with 
Mr. J. Wilson, at a public soirée. The hall was crowded, 
and the gallery was occupied by a large number of inha- 
bitants. The committee had issued 500 tea-tickets, 
which were bought up with unusual rapidity, and were all 
disposed of by Thursday; on Friday they were at a pre- 
tTium, At the doors there were hundreds of applicants, 
ager to obtain admission by money payments. The 
total number present amounted to upwards of 1,000, 
Of whom about 200 were ladies, Sir John Fife presided, 
After the usual preliminary business, it was resolved— 
“That this meeting, convinced of the injustice and im- 
Policy of all restrictions on the importation of food for 
the people, and of all taxes which, under the guise of pro- 
tection to one class of the community, inflict a robbery 
“pon every other, applaud the zealous efforts of the Na- 
tional Anti Corn Law League for the total and immediate 
repeal of the Corn Laws, and warmly welcome to New- 
castle the distinguished members of its council now pre- 
Sent, namely, R. Cobden, Esq., M.P. for Stockport, Col. 
‘Thompson, of London, John. Bright, Esq., of Rochdale, 
and James Wilson, Esq., of London.’ The meeting was 
then addressed by these gentlemen at considerable length, 
n the different questions connected with free-trade, and 
With the proceedings and prospects of the League. 
Portsmouth.—A Court-Martial was held on Tuesday on 
board her Majesty’s ship Camperdown, for the trial of 
Lieut. H, Winthrop, the Commander, and the officers and 
crew of H.M.’s steamer Spitfire, for losing that vessel on 
the Half-Moon Kays Rock, off Belize, on the night of the 
10th September. Captain W. H. Sheriff, superintendent 
of Chatham Dockyard, presided. After examining several 
Witnesses and hearing the statement of the Commander, 
the President informed Lieut. Winthrop that the members 
Of the Court, having duly considered the evidence brought 
before them, had come to the unanimous decision that he 
ad done all that could be expected under the circum- 
Stances, and that it was by no fault of his that the vessel 
had been lost, and that they did, therefore, fully acquit 
im, his officers, and crew, of all blame, He had great 
Pleasure in returning him his sword, and was much grati- 
fied at the testimony which had been given of his firmness 
after the disaster, and his successful exertions in saving 
€ lives of those placed under his charge. 
., Preston.—As an instance of the progress of machinery, 
Me Js stated that the principal manufacturing concern in 
this town will, after the whole of the contemplated im- 
Provements are completed, have, besides other machinery, 
1,440 power-looms, each of which will be able to produce 
Geely six pieces of 25 yards, making a weekly aggregate 
et 122 miles and 280 yards of cloth. Another account of 
» the same kind states that Mr. Atkinson, the rope-manu- 
Fecturer of this town, has received an order from the 
Amiralty to manufacture 75,000 fathoms, or 85 miles 
ae Yards, of line for Sir E, Belcher, of the Samarang, 
§ On an exploring expedition. : 
G Shefield.—The Yorkshire papers continue to give long 
“counts of the stoppage of the Sheffield Old, Bank, 
known as the firm of Messrs. Parker, Shore, and Co. 
There seems to be no doubt that their stoppage was 
caused by the decay of the trade of the town. When the 
wera of bad trade commenced, many of their customers 
were in debt, and they took securities which, a few years 
ago, would have been considered ample, but which now, 
for want of trade, have sunk so low that they will not 
fetch half their original value. The favourable circum- 
stance in the event of the week is, that the other banks of 
the town have escaped a run. They are stated to have 
been well prepared to have stood the panic. The liabili- 
ties of Messrs. Parker and Co. are stated at about 
600,000/., and the apparent assets at 725,000/., but the 
latter sum does not include bad debts. At a public 
meeting of the merchants, manufacturers, and other inha- 
bitants, on the 16th inst., the Master Cutler in the chair, 
a resolution was ly adopted, exp ing an e 
tire and unabated confidence in all the banks at present 
existing in Sheffield. 
St. dsaph.—A meeting of the freeholders of the county 
of Denbigh, convened and presided over by the High 
Sheriff, was held at Ruthin, on Saturday last, to petition 
Parliament for the repeal of the Act passed in the late 
reign, which proposes to unite in one Bishopric the pre- 
sent Sees of St. Asaph and Bangor. Resolutions were 
moved and seconded by Viscount Dungannon, Hon. W. 
Bagot, Sir Watkin Williams Wynn, Mr. Mainwaring, 
M.P., and other gentlemen, and a petition to both Houses 
of Parliament against the proposed union of the two 
dioceses and the alienation of their revenues to Manches- 
ter was adopted. The local papers state that the Lord 
Lieutenant and all the resident gentry are unanimous in 
their opposition to the measure, and that nearly every 
parish in the county has petitioned Parliament against it. 
A meeting to the same effect has also been held at Cam- 
bridge, and a petition adopted against the union of the 
two Sees. 
Wigan.—The Manchester papers mention with satis- 
faction, that the Rev. W. Corbett, the Catholic minister 
of Hindley, near this town, has opened an institution for 
the diffusion of knowledge, taking upon himself the ex- 
pense of the building, the payment of the teachers and 
attendants, and furnishing it with books and papers. 
All the incidental expenses of its management will also 
be defrayed from his private purse. 
Railroads.—The returns for the week on the principal 
lines are as follow :—Greenwich, 689/.; Northern and 
Eastern, 1,053/. ; Eastern Counties, 8197.; London and 
Birmingham, 13,1862; Croydon, 194/.; Brighton, 2,4871.; 
Liverpool and Manchester, 3,470/.; Grand Junction, 
5,9127.; York and North Midland, 1,232/, ; Blackwall, 
4677.; Great North of England, 1,121/.; Sheffield and 
Manchester, 2717. ; Manct and Birmingham, 2,148/,; 
Manchester and Leeds, 3,379/,; Midland Counties,2,248/. ; 
Hull and Selby, 6692.; Birmingham and Gloucester, 1,484/.; 
Edinburgh and Glasgow, 1,421/. ; Birmingham and Derby, 
1,1022.; North Midland, 3,143/.; South Western, 4,0162.; 
Great Western, 9,964/.; South Eastern and Dover, 1,306/. 
A special general meeting of the Birmingham and Glou- 
cester Company was held last week at Birmingham, for 
the purpose of considering the appointment of a commit- 
tee of investigation into the prospects of the undertak- 
ing. Captain Moorsom, R.N., presided, and. stated that 
the directors were by no means averse to the appointment 
of a joint committee. After a long discussion it was re- 
resolved that a committee, consisting of five shareholders 
and four directors, be appointed for the purpose of consi- 
dering any measures calculated to reduce the working ex- 
penses, and increase the traffic of the line ; the committee 
to report to some subsequent meeting. The daily papers 
mention, as a new proof of the public benefit resulting 
from railway expedition, that, on the 16th, a letter having 
been received in Doctors’ Commons from Portsmouth, 
containing instructions to arrest a vessel which had 
arrived in that port, in a salvage cause, a warrant issued 
from the Registry of the Admiralty Court, and was 
despatched to Portsmouth in time to arrest the vessel at 
half-past 2 o’clock on the same day the letter was received 
in London.—The great blast at Round Down Cliff, for the 
new works on the London and Dover Railway, consisting 
of 18,500|bs., or eight: half tons of gunpowder, was 
fired by means of the voltaic battery on Thursday, in the 
presence of an immense concourse of spectators, including 
Sir John Herschell, Gen. Pasley, and a large number of 
eminent engineers. The battery was directed by Lieut. 
Hutchinson, R.E., and as soon as the wires were con- 
nected, the earth, according to the account of an eye- 
witness, trembled to half-a-mile distant—a stifled report 
was heard ; the base of the cliff, extending on either hand 
to upwards of five hundred feet was shot as from a can- 
non from under the superincumbeut mass of chalk sea- 
ward, and in a few seconds, not less than 1,000,000 tons 
of chalk were dislodged by the shock, and settled down 
into the sea below. Loud cheers followed the blast, and 
aroyal salute was fired. The sight is described as truly mag- 
nificent, and the interest of the proceedings is increased 
by the fact that no accident occurred.—The meeting of 
the proprietors of the Great Western Railway adjourned 
to Thursday, from last week, has terminated in the adop- 
tion of the plan incorporating by purchase the Chelten- 
ham and Great Western Union line with their own under- 
taking, as proposed in the first instance by the directors. 
The ballot gave an enormous majority over the opposition, 
the number of shares in fayour of the proposal being 
upwards of 6,000, and that of its opponents being less 
than 600. 
IRELAND, : 
° Dublin,—Intelligence was received in Dublin on the 
19th instant of the death, on the previous evening, of 
Viscount Ferrard, son of the celebrated John Foster, first 
Lord Oriel, and the last Speaker of the Irish House of 
Commons. Viscount Massareene, his Lordship’s eldest son, 
succeeds to his large estates, and thereby unites in himself 
the titles of Baron Oriel of the United Kingdom with 
those of Viscount Ferrard and Viscount Massareene in the 
peerage of Ireland.—The four representative Spiritual 
Peers for the ensuing session are, the Lord Primate, and 
the Bishops of Tuam, Derry, and Limerick.—The Dean 
of St. Patrick’s is to be consecrated Bishop of Cashel, 
Waterford, and Emly, in St. Patrick’s Cathedral, to- 
morrow the 29thinstant. His Grace the Archbishop of 
Dublin will perform the solemn ceremony, assisted by the 
Bishops of Cork and Ossory.—The Poor-Law Commis- 
sioners have issued a circular in reference to the intended 
alteration of the Irish Poor-Law. They request to be 
provided with “an account of the total number of persons 
rated in the last rate made in the South-Dublin Union, 
and the total net annual value of the property rated in the 
union. Also an account of the number of persons in such 
rate whose valuation was respectively not greater than 1d. ; 
greater than 12, and not greater than 2/.; greater than 
22, and not greater (than 3/.; greater than 3/., and not 
greater,than 4/.; greater than 4/., and not greater than 
52.; and the amount of arrears for valuations not greater 
than 52, carried on from a previous rate.”—Lord Eliot, 
in acknowledging the receipt of a resolution of the Board 
of Guardians of the South-Dublin Union, on the impolicy 
of placing the medical charities under the control of the 
Cc issi has d that it is not the intention 
of Ministers to bring forward, in the ensuing session, any 
measvre relating to the medical charities of Ireland.—At 
the meeting of the Repeal Association, on Thursday, 
another address from Mr. O’Connell ‘‘ to the people of 
Ireland ’’ wasread. The hon. gentleman, in this address, 
refers to the progress of the Anti-Corn-Law League, 
in illustration of the power of peaceful and combined 
agitation, and declares his belief that the League is too 
well organised, and its combination too extensive, not to 
succeed. ‘‘ It is thus,’’ he says, “that every day de- 
velops the transcendant force of legal and peaceable com- 
bination for the amelioration of political institution. It is 
for this purpose that I require three millions of enroiled 
Repealers. No reasonable man can doubt, that if I ob- 
tained these three millions of avowed, combined, and co- 
operating Repealers, the Repeal of the Union could not 
possibly be delayed.’’ The Rent for the week was nearly 2007. 
Belfast.—The Irish Presbyterian Church has resolved to 
celebrate its second centenary of Presbyterianism in Ire- 
land this year, by a subscription fund, to enable the 
General Assembly to build houses of worship in the Roman 
Catholic districts of the south and west, to establish Irish 
schools, to preach the gospel to Roman Catholics, and to 
employ scripture readers in the Irish language. 
SCOTLAND. 
Edinburgh.—The Judges of the first division were 
occupied on Thursday and Friday in delivering their opi- 
nions in the Stewarton case, which involves the question 
as to the legality of the acts under which the ministers of 
Parliamentary churches, of chapels of ease, or of guoa 
sacra, extension, and secession churches, were admitted 
by the General Assembly to the full status and privileges 
of parochial ministers. Of the Judges whose opinions 
have already been given, the Lord Justice Clerk, Lords 
Meadowbank, Medwyn, Cunningham, Murray, and 
Wood, consider that the acts in question are illegal, and 
that the suspension and interdict in the present case 
ought to be sustained ; on the other hand Lords Mon- 
crieff, Cockburn, and Ivory, support the legality of the 
acts in question. The Lord President and Lord Mac- 
kenzie delivered their opinions on Thursday, and both 
were conclusively against the legality of the erection of 
quoad sacra parishes, and the admission of their minis- 
ters into the General Assembly. The judgment of the 
former occupied two hours in the reading. Lord Jefirey 
and Lord Fullarton delivered their opinions on Friday in 
favour of the General Assembly. The Judges have now 
all delivered their opinions—eight being against the lega- 
lity of the quoad sacra parishes, and five in favour of the 
church. The effect of this decision will materially weaken 
the non-intrusion party in the Assembly, but it1s under~ 
stood that the House of Lords will be appealed to. It is 
rumoured that Mr. Fox Maule intends to ae oe noe 
on the Kirk question in the. ensuing session Of Parha- 
ment. Ae 
Stirling —On Tuesday week a demonstration ie favour 
of the principles of free-trade took pee ae this town, 
when about 1,500 people, including @ large proportion of 
ladies, met at a soirée in the Corn Exchange of the 
burgh. The chair was taken by Mr. W. Murray, of 
Polmaise and Touchadan, an extensive landed proprietor, 
and Provost Galbraith, of Stirling, acted as vice-chair- 
man. Mr. Cobden was introduced to the meeting by the 
chairman, and addressed them in a Jong speech in favour 
of the League and the general principles of free-trade. 
Lanark.—The Glasgow papers state with expressions 
fail faction, that the ters and coal-proprie- 
tors of Lanarkshire, taking advantage of the unsettled 
state of the mining districts, the impoverished state of 
the country, and the contemplated reduction of wages 
that is to be, have taken the usual means of convening a 
meeting of the county for the purpose of raising a police 
force for the protection of property in the neighbourhood 
er ee ak Coatbridge, &c., where the principal works are 
situate. 
