Zbe Vrobintts.

The Steyning Agricultural Association exhibited their annual fat stock show on Monday. They afterwards dined together, to the number of one hundred and twenty ; the Duke of Norfolk presiding ; and having near him the Earl of Arundel, M.P. Mr. C. Goring, M.P., and Mr. John Abel Smith, M.P.; Mr. Harry Dent Goring, Vice-Chairman.

The toast of " The Members for the Rape of Bramber " drew forth Mr. C. Goring, and a justification of the coarse pursued by himself and several of his friends, severely animadverted upon in the newspapers—

Avowing himself a friend of agriculture, he might at first sight be charged with inconsistency in supporting the measures lately passed, and which certainly very much affected present prices of stock : but in answer to that, he begged to remind them, that it was highly necessary, for the benefit of the producer,

that the health of the consumer should he vigorous and strong ; and consider. ing the high price of bread, and the high price and the gradually increasing price of stock, it was highly necessary that some measure should be passed to relieve the country ; and though in this, as in all other cases, individual in- terests must suffer temporary loss, still he hoped that in this case the.farmere would not be materially injured, but that they would find from the gradual im- provement which he trusted was even now taking place,---and the state of the market today led him to suppose it was raised to that point even here,—that the farmer would find that the stability and regularity of the price would com- pensate him for the loss which he sustained. But should he be disappointed in the firm hope and expectation he had on this point, he felt that it would be the landlords who would suffer, and who ought to suffer. (Loud cheers.) Ho would be the last man to exact from his tenantry more than he was confident the price of the produce of their land allowed them to pay easily and to pros- per. (Cheers.) He then touched upon the " delicate " and vexed question of the Corn-laws- If any agricultural friend of hia should wish to know his reasons for having acted as he had done, it would give him the greatest pleasure to call upon him ; or, if such person would do him the favour to call upon him at his house, he doubted not but he should be able to give sufficient reasons for the conduct he had pursued with regard to the Corn-law. ("Hear,hear. t") In present circum- it would ill become him to suggest to landlords what they ought to do; but still he might be allowed to say, although he did not consider that landlords should reduce their rents for this temporary panic, which he took it to be, still he did think they might do a great deal to relieve the distress which the farmers certainly were labouring under at this present time; and perhaps be might be allowed to suggest, that the present distress should not be suffered to fall upon the agricultural labourer, but that the landlord should assist his tenants in finding work for them ; and he was sure that in this part of the country, where there was so much need ofdraining, there could not be a better season for such an undertaking.

Mr. Harry Dent Goring spoke more boldly— Allusions had been made to the circumstances in which they were placed, and as a landlord he felt it right also to address them ; and, from the position which he held, he could tell them all as farmers, that they must no longer depend upon legislative protection. Let them all, as landlords and farmers, stand shoulder to shoulder, and manfully meet the crisis before them. He would tell them, that, no matter when, come it would and come it must—corn would be ad- mitted free, and on legislative protection they could not depend. (" Hear, hear! ") But if their landlords met them—if they themselves stood firm in their own position—if they would cultivate their land and exert themselves—be could assure them solemnly, from what he knew himself, there was no land upon the Continent, no farmer upon the Continent, no capital upon the Continent, that ever could compete with them. (Cheers.) He told then: this; he knew it : he had been through the country; be had seen what stock the foreigners had, he knew how their cultivation got on ; and lie could assure them (the farmers of England) that such must and would be the case. It was a struggle that was coming; but let it be a struggle that they might meet altogether ; and when they did that, let not the landlords forget that it was to those who cul- tivated the land under them that was mainly due all they had. They must recollect that it was with the knowledge of the farmers that the land was culti- vated; and it was the sweat and the toil of the labourers that brought — [ The remainder of the sentence was lost in the cheers of the meeting.] Mr. John Abel Smith backed the last speaker— He hoped it might strike them all, as it struck him, that there was one great and important change pervading the sentiments and the speeches, not only of those who had addressed them that day, but of almost every one who had ad- dressed similar meetings durir.g this summer and autumn. Mr. Goring had told them that they could no longer rely on legislative protection. It was not for him to say whether he was right or wrong in that opinion ; but he was sure that Mr. Goring and others, that expressed the same opinion, were acting the kindest and the truest part towards the farmers of England, when they encouraged them rather to rely on themselves than on any legislative protection. (" Hear, hear ! " and cheers.) He was sure that Mr. Goring spoke the words of truth and wisdom, when he told them, that as in every other profession of life, whether it be the manufacturing or whether it be the agricultural, c spits), intelligence, and industry, carried the day. He thought that when they relied upon their own intelligence, skill, and industry, they relied upon something positive and practicable ; they relied upon something unchanging and certain: but when they relied upon legislative protection, they relied upon what they had found to be dependent upon party-spirit and party-feeling—(" Hear, hear ! " and cheers)—utterly unsound, unworthy to be trusted. That was the bane of a country's prosperity. (" True') These sentiments seem to have been rather too bold 'for Mr. C. Goring ; who said he did not wish to enter into a discussion with his friend Mr. Smith, but still he dii hope that their County Members would support the farmers in all the duties that were imposed upon them ; and he was sure they depended upon protection to the farmer. .( Vary partial cheering.) The cattle-show and annual dinner of the Glastonbury Agricultural Society took place on Monday last. The influx of visiters was nume- rous, but the show of stock was not considered very satisfactory. One hundred and twenty gentlemen sat down to dinner : among them were Mr. W. Miles, M.P., Sir Alexander Hood, Mr. F. H. Dickinson, M.P., Mr. W. Pinney, Mr. H. Langton, M.P., and Mr. R. Neville, M.P. The chair was filled by Mr. R. C. Tudway, High Sheriff of Somerset. In returning thanks as one of " the Members for East Somerset," Mr. Miles made some reply to the attacks that had been made upon him for his speech at a previous meeting ; which he declared had been-gar- bled— He had the honour of meeting last Tuesday, at Clevedon, a large party of farmers; and he put it to his honourable friend, Mr. Langton, whether a single word was advanced or a subject touched upon by him political? Did be refer to acts passed, or acts to come ? He merely gave his opinion upon a matter in which they, as agriculturists, were deeply interested; and they should have it again. He merely said there that they must not look to high prices. From what he had seen and learnt, had he advised the farmers to look up for or to ex- pect high prices, he should have done what was contrary to his own convictions, and held out to them false anticipations. ("Heart") lie was speaking upon a purely agricultural subject; and there were present gentlemen who were large cora-growers, and they knew that it was the practice if higher prices were ex- pected to keep back corn and not bring it to market ; and there were also pre- sent friends of his who were breeders and graziers. He advised them not to keep back their corn or stock with the view of obtaining high prices, but to take ad- vantage of present prices, and be satisfied with wheat from 50a. to 60s. a quar- ter, and not refuse 6d. a pound for fat beef. After complaining of some unfair reports, Mr. Miles made a more specific reply to the Times and Morning Post; reading an extract from the Times- "' We are much rejoiced to see the gradual adhesion of the agricultural no- bility and gentry to those views of commercial policy which this paper has, perhaps, lost some little popularity by suggesting to their acceptance. We have long since remarked on Mr. Escott's speech to his constituents ominous of further relaxation of the Corn-laws. We have now to call our reader's at- tention to a complete flood of corroboration, [this flood of corroboration, said Mr. Miles, meaning the Duke of Rutland, myself, Mr. Acland, and Mr. Dickinson ; I beg of you to bear in mind the words " ominous of a further re- laxation of the Corn-laws," as applied to met, pouring in from the various agricultural societies which are at present holding their meetings throughout the country.' Such is the extract; and I at once give the writer a positive de- nial. My sentiments I freely expressed to you on the hustings : I gave you my sentiments on the Corn-laws and the Tariff in the House of Commons; and to them I adhere. (Reiterated cheering.) But it is a pity that we cannot meet here, at such meetings as these, without having our opinions misrepre- sented, and our statements perverted, when we do not intend to advert to party or political matters. It is distressing if our agricultural societies are to be annihilated by such articles as those in the Times, and, as I understand, the Morning Post. I say not one word more upon the Tariff and the Coro-laws, but my opinions are unaltered." Mr. Dickinson replied to the remarks on his speech in a different spirit— If a word or two might have escaped him, which was no doubt faithfully taken down by those gentlemen who attended to discharge that duty- (" Hear! ")—and if it had been turned to account by other parties in another way to amuse the public, or for any other purpose, in the absence of news, he did not find fault with them. He had been told that two fierce articles had appeared in the Morning Post against him—(" Hear! " and a laugh)—he had not seen them yet, but lie hoped be should soon. He stated what he did say, or what he intended to say, at Yeovil— He said that, upon the whole, he did not think that restriction and artificial systems of government were right; but at the same time, if artificial systems existed, he thought it might not be well that relaxations shonld be made all at once, rashly or hastily. 'His impression was, that the observations of himself and his colleague at Yeovil referred to the present state of things, and to their probable operation, without intimating that they were now prepared them• selves to support further extensive changes : but he did say at Yeovil, that the general course of things was against restriction, and he did not think those representing the agricultural interest could stop it. (" Hear, heart ") And he stated there that the agriculturists should rather endeavour to lend them- selves to the state of things than to oppose them fruitlessly. He also advised them to unite together, and to adopt improvements for the increase of produce, in order to meet the altered circumstances of the times, as the best and most safe course to be pursued. (" Hear, hear 1 ") With regard to his conduct in Parliament, he had supported the present Government generally, and he should do so again. But he had opposed Sir Robert Peel's Administration on some occasions ; lie did so on Mr. Miles's motion ; and he should do so again, if he thought any thing was proposed to be done tending to injure or destroy that great interest they were met to promote, or any other interest.

He did not think that the opinions which had emanated from the Duke of Rutland, Mr. Escott, Mr. Acland, or himself, had been fairly construed— Time would show what effect the late measures of Government would pro- duce upon the country ; and should it be found that the measures passed were injurious to agriculture, then it would be the duty of landlords to meet their tenants in a spirit of kindness and fairness. (" Hear, heart") But if it should be found that the measures did not produce such injury, then he did not say that he should not be prepared to go further.

Returning thanks for the Corporation of Glastonbury, Mr. James indulged in a little banter on his opponents in politics, the Conserva- tive Members— He was happy to find that no Whig paper had so traduced Mr. Miles—(A laugh)—and he was glad to hear that he was obliged to cry out, " Save me from my friends." (Laughter.) He was very much pleased to hear what Mr. Dickinson and his friends had thrown out on public questions that had excited so much interest ; for he was not alarmed at the Tariff, which was only used by some as a bugbear to frighten the farmers.

Mr. Pinney would not allow Mr. Miles to escape so easily as he wished- " He thought his honourable friend, Mr. Miles, had been rather hard on the press—(" Hear !")—if not as regarded himself, in reference to other gentle- men ; for if he referred to the eloquent speech at Ilminster, it could hardly be wondered at that this had caused some surprise, when it was so very different a speech from that which gentlemen of that party were in the habit of making some short time ago. (" Hear, hear! " and a laugh.) It was certainly a very different speech from what had been usual as coming from gentlemen on that side. (A laugh, and Hear, hear! ") And as his friend Mr. Miles had himself told them that they must not look for high prices, he thought this was a little indication of change ; since high prices and protection had, perhaps erroneously, been considered as closely connected. He could not help thinking, then, that the remarks of the gentlemen opposite, especially the Ilminster speech, had in some degree justified the comments in the public papers. ("Hear 1") He was very happy to find that his friends were now of opinion that they must look to improvements and not to restrictions for the safety of agriculture."

There was a great Anti-Corn-law Meeting at Nottingham on Tues- day. Mr. J. Heard was called to the chair : among those present were the Mayor of Nottingham, and several of the Corporation ; and the .Mayor of Leicester and about three hundred manufacturers came from that town by a special train. The speakers were the two Mayors, Mr. Cripps of Nottingham, Mr. Johnson of Derby, and Mr. John Bright of Rochdale. Resolutions were passed asserting the unprecedented de- pressiou of trade, and declaring that it was spreading to the agricultural districts ; and promising support to the League.

In the evening there was a tea-party, at which Mr. Bright told an anecdote that may go as a pendant to the accounts of the agricultural meetings- " I asked Sir Thomas Dyke Acland, the father of the Somerset gentleman who had just changed his note—' if the Corn-law could be maintained for ever?' He replied, ' it could not—that, as the population lucre lied, its con tinuance was impossible.' I said, ' When would you have the law repealed ? Sir Thomas answered, ' When the pressure from without becomes strong' enough.' I said, ' What is the meaning of that? is not the pressure strong enough when the distress is so great as to produce the special notice of the Government?'"

Mr. Cobden arrived during the evening, and delivered a longish speech. He bantered the farmers for their tardy discoveries-

" Mr. Pusey said there must be more draining—more chalk on the land— marl on the sand—clay on the fens—lime on the ferns—old ploughs must be cast away—the number of horses reduced—good fat cattle reared instead of lean stock—and healthy and full crops by artificial manures, of ascertained value. (Laughter.) Why, it appears from Mr. Pusey, that not one thing has been attended to, and this under twenty-five years of protection."

He expressed his firm belief that Sir Robert Peel would rather repeal the Corn-laws than not ; though he could not do so unless aided by the League ; for though the Earl of Ripon and Mr. William Gladstone might be Free-traders, the principle found no favour with such men as Lord Stanley, Lord Wharncliffe, and Sir James Graham.

The Chairman stated, that the amount of the contributions in the morning and evening was 1,3301.

At Rochdale, last week, there was a tea-party to receive a deputation from the Anti-Corn-law League,—Mr. Cobden, Mr. Buckingham, and Mr. John Bright ; and Dr. Bowring was present. The amount sub- scribed in aid of the League Fund was 1,3201,

The Manchester Guardian has a programme of some future proceed- ings— " We perceive that the great aggregate meetings of deputies, ministers of reli- gion, agriculturists, members of Parliament, and others, to be held in Manches- ter, are fixed to commence on Monday the 30th January next, (three days be- fore the assemblage of Parliament) ; and they will probably be continued during three or four following days. Of course, nothing can as yet be stated as defi- nitely arranged ; but it is extremely probable, that besides a meeting of the delegates or deputies for originating the business of their meeting, there will be a general meeting on the Monday, to receive the reports of the Great League Fund subscriptions from all parts of the kingdom. This meeting will be held in the Great Pavilion, Peter Street ; and in the same building will be held, on a subsequent day, another general meeting. There will also be held in the Pavilion two banquets, of the character of desserts—one, probably, on the Wed- nesday, and the other, perhaps, on the Friday—both in the evening. We understand, that among other new features of the meetings, will be a bringing together, in a condensed form, a great mass of facts and information relative to the working of the present Corn-law, and its effects on the commercial, Minn- facturing, and the agricultural interests of the country, and the two greardiii- sions of the industrious classes, the manufacturing operatives and agricultural labourers. We hear it is intended to invite a number of eminent agriculturists, both landowners and tenants, from various parts of the kingdom ; and the facts which they may be expected to contribute will certainly form one of the most interesting features of the meeting. The number of Members of Perlis% ment expected to attend will be large ; and the information which they may both give and receive will be of great value in preparing them for the advocacy of Free-trade principles in their places in Parliament. The announcement of the aggregate amount of subscriptions to the great League Fund will be re- served for the meeting, and will be one of the first items of news from without which will reach the Members of Parliament on their reassembling."

The Morning Chronicle reports the progress of the League Fund- " It appears that there has already been collected in the following places: Manchester, in two days, upwards of 4,000/.; Liverpool, up to Monday last, 1,527/. ; Nottingham, upwards of 1,300/. ; Leeds, upwards of 1,0001.; Hud- dersfield, 1,320; Halifax, 7801.; Bradford (tea-party), 425; Holmforth (tea- party), 1001.; Blackburn (tea-party), 600/. ; Rochdale, 1,7001.; in all 12,752!. Thus, in ten towns, above one-fourth of the estimated sum has already been se- cured. But we are yet only at the commencement : it is probable that the Manchester subscriptions are already more than double of the sum collected in the first two days."

Messrs. John and James Fenton, owners of the townships of Dutton and Ribchester, at their last rent-day generously made a reduction of twenty per cent upon the amount of their rentals. This reduction was unsolicited.—Bolton Free Press.

Speaking with an acquaintance, a pawnbroker, on the long-continued and deep distress which prevails throughout this district, he invited us to an inspection of his returns of pledges taken by him ; and we found that, in the years 1833 and 1834, he was days without taking in one pledge ; while in the years 1840 and 1841, the number averaged for every day in those years 125 per day, or 3,750 for each month.—Ident.

The opponents of the Poor-law have been supplied with two substan- tial grievances, in the shape of grossly inhuman conduct on the part of some subordinate officers. A very aged woman, who had been for a long time in the hospital of Bolton Workhouse, lay, on Wednesday night last week, on her deathbed. The nurse, in spite of the contra- dictions of other paupers, insisted that she was dead, and had her dragged down stairs on her bed-mattrass, and placed on the stone floor of the dead-house. After some time the Governor was called : he had the dead-house opened, and while he and others stood round the old woman, she drew up her legs, tried to turn on her side, and opened her eyes. She was placed in a warm bed, but she died soon after. A Coroner's Jury returned a verdict of " Died by natural decay"; but recommended that the nurse should be discharged; which was done.

Mary Oastler, a woman forty-two years of age, sat down in the village of Loftbouse, on her way from Bradford to Wakefield, on the 16th November, unable to proceed. The village constable offered her 6d. to go away ; but finding her incapable, he called the assistance of a collector of poor-rates, who put her into a barrow, trundled her beyond the township bounds, upset the barrow, and both the men ran away, leaving the woman by the road-side. Mrs. Ellis, the keeper of a neigh- bouring toll-house, procured her a temporary asylum in an ion-stable ; from which the landlady turned her out next morning; but the kind- hearted toll-keeper afterwards washed the filthy wretch, procured her clothes from a charitable lady, and she was admitted to the inn itself; where she died on the 3d instant. A Coroner's Jury imputed her death to natural causes and disease ; but recommended that the constable and rate-collector should be punished.

An inquest was held, on Saturday, on the body of Mrs. Bye, who was killed by the accident on the Great Western Railway last week. The evidence was of little interest, except so far as it had a general bearing on the safety of railways. Mr. Frederick Parker, foreman in the loco- motive department of the Company, who was examined at considerable length, said, that the defect in the axletree, which was the cause of its breaking, was indicated by no external mark ; and it could only have been discovered by taking off the wheels and ringing the axletree,

Dwhich should, of course, have been done]. A verdict of " Accidental eath" was returned, with a deodand of 5s. on the engine ; and the Jury recommended that in future the Company should place an empty carriage or luggage-van between the engine and the passenger-carriages ; as they considered that if that had been done in the present instance, Mrs. Bye would not have been killed. It was intimated that the Company had already determined to adopt the suggestion.