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Sir Charles Lemon was elected for East Cornwall, at Truro, on Wed- , nesday. There was no opposition, and the election passed off without, the least excitement. Sir Charles took the opportunity of explaining. why he retired on the eve of the last dissolution— Ile did not at the time think himself at liberty to make the explanation, be- cause he did not wish to embarrass that Government in whose success he was interested, by casting blame upon it ; but he confessed that the dissolution he considered to be wholly unjustifiable, both as regarded the country and as re- garded a considerable body of their own supporters, whom, he was aware, it would remove from the benches occupied by their part) in the Ilouse of Commons. At the last election, too, he had been told that be must not look forward to the support of the agriculturists unless he supported the Corn-laws as they then were ; but he believed now that the bugbear and panic had passed away, and that the farmers began to see that the Corn-laws were not the de- fence to them which they had before imagined. Be was not anxious that the corn-trade should be made into a matter of finance. He was an advocate for a fixed duty of 10s. where the price was 401., with a sliding scale up to 60s., and then a permanent duty of 5s.
In the country, Sir Robert Peel's measure has caused much discus- sion. A preliminary meeting of merchants, manufacturers, and trades- men, at the York Hotel in Manchester, on Monday, agreed to a series of resolutions energetically denouncing the Ministerial scheme ; calling "upon the representatives of the borough, and such other Members of the House of Commons as consider themselves the guardians of the rights of the people, to oppose by all the means with which the consti- tution has armed them, the granting of any supplies to her Majesty until such time as the Corn-laws shall have been totally and uncon- ditionally repealed"; declaring that no good government could be ex- pected until every male adult has the suffrage ; and resolving to petition the Queen to dismiss Ministers. A deputation of Chartists attended at the meeting and concurred in the resolutions. They were submitted to a public meeting, convened in the Town- hall on Tuesday, but adjourned during the proceedings to the open air in Stevenson's Square at which the Mayor presided. The first speaker was Mr. William Rathbone Greg ; who gathered from Sir Robert Peel's speech that not one ray of economic science had yet enlightened his mind. Nothing could be more unfair than his reference to the exports to show that trade had not declined. Why were the exports large ?- Simply becasue the goods were unsaleable at home. But let it always be remembered that exports are not sales. Mr. Greg argued on the im- possibility of maintaining independence of foreign nations, and the ne- cessity of promoting a corn-trade with America to countervail the con- current bad seasons in England and Northern Europe. During the last six years, 500,000 persons had migrated to the manufacturing dis- tricts from the agricultural ; and the migration continues at the rate of 200,000 annually : let the present Corn-laws continue, and the present distress, and those emigrants must be turned back to eat up the rental of the land. Mr. Moore called upon the people not to serve as soldiers, sailors, or police, and not to pay taxes. Mr. Thomas Gisborne thanked Sir Robert Peel for reuniting the Liberal party : Universal Suffrage had become fashionable ; for it was begun to be discovered that there was no party to appeal to but the people ; and he called upon the peo- ple to encourage the neophytes. The resolutions were affirmed unani- mously, and a Committee was appointed to carry out their objects. The vote of thanks to the Chairman was moved by Mr. John Bailey, a Chartist, and seconded by Alderman Brooks.
A meeting was held on the same evening at Salford ; Mr. Holland Hoole presiding. A resolution was passed condemning the Peel plan. Another was then moved, as an addition to the original series, declaring that the meeting had lost all confidence in the House of Commons as at present constituted, and demanding the franchise for every male adult ; and that was carried without a dissentient. Other resolutions pledged the meeting to offer passive resistance to taxes, to oppose all legal resistance to Government, and never to hold a Bank of England note twenty-four hours without changing it for gold.
Lord Rankin presided over a large meeting at Nottingham, on Mon- day ; at which resolutions were passed unanimously against the Govern- ment plan, and for the Charter. Similar resolutions were passed by meetings at Staley-bridge and Stockport.
Resolutions against the Government scheme have been adopted by the working-men of Derby, whose petition to Parliament received 6,336 signatures in eleven hours ; by the working-men of Leicester ; and by meetings at Hastings, Wigan, Crayford, Kendal, Liverpool, and Walsall.
Sir Robert Peel has been burned in effigy at Manchester, Leicester, Rochdale, Huddersfield, Northampton, Derby, and at Hanley and Shelton in the Potteries. At the last place, placards have been put up in several windows, bearing—" No more taxes will be paid here till the Corn-laws are repealed." At Derby, some Tories were indiscreet enough on the night of Thursday week, when the burning took place, to swear that they were in fear of their lives ; and the Magistrates actually called out the military—a troop of Dragoons. They had only to ride about, however, for there was no disturbance. At Northampton, the police rescued the counterfeit Sir Robert from the flames ; and bred a riot in the effort, which was not quelled until the soldiers were called out ; and about one hundred persons were arrested.
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