gbe ifletropolis.

Several candidates for the vacant Alderman's gown have been men- tioned,—Mr. Dillon, Mr. Whitbread, Mr. Martineau, and Mr. Challis ; but Mr. Challis is said to remain alone in the field, the other gentlemen not having responded to the wishes of their respective friends.

Alderman Gibbs is in trouble. He is Churchwarden for St. Stephen Walbrook, and also trustee for certain charities belonging to the parish ; and it is alleged against him that since he has been so he has submitted no acclunts to the Vestry, has maintained in office the same persons to audit his accounts, and has himself actually been one of the auditors. The parishioners demand explanation, and on Thursday there was a Vestry meeting. 1-Jere a new question arose : Alderman Gibbs objected to the presence of any but "qualified" Vestrymen—that is, persons who have served in the offices of Overseer and Churchwarden ; insisting that custom had established a select Vestry in the parish. His oppo- nents contended that the custom had not been uniform, and that it rested on no law. He left the meeting in a passion, and the subject of the accounts was postponed for a week.

The Lord Mayor gave a grand dinner at the Mansionhouse, on Tuesday, to General Espartero; who was loudly cheered by a crowd collected outside, on his arrival, at a quarter to six o'clock. An extra- ordinary Court of Common Council was held in one of the rooms of the mansion ; and the Lord Mayor presented to General Espartero the address recently voted to him by the Corporation, expressing regret at his "forced retirement" from Spain, and sympathy in the frustration of his wise and philanthropic policy. General Espartero replied in Spanish, in a short complimentary speech, a translation of which was read by the Lord Mayor. His aspect created a favourable impression on the Londoners- " The General was not in any uniform, but was in full dress. Be wore the riband and the star of the order of the Bath and the decoration of the Golden Fleece. In stature he is not above the middle height ; being, as we were in- formed, five feet six inches. He is, however, well proportioned, and has an eye full of fire and expression. He spoke in the Spanish language, and deli- vered his sentences with such an earnestness of manner and such a grace of emphasis and action as produced a very great effect upon his auditory." The party then repaired to the Egyptian Hall, where the banquet was served up. The company, numbering three hundred persons, comprised the Lady Mayoress and several ladies connected with the City, General Van Haien and other gentlemen of the General's suite, Viscount Canning, Lord Dudley Stuart, and some English officers, Mr. Masterman, Mr. George Lyall, Mr. Ward, and some other Members, chiefly Liberal, Sir John Key and other members of the Corporation. The Datchess of Victory did not join the party, but for a time viewed the proceedings from a gallery in the Egyptian Hall. After dinner, the toasts that usually take precedence baying been disposed of, the Lord Mayor proposed "His Highness the Duke of Victory." He im • pnted the desertion of the Duke by his countrymen to his upholding principles always upheld by the City of London, and to his popular origin—.

General Espartero was born of humble parents. His father was a farmer ; who was anxious, as all good fathers should be, that his child should receive a pod education ; and he accordingly placed Espartero at the University of Toledo; where, on the breaking out of the war with France, the students formed themselves into a battalion. The Spanish army being driven to Cadiz by the French, he was sent to the Military College there, and was educated as an engineer and artilleryman. After some further incidents in his life, Espar- tero became a member of another army, which was to fight against the legiti- mate Sovereign of Spain, as some styled him—Don Carlos. As a commander, he defeated the Carlist party ; and he had been from the moment obnoxious to the censure of those who cared not for the freedom of their country. And an Amity had risen up against him becalm he WU MC of the people. QOM' Espartero's feelings were constitutional throughout the whole of his career. It had been said by some, that the reason why the Spanish people wished to get rid of General l.rtero was because he had too great a feeling towards Eng- land. But this was not the case ; for he had no greater feeling for this coun- try than for others. He was anxious to have a trade—a reciprocal trade—not only with this country but also with France and with every country in Europe. He was desirous of exporting the produce of Spain, its fruit, its wine, and its ores, and to receive in exchange the produce of this country. This excited prejudices against him.

The toast was drunk with loud ckeering: and a song of welcome, written for the occasion, was sung by Mr. Hobbs. General Espartero returned thanks in Spanish ; a written translation of his speech being read by the Lord Mayor, as follows-

" My Lord Mayor and gentlemen, the generous and hospitable reception I have met with from the British people, their Queen and Government, will ever be to me a source of most grateful recollection. The British nation, the high-minded and liberal British people, have thoroughly understood the feel- ings that have ever guided the actions of him who has now the honour of ad- dressing you, and who, having hoisted the constitutional flag of his country, carried it victoriously until finally the enemies of liberty disappeared. Solemnly elected Regent of Spain by the national will, I was determined to govern the kingdom with the law in my hand; to preserve the law, and to allow no one to transgress the law. The enemies of the liberty and indepen- dence of my country, and of the constitutional throne of my Queen, are in- debted for their momentary triumph to that religious respect which I have ever shown to the fundamental law of the state. But I shall never on that account regret that such has been my conduct ; for I am convinced that such is the only conduct that a constitutional Regent ought to follow. Thus, it was my intention, when the time fixed by the constitution for the Queen, Isabel the Second, to commence the exercise of her legitimate and con- stitutional authority should arrive, that she should find herself at the head of a flourishing and great kingdom, quiet within' respected without, and progress- ing to that prosperity to which it is entitled by its position, its climate, and the character of its people. I have asserted it a hundred times, and it is with satis- faction that I now repeat it here—to secure and consolidate public and civil liberty in my country, to preserve intact the constitutional throne of Isabel the Second, to deliver into her hands the authority with which I had been in- vested precisely in the manner determined by the law, and then to retire into private life and to become once more a private citizen—such were ever my wishes, such was my determination. An evil destiny has prevented the fulfil- ment of my intentions, and I have been obliged to retire from my country. But in the midst of my misfortune, it is a great consolation to have met with so generous a reception in this the classic soil of constitutional liberty ; whence I offer the most fervent vows for the happiness of my country; and, wherever fate may lead me, I shall always have the most lively recollection of the sym- pathy shown me by the Briesh people, and more particularly by the City of London ; the prosperity of which I now beg leave to offer as a toast."

General Van 1Llen returned thanks for the General's suite ; Viscount Canning, for the House of Lords. In proposing the House of Com- mons, the Lord Mayor stated that Lord Stanley would have been pre- sent, but that he had hurt his foot' while shooting with Sir Robert Peel on Saturday ; and in proposing the Members for the City, he said that Lord John Russell also would have been present had he been in town. Mr. Ward returned thanks for the Commons; expressing his belief, amid loud cheers that the only security for constitutional liberty in Spain would be the recall of General Espartero.

A correspondent of the Times says that General Nogueras was among the guests, though his name was not publicly announced.

The Anti-Corn-law League has resumed its Metropolitan agitation, in a manner more imposing than ever ; the first of a series of monthly meetings having been held on Thursday evening in Covent Garden Theatre, fitted up for the purpose. The stage was arranged as k saloon, the sides and back having tiers of seats for spectators : the Chairman's seat was upon a raised platform or rostrum ; and in the centre, imme- diately before the stage-lights, was a table to which the speakers ad- vanced on addressing the audience. The doors were opened a little after six o'clock ; and no favourite performance on the boards ever at- tracted a greater crowd. It seemed composed chiefly of respectable persons of the middle class, and included a large number of ladies. At seven o'clock, entered Mr. George Wilson Chairman of the Council; accompanied by Mr. Cobden, and other leading Corn-law Repealers in and out of Parliament. There was a loud burst of applause ; renewed on the entry of Mr. W. J. Fox ; and again when the Chairman for- mally opened the proceedings in a brief speech. A report of the past proceedings of the League was read by Mr. A. W. Paulton. It ap- pears that the contributions to the League Fund had amounted to 50,2901. 148.; the expenditure had been 47,814/. 3s. 9d.; balance in hand, 2,4761. 10s. 3d. The League had distributed 9,026,000 tracts, weighing upwards of 100 tons, to 237,000 electors in 24 counties, and 259,226 electors in 187 boroughs, in all to 496,226 electors ; and the distribution has yet to be made in 47 counties and 23 boroughs. On the motion of Mr. Lawrence Heyworth, seconded by Mr. Scholefield, M.P., the report was adopted, and ordered to be printed and distri- buted.

Mr. Cobden was saluted with applause loud and long as he advanced to develop the new plan of the League for further agitation. He began by alluding to the altered circumstances under which the meeting assembled : the recent revival of trade and manufactures, on which the monopolist papers relied to terminate the agitation and refute the doc- trines of the League- " I admit the partial revival of trade and manufactures ; I wiah I could say it was a general revival. I wish I could say it was half as extensive as the monopolist exaggerations represent it to be. What is the state of the case ? I am not in the habit of troubling such meetings as this with reading statistical documents—they are generally most inappropriate ; but, by way of showing you what the cause of the recent revival of trade is, as an illustration better than any other 1 could give you of the truth of our principles, 1 will just ask your attention to one short statistical statement. The average price of wheat in the three years 1839, 1840. and 1841, was 67s. Id.; the price in 1839 being 70s. 6d., the price in 1840, 66s. 4d., and the price in 1841, 64s. 5d. These three years were years of unparalleled suffering and distress in this country. Last autumn Providence blessed us with an abundant harvest; and this, in con- nexion with an importation of foreign corn to the extent of three millions, SO reduced the price of wheat, that the average price of that article for the first six months of the present year was only 47s. 7d. Now, if there had been no revival of trade, under such circumstances I should not have dared to appear before you. I should have deserved, indeed, the character of an im- postor as to all that 1 have said on this subject, had there been no revival of trade widow such circumstances. You will have observed from what I have said, that there was about 20s. a quarter less for the filet six months of the present year, than for the three years, 1839, 1840, and 1841 : and while there was this reduction in the price of wheat, there was at the same time a reduc- tion in the price of all other kinds of grain of 8s. a quarter. In order to under- stand the magnitude and importance of the subject with which we have to deal —there are some who think we over-estimate that importance, but I think that up to the present time we have under-estimated it,—in order to understand she matter better, I will mention, that the cstimated contremption of graim. per annum in this country is twenty rspitili quarters of wheat, and forty millions ef quarters of all other kinds of grain. It follows, therefore, that the additional cost of grain in each of the three years of distress was, say—twenty millions of quarters of wheat, at 20s. a quarter, twenty millions sterling; forty millions of quarters of all other kinds of grain, at 8s., sixteen millions sterling; together, thirty-six millions sterling. But grain is not the only article of agricultural produce, though grain governs the price of the other articles. It is estimated that the consumption of potatoes, meat, cheese, and all other articles of agricul- tural produce, is equal to the same quantity of grain, (sixty millions of quar- ters); and the price of the one being, as 1 have said, governed by the other, taking the advance in price as equal to 8s. a quarter, here is a further addition of twenty-four millions sterling; making a total of sixty millions sterling per annum, or thirty millions for the half-year, or five millions per month. All this difference in price was left in the pockets of the people the first six months of the present year; which balance, after supplying food and other articles of agricultural produce, they were thus able to spend in other ways—in buying articles of linen and cotton manufacture, hats, bonnets and so forth. This accounts for the increased demand we have noticed for the labour of those who make linen and cotton geode, hats, bonnets, and so forth ; and this accounts, too, for the people being able to buy an extra quantity of tea, sugar, and other articles in the cheap year, beyond what they consume in dear years. This, I Bay, accounts for the partial revival we have observed in our trade. But then, tins revival has been accompanied with a corresponding depression of the agri- cultural interest. The agricultural and the manufacturing interests would seem to be like the two buckets in a draw-well, the one going down empty as the other came up full. In proportion as there is a revival of manufactures, consequent upon moderate prices of food, we hear the cry of agricultural dis- tress. This has always been so much the case, that I challenge any one to point out an instance, ever since these Corn-laws were introduced, wherein the agriculturists and the manufacturers have had simultaneous prosperity. Now, I ask, is this a natural state of things? Is this alternation of distress—this intermittent fever, now attacking the one great portion of the body politic, and then the other—this distress falling on the farmer at a time when Heaven has blessed him with an abundant harvest—is all this a natural state of things? And yet in every instance where the farmer has been most clamorous from distress and suffering, it has been in the midst of the most bountiful harvest, and in the most genial seasons. Any man who takes these facts alone must have a very undue and irreverent notion of the great Creator of the world, if he supposes that this is a natural or a designed state of things. No, there is an unnatural cause for this unnatural state of things ; and that unnatural cause is the law which interferes with the wisdom of Divine Providence, and substi- tutes the law of wicked men for the law of nature. During the three years to which I have been adverting, the owners of the soil might have expected to have suffered in consequence of the bad seasons : but what has been the fact ? the landlord has been revelling in prosperity—a bloated and diseased pros- perity—at the very time when the people have been suffering the greatest pri- vations and want of food. Rents have been rising. I say it boldly, it cannot be denied, rents have been generally, almost universally, raised during the three years of which I have been speaking. How stands the case of the landowner during the years of short crops, and suffering to the whole community ? He then extorts his rent from the distress of the operative, the capital of the employer, or the savings of those who are living upon the accumulations of themselves or their forefathers. He extorts his rents from the sufferings of the manufacturers; and when the season is favourable—when Heaven smiles upon the fields, and our harvests are again abundant—the landlord extorts his rent from the distress and capital of the farmer. Nobody can deny that for a series of years the landowners have been raising their rents, not from the legitimate prosperity of the tillers of the soil, or the prosperity of the manufacturing classes, but they have been raising their rents from the capital and the labour of the trading community, or from the labour of their own deluded victims, the farmers. The landowners—Oh, shame upon the order !-1 say, sham cupon the landowners and their order, unless they are quick and rescue themselves from this pitiable —if they deserve pity—this pitiable dilemma. The landowners will very soon be ashamed to hold up their heads and own themselves to be English landowners and members of our aristocracy, in every enlightened and civilized country in Europe. Do I seek to injure the landowners, even pecu- niarily? I have never avowed it, where I should have been most ready to tell them to their face my opinions—in the House of Commons. The landowners have nothing pecuniary, they have nothing ultimately to dread from a free trade in corn. But then, instead of extorting their rents from the distress of every class in the country, I say, throw them back upon their own resources; and there is wealth enough in the country, if they employ their capital and their intel- ligence, as the other classes are forced to do, in other pursuits—there are un- developed bounties even on the surface of the earth, and there are ten times more beneath the surface, which would make them richer, happier, and better men, if they would cast aside this monopoly."

This position Mr. Cobden briefly illustrated by some allusion to the badly-cultivated state of Cheshire, which might be made to yield thrice the present amount of produce ; and by a right application of capital and labour throughout the country, the produce might be doubled. He returned to discuss the notion that the present state of the trading and manufacturing classes would put an end to the agitation for the repeal of the Corn-laws-

" Why, gentlemen, I think we have a few mementos left yet to remind us that we have a Corn-law monopoly appealing to us in strong language, some- times in the shape of an income-tax, in our extra poor-rates, extra county- rates, extra taxation for the 5,000 troops that were added to the Army in the winter of 1838, on the first outbreak consequent upon the famine which over- spread the land. We have these and other memorials of monopoly ; and if some of us have survived the hurricane, can we forget the thousands and tens of thousand who fell victims to the distress of 1839, 1840, and 1841 ? Shall we forget that 500,000 of our countrymen have, since the August of 1838, expatriated themselves from their native soil, to seek in more hospitable lands the food denied them here? Can we forget the hundreds who have dropped into a premature grave, famine-stricken, since that time? Can we forget the scores who, by the records of the Coroners' Courts, have died by their own hands, to escape a lingering death by starvation ? No; if we were selfish enough, we who have braved the storm and outlived the hurricane ourselves, to forget these things.—we will think of these events, and are not going to forget them, but will make this the occasion for redoubling our exertions to put an end to such an odious system."

Before propounding the new plan, he alluded to the state of the electoral body- " We regard the electors of the country as possessing in their own hands absolute dominion within these realms. The laws of the nountxy, whether good or bad, are but as the breath of their nostrils. It is not our fault if the electoral body is not prec:sely as we should have found it—we must work with the instruments we have, unless others will find us better ones. It is not our fault if the electoral body is so distributed as to give by its scattered and de- tached fragmenas the greater advantages to our enemies, and the enemies of the human race, in meeting us in the field of combat. We must make the hest use we can of it as it is. The plan of the League is to bring the great majority of the electors in large boroughs into union w itlt those in the smaller ones. Do you suppose that because the small boroughs have not always resin ed the influepces exercised upon them, they are without sympathy for the condition of other bodies of their countrymen ? I have the means of knowing the reeerse to be the case. I have been to your cathedral towns, and to your rural boroughs, which are now represented by monopolists ; and 1 have heard upon the hest authority that three-fourths of the inhabitants are heart and soul free. traders."

He now came to the plan of the League—" the League," composed not of a few men from Manchester, but of that meeting to begin with, and of a great majority of the electors in the large cities and towns- " We propose to provide a copy of every registration for every barough and county in the United Kingdom, as soon as the present registratien shall have Iteen completed. We intend to bring these registers to a central office in Lon- don. We then propose to open a correspondence the most extensive that ever was contemplated, and that ever, I sin sure, "as undertaken with the victors of the country. Those electors amount to 800,000 ; but I will take 300,000, excluding those in the already safe boroughs, as forming the number necessary to constitute the retura of a majority in the House of Commons. We propose to correspond with these 300,000 to begin with. (Cheers and laughter.) And when I say correspond, do not let any of our kind, cautious friends, fancy that we are going to commit ourselves, by forming ssurselves into a corresp,atuaig society.' I am going to tell you what we mean to corresponda.tout. ‘‘s e propose to keep people well intormed as to the progress of o r question, ay means of the penny postage, which has not yet been sufficiently aged. I rosy say in a parenthesis, that the Duke of Buckingham presid al at a pUh te meeting at Salt Hill, to celebrate the defeat of the Great Western Rail- way : he was a sagacious man, for the railways and the penus , pull down his monopoly. We intend, then, to keep the constitusaatst well informed by means of the penny postage, enclosing them useful information connected aft!' the question, sod tracts bearing the most recent illustrations of it, together. What could be more desirable than tomorrow to send to those 300,000 electors copies of the newspapers containing the best reports of this meeting ? (Cheers.) But we propose to send them one letter a week, and that will cost twopence for the stamp and the enclosure. That will he 25,000t. I mention this by way of illustration and preface to what I am going to tell you before I conclude. Besides this correspondence, we intend to visit et/11.y borough in the kingdom—not by agents—we will go ourselves, because we want the thing well done. (('heers and laughter.) We will invite specially'the electors to meet such deputations, without distinction of party—we know no- thing of party in this agitation—and having met the electors, we shall have a Hide business to transact with them. In the first place, we shall urge upon our friends, the constant friends of the cause, to organize themselves, and to commence a canvass of their boroughs to ascertain the number of Free-traders; and in every case where it is possible to obtain a msjority of the electors in favour of free trade, that majority to memorialize thew Members, where they have not voted rightly, to vote in favour of Mr. Villiers's motion, which will be brought on early next session. Besides that, the deputation trill urge upon the electors to have a Free-trade candidate ready to sup- plant every Monopolist who still retains a seat for a borough ;_ and the League will pledge itself, where a borough constituency finds itself at a loss for a candidate, to furnish them with one, and to give td every borough in which a vacancy occurs an opportunity for its electors to record their votes in favour of Free-trade principles. (A voice—" The City! ") Oh, we will talk of that by-and-by. Now, it may be objected to us—and it has been objected—that by such means no good can be accomplished. If it cannot he aecomplished by such means, it cannot be righteously accomplished at all. But it can be accomplished by such means; and we have hitherto been unfairly dealt with in our struggle with the constituencies. The last general election disclosed an amount of bribery, corruption, and intimidation, involving brutal violence, even to homicide and the present Parliament is the creature of that vile system. And shall such a system be continued. (Cries of" No, no ! ") No—not against the League. Whenever we have a voice—and we will have one in every borough when an election takes place—we will serif we cannot put down this system of bribery; and I think we may manage effectually to muzzle the intimidators. The system itself got its deathblow at the last election. It was found, in the first place, too costly. The rents would not stand such an experiment again for either party. In the next place, Mr. Roebuck's exposure—and thanks to him for making it—shamed even shameless men in the House of Commons. In the next place, Lord John Russell's new law—I wonder they ever let him pass it—presents the means of putting down bribery if fairly used. But beyond that, we have a better and a wiser resort than any. Hitherto the bribers and the bribees have been suffered to escape with impunity. They have been brought before the House of Commons; a Committee has decided upon the case; the petitioner has bad the satisfaction of unseating the Member, and was saddled with the same expense, and was at liberty to stand again : but the House of' Commons took no steps to punish those by whose guilt the system was carried on. By that means they were accessories after the fact : and little better, indeed, could be expected from such a House of Commons. Now, we will try the experiment of a criminal court against these gentry. (Cheers.) The man who bribes, or offers a bribe, is guilty of misdemeanour, and liable to a heavy fine, and also liable to a severe imprisonment. I have heard an objection made that you cannot obtain a con- viction in such a case. You cannot obtain a conviction I—why not ? Will a jury of our countrymen find a verdict of guilty against the hapless wretch who steals a morsel of bread for his famishing children, and will they not convict those whose guilt is of tenfold criminality—who would buy and sell that franchise upon which the bread of that poor creature depends? I say, yea. The juries of this country are precisely the class which will convict in such cases; and it is upon a jury of the country that we mainly rely for putting down bribery and abating the flagrant system of intimidation for the future. Yes ; a jury of our country saved our liberties in times past from a despotic Monarchy, and again from coriupt and tyrannical Adminis- trations; and they will save us from the worse danger of our liberties—front the taint that has been eating into the electoral bodies of the kingdom. It is not the intention of the League to recommend any further petitioning to the present House of Commons. (At this announcement the audience, almost in one mass, rose and burst into a series of cheers, which lasted for several minutes, accompanied by -a waving of hats and handkerchiefs, and other tokens of satisfaction.) Su soon as the proceedings in reference to the electoral body to which I have alluded shall have reached such a point as to warrant the step, the Council will recommend the electors, not to petition Parliament—of that enough has been done already—but to memorialize 7113 QUEEN•••••( Vehement cheering)—that she will be pleased to dissolve the present Parliament—(1!e- sewed cheers)—which, like every thing generated in corruption, must necessa- rily be short-lived; and to give to the electors an opportunity of seeding men to make laws with the advantages of thelighte and experlencywhich they have acquired since, under a delusion, they were induced at the last election to re- turn the majority of the present House of Commons. I have now told you the plan which we have to submit and to ask your unction of tonight : and as a means of carrying on these proceedings, and to furnish the means of doing so, the Council are resolved to raise the sum of 100,000/. (Cheers.) Yes, I may save a waste of ink tomorrow by telling the Monopolist scribes that the money will be raised, and that hereafter, as heretofore, the men who have taken the greatest amount oflabour, and who will continue to do so in the cause, and who did so be-

fore they were ever heard of beyond the precincts of their own localities, will, as they did from the beginning, lead the van in the amount of their subscriptions for the great object which we have in view. We offer to every one the opportunity of registering his name, or her name, on this muster-roll of com- mercial freedom; and we do so with the perfect assurance that it is the last time we shall have to call upon our friends for a sacrifice in the cause. I feel bound,

in making this statement, to take care that there shall he no misunderstanding

in the minds of any party as to the money which shall be raised, or the con- ditions on which it shall be raised. We ask no one to give us money unless they are fully convinced that we are in earnest in the principles which we ad- vocate; we ask none to contribute unless they believe that the characters, personal, private, and public, of the men who shall he hereafter taking the responsible part in this agitation are such as they can approve and trust ; and we do not ask anybody to join us now who will not be prepared, when the time shall come to give full effect to his opinions and convictions by standing firm to the principles upon which the League is founded. Let there be no misunder- standing as to that. This is not a party move, to serve any existing political party—we care nothing for political parties. As they at present stand, there is

very little indeed to choose between the two great parties. (Laughter and cheers.) Let a statesman of established reputation, of whatever side in poll. tics, take a step for the freedom of trade : he shall have the support of the

League. We have given hut a slight specimen of what we shall be able

to do when a Minister, whether Whig or Tory, shall adopt such a course. He shall have the support of the League to carry such a measure, whatever

his other political opinions may be. We do not seek to interfere with any

man's political opinions : there are no ulterior objects in the view of this Association. I say it solemnly, on behalf of the men with whom I am daily associating, that they have no second or collateral object in view, that I am

acquainted with. The single and undisguised object of the League is to put down commercial monopoly. Bat that cannot he done by saddling upon our backs a fixed duty on corn ; which means a differential duty on sugar, on coffee, or

monopoly in every other article. That is the great tree of monopoly, under whose banefnl shadow every other restriction exists. Cut it down by the roots,

and it will destroy the others in its fall. The sole object of the League is to put an end to and extinguish, at once and for ever, the principle of maintain- ing taxes for the benefit of a particular class. The object is to make the re- venue what it ought to be, a stream flowing into the Queen's exchequer ; and not a drop or a penny of it intercepted by the Duke of Backingham or Sir Edward Knatchhull to pay off his endowments or his settlements, by Lord Mountcashel to discharge his burdens or his mortgages, or by any other party for the mainti on •ce of any object. I have told you the object of the League; but it is no fa. It of ours if our enemies, by their opposition to our just demands, give rise to a s ruigle on other points with which this agitation has nothing to do. It is no fault of ours if with this agitation should be mixed up the ques- tion of rents, and should mingle in a degree that would render it difficult to separate the rights of property from the claims of those who labour under the grievance of these intolerable exactions. It is no fault of ours if the nobility or this country should become as much detested at their own baronial ball- doors as were the noblesse of France previous to the Revolution. We are responsible for none of these things. The fault lies with those who support monopoly, who are deaf to reason and justice, and who place themsilees upon a pinnacle of injustice—a pedestal always liable to fall, and those who are upon it exposed to fall with it." After a telling peroration, in which Mr. Cobden called on his hearers to join in accomplishing the inevitable downfall of the Corn- laws, he moved an " Address of the Council of the National Anti-Corn- law League to the People of the United Kingdom," which stated the plan described in his speech. Our copious extracts from that speech preclude our doing much more than mention that in which Mr. Bright seconded the address. His best point was a glance beyond the present "prosperity "- Their opponents flattered themselves that the improvement in trade was to stop them. That showed what these people were made of, but it showed that they kiew little of what the League was made of. Would not had harvests return again ? Had there been any reielation from Heaven saying that in future the earth should always yield abundantly ? Would not the return of bad harvests bring with it a return of all thole recent domestic calamities?

He gave an electioneering lift to the Liberal candidate for the City representation- " I have seen large placards proposing James Pattison for the city of Lon- don. I know very little of the personal character of that gentleman. (Cries of" We do, though! ") I have seen him at our meetings on the platform of Drury Lane; I have seen him in the Universal Hall of Commerce ; and I have seen his name as a subscriber to the National League funds. I have heard him

manfully declare, that perfect justice should be done to the people in all mat-

ters connected with commerci II policy, and that be should be content with no less. I know not what the electors of the City of London may do. I know not if they think that they at least have no interest in commercial prosperity, and that the world is wrong in supposing them to con.ditute the heart of our commercial enterprise: but 1 will tell them what their countrymen and the

enlightened of all countries will say if they should stultify themselves by voting for a monopolist—that as many of them revel in wealth, they are the spoiled

children of commercial success, and that they crouch before a miserable aris- tocracy that must despise them in their hearts. (Loud and long-continued cheering.) The Corn-law League numbers 37,000 registered members in the Metropolis ; and there is no part in which adherents are so readily obtained u within the boundaries of the City. I know not what influence the offer may have, but ou behalf of the Council of the League I am ready to tender our co- operation—all influence—all information—all hunourable and moral support, is enabling. the voice of the City of London to speak Out in favour of the total and immtheate repeal of the Corn-laws." (Loud cheers.) - Mr. W. J. Fox delivered a long speech, which may be designated a lay sermon ; and its effect is best described in its influence on the au- dience—who. according to the Morning Chronicle, " frequently rose en Infuse and interrupted the speaker by the must enthusiastic cheering and waving of handkerchiefs." The address was unanimously adopted ; and the meeting bruke up at half-past ten o'clock.

A. General Court of Proprietors of East India Stock was held on Wednesday. Several papers were laid on the table. Mr. Puynder moved a resolution which substantially declared that the payment of 6,000/. to the temple of Jaggernat should be diacnntinued but he with- drew itoipon understanding that she Dtroctors expected• information olathe subject by the next arrival from India. Mr. Lewis moved Imo- _ ther resolution, recommending steps to be taken for abolishing the com- pulsory prosecution of appeals from the Courts of Sadder Dewauny Adawlet in India to the Privy Council, imposed on the Company by Orders in Council. His main objection to the present system lay in its expense : in the ten years ending September 1843, the East India Com- pany brought to a hearing, under Orders in Council, seventy appeals, at a cost to the revenues of India of 152,8261.; the sum recovered was 24,1911.; leaving a deficit of 128,635/. The Chairman stated that the Directors had already had the subject under consideration, and had ap- plied to Government for an alteration of the law ; but the Earl of Ri- poo, writing on the 21st August, said that as it would be necessary to amend an act of Parliament, the matter could not be disposed of till the reassembling of Parliament ; though it would engage the serious atten- tion of the Board of Control. On that showing, Mr. Lewis withdrew his motion; and the Court adjourned.

At the Central Criminal Court, on Saturday, Thomas Jenkins was tried for stealing a box containing plate, valued at 5001., from the house of Lord Fitzgerald, in Belgrave Square. The evidence was the same as that which has been repeatedly described. The prisoner was con- victed, and sentenced to seven years' transportation.

Mr. John Weippert, whose band of muic is so well known, met with a fatal accident on Thursday week. He was driving down to Bushy, where his family reside ; when his gig came in collision with another ; Mr. Weippert was thrown out, and so much hurt that he died on Monday last.

As usual at this season, the tides in the Thames have in the present week run to a great height ; bursting up the gratings of sewers, inun- dating cellars, flooding low grounds, and furnishing the subject of a daily paragraph in the newspapers.