Zbe Itletropolis.

The Free-trade meeting of the London Livery was held in the Guildhall on Monday. Long before one o'clock, the appointed hour, the large building was crowded. At that time, the Lord Mayor entered, with some hundreds of gentlemen in his train, and took the chair. Among those on the plat- form were, Mr. James Pattison, one of the City Members; Mr. Cobden and other Members of Parliament; several Aldermen, Common Councilmen, and gentlemen of eminence in commerce. Lord John Russell sent the fol- lowing note, of Sunday's date, in excuse for his absence- " My Lord Mayor—As I understand that your Lordship is to preside at a meeting of the Livery tomorrow on the subject of the Corn-laws, I request you will have the goodness to state, that the particular circumstances of my position at this moment will prevent my attendance. " I have the honour to be your Lordship's obedient servant, J. RUSSELL."

The speeches were, with little exception, a cento of those current on the side of Corn-law repeal, and presented no novelty. Among the exceptions were the remarks of Mr. James Wilkinson; which were cut short by a storm of disapproval when he asserted that the potato pestilence had been much exaggerated, and that there was no fear of scarcity in the land. The disturbance altogether arresting the proceedings, the Lord Mayor put it to the meeting whether they would hear Mr. Wilkinson or not? They ' decided not to hear him; on which he bowed and retired.

The speech of most mark was that of Mr. Cobden. He said that he brought to the City a message from the men of the North; who declared -that they were waiting for the inhabitants of London to take their position in the van and front of this great movement. He sneered at the terrible opposition with which they were threatened—from Buckinghamshire and Essex!

" Now I believe that all the wheat that the Essex farmers have to sell comes to London. You are the customers to the Essex growers for all the wheat which they have to sell. You buy their wheat from them, and pay for it too; and you, I believe, give them a higher price for it than they could rt for it in any other market in the world. Yon, in fact, buy from them all the wheat which they have to sell: but you say teat, in addition to this, you want more; and Sir John Tyrell calls the Protectionist squires together to tel you that there is quite enough for you, and that you shan't buy any more. Now that, I think, is a very fair illustration of the whole case of the great mass of the population of England against the landowners of England. We tell them that we will buy all the wheat they have to spare, as we have done already; but we claim the right, in addition to this, of buying as much more as we can get, of paying for it and eating it. The squires are rather bold gentry, considering that you are their customers. I believe that it is usual in the City to behave rather civilly, courteously, and politely, to those by whom you subsist, and whose custom keeps your shops and warehouses open. But these Essex gentry set themselves up as something above -their customers. Now we tell them, that if they can do better with their wheat by sending it to Russia, Poland, Spain, or Austria, they can do so; but that if we are to have it, we mast have it on the ordinary market-terms, and that they must be civil into the bargain."

He laughed at Mr. Wilkinson, who said that there was no scarcity in the

" Well, judging by the capacious spencer of that gentleman--(Laughter)--judg- ing, I say, by the capacity of that garment, iced observing how well it seemedfilled—I have no doubt that the owner of it has quite enough. There is no scarcity there,' Now, all I want to stipulate is this—that those who have not oaks so goadaapencer' nor so much to fill it with, should be allowed to judge or themselves-Weather they suffer scarcity or not; and if you go into Bethnal Grout, or into tdai neighbourhood of Spitalfields, depend upon it you will find mwy Who coalireSpond to that appeal by saying,' We don't get plenty of Essex bread.' " The Agricultural Protection Society also says that there is a sufficiency of potatoes and corn in the country— "If that be so, I want to know what is the matter at head-quarters. If there be no potato rot, I -want to know what is that murrain which has crept into the Cabinet When we broke 'op at the end of the last long and tedious session of Parliament,judging by the jaunty air of Sir Robert Peel, Sir James Graham, and the rest of them, they appeared to me to be revelling in the luxurious idea that power and place were secured for life to them. But we hear that the Cabinet is broken up, dispersed. If there be an abundant crop and no scarcity, Iwant to know what is the matter with the Ministers. No, gentlemen, I think Mere are very ominous signs in the sudden rupture of the Cabinet. I cannot help suspecting and fearing, that, bad as some of the reports are which we have seen from Ireland and some parts of England, Sir Tobert Peel has re- ceived worse information than any which the public has yet obtained. Since I have been in this hall, a gentleman has put into my hands a paper giving an account of the number of sacks of potatoes delivered in the port of London at the following periods. For the three months ending December 1842, the number was 404,400 sacks; for the three months ending December 1843, 315,800 sacks; for the three months ending December 1844,381,800 sacks; and for the three months ending December 1845, 195,400 sacks. The prices fluctuated in 1841, 1842, 1843, and 1844, from 40s. to 90s. per ton, and the price in the present season is from 10s. to 150s. per ton. I have heard from the same gentleman who gave me this report—and there is no one more competent to speak on the subject—that there has been to his knowledge twelve cargoes carried away by the lightermen on condition of being used as manure; and that there was one instance where a cargo of potatoes had cost the merchant 301. for expenses, and proved of no use at all. I have been in almost every part of the country, and all the accounts I have received of the potato crop correspond with this return from your own port of London. I believe that in many districts, before next spring, there will not be a sound potato even for seed. What infa- tuation, then, must it be on the part of those dukes and squires who go maun- dering about like old women at public meetings, who rise in the morning and go out to shoot, and come home again to their champagne and venison, like our

worthy friend here in then pencer, [Mr.Wilkinson,] to tell us there is no scarcity! These men are ignorant of what is going on in the cottages on their own estates:

they are utterly unprovided with a remedy for the evils that are impending over them; and I will venture to predict, that before the fine weather of next spring, whole districts will be depending upon charity. The people will flock into the large towns for their subsistence, and you in London will be called upon by these dukes and squires to subscribe from your means to keep their starving pea- santry."

He exhorted the Livery- to do their duty; loud cheers responding to the claim- " No one knows what Sir Robert Peel proposes to do; but we all know that he has ran away from office, that he has left the ship without a helmsman, and that we are now looking to that courageous little man. (Burst of cheering.). 'Yes, we are all deeply interested in the career of that statesman. (Cheers again.) I say for myself, as an elector of the city of London I wish Lord John Russell would advise her Majesty to send for the Duke of Richmond. (Shouts of laughter, and ironical Let him try his hand at forming a Cabinet. Let use

see—Sir John T at the Home Office—Colonel Sibthorp at the Horse Guards.

(Bursts of laug ter.) Let us, I say, try a Protectionist Government, and see how they would carry on the business of the country. But there is one objection to it too; it would kill you all with laughing. I doubt whether even those vene- rable and vigorous-looking figures at the end of the hall [Gog and Magog] could keep their sides from cracking. But if Lord John Russell undertakes to carry on the Government of the country, with 180 or 200 men in the House of Com- mons to vote in accordance with the sentiments expressed in his letter to you, he will something differ from the man who ran away, with his 90 majority. in the same House. Suppose he does, and stands by theprinciple contained in that letter—and I will vouch for it he will—(Tremendous cheering and waving of hats, which interrupted Mr. Cobden_for some moments)—then an appeal to the country follows. What will you do in London in such a case ? Give us four good ones. (Immense cheering.) We must have four good ones, and no shams." A Voice—"And one of them Cobden."

Mr. Cobden—" No, I won't leave Stockport, till I go in for Buckinghamshire! But, remember, when the election comes on, you must give us four, or none (Cheers.) Mr. P. A. Taylor said, there was not the slightest doubt that at the next election for the City four thorough Free-traders would be returned by a large majority.

Dr. Bowring, asserting that no Ministry could stand whose aim should not be the immediate overthrow of the Corn-laws, hinted at Mr. Cobden's elevation to office- " My friend has spoken of those who will probably be some of the new Minis- ters; but I believe public opinion will be little satisfied till a fortfolio is offered to him. He should be President of the Board of Trade. He is the man to hold out the hand of peace and of friendship to all nations. He is the man to teach man- kind, as he has taught his country, that their interests are the interests of peace and commerce and extended trade, and to give a new tone and character to the legislation of the land."

Resolutions were proposed, denouncing protection as an unsound prin- ciple; claiming removal of all restrictions from commerce, and especially from the trade in corn ; pointing out the present Corn-law as an utter failure; demanding its entire repeal; and requesting the four Representa- tives of the City to support that measure of repeal: all these were passed unanimously. Finally, a resolution thanking the Lord Mayor for his im- partiality in the chair was carried by acclamation.

The Anti-Corn-law League had a great meeting in Covent Garden Theatre on Wednesday night—the first since the declaration of Lord John Russell and the retirement of Sir Robert Peel. Before six o'clock the ap- proaches to the theatre were blocked up by the crowds seeking admission; and when the doors were opened, half an hour later, the house was filled with a rush that packed it as fall as it could hold. Mr. Charles Villiers, M.P., presided, in the absence of Mr. George Wilson, chairman of the League: on the platform were, Mr Cobden, Mr. James Pattison, and some half dozen Liberal Members of Parliament; some gentlemen connected with the City, manufacturers from the North, and a few country gentle- men.

In his introductory speech, Mr. Villiers congratulated the League on the success of their extraordinary exertions, and rejoiced in the accession of

- Russell's letter did not surprise him, because Lord John had voted last session for his motion to repeal the Corn-laws. The news that Sir Robert Peel was for total abolition, he hailed with peculiar joy and satisfactiou-

be knew the advantage of detaehing such a leader from such opponents; and he said, if it was true, it would be folly to discuss anything but how it could be turned to the best account. He cared not how such conversions were brought about; it might have been by bad potatoes, or by good arguments—it was the same to him. They had all at that meeting the one great end of getting rid of these odious laws as speedily as possible; and to that, and to that only, ought they to give their attention. The gain of such converts was great; and 'where, he asked, was the difficulty of acting effectually, if these two leaders of parties were correctly represented? What was to prevent success, if these men were true to you, and you are true to yourselves? If Lord John is really for the abolition of the Corn-laws, and Sir Robert Peel does really agree with him, why should Lord John not accept the commission of the Crown to form a Government, and form it exclusively on the principle or for the purpose of abolishing the Corn- ' laws; and let Sir Robert Peel, if he is sincere—and-his resignation implies that he is so—let him give Lord John Russell his unqualified, strenuous, and faithful support in and out of the House of Commons for this purpose; and then let this powerful and spirited and intelligent association throw their weight into the scale, and devote all their power and energy to the support of both parties. If this were done in good faith and promptly, he did not believe that the month of February would pass away without the statute-book of this country being at last relieved from the foulest blot that ever disfigured it, or the laws of any Christian, civilized, and commercial community. Where would be the strength of the opposition to such a combination, if it was really rested upon the simple common ground of total abolition? and with that prospect, why should it be not instantly formed. However, Mr. Villiers exhorted the great body of Repealers not to rely on any but themselves, or they would run a risk of being egregiously deceived and disap- pointed. Mr. Cobden addressed the meeting at considerable length, and with much animation; his speech consisting of discursive remarks on the present state 'cif the question. He began with an allusion to the size of the meeting, 'thus-

" I think some of the Protection Societies would be glad to have our overflow to- ' night If this agitation continue, we shall have to build an edifice as large as St. Paul's to hold the Leaguers. I believe today we have had applications for thirty thousand tickets of admission. There are many thousands around this building who cannot be accommodated, and there are a great many more inside than can be comfortable."

He exhorted the Free-traders not to be too ready in throwing up their . caps; because there is always most danger when people are least on their guard in this wicked world. He should not consider the work done until he saw, wet from the printer's, the Act containing the total abolition of the Corn-laws. He had always predicted that more than one Cabinet

• would be knocked up in the course of this agitation. The Ministers in +.1841 took the Corn-law as the last desperate dose to cure them of linger- . ing disease: it proved fatal. The last Government has died of the Corn- law: let its fate be a warning to its successors. It was not yet known why Sir Robert Peel had run away from his own handy work, the law of -1842—why he had bolted; nor how he meant to deal with it iu future. He should look for explanation with much interest; and he presumed that 'the Baronet would help them to do what he was unable to accomplish with his refractory Cabinet Mr. Cobden did expect that straightforward course. But he insisted on total and immediate repeal; the time for all compromise whatsoever having passed- ' " There are people who tell ns that this Corn-law must not be suspended sud- denly; that it must not be dealt with rashly and precipitately; but that if we are . to have a repeal of the Corn-laws it must be done gradually. Well, that might . have been in the eyes of some a very statesmanlike way of doing the business six or seven years ago. Some would have thought last year, when wheat was 47s. a quarter, that if a law had been passed then, providing for the extinction of the Corn-laws in two or three years, that would have been no very bad measure: but who would propose now to pass a law imposing a fixed duty on corn, next spring to take off 3s. or 4s., the spring after to reduce it still farther, and so on, till none :Aar! left? That won't suit the exigencies of the present moment Our wise Legislature would not deal with the question when they might have done so with some advantage to their own policy. We were pressing on the Government to }deal with the Corn-laws last year, and the year before, when wheat was 47s. per quarter: but we were told then, that we were rash men—that the Corn-law had not had a fair trial that we must wait to see how it worked. Now they do see how it has worked. But there is no time for temporizing now. Nature has atepped in. Providence has stepped in—has inflicted a famine on the land, and has set at nought all the contrivances, the delays, and the modifications of statesmen. There is now but one course to pursue. It is no use asking us fer a feathei-bed to drop the aristocracy on. IVe might if we had one to offer them; but they can have no feather-bed now. They must have a total and im- iiiediate repeal of the Corn-laws; not because the League demand it—not out of any deference to the shibboleth of a club like ours—no, we don't wish to inflict tiny unnecessary humiliation on the landowners: but they have put off this good work so long that Nature has stepped in, and now they must bow to the law of Nature without delay. Well, we meet Parliament next session with, I take it "for granted, but one proposition before us, and that is the immediate abolition of the Corn-laws. No Minister can take office without proposing that measure. ...Whether Sir Robert Peel or Lord John Russell, I defy them to take office without coming to the House of Commons, and, in the Queen's Speech, proposing that measure. No, we won't exult over them. It is not our doing after all. We have merely prepared the public mind, in some degree, to take advantage of a great naturalcalamity. But it is not so well prepared as if they had given us two or 3#11b3e years mom. The potato crop has tripped up the heels of Sir Robert Peel; but it has also stopped our registration-agents. 1 should have liked another year or two to have qualified for the counties. We would then have shown the Mono- • polist landowners that we can transfer power in this country from the hands of an exclusive class totally, into the hands of the middle and industrious classes. 'We-shall go on with that movement, and I hope it will never stop. But we shall have to deal with the crisis of the Corn question next session."

An autobiographical trait, and speculation about the future- '. "I want to get into the House of Commons again, to have some talk about • this question. It is very different work there, I assure you, to talking in these 'meetings every day, where there are no opponents. I don't know how it is but I have that quality of combativeness, as the phrenologists call it, so inherent in me, that - unless I meet some opposition I am as dull as ditch-water. Now, there is no man to be found at large, out of the House of Commons, to say one word in defence of the Corn-laws. I am anxious, therefore, to meet these Protectionists in the House of Commons. Yet, I don't know—it will be an odd scene, when we as Bemble next session; for we shall not know where to sit. There will be such a gathering in the lobbies—one saying to the other, Which side are you going to sit on?' Then, the greatest subject of interest will be to see where Sir Robert Peel is to sit. I should not wonder if we should have to find him a chair, and lint him in the middle of the floor. Now I shall be somewhat interested to hear

the moment. The Corn-law must be suspended instantly. If Lord John RUB- sell take office—he will be a bold man if be does—but if he does, I suppose he will either suspend the law the next day by an order in Council, or will call us tole ther and submit his proposition to suspend that Corn.law at once. Or if he does not do that, he won't hold office a week. Then the debate will turn on the necessity of suspending this Corn-law; and we shall have gentlemen getting up from Dorsetabire and Essex protesting that there is great abundance of every- thing in the country, that there is no scarcity at all—no potato rot, and a full average quantity of wheat. Then I should not wonder if we should hear some very novel receipts for feeding the people. • • • Mangel-wurzel, starch, and beans, mixed with a little curry-powder, I should think would make a rich treat for starving people !" [The report in the Chronicle, which we follow, is peals- taking in the annotation of the " cheers," " laughter," and other signs of feeling manifested by the audience; shadowing out several varieties: this last point marked with " indignant laughter."]

On certain conditions, Mr. Cobden gave Sir Robert Peel a qualified pro- mise of support-

" For myself, I have no reason to feel any very great respect for Sir Robert Peel. He is the only man in the House of Commons that I could never speak a word to in private without forfeiting. my own respect But, though I say that, and though I am justified in saying it, yet I will add, that so deeply have I this question of the Corn-laws at heart, that if Sir Robert Peel will take the same manly, straightforward part that Lord John Russell has taken—if he will avow an intelligible course of action, without any mystification—I will as heartily co- operate with him as with any man in the House of Commons."

Mr. Cobden rejected the notion of consenting to any " terms"; and to those who may venture to demand them he threatened an ulterior movement- " They talk about readjusting taxation. I am told that Sir Robert Peel has got a scheme as long as my arm for mixing up a hundred other things with these Corn-laws. We will have no such mystification of our plain plan. We have had too much of his mystification before. In the North of England, where we are practical people, we have a prejudice in favour of doing one thing at a time. Now, we will abolish the Corn and Provision laws first, if you please—that is one thing; and anything else they propose to do we will take on its merits, as we take the Corn-law on its demerits. They propose a modification of taxation; and I am told that Sir Robert Peel has seine sop in view to compensate the landowners. Lucre the " particular fellow " of a reporter notes down "Ironical laughter.") Now, he has not been a very safe guide hitherto for the landowners of this country. He has led them into a quagmire already; 'and.' predict that if Sir Ro- bert Peel provoke a discussion on the subject of taxation in this country, he will prove as great an enemy to the landowners as they now think hint for his adoption of Repeal principles. Now, I warn the landowners and the aristocracy against forcing on the attention of the middle and industrious classes of tins country the subject of taxation: for, great as I consider the grievance of the pro- tective system—mighty as I consider the fraud and injustice of the Corn-law- I verily believe, if you were to bring forward the history of the Legislature in this country for the last hundred and fifty years on the subject of taxation, you would find as black a record against the landowners as is contained even in the history of the Corn-law itself. I warn them from looking up the subject. If they want another League at the death of this one—if they want another organization and a motive (for you can't have these organizations without a motive and a prin- ciple)—then let them force the middle and industrious classes of this country to understand how they have been cheated and robbed and bamboozled on the 'sub- ject of taxation. Let the people understand how the landowners of this country one hundred and fifty years ago deprived the Sovereign of his feudal rights o$er them, and yet retained their own rights over the mmor copyholders--how they made a bargain with the King to give him four shillings in the pound as a quit rental on the annual rent—how they afterwards passed a law to make the valuations of their rental final, though their land has gone on increasing tenfold in some parts of Scotland and fivefold in many parts of England, whilst the Land-tax remains the same as it was one hundred and fifty years ago,—if they force us to understand all this, and, further, how they have managed to exempt themselves from the Probate and Legacy duty—how they have managed, sweet innocents ! to tax themselves so heavily—to transmit their estates from father to son without taxes and without duties, whilst the tradesman is subject to taxes and stamps before his children can inherit the small modichm of property which by patient industry and perseverance he had accumulated—how, moreover, they have exempted their tenants' houses, their tenants' horses, their dogs, their draining-tiles from all taxation,—then I say, they will be making a rueful bargain, and come as sorrily out of it as when they resisted this abolition of the Corn-law. Now, don't let them tell me that I am talking in a wild and chimerical strain. They told me so seven years ago about this Corn-law. I remember it well when we came to London, three of us, six years ago, in the spring of the year 1839. We were assembled in a small room at Brown's Hotel, Palace Yard, when We were visited by a nobleman, who, though not a Free-trader, had yet taken au active part in advocating a modification of the Corn-law. He asked us what brought us to town—what we had come to seek? We said that we had come to seek the total and immediate repeal of the Corn-law. Said the nobleman, with a most emphatic shake of the head, ' You'll overturn the monarchy as soon as accomplish it.' Now, I say that the same energy which has been employed in the Corn-law agitation, starting from our vantage-ground, having our opponents down as we have them now, would enable a sufficient number of the middle and working classes of this country to qualify for the counties, to transfer the power utterly and for ever from the landowners of this country into their own hands; and they might tax land and tax large proprietors and rich men of every kind, is they do in every country in the world but England. Again, then, I warn Sir Robert Peel and the aristocracy, that in the settlement of this question they do not force us into any discussion of the peculiar burdens upon land.' I say they dare not open the question of taxation. What will they do, then ? I would advise them as their friend, to do justice, speedily, promptly. and if we take the repeal of the Corn-law and ask no further questions—if we let bygones be bygones —they ought to be abundantly satisfied with their bargain; and 1 am disposed io ask'no questions, and to let bygones be bygones."

Mr. Cobden alluded to two of the new adherents the movement. Some who join the ranks of the Repealers seem dispersed to kick their school- master as they come in-

" I observed in the newspaper a letter from a gentleman, whose name I ablest forget—a Mr. Vernon Smith—who writes to hiaelectors of Northamptonshire, and declares his adhesion to our principles: but in the concluding paragraph he says that he may be a little paradoxical perhaps, but he was of opinion that the pro- gress of free trade had been accelerated by the arguments of the Monopolistsd retarded by the violence of the League. Well, we don't boast of our converts e when they are worth converting; but when we are charged with violence, and charged by Mr. Vernon Smith too—whom I have sometimes suffered the inflic- tion of listening to in the House of Commons—I say that, considering we am' a great national achool, I think if we do sometimes fall a little out of temper, seine allowance ought to be made for the kind of scholars we have to teach; and I Hart say that a duller scholar than Master Vernon Smith, schoolmaster never bad .° Mr. O'Connell's adhesion was hailed with unqualified satisfaction,'-and with hints of a quid pro quo—,

" We have every reason in the Anti-Corn-law League to feel indebted to Mr.

both in our great meetings and in the House of Commons. I never considered Mr. O'Connell as acting on English grounds, but always as acting for the benefit of his own countrymen in Ireland when cooperating with us for a repeal of the Corn-laws; because we have had the best possible proofs, in the continued misery and semi-starvation of the Irish people, that whatever good the Corn-law has done to the landowners in England, it has done nothing for the people of Ireland, who never feed on anything better than tamper potatoes. Then, on Irish grounds, and on English grounds, I am glad to have an opportunity of cooperating with

Mr. O'Connell. I rejoice that on this question, at all events, there can be no line of demarcation drawn between England and Ireland. Our interests and theirs are identical. They want more bread, God knows, in Ireland; and if we can help O'Connell to give it to them, they shall have it."

A warning was given to the new Minister, that there must be "no tem- porizing "—

" I have confidence in Lord John Russell. I believe if you have his word you have his bond. I do not know at this moment whether he will accept office or not;

but if he do, and take Lord Morpeth and Lord Grey with him, you are as safe

with them as with him. I do not know who besides he may have. ( Voices- " Yourself I" followed by loud cheering.) Yes, I'll be watchman so long as bad

characters are abroad. Lord John Russell, however, may have some difficulty in getting colleagues so ripe for free trade as himself, or so ready to coerce these hereditary legislators as he could wish. You mast back him; you must show

him the power you can give him to carry this question. There is a talk of Lord

John Russell having committed himself by publishing his celebrated letter to the citizens of London; and I heard some shabby person say that if he had not put that letter out, how much freer he would have been now. Why, Lord John Rus- sell would have been nothing now without that letter. The Queen couldn't have sent for him without that letter. Lord John Russell would have no more com- manded public confidence or have excited public hope or enthusiasm without that letter than Sir Robert Peel himself would have done: and is it not a proof of the vitality of the principle, that, without joining the League, by a mere enunciation

of principle which the people can understand and feel, Lord John Russell became —like the change effected in a magic lantern—converted from a man obscure, and hardly known to the people, to one of the most popular men of the day." In fine, Mr. Cobden prophetically sang the euthanasia of the League- " Ours is the only party that is now consolidated and growing in the country. All the good men of the Whig party have joined the Free-traders. The Whigs

are nothing without the Free-traders. The Tory or Conservative party is broken to atoms by a disruption in the ranks of its leaders. The League alone stands erect and aloft amidst the view of all factions. Let us hold on, then, to the prin- ciple which has made us so strong as we now find ourselves; let us hold on to it,

not swerving to the right hand or to the left. No men or body of men, Ministers or Ex-Ministers, have a right to expect it, nor shall they have it. We have

not striven to keep one party in office or another party out; we have worked with one object and one principle in view; and if we maintain that principle for but six months more, we shall attain to that state which I have so long and so

anxiously desired, when the League shall be dissolved into its primitive elements by the triumph of its principles." [The applause at the close was unbounded.)

Speeches were delivered by Mr. Bright and Mr. W. J. Fox; and at half- past ten o'clock the meeting broke up with three cheers for Free Trade, Mr. Cobden acting as fugleman.

Prince Albert visited the Smithfield Club cattle-show on Saturday after- noon; and his intention to do so having become known, the show-yards were crowded with persons whose excited curiosity proved a source of in- convenience to the Royal agriculturist, almost frustrating the object of the visit. The Duke of Richmond, Lord Portman, and other office-bearers of the Club, received the Prince on his arrival; but so great was the pressure that a body of policemen was required to clear a passage through the gate. Admission once obtained, the crowd followed the Prince from group to group, and from stall to stall; pressing upon him and his attendants, with a force which rendered a minute inspection of the "points' impossible. The pressure increased as the party moved oniVards; and by the time the pig department was reached, the Prince was separated from several of his attendants, who found it impracticable to regain their places. The Prince was more fortunate when perambulating the implement-gallery; and it happened also that on his return to the cattle-yards, curiosity having been allayed, he was allowed to renew his inspection with some degree of comfort.

The Council of the Royal Agricultural Society submitted their half- yearly report to a general meeting held on Saturday, at the Society's House, Hanover Square; Lord Portman presiding. The report, among other details, contained a tabular statement of matters connected with each of the country meetings held since the Society commenced, showing some striking contrasts. Taking, for instance, the first and the last ex- hibitions, the one at Oxford in 1839, and the other at Shrewsbury this year, we find that the number of animals had nearly doubled; the number of implements had increased fortyfold (from 23 to 942); the receipts had risen from 2,3941. to 3,6621.; and the excess of expenditure over the re- ceipts had been increased from 294L to 1,5041. This heavy deficiency at Shrewsbury is ascribed to the circumstance of the district being purely agricultural. The number of members in 1844 was 6,827; yielding an income of 9,291L, while the expenditure for the year was 9,0701. At pre- sent the members amount to 6,839; and a total arrear of 6,8021. is owing, for a period extending from 1841 to 1845. The report mentions that the sum of 1001., placed at the disposal of the Society by the Duke of Northum- berland, is to be applied in premiums for the best essays on the potato disease. The proceedings of the Council, as narrated in the report, were cordially approved by the meeting. The next country show takes place at Newcastle.

The Proprietors of East India Stock held a quarterly meeting at the India House on Wednesday. Previously to the commencement of business, Mr. Peter Gordon began a general tirade against the Directors, and it was found necessary to remove him from the room. Mr. George Thompson was then heard on the subject of certain old charges against Lieutenant- Colonel Ovens, arising out of the dethronement of the Raja of Sattara: the Court rejected the resolutions which he moved; and Mr. Thompson de- ferred the rest till another meeting.

The foundation-stone of the first Model Establishment for Baths and Wash-houses, for the use of the poor, in Gulston Square, High Street, Whitechapel, was laid on Tuesday, by the Lord Mayor. At a dinner in the evening, nearly 1,0001. was subscribed.

At the Central Criminal Court, on Monday, Harding, a young man, was tried far stealing a pocket-book from Mr. Williams, a solicitor, containing cash and se- curities to theamouut of 2,7001. The prisoner was described as a shoemaker; but he is believed to be one of the gang of thieves infesting the City banking- bermes. The posoutor's pocket was picked after his leaving Masterman's, where

he had cashed a check. The prisoner was found guilty, and sentenced to be transported for ten years.

On Wednesday, Martha Browning was tried for the murder of Elizabeth Mundell. The evidence, as formerly described, was clear; and in no instance could it be rebutted. The Jury returned a verdict of "Guilty," and sentence of death was recorded.

Samuel Quennell was tried on Thursday, for the murder of Daniel Fitzgerald, at Newington, three weeks ago. The case was fully proved against the prisoner by the same witnesses whose evidence was described when given at the Police-

office defence was insanity. The prisoner's brother asserted that there was insanity in the family: both the witness and his wife stated that they had observed a ,4usn,e in the prisoner's conduct, three weeks before the murder; he was occasionally. morose and dejected, without any apparent cause. The Jury found him guilty; and the prisoner heard sentence of death passed with the greatest composure.

The examination of George Johnstone, master of the Tory, charged with the murder of three of his crew, and with cutting and maiming some of the others, was resumed on Tuesday, at the Thames Police Court. The prisoner was in a very weak state, and bad to be accommodated with a seat. The examination on this occasion was limited to the assaults perpetrated by Johnstone after the vessel had entered the English Channel. A Frenchman, who bore the borrowed name of George Morris, was examined for the first time; having been too ill to attend the previous inquiries. He is maimed for life. He stated through an inter- preter, that on the day that the pilot came on board, he was called into the cabin, ordered to go upon his knees, and interrogated by Johnstone as to what the crew were saying about him. He was then slashed and cut with a cutlas, and after- wards fired at with a loaded pistol; the ball passing through his thigh and leg. Other witnesses spoke to equal if not greater atrocities. With one exception, every man who was examined exhibited scars and wounds; and most of them were disfigured in the face by repeated discharges of gunpowder. Johnstone was re- manded for another week.

Sir George Stephen having reiterated, in a letter inserted in the Times as an advertisement, his charge of murder against the captain of the Caroline, the ship sent to this country by the Imaum of Muscat, Mr. Clarkson has attended at the Mansionhouse to deny the fact, and to intimate that the accused is quite ready to rebut, before the Lord Mayor, any charge formally made by Sir George Stephen. Sir George has declined to do this, and threatens to apply to the Judges.

A fire, supposed to have been wilful, occurred on Wednesday night at Messrs. Pritchard and Company's lucifer-match manufactory, in Garrett Lane, Wands- worth; and the building was totally destroyed. Great precautions were adopted against such a disaster: the owners had recently prosecuted a father and daughter for robbing them, and threats bad been dropped by some persons: hence the sus- picion of incendiarism.

Francis Burnand, one of the guards on the Blackwell Railway, met with a serious accident on Tuesday. As he was attempting to cross the line at the Limehouse station, he was knocked down by a carriage, and the wheels passed over his legs. He was removed to the London Hospital, where one of the limbs underwent amputation.

A very alarming collision occurred on the Thames on Saturday afternoon. The Emerald Gravesend steamer, in its way down the river with a great number of passengers, touched at Greenhithe, and left the pier a little before five o'clock. A short time after, a large steam-vessel was observed coming up the river; and as its course seemed to threaten the Emerald, the people on board that vessel hailed: but no notice was taken, and the stranger dashed into the Emeralds larboard side, just before the paddle-box; while the shock caused the chimney to fall on the after-deck. A. scene of great- terror and confusion ensued, every one thinking the vessel was going down. The steamers were locked together; and, drifting with the tide, they presently ran foul of a brig which was at anchor, shattering her bowsprit: the shock caused the foremast to fall upon the deck of the Emerald. The passengers having got on board the brig, one of the steamers plying from Blackwell came to their assistance, and carried them in to Gravesend. All, however, did not thus escape with a fright; for one. gentleman had suffered a fracture of his arm by the fall of a spar, and the right arm of another had been broken. The vessel which caused the disaster turned out to be the John Bull, a Hamburg steamer, on her way to London, after a very dangerous passage. The Emerald, though much damaged, still kept afloat, and was towed to Gravesend.

The Registrar-General's return of mortality in the Metropolis for the week end- ing on Saturday last shows the following general results.

Number of Autumnal Annual deaths. average. average.

Zymotie (or Epidemic, Endemic, and Contagious) Diseases 212 ... 201 ... 161 Dropsy, Cancer, and other diseases of uncertain or variable seat 90 ... 109 ... 105 Diseases of the Brain. Spinal Marrow, Nerves, and Senses . — . 148 ... 155 ... 159 Diseases of the Lungs, and of the other Organs of Respiration 316 ... 323 ... 292

Diseases of the Heart and Blood-vessels 28 ... 27 . . 24 Diseases of the Stomach, Liver, and other Organs of Digestion 84 ... 88 ... 71 Diseases of the Kidneys, &c.

Childbirth, disease, of the Uterus, &c. 17 ... 12 . . IS

Rheumatism, diseases of the Bones. Joints, &c

Diseases of the Skin, Cellular Tissue, &c. Old Age . 43 ... 74 ... 70

Violence, Privation, Cold, and Intemperance Total (including unspecified causes) 970 ... 1,020 ... 963

The temperature of the thermometer ranged from 46.9° in the sun to 24.4° in the shade; the mean temperature by day being colder than the average mean temperature by 0.6°. The mean direction of the wind for the first four days was %Vest, and for the remainder of the week North north-west.