of the latter, and he called, therefore, on the House not to fritter away the great interests committed to its charge. He, in a long and closely-reasoned speech, strenuously opposed the appointment of the Committee. The motion was supported by Mr. Hume, Mr. Bright, Mr. Labouchere, Lord Sandon, and Mr. Mitchell, and opposed by Lord G. Bentinck, Alderman Thompson, Captain Harris, Mr. Hudson, and Mr. Disraeli; but, Sir Robert Peel having given a very decided opinion in favour of inquiry, and Lord John Russell having supported the proposal on the part of the Government, Mr. Ricardo’s motion was carried by 155 to 61. [Sidenote: Committee appointed, February 1847.] [Sidenote: Meeting of Shipowners’ Society, August 12, 1847.] This was the first blow aimed with serious effect against the existence of the Navigation Laws; and, though the Free-trade party affected slightly to disguise their intentions by only asking for inquiry, their zealous partisans out of doors made no scruple in avowing that the total abolition of the Navigation Laws was the real object of their agitation. Circumstances connected with this inquiry led the General Body of Shipowners to hold a special meeting on the 12th August, 1847, but, curiously enough, they did not advance a single remark on the increasing activity of their own business, brought about as this had been in a great measure by the legislation to which I have referred. It cannot be questioned that, if British shipowners had suffered severely in previous years, the reductions in the tariff since 1842, together with the demand for shipping to bring supplies of food for the starving populace of Ireland, had greatly increased their actual business and their future prospects. Nor were other causes wanting to enhance and to ensure this prosperity. A new trade had been developed by the discovery of vast deposits of guano in the islands of the Pacific (of far greater importance than those on the coasts of Africa), and this alone required a large amount of tonnage; while the rapidly increasing consumption of sea-borne coals secured for them another source of remunerative employment. In spite of these obvious advantages, shipowners, however, expressed no feelings of satisfaction, though these new channels of trade afforded them a profitable employment for their vessels: they probably feared that by so doing the Free-traders would at once introduce a measure for the repeal of the Navigation Laws. Nor were their fears groundless. Parliament having thrown out the idea that protection as a principle could not be maintained, the shipowner had to show that his case, as the advocate of maritime commerce generally, was an exception to this rule. [Sidenote: Their arguments.]