The Sun. — London, England, 1844-08-08 00:00:00

for they g clas , ee• 2r rnort, aid out et yes c ould at, and It not mad e 'inably be r, bear) Lt of the We g o Tathering ornetiroce v steadili itself. 5 obtain ever baim, d cheer s ' ) (Cheers:) son ki n by P. f i i ings THE SUN, LONDON, THURSDAY M0RN171 4 16; AUGUST 8, 1844. and that he was suffering deep dietress ; but when he ask themselves, whether agriculture alone could quoted th e authority of a clergyman it had the effect, bring about a happy and prosperous condition , iio twithstanding that he was a gentleman of the for the great body of the population.—(Hear, hear.) highest character, of known fidelity' in the discharge It was unnecessary for him to dwell in that intelli of his sacred functions, of calling up the Secretary gent assembly on such an absurdity.—(Hear, hear.) f?r . the Home Department—(Groaas)—who said that 'Eine was when every little Baron was a sort of this gentleman was a " popularity-hunting parson"— bandit in the county in which he lived, when there (Groans)—so that when a clergy man came forward was nu law to protect the weak from the aggressions ' oin his class and spoke with candour of the wants of' the strong, when commerce had not civilised of the labouring- population, if he ventured society, and knit them together by th e t ies of a corn- to expou n d t h at text of Scripture, that the labourer mon interest. Then was the time of a purely agri was worthy of his hire, he was told that he was a po- cultural .ystem. It was too late in these days to , polarity -1 unting parson. He (Mr. Gibson) had bring back what would soon be forgotten, or will , at some times thought it was never intended that they least, have passed away with the relics of feudal bar - , should_ be in earnest in those matters, that they barism. The corn - law wa s the last of those relics— rould not keep up Inure then a mere show, and he no, riot the last, but it involved the abolition of all the " vi se n merely a s i ns t rumen t s o f t h e grea t, an d it con - rest; it was the keystone which, once removed, the hi s eed him very much that there was some truth in arch of monopoly, restriction, privilege, and unfair whoe'Necture, when he was told that a clergyman legislation, must inevitably fall.—(Cheers.) They b e c ame forward in the purest spirit of the religion professed in the House of Commons to take great h P r aessed, to complain of the wants of the labourers interest in the cause of the agricultural la iSue' t c u r e N 0 surrounded him—when he was told that such a bourers. They told them that they had been amendment tvaarsycalled in the British Senate, by the Home amending the new poor-law. The . m an ofState—thet he wee a " popularity-hunting might or might not be beneficial, but the great point puart.ily The Rev. Godolphin Osborne was the clergy- at which the Anti- Corn - law Association and free ehe' alluded to.—(Loud cheers.) He wished most traders in general aimed was to prevent men from hunting that there were more of these popularity becoming paupers.—(Cheers.) It was good to be parsons.—(Loud cheers.) He "ished their charitable, but it was better to be just. They wished ( Laughter would even condescend to imitate them.— justice to be the pervading principle of the laws, and and cheers He remembered that a cele- the • believed that if men had the opportunity of rayed writ er h a d sa i d 3 that he thought a very good supporting themselves, they would not see such an society much wanted might be established, and that it was very amount of pauperism as now alarmed every wanted, for the purpose' of converting the Bi shops to Ce • • Bi- thinking man who took up any of the reports of the Re w . Christianity. (Laughter and cheers) . Poor-law Commissioners, and calmly meditated on th as quite sure it was consistent with 'he sit of their contents. Let them look at the condition of the e Christian religion—that it was, in fact, indirect accordance • poor, notwithstanding all the attempts to improve it. free t. rice with the Gospel, to advocate the cause of It was strange sort of policy, to saA , the . least,_ to trade ; and he ver ily believed that that general make the pauper better off than the independent ntercouree between nations, which was what was labourer, and, indeed, such was the condition of the .111eant by fre e t ra d e , wou ld b e th e means o f sprea di ng independent labourer that they could not, without y , ugion and civilisation throughout all the nations o f absolutely starving the pauper, bring him into a worse me earth ; an d he did not believe that any missionary conditio n . What was the scale of livin g i n th i s tff ° l • ts, howe ver we ll i n t en d e d, or th a t any attempts, country among the working population, or among a eo_ sever well supported, could be comeletely suc- 'lumber of different classes who did not enjoy eesiful, while Govern:nents kept nations separate from any good living? First in the list stood the trans eaeh tariffs other by those barriers in the shape of hostile ported thief; second, the convicted thief; third, the •_ a , , and breathing towards each other feelings of suspected thief; fourth, the soldier; fifth, the able 471ousy and not of love—of those mutual interests, bodied pauper; and, last of ali, came the independent, which adopt e d would he so much promoted if free trade were Protected labourer.—(Hear, hear.) That was the fa nned ; but feelings of animosity, which were easily Present state of things in this country—the present into a flame, and sometimes ended in open e , scale of food.—(Hear, hear.) The transported thief Pte hear.) He had heard of had a greater number of ounces of substantial food amongst the 1 than the convicted one ; the convicted thief had more deal -anded party a great jealousy of tional h what was called the na- than the suspected ; the suspected thief had more than what extremeorlour.—(Laughter.) It was extraordinary the soldier ;the soldier had more than the able-bodied dsensitiveness and the able-bodied pauper had a great deal tletnea who grew up amongst the gen • pauper ; the importance of „ in Hess to more than the poor, protected, independent labourer. — The m maint a i n . Hear, hear.) He believed that the calculation was They seemed to be in the national honour . ( labourer. — maintaining a fighti ng c . training to get themselves into that the transported felon had 330 ounces per week this mea n a olndition.—( Laughter.) What did all of substantial food, and that the average of Vh • • --(Cheers. 3', it meant this—" War was rent . " independent labourers did not get more than 122. home tot ) h • Ile did not know whether the idea went He could not accurately carry the figures in his A highel/. minds.—(Hear, hear.) It did to his. mind, but he was not far out in his calculation. Was countryb •e of corn was the consequence of this it to be wondered at that when the labouring classes nation, Aeing engaged in hostilities with a foreign were informed of this fact they should begin to bands of Ministers, deal of patronage would fall into the suspect that there was not much sympathyion the it.nisters, and those landed gentlemen, the part of the more powerful classes of the community it. Rows —(Laughter) —would have a large slice of with their condition ? What must be the reflection pnver ih dever much the community might be im- of a hull-working man when he saw that with all his be to the by taxation, however great the woe might toil and with all his willingness to earn a livelihood, hostilit nation at large, depend upon it, in case of he could not place himself in as good a position as a t°l•3 would a foreign country, the landed proprie- felon who was sent out of the country, perhaps for Profit b , be the parties, if any body, who would the worst of crimes ?—(Hear, hear.) Such was the t he sur y i it They also said they would get rid of plain fact—it defied contradiction. They were told, There ve la us population. He believed in his conscience as he had already mentioned, that a great deal was as a large party, represented by that well-known being done for the poor, but how did their opponents to Periodical,ereot the Morning Post who would give anything meet this staggering fact ? When the subject of the in ordere hostilities between this country and France, poor was before the House of Commons, he was told si ___ . _ e _ that the price of corn might rise. What that he had been enjoying himself in the country . I ,P; s d it to those gentlemen ? they did not fight ! whilst others were working hard to benefit the labour pri":_ fur others out to battle, but they got a high in g men, by amending the New Poor-law. There would endeavour corn ; and when the war was over, they could be no doubt that Ministers had a great deal of higr pdeavour as they did before, to maintain that hard work, especially when they reflected that their od te P, ice by a new corn- law, and they would have the mornings were occupied in inspecting the correspon \vhie",m,g over agaira—(Hear, hear.) Another thing dence at the Post-office.—(Cheers and laughter.) w „_ l . l , led them to be so jealous of the national honour When his Hon. Friend the Member for Stockport ee 7 . _,Tat it would direct pubic attention from certain told the Ministers of his successes in the country, he i l l ' e a_i . r . movements, which made them very uneasy. dared to say it was no news to them. They had read d iv ' e Y__ thought that a good war would be a very good it all in the morning.—(Cheers and laughter.) When a c r,s, lo ll, and he had been told within a few days by a messenger repaired to the Foreign-office to commu loenTimguished individual, whose name he could not nicate some important intelligence to Lord Aberdeen, t° do" at a public meeting, as he had not authority it was no news to him—he had read the eontents of the nf so, that notwithstanding all that was said about the letter in the morning.— (Renewed laughter.) If 41 ,... 'series of war—notwithstanding all that mo- this, indeed, was the occupation of Ministers—if this tioe l'_tsand philosophers wrote of the evils of na- were the occupation in which the people of England a " 8 being engaged in hostilities, he verily believed desired that Ministers should be employed—(Loud gdid war was what th the country wanted to relieve cries of "No, no,")—all he could say was, that they an e w nl from their difficulties.—(Laught er . That was had a great deal to do and some excuse to offer for tit rn d doctrine, but he believed they would have the doings() little for the poorer classes in the Legislature. 1 10 _,°.,t difficulty in getting the country to engage in He must say he had observed since he had had the in 31 1 t il i tie S ; for he believed there was that good sense honour of being in Parliament, that a complete apathy e nga , country which would prevent them from was exhibited whenever the subject of the distress of It would in e so foolish a thieg.—(Hear, hear.) the labouring classes was brought under its conside bcdY of th e ta " e a great deal to convince the great ration.—(Hear, hear.) Gentlemen had been so long th e i r whii peopl e of this country that it was worth in the habit of dinning it into the ears of the country the evils w e submit to excessive taxation, and to all that the corn-laws were maintained exclusively for Playing the h war brought about, for the sake of the benefit of the agricultural labourer, that read y m.aif , game of courts, and of enabling an al- they did not know where they were when Foes o f ~,,E. B Y aristocracy to fatten still more on the the alarming statement was made that, notwith- Post i i - "e eommunity.—(Cheers.) The Morning standing the protection given to the agricultural le ad suppo sed, d iscovered, in order to prepare them, he bourer, he was in as bad a condition as any human tr a d e and for hostilities,_ that they could do without being could be to exist at all. It might be supposed in th e o c ommerce. Now, who would believe that, that he was exaggerating: he did not say that such a some tir'neteenth century, a metropolitan paper, of description would apply to every part of the United tell th e ilation, should have ' a leading article in it to Kingdom, but in Wiltshire and many other counties ti on if 'm that England would be in et a better condi- lie believed the wages were absolutely insufficient, abolish h er manuf t •altogether whatever might he his industry and diligence, to ed. , ac uring system were "'artier -- (near hear.) There was one hand of enelsle the labourer to bring up his family and th em ,ee indeed that the applying for p arochial monopolists did hold out to keep him from the necessity of . Said Z it was the trade • , w e in guano.—(Laughter.) They relief. It appeared to him that they had now arrived guan o are to have an which it was very to importation of at a position in that question in . .. e o , which is enormous , gr ow e to be spread over our acres, and is important that they should direct their attention ne food hear.) days, aq ua for our increasing population.' We exclusively to the agriculturists.—(Hear, l of h e l' seen a calculation within the last few They of all parties appeared to him to be the most *"Yed ' - ` v many ships sailors interested in the totalabolition of the corn-laws. — t and would be em- h ad in o r rde th e .strucl e h• to bring this guano to their shores. (Hear, hear.) Until the corn-laws were entirely ee Ships Ev ,, IS excellent friend, Mr. Cobden, that swept away, the farmer could never carry on his t ,`Pled, if the the money might be quite as well oc- business upon a safe and stable footing, and at the the g"" toy brought the wheat itself"' instead of present moment undoubtedly the uncertainty which e , . 1 th ere "-' grow it.--(Renewed laughter .) But prevailed was one reason why the farmer was neces 07nalie th is was to be another step taken in order to sarily prevented from giving the employment to the a ' w a ° o c onte Fuano available. They said that the labourer which he otherwise would de. So long as are gl ned elements ver of which people were not the corn-laws existed, so long would there be anti eat a loss (L aughter .) They said that chemists corn-law agitation—(Cheers)—so long would there that comae to ascertain what were the elements be uncertainty ; and therefore he maintained that the i t "ow W h eu this guano, and that it was necessary shortest road,with reference to those interests of which sue ees , at those elements were, in order to apply they heard so much, to a safe and permanent settle- Wh at ra . sillily to different an ,,,, 'gi lt ...,, kinds of land ; . because ment of the question, was by the total, immediate, and °Lner-....ut one species of land, would not suit unconditional abrogation of the corn-laws.--(Hear.) Might what might be pre ., be beneficial to the heavy clay, He believed that it would be the least dangerous t,thermsts had Judicial to the burning sand, so that the of any steps that could be taken. Anything short of a le thi,, g a get first to analyse this guano. But that would still leave some something to be agitated. t un eult p art 8 not then half finished. The most There would still reman uncertainty, and agriculture r uled • of th se le ' for the operation remained to be per- would not rest upon that safe foundation which could ' ea, th w hen the chemists had satisfied them- alone be sound by letting prices depend on the natural 1t°45111 e Y had ot in th turi sts h g to teach the farmers ; the worthy operation of supply and demand. .If they looked at e rhYster• ad to go to school, to inform themselves the moral effect of sweeping away this great injustice, ar, They roust k ies of organic chemistry.—(Laughter.) it was impossible to contemplate it without gratifica arviDeetred t o h n i sav v something of these elements. It tion ;when they reflected that it would do away with sej„ l eories th nl t hat when gentlemen talked of vision- one of the most prolific sources of discontent that now mixes Wh e th e e Y should look at home , and ask them- existed in this country; that it would bring the agri- Ae, d in the it this rising trade which ' they were pro. culturist, and the manufacturer, and the commercial p o „ l e,a was lik ely to of guano from the coast of man together ; that so long as this grievous interfer -I‘,l.!ation oe ''.,ly to be. so beneficial a thing to the ence with the rights of industry existed, these classes meat,\-Li ear, h e ' ar lus country as they had represented ? must be separated by an almost impassable barrier ; the ships bri n • Let them try Mr. Cobden's experi- but that when this barrier was swept away all classes p rodu lPs and the men be employed in bringing the to feel that the laws were based in justice, and that , that v erY for • the th e foreign clime to the shores of Eng- all this would tend to spread throughout the world cess:rrrite't po P°Pulation of this country might enjoy the blessings of civilisation, and to place them on a able th 8 of lif e SBi ble amount of the comforts and ne- good foundation.—(Loud cheers.) th e t " ern t o ic . 5 Which their own industry would en- Mr. COBDEN, M.P., then came forward, and was the true p e t e 4r ehase.—(Great cheering.) That was received with loud cheers. He spoke as follows : the,n-sLrY. Let Away with guano ; away with Ladies and Gentlemen, You have heard a great deal than n ot atternet industry take its own course. Let of allusion to-night to an organ of the press, which ev eol c e els in which to direct capital into the particular always excites considerable merriment when its let th ' be Teh inter ested men chose to think it name is mentioned here. But I was reading o w them leanest for them that it should flow ; but this morning a leading article in another paper eachPleeediaduitry,,, and all to enjoy, through their the Morning Herald—(Hisses and laughter)—where Po e t witla n te 7 full reward which Providence had I see it announced in distinct and leaded type, for the th ern, e,ont e i ned 7 ir reach.—(Cheers.) The Morning fourteenth time during the last six months, that the ' rile e ,l 4 • t it 'houlda, Passage which he would read to League is positively defunct.—(Laughter.) I wish a d o it or have escaped their notice —(Hear ) Grandmama was here this evening. Now there is „ Pted e . quoted Dr. Southey ,' him . • , alway s ts oPinio and in quoting such a thing as a paper being defunct. I have known "Oar had the n• " Dr. Southey," he said, many instances since ive began this agitation in ttr olis e that our sense to see, and the courage to which papers that had announced our death have them f°reia evil for th manufacturing system was a mon- selves expired shortly afterwards. There was one ceas :n cou ntrie _ e people, and he always wished that paper in Manchester which announced to its readers (La to b ut , " might, from some cause or another, on one Saturday that the League was extinguished, ught e .7 Thanuf_ r.) VL , m a n ufactures from Great Britain."— when, on the following Saturday, that paper itself glad to fe ' o ny, if foreign countries ceased to buy gave up the ghost.—(Laughter.) Now, I have th e co '' ° kn ows '', rn Great Britain, he should be very heard that lately Grandmaina changed hands—at th' , mfort s e " e °w Great Britain couldpurchase all 11 events , I believe the Herald has been •8 c dint " ll ° all th to k no . ry now e e luxuries which the people of united to the Standard, perhaps on the principle gold L wil t ere the nloyed.— (Hear.) He would like which has been adopted on the coast of Africa, where Sion had tne silver M orning Post professed to find the they collect a very heavy description of wood, which of the b een exp.esabout which so much apprehen- will not float, and they get over the difficulty by Licl th'cQuntry - to sed of late, lest it should go out tying a log of this heavy wood to a log of lighter or i n L s gold ard ay for corn. Would they timber, in order that both may swim together.— i hr the je t ,'" safe bo„ silver in the cellars (Laughter.) . If the light pinions of the Standard can W h er _ Sotection o e I of the Central Societ keep Grandmama above water, its vitality will be loi _ es e did f. i t come fro British, Agriculture ?—( Hear .) greater than ever I have given it credit for. No, the And w o . the Brazils—al • Why, it came from the League is not defunct.—(Loud cheers.) The League by hY did it come 2 came from distant regions. is living—(Renewed cheering)—and it will live— }eerie their manufactures •Because it was purchased (Continued cheering)—just for that length of time guano itself their tuna's+. not N oby their wheat or their durino• which it is necessary that such a body should .I,a.i.ts . elf would no p t e ; the assistance even of live, in order to accomplish the mighty object for had g n 'er) It was enable them to purchase it.—which it was originally formed.—(Loud cheering.) enabled. p the the manufacturing as well o e Population of this system which It was not in the nature of things that an association as the e dintrie • Y country to be even which • was intended to obtain a repeal of the corn-laws P o land ' s wi nch w _ were ' —( Hear , hear.) Look to — to 1 • down the t tmonopoly which was ever iand, AY, look ere purely agricultural. rpulation, 3 s r i; f ook to Ireland. What Look to maintained by a powerful aristocracy, whose power ar as thethe a wretched alone could ever have given it the effrontery n.eces .l.l.e was concerned enjoyment of tion capable, as they found in I comforts of sary to maintain such a system—it was not in the Man was ca as they knew, Ireland— a popula- nature of thin s that such an association should ac as capable—(pe of everything ofwhich • g • . rio t t o none (Hear, hear hear) a or aelear, hear).--and _ population infe- siderable period of time.—(Cheers.) We have to presiveendeavouring to obtain red whose great leader, teach not merely a whole people—we have to teach Curies , gri eva „ ces ,redress for some of the o w labo under which they had p- t o generations—those who are passing away and (Uear ) h ea r te d , was now sufferin • ) laet them look at n . for cen- those who are rising up, in order to enable pg n mom P nent.— porgy to understand the question. Nay, more! we that countr y, and I had to secure the experience of all classes on our side) farmer that for every quarter of wheat that he takes to the market, he pays twenty shillings at the very least to the landlord for rent. Now, you must know, that in a good system of husbandry only one acre out of four, sometimes only one acre out of five, is devoted to the growth of wheat for ten consecutive years, yet the farmer still con tinues to pay rent, whether the land be sown with turnips, lies fallow, or is merely green sward. The firmer seems not to have discovered this trick. It has been proved to demonstration that if the farmer paid no rent at all he could sell his wheat at 275. the quarter, get as good a profit on his capital, pay his labourers, and feed every horse about his farm just as well as he does now, and yet the landlord continues to bamboozle him in this way. There is one little incident which I think is likely to bring the farmers to a favourable consideration of this question. We have lately had a free trade in wool, and whilst wheat is tumbling down, wool is improving in price. Now the manufacturers do not complain of the high price of wool. They do not complain in Leeds, where so much cloth is made; and in Bradford and Huddersfield they are all getting quite saucy with good trade. They do not complain of the high price of wool, so that it be a natural price, and, in that case, they care not whether it be sd. or l s . 3d. a p oun d. Now, Ido hope that this wool question may be the the means of opening the eyes of some of the farmers. I perceive that some of the county Members have become some what enlightened lately. I have got a newspaper—a Hertford newspaper--which gives ,an account of a meeting held at Hemel Hempstead, at the wool fair, which was attended by Mr. Dudley Ryder, whom I never heard in the House of Commons, but who is, I am told, exceedingly valuable when abusing the League. But do not let us abuse him, for Ido not despair of seeing him b ecome a cap it a l free-trader. Mr. Dudley Ryder, and his friend Lord Grimston, attended the wool fair last year, and it so happened that, on the day the wool fair was held, a motion came on in the House of Com mons, made by Mr. Wood, the Member for Halifax, fur the abolition of the duty on foreign wool. Mr. Dudley Ryder, on addressing his friends and consti tuents at Hemel Hempstead, said "This very even ing, there is a motion brought forward in the House of Commons, a proposition for lowering the duty on wool. Lord Grimston and myself intend to go back to town by the six o'clock train, in order to oppose that motion ; for I do not think that with 45,0001b5. of wool in Hemel Hempstead, we want much more from abroad."—(Loud cheers and laughter.) Well, back went these two distinguished senators by the six o'clock train, and they arrived in time in the. House of Commons not to hear arguments, for that they did not want, but they arrived in time to vote against Mr. Wood's motion for taking off the duty on wool. That was last year, 1843. A few weeks ago, there was another fair at Hemel Hempstead, and attended by the farmers there, and these two Hon. Members attended, I suppose ; but in the meantime the Government had brought for ward a motion for the abolition, totally and imme diately, of the duty on foreign wool, and these two consistent senators had supported the Government in that measure.—(Laughter.) Mr. Dudley Ryder, it appeared, had primed himself for a speech. His health was proposed, and in replying, the Honourable Gentleman said—" That the question to which their attention was specially called on that occasion referred to wool. At this moment it was rather an important question • because, it was known that the Government had introduced a measure for the purpose of doing away with the duty on foreign wool." He then told them that foreign wool obtained higher prices than our own. I think he must have fortunately stumbled on one of the articles of Mr. 'Wilson, the economist. For he goes on to state that he " had arrived at the conclusion that it was to our interest to obtain our wools from abroad at the lowest price. It appeared that in Hertfordshire the produce was almost exclu sively, if not entirely, short stapled wool.—(Cries from the meeting of No, no.') He went on to say that he did not believe they produced much of either kind." Mr. Dudley Ryder, however, did not seem pleased with the interruption, and he went on in a rather abrupt and brusque manner, saying—" I took the liberty of stating a fact, for, after all, this question must be decided by facts alone, theories might be very fine, but in dealing with a question of this kind, experience, and not theories, must de cide. He said that it was an incontrovertible fact that in proportion as they admitted foreign wool at a low rate of duty the native wool rose in price ; and he did not think that that happy union between native and foreign wool-growers ought to be dissolved by a Doctors-Commons fiat, or that the mutual engage ments should be destroyed." Now I call that a rather odd sort of wool-gathering in the course of a year. One little fact is rather striking, that Mr. Dudley Ryder, who was sent up in 1841 to protect the agriculture of Hertfordshire, should not know whether long wool or short wool was grown in that country.—(Cheers.) It goes far to confirm my opinion, formed when quietly stock-taking on the benches of the House of Commons, that the county Members in the House of Commons—there are a few splendid exceptions, such as Mr. Pusey, for instance —who are sent up to protect agriculture, are about as ignorant of the political state of the country as any man in it. This Mr. Ryder seems to be a choice specimen of that class, though he was not equal to one I have heard of in a county in the north of England in the course of my tour. A young gentleman was brought down fresh from Oxford to be a candidate ; he rode with a farmer round his farm, who showed him spacious fields of t urn i ps, o f twen ty o r twenty-five acres in extent, in th e S cotch f as hi on . The young gentleman was surp r i se d , and sa id, " knew that turnips were eaten w ith b o i led mutton , but. I had no idea that people consumed so man y of them."— (Great laughter.) But I have no doubt that very great progress in the right direction will be made in the course of the next six months, in the agricultural districts, upon one question. And we must afford to wait, whether we like it or not ; we cannot pro gress faster than the nature of things permits us. But I am sorry to say that the false doctrines pro mulgated by some of the monopolist organs appear to have had some very serious and dangerous ten dencies in the agricultural districts. I have read a striking instance of it in a trial at the late Suffolk assizes. A mall named James Lancaster had been reading the Morning Post, for that was stated speci fically in the reports ; he c o uld read it seemed, but he could not write, an d t h at i s j ust t h e c l as s of intel lect likely to read the Morning Post regularly.— (Laughter.) Well, he had been reading the Morn ing Post, and there he saw it stated that wages rose as the price of corn rose, that a great abundance of corn made prices low, and consequently made wages low also. Now James Lancaster appears to have had a logical mind, but unfortunately he had a pplied it exclusi ve l y to the study o f t h e M orn i ng Post—(Laughter) —a n d he determined to carry out all print. He the principl es l a i d down i n th a t em i ne nt reasoned in hi s m i n d t h us : —"Wages de pendrac ti on the price of corn ; the price o f corn i s l ow , practically because it is abundant ; the only way to make corn dearer, is to make it scarcer; and as we can only get higher wages by making corn scarce, I'll go and set fire to farmer Hobbes's corn stacks."—(Hear, hear.) Now, do not suppose that I am making up this story. I have ilot added a syl lable to what has appeared in the public papers ; and Baron Alderson said, with his wig on, and with all the gravity of a Judge, " Thiss a most strange and ex traordinary applicatio n o f t h e doctr i nes o f po liti ca l i ec onomy.' But for the people who can read, but who can't write, and who, therefore, only read the Morn ing Post, it was a logical deduction. James Lancas ter against farmer Hobbes ; he would n his h orses , or hi s cows ; h e h a d read would n bread alone re gu l a t e d wages , so he v o cheese- room or his cellar, b ut he No t u h a touch a n to o tc hisob corn u nenmityr house, nand his took his torch and applied it to his wheat stacks, and set fire to them, in order to make corn scarce, and thereby raise wages. I think the doctrine of the Morning Post may hereafter be called the philosophy of the lucifer ma tch.— ( Lo ud cheers and laughter.) But si to be transported ther imes term of the onf ca to propagate the for doctrines Australia. Now, I want to ask you seriously what the difference is in a n es L ash:s Morning r , ni itiig naturalseep m life,ost in principle—for I know the law makes a very great difference—between crea tin g an artificial scarcity, by preven ting that corn, which the Almighty has • given to the nations of the world, and h as spread over the whole surface of th e earth in bo untiful abundance, from coming into the countr y , unnaturally obstruct ing the supply, and making it • scarce by burning Farmer Hobbes's stacks ?—(Cheers.) Their plea, in both cases, is the same. The law-makers, who make a law to keep out American corn, say they do it to keep up wages. James Lancaster made the same confession of faith, on the treadmill, to his fellow prisoner, while the gaoler of the prison was pretending . to be asleep ; and where is the difference in effect between the two principles ? The effect is the same on the poor starving wretch who wants food and cannot get it, because of this law, as if that want was caused by the burning down of Fa rmer Hobbes 's corn -stacks. And I suspect that, in the si g ht of He aven , half of the men who support the corn•lavvs, will st an d acqu i tted less than James Lancaster .—(Loud cheers, several times renewed.) Yes, I repeat it; the men who know what they are doing—and many men who support the system do know, and can see the consequences of what they are doing, for a selfish object —are more to blame than that poor wretch, if he was sincere in the object he avowed he had for his crime. --(Cheers.) You have heard from our worthy chairman that though we are departing, though we are taking our leave of you, and like another class of performers on this stage, we are going into the provinces —yet, do not believe that we intend to be idle during our ab sence from the metropolis. And we hope we may leave with a conviction that those friends of the cause who have constantly attended our meetings, will not, in their individual capacities, either . as poll- and experience can only be gained by time. What is experience to one class of the community is not so to another; while some are already convinced it may require another cycle of years to prove to all classes of the community that the corn-law is an evil which presses down the energies of the nation. We began our organisation five or six years ago in the midst of unparalleled manufacturing distress. That distress was said to arise from a sudden scarcity of food ; creating an artificial famine. I would ask, whether the price of wheat, rising forty-five or fifty - ,er cent in some instances, was not sufficient to de range the whole commerce of the country ? We were told of joint-stock banks, of speculation—of a market being closed to us somewhere in Central Asia, and all sorts of things ; but it was denied that a scarcity of corn had anything to do with the manufacturing distress. Well, we came round again to a time when l'rovidence in His bounty gave a plentiful supply of corn. We came to that period w hen there was a comparatively natural price of corn—not probably , entirely natural, but nearly natural, and the conse quence w as a continued, rapid, and steady rise in the prosperity of the manufacturing districts. And you have seen that just in proportion as the price of pro visions, and the cost of the first necessaries of life din:inished in the country, so did the condition of every man in the manufacturing, mercantile, and commercial community tend to rise into comparative prosperity. We are now coming to a time when, unless the elements do now at a most critical moment greatly disappoint us. We are now coining to a time, and within six months, when we shall have an opportunity of appealing to the farmer whether the last three years of his ex perience of the corn-laws have not been sufficient to satisfy him that protection to agriculture, as it is called, has been any protection to him. I say, unless the elements do not greatly disappoint us, we have on the earth's surface—we have in these islands, such an abundant crop of wheat, which, if all gathered, will, in my firm conviction, in six months, bring down the price of wheat lower than it would be if we had a perfectly free trade in corn. How will the farmer be situated ? There will be a rebound—a re action from famine and distress—amongst the manu facturers—a re-action—a retribution brought home to the farmer himself—and how wilt he like that position? Will the landlord tell him to wait for a year or two when he would have prices up again ? Why, what will the farmer say ? We had prices up before, and you put up our rents, and we had those rents to pay when prices were low ; but the very fact of our having high prices and scarcity for three years has caused distress and ruin to our customers ; and when we are now blessed with plenty, our customers are without the means of consuming our produce. And if the farmers have that intelligence, which I would fain Ove them credit for, they would say to the landlord, The remedy you pro pose for our distress—another scarcity—another artificial famine—will only prepare the way for future distress, by again ruining the customers on whom we depend, when we are again blessed with a plentiful harvest. Now, Ladies and Gentlemen, a great deal has been said about the condition of the agricultural labourer at the present moment. He is said to be badly off. The monopolists speak of it as though it was something new for the agricultural labourer to be badly off. I am prepared to maintain that when we in the manufacturing districts were badly off—during the three years of high prices and continued scarcity—the agricultural labourer was then as badly off as the manufacturing labourer was ; but owing to a sudden climax of distress occurring in the north of England, a cry was raised in that densely populated district, which stifled the cry that would have sprung from the agricultural districts, if no such agitation bad occurred in the north. I mention this, mind you, with an eye to official documents. The proof is to be found in the poor-rates. The poor-rates increased in the agricultural counties more in propor tion in the dear year than they did in Lancashire, or the West Riding of Yorkshire themselves. The agricultural labourer never benefited by a scarcity of food. The farmer may, perhaps, when there is a scarcity, by selling his corn for a higher price, be benefited for a year or two, but the agricultural labourer never can. No working population, in any country, can ever by possibility be benefited by giving to that country an artificial scarcity of the first neces sary of life. Now we are taking our leave of you to. night, and turning our back upon this scene. We shall drop the curtain for at least six months. It may be well before we leave, for us to anticipate a little as to what we may expect will be going on during the next six months in the two sections of the community, the agricultural and the manufacturing. Now, in the manufacturing districts, if provisions re main at the moderate price which they were even last year, but especially if the present harvest should be favourably gathered in, then the prices must come down, and in that case you will hear of great activity in all the branches of our manufactures. You will hear of great activity in the iron districts and amongst the manufactures of cotton, in woollen, and linen— and you will hear of great activity in the shipping ports, and amongst the home traders generally. You will hear of strikes for advance of wages, when only , three years ago thousands and tens of thousands of la bourers were asking for work on the roads, and ob tained subsistence only from the parishes. We have already had two strikes in Lancashire; both of which have been successful.--(Loud cheers.) The spinners in two places have struck for an advance of wages, and they got it. (This sentence was received with a loud and lengthened burst of cheering, intermingled with cries of "Bravo, bravo.") I say "bravo" too.— (Cheering.) I have always given this advice to the operatives of the north—" Never strike when provisions are up—when wheat is 708. the quarter—because, if you do, you will not succeed. Wait until wheat comes down to 455. or 505., and you will never fail." — (Hear.) You will hear what we have lately heard of workmen being brought before the magistrate for suddenly leaving their employment, and those men saying—" Well, I'll pay the fine if I can get better work elsewhere." You will hear less of pauperism, less of crime, and less of disease and mortality in the , manufacturing districts. You will find "Mechanics Institutions" thriving and increasing in number. Lyceums will be established, and book clubs will be extensively formed. I see that in Lancashire in one town upwards of 100 fresh members have been added to the Mechanics' Institution in one week.—(Loud cheers.) To-morrow there will be a public meeting in Manchester, with the Mayor in the chair, to devi se the means of raising a public subscription to lay out a park and pleasure-grounds for Manchester.— (Hear.) You will find the energy and activity of the masters and the middle-classes of Manchester exerted for the extension of education. You will find similar institutions to the Athenaeum established, together with others for promoting reli gious and scientific pursuits—you will find the manu facturers giving to moral objects that energy and exertion which, during the last three years, have been obliged exclusively to be devoted to the miserable question of getting bread enough for the people. That is what is to be seen now in the manufacturing districts, and do not let our enemies say that "these Leaguers have been false prophets." We told them four years ago that high prices of provisions, or rather unnatural prices—for we care not about high prices, if they are natural prices—that unnatural prices of food caused our distress; and we told them that a more natural supply of food would cure the evil. Already they find that we have been true pro phets. Now what is going on in the agricultural districts? Some of the farmers are selling wheat in the country markets at from 40s. to 455. a quarter. Ere long we shall hear of the farmers rising up in all parts of the country and proclaiming their unparal leled distress. 'Why are they distressed? Because they have been bargaining to pay rents, calculating wheat at 645. per quarter, and selling it at 40s. to 455. They trusted to a law which can for a time cause a scarcity price of corn ; but it is not in the nature of things that it can . permanently main tain it. What will the landlords say to them? Now that is a thing I should not like to turn prophet upon. —(Cheers.) I should not like t , ) venture to predict what the Central Agricultural Society for the Protec tion of Agriculture will say in November or Decem ber next, when its members are scattered over the country, and have to face the farmers to explain what they have been doing in Parliament. Will they throw it all on Sir Robert Peel, think you ? Will they propose to set up Stanley in his place ? They must find some new "dodge."—(Laughter.) My dependence is upon the intelligence of the farmers, who have had their wits ground on the stone of adversity, and I believe that they all begin to doubt the efficacy of this so-called protection. They will see that this protection is only to give the farmer higher prices for his corn, in order that he may pay higher rents. The fanner is now selling his corn at a price lower probably than it would be if there was a free trade in corn. What excuse will the political landlords use to these farmers? They have admitted that they cannot by Act of Parliament secure high prices, and I take credit to myself for having extracted that eonfession from them.—(Cheers.) They have declared that they cannot secure a price for corn to the farmers, and the farmers should turn round and say—" We cannot secure you your rent."—(Loud cheers.) The landlords most likely will say to the far mers, proportion in your " Oh, rent forms so small a have k o m p e l t a e t hxoe w t elrhy i s: r t tti h eini lgsa t i oi h qdil)p e udgt h f sor o best r teea e acrs i s saga: because assr e anea r rtdn . thfecaoaretr l ht S t fo ' aeho h lverft a ee t ßrol yrl d rre o ti antht y tews rh o eeo u nnfwat t farmer yr li ais n ceeh t e outgoings, that if you had land rent-free you could x n t h o e t y c ol q ‘nu growslahy r y t: p e r at a hy b o es o f u M w s bushels, he pays but one pound. Now, this was as suming that the farmer grew wheat and sold it all the year round. I am sorry to say—and as a farmer's son I am ashamed to say it—that nine-tenths of the farmers belit.-ve this statement of the Morning Post , and they believe anything the landlords tell them : But I tell the farmer, and a good many of them are rather inquisitive as to what we say here—l tell the mons a body of representatives sufficiently compact, well-principled, and decided, as to make it impossible for any monopolist fiction, '\Vhig or Tory, again to govern this country. And if le influence of this movement was visible in the political parties of the Legislature, it might assuredly be traced, broadly and distinctly, in the public mind. In the world's his tory no subject of a similar nature had, ever been so variously and ably elucidated ; and he believed, in consequence, no subject had been so generally under stood, or so well appreciated, as that of free-trade. He would put the meetings that had been held there in evidence, the kind of topics and arguments in I which the audiences had manifested a lively interest, and the quick response that had been given to points which, some few years ago, would have been a matter of hesitation eien to the great mass of educated men. Of political economy it might be said now, as it was said of philosophy of old, that it had been brought down to the habitations of men, to mingle with the every-day thoughts of the great mass of the population ; and as public in telligence was thus generated, it must soon banish utterly from the world the prejudices, and sophisms, and falsehoods, by which mankind had hitherto been deluded. How short a time was it since the two rival statesmen, Pit and Fox, made the world ring with their conflicts; and it was a matter of question which of the two was the most pro foundly and utterly ignorant of the doctrines of political economy. And now there could not be a lisping dandy sent down as a candi date for a pocket borough, for the purpose of representing his own relations, but he must be crammed for the occasion from the works of Adam Smith—Mr.Cayley's edition.—(Cheers and laughter.) A people thus instructed, could not be trifled with ; and it was a proud boast for the League, that to gether with intellect, and exertio n , an d acquire ments, it had been the means of diffusing throughout the country a spirit of intellectual independence also.—(Hear, hear.) Whenever he found a dis position to break through that gross servility which had so long been a stain on a great part of the people of this country ; when he found a disposition to call things by their right names, how ever plausible might be the appellation by which they were distinguished ; when he saw the same standard of right and wrongapplied to the high and low; when he saw the peer judged by the same principle that was applied to the peasant; when he found a desire to bear testimony to the value of great and wise prin ciples, and a lively sympathy felt in the wants and wrongs of the poor and helpless classes—in all this he saw the influence exercised by the Anti-Cern-law League, spreading throughout the different classes of society a determination to work out the right and to put down the wrong, by peaceful, and legal, and honourable, but certain means, the suc cess of which would be a noble consolation and en couragement to the minds of those who originated this institution, which had been the instrument of diffusing these principles throughout the country. They had evidence of that—evidence which they would not shrink from looking fairly in the face. It was continually brought up that the League had lost several important elections. They were taunted with this by the public journals. It was said that they dared not show themselves in several boroughs, and contest them. They had not been able to contest Cirencester and Horsham. Well, now he (Mr. Fox) held that no evil at all. He believed it to be a real good; that a cause like this should have such corn plaints was not at all surprising. There were a vast number of persons who had not been hitherto connected with political agitation, not accustomed to long and toilsome processes which must be gone through for achieving any great work of social or po litical improvement. He held it to be , a great good that the minds of the people should be dispossessed of such a notion that they had only to tell the people what was true and right, and then that there would be a speedy and complete triumph. If these elections had resulted differently, what would have been the ef fect on a great portion of those who had for the first time in their lives joined in any political agitation when they became connected with the League? Why the lesson would have been that opinion was free ; that action was free • that ther e was no i n ti m id a ti on at elections ;no bribery ;no active sinister influence to pervert the consciences of voters and drag them to the polling booth to vote against their interests and against their feelings. That was the lesson so easy a triumph would have inculcated, but that lesson would have been a gross falsehood.—(Hear, hear.) It would have seemed by such a result that monopoly was ready to give up the contest without making a despe rate and unscrupulous effort; that class interests would have struck, and readily yielded to the voice of public opinion, and that they might not have appre hended from it a tooth and nail resistance and a struggle to the death. That lesson would have been taught, and that lesson, too, would have been a gross falsehood. It would have been judged by such a re sult that party spirit had subsided ; that having learned wisdom and rectitude, the aristocracy would not, for the sake of pragmatically asserting some ill grounded political theory, have further persevered in their opposition, but would have yielded to the voice of justice, but that result, too, would have been a false hood. It would have appeared by such results that the present arrangements were all-sufficient for the rights and interests of society, and that the arrange ments of elections, and all the electoral and political machinery connected with them, were as good as could be imagined—all that could be desired ; that lesson, too, would have been a gross falsehood.—(Hear, hear.) Those who cried out defeat, therefore, cried out pre maturely. The opposition they had experienced had disciplined the public mind, and would eventually most powerfully tend towards the interests of the en tire community.--(Loud cheers.) For those who pointed with exultation and scorn to such results as he had mentioned, he would say they laughed too soon. The people were organising and combining in an agi tation which nothing could resist, and the elements of that agitation were, education, instruction in the first principles of political economy ; and when such an education was perfected, and when the energies of such a people were directed towards one point, when they were put forward in sustaining one mighty prin ciple, their force would be resistless, and the founda tion of the national character would be laid, and of the greatness and prosperity of the empire. Another thing the nation had done, and which was well worth doing, it had unmasked the monopolist class. Every one knew the features of that class now, and they could never „be disguised again. There was a mystification at a parallel recently introduced between peers and men of station and persons of an humbler class, as if a different blood ran in the veins of the lord from that which flowed in the veins of the peasant, and it was only when free trade principles came into that constant and close discussion which they had been recently doomed to undergo, that those feudal associations were proved to be all fallacies; that in reality this lordly class was as much a trading class as if they kept shops in Cheapside, and that coronets were only emblems of the quantity of acres and the numbers of quarters of corn which they grew.—(Hear.) Yes ) they were traders, wholesale traders, in land and in corn. They were traders in food for all sorts of beings, from the loaf which a man eats to the seed which the canary bird picks in his cage.—(Cheers.) They traded in fish and in pheasants. They traded in ground for gambling booths and in race-courses.— (Renewed cries of " Hear, hear," and cheers.) They lost money on races themselves, and then brought in Bills to suspend the payment. They traded in stars and in garters, especially in blue ones; but what was worst of all they traded in legislation, by which the peasant was made more miserable, and converted into a source of profit.—(Hear, hear, and loud cheers.) Yes, they were hucksters, with the power of law makers, for the enhancement of their prices. —(Hear, hear.) There was a great outcry raised against the petty linen-draper who taught his 'prentice boy to shave the ladies, whilst those noble legislators did infinitely worse, for they shaved the nation, and much closer, too, than the poor linen-draper.—(Great laughter and cheers.) Their fallacies had been ex posed, and if they had not been the original authors or the real patrons of the doctrines of the Morning Post, there was an immediate connection between them, as Mr. Cobden had well remarked. It watAicth. doctrine—rick-burning in practice, was , only hear," i mondism in theory. —(Loud cries o f be Hear, a completer and great cheers.) There notcould , parallel than that between Ricb mondism and rick burning. If the one wantonly destroyed property, so did the other.—(Hear, hear.) If the one endan gered human life, why, human life was worse than endangered, and that, by wholesale by those a bominable starvation laws. If some rick-burners i nnocen tly suffered, why, so did a very large cla ss of the community, and most of all those who were poorest and most helpless. If the one destroyed the gifts of Heaven, so did the other.—(Loud cries of " Hear.") A much larger quantity of corn, than the fires of Suffolk, and of the adjoining counties, had consumed, had, in the course of recent years, been suffered to rot under lock and key, had rotted in bond, and had been at last shovelled into the river. —(Loud cries of o Hear, hear.") Why, had not that been the case at hull within a few months ago ?—(Hear, hear.) Then where was the mighty difference ? In the elements of destruction, why should that be wicked which de stroyed corn by fire, and that be virtuous which destroyed corn by water ?—(Hear, hear.) Even without reference to that more awful tribunal which had been appealed to that evening, he believed they would not escape their punishment either, and if the incendiary were transported for life, the future historian of this country would consign to the detes tation of posterity those selfish law-makers. In an other way the League had exposed the monopolist class. It had elicited their virtue.—(Laughter.) It had stimulated them to philanthropy, for how bene volent of late had they shown themselves? The ques tion of the distress of the poor was in constant agita tion. Every political section set up some beneficent advance- ouraanseoras citizens, fail i n d o i ng w h a t th ey can t o great cause, by spreading information, and loOkin g after their own and their neighbours' re gistraf tcro, and disseminating sound information in every :possible way. As soon as this system is thor , suguly understood by the people, there will be noY.tifference of opinion about it, and we are coming to the time when men will be taking credit to them seisms for having always been free traders. We all kncsw that Clarkson began his agitation for the aboli tio n of the slave trade in 1786, and devoted himself -and, if it had been necessary, his life—to the ac e omplishment of his holy object; and I say it to the honour of the town where I reside, that it was in :Manchester he called the first public meeting that was held for the consideration of the slave trade. He was at work for twenty years before he accom plished his object; and when the slave trade was abolished, the conflict was renewed to put down the institution of slavery itself; but it was twenty- six years before the great work was accomplished. And now when the work is accomplished, and when there is no sinister interest to offeed in advocating the principle of freedom to the negro, we see the men who, when these benevolent men were labouring to accomplish their object, voted against them on every occasion, even against the abolition of the flogging of woenen, going down to Exeter Hall and singing paeons over the freedom of the negros in the West Indies.— (A voice, "Hypocrites," Hear, hear.) And may it not happen perchance, that a few years hence—per haps not a very long time either—the very men who now oppose us in a cause as holy in its nature, as be neficial in its consequences, as heavenly in every property as the abolition of slavery itself, will, ere long, look back and say—the League accomplished this great work ! Then. they will at tend our meetings, and take credit for being free traders, and, by means of their envoys and ambassa dors, they will spr ea d f ree t ra d e princ iples through out every nation of the world! Be it so! We will not deny them any honour they wish to participate in—and we, who have taken a prominent p ar t i n thi s agitation shall be forgotten.—(" Never !" and cheers.) We may, at least, believe that we have left some me morial of our existence on the earth, by having con tributed something to securing the peace, the pros perity, and the happiness of our fellow-creatures.— (Loud and long-continued cheering.) Mr. W. J. Fox then came forward, and was re ceived with loud applause. Ile said—Their excellent Chairman had introduced the business of the meeting by describing to them the operations carried on by Council of the League throughout the length and breadth of the land, the object of which was to prepare a b e tt er and more complete registration, and to lead the way to such an electoral effort on the first opportunity of choosing a new Parliament as might secure the success of the cause of free trade. These operations, quietly con ao s t e h e u ff g o h r ts f wr w La lh h eadea i ctngf time et el: there th e yha r e es e sstehdw t oe h meau e ndel dte_i m t ytnh o hge s a ttsv timeew c trh o e er n oaes s deptt that c aioe u ntpe o ea s u ttrhh s ae ducted, were as material to th e a d vance o f t h e i r cause a a s nd th yet Ae pon st t ti to- cr m o tr o hn r e r . o iHa vv : , tions going on throughout the whole country would prepare for a season that would show as obviously as at the present moment, that the League was all alive —(Cheers)—and that its supposed death was so often proclaimed, that those who got their information from no other source, must think its ghost still walked the world, working wondrous mischief. These men would find that its death was but an assumed one, like that of the seed which the farmer put into the ground and covered up and buried there, but which, by the immutable laws of Divine Providence, was germi nating, and in due time would spring up ; and for them, as for that seed, the harvest-time would come, with a full ingathering of that glorious fruit, for which, as men, they had toiled and laboured in these years of struggle.—(Loud cheers.) But the League need not be judged either by the operations carried on apart from public observation, or by that future on which it relied in the strength and certainty of their principles, and for which, as Mr. Cobden had that night predicted, the coming months would bring the surest of all tests. But not by the unseen or the future need the exertions of those be tried who formed this League, and contributed largely to its success. And his purpose that night in ad dressing them was, to advert to the memo rials which the League had already created for itself, and which need not be explored like hieroglyphics, but which were written broadly, on the face of the county, and which would form ma terials for the pages of the future historian. In every direction he found some impress of what the League had done. The few years it had existed had been marked by two Administrations of the Government of he country, and both the great political parties had shown in their policy the influence exercised by the free trade agitation. It had modified the policy of the late Administration, although it was then in its youth ; though at first the head of that Ministry was disposed to treat as the merest madness the talk of the repeal of the corn-laws ; yet what but that, at the close of his administration served him and his col leagues to lay hold of, as the most graceful thing on which they could retire from office ? They fell by that, and in so doing made their fall more honourable than had been much of their existence in power. —(Hear, hear.) And they had their recompence too • it was the progress which th e fr e e trade agitation had made at that period, which caused Lord J. Russell to be returned as Member for the City of London, and that gave him now his chance of returning to office, provided he would carry out the principles on which he held his seat, and possessed his prospects of office. A fixed duty might serve the Whigs to fall by, but they could only rise by a total repeal.—(Loud cheers.) The in fluence of the free trade agitation on the Ministry which succeeded it, and on its policy, was even yet more marked. The men who were in office now, had been for ten years consolidating their party on the principle of no change, no infringement, no surrender of the corn-laws, on which they would yield not a jot or a tittle. It was for this they rallied their strength, for this it was that they resisted every attempt at movement made by those who then held office, for this it was they moved a vote of want of confidence in that party, which effected their over throw. What was the language of Sir R. Peel, on the first of those great divisions by which the Whigs were expelled from office, he meant when they intro duced their Budget of 1841, and when Lord Sandon's motion on the sugar-duties gave a blow to the Whig Ministry from which it was never able afterwards to recover ? When they gave symptoms of resigning, and of resigning too by making an appeal to the people, Sir Robert Peel taunted them with resigning on a mere fiscal question ; he said no Government need resign on a mere fiscal question, yet within three years he was beaten by his own party on this very question of the sugar-duties, and he only reduced that party again to allegiance by threatening to resign unless that vote was rescinded.—(Loud cheers.) On the motion of Lord Sandon, in May, 1841, Sir R. Peel spoke thus; he was then looking f o r war d t o th e c h ange w hi c h h a obviously become inevitable, and he said, "I am not contemplating a re-accession to office, on principles with regard to the corn-laws, other than those I have maintained in opposition. You ask me then how is it possible I can consent to any relaxation in our conl , mercial relations, if I am still to maintain the corn laws. You say that now this is the master interest, and that it is utterly impossible there can be any revi sion of our tariff, or any relaxation of our commercial code, without also making a revision of the corn-laws. I utterly deny that proposition ; I say that Mr. Hus kisson would have spurned the proposition that a revi sion of our commercial system was inconsistent with the maintenance of the present system of the corn laws." Such was the language addressed to the mono polist Parliament, in 1841. It was then modified for the purpose of election and hustings speeches, and when the new Parliament was called, the new Minis try was formed; and within fifteen months from the time pf this 'very declaration utterly denying the proposition that it was impossible to revise the tariff without also revising the cern-laws, Sir R. Peel hinae self revised the tariff and the cern-laws together, to the utter astonishment of those who placed bim in Downing-street.—(Cheers.) And whence came all these unexpected measures ? Whence this new tone, but from this cause—that public opinion was so influenced by this agitation that Sir R. Peel felt it clsos t e o n laays outthe ono h p e was olist body, some lines in another direction, and claim as much prudent, notwithstanding of thegreat monopolist credit as he could for following a free-trade policy— that he might be enabled to boast that he had, within one year, done more to relax commercial restrictions than the opposite party had effected in the whole ten years they were in office, thus making himself, too, a monument of the influence of this anti-corn-law agitation.—(Hear, hear, and cheers.) Mr. Cobden,in the House of Commons, in reference to his own success as the leader of this movement, might use the language inscribed on the monument of the great architect, Sir Christopher Wren, in St. Paul's Cathedral, where the spectator is told if , he seeks the monument, to " look around him. (Cheers.) A certain foreigner, whose taste was not exactly hit by the form of the dome of St. Paul 5, I see on l y once remarked, " I do look around, and y one great fool's cap." When Mr. Cobden looke d Commons, he might around him in the House of Comm t s' caps, one for the leader of the Ministry, tion foole caps, fitting the heads of those who had perception and agood principle, see the influence of the League there, in !o great fool the other for the leader of the Opposition—fools enough to see a great, a wise , in legislation, i throwng themselves on the good s ense, and on the true in terests of the people for support. He had further to observe, that in a short period of time, though but lacked the consistency , and the npral courage_ to adopt, and carry it ou t with, f re e-trade had obtained in the House of Com the League had had im mense d i fficulties to struggle cry of this sort—one founded a society for poor needle women. They exclaimed against cheap shirts, and said the people ought to buy dear ones, not caring, in the exuberance of their charity, for the poor man, who, unless he could obtain a cheap shirt, could wear no shirt at all. So they were all afflicted that the poor should work so long, and instead of having twelve hours should have only ten hours' work. But they would not make the wages of the poor man worth more in the market. They would stop the unfeeling engine, and send the poor man home some hours sooner to reflect upon what he could do with more wages if he could get them.—(Great laughter and cheers.) Then they were providing for travelling, and there was the philosophy, of certain Bishops, who took such good care of the poor that, if they travelled at all, they must travel in the best trains.— (Laughter and cheers.) These philanthropists looked everywhere except into the poor man's cupboard, where his loaf was sliced away by monopoly.—(Hear, hear.) While this pernicious system was going on in 1834, the people of this country paid in direct taxation on wheat imported 800,0001. 'That amount of bread had been taxed on average 15s. 3d. a quarter, and yet they were told they had not protection enough. 'What had been the average last year ? 535. a quarter —9s. more than their fellow-subjects paid in Guern sey, where they were out of the boundary cf these laws ; so that Britons were obliged to pay more for their bread who had never been the subjects of French men, than the inhabitants of Guernsey, who had been subjects of the crown of France. Those philan tropists, so overflowing with benevolence, looked to the morals as well as the physical condition of the people. They wanted bread and they gave them a stone. They said the people wanted more churches— " To cheating he was so inclined He still like water kept his level, For having cheated all mankind, He built a church to cheat the deviL" Such were the absurdities with which the monopolists attempted to gull the people. During the cessation of these meetings, if they wished to know where the League was, they might not be long astray. If they saw a man looking sharply on the registration list, canvassing Liberal votes, ascertaining just and legal objections against the fictitious electors, there they would see the League. If they wanted to see where the leaders of the League were, let them look to the news papers and there they would see Bright and Cobden, as hitherto, sometimes contending with physical-force Chartists, as at Northampton—sometimes fighting the monopolist Tories at Dudley—and sometimes amongst the wild beasts at Ephesus.—(Cheers and laughter.) The .Herald of this day said that the League wanted to back out of the agitation, and that they would if they could. The Herald did not understand the reason why it was impossible for them to back. It did not seem to know that there was a moral impossibility, as well as a physical one that men of clear minds and true hearts, having put their hands to the plough, could not look back—they could not desist from the great work as long as they had life, or until their cause had triumphed. They talked of union and dissolution among the members of the League, of which here they knew not the name. If ever there was a movement which showed confidence, honour, and decision—if ever there was a body which evinced the fullest mutual_reliance7it . - It was the Anti-Corn-law League. Hitherto, the same organ had charged them with too much con fidence, and endeavoured to spirit up the public to inquire after the funds of the League, the 50,000/. . which had been collected last year, and the 100,0001. collected this year, and made many wonderful and wise insinuations in relation to this topic. Surely, no want of confidence was shown in the leaders of the League when such vast sums were collected in the neighbourhood where they were best known ? —(Hear, hear.) When would the Anti-League elicit equal confidence ? He would like •to see the farmers endorsing 150,0001. to his Grace the Duke of Buckingham. He would like to see them do that, even though his Grace should give bills for the amount, aye, and even though those bills should bear interest, and be engrossed by his Grace the Duke of Richmond.—(Laughter and cheers.) And if on the seeming cessation of the League, the people of London should feel a blank left in their lives, why, let them call a meeting, and invite the League to come to it. They did not, in the first instance, go to the League. The citizens of London had been the recipients. The energies of the League had called these meetings together, and if they grew impatient they had an easy remedy. Such a response was due alter all the exertions of the League, who had been unremitting in their co operation with them. In the first meetings of the present session he had endeavoured to show that this cause rested mainly in the cities and large towns of the empire. Surely such a town as Birmingham should not have tarnished its fair fame by the recent occurrence there. They should have known better than in the employing their votes in the assertion of anti-commercial interests, and against the welfare of the community. But the League was preparing for the first fight for the great electoral struggle which was to come. They held out no whimsical anticipations. They stood upon no baseless theories ; their prin ciples were laid broadly and deeply ; founded upon the testimony of all experience ; founded upon practice and upon truth. Ile trusted that the warning given them by the Member for Manchester, that night, would sink into their minds; and that the peace of the world would not be hazarded to sustain mo nopoly, which was at the bottom of these national dissensions. When they saw the expedients to which monopoly had had recourse, they could not doubt that monopoly would prefer even war to the sacri fice of its own interest. Should they see such an emergency impending, he doubted not that the people of this country would as one man protest against the sanguinary doings which were now only matte . rs:of history, and history alone.—(Hear, hear.) This agitation must continue in advance, because it was founded on an extensive perception of national interest—it must continue in advance, because it was based on a moral principle. They willingly accorded to their opponents all the advantages they possessed over them—property, rank, and influence; the House of Lords, the House of Commons, a large portion of the press, the use of the Post-office—(Laughter)—part of the army and navy, appointments in the Church, and the influence of the Church. They had all these, but this enume ration, and a more powerful one, must, after all, yield to :the sense of justice in the human heart. _Chat was the power with which they knew not how to deal, but which they would be taught the force of ; a power more ancient than their oldest ancestors; a power that existed before Catholics or Cathedrals, before either Church or State ; a power older than even the creation itself. Justice, that sacred power, which existed before the pillars of the earth were laid, or before the mountains of the earth were brought forth—which dwelt with wisdom in the eternal mind—a principle inherent in man from the first breath of life, and which to contend with was as vain as to strive to extinguish the stars of heaven—a principle which would vivify the social and political institutions of this country, and give content ment to all, and he fervently hoped that Providence would speedily bring about that most desirable con summation.—(Loud cheers.) The CHAIRMAN expressed his sincere thanks, and that of the League, to the immense and respectable audience, whom he then had the honour of addressing, for their increased attention and scrupulous decorum at the League meetings. The League, though about to close its meetings in London, would persevere as actively as ever, and come to the struggle with re newed energies. Monopoly must be broken down, and free-trade principles must prevail. He was sin cerely anxious for the future welfare of all whom hoik saw around him, and that the blessing of Heaven would attend them and their cause, was his fervent prayer.—(Loud cheers.) The immense meeting then separated, after throe cheers for the League, three for the Queen, and three for Mr. Cobden. FRANCE AND MOROCCO. The Peninsula and Oriental Steam Navigation Com• pany's steam-ship Tagus arrived at Standgate Creek yesterday, at eight o'clock, A.M., from Constantinople, Smyrna, Athens, Malta, and Gibraltar, which last port she left on the 30th ult. Her Majesty s steamer Heels arrived at Gibraltar at noon on the 29th of July. All was quiet when she left Tangier. Some of the Empe ror's troops had entered the town, but had subsequently retired from it. The Prince de Joinville had given the Emperor until the 2d instant (last Friday) to accede to the demands of the French Government, and in the event of his refusal would bombard Tangier. Mr. Drum mond Hay, her Majesty's Consul, was within two days journey of Tangier on his return from Morocco. The following ships of war were at Gibraltar :—Her Ma jesty's ships Formidable and Caledonia, and two Danish frigates. At Tangier were her Majesty's ships Albion and Wrarspite. The French squadron was in Cadiz Bay. UNIVERSITY INTELLIGENCE. CAMBRIDGE, AUGUST 3, 1844. King's College—James Arthur Yonge, Scholar, hes just been elected a Fellow. Barnard Drake and Thomas Brockeland have just been admitted Scholars of this Socitty. Emmanuel College—The Rer. Joseph Brett Grant, 8.A., has been appointed to the Mastership of the endowed free grammar school at Haworth, Yorkshire. Pembroke College—The Rev. Thomas Ilirst, M.A., has been presented to the Head Mastership of the hoe grammar school, Bakewell, Derbyshire. THE CHURCH. , The following appointments p nave' taken ace : The Rev. R. J. Harrison,l of Emmanuel College, to the perpetual curacy of Forden, Montgomeryshire. Value 1191. _ The Rev. R. Thorp, M.A., of Emmanuel College, to the perpetual curacy of Mells, Somerset The Rev. John Booker, 8.A., of Magdalene Col4g9i to the curacy of ilarpurthy, Manchester. 3 ME