The Sun. — London, England, 1844-03-07 00:00:00

• • Eft Os 4 1) ENG.(' ENC . usspiti ; Ando"' • Fop- Vnefincl2 artr . hat )fish 10t (t) era's gictst o _ e mplo"`" , • it Colt wientic!, 40101'1." r Issas 3ister 0 carding 91 A , 1010 cro , y Mr. 0 10 , Y :ll.fr• 50 . 4 ro te i b i,o o), ( rr o s nc„ ; .,, (G. 17 : ,_a° (1-0"-8" et.. 4 oper) l o ts (° b oa V 11 1 „; bop! , goo efinson,'o 91 0 40 IP 5, scc., cie) f ......... nds . ...... 'entis; la $ T. .40:0 , s t by tic: pet ( 1 18° • 1 7 3111° I S. Th ir i, o oo o ll vbitev,, ngl e YgP; l 4 s 0 0 , 3cl. °fie I ( e 5 110 0 . ,„ . . 17 orth' s 0 1 - ei.j6t STDAVRECKED FISHERMEN AND Cur "tARiNERS' BENEVOLENT SO- •We have freq (From tbe Post Magazine.) • ta u uently advocated in these columns, the oiti s i e of the above -named excellent Society,. and . we . hope wn t t , it some little success. Our attention i-i again (Ira q tiet s h Y •a h andsomely-printed volume, which the 'so . isrit,"asust issued, containing a list of donors and subis lip r a up to the close of the past year. To this list ' • are me the names of Mariners and Fishermen, who 4e2 te urbers of the Society. Although the number of a bets O to ,„ r a and Fi s h ermen thus enrolled may, at the first a i it , aPPear extensive, it is comparatively small, when Ite •orisidered th at the charity has been established ex tbe's'Y for the benefit.ef this' particular class, and that ur lis.it e l f i Ttlial subscription is only half-a-crown. 9 base L is that the Committee, indefatigable as they sate wen t 0 promote the interests of the charity, tir e th e confined their attention too exclusively to , illdi ril thi eft , r 's of procuring assistance from benevolent i ervi iti-41 who have no connection with the sea fo r m e .. ,_ e, instead of adopting some efficient system ka o ;ing the objects and operations of the institution teN t n "long the class of men who are most deeply in eos„, ed in its succeSs. This may have arisen from the loi4lnstance of there being thousands of seamen who a 0 horn s her anti but the ships in which they serve—a a varying residence. Although seamen, how rstAki° not always keep to the same ship, they gene .*otrid k _ e eP to the same port; and we apprehend there Of! - o zre little difficulty in carrying out, by the means the ir,` a gents, some system by which every seaman in rif t ,,,, , rdish mercantile navy might be afforded the means ),,, ~Tniing himself as a member of a Society to which rich he hold it to be an honour to belong, and to ate 4 ,. h e would feel th a t un d e r th e ca l am ity seamen kte:° h e ar eq l sently exposed t o , l ie m i g ht l oo k f or assist alfieh e°lll( l.nowhere e l se ex p ec t t o rece i ve — ass i s t ance • aalt, L." a member, he w ou ld n o t on ly b e p r i v il ege d to eo t i - d 7 c l, fro m t h e regulations of the Society, would be iili h ,..t° receive. s;r.3' be seen what can be effected by local exertion, oor etr ing to the lists of Mr. A. .1. Hutchings, of asoull•steet, Mr. James Stephens, Ratcliffe-highway, • The re William William Laws, High-street, Wapping. . bt tli vihatrity, in reference to its objects and the claims ki.it 111 C : r s, may, in fact, be considered a "Seaman's Be "Rtiait'fitY," and when the proverbial liberality of the to ilia sailor is considered, and his reckless indifference Ikl ites ' c lii ne of money the moment he gets it into his 4,4 t g , ni, it is quite clear that all that is requisite to en to hi„,e enrohnent, is to adopt means'for making known attose•the blessings which the Society is calculated to Hof himself and others engaged in the perilous ser ,' W e „'" s riling a livelihood on the deep waters. ot o wuserve that, during the past year, the very large , 1 / 4 ,,t1ii', 2 ,1 50 0/. was distributed in relief of cases of the ''rns e e .'"' those above referred to ; and as the annual gthitillption is only half-a-crown, and as there is a re )l' tli -(34 t hat "should it happen that demands are made t ,,lliet• t i t " 4 s or the Charity beyond what it is able fully tn 't t o "h a ven members of the Society and their families . " I :te prior consideration to other applicants," it is li t ' t llected , s osi e h -- that every seaman and fisherman into ;,`gtolh„,ia,nds these remarks may fall, who has not yet Zic t lici t *ltself a member of the Society, will consider n Otle l l he owes to himself and those who may be de it'a.4reat"iot,,his exertions, to hand in his name to the ~,• s ods . at agent, by whom he will be furnished . with Nit ot °rile medal, as a seal of his connection with the b a .A l , i i ti t • is a t -4-4e.stiginstanee of the value of this medal, and the C2t . ty; h e to mariners of .becomin members of the Oigh t ~, been recently afforded. g Last Wednesday Y's o iVaMes Mathews, a seaman, called . at the So shi'sq)es tin Rucklersbury, and entered his name as a Vita:l;. 'le sailed from London the same evening, iLlteCe following Sunday morning could descry his Otifoli i4 the mast head. The day opened calmly and i IL `tesib - "Y ; but the serenity of the morning was fo - 11r,lis o Y , tt ,..!enspestuous noon, and during the hurricane 1e,,-boe , - „... e h e vessel foundered, and all on board perished 0,,, -4 ,05: 1 i - ,:x sight of their families and friends. What kk_.rteio-",,a.glie shall attempt to picture the feelings of the i,'‘,llttYl l ' ii dten, the hopeless widow, and the agonised Val, tith e ts _ .° witnessed the afflicting scene. Two days after- P ' " f „ - "°u,, Yof poor Mathews was found on the shore by t llt - "et; and conveyed by him to the desolate dwell tlit• e bereaved family, whose distress was heightened It„ L a t4P a iling fact that they did not possess the means k;',.c ‘ soi„"'g decent interment to him who had been , i co o _sole and support. The Society's medal was Ili t ' 4, 11 , 4 body, but the meaning of it was not under ostkillaol2;°ne of the family had seen it before. One of tr - st Res, however, wrote to Mr. West, the Secretary tt ili o., eits - '"erety,- for information, giving the circumstances k v kost , e a When the Committee wrote back by return ottOto,, on th a t t h e me d a l h ad b een given to 1 / 4 7t-li t s ' i n his enrolm e nt as a mem b er , on t h e pre .:i‘es h„, e dnesd ay , an d that, i n consequence, the Com kt' l eft ' r emitted a sum of money for the funer a l tlie %and to afford the means of present subsistence ItZ t i vfl ,„ 4 „,°w and children, who, without such assist -191,10tC"'", at this moment, have been inmates of a vt. ish e tie. • %.,,,Z e is the* seaman who may read this simple and v' ,'rd (and hundreds of a similar kind have re l t ile l e' v ho will not : hasten to enrol himself a member 4ittei„"tc:elety? What is half-a-crown a-year, and e ,I,op,ay h e roan, with the heart of a British sailor, w G t ioth e , k a .eannot afford such,a. sum, in order to secure :vro e'ulPwrecked brother mariner, or for-himself, or S,„. 414,; 1 _ , ~ . i t t 7 of - V, in some Gay ot peril, the benefit . and tspN- is - the Society's protection? If' the maritime a Married man, it would be culpable, it would ttoe- t ° lose one unnecessary moment, in securing . .4, 14 . 1 flit la o I I the advantages arising from membership; f I%ll:maried, will he prove himself so unworthy o lh!ot o,character of' a British seaman, as to say he Tls t ' Q rd half-a-crown a year towards a charity sty le ow:evolent operations are exclusively in favour Nt4 t ) t ts - „ ei l aas, even if happily he might never, in his s qs . tk i's ° f„„ l _,ave occasion to make a demand upon the Iti`-'e b u : i ula? Five glasses of grog less in a year,would Ntsi 4 alie }f e ss. We would go even further, and say, lt•Vnee t 7 satisfied, simply, with the fact of their own t il t Z ll Oll l , l but let each make it his business, and a point t lls t 'aei4„° ascertain that his shipmates are members of I N: to i f' as well as himself. Let the man who re-- 1 0e ah.l" 4l e so, for we cannot suppose there will to;:*t t o . - 7;v one such o' a man on board any single ship, . I g7try t `'''''''entry—l e t there be in every forecastle a li th °,l4 th °t ner, so long as there is a man in the crew to {,t , is the ociety's medal. It would be a glorious elit e eyes eYes of Europe, a circumstance never Nta tues - nelted from the history of the world, if the kiiii:44•ertntile navy—and' why not the entire mer it bi v y, 3' , --- why should there be the exception of a tl tt 4 s, 4 , e it t,, - `,should thus voluntarily enrol themselves ' ‘)11, 41 i111 4 °I. Mutual protection and relief under those ittlillll7to t o which, in the nature of their perilous Llibollgelia't,,tl,l,eY . are continually exposed. If the Itr th o -k rY; have hitherto done so much for them s ,‘lfLirts o L a gency of the Society, how much more will s'4l l 'l' le - nt be disposed to do when they see the ts . 1,„„_,.,.. ,71 1 4 11sti7eir taking his humble part in the business . 3s l ;_ t lit t i a ,tion, by becoming a member? Nothing, we ;la s :gal l - ', lB * wanted to effect this great end, 'but that " s t -°•' errl be afforded the means of enrolling them 'ili ' ent "w . this is to be effected must be left to the •','o 4 le,Ptrif l o t s i s t ! e 'rertions of the Committee, to whom the *Vltti o I°4 are already, under so large an amount 44 :ii t t h°:. ' e relieved are grateful to the Society we have i b , ta Ils e t i ll; solid, a us °f knowing. We will cite one instance. t,."e10 0p ,,Y. at the close of the past year, sixty fisher 10oZtheZIng to Cromer, on the coast of Norfolk,. 0 Q , ps oe n 'en who had fought and bled for their t s laklYio ts e eded to the parish church, and knelt down I , gs sh,..ge b e , returning thanks to God for the la ‘4 " 1"10 -1;" ha d bee,n conferred upon them, and the ' 4 l', krili „Lad received relief from the Society, through digle Is t r its 1 e • tt 4 °e. al honorary agent, the benevolent h - ts ik Pler' err e in g' k' ,11 1) i - th e a L .eose who may have their atntion ti l • i * th t i r Bll °Ject for the first time, by this notice, to 4 t tr,Stli e " 1 1 minds, the scene of misery, of which, 0 A : IN 3;ll,selated of the poor fellow Mathews, we Ok et 'law n u 'tsty and imperfect an outline ;. and vi e 1.41. find h o hat m on.y N.-% a cheerless hearth will have • A ta nia t i e P.e brought to it by the aid of the appeal ofbr'fitkireeble though it be—in favour of the 4,7 k, *.eotkie,ipf Shipwrecked Mariners. 11401;44Ni ration this notice, we would. call the par- It' i lislN „ 4 ?, 11 of the officers in her Majesty's navy, to 114t4eZtest s a e i nstitution. Many of them, including : ( 4 1 tV e letyl, t4 es in the service, are active members th.„l-li, sel ves .iss"tit there are others who have not iden itilr'stil th es With its operations. We would ina k6%,;tai nit i 'q the value of their not . only recording lyq. , top s as Members of the Society, but causing Vliseethi; Sul fined to the men under their . cons. kic k N_ t o but the most zealous co-operation of 'l4 - '4 t Publ. its * to alle h i. e a lc can enable managers OYtli st „ 11 amount of misery as has been occa- N '......._assing Shiwecks: SkileSA. j-C-------- itrig lt s, hela MAiseistsrEst liousE.—Madame de lier first assembly for this season on Tues- NlN" kv att N‘ ll4ll !Sil lin ellded I) 3' her Royal Highness the Duchess of . kti ki ' l' ru c:e C arsteleical a the Turkish Ambassador, the ik., 4 qp. Sw e l l .", ,' Dutch, ' Sardinian, Belgian, Danish, 1 'tki 4; elliogtesl2, Il anoverian s and Russian Ministers. 6,41.--ii:A_ll!gb"a,..„.l3ir,eleuch. Duchess of 13_uccl a e n tch. j t ' p ylir.lt Dat ur i e- 3 11 2611 ,.4, e ' lirfort, Lansdowne, .lorin ers b e Y, In t i, 'ter etY, Aberd ilesbury, Sligo. Ear . ] ld __ .Y, il t t 4t iNee tY) Ileventle". eciuntesses—Mansfie ? Tan- , 1, k u r . , ,Y, ty. L , i. ,. ovvz Haddington, Euston, Bjornst -4it,lZ*t t ..."lion, c l', llo ley, Harry Vane, Loyame,. C. 4 lita ---4 40)i, .pe!yn, - Palmerston, Canning, Eliot, li},4•S..4dttaid, m_ollington, Ernest Bruce, Hawaen. li i t i :Nl,,,, li cion, p o ur raY (two), Taylour (two), Dillon, ) 1 4z k li AL. (9 Can n i l ',i l bY, Jocelyn, Ashley, Palmerston, (4, , ta s o. WOO- l ie:ls ( 1. ; Seymour, Pollington, E. Egerton, bit, Vt. baton s ......s' ) tuce, Primrose (two), A. Beckett, 1t, , 04„ - ,' , ar0 0 .,_ lersdorff, Thule, Koller, Lebzeltern, %' IreoC,jlest-e7c,,ss-13runnow, Alsfeldt. Sirs—George it„ it 111 -- .7 - Atifiiobert Otway, George Seymour, John th,Oti T C herly , iraY, John Beckett. Mad. D'Este. , trliii4BlteAt 6nta;.and other persons of rank. b..t itt dfo ll i, ell aricell o "wrs- BILL.—Lord Lyndhurst, ' , 'le th - se of I . - r..°f England, has introduced into t;ttiA 4 ,. tt . i e.. ejilrw, .ritanrient a Bill entitled, "An Act to nt..t:epit Cr%4171910n and improve the practice of the <ojfll t 'ill. , and . ,:, °r England d Wales and for other -4 t con : " en ding the law - ' 4 t, m o sist B ()fa in certain matters eccle iikiziers,,, .11 th g I ,_ 3 Inanv as 101 clauses, and appears t , e, siee B ss'ePort of the P 1 '. • • Commission. . 4 t.d ot thi g „ ,cc esiastical tf vr ' Th ker t ed • Hi, all peculiar jurisdictions are tA, i ,th, Lc e A rgbid . in the respective arclideaconries and li?ow t 4 t este r, -\!accquil Courts (with the exception of Vi) l , l 'ttizet tse to grant - ottingha, and Stf lk deprived t),'`q th IS Th,. di Probat es ;), ) are a d nil! onulils(tiervaeiri,onasreanacillow V 4 t,k tt of t t,Z 4 111 p,,,,7l)cesan Courts, mar t Lzm t Li he pet, t i es '''rs, it being optional with the judge, ), 111 N: t,1984' 0 11 f 4t o 8 oi are ti a ) b t o h l 4s ed ui,t,- to send to the Court of iik,._.g,:tiplib, 141,1ents, 8, , , an. d compensation is pro t„t, of tf l ,. ll hd t o be __.. .A,cting .deputies are ali by teet t ' - a n, B, e resp eetiv !'dT 133 salaries, to be fixed by VI • t he ' a re to b ' .C ourts, out of a fee fund, to c , f . . The app robati e carried. The anionnt of salary 1 04: . t . i s 46 ° 11 .0f the Lords of her Majesty's - ~. to etend to tithes within the , . . GRAND WEEKLY ANTI-CORN-LAW LEAGUE rit r THE SUN, LONDON, THURSDAY MORNING, MARCH 7, 1844. MEETING AT COVENT-GARDEN THEATRE The usual weekly meeting of the members of the Anti-Corn-law League, was held at Covent-garden • Theatre last evening. The doors were opened at half-past six o'clock, and the theatre was crowded in every part within ten minutes afterwards. At seven o'clock, Dr. Bowring, • W. J. Fox, Esq.; J. T. Leader, Esq , ;J. M.P. Bright, Esq., M.P., ac companied by many of the influential friends of free trade entered the theatre, and were greeted with loud applause. They were immediately followed by the Hon. Charles Pelham Villiers, M.P., who, on making his appearance, was loudly cheered. Among those present we observed Thomas Milner Gibson, Esq., M.P. ; Sir Valentine Blak e , B ar t., M.P. ; P. A. Taylor, Esq.; T. A. Shaw, Esq. ; W. A. Wilkinson, Esq. ; Samuel Lucas, Esq.; John Ashton Yates, Esq.; Cornelius Nicholson, Esq., of Kendal ; Cole, Esq.; Joseph Iviaiey, Esq.; Joseph Fenwick, Esq.; Robert Clarke, Esq.; Colonel Tucker; Thomas Carr, Esq., Frome; Henry L. Keating, Esq.; Henry White, Esq.; P. A. Taylor, junior, Esq.; Cowden Clark, Esq. ; Samuel Harrison, Esq. ; E. J. Salisbury, Esq., Thame ; Richard Andrews, Esq., Southampton ; John Tigar, Esq., Beverley ; Norman Wilkinson, Esq.; Butterworth, Esq., Rochdale; W. E. Hut chinson, Esq., Leicester ; W. Stevenson ' Esq.; Dr. Maschet; W. Roberts, Esq., Rochdale ; S. 1). Brad ford, Esq., Manchester; R. G. Welford, Esq.; Arthur Pattison, Esq. ; - William Lockett, Esq., Manchester ; James Brotherton, Esq., Manchester; Robert P. Collier, Esq. ; James Chadwick, Esq., Eccles ; Richard Warre Cole, Esq. ; T. Cordingley, Esq. ; C. 0. Boyse, Esq. ; Henry Russell, Esq. ; Captain Dawson ; Henry Lancaster, Esq.; Henry Edward Erle, Esq. ; John Jones, Esq. ; F. H. Toone, Esq.; Adam Smith, Esq. ; W. Ibbotson, Esq., Sheffield ; W. A. Thom son, Esq., Buffalo ; W. Hannay, Esq.; J. P. Bur nard, Esq. ' • W. E. Hutchinson, Esq., Leicester ; Rev. John Pyer, Devonport ; John M•Leod, Esq. ; J. N. Collins, Esq. ; W. A. Thomson, Esq. ' • J. Cox, Esq. ; James Banner, Esq. ; E. Patterson, Esq.; R. L. Tweedale, Esq.; Martin Thackeray, Esq.; Henry Lloyd Morgan, Esq. ; Thomas Hubback, Esq. In consequence of the absence of George Wilson, Esq., the Chairman of the League, who, it appeared, was attending League meeting in the Free. trade Hall, Manchester, the Hon. Charles Pelham Villiers, M.P. for Wolverhampton, took the chair amidst the acclamations of all assembled. The Secretary then read the minutes of the last meeting. On the motion of John Bright, Esq., M.P., se conded by John Temple Leader, Esq., M.P., the minutes were con firmed. The CHAIRMAN then came forward and said that as Mr. Wilson, the Chairman of their conspiracy— (Cheers and laughter)—was unable to attend that evening, he (Mr. Villiers) had in consequence con sented to become a criminal in his place.—(Cheers and laughter.) He was hippy to inform them that it was not for the purpose of being innocent—(A laugh) —or of being idle—(Cheers)—that the Chairman of the League was absent on the present occasion that evening.—(Cheers.) On the contrary, he was assist ing at a meeting, attended by many spirited brother conspirators of theirs in the country—(Cheers)—men who had no fear of Dukes before their eyes—(Loud cheers)---:and who believed that they should be want ing in the respect which they owed to themselves so long as they should abstain from pressing for the re eal of a law which provided for the luxuries of great men out of the necessaries of poor men.— (Loud cheers.) The Chairman of the League was that night presiding over a meeting in Manchester, which was being held in the great hall which had been built in that town for the express purpose of this conspiracy.—(Cheers.) The men of Lancashire had been in the habit of meeting in that hall for the express purpose of endeavouring to make trade free and bread abundant—(Cheers)—for the same purpose for which those present met in that theatre—(Loud cheers)—and that was to give effect to those principles which the first Minister of the Crown had propounded to the country when he had been first admitted to office.—(Cheers.) Their ob ject was to give encouragement and credit to that sound system of household philosophy which Sir R. Peel had propounded when he first assumed office. The substance of what Sir Robert Peel had stated on that occasion was, if he recollected right, that when people had occasion to purchase what they wanted they should not give more than was necessary ; but that when they had to dispose of the products of their industry they should not be forced to take less than they could get.—(Cheers.) If he was not mistaken that was the principle which Sir Robert Peel, in an unguarded moment, perhaps, had propounded. It would scarcely be believed in times to come that so simple a proposition should have given rise to so much controversy—(Cheers)—that it should not, im mediately on its announcement, have been received with implicit credit throughout the kingdom ; but he was afraid that, if history were fairly written, it would appear that that which had of late years agi tated the whole frame of British society, and had al most exclusively engaged the attention of the British Legislature, had been the great difference of opinion which existed on the subject of this very simple' matter.—(Cheers.) Doubts had been expressed as to the words of Sir Robert Peel. Difficulties had been raised in the way of the adoption of the princi ple, and such was the importance attached to the subject, that, two days ago, the organ of the Govern ment, in discussing the proposition, had come to the conclusion, that if Sir R. Peel had ever given utter ance to such a principle, he did not mean it.—(Cheers.) The disclosure of that principle had brought upon Sir Robert Peel the charge of treachery to his friends, and it had sown the seeds of discord in the Conserva tive camp.—(Cheers.) It had occasioned the Anti- League agitation, and an Hon. Baronet, one of the supporters of the present system, had, the other day, declared that, in order to expose this fraudulent theory, it was necessary that they should speak out. —(Cheers and laughter.) At a county meeting held in Hertfordshire the other day, a Noble Lord had stated that it was for the purpose of suppressing this pestilent fallacy, that he had come to St. Alban's.— (Cheers and laughter.) These Anti-League meetings were held for the express purpose of putting down this pestilent doctrine ; and the Tory papers congratu lated the country because the Duke of Richmond took the chair in his own house every day.—(Cheers and laughter)—and the Duke of Buckingham took his seat opposite him.—(Renewed cheering and laugh ter.) Such was the account, and the only one they could get, of the chief occupations of the Richmonds and the Buckinghams ; and if such was the case, how little chivalrous—how excessively ludicrous—was the position which the British nobility chose to assume in the present age ?, —(Cheers and laughter.) It was, however, less ludi crous to insist upon the assertion of these principles than to submit to the enforcement of them.—(Cheers.) It would be found that the friends of free trade were not idle.—(Cheers.) They would profit by the con fessions and take advantage of the course which their antagonists had thought proper to pursue.—(Cheers.) Those antagonists had at length announced what course they meant to pursue. They had spoken out, and had said what .they meant to do, which, while they entrusted the defence of the cause solely to the hands of Sir Robert Peel had never been done.— (Cheers.) As long as Sir Robert Peel was entrusted with their defence, no man living could tell the exact grounds upon which they rested their case. The League were accused of wishing to destroy the Church, to destroy the Constitution ; but no one ex actly understood what were the charges brought against the League, or what were the grounds on which the corn-laws were defended.—(Cheers.) There was a remarkable degree of mystery on the subject.—(Laughter.) The landowners, however, had now repudiated Sir Robert Peel's help, they had taken their case into their own hands—they were their own counsel—they had become clients to them- selves—(A laugh)—and they could not have much worse clients.—(Cheers and laughter.) The League, however, would derive considerable advantage from the attacks made upon it by these parties. It re- minded him of an anecdote which had been re- lated by Swift. An author had written a pamphlet for the purpose of attracting the at tention of the public to certain principles which he considered to be of paramount importance. The pamphlet, however, attracted no attention; and he wrote another pamphlet, in answer to himself, in which he heaped on himself, as author of the first pamphlet, all kinds of abuse, imputing to himself all sorts of vile motives, and the commission of every horrible crime that could be imagined.—(Laughter.) People who read this last pamphlet began, naturally to inquire - what it could have been that the man could have written to subject himself to such serious charges as those which had been brought against him —(A laugh)—and, according to the story told by Swift, the town soon became divided between the enemies of the author and the friends of his work.— (. laugh.) lie had, however, succeeded in his ob ject—he had effectually attracted the attention of the public to his book. Every body wished to see what he had really said, in order to ascertain whether he had been rightly charged with the atrocious offences which he had imputed to himself.—(Loud laughter.) Much the 'same sort of good service were the oppo nents of the League doing for them at the present moment.—(Cheers.) They charged the League with all sorts of things. The League was wanting to at tract attention. It was most important to attract the attention of the public to what they did, and to what they said. There were thousands of respectable persons who were above want themselves—who had no thought of the wants of others—who had not con sidered the subject. What they wanted was to awaken the attention of these persons to the subject. If their attention was once properly awakened—if persons of this description in every town, city, and county in the kingdom, were once made fully aware of the true state of the case—that all this controversy —that all this hubbub—was occasioned by the fact, that certain of the industrious classes were desirous of selling their wares where they could get the most money for them, and buying their food where they could purchase it at the least cost, while certain dealers in food endeavoured to maintain a monopoly, and to force the industrious classes to purchase it at dear rates—(Cheers)—if public attention were once fully awakened to such a state of things, could it be imagined that they could be long suffered to exsist?—(Cheers.) Now the opponents of the League were awakening public attention to the subject. They were charging the League with all sorts of offences, and heaping upon its members all sorts of abuse. The attention of the whole country would be fully awakened, and they would soon come to a con clusion upon that question.—(Cheers.) The real question was, should the people be permitted to get food when they could purchase it, or should they, be prevented from doing so by those who possessed a monopoly of supplying food, and who were desirous of keeping food dear?—(Cheers.) They were deeply indebted to their opponents for taking the bold course which they were adopting.—(Cheers.) It was impos sible to exaggerate the advantage which must accrue to the cause of free trade from the conduct of its op ponents. They were now coming out in their true colours—they had thrown off the mask —(Cheers)—and they no longer pretended that their object was the improvement of agriculture. The agricultural societies were now avowedly, what perhaps they had always been intended to be, mere political clubs.—(Cheers.) It was now admitted that all the supporters of the protective system had to do was take care of themselves.—(Cheers.) He had seen it suggested at one of their meetings, that the present was the moment for collecting money among the agriculturists to combat the power of the League. He had met with a report of a meeting held in the county of Surrey, in which the objects and views of the opponents of the League were brought forward in a specific form. Their purposes were all distinctly defined, and as that meeting had been held since they had last assembled in that theatre, he would beg to call their attention to a speech made by a gentleman named Drummond at that meeting. Mr. Drummond was a gentleman of great ability and had declared in a manner which could not be mistaken what were the objects of the Noble Lords, the Hon. Gentlemen, and the Reverend Clergy, who attended those'meetings, and formed the staple of the attendance at them.—(Cheers.) The speech began loyally—landlords were always loyal when things went right.—(A laugh.) The com mencement of his speech was a speculation as to what was necessary to support the Throne. He began by stating the things upon which the Throne could not rely. There was no reliance to be placed by the Throne -upon manufactures—(A laugh)—or rail roads—(A laugh)—or stocks—(A laugh)—or funds —(A laugh)—but all that the Throne could really rely on were horses—(Loud laughter)—cattle— (Loud laughter)—sheep--(Continued laughter)—and pigs. —(Roars of laughter.) Mr. Drummond made no mention of any other quadrupeds.—(Shouts o laughter.) After stating the course which was to b P pursued as regarded the business part of the meeting, Mr. Drummond stated to them the purpose for which those county meetings were assembled. He begged to say that there could be no doubt but that it was for the interest of them all that corn should be dear.—(Hear, hear.) They knew that it was their great interest to make corn dear, and the question to consider, and for which they were assembled, really was, how best they might make corn dear.—(Cheers.) "The only doubt with me," said Mr. Drummond, " is, if the present course is the most effective one for that purpose. If the result of the meeting will be to make corn dear, it shall have my unqualified support ; but if it will not have the effect, I will propose an amendment, which I have in my pocket."—(Cheers.) That was very important, be cause it showed what was the real purpose of those meetings, over which the Dukes of Richmond and of Buckingham presided. He hoped that the public, when they read the accounts of meetings of a similar nature, would bear in mind the candid statement of Mr. Drummond, as to the object ofsuch assemblages.— (Cheers.) When they considered the confession that was thus made by the opponents of free trade in this man ner—when the monopolists thus openly acknowledged the objects which they had in view, it could be no longer matter of astonishment that foreigners residing at a distance, who read accounts of such proceedings as these, should indulge in doubts as to the sincerity of that zeal which had been manifested by this coun try for the propagation of the Gospel among the heathens—(Cheers)—and for the amelioration of the condition of the working classes in other countries who were held in a state of slavery.—(Cheers.) Could they wonder at foreigners accusing them of hypocrisy, when they found they paid so little regard to the precepts of the Gospel, or to the interests of the working classes, in their own country, as to occupy their whole time in devising measures to make food dear in order to swell their own incomes at the expense of their poorer fellow-countrymen ? It was only this day that he had read, in a foreign newspaper, a reproach to this country upon the sub ject, both of their seeking to Christianise savages and emancipate slaves, that he could not help thinking was just. They say these people are daily in the habit of knowing what is the policy pursued by this country at home, and that through that policy the working classes were daily and hourly swelling the bills of mortality in consequence of the want of the necessaries of life. In conclusion, he begged to apologise for having made the few observations he had done.—(Cries of " No, no," and " Go on.") The meeting would be addressed that evening by Dr. Bowring, Mr. Leader, Mr. Collier, and Mr. Fox.— (Cheers.) He begged now to introduce Dr. Bow- ring to the meeting. Dr. BOWRING, on coming forward to address the vast assemblage, was most rapturously received. He said that if it were possible 'that in defending the great cause that brought them together that evening there could come over them any feelings of wavering or discouragement, the encouraging appearance of a meeting like the present would drive all thoughts of despondency away.—(Loud cheers.) They were over and over again taunted with their failures, and yet week after week encouraging and enthusiastic multitudes came together in that place to declare that they never failed who strove in a good cause. " When the heart and the mind, And the voice of mankind Unite in comunion, Oh who shall resist that proud union ?'' (Cheers.) His Hon. Friend, who had just spoken, had stated that they had reason to congratulate one another that their adversaries were at last appear ing on the field. The war of words and strife of argument had commenced.—(Cheers.) They had hitherto been combating with shadows. They now had something like substance to grapple with. He rejoiced in that. He felt delighted that the pressure of necessity had forced their adversaries into the field of combat, and that they were now standing face to face in the sunshine of truth.—(Cheers.) Who could doubt where the victories of truth would be ? (Cheers.) He rejoiced that they had again an oppor tunity of telling their opponents what they really meant.—(Cheers.) The word " protection" was again and again brought forward, as was the phrase " independent of foreign nations !" They did not object to one man protecting himself, or being inde pendent, if he pleased, of the other commodities of the globe ; but what they wanted was, that he should not protect them according to his interpretation of protection. (Cheers.) Let him be as ,independent as he would—let him go, if he pleased, to the Austra- Tian savage, and eat the dirty grill) for his breakfast, and the undressed fish for his dinner—let him do that, and they would not complain.—(Loud cheers.) If he chose to be ignorant, and would not have books because their leaves were made from dirty rags which came from Italy, let him do so.—(Cheers.) Let him, if he chose, discard writing, because the gall of which ink was made came from Aleppo.—(Cheers.) Let him do all this, if he pleased, but let him not interfere with the privilege— the high and noble privilege—which entitled the people of this country to invite the people of other countries to come to this with their contributions, and enabled the people here to offer to them their contributions in return.—(Cheers.) The time once was when in this country there were rude savages who, instead of garments, covered their bodies with red and yellow ochre ; and who, instead of houses, had huts made of the branches of trees and covered with fern.—(Hear.) He did not complain of the man who said he would feed on aboriginal cabbages— (Laughter)—and make his pies and puddings of sloes, haws, and blackberries—(Laughter) —because they grew on his own land.—(Cheers.) God forbid that he should be deprived of the enjoyment of these notions, and that he should be compelled to eat peaches and other delicacies that came to maturity under a more benignant sun. Let him do as he liked with respect-4o all this, but let him not interfere with them. He might, if he chose, place a stick on the sands of the sea shore, or he might hang up a pitcher full of water, with a hole in the bottom, and watch its running from the rising to the setting sun, in order to tell how the time passed by. But let him not deprive him of that beautiful instrument which had proceeded from the intelligence and intellect of man, called a watch, in which the iron was brought from Sweden, the gold from Africa and Asia, and the precious stones from various parts of the world.—(Cheers.) Let him immure himself, if he pleased, in some uninhabited spot —let him do as their forefathers of old had done, have oak-tables, in which holes were made for the salt, and let him use his fingers instead of employing those articles, the materials of which came from other countries. Let him do all that. What mattered it to him (Dr. 'Bowring) or to them, if he chose to dress in ',coarse garment+, and would enjoy nothing but that which was indigenous to his own land? He (Dr. Bowring) might mourn over him ; but what business, he would ask, had he to interfere with him who had that for which others would be thankful and grateful, and who, in return for that which he could give, would place at his disposal the produce of the universal world ?—(Cheers.) This was the history of civilisation and commerce, and in what, he would ask, consisted their victory, but that of making the universal world, with all its climates, and fruits, and men, and mind, tributary to that activity which gave energy to them and benefit and profit to a 1 1 ..? In a country like the present, w h ere h e saw men who worked at the loom, rising before the sun, and retiring to rest long after it had set, he said, is that being one who was spreading th e b ene fi ts o f amity and friendship over the un i versa l world, because that which he produced brought to this country all the enjoyments of life ? Without him they never would have reached the high position in which this country at present stood. If this country was great, and great it was—(Cheers)—if it was in fluential, and influential it was—(Cheers)—it was because they had made themselves dependent on other nations, and thereby rendered them tributary to this country.—(Hear, hear.) Was it not lamentable, in days like the present, to hear the strong —the infa tuated language, which was used b y men when they talked of the foreign relationsof this country ? Could they not see that those relations were the real sources of the commerce of the country ? Did it no t b r i ng t o those who were constantly inveighing against it, al most all that they ate, drank, or were clothed with? It brought to them almost every decoration in their dwel lings. To foreign countries they owed all this; a n d h e (Dr. Bowring) should like nothing better than that such men should be condemned to the pu n i s h men t of having their own physician—(Ch eers )— v i z., that of being made independent of foreign nations.— (Cheers.) It was the dependence of this country upon foreign nations that had made her name illus trous through the whole civilised world.—(Ch eers.) He (Dr. Bowring) would like to strip from the back s ofsuch men as these the garments they had received from foreign lands, and he would venture to say they would walk through the streets in their own original nakedness.—(Cheers.) Let them take from their tables the contributions that came from foreign coun tries, and he would venture to say that two or three days would put them in a state of starvation.— (Hear, hear.) He should like to take from the backs of their wives and daughters the great and beautiful things they had received from foreign countries, and he would venture to say that they would not show themselves afterwards in Hounsditch.—(Great laughter.) It was on the de pendence of man on man that their virtues and feli cities equally hung.—(Cheers.) He could under stand the theory of those who, if they crossed a brook, or wandered over a mountain, would say they had no language to deal out in love; that there they expected to find not friends but foes ; that there they were to seek to destroy, and not to benefit. Those, however, were not the principles of those who be longed to the League ; th e i r pr i nc i p l es were f ree trade, with which human happiness was connected. Free traders deem it th e i r hi g h and honourable— their most high and most honourable—mission, to remove the mass of misery where they found misery existing, and to develope happiness where they saw any means of devel o pi ng h app i ness.—(Hear, hear.) Their attention was oft en ca ll e d to w h at was pass i ng elsewhere, and their thoughts had lately been taken to that ocean—the. great Pacific Ocean—in which he hoped the magnificant barque of free trade would, ere long, float in all its majesty (Cheers) —and he thought, as he had duties elsewhere, that he could not better conclude what he had said, than by giving them THE BREAD-FRUIT TREE. A TALE OF THE SANDWICH ISLES. I'll tell you a tale of the Southern Seas; You may laugh at, or cry at--just as you please. Scant was the growth of the bread-fruit tree, In the beautiful Isle of Owhyhee, While—the gift of heaven—it richly grew, O'er the sunny fields of Woahoo; And it seemed as Nature had placed these isles, In reach of each other's verdant smiles, That whate'er was wanting on either shore, From the other might swift be wafted o'er ; The Woahooan nymphs array'd In trinkets by Owhyheeans made; While Owhyhee well fed should be By Woahoo's sweet bread-fruit tree. But alas I even happy isles like these, Have people upon them called grandees, And, where there are lords, I need not say, • Things will go on in a lordly way. * * * I. Heard you that cry, whose withering sound Saddens the sunny prospect round ? From a million of voices it sings on high, " We starve—we starve!"—their fearful cry ! Know you what, 'midst such fertile scenes, That awful voice of Famine means ? Oh ! list to me—in Owhyhee There were lords and squires of high degree, Who in bread-fruit held large property, And of all afflictions, ills, and vices, Thought nothing so dreadful as low prices, Wherefore they held it just and meet, That the world should not too cheaply eat; Nay, deemed it Radical insolence To wish to dine at a small expense, And swore, for the sake of themselves and heirs, That, happen what might with other wares, No bread should be less dear than their's. In vain the Owhyheeans said— " My Lords, we much respect your bread, But, with all due reverence for your Graces, We'd rather have cheaper from other places." In vain from the Woahooan shore, Barques, filled with bread-fruit, winged them o'er ; 'Twas vulgarly cheap, and taxed must be, Before 'twas fit for good company ; Nor 'must the poor devils swallow a bit Unless they swallowed a tax with it. And what said the Lords of Owhyhee, And the Owhyheean squirearchy, In defence of their joint gentility ? Why, they said that they, and their sires before 'em, Had shone in the senate, the camp, and quorum, Had all been rich—had managed to get, As became their station, deeply in debt ; And thought it hard that men of reading, Which had cost themselves so much in breeding, Should now fall victims to cheap feeding ; Shorn of their beams of wealth and state, To help low fellows to masticate. " How little," said they, " the thoughtless poor Can know what the suffering rich endure ! In bringing up dozens of young grandees, In paying off horrible mortgagees— To say nothing of assignees, lessees, And an endless quantity more of these Uneasy things, that end in ees ! And though, as honest Figaro says, If a gentleman owes, and never pays, 'Tis just the same, be it great or small, As if he, in fact, owed nothing at all ! Yet, somehow, unless one sometimes pays, Lenders are shy of one, now-a-days." In short, if the bread-tax once was gone, These lords-and gentlemen couldn't get on. * Quand, on deft, et qu'on ne paye pas, c'e•t corn= si on ne deToit rin. And they even hinted, awfully; That if e'er in the isle of Owhyhee Bread-pudding in price should humbled be, All was o'er with the aristocracy ! One penny saved to the clods who dine Would be sure to bring all the "Nobles" to "nine!" * Meanwhile that cry that dreadful cry, " We starve, we starve!" rose loud and high ; 'Till what was the upshot, all shall see In the second canto of Owhyhee !" The Hon. and Learned Gentleman was frequently interrupted, during the reading of the verses, by the applause and laughter of the audience, and he was loudly cheered as he sat down. J. T. LEADER , Esq., M.P., th en came f orward. He said he must first congratulate them on the altered and improved position of the League, and on the great, the fair, and the intelligent meetings that now assembled in to t theatre, to hear what the Council of the League had to say. When he had the honour of appearing before them on those boards last year, the League was rather an object of contempt from its opponents, a thing to be sneered, at to be laughed at, to be ridiculed. But now things were quite altered, both with the League and its opponents. Now it was a thing feared and hated, a thing to be called, as it was last night, a "dangerous conclave."—(Hear, hear.) The League was now a thing to be opposed by Anti- Leagues, composed of great dukes, and lords, and squires, with a slight sprinkling of auxiliary forces, in the shape of Conservative operative societies. Now, they must examine a little what sort of power this Anti-League was ; they were told, in a boasting way, that if the Anti-Corn-law League could raise a hundred thousand pounds, the Anti-League could raise two hundred thousand with equal facility. Perhaps they might ; no doubt they had got plenty of money ; it would be very hard indeed if they had not. He dared to say they were rich, because they had had protection for years, because they had compelled the people to buy their goods at high prices. They were rich, and were growing richer; but it was at the ex pense of the community; and if a stop were not put to their protection, they would put more money in their pockets, and would become richer, but they would have made the community poor. Of money, therefore, they probably had plenty; they would probably !get up county meetings, because in many countries they possessed such a large extent of land, that they could do pretty nearly as they liked. He had no doubt that they would hold plenty of meetings —some of them in Freemasons' Hall. He wondered that they were not afraid of a word of so ominous a sound as one having " free" in it; it must have re minded them a little of free trade. For his part, he should like to see some of the Anti-League gentlemen here ; it would be better than having all the talk one way. They might state their arguments, and the others might answer them. He was sure they would have a fair hearing.—(Cheers.) He thought it would be much better to have the arguments stated and answered in the same assembly, with fair play, than that each party should have their own meetings, one in Covent-garden, and the other in Freemasons' Hall. They might have their county meetings, their meet ings in Freemasons' Hall, with plenty of Conservative operatives around them to explain the state of the country to them. But he doubted whether, with all these " appliances and means to boot," they would ever be able to get in a year as much influence as the Anti-Corn-law League exercised in a week. And he would tell them why ; because he conscientiously believed that the arguments and statements of this League were founded upon truth, and he believed that the arguments and assertions of the Anti-League, of the agricultural gentlemen, were founded on fallacies. and on unsound reasoning based upon those fallacies, What were the general topics of these Anti-League meetings? Why, really, to listen to them, or read them, one might fancy they were the speeches and after-dinner talk of the Squire Westerns, described by Fielding 100 years ago. He could hardly believe that they were the speeches of squires and country gentlemen of the nineteenth century. They were filled with nothing but intemperate abuse of the free-tradersp calling them villains and ragamuffins, and hinting, in a very country-gentleman-like way, to the listeners, that it would be a very picturesque thing to see an Anti-Corn-law man stuck up to his chin in a horse-pond. And at these meetings they were not satisfied with attacking the free traders, they must also show their dissatisfaction with the Government; for every blow—for every bold, straightforward blow they planted in the breast of the League, they gave an equally sincere back handed slap at Sir Robert Peel. And he would tell them why—though Sir R. Peel was not the best possible Minister for the cause of free trade, yet he was a great deal better than his supporters. The language used by the gentlemen of the Anti-League party plainly proved that they had no confidence in him, and that they only supported him from fear of being driven to measures of free trade by a more liberal Ministry. Judging from the language used at these meetings, they might see pretty well what they might expect from these Anti- League gentlemen if they had everything their own way. Let them consider a little the actual state of the - country, as it would be under these - Anti-League gentlemen ; he was not inclined to set one class against another, or to excite the manufacturers against the landowners, or say anything that might set the land against trade, because he believed they must both stand and fall together; their interests were so inter woven, that what was bad for one must be bad for the other, and what was good for the one, must ultimately be good for both. But whenever any particular class set itself up especially as the protector of the poor, as the protector of the agricultural labourer, or of the farmer, it was but fair that they should examine a little into what pretences they had to that character. He thought they could see a little what the landed gentry meant by protection to the poor, from the Acts they were constantly getting passed through the Le gislature. At the present moment a Bill was before Parliament, brought in by these friends of agriculture ; it proved pretty clearly what their meaning of protection for the poor was ; the measure he alluded to was an Inclosure Bill—an Act for inclosing the fields and ts c t hhao said, thus n,metaohi an advantage ht s a b omd of the vouarnrohtiaoag onedd .might country, iiggh i ht t Whatb e n o be hweeoat r nstdefetrehrr,er cultivated,e a s dr e l he i stthal the state poorndld of fothrt the e s tf case? There was a very good article on the subject in the Times of yesterday, which stated the case with tolerable fairness, and with a good deal of force. The Bill was brought in by Lord Worsley. He had not a word to say against , Lord Worsley; he was a liberal minded man, and really one of the best of his class. But in this case he thought he was mistaken. In the county of Lincolnshire, with which his Lord ship was connected, and the counties round it, the Bill might be of use, because in them there was a great deal of uninclosed land that might be improved ; but for the whole country, the Bill would be a serious evil to the poor who had common rights, and to the public in general who had any advantage from the commons. In a letter in the Times of that morning, some corre spondent asked, why did not some one in the House of Commons prevent the Bill from passing ? He would tell them why. In the House of Commons the landlords had such a majority that it was impossible to prevent any Bill from passing which they chose should pass. With respect to this Inclosure Bill, he remembered opposing Lord Worsley on this subject once before, and what was the result of his opposition ? The ut most he could gain was this—that within a certain distance from certain great towns the commons should not be inclosed—that was all. They might see that every year attempts were made to in c l ose Hampstead heath and Blackheath. The landlords told them it was for the benefit of the poor of the neighbourhood. What benefit would it be to the poor of the neigh bourhood to see Hampstead-heath covered with houses ? The rent-roll of the landlord would be in creased, but the inclosure would be a very bad thing for those who had any benefit from the common right. This was a specimen of what the landlords called pro tection. They said that the protection was not for themselves, but for the poor and the farmer ; their protection in the case of agricultural produce was precisely the sort of protection extended to the poor in the commons. Depend upon it in every in closure it was the rich men of the parish that got the lion's share—the poor man got little or nothing. It was just the same with the laws relating to the im portation of corn. The real protection was to the prices of the landlord—not in any respect to the comfort or the convenieice either of the farmer or the farm labourer or the community in general. In short the protection afforded by the landlords to the poor was precisely like the protection afforded by a strong nation to a weak one—that is to say the thest ro ng we a nation t n i o a n t o r n e a p to d be all theadvantage, excessively grateful and expected for at it did not get—(Loud cheers)—and for all which it saw the strong one reaping at its expense, under the generous and disinterested pretence of protecting the weak one. Now they heard a great deal of these Anti-League meetings. He wondered they had the face to repeat the arguments they put forth that the agitation of the League was solely directed to bring ing down wages in the manufacturing districts. The landlords held up the manufacturers as monsters of cruelty and iniquity—men whose every act was di rected only to lowering wages. Why, the profits of the manufacturer did not depend nearly so much on low wages as on the increased demand for his goods—(Hear, hear)—and as for the work ing man himself, it was notorious that his wages did not depend upon the price of bread—it was re gulated by the supply and demand for his labour. If there were more hands than could be employed the ivages diminished. Then let them consider what a difference the corn•laws made in the price of bread tothe poor man. When the price of bread was low, he would spend less of his means in the pur chase of bread, and he could apply the remainder in the purchase of other things. By that means he could * According to the old arithmetic process of " bringing nobles to ninepence." increase the price of labour, and thus the continual action and re-action would be kept up throughout the community. High or low, the price of bread caused more adversity or prosperity to a country than could be imagined.—(Hear, hear.) They were told that the representative system was wisely and well ar ranged, the power being in the hands of the agricultural classes, and that they ought to have the preponderating influence in the Legislature—(Hear, hear)—and that it would be unwise to deprive them of any portion of the power which they possessed. They were also told that if they (the agriculturists) did not yield of themselves, nothing could be done in a legal way which would make them yield—that was, that they were to continue to enrich themselves at the expense of the community.—(Hear, hear.) He confessed that from Parliament nothing could be ex pected at present. But were they to despair on that account ?—(Cheers.) He should say, far from it.— (Loud cheers). He saw everything showing that the cause of free trade was making rapid advances— that the arguments of the free traders were making way in the country, and even in high places—in Par liament itself; as was proved by the advance which was made durin g th e last session towards free trade, on the Canada Corn Bill.—(Hear, hear.) By that Bill, corn might be imported from Canada, at a duty of Is. But why should it not be imported at the same rate from every other British colony.—(Loud cheers.) But that was not only an admission to the principles of free trade : there were other practical advantages derived from it—namely, that the Ame ricans would be likely to smuggle a great deal of flour into Canada, so that they would then have American flour as Canadian. The landlords were very a igry at this. They pretended that their great reason for opposing the repeal of the corn-laws was that they would be dependent upon foreign countries for the supply of such a necessary article of life ; but in this case they were equally angry though the supply were to come from their own colonies, thus showing that they did not so much object to the corn being foreign as to its being cheap.—(Hear, hear.) Anything which made corn cheap must, be bad, and it must be a bad law which enabled it to come into this country. That was the doctrine of the agriculturists.—(Cheers.) In the course of the next week the question of the corn-laws would be dis cussed in the House of Commons, and he supposed they pretty well knew what the result would be— (Hear, hear)—what the c ou r se o f th e d e b a t e wou ld be. His worthy and respected friend Mr. Cobden would introduce the subject with his usual cleverness and talent. He would deal with the question this year as in former years, and state his case so clearly before the House, that if the Members had not an in terest in opposing him they would be compelled by their consciences to vote with him.—(Hear, hear.) He would make a speech so full of sound argument— so happily illustrated, so ably delivered, that there would not be a word to add to his statement.—(Hear, hear.) It must carry conviction to the breast of every honest man. The same country gentleman would get up, and, if he did not actually call his Hon. Friend ragamuffin, he would insinuate that he was nothing better than an ignorant man, and, not being possessed of many acres, was not fit to develope any comprehensive policy in the House of Commons, or introduce any alterations in the laws of the country. They would have other friends for the repeal of the corn-laws—Mr. Villiers, Mr. Milner Gibson, Mr. Bright, and others—who would give additional force to his statements. Then they would have a number of country gentlemen say that they were low-bred ragamuffins, and that they were attempting to overturn the Established Church and all their revered institutions—(Great laughter)—and that they were determined, as long as they had seats in that House, to stand by the throne, the altar, and the corn-laws.—(Cheers and laughter.) They probably would have some determined enemy of the manufac turers, like ,the Hon. Member for Knaresborough,— (Laughter)—who would deliver a violent phillipic against every man, either himself a manufacturer or connected with ma nu f ac t ures, or who had anything to do with the trade or the commerce of the country, forgetting that very many of the country gentlemen themselves owed their fortunes to manufactures, for he (Mr. Leader) ventured to say that since the in troduction of manufactures on a large scale into this country the value of landed estates had been doubled in England. Well, after one or two nights passed in debate of this kind—if debate it could be called— (Laughter)—where all the argument was on one side, and all the personality on the other, Sir Robert Peel would get up and make a very plausible Minis terial speech—(Laughter)—probably he would speak for three hours, but they must not expect that in those three hours he would tell them anything— (Laughter)—for, beyond all the men he (Mr. Leader) ever heard, the Right Hon. Gentleman possessed more than any other the singular felicity of talking a long time and leaving his audience in doubt as to which side his opinion inclined.—(Cheers and laughter.) He illustrated in the most happy manner the witty saying of a celebrated French diplomatist, who said " that language was given to men in order to conceal their thoughts."—(Laughter.) After all this the division would come on, and the numbers would be pretty muc h as th ey were last year. When they considered all that had been done since last year, in favour of the corn-laws, all the resolu tions which had been passed in favour of them, even in the country districts—when they remembered the number of converts, even of farmers themselves, made to the cause of free trade, was it not surprising that, in the House of Commons, there was not a single convert to this doctrine ? And why ? Because ruling interests were generally stronger than any rea son which could be adduced against it, and they were ready to adopt any frivolous or fallacious view which would tend to support any opinion that coincided with their own interests. The question, so far as the House of Commons was concerned, was already decided, because the case came on before a packed jury—(Cheers) —or, rather, one might say they were judge and jury in their own cause.—(Hear, hear.) But that was no reason why they should despair of success.—(Hear, hear.) There were many who heard him who remembered the Reform Bill, and who must recollect that it was far more difficult to carry that measure, because, in that case, men not only sat for their own boroughs, but they returned ten or twelve others whom they pleased to select.— (Hear, hear.) Yet they yielded to long continued agitation. They yielded when they found the conviction of the middle classes of the country so strongly opposed to them, and that the opinion of the country was so strongly evinced that the measure could be no longer resisted. But it appeared to him to be a great misfortune that the Legislature of this country always held back reforms till they were too late, and till they did little good when they were conceded. The remedy was always deferred till it became too late to put them in the same state of prosperity which it would have done if applied sooner. The question of Catholic Emancipation was a modern in stance of this. He would ask any intelligent or disinterested man whether, if that question was con ceded at the time of the union, Ireland would be in its cresent distressed and miserable condition ? If, according to Mr. Pitt's plan, Catholic Emancipation had been carried at the time of the union, and if the Irish Catholic Establishment had been paid, Ireland, instead of being a poor and miserable country con vulsed by agitation, would be as happy, prosperous, and contented as cotland was at present.—(Hear, hear.) The case of reform was another instance, and it would also be the case with regard to the corn 'laws, which made the first necessary of life so dear to the poor man. He was afraid this agitation would continue for a long time before the House of Commons were brought to reason ; but if by a combination of circumstances they were able to force the Govern ment and the aristocracy to grant a total repeal of the corn-laws, they could then tell them that what they had refused to mercy they were terrified into yielding to justice.—(Hear, hear.) But then the advantages to be derived from a repeal of the corn-laws would not be one-tenth what they would be if conceded now or two or three years ago—(Hear, hear)—be cause the consequence of the protective system had been to prevent commercial treaties with France, Portugal, Brazil, and Spain.—(Hear, hear.) Those countries said—" When you first get rid of your ex clusive system and your extravagant tariff then we will negotiate treaties with you. As long as you keep up that protective system, from which you h ave no doubt derived good, we will follow your example." The consequence was that this country was losing its markets amongst foreign nations.—(Hear, hear.) Whenever they had brought their cause to triumph, whether in a year or two, or even longer, he was sure of this at all events, that the Anti-Corn-l aw L eague had by its agitation done great good, by diffusing in formation amongst the people and enlightening the country on the question.—(Hear.) When the re peal came men would say—" The attack on the protec tive system was begun by the Anti-Corn-law League. They showed the horrid and detrimental features of the system; they had been hated for it—their dili gence was remarkable in collecting arguments, and their intellect in displaying them. Their steps were dogged by disappointment and difficulties, yet they inflicted upon the protective system a blow which it would never recover."—(Loud cheers.) The CHAIRMAN then introduced Mr. Collyer to the meeting. He was the son of the late Member for Plymouth, and had himself stood for the representa tion of Launceston. Mr. COLLYER then came forward, and said that nothing but the sense of the necessity and duty of every man coming forward to advocate the question of the corn-law would have induced him, a mere stranger, to appear before them. This was an im portant question, and would be important in the his tory of the country. It was a hard struggle ; but as it was likely to be the last with monopoly, that was not surprising. He was one of a large class in the country who det es t e d ag it a ti on ; b u t w h en circum stances arose to justify it; it became the :duty of every man to agitate.—(Cheers.) He would also. address .~ "_ . _ s r the reason rather than the fears of if he had ever seen anything yielded . '-' s no oh t fa b dr ac ecas k h e oa d nra,c b tb y eur p h i d t e a I bn i o ea r I.e 4 d l tnhole, L is r;: . ; \ c r ::1 - ;x1 t P 7‘ lll :e iilcohs ha attribute ser pher could be found who made it the distinguishing feature of Parliaments.—(Cheers and laughter.) A logical demonstration, or a consecutive-chain of rea soning, was the last thing which affected a Member of Parliament. It would lead to a count-out.— (Laughter.) The powerful speeches of Burke, which would endure as long as the English language existed, were addressed to empty benches. But *hen a little agitation was mixed with reason, it generally inclined Parliament to listen to the people. It was thus that the emancipation of the negro, that the Reform Bill, and the destruction of Gatton and Old Sarum, had been effected. Sir Robert Peel taunted O'Connell with having ad dressed himself to the Irish people rather than to Parliament. Did Sir Robert Peel believe in his heart that the eloquence of O'Connell, if addressed to Par liament would produce the slightest effect, or be at tended with the smallest benefit?—(Hear, hear)—or that any one grievance of the unfortunate sister king dom would be redressed—(Renewed cries of " Hear, hear")—if he had not been backed by the Irish na tion ? Would Mr. Cobden or Mr. Bright, if they had been addressing Parliament for three years have ob tained as many votes ?—(Hear, hear.) Would those arguments have been listened to which were so appre ciated by the generality of their fellow-countrymen? The aristocracy and squirearchy of this country ma nifested a predilection for everything rotten and ex clusive in its nature and tendency, and a dislike for that which was sound, reasonable, and liberal.—(Hear, hear.) They had the declaration of Lord John Russell, if; indeed, any declaration were needed on so plain a subject, that the opposition to a repeal of the corn-laws was grounded upon sordid, selfish, and interested motives. He (Mr. Collyer) believed, from his heart, that the landlord class was mistaking its true advantage—that they did not see their true interests—and forgot that commerce was the greatest of all the fertilisers of the earth.—(Loud cheers.) The agriculturists importid bone-dust and guano for manure, but commerce it was which made prosperity out of barrenness which produced a Manchester and a Liverpool.—(Renewed cheering.) Did Manchester and Liverpool add nothing to the value of land ? Had not the rents in Lancashire in creased two-fold within fifty years, and would they not continue to increase, though corn were fifty shillings a quarter ?—(Hear, hear.) Was it not commerce which made thriving cities and a comfortable population ? Was it not the source of high rents, and demand for labour and its produce ? And was not monopoly the reverse ? Did it not make populous villages uninhabited, and prevent the flow of prosperity? Was not its progress attended with misery, and did not the tears of the people attest it ?—(Hear, hear.) . The landlord seemed altogether unacquainted with the commonest prin ciples of political economy. It was a very dry, in sipid study —very tedious and its application perhap s very painful.—(Laught e r.) Aristotle had not known the science, and therefore political economy was not taught in our universities. The agriculturists had instituted several societies, but the most useful so ciety of any they could form would be one for the diffusion of the principles of political economy among the landlords.—(Loud cheers.) The people of England had tolerated monopoly too long, but they would not patiently starve. (Hear, hear.) Their ancestors would not have tolerated monopoly.—(Great cheei ing.) They themselves would not tolerate monopoly under that name. They bore it because it was shel thered under the imposing appellation of a protective duty. But monopoly had seen its best days. The meetings of the League in Covent-garden and else where, were spreading far and wide the principles of common sense, and it was high time for the monopo lists " to put their house in order."—(Loud cheers.) Sixty years ago Adam Smith had demonstrated the principles of political economy in his immortal work, and since those principles had been developed and proved in a manner to convince the most obstinate of philosophers, and Mr. Baring himself—(Laughter and cheers.) The attentions of the people had been diverted to a thousand questions of much less import, and monopoly had been overlooked, and was suffered silently to prey upon the best interests of the country. The land owners, narrow-sighted and selfish, were framing laws for their own exclusive advantage. They had converted the foreign ploughman into a manufac turer, because we shut out his corn. Their policy raised the mill and the factory abroad where the ploughshare would have run—they had sown dragon's teeth all over the Continent—and those who would have been now useful friends became our enemies, and successful rivals.—(Hear, hear.) All this the country quietly endured, until at length it had a sue. cession of bad harvests—then the eyes of the people were opened, and it was found that the population had for twenty years been increasing at the rate of a thou sand a day, and that no precaution had been taken to raise food for them. The discontent arose, and the cry of hunger went forth—the people, rendered by their wretched condition, and exasperated at the con duct of their aristocracy, rose up against the law and became a prey to the demagogue. The demon of Chartism found its votaries and its victims. These things caused soy man to think and feel. The enor mous distress of a country destined by nature to be the most flourishing in the world was found to re sult from this gigantic error in legislation—the en couragement of monopoly.—(Hear, hear.) At this crisis the members of the Anti-Corn-law League commenced they labours—they went forth among the people as the apostles of free trade, they pointed out most clearly the causes of the distress, and unequi vocally demonstrated the faults of our commercial po licy. They showed that the principles of political economy which should be the basis of legislation can not be violated with impunity. Those comprehensive and philanthropic principles were rescued from the silence of the book-shelf; and spread before the face of the nation—they were laid down in Parliament. The advocates of free trade inquired if they were re futable, and if not refutable why should they not be acted upon ?—(Loud and prolonged cheering.) Those advocates were answered by the supercilious sneer of a Parliament which mocks rather than represents the nation.—(Hear, hear, and great applause.) He rejoiced that the squirearchy had fairly hunted Sir R. Peel out of his cover of generalities, and that they now knew what they might expect from him. lie was glad to see that Peel had nailed his colours to the mast of protection, which was fixed in the rotten vessel of expediency.—(Great cheers.) The declara tion of the Prime Minister would fairly divide the country into two parties, and it could be fully ascer tained on what ground those parties took their stand. We free traders contended for unlimited freedom of importation, because the difference between our ex ports and the imports from our foreign neighbours formed the wealth of the country, and as this system of free trade advanced the prosperity of the country inoreased. We therefore were for adding to the wealth of the country for the purpose of providing for an increasing population. Their adversaries would pre vent the wealth of the country from increasing in order that what existed might be unfairly divided. The principles for which the League contended could not be reasonably opposed—they were maintained by the most eminent writers—by the greatest statesmen, the most sagacious politicians, and the wisest philoso phers—they were supported by all the living talent of the day—by reviews, magazines, and newspapers, in short by every man of sense in the kingdom, but they were opposed—by who or what think you ?—hy the Morning Post— (Laughter.) Yes, by the Morning Post, and he must say that the articles in that paper advocating protection to agriculture were really the most melancholy indications of the retrograde movement of the human intellect. It was not very likely that the Post would survive, except as a covering for books, or a linim3 for trunks—(Laugh ter)—but should a copy of that journal by any possibi lity reach the historian in future ages, it might sadly mislead him as to the present state of knowledge. How could such stupid fallacies be put forth after the writings of such men as Adam Smith, Ricardo, and M'Culloch ? Why such articles should have been written a century before the existence of such men, and the historian might charitably ac count for them by a chronological mistake. They should be bound up with a volume of Punch as an antidote. The Morning Post supports the exploded doctrine of expediency, and sacrifice of great principles to selfish opinions, and the welfare of the many to the interests of the few.—(Hear, hear.) No two of the adversaries of free trade were agreed. One said agri culture should be protected on account of the exclu sive heavy burdens which were borne by it, but they refused to accede to the motion of Mr. Ward for in quiry into those burdens.—(Hear, hear.) Another asserted that protection should exist to enable them to pay the taxes. There could not be a more stupid or palpable absurdity than this. They were taxed to pay taxes—that is, they were taxed, most heavily taxed, for the two millions of foreign corn annually imported, in order to pay a tax which was trifling in comparison with that of dear bread and empty stomachs, in order to raise the revenue.— (Hear, hear.) A third supporter of the corn-laws said it was the labourers' question—viz., that dear bread was good for the labourers. It was stated that the agricul turists were one-third of the.population of the kingdom. They had been more, and had not increased for the last e alluded n t sfor twenty years. The landlords seemed to act on the prin ciples of Miss Martineau and Malthus, but in reality it was manufactures and commerce - which gave employ. went to the surplus population. There was still an insd po s i t ionm a rri marriage settlements— (Hear beent le m speedilyents— otothetrheclaKnss a m w o h r b e u sze w r h e o in gro th u ei n r d a ed rg t u h m e e ir nt a s r — gu h m e this abandoned, and the argument, was quickly dropped, ( p H r protection ti and on laughter)—but hmtecrbguets though obstinately acted upon. They had lately hit upon a new and seemingly fertile mine of argument— the abuse of the Anti-Corn-law League.—(Laughter.) They appeared to consider, that to convict the League of the slightest inconsistency, was to prove the corn- .'3 J~ ,:D i r . ..." . 2 4 , -,:` - .`.--. l 'i .--.... ; _:-. 4 .. •