The Sun. — London, England, 1844-05-30 00:00:00

GRAND WEEKLY ANTI-CORN-LAW LEAGUE MEETING AT COVENT-GARDEN THEATRE. The usual weekly Metropolitan meeting of the members of the Anti-Corn-law League took place yesterday evening, in Covent-garden Theatre. The doors were opened at seven o'clock, and within a very short period afterwards the theatre was crowded in every part. The interior of the theatre presented a very gay and lively appearance; the boxes were adorned with banners, and the back of the canopy over the stage was decorated with trophies composed of armour tastefully arranged, while banners were sus pended in double rows from the proscenium. These decorations had been used in fitting up the theatre for the Bal Masque on Mondry evening, and had been suffered to remain. At half-past seven o'clock, Earl Ducie entered the theatre, accompanied by R. Cob den, Esq., M.P., T. Milner Gibson, Esq., M.P., and various other active members of the League, who were loudly cheered as they passed across the stage to their places. _ _ _ Among those present we noticed :—Somers liar ford, Eel., Major-General Briggs, Sir William Baynes, Bart., Col. T. P. Thompson, Capt. Duberley, Dr. Cooke Taylor, Colonel Tucker, Messrs. W. A. Wilkinson, J. Spowars, Isaac Hadwen,Henry White, William Fuller, G. Hyde, D. Igkewar, H. Wedgewood, T. Jobson, Charles Mackay, Andrew Doyle, G. J. Dixon, J. Faulkner, J. S. Ashton, W. Elliott, T. Oxford, S. King, Lattimore (Wheathampstead), W. DPMullen, Professor 0. Byrne, J. E. P. Dean (United States), J. Thomson, W. Falconer, W. Thornborrow, John Leach (Watford, Herts.), "Wm. Snelling, Thomas Dean, IL Crooks, P. Fairbairn (Leeds), T. IL Potter, J. T. Daun (Nuffield), Jo seph Glassyer (Brighton), Wm. Brady (Dewsbury), H. Cro4field .(Liverpool), Jos. Bennett (Hitchin, Hats), James Clarke, Thomas Bull, W. Robertson, Edward Holland (Dumbleton, Worcestershire), T. Schunck (Manchester), John V. Lyons (Cork), A. Fellot Osler (Birmingham), Thomas Ruston, C. S. Crowley, J. Angus, Henry Cove, P. A. Taylor, J. De Silva, R. W. Cole, W. Egan, W. J. Johnson, James Clarke, James Hotham (Leeds), Joseph Har ris, J. W. Fletcher, Jonathan Harris, Joseph Cran stone (Hemel Hempstead), Joseph Bennett, Martin Robinson (Horley, Surrey), John Jackson (Halifax), John Harris. The Chair was taken by the Right Honourable Earl Duce. The SECRETARY then read the minutes of the last meeting, which were confirmed on the motion of Sir W. Baynes, seconded by G. S. Crowley, Esq. The CUAIRMAN then came forward, and. was re ceived with loud cheering, which having subsided, the Noble Lord addressed the meeting as follows—La dies and Gentlemen—ln rising to open the business of this evening, I must honestly confess that I do not do so without experiencing some embarrassment at the novel situation in which I find myself placed.—(Hear, hear.) I assure you it is a very different thing to look at the stage from the boxes, and to look at the boles, filled as they now are, from the stage—(Cheers.) I am also the more surprised at finding m7self here ; although I fully admit that "all the worlds a stage ;" yet so indifferent as actor have I been upon upon the great stage of the world, that I hardly thought it pos sible that I should have been called upon to appear upon this occasion. having been called upon however, I felt it incumbent upon Inc to appear here, from this consideration— I consider it to be the im perative duty, not only of myself, but of all those who hold that the corn-laws are absurd in principle and abominable in practice—l consider it the duty of all such, however feeble may be their talents or their means, to throw themselves into the scale, in order to do the utmost in their power to weigh down that powerful opposition which we have met with, which we do meet with, and which we shall meet with, before we attain our ohject.—(Loud cheers.) There is another consideration, also, which makes me the less unwilling to appear upon this stage. That con sideration is, that never has there been performed on the boards of this theatre a tragedy of so deep a dye. (Here there was some. confusion created by persons attempting to force their way into the theatre, which was crammed to exces s . I n th e m id s t o f le con . fusion created by this circumstance, some one called out, " Do you think, because we were beat in South Lancashire, we have lost our cause?" This sally was received with cheers and laughter, and contributed to restore good humour. The confusion having sub sided, the Noble Ohairman proceeded :—) I was .-e -marking, that never had tragedy of so deep a dye been represented on the boards of this theatre— never had it entered the thought of the poet to invent, or by fiction to add ' to, the facts of history, horrors so appalling or misery so devastating as that which has been worked by the influence of that accursed corn-law which we are met to repeal.—(Loud cheers.) Al though this law is painful to contemplate, when we consider the effects which it produces, yet you will permit me now to f o ll ow u p th e theatrical simile, there is much about it which is richly ridiculous. There is much of genteel comedy in the manner in which Sir Robert Peel manages his supporters by playing on their hopes and fears in respect of this corn-law—(Cheers and laughter)—or rather I should say there is a good deal of low comedy in the way in which the Right Hon. Baronet coquettes with his two mistresses—his vague love—free trade in the ab stract—(Cheers)—and his more meretricious mistress —monopoly.—(Cheers and laughter.) Any one who, thirty years hence, shall look back upon the course of corn-law legislation, will see as much broad farce in relation to it as has ever produced shouts of laughter in this house. But you may say you talk of looking back thirty years hence. You, therefore, believe that the corn-laws will be repealed before thirty years are over. Undoubtedly I do.—(Cheers.) No man in this theatre can entertain a doubt on the subject. Not only those who contend that the corn-laws are evil, and ought, therefore, to be repealed, but those who support the corn laws admit that they must go.—(Loud cheers.) You may ask me how they must go—why they must go—and by whom they must be repealed? I cannot tell you that. I will not tell you when they will be repealed, how they will be repealed, or by whom they will be repealed. Are they to be re pealed by those who are in favour of a fixed duty ? I think not. Will Sir Robert Peel and his sup porters—those who are opposed to a fixed duty, but who support a sliding scale—will they repeal them ? Hardly. Then I know not where we are to go, unless, as a forlorn hope, we turn to Young England. —(lronical cheers and laughter.) I have not any great hopes of them.—(A laugh.) I know not if any of you have read a poem which has recently been produced by a brother of that fraternity. It is enti tled "England's Trust," and the poet thus speaks of England : " Yes, I could bear to see her crowded towns Sink into hamlets and unpeoplcd downs." No doubt, he was a very courageous gentleman who said this; he could bear to see many things which others might shudder to contemplate. But the poet went on— " Wealth, commerce, law, and learning, all may die ; But give us"— What ? It must be something very valuable indeed, one would imagine, that the Noble Lord who wrote these lines proposed to be given in exchange for wealth, commerce, law, and learning ; but no such thing— - "But give us still our old nobility." —(Loud cheers, and roars of laughter.) Certainly it must be a great satisfaction to any country to be ruled over by people who could tell who were their grandfathers—(A laugh)—but it was certainly pay ing too dear for such a gratification to sacrifice com merce, wealth, law, and learning.—(Cheers.) I will tell you how the corn-law must be repealed. It must be repealed by yourselves.—(Loud cheers.) Never be put down by defeat.—(Cheers.) Continue, in sea son-and out of season, in pressing your doctrines upon the' people, and in teaching the people the interest which they have in this question. See that the great masses in the towns are alive . to the d oc t r i nes o f f ree trade. See that at the next election they return free-trade Members to Parliament.—(Cheers.) See more especially that London does its duty.—(Loud cheers.) In that way the corn-laws will be repealed. —(Load cheers.) And remember this, that there is no man, however humble his station, however mo derate his abilities, who may not by his own indi vidual exertions, and by his energetic support of our proceedings, to a certain extent, accelerate the time of the repeal of the corn-laws.—(Loud cheers.) I have this feeling strongly upon me, and that is the only ground upon which I have presumed to appear before such an assembly as this. I feel that it is the duty of every man to do what little he can to en lighten his neighbour upon any subject with which he may be conversant. It is that alone which has induced me to offer you a few observations.—(Cheers.) Undoubtedly in great towns, and more especially in this greet metropolis, there must be a vast mass of people who are unacquainted with agricultural sub jects, and it is not at all unnatural that those persons NUJ VSI) .d feel alarmed when it is continually and re \ being dinned into oar ears, by our opponents, _ 1- , li e‘ al of the corn-laws, must ruin the agri .4% ` e:!.7-. . -' . erests, and truest throw a vast tract of land 4 :: .- i. -") :::.te jfet i atien. ,. It is extremely natural for those _..: e t --„i LA --_,;t e :AI alarmed acquainted with agricultural V _ ‘ t roe at that, for there must be many '- 1;; 453 .ea town who have a li tti,„ ;stied, or who --- ... have connexions who are dependent upon land, and no doubt they will hesitate and doubt, and say if we are injured in our owu property, if our connexions are to be ruined, and the interests of the agricultural labourer to be set aside and passed over, we don't think that a repeal of the corn-laws would be so great a boon as we have supposed. Now it is in the hope of dispelling such doubts, and inducing you all to use every exertion to obtain a repeal of the corn-laws, that I now take the liberty of address ing a few words to you.-(Cheers.) Now were I to go into the whole subject of agriculture, I fear it would take, up a great deal more of your time than I have any right to expect from you; and therefore I will only go into a very limited portion of the subject. I will endeavour to show you what is the expense of growing a bushel of wheat ; and I will from that prove to you that it is impossible that any land can be thrown out of cultivation. I have been for the last eighteen years actively employed in agriculture in the minty of Gloucester, and I have held six different farms within that period, in three different localities of the county ; and the instances which I intend to adduce will be from that county. Now I will remind you that this county contains large tracts of land of a.:light:character, which our prophetic opponents say will be thrown out of cultivation if the corn-laws are repealed. I recollect, in one of the debates upon the proposition for a fixed duty on corn, brought forward by Lord Melbourne's Government, Lord Winchilsea saying, " if this proposition be passed, and a fixed duty on corn established, all the Lincoln Heath will be,thrown out of cultivation." Now it is not necessary for me to tell you that the Lincoln Heath and the Cotswold Hills are almost identical in their nature, and are of the same geographical formation. The Lincoln Heath, however, is rather better cultivated than the Cotswold Hills in Gloucestershire. Now, I propose to read to you a few statements which I have received from different farmers-most of them eminent farmers-in that county. I asked them to send me these statements of the growth of wheat, but I did not tell them for what purpose I wanted them ; and, therefore, I do not think that I am at liberty to men tion their names without writing to them on the subject.-(Hear, hear.) But I wished to have my statements above suspicion, and I did not, therefore, tell these farmers why I wanted them to furnish me with them. I propose, first, to read to you the ex penses of growing a bushel of wheat on my own farm-for this reason-that I am not afraid of having my own books looked into in order that the cost of every thing may be seen, and because I can undertake to prove that everything therein is per fectly correct.-(Cheers.) Having shown you this, you will be then able to judge how far the statements of the farmers tally with mine. If there should be no very great discrepancy, I think we may assume that there will be no very great error in my statements. But it might perhaps be objected to these statements that I ought to have taken the whole of " the rota tion" into calculation, and have charged a share of the " ameliorating" crops to the wheat crop. I have not done se, because if I had done so I should have had to have altered the statements which were sent to me, and I was very anxious that they should not be touched with the slightest stroke of the pen, but that they should all appear before you as they came from the farmers, fresh and unadulterated. -(Loud Cheers.) In considering the question I think we may fairly assume that the other crops, such as barley and oats, can be grown at a profit with out wheat. If they cannot, then it proves that our system of agriculture is extremely faulty, and that the arrangements between landlord and tenant cannot be quite as they *Light to be. It is perfectly absurd to suppose that the profit of the wheat crop ought to go to make up the loss in the other crops in rotation. That would, if possible, render the existing corn-laws more absurd than they are at present.-(Cheers.) Rut I will take an authority, not a had one, on this subject-a man, whom our opponents must allow to be a very shrewd judge of this question. I mean my friend, Mr. Gishorne.-(Cheers.) I think you had the pleasure of hearing him the other night.- (Cheers.) There are few clearer-headed men in Eng land than he is. -(Cheers.) I remember hearing him some years ago make a speech in Manchester against the corn-laws, and amongst other reasons which he adduced to prove that these laws are an in fliction on the country, he said it was very hard upon him, for he had cultivated a quantity of hill-side in Derbyshire, but he could not grow wheat upon it, and he said " what a horrible shame it is that my food should be taxed to benefit those who grow on their land what I cannot grow on mine." I conclude, therefore, that Mr. Gisborne could grow oats and barley at a profit. lam afraid that I shall have to read a few figures to you, but I will give only the re sults, and hand the calculations to my friends of the League to be properly printed. You have only to show impatience and I will stop.-(Cheers and laughter.) I propose then, to read first, the cost of growing 120 acres of wheat. The calculations are reduced into bushels. I obtained these returns in February last, never thinking of turning them to the use lam now turning them to, how the expense of cultivating, harvesting, and working 120 acres of wheat on the Whitfield example farm-we had the impudence to call it the example farm on account of the system we employed upon it-the expenses of cul tivating these 120 acres were as follow :-186+ days of a man and two horses working with " a cultivator," threshinz, and winnowing comes to 931. 2s. 6d. The amount for ploughing and preparing the ground for the seed and sowing is 15s. 6d. an acre; so that 173 i bushels would be 61. 14s. 6d. Hoeing, 2s. 6d. an acre ; cutting, stacking, &c., the 120 acres, which was all done by task work, was Bs. an acre, being altogether 481. Horse and cart to bring home the produce, 4s. 6d. per day ; all this would be 14s. 10d. an acre. That is for the simple cultivation. In these calculations we have put down 33 bushels as the pro duce of an acre, but the usual produce is 40 bushels. We thought, however, that we would put it so low, supposing that bad harvests might come. This sum, then, amounts to 545. 6d. an acre, or ls.7id. a bushel. Half the manure of last year's crops will be 503. an acre, or ls. 6d. per bushel. The land, in cluding tithes and other taxes, 50s. an acre, or Is. 61. per bushel, being a total of 4s. 7id. per bushel. But the wheat crop having bought its manure, has a right also to sell its straw, and we have given some credit for that.-(Hear, hear.) We have calculated that we should grow a ton and a half of straw, which would sell at 30s. a ton ; in fact I have just valued to an incoming tenant the straw at 30s. a ton. But, however, we have put the ton and a half of straw down at 355., and that will reduce the amount, in the thirty-three bushels to 3s. 6d. The capital invested in the farm is 151. an acre, and therefore you will see that if the price of a bushel of wheat should exceed by one shilling the sum of 3s. 6d., it will give 10 1-7ths per cent. on the capital invested.-(Cheers.) But if the price be ss. 6d. per bushel, or 445. per quarter, which is 3s. less than in the Channel Islands, that would give 20 2-7ths per cent. on the capital invested. Not a bad profit, that.- (Cheers.) But now let us go on a little further, and see what the per tentage is at the present price of corn, and we will suppose the price of corn to be 565. the quarter-the last corn I sold was 595.-but suppose it to be 565. a quarter, that gives a return of 35 per cent. on the capit a l in vested.-(Cheers.) This farm gives a return of 171 per cent. on the capital expended on the whole farm for wheat crops. I will now take the expense of an acre of wheat on a farm on the Cotswold Hills, on two-years old seeds :- Two years' rent at 255. per acre Rates for two years 2 15 9 Ploughing, harrowing, and drilling 1 0 0 Seed, two and a half bushels at 7s. 6d lB 9 Bird keeping and hoeing 5 0 Reaping and harvesting Threshing, winnowing, staking out at Bd. per bushel, allowing thirty bushels per acre on the average _ _ Wear and tear 3 0 6 17 6 Deduct value of straw at 30s. per acre, the value to consume on the premises £5 7 6 Which amounts to 3s. 6d., per bushel. The capital invested in such land is about 101. per acre. Every sixpence in price per bushel above the sum of 3s. 6d. is 7i per cent. upon the capital of 101. in verted. Suppose the price of wheat to be ss. 6d. per bushel (note, that is 3s. per quarter less than the price in the Channel Islands on the average of the last seven years), or 445. per quarter; that amounts to 30s. per cent. on the invested capital, or take the present price of wheat at 7s. per bushel, or 565. per quarter, there is a return of 52i per cwt. Suppose this land to be cultivated upon the five course system, it gives 10} per cent. on the whole capital employed on the whole farm. I will now take the return of another person, which gives the outlay on an acre of wheat, on two year old seeds ; rent of land in the neighbourhood of Stow and Northleach, from 15s. to 20s. per acre ; average 17s. 61:— Two years' rent £l 15 0 Two years poor, church, and road rates . 0 6 0 Ploughing, harrowing, and drillin 2 1 0 g I 0 0 21 bushels of seed wheat, at 7s 0 .7 Bird-keeping and hoeing 6 0 5 0 Reaping and harvesting, including carting, stacking, thatching, &c. Threshing, winnowing, fetching into barn, and delivering, at Bd. per bushel, 20 bushels per acre on average 0 13 4 Wear and tear 0 3 0 5 14 10 Deduct value of straw, at 255., or 4s. 6d per bushel 1 5 0 £4 9 10 I will now give the returns on another farm, on the Cotswold Hills, on the two years old : Two years' rent at 17s. per acre ; two years' rates—poor, church, and road, at 3s. per acre Ploughing, harrowing, and drilling Seed, 2i bushels, at 7s. 6d. Bird-keeping and hoeing .O 5 0 Reaping and harvesting Threshing, trimming, and taking out, at Bd. per bushel, 20 bushels on the average Wear and tear 5 13 1 Deduct straw, at value to consume at home ... 1 5 0 £4 8 1 Say 4/. 10s., or per bushel 4s. 6d. The capital in vested in the land of this quality does not exceed, if it comes up to 8/. per acre. Every sd. in price of excess over the sum of 4s. 6d. is a fraction above 5 per cent. on the capital invested, say 5 per cent. Suppose the price of wheat to be ss. 6d. per bushel, or 445. per quarter (which is 3s. per quarter under the average price in the Channel Islands for the last seven years), it gives 11 per cent. on the invested capital. Take the present price of wheat at 7s. per bushel, or 565. per quarter, it gives a return of 27i per cent. on the capital of 8/. in vested. Or supposing that this farm .is cul tivated on the five course system, this gives 5/ per cent. on the whole capital on the whole farm. I was anxious to endeavour to show that in that low quality of land which it was said would be thrown out of cultivation if the corn-laws were repealed, there was a return of 271 per cent. even when the price of corn was only 445. a quarter, which was the lowest price at which it was ever calculated it could be sold in this country.—(Cheers.) I hope and trust that this will set the mind of every man at rest on the point, who has ever believed that a free trade in corn would throw land out of cultivation, and that he will believe with me that nothing can ever cause any land to be thrown out of cultivation in England so long' as the manufacturers are able to undersell the manufac turers of the Continent in the world's markets.—(The Noble Lord sat down amidst loud cheers.) Colonel P. Tuosarsom then came forward to ad dress the meeting, and was received amidst loud cheers. He said he was sent to address them at a moment when he had not to speak to them on a sub ject of success, but came under the shadow of some thing like temporary misfortune.—(A laugh.) Did either they or he come there under the notion that misfortune would fly over their heads harmless? Need he, seeing how necessary it was in a case like theirs, that all temporary evils should be turned to that use for which they were intended—to sharpen their minds to be the instruments of greater good?— (Cheers.) A post, they were told, had been driven in in South Lancashire. Well that was not every where nor every thing.—(Cheers.) He would beg of them to wait till it had been driven back again.— (Cheers.) Why, if evils like that were to settle the dispute, the trade of war would b 3 no where. Why, if they were to give over at the first symptom of for tune failing them, fortune would be only a long mis fortune for the best.—(Cheers.) They knew when they came there they were to witness many such turns of fortune before they left to their children the fair enjoyment of that inheritance which they would and should leave them.—(Cheers.) Was there any fear that a country, whose metropolis could pour forth its thousands, week after week, in support of the po pular cause, could ever fail. Now, if there was any one there of the adverse party, he would warn him not to talk too loudly on the subject.—(Laughter.) They might just as well think of driving back the Anti-Slavery Society, and putting an end to the great work of philanthropy they had achieved, as that they and their cause should quail before such enemies as they had.— (Cheers.) They knew their enemies, and their strength also. They could calculate and estimate the value of those who were for the country, and those who were against it. Go to the Prince de Joinville, and tell him that England needed not his puny inter ference.—(Loud cheers.) They had a domestic enem . y, an inbred foe, who could do his work much bet ter. They had those among them, who had unhappily the power to tell them that British commerce, which might have raised them almost above all fear of human ills, which might have waved their flag, not in sangui nary triumph, but in peaceful rivalry all over the world, with scarcely a competitor, should be crippled and limited to what the interests of their side-pockets dictated.—(Laughter and cheers.) Men in office—men decked with power—had plainly told them, and would doubtless tell them again, that it was to make their daughters' portions that they robbed them.—(Hear, hear.) Did Englishmen want telling that more than once ? Was not one such statement sufficient to rouse the heart of every father there into fierce oppo sition to this horrible injustice ?—(Hear, hear.) Wby these men would live on anything. There was no garbage which they would not make their profit of.— (Laugher.) There was no trade so low, no calling so base, that these men would not stand by with their toll-dish to take the proceeds.—(Cheers.) Yet they looked down upon humble citizens; commercial men and tradesmen, in their estimation, were hardly worth a thought. Hef thought that meeting knew that an honest conscience was far more valuable than any rank which the world could give.—(Cheers.) The certainty that sueh a cause as theirs had always prospered and always would prosper would be their sheet-anchor, and they would hang on by it till the day of success should arrive. —(Cheers.) England, great and glorious England, as she might have been, and as, in some ages of her history, she had been, would not see herself trammelled and confined to suit the interests of these bad men.—(Cheers.) It was well, perhaps, he did not use a harsher epithet. But he would not truckle to them. They should hear from him no compliments upon their hospitality.—(Laughter.) " Light come, light go," was a proverb which they had heard of before that evening. They knew of men who were as much given to hospitality, when it suited their purpose, as any other class in the country. Thieves were hospi table—(Laughter)—they took all they could, and they gave freely to their comrades—(Laughter.) The members of the Anti-Corn-law League were not to be deluded, by such pretexts, into allowing the pros pects of their children and their families to be scat tered to the winds, because, from every shilling of which they were mulcted, sixpence might, perhaps, be returned in hospitality.—(Cheers.) There was the " rub." They could not stop the man who simply picked their pockets of a shilling and spent it at the wrong shop.—(Laughter.) If they could prove of him that he took the shilling, leaving only sixpence for themselves, there would be some chance. That chance was now before them, and when that was settled, they would see the end. Now he (Colonel Thompson) had been put forward with a stipulation, which was not, in general, needful with him, that he should not detain them long.—(Cheers.) One word more, however, he wished to say—(Cheers)— and it was a word hich was prompted by the place in which they were assembled. He had heard that a well-known favourite of theirs (Miss P. Horton), whose name should be received with all the respect due,to an individual so eminent in her profession, was singing the " Song of a Shirt. (Laughter.) Now could not all those who wore shirts, and he was sure there were none there without that garment—could not all those who went to increase her benefit, instead of encoring the lady, which might be troublesome to her after the exertions of so long a ditty, give some thing like three cheers for the Anti-Corn-law League ?—(Laughter). Would not that be a fair use to make of the theatre, which in their partially free country had been (and he trusted always would be) under the direction of persons who made it the means of promoting national freedom and morality, and not of injuring and depressing society at large ? If they admitted that his allusion to this subject had been warranted by the occasion, let them bear it in mind. Mr. E. HOLLAND, of Dumbleton, Worcestershire, said that was the first time, since the commencement of the meetings of the Anti-Corn-law League in that theatre, that he had had the pleasure of taking part in its proceedings. But having read the proceedings in the reports, he had constantly remarked that those speakers who did not come forward most frequently, were continually in the habit of commencing their speeches by stating that they had been called upon unexpectedly.—(Hear, hear.) He could assure them that he was in that position. Five minutes before he entered that theatre he was not aware that he should be a stage horse. However, any man who had his heart and soul in a cause like that—a cause which he believed to be highly beneficial, nay, essential to their very existence as a nation, would be constantly ready to express his feelings in relation to it when ever he might see his fellow-countrymen assembled. —(Cheers.) They would not, on that occasion, ex pect anything from him in the shape of argument. Arguments and facts coming from any speaker in the position which he then occupied, should be spoken with much care and much thought. It was essential that they should be carefully considered pre viously to their being brought before the public. Their opponents were ready to catch at the least over sight ; all figures sr ere scrutinised by them ; all matters of detail sifted in the most searching manner. He would, therefore, by the indulgence of the meet ing, simply state to them on that occasion, as an eye witness fresh from the country, and one who, as re garded one portion of it at least, was well acquainted with the working of the cause, that as far as his own part of the country was concerned, the cause of free trade was rapidly advancing.—(Cheers.) At first, country gentlemen, who espoused the cause of the League, were met by the greatest difficulties.— (Ilear, hear.) Sour faces, eyes askant, the loss of friends, distance of manner, and many of those un pleasant forms of demeanour, were the result of the course which they pursued. It should be recollected that those who lived in the country were obliged to take their neighbours as their companions. They had THE SUN, LONDON, THURSDAY EVENING, MAY 30, 1844. [ not the same power of choice as those who were ' lying in a large cit;.—(Elear, hear.) Now, how ever, they could go into the market and speak to the farmers on the subject of free trade without being asked whether they meant to ruin the country.—(Hear, hear.) The farmer said " I see with you that it is impossible for us to oppose this question much longer; although we may not agree with you, yet 'ye feel that before long we must yield to our free-trade opponents." But these are the worst sort of farriers—(Hear, hear)—these are the farmers of the old school.—(Hear, hear.) If they were dissected it would be found that they had a grumbling apparatus constructed in their stomachs. —(Laughter.) Such grumbling might naturally be expected from men who depended so much upon slimate, instead of depending, like the inhabitants of large towns and cities, entirely upon their own skill and handicraft. The farmer must be excused if now and then he grumbled more than others, seeing that he was so much at the mercy of the elements.— (Hear, hear.) But they felt that they had made way both in argument and feeling. Through the esta blishment of protective societies the farmers had been taught to think ; and not only had they learned to think, but to act for themselves. Living amongst farmers, as he did, he really believed that :face the existence of protective societies, through their becoming so rife, they had gained converts amongst the agriculturists of Worcester shire.—(Cheers.) The exertions which were made in populous towns, and especially in this great metro oohs, cheered the hearts of those who were working in the country, and aided them to a degree which they could not imagine without residing for a time amongst them. He recollected going over a museum, and seeing, amongst other things exhibited, a short spear. It was strong, and stiff, and sharp at the point ; and about two feet from the point was a cross bar. On asking what it was, he was told that it was Norwegian spear, for killing bears. "It saves a great deal of trouble," said the man ; " the bear, im mediately he is pricked by the point of the spear, em braces the bar with his arms, presses the spear home, and kills himself." "This," thought he to himself, "is exactly what the agriculturist does."—(Great laughter.) The sharp point was the corn-law : the :rocs-bar was the bar of protection. The farmer, eeling pricked by the corn -law, embraced the bar of orotection.—(Hear!) He hoped, however, that those who felt so bitterly towards them—those who were embracing this cross-bar of protection—were now diminishing in number, and if he were permitted to address them again he trusted that he would have to address protectionists and anti-protectionists all united in one body and all enjoying the benefits of free trade.—(Loud cheers.) • Mr. COBDEN then came forward, and was received 'vith tremendous cheers, which lasted two or three ninutes. After the applause had in some measure subsided, he said that if he had returned from South Lancashire, where he had been doing his duty as a freeholder of that important county, and had come Aecked with laurels, they could nut have bestowed apon him a more favourable reception.—(Loud - sheers.) It was a proof, at all events, that they did lot desert their friends in what their enemies called the hour of adversity. But he came there not to talk of misfortunes, of losses, or defeats; he came there to claim for them a great moral triumph as free traders. They had been out-nosed, it was true ; but le would count noses with them, and see what they were made of. They had not lost a man for South Lancashire ; they had only failed in getting one. flick late amiable representative, who had been so suddenly and in such an untimely manner snatched from them, was opposed to them upon principle.— (Hear, hear.) They were hurried into the contest in South Lancashire more unexpectedly and sud ienly,and were altogether unprepared for it. Let them took to how the contest stood at present and how it stood when their late worthy respresentative—for he was a most amiable and excellent man in private life— was elected for South Lancashire. The last contest was in 1837, and was between two Tories on the one side, and two Whigs on the other. Lord Egerton was then at the head of the poll, with a majority of 1,200. In 1841, when the last general election took place, the leading friends of the Reform party looked into the registry and found that they would he in a ninority of two thousand, and they left the field to ;heir adversaries. At that time the friends of free trade were in ignorance of their strength. But in the late election they had separated the wheat from the chaff.—(Cheers.) They had had a candidate who had no connexion with the county. He had stood for ward only as the advocate of the total abolition of core-laws, and every restriction upon commerce. lie stood this conflict against all the influence of the landowners, with the splendid exception of Lord Sefton, who gave to the advocates of free trade all the assistance in his power.—(lmmense cheering.) l'he result was, that the friends of free trade polled '3,974—(Cheers)--of the freeholders of South Lan eashire—(Renewed cheering)—which was 400 more than had polled for the two Whig candidates in 1837. —(Cheers.) They had thus 6,974 of the voters of South Lancashire pledged to the total and immediate repeal of the corn-laws.—(lmmense cheering.) They had been told before, that the election would be no fair trial of the strength of the agricultural interest. But let them listen to what that veracious authority the Standard said upon the subject.—(Cheers and laughter.) "The South Lancashire election has ter minated by the return of the Conservative candidates with a majority of nearly 600; the whole number of electors polled being 14,458. The result of the South Lancashire contest is, on many accounts, de serving of observation. An election at which be tween 14,000 and 15,000 electors polled must be, of course, free from suspicion of any external influence, whether of the Government or the aristocracy ; and an election in a district almost as densely peopled as a great city, must be equally free from the suspicion of any local territorial influence."—(Great laughter.) Now, let them see how far territorial influence was out of the question in this case. There was the Earl of Derby, Sir T r . Jerrold, Mr. Scaresbrook, and sther proprietors.—(llear, hear.) But the Standard went on to say that " The not very extensive district now represented by the Conservative Mr. Entwisle and the Conservative Lord Francis Egerton, must amount to considerably more than half a million, and it includes the important towns of Manchester and Liverpool (towns larger and immeasurably richer than many capital cities, Bolton, Oldham, Rochdale, Bury, &c. Whatever, influence, then, it is possible to imagine to be exercised in a South Lancashire elec :ion, must be a mercantile and manufacturing influence, and indeed of this influence the party of the League have been very profusely boasting for the last year or two. We know not whether all our readers will recollect, some certainly must, that the journals of the League have recently set down South Lancashire as a sure conquest, • assigning, among the other grounds of their confidence, the reduction, by no less than 2,800 votes, of the Conservative force, which they said had been effected by a diligent attention to the registry. These reduced votes would raise,Mr. Entwisle's majority to 3,400. As it is not said that the Conservatives manifested corresponding ac dray in the Registration Courts, it appears but fair to allow for some considerable increase of Mr. Entwisle's majority on this head. Let us, however, be content to take the ma i cirity as it actually stands—at 590. Ts not such a majority in favour of a Conservative candidate --in a district which is constituted, am it were, of a federation of mercantile and manufacturing towns — a district which may in truth be called all one great manufacturing metropolis—is not such a victory in such a place conclusiva testimony to the real feeling of the mercantile and manufacturing interests in the country ? let the decision be treated fairly as a test of opinion—as a test of the popularity of free trade on one side, or protection on the other ; and it will be admitted, we think, that the friends of free trade could not in England expect to find more favour able judges I and yet protection carries off the great majority of votes. We have not as yet heard any reason assigned by the free trade advocates for the defeat of their candidate, though defeat was tolerably certain even at noon on Monday, and we own we are at a loss to conjecture what apology they will offer. As we have said, Government influence, aristocratical influence, local territorial influence, are wholly out of the question in a district like South Lancashire, all cut up into small possessions, with a population of more than half a million, and between fourteen and fifteen thousand electors actually brought to the poll." (The reading of the extract was repeatedly inter rupted by loud laughter and derisive cheers.) What, was Lord Francis Egerton a small proprietor ? (Cheers and laughter.) Was Lord Derby a small proprietor ?—(Renewed laughter.) It was true that the Earl of Derbyhad tenantry should vote a g ainst free trade. But there was a way of rignifying, through the steward , how the "Rising Son" would wish the tenantry to rote —(Great cheering and laughter)—and accordingly there had been put forth a circular amongst the tenants, stating how much the Noble Lord would do if the tenants of his father would vote against free trade—(Cheers)—and he (Mr. Cobden) did believe that the Derby tenantry, almost to a man, voted against the free trade candidate.—(Cheers.) Out of the sixteen thousand and odd electors who voted at the late election, there were four ithousand six hun dred tenants-at-will entirely at the disposal of those gentlemen.—(Hear ' hear.) They had been told that Manchester showed but a small majority in favour of free trade. But it was to be recollected that 'Man chester was included in a district which extended to a circuit of fourteen or fifteen miles round the town. The tenantry of Lord F ranc is E ge rton and the o.hers hemmed the electors of M an chester in, and kept them in a state of siege.—(Cheers.) The truth was that, in the result of the election, they were swamped by the tenant r y o f th ose w h o brought them to the poll, just as if they h a d b een their own quadrupeds.— (Hear, hear.) If the t enan t s ..atswill were taken away the majority of the electors had returned Mr. Brown —(Cheers.) In the contest of 1837 he had been at an inn where there were sitting a number of persons decorated with ribbons of the colour of the 'Whig party—blue, that of Stanley and Townely. A shrewd countryman, who was in the same room, observed that at a future election they would wear other colours.— (Hear, hear.) Since that time the proprietor of the land upon which those independent electors were tenants-at-will, had changed politics, and he (Mr. Cobden) had seen the same men at a subsequent elec tion with the favours of the opposite party on their coats.—(Cheers and laughter.) But, again, the pro perty was sold, and at the last election the same tenants-at-will were again to be seen in their blue favours.—(Cheers and laughter.) He had received letters from Stockport explaining the manner in which the influence of the landlord had been exercised in that district, and in that of Ormskirk. As to the district of Ormtkirk, it was a deception to say that there had been any canvassing. There had been no such thing. The steward went out and intimated in what way he wished the tenants should vote. He would therefore call on the meeting to bear this in mind, that they had in this contest all the great land lords of the county against them, and that, in reality, they had had a great moral triumph.—(Cheers.) Whatever their opponents might say of the triumph which they had gained in sending Mr. Entwisle to Parliament, it could not be said that he went there to represent the intelligence or the independence of South Lancashire.—(Cheers.) The contest had been productive of great advantage.—(Cheers.) It would turn to good in the future.—(Cheers.) It showed them what their strength was. It was like clearing the decks.—(Great cheering.) It was a great moral triumph ; in which men of all parties, merged their party differences. Whigs, Tories, Radicals, and Chartists, united in support of the free-trade candi , date.—(Cheers.) Now he would take the borough of Oldham. He was there with Mr. Brown during his canvass • and Oldham was a place entertaining, as a borough, as extreme opinions on political ques tions as any borough in the kingdom. Mr. Brown was there catechised by an individual who held these opinions. lie did not, in any one point, come up to the mark of their political faith ; but at a crowded meeting held in the Town-hall of the borough, he (Mr. Cobden) saw—what was cer tainly an unexampled thing in the history of elec tions—an unanimous vote passed to support a candi date on free trade principles, moved by a man who himself professed Chartist opinions. He wished he could say there had been equal unanimity on the part of those who called themselves Tories and Con servatives in the district. But they (the League) had made a breach in that party on this question, which would never be healed—a breach which would go on widening. Their efforts had drawn men out of the slime of party—(Hear)—and had compelled them to record their votes as free traders. The gentleman who nominated Mr. Brown pro fessed himself a Conservative (Hear) many polled for him irrespective of party considera tions. They had an immense number who could have polled in that district, who stood aloof from them merely to join them on some future occasion ; and he believed that in less than two years from this time, men of all parties in their manufacturing towns of the north, except the lunatics of party—(Hear, hear)—except those men to whom reason was denied —with those exceptions, he believed all would be found, within two years, taking up common ground on this question ; and they would make short work with the landlord monopolists, when they all came to a good understanding of their own interests. They had been defeated for want of union. There had been men sprung from commerce and manufactures, men who were recreants to their own order, and traitors to the interest to which they were allied, who sallied out of the towns, and joined in bringing in the serfs of the agricultural districts, to swamp the honest and independent votes of their neighbours.—(Hear, hear.) He knew of nothing to compare to the con duct of these insane and suicidal politicians, unless it was that displayed by some of the manufacturing towns of the Low Countries during their feuds with the aristocracy, when there were among the burgesses individual cases of treachery in men who opened the gates of their own towns, and spiked their own guns, and brought in the common enemy to devastate their streets and ruin their fellow citizens.—(Cheers.) On one thing he would congratulate the meeting— the importance attached by their opponents to this test. They said that defeat in South Lancashire would be death to the League. Let them bear that in mind ; if they asserted that, they could not refuse to admit that success in South Lancashire would be death to monopoly.—(Cheers.) He was glad of the importance attached to this great contest. It bore him out in what he had said on the question of free trade—that it would not be carried by a mere nume rical majority in the House of Commons. And now they had a proof of it. They would not have to wait till the pocket counties of Buckingham and Wiltshire were converted ; but as soon as Middlesex, and Bris tol, and Hull, and Leeds were found side to side on this question with Edinburgh and Glasgow, there was no Prime Minister who would dare to maintain mo nopoly one hour longer after public opinion through these formidable channels had been declared in favour of commercial freedom.—(Cheers.) Their course then was clear; they would leave Launceston, and Aylesbury, and give up Hastings, if they pleased; the contests there, and the nominations there, excited no more interest among the monopolists than so many squabbles in their servants' hall among their own domestics. But they would have to do with the large constituencies, and at the next election they would return two free traders for Lan cashire, provided they would give them a couple of registrations to enable them to effect their object. They must arm themselves with this electoral weapon ; they must enable themselves to vote in the electoral booths ; every man must become a freeholder who could afford to lay out 501. at 4 per cent. per annum, in order to return a rental of 40s. This was the duty of every man in South Laccashire and in the West Riding of Yorkshire—to become a freeholder in order to be entitled to vote at the county elections. By that simple means they would have ample power to repeal the corn-laws. Let them bear in mind that their opponents would play the same game : they had played the same game while the free traders had been asleep. They had divided their farms, rented, perhaps, at 2001. a-year, and compelled the tenants to take in their brothers and sons as joint occupiers, in order to have the advantage of their votes. The landholders had done their worst ; the free traders had done comparatively nothing.—(Cheers.) But at the next revision of South Lancashire in November, they would be placed in a clear majority, above any their opponents could place on the register ; and let them only give them another registration before another election took place, and they would make the number fourfold.—(Cheers.) On this practical point let him urge their attention in the metropolis; they had among them a Registration Society which had been most diligent and systematic in its operations in London. Its place of business was at 68, Cheapside ; there they would find every advice and aid, it would be attended with no expense, and by applying to it they would learn all the law of regis tration and the practice of the Registration Courts, and be put in a way of becoming electors, whether in the boroughs or among the county constituency of this important part of England. He was glad to hear of the great progress made by the Society in London. Their opponents felt that there was a rod in pickle for them in the City of London.—(Cheers.) They were aware that by a recent decision of the Court of Common Pleas, lodgers paying 10/. a year rent, if they liked, became qualified to vote. A vast number of young men in London in houses within the City or its other boroughs, paying 101. a year for a floor or apartments, might have a vote. These were the very mea n who wished to aid them in this cause, for those who had their way to make in the world had no wish to see the avenues stopped up by which they could attain to fortune. Let them inquire by what means they could become registered, let them omit no means by which they could join in the battle for commercialfreedom. With these practical remarks he need not that night go into the question of free trade ; but he should not do justice to their Chairman unless he expressed their sense of their obligation to Earl Ducie for his attend ance there to-night.—(Great cheering.) He thanked him for those valuable documents, of far more value out of that assembly when printed—documents, ela borately correct and unquestionably:faithful—which he had read to them ; he thanked him for his valuable statements completely establishing their cause in that ground where they were supposed to be most valuable, proving that it was in the power of the fal•mer of this country to compete with the foreigner in the sale of grain at a good profit, with a perfect freedom of trade in corn. There was one encouraging fact which they should bear in mind': if they found an agriculturist, whether a proprietor like Earl Ducie, or Mr. Holland, or a tenant-farmer, like his friend, Mr. Lattimore, who was then present, or Mr. Hunt, who, he was afraid had not yet reached them • if they were in favour of free trade, they would be found at the same time to be men remarkable for their skill and intelligence in agriculture. And by the way he might remark, that if they went into the manufac turing districts, and found among the tall chimneys men who were monopolists, the very reverse of that rule applied. They would not find that those were the men to whom a Government Commissioner, or a traveller from abroad going into the manufac turing districts to make inquiries, would ever think of applying for information, either with respect to his own business, or on the principles of social policy—they would not find that these were the men elected to offices of trust by their fellow townsmen. For the agriculturists who were free-traders, he thanked them for their support, and for the sacrifices they had made to -give it—sacrifices to which Mr. Holland had alluded, of that social comfort which men had seldom moral courage enough to forego. He thanked them for what they had done. Let them not be dismayed at the attempts made to put down the League. What was the League ? It was nothing but the impersona tion of the struggling commercial principle. Did they think that by choosing any other name they would have rendered themselves less disliked by their opponents. If they had chosen the brightest name under the sun—if they had called themselves an angelic choir—the monopolists would not have disliked them less.—(Hear, hear.) It was not the , League they disliked—it, was the principle of commercial freedom embodied in it. Why, there were leagues before—(Hear)—and they were generally successful. Did not history record the success of the Solemn League and Covenant of Scotland ? That was most obnoxious to the ecclesiastical monopoly and tyranny of the day. And why ? Not because it was called a Solemn League and Covenant, but be cause its principle was the principle of religious free dom.—(lmmense cheering.) Then they had a League in Germany ; it was called the Hanseatic League. What was' it ? It was an union of, the merchants of the trading towns of the rivers and coasts of Germany—far what ? To put an end to the bri gandage and robberies of the feudal barons of the middle ages, who built their castles along the rivers, issued forth with their mailed retainers to harrass and plunder the commerce of that day. Did they think that that League would would have been viewed with • more favour by those brigands under any other name? It was not the name they hated, but because their purpose was to put down spoliation and injustice. Their League had no other end—had no other object in view. They might taunt them, and call them what foul names they pleased. They had nearly exhausted their vocabulary of foul-mouthed abuses. They could not call them anything so bad as they had called them this time two years. And the League was in a better position, with an exchequer well replenished for meet ing their calumny, which fell still-born, for these who used it knew that it was not true themselves. The League was not strangled—it was not dead. The League was the anti-monopoly principle of this country, and would die only with the death, and, he hoped, the repentance of the commercial monopolists of this kingdom.—(Cheers.) Give them London, Edinburgh, Middlesex, Glasgow, the West Riding of Yorkshire, and the corn-laws would be repealed. Let the constituency do their duty in London—they would do theirs in Lancashire. Why, he had left them en couraged and animated. This very day a staff of clerks was employed on the register of South Lan cashire, analysing and examining it, and preparing for another contest, whenever it should take place. Mr. BRIGHT then came forward, and was received with tremendous cheering, waving of hats and hand kerchiefs, which lasted for several minutes. When silence was in some measure restored, he said—l con fess I have never before come from an election con test in which my party have been in a minority, and in which I felt so little of that feeling which men are supposed to have when they have been defeated.— (Loud cries of " Hear, hear,' , and great cheering.) The ardent labourers in the cause of free trade whom I parted with last night in Manchester, evinced no symptoms of defeat. They were persuaded that they had made enormous advances, and they were satisfied that the immense meetings of the League which as semb'ed in Covent-Garden Theatre, would express their hearty sympathy with them in the struggle they had made, and that they would be willing to cheer them on in the continuation of that struggle. until they had accomplished the victory.—(Hear, hear.) I can bear testimony to the manner in which many hundreds of men have voted during the election in South Lancashire, and to the manner in which the supporters of the League generally have conducted themselves. We have disseminated free trade prin ciples boldly and fearlessly ; and let it be recollected that it is a very different thing for men like the mem bers of the League to solicit votes, and the steward of a large landed property, Is here the tenants are ac customed to consult the pleasure of their lord, and obsequiously to obey his dictates. It is very hard to convince such men as these of the necessity of supporting principles adverse to those which their landlords up hold. You may talk, and argue, and debate, and reason with them that it is their duty and their in terest to support free trade, but to those arguments, however substantial, they are too often insensible.— (Hear, hear.) The labour, then, in our share of the contest, is infinitely greater than that required by our opponents ; for we have to induce a large num ber of electors who have always voted against our principles, who are, from their circumstances, neces sarily pledged against us ; and then we have to ob tain the votes of those who are not so bound up. — (Hear, hear.) You have heard a paragraph read from a monopolist newspaper. The monopolist news papers will Chuckle over this victory, and they may well be thankful for it. The monopolists have had few victories in this country of late years, and there are fewer still in store for them.—(Loud cheers.) But there are other newspapers which pretend, to be the foes of monopoly, and which have thought it their duty to find fault with the conduct of the League on this occason. Now these papers profess not to be in the service of the monopolists. I will take the liberty of reading to you a quotation from an article in the Globe newspaper pub lished this evening, which will show you how far the party it represents has sympathy with our struggles. After speaking of the tenacity of the League in adhering to the obstinate, total, unquali fied, and immediate repeal of the corn-laws, the Globe says—" Here, we think, the League has taken up an untenable, and, therefore, detrimental position. Tenacity in striving for that which is unattainable, has created, or increased, the difficulties of beating down the sliding-scale, and substituting for it the better system of a low fixed duty. Instead of re garding every advantage gained over the advocates of restriction as a victory, the uncompromising aboli tionists subject themselves, and the cause of free trade generally, to defeat, by aiming to accomplish that which is unattainable." I give this a flat and most unmistakable contradiction. It is false in fact, for there has been no election yet, since the League has commenced its struggles, in which any other than a thoroughly free trade candidate could have polled so many votes as we have polled. The Globe goes on to say, " They thus exhaust their resources, and subject the Liberal party to reverses and dis couragements in places where, by union and com bined exertion they might become increasingly strong, and eventually triumphant. Our remarks may be unpalateable, but we know them to be founded in truth, and that they have been practically exemplified in several instances. We believe that had the sup porter of a low fixed duty, in the person of a gentle man of landed property, and connected with one of the influential families of the county, or its immediate neighbourhood, stood in opposition to Mr. Entwisle, South Lancashire would have been wrested from .Tory domination." Before going into Lancashire, just a few nights previously to the election, had been spoken to by a gentleman, a Member of the House of Commons, on this very subject. He said to me, "Your electoral policy appears to me most unwise; you endanger seats, if not lose them, which would be otherwise secure. I asked him where we had done so, but he could not give me a single instance. Why, the fact is, there is no instance.—(Loud cheers.) It is very true there is one case in which that party (Whig) returned a man ; but that man, be it known, although Whig, is a thorough protectionist. He is opposed' to the principles of free trade. I ask how these people, - who seem to be so conversant with the affairs of South Lancashire, come to know them, and I tell them they are mistaken. They know nothing about the spirit which prevails in South Lancashire. I tell you, that if any man came for ward to contest that county in opposition to Mr. Entwisle, and who held Liberal principles, but who would not vote for a total repeal of the corn-laws— and I speak it with a knowledge of the fact—that candidate could not, with the utmost exertion, have polled more than half the votes the League candi date had.—(Cheers.) It may be unpalatable to some to hear those remarks, but it should be unpalatabk to the writer of this article to learn that in breaking down the fences between Whiggism and Toryism at the Lancashire election, these terms were not much thought of. The struggle was between the free trade candidate and the monopolist candidate, and I will venture to say that there was no man connected with that contest who will attempt to deny that we have done more to break down old party distinctions, and to annihilate those delusions by which the people have suffered so much, than was ever done before in any election, or in a number of elections.—(Loud cheers.) Let those men who taunt us so much with our want of success, take care with what and with whom they find fault. Whilst they are doing little or nothing to break down monopoly, we are doing all we can. Whilst we are subscribing our money freely, and whilst hundreds and thousands who earn their bread by the sweat of their brow, are subscribing liberally to this great cause; whilst hundreds of thousands of men have made sacrifices of which little is known, those great leaders of political party have done nothing, and it ill becomes that party to come forward at a moment like this, and help those whom they pretend to be their opponents to strangle this hated conspiracy, upon which you have set the seal of your approbation.—(Great cheering.) I don't know that I have much to add, for I did not come here with the intention of speaking. Everything convinces me of the wisdom of the League, as taking up principles which can be easily understood, from which we will not deviate, and from which no man shall drive us.— (Loud and continued cheering.) We have seen men working with energy, although unknown in former contests. How was it in 1837 ? We then fought with ardour in favour of a candidate, who at this election did all he could to defeat the objects we are aiming at. We were then hunting after a false scent. We were then fighting for a man merely be cause he hoisted contrary party colour's. It is well for us that he was. not returned then, for we might find it as difficult to get rid of him as 61 Mr. Entwisle. We have placed free trade principles on a firm basis in South Lancashire.—(Cheers.) eve have done a good deal in boroughs, but there never. has been a county election in this country in whic h the total, immediate, and unqualified repeal of 11 . , - monopolies was made the test. In this first county election we were placed in unfortunate circumstances.: The opposition had the combined power of all th e landed interest in the county, and yet it was only. yesterday morning that the advocate of monopaly trembled in his shoes at the prospect df the majorlq, he had, on the previous day been diminished, if tr," destroyed. The monopolists make a fine chuckle a n° , glorification, because out of 14,000 voters, 4,0 00 whom were mere serfs, we had not obtained the WO: rity. But whatever exertions they make at the B el ' election they will-prove unavailing before the progress of enlightened, independent, and honest principles; (The Hon. Gentleman sat down amidst thunders 431 applause.) Earl num said he had to announce to the meeting that he had received a communication fool Mr. Milner Gibson, intimating that circumstances over which he had no control prevented his being in WO , and attending at the League this evening. It P ..1 011 became his duty to state that this meeting st° u " adjourned to this day week. When he was address' ing the meeting in the early part of the evenings h e was afraid that lie had spoken too diffusely, upon dry and almost threadbare subject—(Cries of " no.")—and there was one statement which he did no t read, and for not doing so it was possible that be might be called to account ; but he abstained five l ' reading this document merely on account of its sheer absurdity, and because he should account himself fool if he placed any faith in it.—(Cheers.) Mr. COBDEN then rose, and, amidst enthusiastic applause, proposed " Three cheers for the best prse: tical farmer in England—the Earl Ducie." I .t 11/ needless to say that this was responded to with eel/ emanation of heart and of due appreciation of the h i g h merits and total forgetfulness of the prejudices t ?' caste which induced the Noble Earl to join in W e , struggle for buying in the .cbeapest market an selling in the dearest. The meeting then separated with the utmost order and decorum. TIIE STATE TRIALS. --•- DUBLIN, TUESDAY EYENINCI . k. The Judges having taken their seats at eleven o s el° 4 l, The SOLICITOR-GENERAL TOSS and said—ln this ee - : 1 , it was not necessary for him to trespass upon th h ei „ Lordships at any great length; for, notwithstanding time occupied in the discussion of that motion, the in genuity and the labour which was displayed in suP d : port of it—with great respect to his Learned Fri a Sir Colman O'Loghlen—he might be allowed to _re in that many of the propositions which had b ec i, laid down, the observations made, and the authoiriA, ties he cited, were, in his bumble judgment, wb„, ° ,::y inapplicable to the motion before the Court. . 41 : 11 -- , was a motion for their Lordships to take " " e j strong step of arresting the judgment, upon the gr °l/- c o that no indictable offence was declared upon the `. fa n ' of the indictment. When that motion was first o. nounced he owned be felt somewhat curious to ke what were the grounds upon which their Lo b e would be called upon to arrest the judgment, an ° ,3 was still more surprised at some of the arguments ottn - t e in support of the motion. He did not mean to disfs t ai to this proposition—that, looking - at the indictment, if Court saw—notwithstanding the verdict of the ja r) i f that no crime had been committed, it would be not ono the right, but the duty of the Court, not to peon,°, „ 1111 judgment upon that record. Therefore he show," f not question the right of the parties as to the tn n , ° e making that motion. The two main grounds re I n upon were—first, the caption; and, secondly, th e ,,,, l et dictment itself. With respect to the first, he th°"ie he should not be obliged to occupy much time „i disproving it. He did not think the Cos m o s Counsel trusted very much to that ground., it the only authority he cited in favour („°` was the " Queen v. Dan," in Moody's Crown page 224. With respect to that case, what was sa id the Learned Judge on the subject was extra-judieiV ago point of fact no such application was made to the d as that anything should be set aside, or judgment stse ti e by reason of any objection as to the form of indic till im f e of but there was a plea autrefois acquit, on the r es- ii'ree• which the Judge wished to consult his learned breter-ibe Hs (the Solicitor-General) then read the decision el dg . Court in that case, which was to the effect that J ti he ment should be given upon the indictment. 1421 v an, thought this was sufficient to dispose of t he g ot thority of the Queen v. Dan ; it really d'," d i c e rule the case at all. Next, with respect to the nd to ment and the conviction. The indictment was 't r ail be found upon the oath and affirmation of the t es whe tried the case, and their names were given; bt," pr question raised was, which of the jurors were sw°P"ere which of them a ffi rmed, or whether any of them Ong sworn at all. He maintained that this was the llice form of proceeding, according to the rules and Pr g . o r of the Court. Their Lordships would find in 9 Ca m el ton and Payne, page 78, at Worcester Assizes , after the passing of the act authorising Quakers an d '- ravians to be affirmed, Josiah King was called. CHIEF JUSTICE—What is the name of that case ' g els The SOLICITOR-GENERAL—It was not a case. _, te r circumstance occurred at the opening of the worcr„, f , Assizes. Josiah King was called upon the gran:!r e rs, and he being one of the Society of Friends, or 4 2 59- 00 1( 1 Baron Alderson directed that all indictments sil• no a commence—" The jurors for our Lady the Queen j l i ee their oath and a ffi rmation present and say" so a n d to the very form pursued in this case. He next ref r 7,110 " Dixon'a Quarter Sessions,"page 179, in which the _ of an indictment where a Quaker or Moravian wer°(eis the jury was set out, and in this instance thefitle Crown) had adopted that form in the composition of the record—or rather the officer had adopted it in the rt t he Judge PERRIN—There was a motion in Court °P subject. tlis t The SOLICITOR-GENERAL—There was, and on motion it was declared that it was not necessary 0 b' 7 1 , 4 0 to r the jurors in the caption. Their Lordships, in receive the objection; must alter the rules an d"; o' practice of Court. If it is to be received, t hey say which juror was sworn and which affirtned'oire/i regular form of the rules of the Court must be en altered if their Lordships wanted to let in the love It was never intended by the Legislature to `rho exactly stated on every record what the roan gas o o ° 4 acted as a juror. To comply with this part of tb e fi ker,: i they should put upon the _record who was a ( V i l e ne' s Moravian—a thing never intended to be done. _, et tbs came to the indictment itself, and he doubted , P . Ces the objections would be found wholly untenabt e no itld tainly the case had been argued with great ing.t on c on with great care and ability—and if any obj ec , i ti wofer - ,., be found to the indictment, it would have been "'The a - t ,, by the Learned Counsel who argued the case. j a die be ground of objection was to the first count in P ly ( t d , ment, and that was the ground of duplicity sit i o n s ot solicitor-General) did not dispute the pr"Pf diffor e ,, o vanced, that two several crimes committed at airo t tr io times could not be included in a single count aS,LArge§4 individuals—they could not mix up a number' otl e are, the same count, and to do this was what the, es otell'a Counsel called " duplicity." He did not questionA_Le" ness of this proposition thus laid down, but I,; er ge 0 : 1 9t remind them that a count might contain one C.'" fro ni t ' be overt acts to prove it. He read an Chitty on Criminal Law, page 169, which IT.OOt general rule. The passage was to the effee' o , sef e o l count of an indictment could not IniX 50: C „,13 offences, but it might set forth one offence anbod overt acts to establish it. That opini°, ll , len eoe°lo extrac.towea ove followed by Lord Kenyon and Lord - 0 ". , of a do and was considered the established practi c c tio a i Court. If their Lordships received the obit _ fraieeos on this point, they would be called upon tilos Of i‘ es indictment which would entirely alter the Arch p 1,8 Court. Sir Colman O'Loghlen cited page 53 r e u k; nct ro l Criminal Law, to show that an indictment . o _ o se re 0 double, and that a count could not contain tr, ess oo!, o 4 charges against two persons. This stood to _! ni ,eale,, b , because each charge might bear a different P .. u tich 0 0 v o t, but in a further passage Archbold said that, Hof jection could not be a subject for arresting te]tJef id but might lie used on an application for a wr' e ol That very authority Sir Colman O'L o g hlen he f,earticed self, but he omitted the latter passage. ado& Solicitor having replied to all the olijectionresof in support of the motion, concluded by of tero bl oti o, opinion that those objections were wholly IT tho le, to . Mr. M'DONOUGH next spoke in s upport 00' and when he concluded, the Court adjourne" rl to. morrow morning. ceo The Attorney-General will close for t he morrow morning. Should the Court the sentence will not be passed, Thursday. r, W l3ll' AFFIDAVIT OF MR. O'CONNEL--' P`' ERROR. e ll ar,gatif /Wenn a re to HALF 'PAST FOUR o'Ceocn,—Mr. en 4 ; 0 0 in court this day for the purpose of mattl"lePi o ten'_' e . it is thonv The a ffi davit, ee understand, states_ nw, le apply for a writ of error, believing that grounds for doing so. jo t to R - N svlc l di ficw of LAMENTABLE ACCIDENT ON hie all ln belonging Saturday Keswick,las t too fou u r a r sspaeac_toanwill bleb brigp.„. 7 lo s Lake, to Lodore, in a pleasure-boat, , e a t 1 " a ece, ni There were several other boats on the t in " ' jo doef:. et tve time. On their return down the lake farowitot a mile distant from that place, Iprrt n sudden most violent gusts, when alines to ~ proved unusually changeable of latttielhe, vbeoersetd,btebeiaoro.steatiolltolyr manageable, and all the sails being ul';, cre a ble it . et4 o ( swamped, and sunk before the partvyvote °` mare leg t o a r i shift et t e l r i s e , sails, a a r n r d ow th . three s o e f , t is h , e h m o t h h his mansion was a witness to the s inking oa .. . r , o _ is e d c i tibr a ° l l)( i °j o : l: ll o, o 'l : l ::: mediately ordered out his own boa t' w E a u ves w.el bo l o the wind was blowing hard, and b high, rowed towards the where p p_ r t r k rl cl ._r i .: fourth individual, and picked down, and in the vicinity ls drownee, a :ole r t o 11 to sink. The three individua B i c b I : _ der ! to ton, tallow-chandler; and Mr. au 6inn, ice' c ries " 6 William Dixon, of Keswick, draf s e tt e_ , :l 3 ' an es,,g u : .P s ot l e ao d cfe h him then p Mr. Hudson, of the Royal the be d 015 seven o'clock on Monday morning to te d o been found. fa oat. e, Canad is „ s ,o l.ll oo e crown 311% iii s 11. P ere ., _d_ic o n n te : r l ;tion t i r„r e ili tiW i te Sir S C llt . Metcalfe ti‘calElfTechAaLsr:Ce—nic,peetrarted urn rolbj c pce a 11 bore tut' opera ft'l ice, the disease e e a opinion s e was c o a t' ti t r h a e l.y o terdaY Dispatches were sent off Yes c oibr overnor oh th e lousysubsequentwas doing cf: v u e t e i zati n , with the e ve mieg ' Colonial-office, for the G :-'.-- ~i QlJtE l toles Cl , ev • Linst, Ing Ll', with if, nts,who u E : f h ,! defen e l i c l lie n if k a r d only 6,;:r horn *ll , i' 4 6t