The Sun. — London, England, 1844-05-02 00:00:00

ks t°l rc ect io. 0 , lII' Veri c it , thi! - ;. ,. ocl • in fif6 sht l tbs re . Alt 1 . 11 Lew l ba t a g Tfr hav e Plutie 1 o' lB ' 6 The 8 0 8 birth anding nd 'l7; a. d. rour•ifo;d tin il , ls scii*: 11l oin t. o-1"r -bots°"i rtio, ll 9 , A hill ricti° ll f,celes GiUkND WEEKLY AN TI-CORN-LA.W LEAGUE MEETING 4T COVENT-GARDEN THEATRE. " - ne great weekly mee ti ng o f the Anti-Corn-law n'eagee' was h e ld l as t evening, as usual, in the Thea ußoyal C oven t- gar d en. The audience was as e e rous as o n any prev i ous mee ti ng , w ith the ex- Ption of th e one at wh i ch M r. O'C onne ll a dd resse d assembly • the house was crowded in every part. Anion g • the gentlemen present we observed e Right Hon. Lord Kinnaird, the Hon. Charles Pelham Villiers, M.P. Benjamin Smith, Es q.,11.1.p. ie , ,flard Cobd en , Esq., M.P.,' John Lewis Ricardo, t - ' ll MT, Sir William Baynes, Bart., J. Somers, (B ridgewater), Ralph Ricardo, Esq., A. Aus /tt3n,na Esq., Robert R. R. Moore, Esq., H. R. T mou ' e a k rn et °s , Esq., Arthur Pattison, Esq., Rev. Henr y Tl, General Briggs, Professor Key, Colonel Bauer, Esq., Rev. W. Todman, Rev. Dr. ershall, W. A. Wilkinson, Esq., William M'Call, Ols, Samuel Harrison, Esq., Norman Wilkinson, •s , sq. Iv a ueorge Lance, Esq., Dr. Cooke Taylor, George Il e i ci es it %l . E ‘ s i ci., C. Foster, Esq., J. Evans, Esq, Major P al Revell, ',en, J. B. Scott, Esq. (Manchester), R. (C ' R. W. Cole, Esq., Peter Dixon, Esq. R arils ,„le), Rev. J. W. Massie Planehester), John C'p an ' 1 "cl-, Thomas Egan, Esq., W. Hibbit, Esq., vv..s,cllll‘ott, Esq., T. Nicholas, Esq., D. Miles, Esq., St ar ii',.," n thers, Esq., W. Thornborruw, Esq., W. ( Cl; ke " t - 1 .,; E -r-' s s q €l .72. 'Henry Lloyd Morgan, Esq., J. T. Le" • L ' s q. , J. H. Ilulme, Esq. (Manchester), NV . ..s".yaaeerkais.idiliv;hinoils,e(E:sr'qa.n .l c v h . ester), George Nelson, Esq. IllT eues ter), J. P.-Nixon, Esq., T. Keeling, Esq., Myles, Esq., G. Nott, Esq., William (Plymouth), Joseph Starr, Esq. ire), hull) s Battison, Esq. (Town Council, Fill' James Eyton, Esq. - (Mole, Fiintshire), John E Esq W. Clarke, Esq., W. G. Mitchell, Johest Es p , Ur nard, Esq., W. (seesin, Esq., Robert (May or °a ' 'sq. (Manchester) ; E. Eldridge, Esq. brown, (if Ba th), G. Beacon, Esq., Thomas Cowper At i IV* It Brown, Esq. (Lewisham). tani a t -past seven Lord Kinnaird entered, accoin teorwdea.sosh.ll:3e7rMr. Cobden and several other gentlemen ; . Y warmly received by the assembly ; his T h 1 1 ) I mmediately took the chair. Ineet•e Secretary having read the minutes of the last which ere unanimously confirmed, c w t saa ItantssaN came forward to the table, and ti rnes - Plin received bv enthusiastic cheers, several dre, I , e newed. He said, he must commence . his they by thanking them for the kind reception oe that evening given him. Often as he had oc wePried;one of those benches, which he then saw so ev Idled he but little expected that he should er - ;r am "ave found himself on the stage of Covent en Theatre. —(H e ar, hear.) He hardly thought de n „ Piling could have induced him to have sn i had he not thought that he might in some Aeadsure promote the cause of free trade.—(Cheers.) mohe should ha ve a pp roac h e d the attempt with still re reluctance, had he not heard from other speakers eo n Tli th e same place, that in the audiences in that ih s ' e °n former occasions they had always found in gento and i n d u l gent hearers. O n l oo ki ng. round f e l t ue countenances assembled there that evening, he I,o_ ce rtain of ha v i ng th e fi rs t, an d h e ven t u red to , a r that he might count on the latter. When he ev er the i mmense numbers here congregated, how abe 0/ ' e C ould not help warning them that the num ot h Persons th a t ma d e a mee ti ng an ill ega l on e, a b vi ng been yet defined, they might perhaps all le to an indictment for a conspiracy.—(Cheers, all, ~,4hter.) Yes, the whole of them, ladies and of s ' t ght be conspirators; and though the Secretary confi dence te for the Home Department had such confi goo In the good order and regularity of the per -3 att en d. Volda Ing.the meetings of the League, that he y e w': not allow the police to attend to protect them, pia A ,,, es snie game might ke repeated here that had been t ert Y l ' 4 In the sister country—the most wretched sys did of the employment of spies.—(Cheers.) Yet he 'so rters think that among the respectable body of whesosters he saw below him, they would find another tthheosew.saohulled so far derogate from the character borne by gentlemen, as to act in that capacity for senT ; , But for all that there might be spies pre• v erb , knew that some of the monopolists would be d at J ed glad to institute proceedings against them if they th at t , But in this country, he was happy to fair tri al "eY should—the ladies at all events—have a air th e ! which was not the case in the sister country. In judgecwasi he . did not think that they should find a pa rt 10 , m his charge to the jury, would act the the re of a public prosecutor ; he did not think 4 0 - was a judge on the English Bench W would act so disgracefully. (Cheers.) p r e :a he looked around him and saw so many ladies e o „,e,nt, it would be a matter of surprise to him what t e `` l have induced them to attend in such numbers ellllclear a di scuss i on on so dry a subject as pol i t i ca l ee ev e . mY, did he not know that woman's heart was to il " op en to tales of distress, and she was ever ready th e ea r how, that distress could be relieved, and how a ni „,. e °ndition of her fellow -beings could be it ' d "ated—(Checrs.) Hetrusted, therefore, th e w as - not curiosity alone which - had led a s t n , to attend their proceedings that evening , but of ail re desire to promote the prosperity and welfare „ y elass e,s—particularlv of the humhler classes f that was the main object of the League. fi te Tre, while it said that capitalists would be bene etpi!aet:tirlePeal of the corn-laws, yet it was prepared and • at the landowners would be benefited also ; b enefited . 111 e i n nsequence, no class would be so much com ni , . as tne industrious and labouring part of the h onest nity, by opening sources of employment to pra etk "cuPations and industry, and by putting in s eted -e a phrase very commonly used, but not yet th e oh °ll to its full extent, allowing them to buy in ce o i ci. ea Pest and sell in the dearest market they Was As he said before, he hoped it there ' but only curiosity that tolead brought them °ut that they had come eceive instruction theihe held to be the sound doctrines inculcated on ce th e And he hoped that if they were thi s Privinced they would all use their influence in j 4flu Ast and righteous cause. No one knew what Dehh e l n ee one individual might have. It was like a sp te e cast into a pool of water—the circle gradually was ad till it extended over the whole surface. Such tho rn the influence that must be exercised by any one Illy impress e d w ith the justice of any cause. 1)1i1e- n had seen exemplified in the result of the de shir4;;LO which was sent by the League to Perth . • taa, - „' which included that able advocate of their Mr. Cobden —(Loud cheers.) There was a tr e turer whotold this deputation that he resided ~e k n iiiist of farmers and ,agriculturists, though, advantage of a large fall of water, he 4 0 11.. . Pd a spinning mill. He was surrounded by wer tit thi r t y farmers, who, with t h e excep ti on o f o ne, ts ep e t: free-t ra d ers. Th at one f armer a tt e nded the of ih' n g held a t P er th, an d h e became so convinced th e e s oundness of free-trade principles, that, after kiesT e ! ti nk, he was found arguing the question with 84 00. (% r farmer, and supporting the principles he had thsC e d• He had been told by a friend, that while te en meeting w as b e i ng h e ld, th e re was nothing to be li lt in th e market but the long faces of the mono left 'andowners looking for their tenants, who had all stq the; r business to attend the meeting. The of political economy was no new pur- Pa rt. „'• 4 th him. He bad not taken it up for any th os . 7 Purpose, because he was early trained to it by l'sii r l e p who were now; no more. He had studied in the . th e of Adam Smith, of Ricardo, of Marcet, and in h e m ore interesting works of Miss Martineau, which "so ulespecially recommend to the ladies. While . ,ng these works, lie could not have thought it th:'; u le that he should so soon have seen examples 3 he h ad truth of their principles, brought about, a eip a iren, during the last three years. This was prin 1. - ea - ,..• 3 ' owing to the exertions of the Anti-Corn-law tor It was impossible to see any return moved h c ,,, a 41 , either House of Parliament that did not corro te - L e everything to be found in the writers tir e l" ari ss alluded to. Being himself almost en of l i r _ i dervendent for existence on the produce t " n ti,. he had naturally turned his attenhtiodn to for tie,ensiderable degree to the subject. He a cla r , e • ra l Years past had a farm in his own hands,eantnd to w -n g the last eighteen months, not having come 40 1( 1 1 1 'h had been carrying on improvements o and s _ t o n in order to see what could be done withit, d a r'seertain if' it were not possible to produce gram t o e lttival cheaper than at present;' and he had come on in thi s conclusion, that the corn-laws were c r, ous to him as a farmer and as a landowner m . _ an con/ - "Y benefit that their existence could possibly n hde e upon him. Had he only found that Mr._ thi s n, and those engaged in manufactures,. were of nIA 9Pinion, he might have hesitated ; but he knew 0 , - . ° Y landed proprietors who entertaine d the sam. Ij e n' though they still hesitated to join the League. . mentioned two instances of this. One was ra ttrr a ., , _ ot Polnais, near Stirling, who held alarge kit en his own hands, and who was considered an - debority upon all farming questions. He c_o , n e tllrl ed the corn-laws so long ago as 1826. 1. _ h othe r ease..was of a tenant of Lord Wharnc iff s he mould of the principles of the League, but Wagnot attend its meetings. Perha it from Wasih un der a Tory landlord. He (Lord Kinnard) theta backed more confirmed in his opinions when he saw to- k„ " 4 eked by such practical men. Now he wanted tion:,,c'w for whose benefit the corn-laws were . men c oot '.'? The landlords affirmed that they did not _ the nee them for their own benefit, though one the andand he too a Minister, had let the cat out of an - d P e . asking how could ' they pay their jointures ab oih tr marriage settlements if the corn-laws were obj et t ed ? In fact, " R en t! re n t! rent !" was their sa eti ,. Others sa id, " Oh, no! it is not that — the for t i: e e to us would be nothing; but it is consideration pooragricultural labourer." But if they would look at the history of the corn-law of 1815, they would find that it was passed avowedly for the purpose of keep ing up war prices. That law was literally passed at the point of the bayonet, for the Members who went down to the House to vote for it were protected by the soldiery. That law was passed without giving the people time to petition against it. One petition against it was rejected, because the first name of the signatures was not written on the same piece of paper on which the petition was inscribed. That must be useful for them to know, should they petition the House on any other subject. It was very little use to petition it on this, as their petition would only go into the bag under the table.—(Hear, hear.) That law was harried through Parliament with in decent haste, and Mr. Horner said of it, at the time, that it was an endeavour on the part of the land owners (who then, as now, commanded an unreason able majority in both Houses of Parliament) to save their rents from an unavoidable fall. Then, as now, we were told that so much capital had been invested, that it would be a great injustice to do away with it. So that because an injustice had been once committed it was always to be continued. Now, many farms in Scotland were taken at war prices, and the conse quence was that many of the landlords were owed large arrears of rents. When he came to his property he thought it was unpleasant to have one's head thus always under water—he, therefore, had all the land valued over again. —(Cheers.) Those arrears could be of no use to a landowner unless they were in tended perhaps to be used at an election.—(Cheers.) But there was a great outcry made by his neighbours when 'he made this valuation ; they said he was damaging the value of land. But . he always asked them what was the use of this nominal rent if they did 'not get it ? It was only deceiving the farmers, and deceiving themselves. And what was the case in England ? If they looked at the Morning Post, they would see paragraphs chronicling the great liberality - of this landlord and that—of the wonder ful example he had set of indulgence to his tenants, in having, at his audit, remitted them ten or twenty per cent. on the amount of their rents. Why, this only meant that the landlord could not get it ! (Cheers.) But the consequence has been, that the landlord, being under the belief that he had a larger income than he really possessed, lived in a manner far beyond what he was able to aflbrd. And it was a very. remarkable thing that the same journal did not slow contain so many announcements as of old, of fetes, and entertainments. There had been a great reduction of establishments, and he (Lord Kinnaird) who had been behind the scenes, knew that one-half, or two-thirds of the agricultural landlords were in a state of great embarrassment, and that they were mainly anxious to maintain these laws, as a drowning man catches at a straw, in the hope that they would enable them to get out of their dif ficulties. But he could tell them that it would only get them deeper into them. He had ascertained, from the sense person who valued his land, what was the state of the land in England, and he stated that he thought that the land of England was universally underlet, and that it did not produce the same quan tity or the same profit as it might be made to yield. The landlords then were like pigs swimming down a stream, cutting their own throats. The landlords were clearly not benefited by these laws ; the prices were going down. There 'might be one or two good years for them, as they were called—that was to say, years of scarcity, when the poor man could not procure foad for his family. But it was a miserable state of things to consider, that when Providence had blessed the country with an abundant harvest, it should be looked on, as Lord Castlereagh declared it to be—a cause of distress. An evil was made out of what ought to be a blessing. They always saw that the seasons ran in a kind of cycle ; they had a good harvest last year, and, by the blessing of Providence, it seemed likely there would be a better one this ; and perhaps they should have the farmers crying out for a Committee of Inquiry into the causes of their distress. There must be something wrong where this was the case, and the people's mind ought to be turned to in quire into it. But now for the farmers. Perhaps some might think that the corn-laws benefited them. But if they inquired of a farmer how the times went with him, he would say very bad indeed, there was no trade going. There must be something wrong in all this. Nothing was so productive, nothing ought to give so good a return, as the land. Yet he knew that many farmers had been reduced to abject poverty who had expatriated themselves, or were obliged to be come labourers on the land where they had held farms. This did not arise from improvidence on their part, but from this reason—that by the law they were pro mised a certain price for their corn. They calcu lated, on taking their farms, on getting that price. They believed what their landlords and their agents told them. But they did not get it, and they knew what the consequence was, and what would be the consequence so long as they continued any law so uncertain in its operation as the corn-law. He had visited several agricultural counties of England, and he confessed he had never seen such bad management or such imperfect calculation ; the land was not made to produce, one-half of what it ought to do. —(Hear, hear.) Even within ten miles of London, he had asked the letting price of land, and had been told 30s. per acre, for what was worth 3/. He had been told, also, that there were Scotch far mers who, on the same kind of land, were making fortunes at the latter price, while the English fanners were being ruined at 30s. But the Scotch were an industrious and acute race of men, who did not always believe all that was told them. But much of their superiority was also due to the Scotch agri cultural labourers, who were much more intelligent, as a race of men, than the Englishmen of the same class. They did not l ook upon machinery as an evil ; on the contrary, they considered it asa great boon. The reason why the Scotch farmer did better was because he had a worse climate to contend with than the English farmer had, and a so much shorter time for putting seed into the ground, that even a delay of one day prevented the getting of a crop. If the Eng lish farmer had a little more to contend with, so as to exercise his industry, he would be much better off. The Cornnrissioners that were sent lately into the agricultural districts to inquire into the state of the agricultural labouring classes, had furnished reports of the state of those poor people in Dorsetshire, Hampshire, and other purely agricultural counties, of their ignorance, destitution, and immorality, that would harrow up one's soul. He had visited the pro perty of Mr. Bankes, who had boasted so much in the House of Commons of the happy, prosperous con dition of his tenantry, and anything more miserable than the condition those people presented, one could not conceive. True, there was not so much misery compressed together in a small space as in localities in the manufacturing districts; but, in their detached cottages, one could see disease brought on by want of proper food. He had an instance of that being the case, which came under his own observation. To one of those wretched families he allowed an order on a butcher for meat for six or eight weeks, and the change which took place from the improvement in their food in the appearance of this poor family, was a proof to him that if they had got good food they never would have been in the miserable condition in which he found them.—(Cheers.) So much for the boasted prosperity of the agricultural labourer. He did not want to abuse the landlords individually. He had travelled through many coun tries, and he knew of none in which the landlords were so inclined to do good on their estates as they were in England. But no individual charity could do good to any large extent. Employment was what the poor wanted—not charity. In Sussex, in the neighbourhood of a great corn-law man, who was pretty well known, there were schools, which that person had established there ; and yet he (Lord Kin naird) saw several children at their homes, who did not frequent those schools. He asked why the chil dren were not sent to school, and the reply he always got was, their parents' earnings were too small to admit of their paying for their education—that they amounted only to 6s. per week in winter, and 7s. per week in summer; and a woman, showing him a loaf, which she said cost Bd., asked him if he thought that sufficient to furnish food, to three children and two full-grown people per day, and if the 2s. Bd. per week which remained was sufficient to purchase other articles, and also pay for education ? Was it, then, any - wonder how they lived, or rather how they starved, for they could be scarcely said to live ? (Hear, hear.) It was stran ge t o h ear th e ' a r gu ments to which the protectionists had recourse to support their doctrines. They would have it that they were the most numerous body in th e St a t e , an d th ere f o re were entitled to the greatest measure of protection. They set down every one who was n o t a manufac turer as an agriculturist, ladies and all.—(Laughter.) In the Economist newspaper he saw relative to 27 counties, including the great a ma r j e o p r t r y t of the purely agricultural counties, such as Essex ' Norfolk, Lincoln, Sze. In tho se 27 count i es were not included Yorkshire, Lancashire, Staffordshi re , or War wickshire—all manufacturing o r mining 'districts. When Mr. Brotherton, in the House of • Commons ' quoted that report to show that in those 27 co un ti es instead of the numbers of the agricultural populati o n being 7- 9ths out of the whole popul a ti on , it was not 1-10th, they cried out, " Oh, oh," which meant that I he told what was not true, and that they did not be lieve him. Now, by the official returns, it appeared that not 1-Bth per cent. of those employed in those agricultural counties were engaged in a gr i cu lt ure, e ven including children; and the persons occupied in other trades, amounted to 281- per cent. ; and it was for that small fraction of the community they were cursed with protection laws to keep up the price of food. It was a fact that, according as the population increased the proportion of it employed in agriculture diminished. In 1811, out of every 1,000 persons, there were 352 employed in agriculture, while there were 648 engaged . in other trades. In 1821, the agriculture engaged , out of e ver y 1,000 pertotra;'s22e; other trades, 678. In 1831, agriculture engaged 281 out of every 1,000, and other trades 719, and as to 1841, THE SUN, LONDON, THURSDAY MORNING, MAY 2, 1844. the returns were not made out ; but if the same propor tion was observed, the number would be 240 out of every thousand employed in agriculture, and 760 in other trades. But the actual number engaged in agricul ture was also diminishing. In the year 1821 the number employed in agriculture was 6,500,000, while in 1831 it was 6,300,000. The only way:-be could account for that was, that it having been found that, in general, farms, to he advantageous, must not be small, the landlords had been enlarging their farms, and thus diminishing the numbers employed in that mode of life. It should ever be remembered that, if a nation be allowed a perfectly free commercial-intercourse with other nations, an increase of population would always lead to an increase of wealth—particularly where the population was so industrious as that of England was. Besides as the population increased the public burdens were lessened to each. In 1811 the taxation was at the rate of 3/ 10s. 3d. per head; in 1821, 21. 13s. 8d ; in 1831, 21. 6s. 5d ; and in 1841, 1/. 18s. 10d. per head, and the taxation had been reduced from sixty five millions to fifty-two millions. In 1821 the popu lation, divided into two classes, showed that 6,500,000 were employed in agriculture, and twelve millions odd were engaged in other trades, and the sixty-five millions of taxation were paid by those two classses in the proportion of thirty-six per cent. by the agri cultural, and 64 per cent. by the other classes. Thus they saw what ground there was for saying that the agricultural body bore the heavier portion of the burdens of the State, or was superior in point of numbers to the other classes of the community. But those agricultural folks took good care of themselves. They had little or no direct taxation to pay. Their dogs and their horses were untaxed. One certainly could hardly blame them for taking care of them selves, for everybody would do it if he could, and he asked his hearers not to let those agriculturists do so any longer.—(Cheers.) If the people of this country were determined in their opposition to -the monopolists, they would yield, for many of them knew they were wrong, and were will ing to give way if a bold front was shown against them.—(Cheers.) They had been saddled with the income-tax by reason of the restrictive laws which had been maintained, against the opinion of Mr. Dea con Hutne and others, who, by evidence yet to be contradicted, proved, before a Committee of the House of Commons, that by lowering duties • the revenue would be increased. With respect to that income tax, he remembered, when it was introduced, to have heard Lord Melbourne say, in the House of Lords, that it was a very good thing for a Minister to get hold of; but he (Lord Kinnaird) did not think they would readily get rid of it. As far as the prosperity of the country was concerned, he must say that, were it not for the inconne-tax, which was a tax upon the capital of the. country, there would be the same deficit now as on former occasions in the national revenue. He had been told that if they did away with the corn-laws they would throw poor land out of cultivation. But to grow wheat on poor land was a clear loss of wealth. (The Noble Lord then entered into a statement of the pro duce and profits of a farm of poor land of his own, upon which he did not grow wheat, and which re turned a larger profit than if he had sought to make it produce wheat.) Among other things which the corn-laws did was that they rendered farming a gambling transaction.—(Hear, hear.) Now in his opinion the weather and its changes was quite enough for the farmer to contend with without the prices hopping up and down asthey often did.—(Hear.) The Act had been passed to keep up gambling, and he supposed, by and bye, that something of the same sort would be done with respect to corn, because it was very well known that the great monopolists had told the Ministry that if they did not do something for them they would turn against them.—(Hear, hear.) Every one who knew anything of the corn market must know that the price to be obtained for wheat was a complete gambling speculation, in consequence of the mode in which purchases and sales in that im portant article of life were made. He (Lord Kinnaird) was told gravely the other day by a gentleman, when he said to him, " Why, you were promised 565. for your corn, but you do not get it," that he , did not expect to get that exactly—he said they could pro duce wheat cheaper ; and that if they were only given time they would be enabled to sell it for 455. —(Hear, hear.) He said to him, " But, my dear fellow, if you were told to go without your dinner for some time, and that then you will have it cheaper, how would you like that ?"—(Laughter.) He (tl:tg, Noble Lord) had no hesitation in saying that, if the trade was carried on regularly, there would be a regular supply in the market. In the -year 1812, when Napoleon tried to keep foreign wheat out of the English market, five or six millions of quarters were brought in, in defiance of him, though this country had certainly to pay for it at no small rate. —(Hear, hear.) He (the Noble Lord) was satisfied that the farmers were becoming daily more alive to the importance of consumers being able to buy ; their eyes were beginning to be opened to the fact that an injury to the consumer must be an equal one to the producer.—(Hear, hear.) But then it was said that there was no certainty that other countries would take the manufactures of this country foritheir wheat—now in his opinion there could be no doubt about it. Before he sat down he must make some observations on a pamphlet written by Mr. Cayley. That gentleman was a most honest man, but he (Lord Kinnaird) believed he had been deceived, and the quotations he had made from Adam Smith he could never have seen, or he would not have inserted them. This pamphlet issued from a society calling themselves a " Protection Society," but they would, in his opinion, be far more appro priately called " A Rent League."—(Cheers.) He thought when he went through the quotations, the meeting would be of opinion that it was a most shameful thing that men should be deluded by such false statements.—(Hear, hear, and cheers.) (The Noble Earl then proceeded to comment upon the different statements in the pamphlet, and rebutted them most effectually, proving that the statements of Adam Smith had been erroneously quoted altogether.) Now, the leading members of the Protection Society, as they called themselves, in the House of Lords , adopt ed all that was stated in that pamphlet, because it was the avowed supporter of monopoly on which they lived. — (Hear , hear.) He (Lord Kinnard) believed that if it was not for Some of the members constituting that Society the Prime Minister would go the whole hog.—(Great hear.) The Noble Earl h l a i u m g h o tuetr . ) if heßut d i they o t h d a d o t t o h l e d i r h h t i m d d n t he g, y a n m d ' o u h l e d t w u r a s obliged to give way.—(Hear ,n after wi th ehth a e n y k cheering. nlegardthheimmeeting h e d fo r t h t e h e e h a i v r a t a i e m n i c d e t a h t Ch A a l ir r t . n ß an lCA to nD t o h , e atnhednwianstrordeuneeievdedby the with most enthusiastic cheers. He was well aware how ill able he was to -supply the place of Mr. Cobden — (Cheers)—a gentleman who bad done so much for the cause—(Cheers) —who had always something new to say—(Cheers)—and who, he was sure, would never desert the great cause in which he had struggled so long and so effectually while it required his assistance. —(Great cheering.) He recollected an old story, in which it was told how certain philosophers entered into a controversy as to the posi tion of a certain building, and after expending a great deal of argument on the subject, some one suggested whether they had not better go and look at it.—(Laughter.) Now, they had heard a great deal about free trade. They had been told that the enthusiasm on the subject was dying away. Now, the answer he would give to those who made that assertion was, "come and see."—(Great cheering.) The League had told them, when they first began the present agitation, not to be led away by any dogma of any party—(Cheers)—not to listen to the dicta of any class of philosophers, but to judge for themselves by attending their meetings, seeing with their own eyes, and hearing with their own ears, and then to determine whether they were "iitt suffering under a crying and grievous injustice, which it was the object of the League. to put an end to.—(Cheers.) The League had opened what had hitherto been a sealed book.—(Cheers.) They had made thousands, tens of thousands, and hundreds of thousands of political economists—not by appealing to the passions, but by clearly stating the case, and asking the opinions of the people upon it.— (Cheers.) That man must be a bold one who could come there attempting to add anything to the state ments and views the League had laid before them, or the convictions they had produced. There was not a single injustice (and God knew there were many) connected with the corn-laws that they had not exposed and laid bare.—(Hear, hear.) He had not presumption enough to attempt to make any fur ther exposition of the injustice that existed. He came there fur no such purpose ; but he attended on account of being disgusted with the place where their cause ought to be discussed and redressed, but where, instead of redress, the advocates of free trade met with nothing but insult and ridicule. He came from the oppressors to the oppressed—(Cheers) —to those who were the victims of bad laws.—(Cheers.) He had heard a good deal in that House about political eco nomy upon several occasions. He had heard it with respect to corks, and he was surprised to see the una nimity that prevailed, until he discovered that no cork-cutters were present.—(Great laughter.) He had heard it with respect to plaited straw, but he could discover no straw-plaiters behind the Treasury curtain.—(Cheers.) The alteration of the duty on currants had been well received there, but he had never seen a currant bush in the place. They might do all these things, but once let the straw hive of monopoly break ouf, would come all the drones that had been glutting on the honey which of right belonged to the people—(Cheers)—and if their sting g the people. wasasbad as their bu z z ; it would indeed be bad for Now, how had they been treated in the House of Commons ? Why, when first Mr. Vil liers brought forward the question of the corn-laws he was met with such hootings and cacklings as were a disgrace to the House of Commons; but when the question became more important, then they began to talk about vetted rights—(Cheers)—and when the question went further, then they began to argue ; and now that the League had taken up the subject with such vigour and success, they had nothing but vested interests to talk about.—(Cheers.) Now what did vested interests consist of ? In his opinion it was a taking of something by somebody that did not belong to them.—(Loud cheering.) It was no reason to say that the thing was not pur loined because it was purloined a long time ago. He supposed a great many of those who heard him had been in France, and if so, they must be aware there were regular dustmen there, called cheffoniers, who were in the habit of picking up from the mass of dust which was thrown before the door bits of pa per, and other things, which they carried away in their bags to make a livelihood. At the time of the cholera the French Government supposed those heaps of stuff would cause that disease to spread, and they resolved upon prohibiting them. But the chef foniers arose and said their vested interests should not be touched.—(Laughter.) They had a vested inte rest; the Government was afraid to touch it, and so there they are to this day.—(Hear, and laughter.) Madrid afforded another instance. There were in that city persons who brought water into the city from a distance, and when it was proposed to bring water into the city by aqueducts, which would con siderably diminish the expense, the water-carriers protested they had a vested interest, and the citi zens of Madrid were obliged to buy dear water. — (Hear and laughter.) But absurd and ridiculous. as those instances of vested interests were, they were not near so , absurd, so wicked, or so mischiev ous as the vested interests of the landowners. — (Cheers.) What was their origin? There was a long war with France, which raised the price of the necessaries of life. It was a curse to the people, but it was a profit to the landlord—(Hear, hear)—for when the war was at an end the landlords, in whose hands all the power then was, came down and passed the corn-laws, with, as the Chairman said, the aid of those bayonets which had conquered the enemies of the country.—(Cheers.) This law was the cause of the artificial high price of corn. The landlords made a vested interest for_themselves ; but if they had an interest in scarcity the people of this country had a vested interest in plenty, and they had a far higher law for this than any Act of the Legislature— (Cheers)—a law which said that the goods of this world should not be confined to any particular spot for the benefit of any particular persons, but which enjoined that, by means of exchange, the deficiency of one country might be supplied by the superfluities of other countries, that each might enjoy his portion of those blessings which it pleased Almighty God to give for all.—(Cheers.) When they knew those things—when they must stare every tradesman, every manufacturer, workman, farmer, and landlord, provided he be honest, in the face, was it not surprising that the country remained quiet ? Was it not surprising that such a state of things should be suffered to continue, when the representa tives of the manufacturing towns stated that the people were starving, that thousands were in the workhouses ; and when they were told by an Hon. Gentleman (he, Mr. Ricardo, should be sorry to have it said of him that he made such a statement,) that hundreds of thousands were rejoicing in oatmeal and potatoes? When they were told, even by a Cabinet Minister, that two millions of quarters of wheat were rotting in the warehouses of America, which, he said, he would consider a national misfortune if brought here ?—(Oh, oh.) There was plenty of corn in the Ukraine, in Pultowa, and in the ports of the Baltic, which they might receive if the corn-laws did not stand between them. When they were openly told that this would be a national misfortune, did they consider the consequences ?—(Hear.) Was it not possible, when they were thus building fortifications by means of iron laws around property, they ought to take care they were not creating enemies to property itself. Let them recollect what had been said, not by a manufacturer, but by a servant of the Crown, and what had been quoted by the Premier himself, that the people of. this country had no objection to any man keeping his property; but if they saw that this' property conferred some peculiar advantages, they might be given to think there was some anomaly in property, which they might endeavour to obviate. —(Hear.) He was driven to say these things only in consequence of the mode in which they had been treated. He must implore of the people to help them. They could only insert the nail—it would be for the people to wield the hammer which would drive it in. —(Loud cheers.) He did not see the use now in bringing any more free traders into Parliament. If they had even 30 or 40 additional free traders in the House of Commons they would not avail. But there would be another election, and each man in his own position ought to do the utmost.—(Hear.) Their forefathers had obtained civil and religious liberty for them at the point of the sword.—c Hear.) He did not require such a sacrifice ; but if they exerted themselves properly there was another freedom which they might bequeath to their sons, and that was commercial freedom.—(Cheers.) If they did that, he was quite convinced not one amongst them would have reason to regret any sacrifice of time or trouble.—(Hear, hear.) Their names would be written in the annals of their country, and their posterity who achieved the com merc i a l f ree dom of our co Mr. SOMERS, a tenant-f armer , nex t a ddressed the untry.—(Louoludd sayof them, these were the men cheers.) meeting. After begging the indulgence of the great meeting he saw before him, that they would hear patiently what a person in his humble situation in life might address to them, he said there were various classes of farmers in Somersetshire, to which county he belonged. There was, first, the land agent, who was also a tenant and land surveyor, but who soon found out that it was more advantageous to value lands than to cultivate them. He did not belong to l laugh.) ar He did he r e not was belong knew a s F armer S o - an d- so — w h o lived by means of Lawy er S o-an d- so, hi s ne i g hb our . s that e colfasws.hoTmhehree was another class of farmers — some —(Aanother etloastshoaftfcarlasmiersof farmers, called tenants at will. When an election took place they were expected to vote for the candidate who was pleading to the landlord, and they did so.— (Hear, hear.) H e was happy t o say it was not his lot to belong to th a t cl ( Cheers.)There was an other class who possessed landed estates, and who oc cupied the same. He was sorry to say it was not his lot to belong to that 1 ) There was c ass. —(Laughter. another class, but they were a poor crop, who took out a license to think for themselves, and who obeyed the convictions of their own minds. It was his plea sure to be able to say that he belonged to that class. —(Cheers.) He looked to principles and not to men. He did not look to individual interest, but to what might turn out to be the interest of the many.— (Cheers.) Having stated to what class of farmers he belonged, he would n now state what his feelings were with regard to free trade. On one occasion he was asked by a Somersetshire magistrate what were his sentiments with regard to free trade. He said he was for free trade in everything all over the world. —(Loud cheers.) He was a friend to free trade, because he had heard there was a great quantity of wheat in bond •for which there would be plenty of Consum e r s if they could get it out, and he thought the system under which this was done, must be iniquitous. He was of the opi nion of Earl Spencer, who said that free trade would increase labour, and consequently increase wages.— (Hear.) It would enable the working classes to sup port themselves in greater comfort. It had been said, that if the farmers stopped, all must stop. He could not see the thing in this light. He was of opinion that if the farmer stopped, it was because all others stopped before him.—(Hear, hear.) He believed the farmers and manufacturers were bound together like the links in a chain; they were like the horses of the farmer's plough, but the manufacturer was the fore horse, the farmer was the hind horse—(Hear, hear) —and if the first stopped, the second must stop.— The order of day was the (Hear, hear.)protection, but as the Divine word said, the tree was known by its fruit. Now what fruit had the tree of protection produced ? He knew little of the state of manu factures, but he was sure the manufacturers would not spend their time in agitating this question if they were in a flourishing state.—(Hear, hear.) He knew little of the state of the artisans, but he was told they were more ignorant and worse off than the agri cultural labourers.—(Laughter.) lie believed that was a grand mistake; but the condition of the artisan was at best not an enviable one. Did they hear no mutmuring among the agriculturists? Why many of the tenant-farmers in Somersetshire were on the very brink of insolvency. He came next to the agri cultural labourer. It was said that his condition would be rendered worse by free trade. Let him remind them of valet the wages in Somersetshire were. Taking it at the highest average they did not exceed Os. a wee k. Out of this Is. must be paid for rent (which was sometimes lower), then there were Bs. to support a man and his wife and four children— to find them in food, in fuel, and in raiment.—(Hear, hear.) He asked them whether it was not downright hypocrisy to say that it was possible to injure the con dition of such miserable people?—(Great cheering.) It was stated that the corn-laws would reduce them to pauperism—they were already in a condition far worse than the paupers.—(Hear, hear.) He had been a guardian of the Bridgewater union from the commencement, and the average expense of support ing the inmates of the workhouse there was not less than 2s. 4d. per head per week.—(Hear, hear.) Then it should be recollected that the food for this work house was purchased at the viholesale price. The poor labourers of Somersetshire—and they were not the worst off— we re obliged to subsist on the three fifths of 2s. 4d. ; and surely the poor men who.tugged. hard all day in the field, required as much sustenance as the pauper in the workhouse.. —(Bear, h ear .) lie held it impossible that these men could say, "Give us more protection."—(Loud cheers.) It was the grossest ignorance to believe that the agricultural labourers could be anxious to perpetuate such a state of things. All classes complained of the present state of things, and they did not com plain without reason. It was true a majority of the farmers in Somersetshire were opposed to the repeal of the corn-laws. Why were they so ? Becausi they were told by those who had an interest in per petuating the present state of things, that a repeal of the corn-laws would make corn much lower, and that they would be altogether ruined. Some of these silly farmers looked as it were with suspicion on the manufacturers, because they agitated for a free trade in corn. Many of them said "the manufacturers agitate for cheap bread in order to keep wages low." Could there be a greater insult to common sense than such language as this.—(Hear, hear.) Was it not well known that wages was a marketable commodity, (Hear) —and that the prices of wages and bread never harmonised ? The demand for labour regulated the price of bread. Others of these deluded men said the manufacturers wanted to sink the price of corn, in order to invest their capital in land.—(Cries of " Oh, oh !" and laughter.) Such arguments were more characteristic of the inmates of a lunatic asylum than of men pretending to common sense. If the manufacturers, as Lord Radnor remarked, possessed the power of applying skill, and capital, and industry, then there was the greater likelihood of their being able to give employment to the surplus population, and the greater prospect of their enabling the con sumer to buy a cheaper article. He looked upon the manufacturer as the " farmer's friend." The agri cultural population should look for real protection not to the landed proprietory, but to the manufacturers who would enable the people to consume their commodities, and to give a high price for them.—(Hear, hear.) Let the manufacturers prosper, and the farmers would have nothing to fear. If the artisan had full employ ment, the farmer would have no reason to complain. He would then have a ready market for his beef and mutton, for the people would have the means of buying. At present the restrictive laws forbade these advan tages. It was said the farmers were against free trade. He had already said they were so, and he was sorry for it, but they might not care much for that. If a few of the landowners, such as the Noble Lord in the chair, would come forward, and advocate free-trade princip!es, the farmers would soon follow in their train.—(Hear, hear.) He thought there could not be a stronger argument in favour of free trade than the case of wool. When the duties on this article were about being reduced, some years ago, the sheep-breeders exclaimed that they would be ruined, and calamity was foretold to the com munity ; but the fact was, that the wool-trade had, in consequence of the reduction of those duties, be come much better, and had been greatly improved. 'Why should not the same results follow as regards corn ?—(Hear, hear.) There was not the slightest doubt but such a result would occur. The land lords saw the farmers were an important class, and deserved support; very true, but was there no consideration for the great bulk of the community—those men who earned their bread by their labour and by their intellect ? That was the class that required protection—that was the class which needed the sympathy of the Legislature. The question was, whether it was more prudent to extend commerce, and give general employment, and pro duce general comfort, or maintain high rents for the benefit of the landlord class ? The ques tion of free trade would be soon agitated again in the House of Commons, and he could easily ' see what the result would be. Among other arguments which would be adduced in favour of monopoly, it would be said that a great number of petitions were presented against a repeal of the corn laws. Well, so there were some, but how were those petitions got up ? He would tell them. It was the custom in the counties where they wished to have a petition signed, to give a pint of cyder to each man who signed it. Indeed, for a draught of strong cyder the ignorant peasant came and put not only his name to the petition but the names of his innocent children, and the babe at the breast, as ignorant of the real nature and objects of the petition as himself.—(Hear, hear.) Why, for a sovereign he could get a hogs head of cyder, and he would be bound to say that. he would get a petition signed for any purpose what ever by all the rustics in a country parish. And then those petitions were held forth by the monopolists as an evidence of the disposition of the people of England towards free-trade principles. He had once called a meeting in his native parish, in favour of free trade, which was numerously attended. He explained his views and opinions to the occupiers of land who attended, and they all signed a petition in favour of free trade.—(Hear, hear.) An Hon. Member had recently moved for an inquiry into the burdens which affected land. This inquiry was re fused, and for very obvious reasons—the majority of the House of Commons refused to grant even a Com mittee to inquire into the tendency of the present corn-laws. He was convinced the period would soon arrive when the principles of free trade would be triumphant, for, according to Scripture, the success of the wicked would be but of short continuance. He looked for the triumph of the principles which the League advocated, in the progress of information, and in the result of a long and painful experience. The sooner that triumph was achieved the better for the people. After thanking the meeting for the kindness with which they had listened to him, the speaker sat down amid loud cheering. Mr. COBDEN then advanced to the front of the platform, and was received with the most enthusiastic cheering and waving of hats and handkerchiefs in every part of a densely-crowded house, which lasted for nearly five minutes. He said fortunately for him phrenologists who had examined his head had assured him that neither the organ of self-esteem nor the love of approbation were developed there, for if he had possessed them they would have quite spoiled him.— (Laughter and cheers.) .At that late hour he would not long trespass on their attention. It was a duty he owed to the. Noble Lord who had taken the chair so kindly, and who possessed the true nobility of na ture, who was the second of his body to come for ward and preside at their meeting, to thank him for the honour he had conferred upon them. They had answered his Grace the Duke of Richmond long since by the speeches of Mr. Lattimore and Mr. Hunt at that meeting. They gave him a further an., swer in the speech of Mr. Somers on that evening. These men were tenant-farmers. These were answers to his Grace from farmers residing in the three great agricultural counties of Herefordshire, Gloucester shire, and Somersetshire. They were not the mere creatures—the serfs—the toadies of the landowners. They came forward, and boldly, manfully, and fearlessly gave utterance to their sen timents, and were not afraid to declare that they believed the corn-laws were injurious to the best in terests of the country. He was once travelling in Scotland, on the banks of the lake between Taymouth and Killeen. It was late at night, and a Highlander drove him who believed in witches and ghosts. He said his father had seen many of them, and they were worse than the evil one who sent them. " Just," said " he, as the factor over there, (pointing to Lord Bread • albane's seat) " just as the factor there is waur than the laird."—(Laughter.) They had not a very wide choice amongst the free trade farmers, who could speak at a public meeting like that; but this he could tell them from his own experience, that where • ever there was a man of thought, and of independ ence, he was almost invariably found to be on the side of free trade.—(Hear, hear.) In reference to free trade generally, he must congratulate the meeting on the progress which it bad made during the present week. They had a budget.—(Hear.) He could not say that it was a free trade budget, such as the Leaguers would produce when they came into power, but still there were some little things done in the budget of Monday, and every thing that was done was done in 'the direction of free trade.—(Cheers.) What had the Duke of Richmond and the Protection Society been about ? He thought they had orga nised themselves and declared that the Prime Minister should go no further.—(Laughter.) It was quite clear that the Prime Minister did not dread these carpet knights—he relied on the free traders. Now there was one thing that was well done, because it was totally and immediately done. He referred to the entire abolition of the protection upon wool. Five and-twenty years ago, there was an uprising of the Knatchbulls and Richmond& upon this subject. They insisted that 6d. per lb. should be imposed on foreign wool. Five years afterwards Mr. Huskisson said he had been told by Leeds woollen-manufacturers, that unless this duty was thrown off, the woollen trade would be lost. By dint of great management, he was enabled to take off, in 1824, sd. of the mis chief which had been put on ; now they had got rid of the other penny.—(Lauhter.) . The Knatchbulls and Buckinghams of the period to which he had referred declared that if the duty was .repealed there would be no more shepherds employed—they would all go to the workhouse ; that there would be no more mutton in the land, and that all the shepherd dogs might be hanged. There were now, however, going to carry on the business of sheep rearing and wool shearing without any protec tion. Why should they not carry on the trade of corn without protection ? If it were unreasonable to abo lish the duties on corn why had the Prime Minister abolished the protection on wool ?—(Hear.) Take again, the subject of coffee ; that matter was not en tirely done—it was but half done. The duty on coffee was, at that moment, 4d. on colonial coffee and Bd. on foreign. Sir Robert Peel had abolished the duty on foreign by 2d., or in other words, he had left the colonies with 2d. less protection. They would have the other half by and by. Now the next matter was sugar. Ladies could not make the coffee unless they had the sugar—at least with all their smiles they, could not make it'sweet.--(Laughter.) Now they were in a little difficulty about' this sugar, - for scruple of conscience came over -'the. Government with respect to admitting sugar tainted with slavery. Now he was going to let out a secret. There was a secret correspondence going on between the Govern ment here and the Government of Brazil, and it was to this effect.—(Hear, hear.) These statesmen some times wrote private letters of instruction to their agents, which were not published till a hundred years afterwards`.—(Laughter.) Now he would give them one which would be published in about one hundred years to come, passing between our Government and the Government of Brazil. The present Ministry turned out the late Administration on the question ofsugar, and Lord Sandon grounded his argument on the allegation that it was very impious to use slave-grown sugar. Therefore inform the Brazilian Government that we stand pledged in the article of sugar, and when we bring on the budget we shall be obliged to tell the people of England who are " gullible," that it would be very improper to encourage slavery by taking Bra zilian sugar; but to convince the Brazilian Govern ment that we don't mean to do them any harm, we will take their coffee at 2d. per pound less than we did formerly ; and whereas fur out /of five of the slaves in Brazil are employed in the coffee planta tions; and whereas three-fifths of all the exports from Brazil are coffee and sugar, which are compara tively insignificant articles—(Laughter)—this will convince them that we do not mean to inflict any injury on the Brazilian planters, by refusing to take their sugar. We are simply bound to do it by the peculiarity of our position, after having tripped up the heels of the 'Whigs.—(Great laughter.) That was the dispatch which - would be published a hundred years hence, as having been sent to their Envoy and Minister Plenipotentiary at Brazil. Now, no doubt they were honest, well meaning philanthropists who were opposed to the admission of Brazilian sugar, but philanthropy should always be guided by reason ; and there was a class of men growing into considerable notoriety in this country, who wanted to subject them not to the dictates of enlightened bene volence, but to the control of pure fanaticism.—(Hear.) Sugar was regarded as a conductor of morality, coffee as a non-conductor. He remembered talking to one of these very benevolent gentlemen upon this subject, who had on a white muslin cravat. He (Mr. Cobden) immediately said to him, " Before you say another word, strip that slave-grown cotton from your neck."—(Great laughter.) He replied that it was not practicable, but this he (Mr. Cobden) de nied, for he knew a gentleman who had taken to worsted stockings in the, summer, and would not allow his garments to be put together with cotton thread. What right had they to go over to Brazil and to fill their ships with cotton, and then turn up the whites of their eyes, and shed crocodile tears over the slaves ? The thing was, in the first place, inconsistent, and in the second, hypocritical. Did they say that he was an advocate for the continuance of slavery because be was an advocate of free trade ? No. He maintained that one just and sound principle could never be at war with another just and sound principle.—(Cheers.) If they could show him that free trade was promotive of slavery, he should hesitate between freedom of trade and freedom of person. Nay, if - they could show him that free trade would propitiate slavery he would be prepared to abandon it. But he had al ways held a contrary opinion. He had always thought, with all the greatest writers on the subject, that slave labour was more costly than free labour : and that if both were brought into fair competition, the latter would supersede the former.—(Cheers.) He found himself borne out in this by the Anti-Slavery Con vention, which sat in 1840. (The Honourable Member then read a -resolution of the convention in confirmation of his statement.) This convention had, he continued, declared that slave labour was more costly than free labour. It would be a monstrous anomaly in the moral government of the world if it were not.—(Cheers.) But if the convention believed this, why did they wish to prevent it from being proved ?—(Haar, hear.) He was willing to believe that they were honest, and they had proved themselves disinterested by; the labours which they had gone through ; but he warned them against being made the tools of designing men who had an interest in upholding this monopoly of sugar, and who were using the anti-slavery party to carry out their selfish and iniquitous purpose.—(Hear, hear.) Before he sat down there was one point to which he particularly wished to advert. Mr. Ricardo had spoken of the probability of an election. He would tell them what the people must do to carry out the principles of free trade. Sir Robert Peel had, on a former occasion, advised his party to register, and, by advice, following his they at length succeeded in placing him in power. Now, there; were a number of persons in this country who were at that moment voluntarily disfranchised. There were forty or fifty thousand persons in the metropolis alone who were entitled to . vote who had not regis tered, and there were many thousands besides in Manchester, Leeds, and other towns.—(Hear, hear.) He ventured to say that, in the City of London, there was hardly a single house rated at less than 101. a year. How many of the inhabitants were there who had not registered? Let all such persons remember that 1 at the next election the League meant to bring for ward four free traders.—(Great cheering.) In about ten weeks the time would have elapsed for claiming to vote. In order to have a vote for the next year a person must have occupied a 101. house for a twelve month. Previous to the 31st of July, he must have paid all the rates and taxes due up to the 6th of April, and then he would be entitled to have his name re gistered on the - list of voters for the next year.— (Hear, hear.) It ought also to be generally known that by a late decision of the Court of Common Pleas, every man who rented a room in a house, if that room were a separate tenement, that is, if he had the key of that room, and could go into it and out of it when he pleased, he was entitled to vote for that room. If his landlord paid the rate that was a sufficient payment, provided his name were put down along with the landlord's in the books of the overseers. Now that decision alone had given the landlords about 1,500 or 2,000 votes in the City of London, besides many thousands in other parts of the country.—(Hear, hear.) It was a sad thing that so many persons should have no vote, sim ply because they would not take the trouble to regis ter. He hoped. that every individual who either heard him, or read his remarks on that subject, would, if entitled to do so, immediately register his name as a voter. Even the non-electors might do something by urging all who were entitled to vote to enrol their names. It was by such means as these that they would be prepared to meet their opponents in that grand constitutional fight by which that question must be decided; and if they were true to their prin ciples, they would not suffer another election to pass by without sending a majority to Parliament who were in favour of free trade.—(Great cheering.) The meeting then dispersed. SPORTING INTELLIGENCE. MESTER RACES-TUESDAY, - - If in the single item of sport the meeting as yet has ex hibited nothing very remarkable, the general indications are highly encouraging. More horses are now in the town for the Cup than have been seen here on any former occasion ; and unless any breaks-down should arise from the hardness of the ground, we may look for at least 25 at the post. That they will be started without great difficulty, or. fairly under weigh, that they will get round so narrow and awkward a course without accident or disappointment, is more to be desired than expected. We are glad to find that in adopting the flag system, the clerk of the course has taken one step to wards preventing the " untoward " proceedings that excited so much dissatisfaction and prejudice last year. The ar rivals up to the present time are unusually numerous; and from the crowd that a moderate list attracted to the course this afternoon, there cannot be a doubt that the Cup or " grand " day will be a bumper. The only feature of any interest in the racing to-day was the defeat of Fanny Eden, one of the favourites for the . Oaks. She made a wretched exhibition, and, we take it for granted, will not see Epsom. The two-year old stakes brought a field, average in number, but of a very indifferent quality. We need not look amongst them for a Derby or Oaks favourite. The sport in other respects ex cited no interest whatever. The first race came off at a little after three o'clock, the last a few minutes-before seven—a dis regard of one of the cardinal virtues of the Turf; punctuality, that might have been serviceable to the proprietors of the drinking booths, but was anything but agreeable wi se in the habit of attending Newmarket, Liverpool , Goor, al Ascot. The Trial Stakes not having filled, the racing com menced with • • and fillies Bst. (Ten Su bs.) Produce Sweepstakes of 50 sous. eac h, h ..(Holmes) 1 for colts B st 41 b, Mr. Mostyn's Brunel ...... •••• ..•.......... 2 Sir R. Bulkeley's Coal Black Bosi_ r _ ost 's Lady , a D r i ried 31bs over), Alice and L following l nsto T rd he W fo e w er Mr rice's Missy. * c a ll the running to the last turn, wher e Coal a lso F s a t n a u rt y ed :-1 ( 11ilssy made Black hose t oo k it up, and - went o n with it to the distance. B ru nel cia 1 l l enge d her there, and won easy by a length. Fanny Eden was beaten early. Match -49 sovs. Mile and a half.—Mr. Smith' s Tubal cain, Bst (Copela nd ) , beat Mr. Collett's Rory O'More, 9st, cleverly. Two-yrs-old H Stakes Bst of ss. ea -a-ch ; colts Bst 51b, and fillies 2 25 Ib. ov alfmile. Mr. Worthington's Lancashire Witch (Oates) I Mr. Smith's Alice Gray 2 The . following also started :—Lord Westminster's Ann Page, Mr. Bennett's Violet, Mr. Skerratt's Tottenham, Lord Stanley's Psalm-singer, Mr. Fowler's Witch, and Mr. J. Shepherd's Alaric. A remarkably fine race etween all but Violet and Witch, th e Lancashire Witchwinning b only by half a neck, Psal m -Si nger a h ead from the second, and so closely run in that the judge could not place a third. Sweepstakes of 5 sovs. each, with 25 added. Heats, 1 mile- and-a• half. • --- Mr. Dawson's Daft `Fatty, 4 yrs (Lye) 4 1 1 Mr. Spead's Walton,. 3 yrs Mr. Wilson's bc by Hampton, dby Comus, 3 yrs 3 dis Sir R. Pigott's fby Dr. Faustus, 3 yrs 3 dr .Won cleverly. BETTING UP TO TWELVE O'CLOCK ON TUESDAY NIGHT. TILE cur. _ _ S to 1 agst Kenrs two—t. 7 to 1 agst Red Deer 7 to 1 agst Pagan -7 to 1 agst Bramble 14 to 1 agst Cattonite 15 to. 1 agst :Nutwitli 18 to 1 agst Freedom • IN 5 to 2 agar Ratan-L:taken 7 to 2 agst . 20 to 1 agst Alice Havrthorn 20 to 1 agst Everton 20 to 1 agst Rowland 20 to 1 agst Jamie Forest 22 to 1 agst Pharaoh 25 to 1 agst Xanthus 25 to 1 agst Greenfinch. 11 to 1 agst Leander:--laken 30 W 1 asst E. of the Gipsies. IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT. HOUSE OF COMMONS', May 1. The SPEAKER took the Chair at the usual hour.. Colonel CONOLLY presented a petition from a place in Ireland against the Dissenters' Chapels Bill. Mr. M. IfELL presented a petition from Yorkshire against any alteration in the corn-laws. Captain LAYARD presented a petition in favour of a Ten Hours' Bill. , • . Sir B. HALL presented a petition froruthe parish of • St. Pancras against the Masters and Servants Bill; also petitions from the same parish against the IsTew Poor- law. . . . Mr. WILLIAMS presented a petition from a place in Yorkshire in favour of a Ten Hours' Bill. - • , Mr. WILSON PAT TEN presented a - petition . rim Chorley, praying for the abolition of the duty on cotton wool. Mr. SHARMAN CRAWFORD presented petitiGns from Carrickfergus, Donaghadee, Glascar, Baloo, and Winterton, in Ireland, praying that a law might be pissed to render valid all marriages solemnised, or hereafter to be solemnised, by Dissenting ministers between persons of proper age and not within the prohibited degrees of affinity. . Mr. GISBORNE presented a petition against the Masters and Servants Bill. Mr. GLAI)STONE moved that Sir John Young be added to the Committee on the Hull Docks Bill. Mr. KEMBLE presented a petition from the inhabi tants of Wandsworth, Battersea, and the adjoining dis tricts, against the Common Lands Inclosur? Bill. Mr. W. 0. STANLEY presented a petition from se 7 veral ministers and inhabitants of North Wales, praying that the 10th clause might be expunged from the New Poor-law Amendment Bill ; and that the poor might be buried in consonance with the wishes of their relatives. Mr. ALDAM presented petitions against the Mas ters and Servants Bill. ARCHES BILL. The Court of Arches Bill was postponed to this day month. MASTERS AND SERVANTS BILL. On the motion for going into Committee on- the' Mas ters and Servants Bill. Mr. T. DUNCOMBE presented twenty-nine petitions against the Bill. On the motion that the SPEAKER do leave the chair, • Mr. T. DUNCOMBE rose for the purpose of giving effect, as far as it lay in his poser, to the petitions that he had just presented to the House, and he must say . - that, as far as it was in his power to adopt it, there was , no form of the House he would not use as a weapon to defeat an enactment which had been truly designated in some of these petitions as one of the most insidious, op- pressive, arbitrary, and tyrannical attempts to oppress the working classes that was ever made.—(A laugh.) It might suit Hon. Gentleman to laugh at an attempt to oppress the working classes—(" No, no")—but if the , House would give him its attention, he would prove to , it, and would satisfy the public, that this was the object— and the sole object—of the Bill. He had reason to complain that the Bill had arrived at this stage at all. To the original Bill no one Could object ; it had a humane object in view, and though it increased the power of the justices, yet it was for the purpose of facilitating the recovery of wages. Under that belief, the House passed the Bill through its first stages, but it was under false colours and false pretences. It was then proposed to go into Committee to make cer tain alterations ; those alterations were made, and the Bill came out of Committee without a single word, from the first line of the preamble to the last line in it, referring to that object. Therefore, it could not be said that the Bill had been read either a first or second time. The Bill had been brought to its present stage under false colours and false pretences. Now, what was the reason assigned for this measure ? When his Hon. Friend, the Member for Lambeth, asked for some ex planation the other night, the Secretary of State for the Home Department said he did not approve of the man ner in which the Bill was drawn, and he referred him to the Hon. Member for Somersetshire. The Hon. Member for Somersetshire said that the Bill was drawn up by the desire of the Government. Sir J. GRAHAM—The form of the Bill was ap proved by me, not the substance. Mr. T. DUNCOMBE said it was the substance of the Bill which he had to deal with—he cared nothing about the shadow.—(Laughter.) New, if he went to the lion. Member for Somersetshire, and complained of the provisions of the Bill, he said they were forced upon him by the Government ; whereas the Right Hon. Gentle man said he was not responsible for them. The Hon. Member for Berkshire said it was a totally different Bill from what he approved, and the Hon. Member for Not tinghamshire expressed a similar opinion. Now he repeated that this Bill had not been properly read a secend time. Now what were the provisions of this Bill which were • so objectionable? A new principle was introduced by the Bill unknown to the Legislature of the countryse-- (Hear, hear.) The only legislation in reference to labour which had heretofore taken place had been in yes , sect to persons hired for a certain term, and the Ma gistrates had power to fine or imprison persons who had not fulfilled their contract. But this power° was never given in cases of piece or job work.—(Hear, hear.) They were now going to confer a power of this kind on the Magistrates. By this Bill a person would be liable to be sent to the House of Correction for two months on the single oath of a fore man.—(Hear, hear.) If this were the case, could they be surprised 'Mat they had petitions on the subject from every species of trade in the kingdom. This Bill would affect e‘ery species of labour. The Right lion. Gentleman intended that the Bill slieJld only affect labourers employed in husbandry. But as it stood now it would affect those employed in factories. They might be imprisoned for two months upon the oath of the foreman or overseer if they were only five minutes too late.—(Hear.) In order to carry out this Bill they proposed to repeal six Acts, and it would be well before this iniquitous Bill received the support of the House, that Hon. Gentlemen should know what those Acts were. The first Act which was proposed to he repealed was the sth of Elizabeth, c. 4 ; but • on referring to that Bill it would be found in the preamble that the object of the statute was to protect the labourer, and to secure to artisans wages of a higher rate than were paid at the time, which both . Houses of.Parlianient affirmed to be too small. He wished to call the attention of those who were in favour of a Ten Hours' Bill to the provisions of this Act, which was now sought to be repealed. The Act of Elizabeth re= gulated the hours of labour at fourteen hours, from March to September, in thirty-two trades, and ten hours from September to March. Be tween the months of September and Meech the time was still more limited; they were allowed the same pe riod of time for their meals, and they were only to labour from sunrise to sunset, and no one was - compelled to work longer. Having limited • the hours of labour and settled the wages of the labourers by law, it was but right that the mag istrates should have the power of compelling par ties to work, but this Act was repealed, and nothing for the satisfac tion or security of the working classes enacted in ita place. The 20th George, 11. was also to be repealed by that Act, which was considered nearly obsolete. Any ser vants convicted of misconduct were liable to be corrected and imprisoned. There was nothing in that Act relating to piece or job work. The 27th George 11. merely repealed a proviso of the last-mentioned Act ; and the 31st George IL, which was passed in 1757, made the law applicable to husbandry servants hired for a less period than one year. The Act of 4th Geo. IV., passed in 1823, said nothing of job work, but related to the violation of contracts for service, and enacted either that such contracts must be in writing, or else that the ser vant must have entered upon his hiring, which was to be taken as evidence of the existence of a contract, in either of which cases, if the servant violated his contract by neglecting his work, he was liable to imprisonment. These. were the Acts which it was now proposed to - reps!). In this Bill it did not matter how much the master mis behaved himself, the punishment only related to th e servant.—(" Hear, hear," from Mr. Ferranti.) Th is was nothing but a law for the rich and one for the per —one for the employer and one for the employad e • called upon the House not to sanction Augustus which was contained in this Bill. What had Sir _ fa __ Henniker said at the Suffolk Quarter Sessions !_ ca That if they sent down the whole maple of lt quiet, unless London they would not keep P tre e it o tmen of them. the principl e they materially altered in , their . p on so great was the Such was that g entleman ' s ) would advise them care; and d tc isc t o a n k t e ent that this feeling spread, that it did did not . manufacturing districts. The he not work its way into the discussing the subject the limitation other day -when Sir James Graham had said of the hours of labour, un;:bel. to .those in the House favourable to limitation that the working classes did not agree in opinion with them — that they had forwarded no petition in its favour—(Hear, hear.) Well, they would see new. what .was the effect of petitioning, for against this Bill nearly two hundred petitions had been presented.— (Cheers.) lie (Mr. Duncombe) asked him (Sir James Graham) where were his petitions in, favour of it.—(Hear, hear.) Those petitions against the Bill represented nearly two millions. of people asking the House not to pass this Bill. If the House went into Committee upon it, he should feel it his duty to read several extracts from these petitions ; but he did hope he had made out such a case as would in duce the House to reject a Bill which would createmore discontent than any Act that, or any former House had ever been guilty of. Therefore, he trusted they Would at once reject it, and so protect thousands, and hundreds of thousands, who were not there to protect them selves. Mr. P. HOWARD was understood tosecond the motion. Mr. HUME, in the hope to put a mop. at once to this Bill, would appeal to the Right Honourable Baronet (Sir James Graham) to allow the order for Committee to be discharged, and either introduce a new Bill, or send the matter to a Committee and then stairs, where it could be thoroughly n examined,othe then reported upon. The present Bill was not new Bill. Bill or i g in a lly introduced—it was alto gether • was to make its The only proper principle in suc h a Bill provisions alike applicable to all, so that it might master against the set, t he servant protect the rvan asho serva nt against the master. Thi s Bi ll did no suc h thing ; and he cou ld assure the Ri g h t Honourable • Baronet that it had created the greatest excitement amongst the labour ing classes. He hoped the Right Hon. Baronet would give them his support, and not allow this Bill to go further. He did not think that the House was in a condition to legislate anew upon the subject. Sir J. GRAHAM had not the least difficulty in as• suring the House, that he had no desire to do anything which wh'cli would interfere with the interests of the working-c lasses. Ills impression of the existing law was, • that operated injuriously to the workman. and - too favourably to the employer. Under the present law a labourer - might be commit ted - to • prison for three - months,' with bard %hour at the discretion of a single magistrate upon the cesn' Da" ood 1,11 , 0 WO: the : ess• n ter vvhe sat tot in?; moo the Idi 3., he