The Sun.
London, England, 1841-05-10 00:00:00

THI-47. SUN,' LONDON, MONDAY, MAY 10, 1841.

not bestowed these advantages in order that one class
might live in magnificence and splendour and the
great bulk of the population starved. It was never intended
that machines which gave a productive power to this country equal
to that of the population of the whole world, should cause men to
' work twelve and fourteen hours a day at machines that never tired,
for paltry wages, which, when they had obtained, they were rot
allowed to spend where they could get most in exhange.—(Hear,
hear.) But the agricultural districts were in no very prosperous
condition. In Wiltshire, at the present moment, one man out of
every seven was a pauper, and in all the agricultural counties the
pauperism was double what it was in this district. Surely this
ought to be enough to convince even the Duke of Buckingham or
the impolicy of the Corn-laws. The other day he (the speaker)
said to a gentleman of Sussex, when speaking on this subject, the
Scotch never applied for a Corn-law, and they say tnat they can
live very well if they get 40s. or 50s. a quarter for the wheat.
" Oh," said the gentleman," we cannot do that in Sussex, we should
have to improve our agriculture wonderfully." And why should
they not improve their agricultureas much as the Scotch had done P
The farmers of England had this advantage, that they were
able to buy all the things not produced on their
own farms at the cheapest market in the world, and sold
their produce at the highest rate of any other country on the face
of the earth. The rent of land here was also higher than in any
other country, and this could be attributed to nothing else than the
manufacturing and commercial prosperity of Gr.at Britain. One
thing was certain, that if manufactures were destroyed, and undoubt-
edly they would; be if this tax on b Tad was continued, the prin-
ciple of the old and new Poor-law, that the poor have the first
right to the soil, must be adhered to; and if paupers become so
numerous that they would swallow up all the produce of the soil
of a given parish, theymust take it, and the landlord would have no
rent. This result had already been wiinessed at one place in
Buckinghamshire, where the landlord had refused to own the soil,
saying, "No, no, don't tax me with the rates." He was sure,
however, that the present system could not continue. Neverthe-
less, if it did continue for another fifty years, and the population
went on increasing, as it had done during the last fifty years, every
green thing in the land would be eaten up by paupers, and
not a single estate would be worth sixpence of rent to
any man who might call himself the possessor.—(Hear, hear,
hear ) Solemnly convinced as he was of these shings, the meeting
need not wonder that he should feel deeply interested in this clues.
tion. But should not Liverpool feel deeply interested in it as well
as Manchester. Should the latter town alone bear the burden of
the contest, ,raise its thousands at a time in support of the opera-
tions of the league, and alone produce men who subscribed their
11)01. and 2001. a year to spread information ? In wealth this town
was equal to Manchester—for enterprise it was not surpassed —its
fame was known in every part of the globe—and was it right that
such a town should stand by while a contest was going on in which
it as well as every ether part of the empire, was vitally affected?
Why, if he were an inhabitant of Liverpool, he should be ashamed
or it.--(Applause.) Rochdale contained at the last census a po-
pulation of 25,000 persons, and there was in the neighbourhood
also a considerable population. There in a few days a petition
against the Corn .laws received 12,200 signatures. He believed that
not a single man within the sound of the old Church bells
neglected to sign it. If Liverpool, Hull, Birmingham, and other
. .

large towns had made one half the stir that Manchester had done,
_ _

the Cora laws would have been repealed long ago. They ought to get
every man to speak, and every clergyman to preach on this all ab-
sorbing question. There was hardly a party in the House of
Lords or Commons, hardly, indeed, a single individual that would
stand up for the present law. An alteration must be made, and it
depended much upon this town, which had great influence, whether
the duty, which Ministers proposed, was merely a registration duty
or not. If it were, then the League would die a happy death, but
if not, it would continue, and the meeting had heard sufficient of it
during the last three years to know that it contained men who had
courage enough to proceed, and intelligence enough to disdain and
thwart all sophistry.--(Very loud and long-continued cheers.)
JOHN BROOKS, Esq., late Boroughreeve of Manchester, next
stepped forward, and was much applauded. He addressed the
meeting in a homely but very very argumentative style, on the
evils of the present Corn-law, and particularly addressed himself
to the following effect, that the repeal of that law would be
detrimental to the working classes and cause a reduction in the
amount of their earnings. His observations occasionally exhibited
much humour as well as force, and excited mingled laughter and
applause.

RICHARD COBDEN, Esq., was then introduced by the Chair.
man, who spoke of his literary talents, his great and continued
exertions for the abolition of the Corn.laws, and of the vigour
and ability which he had manifested as a member of the Anti-
Corn-law League. The Speaker on presenting himself was most
raptuously received. After a few words of introduction, lie
proceeded to say, that after so much had been said, and well
said on this subject, it would be quite unnecessary for him to
speak at any length. There was a word or two, however,to besaid,and
by way of being systematic, he would begin at the beginning. This
Corn-law, this bread-tax, which he hoped they had met to pass
judgment against was, he most of the meeting were aware, passed in
the year 1815, and he would tell them under what circumstances.
England had been engaged for twenty years in war; some called it a
glorious war, but he himself was not fond of such glory. By that
war the prices of all sorts of commodities were stimulated to an
artificial extent. There was a perfect fever. As soon as peace
came a great depreciation took place in all kinds of goods. Men of
business, those, for ins ance, engaged in the:cotton trade, imagined
in 1817 and 1816 that peace was going to bring great prices, but a
sudden collapse took place, and to their amazement down went the
prices of all kinds of goods. Many merchants and wholesale ma-
nufacturers were ruined by this depreciation. Others struggled on,
and by dint of increased exertions, diminished expenditure,
improved machinery, and economising in every possible
way, succeeded in adapting themselves to the circumstances
of the times. They did not appeal to Parliament to keep
up their prices, and if they had, very little attention would
have been paid to them by the 658 sworn landowners,
who • weie at that time busy in keeping up the prices
of their manufacture, corn, to the price it was during the war.
That was the origin of the law, and the nature of it was well un-
derstood by the millions at the time, for it was passed at the point
of the bayonet, and amidst such tumults, riots, and bloodshed as
had not been witnessed since the House of Commons was sur.
rounded by a dense body, infuriated against the Bill, and the
House, contrary to the Constitution, was surrounded by armed
soldiers, to keep off the people whilst the law was teing passed.
For three days and three nights London was one scene of riot ;
the house of the mover of the Corn.law, Mr. Robinson, now L: rd
Ripon, was gutted; so also was that of Lord Eldon and of others.
In the North of England there was an universal ris-
ing against the measure two millions of persons,
he believed, against it ; and the people surrounded
the House of Lords to protest against it. Was not that
a protest loud and deep enough to warn the landowners that they
were infringing upon the tights of the people, to how that in
the opinion of the people the law was an unnatural and unjust one,
and had been passed in fraud and in violence ? Though he was
just old enough to remember these scenes, he was not then old
enough to raise either his hand or his voice against the passing of
the measure; but he had never lost sight of the impression which
was then made upon his mind of tho injustice of that law ; and
when he arrived at the years of citizenship, he never allowed an
opportunity to pass of prosesting against it. Two or three years
ago he was one of thefirst, though not the first, as had been stated by
. . . . _ _

the Chairman, to join a chosen band in Manchester in a movement
against it, to disseminate information, and to raise an agi-
tation throughout the country in opposition to the law. He com-
menced with furious tir Ales against the authors of the law, and many
of his friends would recollect that he shocked them with the strong
language which he employed bOth against authors and benefitters.

His language had now become cooler, because in 25 years there
had grown up a generation habituated to this law. They did not
feel its injustice because they were not at its birth. The conse-
quence was that he had found to his astonishment that Englishmen
themselves had to be converted before they could begin with any
show of fairness to attack the aristocracy. Two years and a half
ago, a large majority of the spinners, manufacturers, and other
capitalists in Lancashire would, if appealed to, have voted for the
law as it stands. This was not so now, and he doubted whether
one capitalist could be found to vote for it. How had the con-
version been effected? Not by the humble advocacy of the
members of the Anti Corn-law League. There.had been at work
a much harder, a much more efficient agent, adversity had held
her school every day in the week on the Exchange, and taught
the capitalists, that this was a law which grinds them to dust,
and inflicted pauperism on those dependent on them for la-
bour. But they had found another and more lamentable feature
in the course of their agitation ; they had discovered that the
younger men had grown up almost unconscious of the operations of
this law. The old working men were well aware of its effects on
them, but the young men, the active spirits of the day, did not pos-
sess that knowledge, and they had raised a cry, " You want to get
rid of the bread.tax to reduce wages," He asked them, " Has the
law served to keep up your wages ?" and they replied, No, they are
reduced constantly." " Very well then," he asked, " of
what use is the law to you ? In this dilemma they
resorted to declamations against machinery, and he would
ask them whether machinery would not be a very good thing
if its produce were fairly divided? The reply would be yes. And
how is it, he went on to say, that you do not get a fair share of its
producing? Because you are not allowed to exchange your pro.
duce for the food of other countries, which would be glad to teen
abundance into your lap. Machinery eats nothing and drinks no-
thing, and would you not be more able to compete with it if you
got your bread at half the price you now pay ? Th4ese ignorant
errors of the people it was the intention of the Anti-Corn-law
League to do away with. Mr. Brooks had glanced at the high
price of bread as affecting wages. He (the speaker's) own trade
would afford as good an illustration as any other. He was a
calico primer, employed 500 or 600 people regularly, and had paid
20,00001, a-year for wages for many years. The scale of
wages had been the same for the last ten years. How did
he show the effect of the high price of corn on wages ? In 1835
lie paid 20,000/. to his workmen, and the same sum in 1839. In
the last year the food that the men were obliged to consume
cost from 6,0001. to 8,0001. more than in 1835. Where went the
difference ? The same amount of food must be obtained, and less
would consequently be expendod on manufactured articles. It was
a mistake to suppose that the higher classes supported the manu.
factures of this country. They were supported by 20,000,000 of
people ; and if they were obliged to pay for their food nearly
twice as much in 1839 as xi 1835, was it not clear that they must
have so much less to expend with the draper, the hatter, the shoe-
maker, and so on ?—(Cheers). The consequence had been, that from
the rise in the price of food in 1839, trade had been much
diminished. He had fortunately been able to find employ for his
men for the last ten years, but many manufacturers of the coarser
kinds of goods had not been able to find the workmen half labour.
Where could the fallacy ever have been bred—where in the world
could such an insane notion have originated, or that the workmen
could be in any way benefitted, protected, or relieved, by having a
tax placed on his bread? Of all conceivable follies or fancies this
was the last that he should have expected to take root in the minds
of working men of common sense. To those who were still in.
dined to place faith in that fallacy he would say, " Go down to

yonr own quays on any day between this and September—look at
the ships conveying away hundreds of emigrants from your shores_
look upon the scores of families transported to other lands in order to
•

get bread to eat, and then you will see a specimen of the protection
hat is afforded to you.--(Cheers.) His friends had said a good
deal about the distress of the manufacturing districts, and had
talked to the meeting as though they were residents of a kind of
Elysium, where roast pigs ran about the streets, where no want
was experienced, and where people lived in palaces. Now it was
a fact which appalled some of the gentlemen of the meeting of the
British Association in this town, that 50,000 people were living in
cellars in Liverpool. Oh ! this is very deplorable, said the Corn'
mittee of the House of Commons, when the fact was made known
to !hem, and forthwith our representatives proceeded to pass laws
providing that the people should have better houses, that towns
should be better drained and cleaned, and that proper sewers should
be made. Now how were those 50,000 employed ?—(Hear, hear.)
They were principally, no doubt, carters, porters, and others
working at the docks. \Vhat did the bread tax do for them ? It
put a penny on every pound of flour they bought. Take the price
at New York and at Liverpool: at New York the barrel of flour of
1961bs might be had for 18s. or 195., and might be sold here for
22s.—(A cry of " 205.") He would not exaggerate, and would
say 225. ; but when it arrived here it had to be locked up in what
was called the Queen's warehouses, which would be better deno.
minated the warehouses of the landed aristocracy. It was put
under the Queen's key, which would be better styled the Duke of
Buckingham's key, and could not be taken out of the Duke of
Buckingham's purgatory until it had paid a duty of 14s. or 15s. a
bushel.—(Shame, shame.) Supposing this system were done away
with, what a forlorn and desolate creature the poor man would
be In every shilling that he now expended in food be
might save fourpence at the least; and what harm would
that do to the working men?—(Hear, hear.) But they were told
that the merchants would make a monopoly. Did they think that
Mr. Sanders and Sir Joshua Walmsley would lay their heads to.
getber to starve the people? That was very unlikely. The bar.
rel of flour might be obtained from their warehouse at little more
than one.half, but say two-thirds, of the price that was now paid,
and what effect would this have ? The increased importation
would demand more ships—the arrival of more ships would make
more lunipers, porters, and carters necessary—more shops would be
risqvirod tbr vending the additional quantity of flour, more shop.
cells lira and shopmen would be necessary, and was not this the way

to laserease the prosperty of the town ? But if this were allowed,
then the Duke of Buckingham and the Duke of Richmond would be
obliged to sell their flour at the same price as Ar Joshua, and that
was the real grievance. To talk, however, of the working man
being protected, or benefitted by this law, was preposterous. The
late of relief of the New Poor-law was the whole amount of protec-
tion that he would get. While from fifty to eighty thousand per-
sons were yearly expatriated, torn from their relatives, and from all
that they had been accustmed to look upon as dear, never let hint
hear of the working man receiving any protection from the bread-
tax. Why did those poor emigrants bear themselves from this
country ? Was it to find cheap clothing ? or to go in search of habi.
tations ? Why, there were 20,000 empty houses within a mile
or two of the Exchange of Manchester, and in many of those that
were inhabited, two or three families were driven by poverty to
live together. Was it then to find better cloth, better iron im-
plements, or better utensils of any kind to number to their domestic
comforts that Englishmen in thousands left their native shore? No.
wherever they went they took these things from England. They
went away to other lands to obtain the very bread which was de-
nied to them here under the plea of protecting them, and the last
sight they may behold on leaving their native shores may be those
towering warehouses called the Queen's, ;n which are deposited
hundreds of thousands of barrels of American flour, which was de-
nied to them in the place of their birth, and which they were
obliged to go 3,000 nines to eat.—(Loud cheers.) The quantity 01
American flour which now came to Liverpool was no criterion of
what it might be if trade were free. He never talked of foreign
competition—whenever he talked upon this subject, it was of our
inherent right, as free men, to exchange the productions
of our kbonr fot the food grown in every part of the world,
and if this right were conceded, abundance might be found without
complaining of foreign competition. Three-tburths of the earth
were at present lying fallow, or were very thinly populated, and
some people were living in the midst of superabundance of that
which we wanted. They would exchange that superabundance
with us for our manufactures. They would exchange with the
Germans too. Why let them. The storehouse of the world lay
open, and there was enough for all.—(Much cheering.) There was
a country with which England was most intimately connected, and
it produced by slave labour cotton, tobacco, and rice. These were
the only articles of any magnitude which we were allowed to take
from the United States. There were two millions and a half of
slaves in America toiling, he was sorry to say, for this country ; but
there were twelve millions and a half of free men in the splendid
prairies, who pastured cattle and raised corn, and with these we
were forbidden to treat (Hear, hear.) Mark the hypocrisy of
those men who forced us to treat for slave-raised produce
-alone with the United States, and who yet at public meetings pre.
tended to have so great an anxiety that we should not treat with
the Brazils for slave-raised sugar.—(Much laughter, followed by
very great applause.) But this was not all, England compelled the
great communities of free men to purchase their commodities
through the slaves. The free State of Ohio could not receive our
goods unless through the slave states, and they were consequelisly
compelled to minister to slaves as much as we are. Now, what was
the prospect which opened up to Liverpool as well as Manchester
if the Corn-laws were repealed ? Why, the trade we might do
with the twelve and a half millions of freemen, speaking our own
language and having our own sympathies, was infinitely greater
than that we now had with the slave states. Would not this,
he asked the meeting, minister to their prosperity ? Would not
it be advantageous to them, if twice as many ships came
hither freighted with flour as there came ships from New Orleans ?
There were boundless praries in the United States, on which suc-
cessive crops of corn might be raised almost without labour. There
was the State of Illinois itself and he had been told by an intelli-
gent American in Birmingham, that that single State was capable
of producing as much wheat as would give to every man in the
United States, England, France, and Germany 31bs. of bread every
day; and that State was as accessible to us as the counties of Sus-
sex and Devon, and only comprised one-thirtieth part of the sur-
face of the United States. We need not talk of the danger of Ame-
rica not taking our goods in return. The fact was, that they did
take our goods ; and the only complaint that he had ever heard of
was that they had a habit of taking more that they could conve.
niently pay for. It was not with them as with the ports in the Bal-
tic. Was there a man with the spirit of a Christian, who would
not rise up and protest against this mighty grievance ?
He knew that they should have to encounter difficulties and ob-
jections, and this reminded him that one of the great lights of
this town, one of the Nestors of commerce, Mr. John Glad-
stone, had said that we could not send out goods for corn, and
that therefore there would be a drain for bullion if corn were
imported. He the (speaker) had never heard this argument em-
ployed to restrain the importation by the aristocracy of one arti.
cle that ministered to their luxury or convenience. In the
course of his travels he had inquired wherever he went whither
the best of lie productions of the place went. Lately, for in-
stance, he to, k a trip up the Mediterranean, stopping by the way
at Lisbon. At Oporto there were immense cellars of wines, and
on inquiry lie found that all the fine brands were going to Eng-
land. Melaza produced fine raisins and plums, and when he asked
where the best were going to the answer was all to England.
A little further on he encountered a specimen of the ingenious
partiality of our lawmakers. At Genoa there is manufactured of
fine flour an article called maccaroni, which came hither to mako
soup, and was packed up in very delicate boxes and ha was told on
inquiry that the finest are sent to England. Thus the aristocracy
had no objection to the importation of flour when it came in the
shape of an article of luxury for themselves. At Smyrna they
talked of figs as the people in Manchester did of cotton, and he
saw that the plumpest and most delicate of the fruit was packed up in
drums to be sent to England. In Egypt he found persons employed
in packing up luscious dates, and they told him that all the deli-
cate qualities were going to England. To complete the climax he
got to the top of theAlps,and found that the Swiss were manufacturing
Gruyere cheese, the finest of which went to England. It was
very curious too that the beautiful and fine damasks, and the
splendid silks of China worn by his family, and even the mahog-
any table lie ate from, should never have entered into Mr. Glad-
stone's recollection, when speaking of the sudden peril to this
country from the drain of gold. Did he not fear that there should
be a drain of gold for all the articles that had been enumerated ?
If he (the speaker) were to go on from the places mentioned to
the vast plains of Russia and Poland, or to the almost boundless
prairie lands of America, where he might see pigs in the corn fields,
stacks of wheat lying there to rot and waste, and the peo-
ple clad in the mean time in sheep skins, and ask why
the superabundance was not sent thence to England.
in exchange for the fustians that they would be de.
lighted to wear, he should be told that there was a
sliding scale of duties on corn in England that prevented their
doing It.—(Loud cries of " Hear, hear.") He calculated that
during the last 25 years we had imported about a thousand mil-
lions worth of foreign produce into this country. He meant of
foreign luxuries or conveniences. This would give from 40 to 50
millions every year, and he believed that the whole amount of gold
which was in circulation did not reach 25 millions at any time, and
was it not curious that though we had imported so much there had
never been a drain of gold for any of those things. When Mr.
Gladstone: wanted to show that drains of gold might happen, he
lost sight of those things imported for his luxury and pointed
close to the small amount of corn imported, and to the consequent
drain of gold. Yes, it was true that this drain of gold did follow
that slight importation, and this was the very argument which
they used against the sliding scale.—((Hear, hear, and cheers.)
After a few ftather observations, in the course of whirls he con.
tended strongly for a total and an immediate repeal of the Corn-
laws, the speaker concluded an idst vehement and prolonged applause.
Mr. Dices, a tailor, then came forward to advocate the existing
Corn.laws, of the justice of which he professed himself a firm sup-
porter, and entered into a long argument to show that the Anti-
Corn.law League was only deluding the labouring population, as
much as their object was so to reduce their wages as to enable
them to compete with foreign labour in a neutral market.
Mr. COBDEN briefly, but triumphantly replied, and carried with
him the sufftages of nearly the whole of the vast assembly.
Mr. W. RATDBONE then came forward amidst great applause, to
propose the following resolution :—" That this meeting, deeply
sensible of the gross injustiae, as well as impolicy cf the existing
system of Corn-laws, pledge themselves to persevere in their exer.
Lions for the total repeal of those laws."
Mr. L. HEYWORTII seconded the resolution, which was carried
by three dissentients only, and amidst the most rapturous demon-
strations of delight,

Mr. Alderman &MIL then proposed that the best thanks of this
meeting be given to the members of the Manchester Anti-Corn.
law League, who have this day honoured Liverpool by their pre-
sence, for their powerful advocacy of the cause of justice and
humanity.

Mr. C. HOLLAND seconded the resolution, which was carried
unanimously, and with loud acclamations.

Thanks were then voted to the Chairman, and the meeting Sepa-
rated at a quarter to Twelve o'Clock.

CORN-LAW CRISIS.
The following extracts from the Country
Papers will give some idea of the excitement
which Lord John Russell's motion has created.
(From the Derby Chronicle.)
A more important week than that which is now ended will
probably never be witnessed in the political history of this
Empire. Since the days of the Reform Bill, no measure at
all comparable to the momentous one to modify the Corn-laws,
announced by Lord J. Russell has been brought forward. This
great question has come upon us with the rush of an avalanche
when seemingly most rooted and remote; just as the Reform
Bill itself exceeded by its extent the most sanguine hopes
of its expectants. A political, a financial, and a commercial
crisis have happened at the same moment in conjunction, so as
to force every man in the empire to range himself on one or the
other side of this battle. This Ministerial defeat on Lord
Morpeth's Irish Bill forced the Cabinet to pay their trump card
at the end of the game. While an annual deficit in the re-
venues of the State, amounting to upwards of two millions, in
the face of declining commerce and the expiration of our com-
mercial treaties with the Brazils and the United States, and the
more and more rigid exclusion and competition of the Ger-
man States, all combined to threaten with malign aspect
the star of England's supremacy. To resign inglori-
ously the Palladium of European liberty and progress
into the hands of its deadliest foes, the Tories—to hang on in-
gloriously in a state of inaction " bombarding the Lords and
the Commons with good measures" amidst the taunts of friends
and foes, or to make one last final appeal to the magic of Re-
form, and to the enthusiasm of popular principles, were the al-
ternatives which presented themselves to the Whigs. The
Ministry were not the teen to " bow beneath the ills upon
them piled." By one vigorous effort they have cut their way
through the serried ranks of the monopolists, and once
more stand in the vanguard of the battle. Disguises are
thrown aside, and the twenty-seven millions of people and the
thirty thousand oligarchs stand face to fate, " foot to foot and
steel," under tried and trusty leaders.
(From the Durham Chronicle.)
THE CORN-LAWS—MINISTERIAL PROGRESSION.—OnCe
more we hoist our flag for the Ministry ! They reformed the
Poor-law, which was eating up the land ; and with equal wis-
dom and courage they have announced their purpose to alter
the Corn-law, which, for years past, has been undermining the
commerce of the country. It is a bold and manly course ; and
regarding it as such we seize the earliest opportunity to declare
our adhesion to their new scheme of fiscal policy. We
feel the greatest satisfaction in doing this, because it
has been more than once imputed to us, that we were
amongst the unreasonable grumblers who had deserted
the Reform Ministry to play the game of the Tories.
But suffering by-gones to be by-gones, we now see the Whigs
taking up "the question of questions,"—that on which the wel-
fare of the country depends—with something like the spirit
which distinguished their conduct on the introduction of the
Reform Bill. They have intimated their determination to
stand or fall by the measure ; and the circumstance of one of
their official connections—Mr. Gordon—having resigLed his
seat, through dissatisfaction with their movement in commer-
cial reform, is an earliest that they are as fiim in their pur-
pose as just ar.d enlightened in their policy. This, vie con-
ceive, to be precisely the point at which a reunion between
them and the earnest Reformers of England ought to take
place.

(From the Western Times).
The falling state of the revenue has driven Ministers to
a course pregnant with the most momentous consequences.
They have determined to grapple with the existing Corn-laws,
and alter the whole system of protection. The announcement
was made by Lord John Russell in the House of Commons,
last Friday night, and to-night he is to state the specific na-
ture of the proposed alteration, which is to substitute a fixed
duty for the present sliding scale. This step has gained for the
Ministry a burst of enthusiastic approbation in the manufac-
turing and populous districts ; but in the rural districts it will
of course be differently received—the amount of the duty to
be proposed being now the sole question of interost—when
that is declared we shall haw° an opportunity of seeing how
the matter is received in th• a?ricultural districts. All the
towns of the north are already t I and alive, anxiously waiting
for the Ministerial proposition, and prepared to give it effect.
(From the Staffordshire Lxaminer.)
We will not deny that on this struggle depends the existence
of a Ministry hitherto deservedly obnoxious to thorough-going
Iteformf.rs, and to the great bulk of the people. We do nut

r seek to disguise that by assisting this movement of Govern,.
ment, the people will renovate Ministers in office. Never-
! the'ess, we conscientiously call upon every class of Reformers
, strenuously to espouse the cause. By supporting Ministers on
the present occasion, the various classes of Reformers whom
they have dissatisfied, will best obtain the ability to discharge
them for better men, in event of future provocation: By sup-
porting the present movement, those who advocate propositions
to which Ministers are inimical, can best remove the obstacles
to their propositions. Chartists, Anti-Poor-lawites, Educa-
tiotds's, and every other. peculiar class, cannot further ad-
vance their particular projects, if their views be right, than by
contributing to destroy the bread-tax.
( From the Coventry Herald.)
Let every homely working man do his duty himself, and in
his own sphere, and we shall then fear nothing for Charlatans,
either of one sort or another. The abolition of the bread mo-
nopoly is offered. The abolition of the sugar monopoly is
offered. The abolition of the timber monopoly, which en-
hances the rent of every dwelling house erected, is offered. If
the Tories and the Chartists combine to get these offers re-
jected, let every man put the question to these unnatural
agents—can or will the Tories or the Chartists give anything
better ? Succeed in breaking down these monopolies, and
other monopolies of less magnitude must inevitably share the
same fate. There can be no better rule adopted at the present
crisis then to take exactly the opposite ground to the great
landlord interest, and to imitate their energy at this opposite
point—that is to say, exert as much energy as the landlords;
but let it be in favour of what they oppose.
(From the Hull Advertiser.)

With heartfelt satisfaction we congratulate the friends of the
national interests and the industrious classes of this country
upon the wise and patriotic course adopted by Ministers—a
course which has awakened both terror and exasperation among
the supporters of monopoly and class legislation. if the people
of the United Kingdom only prove true to themselves, the day
of their deliverance from want, the consequence of iniquitous
privileges and insufficient employment is at hand. An en-
lightened system of finance is now offered for public acceptance,
and such a revision of the accursed Corn-laws as will render
justice to the many without oppressing the few.
(From the Leicester Mercury.)
Men and measures must sometimes be distinguished. We
will not, like the Ministerial Papers, call on the people to rally
round the Ministers, but we do invoke them to assemble, in all
their might, beneath the banner of Corn-law Repeal. We
deem it a sacred duty to support so good a cause, by whomso-
ever it may be advocated; and were Sir Robert Peel to come
into office next week—which, for ought we know, he may_
and to propose an alteration of the Corn-laws, we should re-
commend just the same course as we do now, and that is, to
'petition agitate in every possible way—not for the measure be-
fore Pailiament, but for total and immediate repeal, leaving the
House to draw its own inference as to how much short of jus-
tice it may be safe to grant.
(From the Brighton Herald.)
All suffer now. Trade being bad, wages are low, millions
unemployed, and many of those employed not half paid. With
more trade would come increase of wages; with increase of
wages, increase of consumption ; and all, even the agriculturist,
would benefit. As it is certain that the Government will ap-
peal to the country before long, it will depend much upon the
people whether they will have more trade, good wages, cheaper
food, or whether they will have increase of taxation without
any advantageous adjuncts ; the continuation of the Corn-laws;
and misery and crime rapidly increasing. If they support and
urge on the Government, much good may be done ;if they
blindly and selfishly
,oppose the intentions of the Government,
let them not hereafter complain, but submit quietly to the
tyranny they will have assisted to establish.
(From the Plymouth Journal.) _ _

That this question of opposing and various interests and of
party spirit should be so manfully grappled by the Govern-
ment was beyond our fondest hopes. We honour the courage
which has induced this bold adherence to this great measure
of reform ; but that courage is upborne by the broad principles
of wisdom and justice on which the alteration is founded.
Nothing could follow more opportunely the late Government
minority than the Micis'erial adoption of this measure. It
will establish the present Ministry more firmly than ever in
their country's esteem and confidence and ensure their sup-
port. The question of Corn-law repeal has within the past
year made astonishing ground in the general conviction of its
high expediency. We shall reserve any further remark until
the Goverment measure is more fully knewn. In the mean-
time petitions should be sent up. Not an hour should be lost.
(From the Nottingham Review.)

This is a new prospect; this is a bright era opened to the
view. All the lords will band together—the land-lords, the
corn lords, the timber-lords, the West Indil-io;•ds, the aristo-
crats and monopolists of every size and feature, will conjoin
with the Tories in a determined effort to overthrow the Minis-
ters. Were it a conflict only for power and place, we should say,
let them alone, let them waste their time and their powers in the
unholy strife, the time of the people will come. But the case is
very different; if we are not mistaken, the time has now come.
Let this long oppressed, burthened, and insulted nation unitedly
avail itself of the opportunity offered at such an unlooked-for
moment, and by putting forth its powers, as at the Reform
Bill, crumble alt mcnopolies to the dust ! Probably there
may never be another opportunity offered, in which it can be
done without a bloody struggle ! " The people must gird up
their loins for the battle, and consider that it is one for life and
death. Not a day, not an hour is to be lost. Let every man
bare his arm for the fight. A brief display of vigour and
energy now may avert years and years of suffering. The best
interests of the country are at stake, and the interval must be
turned to account. .England expects every man to do his
duty.' "

(From the Kent Herald.)
NECESSITY FOR FREE TRADE.—In making the financial
statement for the year, the Chancellor of the Exchequer de-
veloped principles of commercial liberality, as welcome as un-
expected, in a reduction of the sugar and timber duties, and
Lord John ItusAin crowned the dismay of the monopolists by
announcing his intention of bringing forward the question of
the Corn-laws with a view of substituting a moderate fixed
duty for the present almost prohibitory restrictions. 't h i at-
tack on the stronghold of the the aristocracy excited among
lords and gentlemen" the utmost astonishment and conster-
nation. The landed monopolists, the grinders of the poor, the
oppressors of commerce, the destroyers of the national prospe-
rity, burst at occe into loud expressions of fear and anger.
The cry of exul'ation out of doors was scarcelyless. The pro-
pet of food becoming cheap and plentiful, of trade reviving,
of England's commerce again resuming its ascendancy, of na-
tions becoming bound together in amity by the enduring ties of
mutual interest was hailed at once with grateful acclamations.

(From the Wilts Independent.)
THE Coax-Laws.—\\'e hail the announcement with joy
not that we approve of any duty at all on the first necessary of
life, but that we see a clear indication in it that public
opinion is operating upon the Government, and that those who
have buckled on the armour of Anti-Corn-lax agitation need
but proceed in their course to achieve the most important vic-
tory that ever was won by human means.
(From the Derby Reporter.)
We remind those who deprecate this struggle, that it is in-
evitable. They may disapprove of the Anti-Corn-law agitation,
but it will go on, and no earthly power cart stop it. The mer-
chants and manufacturers of England are not a class to be put
down by legislative enactments, aided by the sword. It would
be a dark'day for England that should witness the attempt.
They will go on to agitate, and rouse the masses; every
year their exertions increase, and the Tory Poor-law
agitation is adding to the vast amount of discontent, rapidly
spreading throughout every part of the land. All this is tend-
ing to the ovei throw of a monopoly which enhances the price
of food. The opportunity for settling this question is most op-
portune ; if neglected, such an one may not occur again, and
hence it becomes an urgent duty that all whose habits and
views lead them to deprecate strife, should join her Majesty's
Government in the attempt to reconcile these conflicting in-
terests by such an adjustment as will at least put an end to
dangerous agitation, if it do not give universal content.
(Front the Kendal Mercury.)
We " the people of Westmorland," were very glad,
not very long ago, to have London news two or three days
after date. Now, the London evening papers are spread
on the tables of our reading rooms by eleven o'clock the
following morning.
Under ordinary circumstances, the Ministers should
have resigned. But new circumstances immediately
arose, which have sent the Irish Parliamentary voters'
Bill into a temporary oblivion, and fixed the attention of
the whole country—of the entire United Kingdom—on
a question mightier, broader, deeper than the qualifica-
tion of Irish voters, for it is a question concerning the
life and death of Englishmen and Scotchmen, as well as
Irishmen—a question that touches landlords, farmers,
masters, and servants—which touches capital and profit,
labour and wages—a question, which, while it extends
its influence over the civilised globe, and follows British
commerce into the remotest seas, comes home to the
British artisan, and glistens in the eyes of his children,
when they mount his knee, and imploringly cry for
bread.

Last Friday week the Chancellor of the Exchequer
opened his Budget. But before he did so, Lord John
Russell gave warning note of preparation, by his an-
nouncement of an intention to move for a Committee of
the whole House to consider the Acts relating to Corn.
This was like a trumpet blast in the House. Then came
the dreadful expose of the head man of the Exchequer.
The revenue of the country was a great way below its
expenditure—what was to be done ? New taxes ?
Oh, no ! New taxes in a country whose industry
has been so deplorably crippled, and which ought
to be prosperous and to a certain extent happy
Therefore, if no new taxes be allowable, what
then ? Liberate the industry of the country ; no
longer shut it up within the prison walls of monopoly,
for the benefit of the Governors of the vast House of
Correction—

" Open your doors, and let me gang free,
I darns stay longer in bonnie Dundee !"
is the mournful song of the
.Commerce of Great Britain.
The proposals of the Ministry do not amount—they
scarcely come near—to FREE TRADE : but they are an
approach ; and as we have ill along advocated the expe-
diency of a gradual approximation, in order that all may
be protected, and injustice done to nobody, we cannot
but rejoice, in common with the country, in the proposi-
tion of Ministers. A fixed and moderate duty on corn
will lead to a steady and healthy trade in grain, aftbrd
ict protectionurersto .
com-
merce on a footing far different
i from the wild, fitful, ir-
regular condition in which it s at present ; and though
we are far indeed from expecting a commercial millen-
Itwill farmers,
pavean
nufi d give employment to our ma-
the way to placing our
nium, we have at least aright to expect, that instead of
our commerce being sacrificed to the plough, it should
be based on a system which will benefit plough and com-
merce together.
We are not now going to argue the matter. We have
done so very recently and repeatedly ; and be the fate
of Ministers what it may, the step they have taken has
given an impulse to the question, which not even twenty
fory administrations could cheek. It is debating all
over the length and breadth of the land ; every man
feels it to be a question vitally affecting himself, and is
therefore roused to its consideration.

---
As to the miserable fallacy, that cheap provisions im-
death.
work I lt
al
i%
im-
ply low wages, and that it is no matter to a working
half
he h
thee r piriiacde of 1839
man whether the quartern loaf is a shilling or a six-
pence, it may be left to die °
is fast expiring : the working man knows that in 1835
since.
vand 1836, when corn
was just
The
,ar and
InEi 4de Ot
bhe
( eotii
anr
rg gNtoam abu
ndantthan
sharvests),that ever
he miserable
had
more
the more food a man
has for his family, the more miserable he becomes ; and
that is an argument which even a beggar could answer,
for he knows the difference between an empty and a full
wallet.
We are more afraid about the result of the modification
of the sugar duties than about the Corn-laws. There
are a number of philanthropic individuals in this country,
with their heads and hearts so completely enlisted in the
Anti-Slavery cause, that they are willing to maintain an
injurious. Monopoly under the idea that they aro pro-
moting the cause of humanity. We give them full credit
for their humanity, but it must not run away with their
judgment. There are people at home to be benefited, as

r well as people abroad ; and by admitting foreign sugars
at a rate of duty quite sufficient to protect the West
Indies, we not only take care of our own colonies, but by
opening commercial relations with slave holding coun-
tries, we are opening channels for pouring into them our
anti-slavery principles wider and broader than any other
we can at present command.
• The hattle commences —or rather commenced—on
Friday night: All the great powers of monopoly are
gfithering together, to defeat the intentions of the
Ministry. . They may obtain a temporary triumph : but
never will the industrious classes of this country rest
until they place their trade and commerce on a footing,
which will keep them from wasting their energies in use-
less exertions—from " labouring in vain, and spending
their strength for nought."

[We recommend the following petition, drawn up, we
are assured, by working men at Lewes, to the considera-
tion of their class throughout the empire.]
CHEAP FOOD ! FULL WORK ! HIGH WAGES !
In 1835, the price of Wheat, for the whole year, was
Thirty-nine Shillings and Fourpence per Quarter :—the
whole cost of the year's consumption (16,000,000 quar-
ters) was only 31,400,0001. leaving a large sum to be ex-
pended in manufactured goods of all kinds, which gave
full employment to all.
DEAR FOOD ! LITTLE WORK ! LOW WAGES
In 1839, the price of Wheat, for the whole year, was
Seventy Shillings and Eightpence per Quarter :—the
whole cost of the year's consumption (16,000,000 Quar-
ters) was 56,533,0001. ! ! ! leaving 25,000,0001. less to
spend on manufactured goods of all kinds than in 1835,
which has thrown thousands out of employment, re-
duced wages, caused starvation, disease, and death !
To the Honourable the Commons of the United King-
dom of Great Britain and Ireland, in Parliament
assembled.
The Petition of the undersigned Inhabitants of the
borough of Lewes, in the county of Sussex, and
its vicinity,
Showeth,—That your petitioners consider themselves
grievously oppressed by the operation of certain laws
called the Corn and Provision-laws.

That the avowed object and certain effect of these laws
is to make bread sell at a high price ; and to prevent
all kinds of butcher's meat, if produced and brought
from foreign countries, from being sold at all.
That from a Report of your Honourable House, it
appears that a greater amount of money is taken from
the people by these laws than by all the other taxes
levied by Government, and that the amount has been
estimated at fifty million pounds sterling per annum.
That your petitioners are severely suffering from the
want of profitable employment, which is felt alike by
workmen and their masters ; and the want of profitable
employment your petitioners learn from the Reports of
your Honourable House, is, in a great degree, owing to
the high price at which food is sold in this country, and
which high price of food it is the object of the Corn and
Provision-laws to produce.

That your petitioners' wages do not by any means rise
and fall with the price of their food, as certain ignorant
and interested persons have often asserted, but appear to
your petitioners to be much more influenced by the de-
mand which exists from time to time for the labour of
the workman and the production of his industry.
That in illustration of this opinion your petitioners
record with sorrow their mournful experience of the few
last years, during which the price of bread has doubled,
while wages have barely advanced at all, and the con-
stancy of their employment has diminished.

Your petitioners therefore pray your Honourable HOu—e
forthwith to repeal the Corn and Provision-laws, and
by so doing afford a free scope to the industry of your
petitioners, and remove from the legislation of the
country the stain and opprobrium of withholding from
the people their daily bread.
And your petitioners will ever pray.

ENTERTAINMENT AT THE MAN

SION HOUSE TO THE JUDGES.

On Friday the Lord Mayor gave a very splendid en-
tertainment to the Judges at the Mansion House. There

were amongst the gue;ts the Lord Chief Justice of the
Queen's Bench, the Chief Justice of the Common Pleas,
Baron Park, Baron Gurney, Mr. Justice Pattison, Mr.
Justice Coltman, Mr. Justice Coleridge, Sergeant Wrang-
ham, Sergeant Gazelee, Sergeant Halcomb, Mr. Hum-
phrey, Mr. Bullock ; Aldermen Sir C. J. Hunter, Sir
Matthew Wood, Brown, Sir Peter Laurie, Farebrother,
Lucas, Sir John Cowan, Wilson, Thomas Wood, Sir
George Carroll, John Johnson, and Magnay ; Sheriffs
Gibbs and Farncomb ; William Charles Pearson, the
City Solicitor ; Mr. Potter, the Secondary ; Under-She-
riff James and Stone, &c., &c.
After the usual routine of loyal toasts,
The LORD MAYOR proposed " the Bishop of Llandaff
and the Church," of which that Right Reverend Prelate
was so distinguished an ornament.

The Bishop of LLANDAFF returned thanks for the high
honour done him by the company, in connecting his
name with the ecclesiastical establishments of the coun-
try, of which he was an zealous, however unworthy and
inadequate supporter. Those who were engaged
in the direction of the affairs of the Church
had many difficulties to encounter in the prosecution
of their labours, but with the assistance of the civil ma-
gistracy, they entertained no doubt of being able to ac-
complish the great plan of the large extension of reli-
gious improvement.—(Cheers.) It might be expected
that lie would make some allusion to the cathedral of St.
Paul, with which, he was particularly connected. He
hoped that the good feeling of the public would protect
that great building from being subjected to desecration,
by being thrown open to all ; and that the spirit of the
party who, were endeavouring to effect that object,
would always be successfully opposed. He trusted and
believed that the cause of religion would be greatly ad-
vanced by the vigorous 'efforts of the clergy who were so
strongly united in the endeavour to promote the great
interests of the community.—(Cheers.)
The LORD MAYOR next proposed the " Lord Chief
Justice of the Queen's Bench, and the Judges of Eng-
land." It was, said he, the high ancient privilege of the
Magistracy of the City of London to entertain her Ma-
jesty's Judges at the Mansion-house, and he felt deeply
the -honour of seeing at his board so many characters of
marked distinction for learning and virtue. Perhaps one
of the most important duties and obligations upon a Chief
Magistrate was to show respect for the dignitaries of the
law of this great country.—(Applause.)
Lord PENMAN thanked the company "for his brethren
and himself. It had been said by the Lord Mayor that
the Magistrates of London enjoyed the ancient privilege
of entertaining the Judges at his hospitable board. He
assured the Lord Mayor that the Judges considered it a
very high and delightful privilege to partake of the hos-
pitality of the Mansion-house, and to enjoy the intimacy
which invariably existed between them and the City
Magistracy. The- opportunities which were afforded to
the Judges, by that sort of intercofirse, of knowing the
state of public feeling and opinion, gave them advantages
which they could not otherwise obtain in consequence of
the nature of their labours, and served to lighten those
labours in no slight degree.—(Cheers.) The benefits
which favourable public opinion was calculated to produce
in the performance of the duties of public men were
considerable, and there could be no doubt as to the ef-
feet of the expression of that opinion upon 'high' public
functionaries.—(Cheers.) From the manner in which
the company responded to the toast he and his
brethren did infer that they performed their duties to
the satisfaction of the public, without whose good opinion
and respect it would indeed be impossible for them to
perform their duties at all.

The LORD MAYOR next proposed the " Army and
Navy," stating that in the midst of their testimonies to
the merits of the Church and the Bench, they must not
forget the heroes who raised the nation's glory to so ex-
alted a pitch and good permanent security to this great
empire. The toast was drunk with enthusiasm.
The Bishop of LLANDAFF proposed the health of the
Lord Mayor, under whose hospitable roof this company
were assembled. He (the Bishop of Llandaff) had been
long connected with the City of London, and had long
experienced the friendship and hospitable kindness of
the several Chief Magistrates who had filled the chair
since his appointment.—(Hear, hear.) He was very
happy to bear testimony at that _moment to
the continuance in the present mayoralty of the good
feeling which had so uninterruptedly existed, and to de-
clare that the present Chief Magistrate was peculiarly
entitled to the acknowledgments of the Company for
the courtesy, suavity of manner, and liberal hospitality
which had been so conspicuous on every occasion in
which his Lordship met his guests.—(Cheers.)
The LORD MAYOR declared that he felt great pride
at the manner in which his health had been proposed and
received. He would next propose the health of his bro-
ther Magistrates, the Aldermen who had passed the
Chair, and from whom he had received the most valu-
able assistance. Indeed, he might well take the oppor-
tunity of expressing his acknowledgments to them, as
without their aid he would have had to contend against
insurmountable difficulties.—(Cheers.)
Sir C. S. HUNTER returned thanks, and adverted in
laudatory terms to the firmness and manliness with
which the Lord Mayor acted in resisting the encroach-
ment on the privileges of the Court of Aldermen, in the
case of his election to fill the vacant gown in Portsoken
Ward.

Alderman J. JOHNSON returned thanks for the Alder-
men below the chair who were yet to arrive at the ho-
nour of presiding over the hospitalities of the Mansion-
house, where lie knew they would feel pride in following
the excellent example of so amiable a predecessor.
Sheriff GIBBS returned thanks for his coadjutor and
himself.

The company testified peculiar warmth of feeling
when Sheriff Farncomb's name was mentioned, as it was
perfectly well understood amongst them that the friends
of that gentleman were most anxious to see him repre-
sent the ward of Bassishaw in the Court of Aldermen,
and considered his election as indisputable.
The LORD MAYOR, it proposing " The Bar," took
occasion to observe, upon the spirit, zeal, and independ-
ence with which the gentlemen of that profession per-
formed their arduous duties which devolved upon them.
Sergeant llALcomn, in returning thanks, said it was
usual with the profession to charge each other with
finding mares' nests. He and his Learned Friends
who were assembled around him had never amongst
all the mares nests which they had been so
fortunate to find in their professional discoveries
so comfortable a mare's nest as the Mayor's nest, in
which they were at that moment sheltered and enter-
tained.—(Lausliter and cheers.) It would be, added he,
the constant aim of the bar to defend the liberties and in-
terests of those for whom they acted with firmness, in-
tegrity, zeal, and independenee.—(Cheers.)
The entertainment was of the highest order, and on-
this occasion was one of the few in which the distin-
guished members of the Bench are known to relax. The
ii,impagne, and Burgundy, and Claret, which wore of
the first quality, passed round very briskly.
The company separated at half-past ten o'clock highly
delighted with the business of the evening.