The Sun.
London, England, 1846-02-13 00:00:00

„til• Leal s • •e i s id. 'tv,t'o,• if.
, an. •-ntintatr. Chet t e 's .i'a • ' .• • •
ilaniptea, wsuld hav .• iaecti the Rignt Hoe. list-was
Es the occasion.—(Hear.) 'nu re lis.d grown up practises
',,r la is on heavy an preteetive and prehibitery
"'tie, ; and Mr. Iluskissou, perceiving what branches
iLkit,,itnhuermtiaeture there were which could safely dispense
and %huh were more incuinbered than as
tiled by such, withdrew from them the protection they
'''.l 'Yet Ile (Mr. Colquhoun) did not mean to
heetain the: had Air. Busk -son lived until the
tY'sent neesent, he e oula have acted on t.,e same
St'ai• The Noble Lord the Member for London took
ieeption to an argument put forward by the Hou.
umber for Northamptoe, and asked why should
pro-
klTil'al he removed from manufacturing produce and
4red Co remain on the soil. The Noble Lord quoted
of rl,ith, to the effict that it was not alone the right
00 'tat'', but was also wise and politic that a state
1 uld impose duties on foreign commodities adequate
1 the taxes which they laid on their own productions.
:did that apply in the present case ? They had an
thlr'
us taxation resting on this country peculiarly,
t,ise it arose from the national debt. They were in
lii'_ 41,4 of putting a duty on foreign produce, as an ade-
ak‘t.e:rll,El.sisalent ; then why leave manufactures out of the
11187 3 r why, but because it had a natural and a.del
','S protection. No man could look at the soil of
,tr,dshir,
4ttio. e or Lancashire without seeing an
ea srlt of mineral in it that gave them an
salta
Attie Re over all the rest of the world.
mg! culture iti this count, y was exposed to seasons
thitte eprieious, more variable, and more severe than
fiat: any other country in Europe, while the menu-
tut,
the
of the country had corresponding advantages.
the a Right Honourable Baronet rested his case upon
Ice experience of the last three years, and to appease
that ItYPr'hensions of the agriculturist, he pointed. out
1441(.7efureduction which had taken place in the. irnperta-
%ell d reign cattle had produced high prices, rather
helve, ePra;,,a'ed the market. The Right Hon. Baronet,
&elf, foer',dat not see that this argument was against him-
than, ” In not
part of his argument he said the
ill the was necessary to cheapen the necessaries of life
heeev'ee°llntry. The Right Honourable Baronet was,
high I:' wrung in supposing the tariff had produced the
ii,ln prices, fosa,when the tariff was passed, an impres-
With!)°t Ethreau the they were going to flood the country
Wee:" fr‘'ra all parts of the world, and the conse-
e„e -, was the
d ; inarket was glutted with English pro-
hreite.d ea,l;„-- i di the y ar afterwards there was a
led
hrlYsalear cheer.) There was another cause
he could arr.ouuced these high prices, and one to which.
ksincz t re.„kr with satisfaction, and without dispa-
,Nrae-h4le, night lion'Ourabl6- Baronet's tariff. This
°led the the effect of stimulating employment and ena--
'lllEnd Labouring' classes of this country to corn
Peres! e buteher'i meat.—(Hear, hear.) No
l'ailsa e9Eild urge that the great development
.ofl
hkials3;?,, in this country depended on any commerciaf
eaPititc:.,it depended on the enormous
.amount
too
traie •-n" on that system of leaving
.it open
he
ether its
forw course. (Loud cheering.) T
4,
~ agah, Inverness, himself a free trader,
i.ll`i Put -,,-- aild again called upon us to interfere
ueesss-,atop to the progress of railway enterprise.
,haridthnltile Parliament abstained from such a course,
The -is'asl (pence has been beneficial to the country.
'old ;`‘ullourable Member for Sunderland (Mr.
°*est)fi' who hss been the architect of his
4 thortune,
. , , has contributed greatly to con-
the eo- 'el:lefts of the distribution of' capital upon
t'„thq Me Y, and he deserved more praise than any
‘Ltetr'mataher of the House. The Right Honourable
it'atee-.44Lleettied to state that there was no connexion
Olt He'les. and the pr.ce. of provisions, and his
Right ii . !lend made allusion to the. speech of the
°EI, the s °.'nitirable Baronet, in which he touched
by the ~n'arY question how the labourer would be affected
:Me-4144w. With all the talents of the Right Hop.
at alTli?, and his knowledge of the tactics of debate,
eat
441°11 to the Right Hon. Barmet's speech, in his.
un, o• • d • 'discreet, because in
the fiptvh as moat unhappy an in
met ,stne Right tronaßaronet urged very strongly
i'll,%ta reseal of the rn-law would limit the employ,
i'LO 10s.- the labo e co
d would shake the interests of
'1,4 Itc"), ?el', both.' and would shake the interests of
j 1! aii't Iti•, both, agricultural and manufacturing.
rt:tkll.lll:Littitiiii°tElourableagFriend disposed very summarily
iceetah'gutuente that had been urged against him..
and
changed myd opinion, there is an end of
l'41:litalll,
ntEltecroontwinause cheers.) But he would
not an end of it. There
'lr t:ll:t.ial end. .of it Inclkuse , a person was a man
445ete1l *Eh theroasan orator or as a. poet. He must
tlti.i'LlEirlearenleiliher that his words are winged shafts, that
' eioasiatlY minds that when urged wit_ a • ' h llthe address
14V.Ii'r '"g4t lion• Friend, these thoughts and opinions
111- edo.piot° 'nen: an
eat
a reat share in forming
i
, ' Right nns and ;:eutimentsg; and, therefore, when
,11111toe's:t' honourable Baienet, having utged these
4%41, then 'e
for many years, turns his Insult upon
s• s %tat sf, °lilt! not conceal their surprise.—(Cheers.)
I;;Lattie,` ri-L(Lw him to remind him that his opinions had
-rl)ee-i rnanY in the country, they stood now v,ery
4i4le Yrgtu,eilif°ertie- the country; were admitted to be very
minds
tell ts, and making upon many
t4iiik gl"ferful impression. He could not help
hest lanht:t tL_s his Honourable Friend was speak-
h-s°l3see_"ae winged sh.afts had often transfixed
O'lEl n 'its on the other side of the House. But if he
;44 th'lli*.ith his opinions, they had not. He wished they
"4'4 -°n• Baronet amongst them then to urge the adri:
Lig. /sf'an,.d the same opinions which he had now repu
-La 1.61:-.) oo they did not achieve victory, they
its' l, wever9
eil%t theve a gallant
rsiatrie t?;eiWeitlld have t e onsolation of not having
Then his Right lion. Friend
es!„'..ailove rOPinions. d him that his view of
q aletti him to remind
4:4 veks v°ll of. wages was ono which nobody could deny.
• She' ith.respect to the speech of the Hon. Me.mber.
Ate • eld
ee Ness , that the rate of wages and the
he (Mr.
ti'LNefl;llB..a.rie.ri after a certain time. That k .
ireEt4
*La/ believed was true.i. H. e believed any gen-
-44 a° had looked into political science would say
O, .waa, s.,
aereese - mu not always fall with
the price
rue, slues
‘,l4l°f' this ,
•Perhaps by a repeal of the corn-laws the
th. Itted ountry would be benefited; but whilst
.he
--`t th that fact he could not help stating
ileestiyqullebour market must be glutted, and cons!.
Os the 6 Price of labour woad be reduced. This
0te,,,,, cue in Ireland at the present moment—tmhe
.
iiitaes-: of that country being deficient of em-
thitCas- and the population gradually inc
__ g.
e tl'El 431,1 if the argument of the Secretary of State
• elsarganlents of the Right Honourable Gentleman
4,s and sound—if it be true that by the
in• P": Pro d soine lands would be displaced—if
erhttesultfte
.wollcusted be subjecte.d to straits, then un-
)fsal With the fall in the price of provisions the price
eet 'ea would fall also.—(Hear, hear.) The
itnkt the-agricultural population would be most
If the Honourable
447; (Hear, hear.)
told h."'r Wolverhampton were in his place, he
made an admission
lihe sg to remind him that he
ttEllts4ae effect. Ile perfectly recollected the Hon
tftt r telbn
'obi to I, g them that the effect of the corn-laws
tileh. h'seeP into cultivation one portion of land
-. °ter.veise would be
.u.ncultivated. Now that
iillllol4, tactlY the position of the Right
ma-
i 4,l`Lje Gentleman. Great as would be the
a- the er."`• e's, the fall 'in wages would be still lower,
weleei condition of the country would be greatly
ts:4LleOrmeli• He would take the views of those
Ls.' teacil'otetided,tha in proportion to the freedom given
• f`al 0,7 and agriculture, trad.e would be increased
akk eessa'Ages of the labouring classes would be
-te°u. ate denied that such a conclusion would
hos*.
cos What was the case with regard to the
1,74 I,rif labour ? With all the improvements which
sa-Ari of l te received, had wages increased ?
ieb.reell;t was the queastion he
.would put to Right Hon. Gen-
he-e Ii• he would. put it to the Right Hon. Member
trilli
k Ict„ nghain, whether such a result had followed.
Lk‘rttsl'• Member said, that whereas formeHrlesa-rh)e_soanldd
vilth.t.t`e for 36s he now sold it for 63.17
eZ4faaa e labourer used to receive for
7sis( shhea Tneo Iwll the
ossetl oate of that article upwards of •
(Vie of ls 6d Now, when his Right,lion. Friend
Ct. ts- l'aprOving. the Condition of the labourer, he
107akt e;°:'Illhoun)- could not help referring 1
tett,. alsuppliedby Mr.
-• . -
He was not going to
*gig ladle year 1841.
la aitil any long statistical details, but he
th:lst tt. the sanction of the House, state just one,
ilitiai kb(3tir 811°w what rewas
itpressure utrptoien,
'Neill fe.er-sw necessaryhad pbrQecsnsu the,
lieta" Eltie.°4l competition, which forced him, not
teeileity ',sleds, of his own, but from positive
tai 44114"reduee the rate of wages. The House would
th:afraei- tinat the statement he would refer _
hen
p fro -fistae manufacturers themselves. He folufndi,eln
in
litp": :II re Years 1828 to 1841 fine yarns herb l
id'edetei:ast, 31 per cent., and
waves 29t
pera meeetnt?.
' 1, the
+kg the spinner's rate of g
,t,:l:ll,,a,..:l`",ehre:!:;ses o
Whatf w ov,r k,
aesr workers h le3
benefitper cent.—(Hear,
a tt .h—e (mHae; ,e__
i-r•le-11 Pe ~",i derive from a repeal of tn
.lith eves
iefea to
Colquhoun) would tell thum
IV-eshEtilt Iv:rcia or two(mgr. gentlemen, members of the League.
ist:ta,tsetlaro the siew-
.
sub-
enwhich Mr. Wilson, one of the
5 r An tollaSterS in Scotland, took. of this
cs Der , said, that when iron hadr fallen
'11'414 13 Plat" wages had been reduced la, and they
111,Y 01(1'-tZe lowered further, in consequence of
mr.
Iv ''s% ex importation of foreign corn. But
corn
thtl'lld be-4dketed that when the duty on foreign
ctitairrO Ze(leawa with, he would be able tolower
'1 b,,t , hear, a dhYyl, lowelring
Whatthe ratewas otfhoworigpirs,i—nn
it r, ur n cheers.)
111 'ald ti egg, who formerly represented Mancletst,nrre?..
IC :1' wit. Cat a better education, more sober habits, as
-a in cheaper, food, would enable the labourer to
L 144 fact°eater comfort There could be no doubt of
'khe(e fk"ir one moment, and he (Mr. Colquhoun) ait•••
-wee t,t? "Larne to the manufacturers because they nerde
Praise, 'e rate of wages.—(Hear, hear.)
.They wielt
tha ' °Y for •
t coal • Igit competition—they-were obliged to t . .:
fwere „4„Petition by , very means in their power—they..,.
lows,
(,`,gvd to abridge their expenses to add
~,o the
ower ' their machinery, but they were also obliged t i
°,l' that wages of their labourers. If the effect
1), foo, mute would be to reduce the price
irig
o.,iiT provided there were no countervai
1,1,' ' but,'' he es7knowledged that it would7be a bene-
. that ,: tif they met the working- classes of
of th:-ntrY, and told them that after the repeal
mg's "rll4lws they would receive the same
that se's berore, then he (Mr. Colquhoun) affirmed
The /eY would meet them with a. delusion.—(Cheering.)
.:, . , 11?eeehulina,M. ember for Northampton's eloquent and able
e .Isey
char
been commented upon as being of an incen-
oriem 'aFf!cter. He did not think that his lion.
even,. 'ma intended to give it such a character. At all
he I's' he (Air Celquhoun) hoped that nothing which 1
e should him .
' • t:tect. j,::, s
t::: u Id cause such a charge to be made
a 3
0".5 P • So far from treating the manufacturers
habit of grinding the poor, he believed
shat
11.40'sY were the great sources of the wealth
but hls
ititerest. Nulty of England. If he looked to nothing
ow city
he should uphold the manufacturing
am his•_ He resided near a large manufacturing town,
ProaszurPerty was of course enhanced in value by its
Y to such a town.. If this measure were

have just said, the withdrawal of protection to most of these
articles is total and immediate, and, with reference to some
raiser of them, the protection is merely nominal. I might men-
tion that in the case of the cutlery of Sheffield, knives, scissors,
razors, and other articles, for which it has acquired such cele-
brity, that these articles have been imitated on the continent of
Europe—the Sheffield mark has been forged, and they have
11:en been introduced andlsold is, this country as genuine Sheffield
anufacturc. However this may be, certain it is that
hot one of these intetests—all of them directly affected—
yet not one of them, in the whole interval of the
for which was allowed for the consideration of
this measure—not even in the excitement of some vehement
appeals which have been made in the principal cities and manu-
facturing towns— (Hear, hear)—not when all the represen-
tatives of these manufactures were assembled in large numbers
before the hustings at Wakefield—not a murmur, not a whisper,
or a demur, or a single feeling of disapprobati n at this re-
moval of protection was heard to proceed.—( Hear, hear. )
The general feeling and the expression was, competition may
come, we are prepared to meet it ; all we ask is, a fair field and
no favour. And why, let me ask, why may not
that interest which se often plumes itself as being the
most important, the noblest, and the most. English-like occu •
poion in tEe country—why should not that interest take a leaf
cut of the book of these manufacturers, and consent to be no
longer the only interest dependent upon a nation's industry?
.how, Sir, with reference to my agricultural residence, and the
impressions I have derived from it We have now to learn for
the first time during the course of this debate, that the land-
owner pretends to himself, or rather endeavours to persuade
himself, that he has not been induced to take the;; side he has
done for any reason connected with his own:interest—he consi-
ders himself only on a par with the manufacturer. He endea-
vuurs to persuade himself that he is not induced to take his part
against the corn-laws by any consideration of his own interest,
but it is the interest of his tenants and the agricultural la
bourers which he has at heart. It is through the labourer's
breast, and by the wound that is inflicted upon him' that he
thinks he shall bleed. Now, valuable as I admit the services
of the agricultural labourer to be, and immense as I consider
the obligation on the part of these individuals to assert and to
cherish them, I think it, however, neither more nor less
than an act of positive injustice to the community at large to
select any interest as a special object of favour—
or, as they are not ashamed to term it, protec-
tion.—( Hear, hear.) In the next place, I ques-
tion if the protection you wish to preserve is not miscalled
and misplaced. The Hon. Member for Northamptonshire
(Mr. Stafford O'Brien) presented, in his own picturesque
and pathetic style, au interview between a landlord and a
farmer, whom he represents as being turned off his land and
compelled to leave his farm and home, endeared to him by so
many pleasing recollections, because he could not give the same
rent as some enterprising meniEer of the Anti-corn-law League.
—( Hear, hear. )
Mr. STAFFORD O'BRIEN.—No, no.
Lord MORPETH —I thought 1 understood the Hon.
Member to represent the case of a person with more capital,
energy, and ability.
Mr. STAFFORD O'BRIEN.—I did say so; but he would
not necessarily be a Leaguer.—( Hear, hear. )
Lord MORPETH.— This argument would not apply,
for where they could hitherto buy six quarters of wheat
they could now only buy three quarters. The peo-
ple—the commercial peop'e of this country and the agricul-
tural labourer, I consider have identical interests, and I say,
therefore, that this measure will be a benefit to both. It will
I.ardly be disputed that the real interests and well-being of the
agriculturist must depet d on the general prosperity of the
country, which has such an effect On the working classes, that
with the advance of commercial prosperity, their condition in a
like ratio became improved.—(Cheers.) Now, had not the
demand for labour always existed in a greater degree in years
when corn was cheap than in years when corn was dear?
Had it not always been found, that with cheapness of bread,
there was an instant demand for labour.—(Cheers.) An Hon.
Gent, on the opposite side of the House, said, in talking of the
three years experience which they have had, that the prospe-
rity of that time did not arise from the working of the tariff,
but that it arose from the activity in railway speculation.
Why, the Hon. Member for Rutlandshire, said, that in the
year 1839, great prosperity existed (he alluded to the late
lamented Member for Kendal), but it must be remembered
that 1839 was only the beginning of that activity. What
do we find in that very year which we are told was so
remarkable for the prosperity of their manufacturers ?—why,
that part of 33 to 35, and 39 to 41, the amount of employment
proves a decrease of 33 per cent., while the price of meat rose
to an enormous extent. Why it is so plain a principle that no
one now will deny it, that when corn is dear the food of the
working class must be proportionally entrenched upon. —( Hear,
hear.) I want you to take the most excessive view of this
matter—let them bring fewer bags of cotton, and even fewer
skins from the farmer, but still they the protectionists) must
bring "grist to their mill." The demands of the working
classes are, that they be enabled to buy in the cheapest
market , the food which is necessary for their support.
But I have no hesitation in saying, that these laws are no pro-
tection to the agricultural farmer or the agricultural labourer.
--(Cheers.) I deny that they are protectedby those legislative
enactments. The Noble Lord the Member for Liverpool
(Lord Sandon) said, that wages varied with the price of bread,
whilst the Right Hon. Baronet, the Secretary of State for the
Home Department, said that they never varied in anything
like the same proportion—that the rate of wages never rose
or fell in the same proportion as the price of provisions. But
in my own neighbourhood and district, in the memory of th e
living race, wages have never varied at all—they have al-
ways been as high as 12s. a week there, as in Northampton-
ahire, and more in harvest.—( Hear, hear.) Well, then, if the
agricultural labourer receives fixed wages of 12s. a week, with-
out its varying according to the price of corn, does it not
f .11)w that if, instead of paying Is. Bd. for a stone of flour, he
has to pay, as he does now, 2s. 6d. for it—does it not folios,
I say, that his weekly earnings must command less of the
necessaries and comiarts of life—that they must be materially
abridged 2—( Hearghkr. ) Now a difference of 10d. a stone
in the price of flour makes a difference to the working man,
taking his family at an average of six persons, of 2s. 6d. a week,
or 6/. 10s. a year—a whole filth of his income. Now I put it
to the House whether we the rich men—we the gentlemen of
two meals a day, as the Hon. Member for Northamptonshire
puts it—( Hear and a laugh)—should not think a whole fifth of
our income a grievous addition to the income-tax.—(Hear,
hear.) I feel that the time is come in reference to this question
when we have done with papers and figures, and 1 will no'
trouble the House but with one more. 1 have had access to a
paper, not drawn up for the purpose of the corn-law, or any ques-
Gun connected with it, but for the purpose of a statistical inquiry
in reference to the small agricultural town near which I reside
This table shows the proportionate expenditure in the articles
of food in three families—the family of the tradesman, the
family of the professional man, aid the family of the working
man. I will not trouble the House with the items for leveller's
no-at, milk, or butter. I will confine myself to flour alone, and
1 find that this computation was made when flour was 2s. 6d. the
stone. I find that the Bill of the tradesman's family was 12/. 13s.
being 15 per cent. of the whole expenditure in the year for food.
The annual charge of the professional man's family for flour
was 8!. 18s., being 10 per cent, of his expenditure for food,
while the charge of the working man's family, kept with the
greatest economy, is 13/.45., being a per tentage, not of per
cent. as in the case of the tradesman's family, nor of 10 per cent.,
as in the case of the professional man'sfamily, but at 48 per cent.—
(Hear, hear, and cheers.) Now, how much mom. heavy to
him is such a deduction from the amount which he can laj, out
on food, than to the class immediately above him, arillif to the
class immediately above him, in an infinitely greater degree
more heavy than to the more easy circumstanced member of
societv.—( Hear, hear.) But again, I find that the professional
man, living in an economical manner, spends upon every ar-
ticle of food consumed by his family but one-third of his total
income. The food of the tradesman is about one-half of his
income. The food of the working labourer is about three-
fourths of his total income.—( Hear, hear.) What he actually
spends on food is 73 per cent., and only 27 per cent. remains
for rent, schooling, clubs, and shoes. Therefore, I put it to
the House, whether this increase of 2s. 6d. in his weekly bill
for flour does not tend to deprive him, in an inordinate degree,
of all the luxuries of life, and of a greater command of means
for the education of his children.—( Hear, and cheers.) These
is not more than a sufficient quantity of food grown in this
country for our present supply—(l think he would be a hardy
man who denied that)—it has been computed that there
is an addition of 1,000 a day, or 365,000 a year, to our
present population ; and I also make bold to assert that
there is not, year by year, an addition of 365,000 quar-
ters of wheat of our native growth. Does it not, then follow
that it is most important to procure an additional supply from
abroad ; and, considering the condition of the poor, ought not
this to be done at the cheapest possible rate ?—(Hear, hear. )
I do not agree with those who impute it as blame to her Ma-
jesty's Government, that there has been the exercise of sliding-
scale on the Ministerial nerves—that they were appalled by
the events of last autumn.—(Hear, hear.) The Hon. Mem-
ber for Huntingdon (Mr. T. Baring) said, the proposal of the
total abolition of the corn-laws had been founded on the neces-
sity of giving an additional supply of food to Ireland, and he
asked—" Has the House ever shown a reluctance to grant rebel
to that country? Whatever its Saxon feelings may be,
has it ever manifested an indisposition to afford assistance ?"
No, it has not ; but I ask, is it fair to tax the generosity of
England because it shows a readiness, and is in fact ready, to
fly to the relief of Ireland ?—(Hear, hear, and cheers.) This
is in contravention of that maxim which I hold to be sound in
political as well as in daily life, " Be just before you are gene-
rous."—( Hear, hear.) Be just to the people of Ireland, but
be just also to the collective community of the people of Eng-
land.—( Cheers.) The Honourable Member for Huntingdon
says —" You ought not to apply a permanent remedy to a tem-
porary evil. When the evil is,,—( Her, hear.)temporary and local, lelt the
remedy be temporary and local.
that the peculiarity of the evil in question this,
t hßautt it msuayY
arise in any year, and that it has arisen repeatedy ; and are
we always to be mocked with these delusions of sliding-scales
which do not slide, and restrictive laws which, according to the
varying course of the seasons, must be constantly modified or
repealed ?—(Loud cheers.) I think it is no reproach to the
Right Honourable Gentleman that he has been influenced, in
the course which he has adopted, by the state of the seasons.—
(Hear, hear.) Finding that his anticipations had been disap-
pointed, and his calculations baffled, lie was led by the result
to change his mind ; but can any one justly be reproached
for being disappointed and baffled by that which he can
neither counteract nor control ?—(Hear, hear, and cheers.)
I think it no disparagement to free trade, I think it the strong-
est confirmation of the truth of the principle on which it rests,
that it follows the law of nature, and bends to the rules which
regulate the courses of the seasons. I may not improperly
say of such operation as the poet said of the Roman Emperor,
—(I shall endeavour, sir, to quote my Latin somewhat more
correctly than the Hon. Member for Newcastle quoted hiss
a (Loud laughter)—.

;rneral
.y nu

Tibi mittat ab antris
2Eolus iratas hyemes tibi militat tether
Et congregati veniant in prrelia venti."
Yes, Sir, 1 think it rather a confirmation of the truth of that
principle that the stairs do not fight against it, but that their
combinations would seem to be in its favour. But with respect
to this argument, I believe it is established by those who give
their special attention to the variations of the weather that the
same circumstances of cold or hot, wet or dry,; weather are riot
found generally to prevail aver or to affect the produce of a
large surface, se that bread in season, when prices are high in
London, may be cheaper in Paris or Vienna ' • but, on the con-
trary, I believe it will be found that a wet or dry season in this
country, is compensated for by a season of an opposite cha-
racter in other parts of the world, for instance, upon the con-
tinent of North America. Every one will recollect, for e )(-
ample, that the season of 1842 was remarkable in England for a
warm and even temperature. Now, during that year, I hap-
pened to travel on the continent of North America; and we
had weather of the most vas iable character. Much as I had
heard of the extreme heat of an American summer, I scarcely
experienced " a hot day ;" and every one told me that it was
the coldest season almost ever experienced in the United
States ; the very reverse of this occurred last year. Last
summer, it will be remembered was peculiarly wet and
unseasonable in England, whilst on the continent of Ame-
rica it was, I understand, peculiarly hot —so much so, that
I remember reading, in one paper, of a man who died in
one of the large cities, from the effects of the excessive heat.
Now what is the inference to be derived from this? That
not merely the periods of sunset and of sunrise are different
in different parts of our globe, but that there is the same
system and compensation as to the season, as there is on the
return of darkness and of light ; so that when our part of
the world is afflicted with untimely rains or cold, an the
attendant bad harvests, we may take comfort in the rde flee-
tion, if we repeal the corn-laws and open our ports to foreign
produce, that the rays which have been denied to us have
ripened distant harvests, and
that just at the moment of ne ed,
the superfluity of their growth will be wafted over the ocean

to atone for our deficiency.—(Chem
the continent of America, on which
self, I do not wish to allude so much to
Lions which my residence there may
enabled me to make, because these have
frequent discussion, arid can be calculate._
appreciated as clearly at a distance as on t.
though I have felt sometimes that the real si
presence of our own faithful eyes, bring the truth
to one, than the most laborious collection of do
( Hear, hear.) I have felt this most emphatic.
placed in full view of those mighty prairies
west, which, almost totally without an inhabitant,
in their luxuriant fertility, imploringly to- invite the ag.
culturist, when, in view of those vast forests above the prai.
which promised (and all experience had verified the promit
that as soon as the axe of the woodman had once rung anion,
them, as soon as the log-cutter had put up his cabin, and the
smoke from its chimney curled up into the air, fertile crops
would take the place of tall trees.—( Hear, hear.) I have felt
this in sight of the immense and wonderful valley of the Mis-
sissippi—that valley which the accomplished De Begueville has
described as the most magnificent abode ever formed by nature
for man ; 1 have felt this, on the St. Lawrence, that mightier
volume of fertilising waters than the whole world else pre-
sents. In all these grand scenes, I have felt that while the
distance between them and us must necessarily prevent those
extraordinary imports which the panic in the breasts of our
protectionists anticipates, yet that still, as a very long time
must elapse before that same valley of the Mississippi can
',umber the 200,000,000 of inhabitants, of which it said to be
capable, as a very long time must elapse ere those woods can
be cleared for the cultivation of what they are susceptible.
I wish for a moment to mention to the House, before I cease to
trespass on its attention, that notwithstanding much that I
have heard, and much that 1 have seen, I have not returned
trom that country with any favourable impressioon of their
moderate tendencies, or their scrupulous attention to good
iaith.—(llear, hear.) Nor do I return to my home with
any increased repugnance.—( Loud Ministerial cheers.) By
which I mean to say any diminished attachment to the
aristocratic, or mixed monarchial principles, which were the
elements of our own Constitution.—( Loud cheers.) But I
feel that we cannot confront the example of general ease and
comfort which prevails among the American people.—( Hear,
hear.) We all know the story of the Irish labourer, who re-
fused to write home that he had meat three times a day, be-
cause nobody would believe him. We cannot confront the
growing aspirations of our own people—we cannot confront the
onward tendencies of the age in which we live, if we do not
consent to administer and to work out our aristocratic notions
in a more democratic spirit.--(Cheers.) Notwithstanding that
implied dissent, 1 contend that no aristocratic institutions
which rest on exclusive privileges will be able to stem the
current of the age.—( Cheers.) I contend that there is no
aristocratical body which rests on especial interests will escape
their certain downfal—(Cheers)—and that no aristocracy, no
matter how long descended, can exist with the corn-law
when the pressure will come, and that corn-law will be pro--
hibitory. I think that that will be too hard a strain for any
title deed, ne matter how ancient to resist. lam not imputing
to the great bulk of the aristocratic party, that any of their
members should have a disposition to come out to promote any
personal interest that may affect them individually, or to sup-
port measures for their exclusive benefit. Still they are the
interests not of individuals, but of a class which they have
been in the habit of keeping prominent in their view.
There is a concealed esprit de corps amongst them, and a re-
fined degree of selfishness which merges itself into generosity,
and is easily mistaken for it. When we think that a party
with whom we have long acted is likely to be outnumbered in
these circumstances, monopoly itself, when it has neared its
downfal, will be invested in a kind of sympathy, such as that
we feel for the culprit when he stands at bay. But we cannot
be permitted, when the general interests of the country are at
stake, to indulge in any such misplaced and morbid sympathy.
It is part of true patriotism, as well as philosophy, to put the
universal, in preference, over the particular. I would, there-
fore, conjure those who belong to the aristocracy of the
country, whether connected by hereditary right or
lauded property, to rise asiove any of the especial interests,
and to bear their part in the progressive spirit of the age. I
grudge to the other side the adhesion of the names of the
Marquis of Granby and Lord Clive, for I feel that our aris-
tocracy has ever marched with that progress, and identified
itself with every glorious period recorded in our history. Let
them not refuse to hear their part in a settlement which, if
not adjusted with them, must be adjusted in spite of them.—
( Hear, hear.) 1 believe they continue to make it an esteemed
and honoured party—let them make it as much their pride,
as it is their duty, as well as their safety, to be the leaders
and not the laggers in the onward march of the British
people.—( Loud cheers.)
GA SKELL said that he considered that it was the duty of
a public man to maintain a character for consistency.—( Hear. )
Perhaps, without presumption, he might call him his Right
lion. Friend.—( Hear, hear.) During the last fourteen years
he had supported him, and he would be glad to support him on
the present occasion if he could reconcile it to his idea cf duty,
but he felt it to be impossible for him to run counter to his
own implied engagements, and to his recorded votes.—( Loud
cheers.) Notwithstanding the eloquent speeches of the Right
Hon. Gentlemen the Secretary of State and the Secretary at
War, he had yet to learn that this Parliament was erected for
the purpose of demolishing all protection to agriculture. In his
opinion they had been elected, not only to entertain a
total departure from those principles, but even the smallest
suspension of that protection which the corn-laws conferred.
—(Loud cheers.) He would not enter into the general ques-
tion. The state of indisposition under which he laboured pre-
vented him from doing so, and he would not detain the House
much longer. He would, however, briefly explain the grounds
of the principles which he intended to influence his conduct with
regard to this great question. During the last four years, in
which he had occupied a seat in that House he had invariably
opposed all measures of a similar nature which had been
brought forward by the Noble Lord the Member for London,
and the Hon. Member for Wolverhampton ; and he did so
under the guidance of those Members who were now bringing
foulard measures precisely similar in their tendency. He was
always of opinion that Parliament was bound to give a mode-
rate protection to agriculture, and he was supporting it in that
irnon, with some of the greatest men of the present and past
,Lion.—'Loud cheers.) He was supported by Canning,
:kisson, by Earl Grey, by the Right Hon. Baronet—
Astir, hear)—by the Noble Lord opposite (Russell), by Lord
Ashburton, and others.—(Loud cheers.) He must be for-
given, therefore, if he said that the impressions
made upon it by the Right Honourable Gentleman himself
aeil others were too strong to be outweighed by the arguments
which were now advanced in support of a policy directly the
reverse. Cheers. '[here where other objections which he
considered were equally weighty against this measure. He
could not help thinking that the Right Hon. Baronet was not
the individual to prepese, nor the present House of Commons
the body to sanction, such an alteration--( Cheer.) He was
ready, however, to admit that the Right. Hon. Baronet was
actuated by a sense of public interest in the proposition which
he had made, and that he had made sacrifices in bringing it.
forward ; but he had made sacrifices on a former occasion, and
the greatest was that in 1829. The present one was the next
in importance. With regard to the first, he 104 the represen-
tation t f the college of Oxford--(Cheers)—and the confidence
of his party. This confidence,however, was afterwards bestowed
upon him, but now he has sacrificed that party which he bad
ever declared to be his own pride.—(Loud cheers.) Nobody
could doubt but the great majority of the present Parliament
had been elected for the purpose of maintaining the principle of
protection to agriculture. He would say, notwithstanding
the speech of the Hon. Member for Wakefield, that it appeared
to him impossible for a Parliament so constituted, unless com-
pelled by the strongest, the most cogent, and the most conclu-
sive reasoning, to concur in the proposal of her Majesty's Go-
vernment.—(Loud cheers.) It was not the change of the
Right Hon. Baronet that filled his mind with apprehension,
but it was the change of so large a bode in that House
as would follow in the wake of the Right Hon. Gentle-
man. And he confessed that such a change was calculated
to lead the public to a complete distrust in public men.—( Loud
cheers.) It might be asked, why were they not tied down by
pledges? Why did they net give pledges ? The reason why
they were not delegates was because they were trusted.—
( Loud cheers.) For himself, lie could say with truth, highly
as he valued the dignity of a Parliamentary representative,
much as he prized the sphere of usefulness which that position
conferred upon them, he would rather forfeit his seat to-mor-
row than be obliged to give pledges as to the course which on
ordinary occasions he should pursue on public questions. But
there were implied engagements from which any
representative could not deviate without total abandon-
ment of confidence and a complete forfeiture :of all claims
to be considered as the representative of his constituency.—
(Cheers.) His Right Hon. Friend the Member for Wiltshire,
said that they were not to be considered as mere ambassadors
and delegates of local bodies.—(Cheers.) Let that Hon.
Gentleman take care that the course which he pursued was a
course which must inevitably lead to that local delegation,
which he repudiated—(Loud cheers)—and to a greater ex-
tension of that principle. Another doctrine which had been
was one
and
al
a r calculatedm _
a doctrinet o fill hi s
which mind
waswith
tde.eb arstsnothunfetbteedr
feciinn greatestocmae-
astonishmentbroached
which was
That usuallydnc t r
nr
ee regarded raasldoct
b: withttea thet t.ha
egrherreaa.
sonture,h
quarterayne rdo respect.
P e
t was
4n
unlesso
cf
hhtei
those
strt
h:e.a)b
et colleaguescolleaguesnntthch dissented;
teeiolln speech
eocdnm bAeuloe tfnmitvtfhhbe
iareettrtHwntf
eohobrrnaei
Inverness,
opinion,ne emrablel
ry
Govern-
mentwhieh ma
p.
of
pcalindasriiedadered that it was a doctrine whieh would be
recognised,tfl ohn eri brokensd Liverpool,
v must,
utterly fatal to the independence of Parliamentary men—utterly
inconsistent with the usages which Parliament have always
been iefluenced by—that it would have the effect of making
them mere agents and local delegates, and be totally at vari-
ance with the spirit of the Constitution.—(Loud cheers.)
There was one other point to which he would call the attention
of the House. If those gentlemen who were returned to vote
against the principles of the Right Hon. Baronet should again
present themselves to their constituencies, afterhaving voted
contrary to their promises, what shall they have to offer for
their breach of trust ?—(Hear, hear.) When the agricultural
portion of the country shall be called upon to tender their
votes at the hustings, how would they respond to that call ?
(Hear, hear.) Would they not reply to that call with feelings
of indifference? would they not say that they
had no cause to represent —no interest to
protect?—( Hear, hear.) It was no light thing to show the
constituency—it was no light thing to show to the people—that
their representatives advocated one set of principles at the
hustings, and voted otherwise in the Legislature.—( Cheers.)
He had given this subject his most serious consideration—he
had given it his most serious consideration independent of party
feelings, and he had come to the conclusion that this was a
measure fraught with the utmost danger to the agricultural in.
tcreets of the country.—(Hear, hear.) He regretted that he
was compelled to differ in the most important measure of mo-
dern times with the Right Hon. Baronet, but it was with a
clear conscience he should vote against the measure. ( Cheers. )
Mr. ROEBUCK—The Honourable Member, who was for
some time most inaudible to the gallery, was understood to say,
that considering the various and conflicting opinions expressed
by many Honourable Members on the question before the
House, he naturally approached it. with great difficulty. There
was a remark made by the Honourable Gentleman who bad just
sat down which called for some answer. It might be veryt
proper for those who had made pledges to their constituents o
rwencloloatomr etubdosethHenng.ivAiniegmbuepraotfo begthivoeseupstebaetsa.ea,taltwhobwwicoebuvledrt,beya
had retained on such promises.
v raHi shed
rwgttei
ieithcent eohdnoek
sfnitt
anioatuwukglenhawnort
cagewyare
matterww ri
which
b p r
wereoofp e r properly
broughtconsiderationrepr represented
seforward.nt fored Parliamentb yte cbua
rt
aocl
gtst
ehrreowav so: thatsfq uhesetti bonen,
ains
n peopletrht ea
ithdebatethe
eep delegationa
es s toen
at ht ei
ewc
.huaßr
nothing?aepc
eoif WW
e 1g Intgbawhat
ti oe ndba.ied
in his own person—( Great laughtrer)—he may have represented
but if he were to have thrown up his seat
that House, when conscientiously compelled to differ from his
tsf himselfportionon 0. i
fnMt aheemv :treyorpssi,ien,gbaul at
rh
mariner,
thea or
representative rteos eenltcai
in
constituents, he would have had to do so long since, for
it would be remembered, that he had many times voted con-
trary to their wishes. It was not the country that called upon
Hon. Members to resign their seats, it was the close bon ughs.
--(Loud cries of " No, no," " Name, name.") He hoped
that Hon. Members would not cry out " Name," for it so hap-
pened that he could put his fingers on the names of those
places. He would say that those who should hereafter read
the discussion of this measure, would be surprised at the senti-
ments expressed by many. The practical statesman who
shall come hereafter, will take the practical philosophy of
legislation and would not be prejudiced by party views. It
was a remarkable thing that the Hoc. Baronet who had
brought forward the principles embraced in the

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