The Sun.
London, England, 1846-05-28 00:00:00

MA Y 28, 1846.

veryptohol-Erawedsnstßß,etrioag:hpastt
TARIFF BILLS.—PUBLIC MEETING IN HULL.
pr:fua-inbditlhlo.ethzaTerahyienomhr
aoetfeitttianhngetshaod
convened by the Mayor, was held in the Town-hall, to petition
CORN
Ned meeting,ANp
heldii bo-
roughingas
at the
Kingston
. upon-Hall,
Kingston-upon-Hull:—Sir,—ape,
oonn:snllt.oullni -I,auilp,o
been called by his worship in pursuance of the following requi-
sition—dr
ae Ng:: e.,:st
to take
thetyaoku undersigned
tiinto
to
call
con-
sideration a
lao
most-n
leaua: ir
.nlea-srStll?
public meeting of the inhabitants of this borough, to be
the propriety of petitioning the House of Lords in
favour of the repeal of the corn-laws, and other measures
for the establishment of free-trade, lately brought before
Parliament by her Majesty's Government."
After the several resolutions had been submitted to, and
approved
of, by the meeting, and a petition to the Lords
agreed upon,
The Rev. JAMES ASPINALL, rector of Althorpe, Lincoln-
shire, on rising was received with loud cheers, and, after
some other remarks, thus proceeded—lt is often urged, as
an argument against free trade, that it would create a mutual
other between the different nations
dependence upon each
merchants, t SlRheoHa
:o_Aiu Rs,oe,
ToOdBfoha
yLBi
of the earth. Now to me, as a Christian man and a Chris-
tian minister, the power to create this very dependence is as
high a recommendation as-any other which trade possesses,
to enlist me in the effort to make wider its borders. It
r asPldvtehEosnermstlEcheninoiLer:Sugy

means, when translated into plain English, that trade is the
best peacemaker, and the best security for keeping the peace
between country and country which it is possible to conceive.
And I begin my address to you with this trite and threadbare
remark, because, after one of the free trade meetings-which I
attended,aVe town of Hull, I was taken to task on this
very poinTillthe then Ministerial organ, the Morning Herald,
which, after dealing out to me a general rebuke for publicly
avowing my sympathy with your sacred cause, went on to
call my attention to a passage of holy writ which, it said,
would, if well considered, draw me to very different con-
clusions on the subject from those which I previously held.
I must confess that I was somewhat startled at an effort to
persuade a minister of religion that he ought to be
an ad Date- of • a state—of thinks which would allow
a nation to go to war at any moment on the shortest
possible notice, and much more so to find it
alleged that the authority for making him such was to
be looked for in the page of Scripture. Has the writer of
such an almost impious appeal ever asked himself what
war is ?—(Hear, hear.) Has he ever, even in a passing
thought, contemplated all its attendant horrors—fire
and sword, blood and massacre, the shrieks of the dying
and the tears for the dead; the wife widowed, and the child
orphaned, with violence and rapine in, the front, and pesti-
lence and famine in the back-ground of the hateful
picture, all so terrible to think of, and so much more
terrible to witness, that the great hero of modern
times, our own laurelled Wellington, has been heard to
exclaim, " that next to a battle lost, the most dreadful thing
in the world is a battle gained?"—(Hear.) But I turned
to the passage pointed out to me by my critic, and found it to be
that famous one in which the sacred writer informs us that
a quarrel having sprung up between King Herod and the
people of Tyre and Sidon, the latter were anxious not to
push things to extremities, but to remain at peace, " because
their country was nourished by the king's country."—
(Hear, hear.) It is impossible to say how light makes its
way into the human intellect ; but from the very same pre-
mises I arrive at exactly an opposite conclusion to that laid
down by the great Mentor of the press, and see in his argu-
ment against the dependence created by trade, a most glo-
rious and striking instance of its blessed and peaceful
influence to check the evil passions, and control the
pride and wrath of man. Here were two nations about to
plunge into war and all the horrors which have been depicted.
Angry feelings had grown into angry words. The sword was
to be drawn, and blood was to flow, until the delirium being
over, a lucid interval should return, and both parties be left
to regret their folly, and weep, in tears of bitterness and an-
, •
ginsh, over the sad and sorrowful consequences which it had
brought upon them. But at this crisis trade stepped in with
its mediating power, andhushed the rising storm.—(Cheers.)
It reminded the men of Tyre and Sidon, whatever wrong had
been committed, or provocation given by those who held sway
over them, that there were people as well as rulers, and that
the happiness andintereats of the one were as worthy of a na-
tion's care as the pride or ambition of the other.—(Hear, hear. )
Its voice prevailed. Peace resumed its smiling aspect, and
all-triumphant commerce continued to run on in its accums •
tomed channels.—(Loud cheers.) I only wish, when I look
back at this striking proof of the mighty influence of trade,
that we also were bound by a good commercial treaty to
keep the peace with all the leading nations of the world.
A good commercial treaty, for instance, between France and
England, and a thriving trade between the two countries,
would have given the people of both a better occupation a
year or two ago than to be watching, as they were, for daily
excitement in the news from Morocco or the far Pacific.—

(Cheers.) Neither would the Oregon question ever have
grown up into such a dangerous bone of contention between
us aad the United States, but for the perpetual feeling of
hostiaty which monopoly keeps up between the two nations.
Give them an.unshackled trade, and the spirit of pugnacity
on both aides Of the Atlantic will fly before the superior in-
fluence of the genius of commerce.—(Loud cheers.) But to
pass on from this part of the subject, every speaker on the
question of the corn-laws must feel that he can add nothing
new to the arguments which have been again and again
brought forward, and exhausted in the protracted discussion
of it. There is, however, one point of view in which it has
been less looked at than in any other, namely, as it is pecu-
liarly and especially the working men's question.--( Hear.)
First of all, in advancing to the consideration of it in this
light, I cannot help expressing my satisfaction at the better
and, indeed, -thorough, understanding of this most important
subject which has made its way to the popular mind during
the agitation of the last four or five years.—(Hear.) Before
that time the working classes were too often the dupes of in-
terested teachers who made them believe that dear bread
caused high wages, a doctrine which, if properly and fully
carried out, would lead to the reductio ad absurdum that a
famine was the
_real and short cut to health and wealth and
prosperity. But they know better than this now. Since
the question has been so vividly foreed upon their minds,
they have taken notes and watched its working for them-
selves, and have thoroughly learned, what even Mr. Hudson
admitted the other night in the House of Commons, that
labour is no exception to the rule which settles the price
of every article according to the supply and demand
for it.—(Loud cheers.) But I said that the question of
the corn-laws was peculiarly and especially the working-
men's question. I repeat, emphatically, that it is so.—
(Cheers.) They are always the first and the greatest suf-
ferers in a season of scarcity.—(Hear.) I can tell you from
my own experience and recollections how it affects them ; and
what has been, may be again, should the Lords rashly throw
out Sir Robert Peel's free-trade measure. I was, in the
earlier part of my clerical life, the minister of a large parish
in the manufacturing districts, and it was my misfortune,
during the time, to witness one of those periodical stagnations
of business which the working of monopoly from time to time
brings upon the country. We had been enjoying an unusual
season of prosperity. The people had employment,
and they were satisfied. The sound of industry was heard
in every cottage. Happiness and contentment were written
on the countenances of the inmates, while the smiling cherub
faces which played around the door, told that, if they were
not pampered by the food of luxury, they were nourished by
the hand of plenty.—(Cheers.) Every house had its appro •
priate stock of furniture, and, as often as the returning Sab-
bath or holiday proclaimed a cessation from labour, there
was an improvement of attire about the people which it was
delightful to behold. But this state of things was not to last.
The demon of corn-law approached, and the pestilential
breath of the destroyer was at once felt. The blast of desola-
tion came. A commercial shock struck at the very. centre of
the prosperity of the country, and the whole fabric of hope
and anticipation fell before it. Mills stopped working; fac-
tories discharged their hands. The voice of industry was
heard no more. The look of happiness and contentment
gradually disappeared from the countenances of the poor, and
was replaced by the hollow cheek, the sunken eye, the care-
worn brow, by every symptom which could speak the in-
tenseness of their misery. Hunger and starvation were in the
faces of their children. It is true that bath public subscriptions
and private charity were actively at work all this time ; but
what can they effect when a whole population is starving and
crying out for bread?--{Hear.) One portion of furniture after
another was parted with to procure the means of subsistence
—first of all, the clock and chest of drawers in which the
wife had felt no little pride and pleasure—then the tables—
the chairs—the very bed itself—the clothing, too, all shared the
same fate, except such tattered rags as the cold might search
through at every inclement blast—and so the torrent of misery
rushed on, until the dwellings which just before might be
likened to the cottage of content, became no better than
the fearful picture of the Cave of Famine in Churchill's
poems—
" Where half-starved spiders prey'd on half-starved flies."
But, perhaps, the most melancholy feature of all that melan-
choly period was to witness the fearful struggle of honest
English independence in the minds of some of the people
before they could bring themselves to accept the relief offered
to them. I shall never forget the case of one poor man whom
I had long known and remarked for his industry and steady
habits. Thinnerand paler and more care-worn he grew every
day; but he never complained. He never asked assistance.
fle never told or confessed to the actual misery and wretched-
ness of his family at home. Heaven help him, poor soul!
He had no occasion. The whole story was written upon
hit countenance as plainly as in a book open before you.
Often and often did I press him to go with others for a share
of the food which was distributed so many times in a week
out of the fund raised for that purpose, until one day, I recol-
lect, when I urged it most strongly upon him, he turned from
me to hide the tears which started into his eyes, as, using a
Lancashire word which means " starved," he said, "No, sir,
lam not c demmed ' enough for that yet." At the moment,
I stood before that man with a respect which I had never felt
for a fellow-mortal, and frequently since, as I have thought
of that trying period, and the events by which it was marked,
my memory has recurred to the evil augury which Sir Walter
Scott makes Marmion draw for Scotland at the sight of
Douglas weeping at the King's rebuke :
' Oh ! let such tears unwonted plead
For respite short from dubious deed ;
A child may weep a bramble's smart,
A maid, to see her sparrow part,
A stripling for a woman's heart ;
But woe awaits a country, when
She sees the tears of bearded men."—(llear, hear.)
And how long is the nation to be kept liable to such e° I
sions, to such social earthquakes, as we may wellcall them? What is going to be done now? Is, as it is whispered by
some of the most desperate of the monopolists, the Duke
of
Richmond or Lord Stanley, about to form an administration
of country gentlemen? When the Swedes complained to
Charles the Twefth of the grievances by which they were
afflicted during his absence at the head of his army, he re-
plied that, " If they troubled him any more, he would send
one of his jackboots to rule over them." Well, a government
of topboots would be next door to it. But, suppose them in
the saddle, boots, and spurs too, what would they do?
Would they attempt to maintain the state quo. Or, even in
their case, finding that to be impossible, would they have
a dream of another compromise, another sliding of the
sliding-scale, another " much ado about nothing" specimen
of the Indian jugglers' legislation? But this will not
do. There has been too much of this sort of work already.
We are met here to protest against having any more of
it. One has given us a corn-law, and another has given us
a corn-law, and one has tampered with the trade of the
country, and another has tampered with it, until the poor
patient is in danger of miserably perishing from the dosing
and counter-dosing which it has had to endure, from_ so many
different hands. In "Bentley's 3liscellany, ' for December,
we read of a quarrel between the Town-Council and Magis-
trates of some borough about the appointment of a surgeon
to the gaol. Each claimed the right, and each exercised it,
And 19 f; twp puddipo pinked Ppm tin board," ciz rAtbs

PRICE SD.

the gaol in question was blessed with two rival doctors. A
prisoner fell ill.. Both visited him ; both prescribed for him ;
both sent medicine as different as the views which they had
taken of the disease. The gaoler being no party man, felt
that his duty was to make the unhappy sufferer swallow the
physic of both, when luckily, at this juncture, the mayor,
being the most sensible man of the lot, interferred, and, ax-
anguishing both surgeons
_pre tempore, called in a physician,
who cured the patient. But, says the tale, as it sums tip,
if his worship had been less sagacious, and the sick
man had been left to undergo the horrors of opposite
treatment and the double allowance of physic, and death had
been the result, what verdict would a jury have returned?
There can be but one answer. It would, of course, have been,
, ' Died of too much doctor." And this is the exact peril to
fwhich the trade of this country is constantly kept exposed.
and
tletnadlso is in danger of " dying of too much doctor." It is
ea:darnr
freedom
min t
to
projectflcio w er-ipot,"
roots
m.when a
lli t
directions wants roopmd,
" What can I do for oitiP
shoot forth its spreading ladxuriant branches far. and wide.
philosopher of old : "yStandsaointthe Macedonian. Prince to the
the sun," was all the reply given.ol
And
ythliisgih.
is what
Nv.thhsatt
tlra.dmaeyaesekse
iwOUoSrkstafotresimt.elntasnadys legislators,totm,:wshos kcillohundi.ig kindness
dlnvessur isfroemve°rffiact
tathneed out of my light
and let. me have a little sunshine • scattter
bungling interference, and let me 'breathe the purelf air of free-
dom.isewtiohnast tradetobe wiooansetsd.
fetters
and
d;
froml t 'va
thente crutchesto e reej.romall
trheisstri
mono-
poly and protection; -to be released from the baild
swaddling-clothes, and cradles, and go-carts, and leading_
strings, and rocking-horses of babyhood, and to be allowed to
run alone and.take care of itself. In short, as I said before, it
wants to be rescued from the danger of " dying of too much
doctor." And from this danger the care of the statesman, as
well as the sympathy of the philanthropist, should be roused
to snatch it—and what, indeed, should a statesman be but
a philanthropist in the largest meaning of the word ? But
some of our opponents—l have heard it from themselves—
tell us that they would abandon the corn-laws to the agita-
tion and organisation of the free-traders, if they could quite
persuade themselves that there are no ulterior objects masked
behind this first demand. This is the wisdom of the school-
boy over again, who, when scolded for his stupidity in not
learning his lesson, protested most strongly against the in-
ference—" No, mother, no ! I'm not a dunce ; but 1 know
very well that, if I learn A, master will want me to learn B
next."—(Laughter.) Now, this young gentleman was an
admirable specimen of a person guarding himself against ul-
terior designs.—( Hear.) But his imitators would do well to
recollect that, as there is a time to hold out, so there is a time
to yield ; and they should take care not to pass that time by,
lest, by their obstinacy, they should bring upon themselves
the very peril which they wish to avoid—(Hear)—and be
compelled, not only to learn A, but B also, and C and D, and
all the letters of the political alphabet, down to Z itself. It it
said that there are persons who, if you give them an inch,
will take an ell. But whether this rule will or will not hold
good in politics, depends more upon the giver than the re-
ceiver.—(Hear.) An inch, given in time, and given
gracefully, will, by the feelings of gratitude which it excites
in the people, often save an ell.—(Hear.) But, ifobstinately
refused and held back until wrung from the hand which de-
tains it, it is taken without thanks, and a demand for the ell
instantly follows. And some of the monopolists, I am sorry
to say, seem to be bent upon playing this losing game in
the matter of the corn-laws. In putting forward such
remarks, far be it from me to urge or to think that states-
men and legislators should rush in breathless haste
to yield to every wild and ephemeral cry which may spring
up and die out in a day. But prudent and far-seeing men
ought surely to be able to distinguish between a real and a
counterfeit, a genuine and a spurious, public opinion—
(Cheers)—they ought to know the steady and increasing
light which flashes from the one in all directions, from the
the fire of stubble and momentary blaze of the other.—(Loud
cheers.) And they ought to perceive clearly that there is an
earnestness, that there is a reality, that there is a strength,
in the national demand for free-trade, which plainly says,
that a compliance with it cannot be much longer evaded,
and, therefore, that it is folly to defer it until the people may
be irritated into demanding tree trade and something more.—
(Renewed cheering). Do our monopolist legislators want to
afflict the country with a perpetual blister of agitation ?
Do they wish to make agitation so strong that, when it has
carried one object, it shall have sting enough left in it
instantly to set about another—(Hear)—ever, like the phce-
nix, instead of dying in its ashes, renewing itself, and start-
, ing back into all its youthful vigour ?—(Cheers.) If they
were wise men, they would yield at once—if, even now, the
time for yielding gracefully have not passed by.—(Hear). If
they persist much longer in a vain and useless opposition,
they will only (to use a homely proverb) "go farther and
fare. worse."—(Cheers.) They must be losers by so perse-
veringly teaching the people the power of combination and
organisation.—(Hear.) If this struggle should be foolishly
protracted on their part, what must inevitably be the result?
Do they think that the sweets of power and ambition are
pleasant and acceptable to none but those of their own class
and order ? Do they expect that the men who have guided
and wielded the popular will by their mental superiority and
inspiring eloquence, will quietly retire to their looms and
their factories, their works and their warehouses, and leave
the arena of public affairs to those whom they have so
often foiled and baffled in it? Do they suppose that those
who have become freeholders, and dethroned .one
county despot after another, will all at once act
the part of political suicides, burn their title-deeds,
or barter away their power?—(Heart hear, and cheers.)
Marvellously small must be their knowledge of human na-
ture if they have any such idea. But they cannot entertain
such an absurdity in their minds. Convinced of the fruitless-
ness of any further resistance, they must, in spite of their
looks and words of bold defiance, be going to yield, and all
that the people have to do more at this crisis is to make it
apparent and clear to the monopolists that yielding must
mean yielding, and nothing else—(Hear)—and that the re-
peal of the corn-laws must be total and nothing less—they
must take care not, in the joy and intoxication of victory, to
suffer the results of defeat to be palmed upon them as the
fruits of succe.ss.—( Hear.) As Mr. Cobden has said over and
over again, this is the veryti me to watch and be wary.
Our enemies are a slippery race, ever sliding, never
standing fast to anything.—(Laughter and cheers.) Even
now, when about to give away, they are some of them
yet talking of bargains, compacts, compromises, terms,
conditions, compensations, stipulations, and I know
not what besides ; but all such things must be carefully
denounced by free-traders.—(Hear, hear.) The very
words, as here used, have birdlime, bubbles, snares, pitfalls,
mantraps plainly written over them.—(Hear.) You must
not, then, and I am glad that you do not, abate one atom of
vigilance, one iota of zeal, one fraction of energy, until the
work is accomplished, and the repeal of the corn-laws ac-
tually made part and parcel of the statute-book of the coun-
try.—(Loud cheers.) The man in the fable was credulous,
and foolish, and sluggish, and folded his arms, and stood
looking on in idleness, while he called upon Hercules to lift
his waggon wheels out of the ruts into which they bad sunk
and stuck fast.—(Hear.) But in our case it must be every
man his own Hercules. Every man must put his own shoul-
ders to the wheel until success is achieved. No room must
be left for accidents between the cup and the lip.—(Hear,
hear.) It is the last nail which will rivet the whole work;
send it home by your unanimity and determination this
day, with a will which cannot be mistaken, and which
will prove to your opponents that it is the right one
which you have hit upon the head with the sledge
hammer of a giant.—(Laud cheers.) But all this time I have
said nothing about the specific measure proposed by Sir
Robert Peel. What do I think of it? In all honesty, I
think it a very great measure, and it appears to me that we
must all admit that it has been brought forward and carried
through the House of Commons in a sincere and good spirit,
and we ought, by our meetings from one extremity of the
empire to the other, to give him all support to carry it
further and on to victory against the fierce, but final, oppo-
sition of the monopolist Peers.—(Loud cheers.) But still,
as an agriculturist, and also as a free-trader, I am anxious
that the repeal of the corn-laws should be immediate as well
as total.—(Hear.) Captain Marryatt, in describing
.the
death of one of his characters somewhat given to romancing,
makes him, true to the ruling passion to the very last, ex-
claim, in his expiring moment, when he felt the death rattle
rising in his throat, " Oh, never mind that. A friend ofmine
had the rattles in his throat for six weeks before he died."
But protection is to be so afflicted, not for six weeks only, but
for three years, that is, we, agriculturists, who are proverbi-
ally a timid race, are to face the ordeal of three years of
doubt, three years of uncertainty, three years of un-
easiness, three years of perpetuated panic and unsettled
minds. And at the end of the three years—what? Aye,
" there's the rub."—(Laughter.) It is a secret worth know-
ing;ut but neither you nor I can find it out. If thesdc
,y
should then be at the four-shilling end of the slidinTatteer,
the thing will go off well. Our fall will be upon ii
if it shoulde
bed, and there will be no bones broken. But
happen to be at ten shillings, then, and for some time pre-
viously, it may act as a premium for a panic, by inducing
foreigners to hold back their corn until the sliding-scale
expires, and then pour in the accumulation all at once, so
as not only to affect the agricultural interest, but to derange
for a time all the monetary affairs of the country. And, in
that case, how all the prophets of evil would exult and re-
joice as they charged upon free-trade the mischief entirely
to be ascribed to a blunder of legislation. This should be
yet altered, if possible, and I hope that Sir Robert
Peel may
be induced to alter it.—(Hear, hear.) Hydropathy
may be a very harmless affair while it confines itself to the
pump-handle; but I, for one, leave no fancy for being sub-
jected by it to the action of a cataract.—(Cheers.) There is
yet one other point upon which I would briefly touch before
I sit down. The stagnation which has affected every branch
of trade and commerce in the country, from the delay of the
ministerial measure in the House of Commons, is greatly to
be deplored, especially when it is evident, from the scene
which took place on the night of its third reading, that per-
sonal feeling has at least had as much influence as patriotism
with the cleverest of the obstacle-mongers, whose hostility to
Sir Robert Peel appears to be very much akin to the lamen-
tation of the disappointed belle at the undiscerning blindness
or too bashful coyness of the hesitating beaux—
" They don't propose—they won't propose,
For feat, perhaps, I'd not say ' Yee.'
Just let them try, for, heaven knows,
I'm tired of single blessedness."—(Laughter.)
But still, as far as the question of free-trade itself is con-
cerned, however this delay may have tried our patience, it
has, I verily believe, greatly strengthened our cause.—
(Hear.) If the promoters of it fancied that, to use a Trans-
Atlantic phrase, by adopting this " masterly inactivity "
they should allow the agriculturists through the country
time to get up a fiery storm of agitation in their behalf,
how miserably se - lf deceived they must have been. So far
from such a response having been made to their appeal, the
Ministerial settlement of the question has been i
met, if not
with grateful acquiescence, at all events, with silent ndiffer-
ence throughout the rural districts. At the
Watford meet-
ing the other day, the Earl of Essex proclaimed his unquali-
fied conversion and adhesion to the principles of free-trade—
(Hear, hear)—and the Earl of Essex, we know, was one
of those to whom the
monopolists looked for the most
strenuous help and assistance, as, in , their imaginations,
they inscribed " mangling done here ' over the portals of
the House of Lords.—(Laughter.) In my own parish, too, I
found, upon my return from London a week or two ago, that
our largest farmer—and a very good and clever farmer he is,
but a most confirmed croaker and alarmist withal at one
time on the subject of free trade—had been taking some ten
acres more, at a rent certainly not less than three pounds an
acre. And he has since increased his holding by a hundred
and eighty additional acres, at a somewhat, but not very
much, lower rent. —(hear, hear.) Now, this is what I call
being a merry mourner over the death of monopoly. His
name is Brown, but, as I said before, he is no green one in his
vocation—(Laughter)—and nobody. can say that he is either
looking very blue himself, or regarding the prospects of agri-
culture as very black at the present moment.—(Cheers.)
4 Aid yet, I cau assure you, three months since the mine than

•
' had an idea that the only chance of avoiding the ruin which
free-trade was certain to bring with it, was to
fly to some 'unknown land, the paradise of farmers,
where corn was to be had for reaping and labour for
nothing. • But enough. Under any circumstances, the
struggle is almost over.—(llear, hear.) " The shadows which
coming events cast before them" cannot be mistaken. They
all combine to assure us that the mission of the League is
- nearly accomplished. The mission of the League! Upon
that phrase, as this, I trust, is our last meeting on the eve of
victory, I would dwell for a few moments as I finish. Never
to my mind was a more sacred or holy mission undertaken
by mortal man.—(Cheers.) Its dreams are not of wild
ambition or extended power, like those of the statesman or
the hero. It arrays itself, indeed, as a conqueror for the
struggle ; but the conquests which it would achieve are of a
peaceful and moral kind. Its object is to wrestle with, to
war down, to overcome, the blighting influence of class
industryinterest,nmeoc ne s
yl y
:t to
and
subverttodhew
enn
peopleefit
the
benefit
tehoefmfr
ondmov thesemi
convictions
eeitonhnsci
things,
chains
,ntshaeniselfishness,
wtuotih
tiscr
country
o uproot
_frathe em-t theh
e
taken and once-sided legislation has so long bound it.—
(Cheers.) This is the mission of the League! For such
ends, for such a conquest, it started into being, and so ,
far its career has been a march of triumph through the land.
The miserable sophistry and more miserable ignorance of its
enemies exposed, prejudice trampled under foot, obstinacy
softened down, hostility soothed into friendship, conviction
reaching, first, hundreds, then thousands, and tens of thou-
sands, and, last of all, spreading to the millions—and taken
up by the whole people, as it were, by acclamation, these are
the trophies which it has already set up in its onward march
to victory. And who shall tell me, as I contemplate these
little less than miraculous achievements, that the day can -
now be far off when the impulse given to the trade of England
by the seven men who met seven years ago in the small
leys of the Mississippi, and the farthest
trheeemGanalglifesrinchthesetevra,lshall make itself felt on the banks of
islands of the ocean ? But while I praise the League for
its almost superhuman energies and exertions, we must not
forget that others, high and influential, great and noble in
the land, are zealously and earnestly with the people in this
mighty struggle. And if from the ranks of these I may select
one to whom the gratitude of the country is peculiarly due,
I would for an instant pause upon the name of the great
head of the Liberal party, Lord John Russell. His adhesion
awpt theoeaasr
aant
healthyepoeon, pctcuehhl
aaa turnednrn
gwtehi wishes hht
ier
nsd
euowguoa shrf
ocofuattvnhofiteuhicsreitg:lnafilanetldrce.pfor immediats victory.
His famous letter from Edinburgh no sooner made its
n
nd
rtyulpiopn, ahnidintanhedeymesarokfeadllhtirumealsoytherseir,lemutiahscidtinrratiriininesuuneliit country see before,
ra were bevene
zr were
oencluimsd
irceTa
thd t
stimulated t hei
of the struggle. The timid were encouraged ; the doubtful
oaa
fnetdhhise waveringconfidence
tk
weedespondingrthoefaeirttat.he influence
more
tEhanventhtehier
former exertions. In short, a new spirit invigorated every -
breast, and the people, strong in their numbers, but strong in
the righteousness of their cause, rallied round the standard
unfurled by their old and tried leader—his very name an
augery of victory, their English determination a surety that
that augery should not be in vain.—(Applause.) But still,
and Lord John Russell, I am certain, would be foremost to say
so, the first and chief praise of all that is accomplished can
only be ascribed to one quarter. Compare the
was when first
the state of oar
r
cause at the present moment with what
the agitation in its behalf commenced. Free trade was then
a theory, an abstraction, which might here and there occupy
the attention of some deep thinker in his closet. Now it is a
question fully and clearly understood by applauding millions. -
(Applause.) Then it was a speck, a spot, no bigger than a
man's hand, just peeping above the horizon of the country.
—( Hear, hear.) Now, it is a rich and fertilizing dead filling
the whole political sky around and above us. Then it was
a tiny, trickling rill, stealing silently and imperceptibly
through the land. Now it is a wide and majestic stream,
resistless as the flood which feeds Niagara with its
waters, and sweeping all before it in its rising and
swelling tide.—(Cheers.) And who have made it all this?
Who watched over it, and cherished and nursed it in its
earliest and tenderest infancy? Who worked for it, and toiled
for it, and laboured for it from the very beginning, not waiting
until the iron was hot before they struck, but striking it with
lusty vigour until they made it hot? Who were the patient
and persevering instructors of the popular mind, steady to
the work, through evil report and good report, for years upon
years, refuting every error, exposing every fallacy, explain-
ing every difficulty, until at last they have created a public
opinion in its hehalf which is the representative of almost a
natidh's thoughts, its fiat law, its will command, and
snatching from the ranks of its opponents the very states-
men whom they raised to power as the stoutest champions
of their cause, and harnessing them to the triumphal
chariot in which it is careering to victory? Who have
done all this? The League—the men of the League—
and honour to them for it.—(Loud cheers.) Honour
to them now, and honour to them from all future
generations of their countrymen. We find it emblazoned
in the history of France that, for centuries and centuries after
the death of the celebrated Maid of Orleans, the inhabitants
of her native village had cause to remember her not only
with national pride, but with personal gratitude, inasmuch
as when told to name a reward for her services to her coun-
try, she asked nothing for herself, but prayed that the seat
of her birth and childhood might be free from every kind of
impost and duty. Her request was granted, and annually,
as the taxes were gathered in, it was passed by, the books of
the collectors having this significant intimation written op-.
posite to its name, " Nothing, for the Maid's sake." Now,
draw the lesson ; point the moral for yourselves. Shall Eng-
lishmen be less grateful? Will they not, through ages yet
unborn, feel pleasure, and pride, and thankfulness, when they
look back at the glorious struggle now drawing to a close,
and as the food of the people now comes to them, untaxed,
with no duty, no sloth-encouraging protection to be paid
upon it, from every region of the earth, will they not also
joyfully exclaim Nothing for the League's sake?" It is
the fulfilment of its mission—" Nothing for the League's
mute." The Rev. Gentleman was repeatedly cheered during
the delivery of his speech, and resumed his seat amidst the
most enthusiastic plaudits of the meeting.

RAILWAY SHARE MARKETS.
BRISTOL, MAT 26.

STOCK Excameas.—The sales are—Bristol and Exeter, New, 10—
Bristol and South Wales Junction, 1 % —Bristol and Gloucester,
50 —Caledonlan,New, —Midland, 148—Shrewsbury and Birming-
ham, 2% =Dutch Rhenish, 7%.
LIVERPOOL, MAT 25.
NEW STOCK EXCHANOE.—Since last Thursday no improvement can
be noted in the Share Market. The few transactions recorded show
little variation in prices. The sales are—Birkenhead, Lancashire,
and Cheshire Junction, I Is. 6d. p. —Birmingham and Oxford, A p.
—Boston, Newark, and Sheffield, % dis.—Derby and Crewe, 3 p.—
Direct Northern, 251. Shares,% dis.—Eastern Counties, York Exten-
sions, 16s. 6d. p.—Great Grimsby and Sheffield Decks, 2% dis.
Huddersfield and Manchester, % dis.—Leeds and Thirsk, 4% dis
Leicester and Birmingham, 16s. dis.—Leicester and Bedford, 3s. 6d.
p.—Leicester and lamworth, % dis.—Liverpool and Bury, 8M p.—
Liverpool, Ormskirk, and Preston, % p.—London and Manchester
(Rem.),2 dis.—London and:York, par —Manchester and Biimingham,
Quarter Shares (A), 8% p.—Dittto, ditto (B), p.—Manchester,
Midland, and Great Grimsby, 15s. 9d. dis.—Manchester, Matlock,
and Midland, % p.—Midland Stock, 401. Shares 12% p.—Ditto,
Birmingham and Derby, 120—Northumberland and Lancaster, 21s.
dis.—North Staffordshire, I3s. 6d. p.—North Western, Is. p.—Solltll
Midland, 14 dis.—Ulverstone, Lancaster, and Carlisle, 16s. 6d. dia.—
West Riding Union, 2% p.—Glasgow and Dumfries, 14 dis.—Glas-
gow and Ayr, 401. Shares, 17 p.—Great County Down, 1% dia.—
Dutch Rhenish, 1% p.—Great Luxembourg, 2% dis.

'MANCHESTER, MAY 26:

STOCK Exeserras.—The sales are—Ambergate, Nottingham,
and Eastern Junction, 18s. 6d. dis.— Birkenhead, Lancashire, Sec.,
1 ; Birkenhead and Holyhead Junction, 1% dis.—Boston,
Newark, and Sheffield, 15s. dls.—Boston, Stamford, and :Bir-
mingham, 3/4 dis.—Chester and Manchester Direct, 265. dis.—
Derby and Crewe, 3% p.—East Lincolnshire (No. 1), 3% p.—
Goole, Doncaster, Sheffield, &c., 9s. 6d. dis.—Huddersfield and
Manchester Railway and Canal, Eifliension, 1 dis.—Huddersfield and
Sheffield Junction, 5% p.—Leicester and Redford, % p.—Liverpool
and Bury, New Shares, p.—Liverpool, Ormskirk, and Preston,
18s. 6d. p.—Liverpool, Prosten, Manchester, and Southport, % dis.—
London and York, 14 dis.—Manchester, Buxton, Matlock, and .Mid-
land, 1-16 p.—Manchester and Birmingham (B), p.—Ditto,
ditto (C), p.—Manchester and Leeds, Fifths, 914 p.—Ditto. Ex-
tension, p.—North Staffordshire, 4 p.—North Western, % p.—
Sheffield and Lincolnshire Junction, % c. p.—Sheffield and Man-
chester, Quarters, No. 3, 5-16 p.—Shropshire Mineral, 1% dis.—
Shropshire Union Railway and Canal, dis.—South-Eastern and
over, Halves, No. 4, % p.—West Lancashire Coast, % dis.—West
Riding Union, 11.16 p.

LEEDS, MAT 26

Broca Excammi.—The sales' are—Eastern Counties, York Ex-

tension, 17s. 6d. p.-East Lancashire, No. 2, 34 p. c.-Hudders-
field and Manchester, % dis.-Huddersfield and Sheffield, 6% p. c.-
Leeds:and Bradford, 27% p. c.-Leeds and Dewsbury, I% p. c.-
Leeds andThirsk, 4% dis.-Manchester and Leeds Fifth Shares,
9% p.-Ditto, Extensions, 2/. 16s. 6d. p.-North British, Carlisle
Branch, I p.-Sheffield and Manchester, Quarter Shares, No. 3,
3s. 6d. p.-Boston, Newark, and Sheffield, 16s. dis.-Buckingham-
shire, 2s. p.-Chelmsford and Bury, 198. dis.-Great Eastern and
Western, 1% dis.-Lancashire and North Yorkshire, 34 dis.-
Leeds and York, 295. dis.-Leeds, Wakefield, and Midland, 2951
dis.-Leicester and Bedford, 3s. 6d. p.-Lincoln, York, and Leeds,
32r6asn.
ediShes.-teLr,ivßeuxrpootok, 331anfatichoceskt,era,ndan3driNdicanwdcas,
2tlieg.Junp._ctrinichan%
Thlrsk Junction, 21s. dis.-Northumberland and Lancashire
6s. 21x.
p.-South Midland, 9s. dis.-IVest Riding 'Union, 41. 16s. 6d.
tion, 21s. dis.-North Staffordshire, Si. 19s. P.-North Western,
SHEFFIELD, MAT 26.
Caledonian,
and Sheffield Extensions, 9s. 6.1. dis.-Ditto, Quarter Shares, ss. 6d.
2% dis.- Grimsby
STOCK Exciisprox.-The sales are-
dls.-Leed.s, Wakefield, and Midland, I Is. dis.-Manchester,Midland.
and Great Grimsby, 135. 6d.-Manchester, Buxton, 3latlock, and
Midland, 11. p.-Sheffield and Lincolnshire, 2s. 6d. p.-Shetrield,
Buxton, Leek, Potteries, aid Crewe, its. dis.
HUDDERSFIELD, MAY 26.

grocx EXCIIANGE.—The sales are—London and Croydon, 22
Huddersfield and Sheffield Junction, 19M,—London, Salisbury, and
Yeovil, 1/. 18s.—Goole, Doncaster, and Sheffield, 345. 6d.—Sheffield
and Lincolnshire, 11. 6s.—Glasjow and Dumfries, Bs. ft.—West
Riding Union, 41. 15s.

HULL, MAY 26.

BTocs EXCRAIGIC.—The sales are—Blackburn, Darwen, and
Bolton, G%—North British, Carlisle, 445. 34.—Ambergate, Not-
tingham, Boston, foe., 32s.—Boston, Newark, and Sheffield,
14s. 6d.—Bradford, Wakeeld, and Midland, 335.—Bucking-
hamshire, les. 6d.—Derby and Gainsborough, 10.—Fleet-
wood, Preston, and West Riding, 1; s.—Hull and Barnsley
Junction, 255. 6d.—Leicester and Bedford, 245. 3d.—Leicester
and Tamworth, I%—North Western, 255. 6d.—SGlith Midland, 325.
6G—West Riding Union, 4/. 12s.
NEWCASTLE-UPON-TYNE, MAT 26.
STOCK EXCHANGE.—The sales axe—North British, Halves, Car-
lisle, 21s. 6d. p.—North Western, i p.—Northumberland and Lan-
cashire, 21s. did.

YORK, MAY 26.
STOca Exert/IP:IE.—The sales are—Grand Union (Nottingham
to Lynn), 13s. 6d.—Leicester and Bedford, 1 —Manchester, Bux-
ton, Matlock, and Midland, 3—Newc,astle and Berwick, 25M —North
British, Carlisle Extension, 21. 65. 60.—Welsh Midland, 1 %—York
and North Midland, New (East and West Riding), 11%.
EDINI3URGH, MAT 23.
STocit ExalASOV.—The sales are—Belfast and Irish Union, 41g.
Caledonian Extension, 325. 6d.—Carnwath and West Linton, 22a-
-6d. —Direct Noitkern, 38s. 6d.—Dundee and Perth, 171. 10s.—East
anldEi Perthmn 2154. 41s.—Glasgow —Glasgow
6d.—London, Indian Railway, 145. ad.—Edinburgh and Northern, Si. 75. 6d.—
Ditto, Newport, 14s. 6(l,—Ditto, Lochgelly, 23s.—Edinburgh and
and
dristpoundl
JrueenbotlesioL,3323ss7—Edinlnvebrnurgess an h
, and
South Wales, 195.—North EnV.:3ll. Halves, 111. 105.—Ditto, Exten-
sion to Carlisle, 465. 6d.—Scottish Central, 151. 155.—South Mid-
land, 40s.

To THE SPORTING WORLD.—SaIe of Bell's ,Life
London during the past four weeks in May :
•
May 10 .. •••••••••• • • • • • • • • • 25061997
28,528
hMuankdirnetgi anan averaged set sale
Bd eachrs publication les a:7ua
ly published twenty-sixthior
tat= sir
all the Saturday afternoon railways, For the most correct reported
particulars of the four days' Epsom Races, see Bell's Life, Sunday next,
May 31. A sixpence enclosed to Mr. Clements, jun., 170, Strand, will
insure, at all times, a copy to any part of the kingdom by return of
pest.
[ADVERTISEMENT.] —ANOTHER WONDER; OR, CURE
EXTRAORDINARY BY HOLLOWAY'S PILLIL—MT. Maguire, a respect-
able person residing near Sunday's Well, Cork, was given over in a
case of dropsy, and was perfectly cured, when pronounced to be at
the point of death, by these wonderful pills. rersons, either young
or old, who become corpulent, Pottle-bellied, bloated, or dropsical,
thereon, but
tahlseoirrnegugarinestbheecohmigeh as highest may not only avoid apoplexy and other dangerous diseases attending
ere
tightstate , as light, and as geod as
hetli, strength, and
energy,en
is the days of youth.—Sold (also Holloway's Ointment) at Professor
Holloway's Establishment. 244, Strand, and by almost all respect-
able aendorS of medicine throughout the civilised world.
FEARFUL OMNIBUS ACCIDENT ON LONDON-BRIDGE.
—On Tuesday, about six o'clock, a very distressing accident took
place on the Southwarkside of London .bridge, to a Poo!' man, named
crossing Michael Donovan, aged 49 years, a bricklayer, residingssin athet
was
Passing towards High-street, and before t_ e Xo.
Ca 3,
White's-place, Redcross-street, Borough. lie was
r-
riage way, when he was knocked down by an omnibus which
horses, the off-wheel passed over
hisiecto St. Thomas's Hospital
.where he is going on as favourably as can wound of the cheek. He was carried
be expected.
A PRESSIMIST JOKE.—
M
the driver_ could stop the
caused a lacerated
, and
oilame T ussaud has a sent
card to Smith O'Brien, inscribed—.'i gartyrs wax-inateci on the
ooziest notice."--"flo.