The Sun.
London, England, 1851-10-21 00:00:00

WALTHAM AGRICULTURAL
ASSOCIATION.
Maaross MOIVI3RAY, OCT. 18.—The annual meet-
ing of this society was held yesterday at Waltham-
-1 on- the-Wolds, Leicestershire. The show of stock
was small but good, and ploughing was excellent, but
there was less competition for the premiums than on
former occasions. The dinner was held in the Agri-
cultural Hall ; the Marquis of Granby, M.P., presid-
ing. Tae attendance of tenant-farmers was small,
owing, it is believed, to seine misunderstandine. be-
tween them and the Duke of Rutland respectingq-ent,
which, under the recent revaluation of his Grace's
estates, have for the aaost part been increased.
After the usual loyal and patriotic toasts had been
given,
The Marquis of GRANBY, M.P., proposed " Pros-
perity and success to the Waltham Agricultural
Society," as the principal toast of the evening. 0122
of the chief objects of a society like that was not
merely to hear clever and practical speeches in that
hall, but to call together men living in different
parts of the country, and practically acquainted with
the pursuits of agriculture, in order that they might
talk over their affairs. In the words of the late
lamented Sir Robert Peel—for, however, much
he might have differed with this lamented
statesman in politics, he hoped he had never
said anything against his character, or that could
in any way diminish the friendship he ever enter-
tained for him—" One of the objects of these socie
ties is to bring men together, that they may rub
their minds one against the other—(Hear, hear)--
that they may perceive the difference in the various
modes of farming, and learn any improvements that
their neighbours have discovered:yThe late abundant
harvest had been alluded to by one or two speakers,
and that was a circumstance at which all must feel
deeplygrateful, inasmuch as it conferred blessings not
only upon the producer of food, but also upon the
consumer; hut unfortunately, this blessing was marred
to a great extent by the folly of our legislation. That
which, while causing the abundance of food, should
at the same time have conferred a blessing upon the
producer, from the very large importations of foreign
corn had unfortunately very much gone down in price
—the averuge of the last week being, he believed, 375.
7d. per quarter. It was not necessary for him to re-
peat what his political opinions were—they were un-
changed.— (Applause.) He had nothing to regret in
what he had previously said—nothing to unsay—but
stood word by word to everything he had,uttered, both
in that hall and elsewhere. He wished be was in a
position to retract some portion of his previous speeches
—he wished he could see that dawning of prosperity
which some men affected to have discovered; he wished
ho could say that he thought the landed interests of
this country—the landlords, farmers, and labourers
—were likely to see their condition improve.—
(Hear, hear.) He had expressed his belief that all
would feel the pressure of the present prices, and he
still entertained the same opinion. Alas ! hour by
hour, day lay day, and year by year, these prophecies
were being too accurately fulfilled. If he were asked
what remedy he proposed his answer would be the
remedy he had already advocated.—(Hear, hear, and
cheers.) He could see no other. After having paid
every attention to the various remedies that had been
announced, he owned that he saw none that he
thought possible, except a return to moderate import
duties, which alone would enable the agricultural in-
terest to prosper in this country.—(Hear, hear, and
cheers.) But they were told that Protection was
dead. They were told so last year; and they were
told it so often last year that they (the Protectionists)
really began to believe there must be something in it.
They thought that the came had been given up, and
had ordered their mourning for the occasion. Mr.
Wakley had invited himself to attend as coroner upon
the inquest; but, lo and behold ! the body that was
defunct was the Free-trade Ministry, and Mr. Wak•
ley sat upon the coroner's inquest.—(Laughter.)
Then it was said that the Duke of Wellington came,
and, somehow or other, resuscitated this Free-trade
Ministry, not to perfect life, but to vegetate ; and
there they were, vegetating at that moment.—(Re-
newed laughter.) The Spectator a violent free-trade
organ, which had much amused him, last week said—
" In home politics the news of the week turns upon
a subject that is not only old but done with."
Then why did the Spectator, a go-a-herd j our-
nal, trouble its head about it ? " One that all parties
desire to forget." Then why did the Spectator forget
it ? And yet, by the perverseness of tate, it will in-
sist upon being remembered, discussed, nay, hoped
for, as if it really were something promised in the
future, and not an exploded mistake cf the past.
"Journalists detest the subject"—free-trade journal-
ists had cause to detest the subject—" hate the very
word, and yet we find ourselves, against our feelings,
still tracing and retracing the detested letters—pro-
tection—(Laughter.) The subject is hateful to us on
every account,"—he believed that. " We know that
the public is sick of it." Did they? " We know
that the sight of the word is enough to make the
reader turn from our pages"—fools they must be then
—" with dislike, perhaps with contempt, for our in-
ability to shake off the habit. But hero we are, still
writing it—Protection. It is the bottle imp of poli-
ticians." Poor Spectator, it must be hard for it to be
in the unfortunate predicament of being for ever
obliged to write the word they hate. There were
one or two other circumstances which still made him
think that Protection was not quite given up. Lord
Palmerston, visiting Tiverton the other day, was not
quite so insignificant to his (the Noble Chairman's)
mind as it might be to others. What draw him to
Tiverton ? Who ever heard of his visiting Tiverton
before ? There must have been some reason for his
going there ; and something to do with the politics of
Tiverton. Lord Palmerston seemed to have felt that
there was some change in the views of the inhabitants of
Tiverton as to their Members; not an improbable
conjecture, when it was remembered what happened
at Boston, at Knaresborough, and at Scarborough.—
(Applause.) The electors of these boroughs had be-
gun to find out that they had some interest in this
question of Protection. It was all very well to call
it a landlord's, farmer's, and labourer's question, but
it was also a town's question ; therefore he suspected
that there had been some little movement in Tiverton
that made Lord Palmerston feel not quite comfortable
in his seat. Consequently he went down and made,
as he always did and always would make, an able and
clever speech. Bat perhaps the chief excellence of
the speech was that he took care to commit himself to
nothing. He certainly, however, made one very im-
portant assertion, upon which be (the Noble Marquis)
would make a few remarks. Lord Palmerston said,
" I don't think you will have any chance of getting
an import duty levied upon corn until you see the
river Exe running from the sea to the town of Tiver-
ton, instead of from Tiverton to the ocean." Now
Lord Palmerston knew very well, though he (the
Marquis of Granby) might not, what was the course
of the river Exe, or how its waters ran; but although
it might be that there was no back-water in the rivers
of that part of the country, Lord Palmerston knew
very well that, in the stream of public opinion, there
was often a back water that might be very dis-
agreeable.—(Loud laughter.) He suspected that the
Exe prophet would not have appeared at Tiverton
bad he not been somewhat afraid of being
ex-member for that town.—(Continued laughter.)
He might be wrong, but he had a strong suspicion
that these were the facts of the case. This again
showed him that Protection was not so dead a thing
as some people would wish to make it appear. But
there was also another fact, and that was that they
were threatened with a new Reform Bill, because,
as they were told, the present Ministry were afraid
that at the next general election the county and
borough constituencies might return a Protectionist
Parliament. It was very extraordinary, if protection
were dead, that these fears should exist. He did not
know what this Reform Bill was to be like, and
was therefore desirous of not pledging himself to a
measure of which he knew nothing, but he should not
be at all surprised if the Tory and Protectionist party
were not favourable to an extension of the franchise.
—(Hear, hear.) This however ho would say, that if
the extension of the suffrage were not to be a bona
fide one, but a measure for private purposes—if it
were to be an extension to promote the interests of a
' particular class only, and to put down the largest
interest in the country—he thought it would be the
duty of all well-meaning Englishmen to oppose it to
the uttermost; and that such might be the case—he
did not say that it would be, hut he aid not know
—but that such might be the case he thought
there was a great probability.—(Loud cheers.)
An extension of the franchise ! Why, he had
.81
ready alluded to the boroughs that had the audacity
to to go along with the counties in returninegmPenr
t tionist members, ,and he would for one
statedm that Mr.
re-
turn to that point. It had been
Young was returned for Scarborouelalsllyby
known that
the ship-
owners ; but it was not perhaps
the show of hands was in his favourgen at the_ nomina-
tion ; and there was every probability that if there
Mr. Yeoumng, would. have
had been universal suffrage I
equally
that this
majority. been returned by an
therefore strongly suspected at reform that
to kill protection, was to be a one-sided,
was really
bastard measure, and not a true extension of the fran-
chisehear.) For all these rea-
in England.--(Hoar,
sons he doubted whether their friend was really dead.
--(Applause.) But Mr. Disraeli had been Announced

, ~e- /z;
,/ „.., ..
.e•
__- eta
4-lrting nen_,. it , had _lsure o.
Disraeli's acquaintance; and be noa, favoured,
with an avowal of his intentie It might be true,
as yet be was net acquainted with it. It must be
fla ering,in the extreme to Mr. Disraeli to witness
ch greOtanxiety that he should give it up.—(Hear,
ear.) kappeared that Mr. Disraeli had said, that
until the voice of the people of England declared that
they were in favour of protection he saw no chance of
its return. Mr. Disraeli said. more. He said, that
he saw no chance of a restoration of protection until
there was a new Parliament.—(Hear, hear.) But
be had gone further than that ; he had said, he saw
the grossest injustice committed upon one class of
the people of this country ; he had seen burdens
imposed upon them wider the idea that
they were to be borne under a particular
system; he had seen that system abrogated. Now
the Parliament of England refused to restore that
protection, and he said, ar-rcrov, that they must find
- ! - • --,
some other remedy for the distress of which he
complained.—(Cheers.) Mier reading Mr. Disraeles
speech with all the attention that be could give to it,
he understood thif to be Mr. Disraeli's position. He
(Mr. Disraeli) had said, " Thie gross injustice had
been committed, and it could not be allowed to exist;
they bad refired his remedy, they would not listen.
to him, and he therefore called upon them who had
committed the hardship to show him another remedy,
if they could."—(Cheers.) That was, perhaps, one
of the best modes of show ing the calm good sense of
this country, that if cur statesmen and politicians in-
tended to uphold the national credit, to pay the inte-
rest of the debt, to maintain this nation in her pre-
sent position, to pay for an army cnd navy, to keep
up our colonies, to retain India, and to continue to be
a first-class nation, there could no remedy be found
for this crying and gross injustice, but a return to
to the system of moderate import duties.—(Cheers.)
It was very well for interested papers to endeavour
to show that Mr. Disraeli had abandoned the cause
that he had so ably advocated; but until he had it
from himself be should disbelieve it. Whatever he
or any Protectionist might say, was derided as coming
from a set of clodhoppers and ignoramuses. Those
who would not permit Englishmen to argue or ex-
plain—those with their cosmopolitan tendency and
affection—would perhaps allow him to quote the hpi-
moultnee ofstiet most ,learns 4 -,Akaaaaeroad. The
Nobl arquia qu ted from a speech delivered bM.
Thiers in the Chamber of Deputies y
, Prance, i which,
after staling that England received at then present
time one-third of her consumption of corn from fo-
reigners, the following passage occurs :—" At the
present day they give the English people bread at a
very low price. I don't deny it ; but when war oc-
curs, even should England remain mistress of the
field of battle . . . then will that nation see the
price of bread doubled, perhaps trebled." The Noble
Lord next quoted from the New York herald;—. " Without the abrogation of the British restrictive
laws, the United States was destined very soon to
shove Great Britain aside from the eminence she so
long proudly boasted on the seas, but with the over-
throw of her great monopoly of sea transportation,
this fact was rendered doubly certain ;" and that "no
part of this distinction had been earned by emigra-
tion : let John Bull stick a pin in there." Having
quoted other passages from the speech of M. Thiers,
asserting that the products of a country should be
protected if a nation were to remain independent and
prosperous, Lord Granby read from a published
work by Mr. Carey, an American, which strongly
advocated the return in America to a more protec-
tive system, although nearly all the products of that
country were already protected at the rate of 30 per
cent. What was the reason the English farmer was
unable to compete with the foreigner in the British
market ? Mr. Disraeli had insisted that it was owing to
the.'great burdens they had to bear; but he mighthave
gone further, and instanced the much higher wades
be had to pay than the foreigner, owing to the na-
tional debt, and because there was scarcely an article
that the labourer consumed that was not taxed. That
was an argument that had not, and he ventured to
say that would not, be answered.—(Hear, hear.) If
they could do without these taxes the English farmer
might be able to compete with the foreigner ; bat
until they could do that they could not flourish or
exist unless there were a moderate duty put upon the
importation of foreign corn.—(Cheers.) When he
made use of that argument in the House of Com-
mons, Sir James Graham admitted that the labourer's
beer, tobacco, and other articles were taxed; but
asked if that were a reason why his bread should be
taxed also ? Now that was not meeting the argu-
ment fairly. Sir James Graham forgot, in his
answer, that if they raised the price of the labourer's
bread with one hand, with the other they gave him
that which would enable him to pay the increased
price, as well as the high prices for the other articles
which they obliged him to pay.—(Hear, hear.) And
Sir James Graham also overlookt:d the most impor-
tant fact as to the difference of taking the tax off an
article imported from abroad which was produced
in this country, and an article imported from
abroad which could not b' Frecluced in this
country. For example : he would take the
article of tea. If they took off the tax upon tea,
amounting, he thought, to the sum of 4,000,0051.,
they conferred an undivided benefit upon the
labourer, without causing a single leaf less to be
produced in this country for the very valid reason
that not a single leaf was produced in this country
—(Hear, hear.) But if they took the tax off foreign
corn its supply would be increased, and the supply of
English corn decreased, while, at the same time, in
some instances they decreased the labourer's wages,
and in others deprived him of wages altogether.—
(liear, hear.) They were told that the labouring
classes of this country were never better off. He be-
lieved that at present they were receiving nearly as
high wages as formerly, and obtained their food
cheaper; but this was an unnatural state of things,
and would not last, for it was impossible to diminish
the fund from which the labourer was paid, and at
the same time pay him as high wages as he now
received.—(Hear, hear.) In Ireland the effect of
recent legislation had told in a most deplorable man-
ner ; and she was but the mirror of our fortunes, un-
less the policy that had caused the distress were re-
versed.—(llear, hear.) In a free-trade journal, the
Morning Chronicle, he found the following state-
ment :—" Day by day emigration was increasing,
and the proportion of the better class of farmers
making their way to America is augmenting. Even
small traders, and some of the professional classes
are leaving the country. During the last week vast
numbers have left Dublin ; some directly from this
port (Dublin), but the great majority by way of
Livertool. On Friday last (Oct. 3), on passing along
the quays, the Custom-house quay was crowded with
emigrants and their families to the number of at least
1,000, the far greater ireportion of whom appeared
to be persons in comfortable circumstances, many of
the females being clothed with silk. One of the most
remarkable features was a number of stout, healthy-
looking, well-dressed young men, between the ages
of eighteen and twenty-five. Instead of showing
the indications of regret which had hitherto been ap-
parent amongst emigrants, all these people seemed in
the highest spirits on leaving their native country."
Surely this was a matter of consideration :
" E'en now the devastation has begun,
And half the business of destruction's done;
E'en n sw, methinks, as pondering here I stand,
I see the rural virtues leave the land.
Down where yon anchoring vessel spreads the sail,
That, idly waiting, flaps with every gale;
Downward they mole, the 'melancholy band
Pass from the shore, and darken all the strand."
—(Cheers.) The prophecy of the poet was unfortu-
nately realised in the present day—thousands were
leaving their native land. It mattered little whether
emigration were owing to the attraction of America
or the repulsion of Ireland—the cause was the sam
e-..
it was that Ireland was devastated by free trade,
while America was flourishing under protection.—
(Cheers.) He feared that from the present House of
Commons there was but little chance of obtaining a
return to protection, or any justice to the land. They
must look solely to the next election. It was in the
registration courts and at the polling booths that they
must fight for the rights of labour in this country, if
the question were to be fought at all. It was to the
electors of the country they must look ; and if they
threw their hearts into the cause—if they came for-
ward
.. as men determined to assert their rights, be, for
He one, did not fear the result.—(Applause.)
change
not fear the result, because he saw a
great e
wasthebeginning
world,daily working in the public mind, the
tt o h
a t learn
onlythatone people were
of
therewere two
syste systems
übled bforee
thesel7 a ve.— (C beers.)
They meant to have re
right, and that system
for all.—(Hear, hear.)
fthTuithere-syti would
choice did not rest be-
agdueefsoroaa 11,
wereor putfairly
atprotection
tween half measures.
If e
protectionth to national
eyinightdepend
upon a ma-
jority industry.
A number of other
in favour
toasts followed.
the next election,of

BURGLARY AND ATTEMPTED MURDER.--Yesterday
information was received by the metropolitan police that
between one and three o'clock on Sunday morning the dwel-
ling-house of Mr. J. Cheekley, farmer, at Cornwall, near
Chipping Norton, was burglariously entered by two men,
one of whom had his face blackened. Mr. Cheekley was
awoke by hearing them in the servant's bed-room--calling
the girl by, her name, Betsey. They told her to lie still
and they would not hurt her. lie instantly sprang out e f
bed, and faced them, when a desperate struggle ensued. The
men stabbed him with a table-knife, and beat him with a
bludgeon, till, from loss of blood, he fell down insensible.
Mrs. Cheekley was also seriously injured. They took 30a.
from the servant, 21. 10s. from Mrs. Cheekley, a watch and
about 20/. worth of silver plate, and a drinking cup, en•
graved "In token of esteem from John Costiff," and went ciE
Mr. Cheekley lies in a very dangerous state. Two men have
been apprehended on suspicion.

NEW REQULATIONS BY COUNTY COUBTF.---SOMe Of
the county courts, under one of the new rules, have sent
their notices to the messengers of the Insolvent Debtors
Court, to be served in the same manna as the notices of
hearing by that court. It is expected that other Gptinty
courts dill ckclopt the le,plati9ll.