The Sun.
London, England, 1844-08-08 00:00:00

theyticians or as citizens, fail in doing what they CO
advance our great cause, by spreading informat, e
iou,
and looking after their own and their neighbours
giqration, and disseminating sound information Ips
every possible way. As soon as this system, be '
thoroughly understood by the people, there
no difference of opinion about it, and we are comp!
to the time when men will be taking credit to theinv
selves for having always been free traders. W,se
know that Clarkson began his agitation for the no"
tion of the slave trade in 1786, and devoted Mose
—and, if it had been necessary, his life—to the
cornplishment of his holy object; and I say it to t;
honour of the town where I reside, that it wasuo
Manchester he called the first public meeting tl;ie
was held for the consideration of the slave trade. 'ir
was at work for twenty years before he accede
plished his object; and when the slave tral
was abolished, the conflict was renewed to put d 0
the institution of .slavery itself; but it was tvve°?,(l,
six years before the great work was accomphsi4o
And now when the work is accomplished, and wu
there is no sinister interest to offend in advocating
the principle of freedom to the negro, we seethelneo
who, when these benevolent men were labouring !,
accomplish their object, voted against them on oral(
occasion, even against the abolition of the flogging 0
women, going down to Exeter Hall and singing Ple°,
over the freedom of the negros in the West Indies. it
(A voice, " Hypocrites," Hear, hear.) And map r
not happen perchance, that a few years hence--4e,
haps not a very long time either—the very men ti;
now oppose us in a cause as holy in its nature, as
neficial in its consequences, as heavenly in eve.it
property as the abolition of slavery itself, wi
ere long, look back and say—the Leteiga
gl
accomplished this great work ! Then they wi",.0,0"'
tend our meetings, and take credit for being
1;,
traders, and, by means of their envoys and ambn°,
dors, they will spread free trade principles throu!iii
out every nation of the world! Be it so! We °tB
not deny them any honour they wish to particiPn,i,
in—and we, who have taken a prominent part in t")
agitation shall' be forgotten.—("Never !" and cheeti,
We may, at least, believe that we have left some M%
morial of our existence on the earth, by having c°e,
tributed something to securing the peace, the Pri":"
verity, and the happiness of our fellow-creatures.
(Loud and long-continued cheering.)
Mr. W. J. Fox then came forward, spa wasfireni
ceived with loud applause. He said—Their
Chairman had introduced the business of the rneetiFft
by describing to them the operations carried on ba
Council of the League throughout the length an,
breadth of the land, the object of which If;
to prepare a better and more compl,ech
registration, and to lead the way to t:
an electoral effort on the first opportunity of ch 00511);
a new Parliament as might secure the success ef to,
cause of free trade. These operations, quietly e°s6
ducted, were as material to the advance of their nae,i
as those efforts which were the most conspiceLou ,
and although for a time these meetings were to ea'tio
yet to-morrow, when they should have read 10 A.
Post or the Herald for the twentieth time that .
Anti-Corn-law League was dead—yet those oPeit'i:l
tions going on throughout the whole country o,'°"o
prepare for a season that would show as obviouslY:ve
at the present moment, that the League was all nlie,
—(Cheers)—and that its supposed death was so
proclaimed, that those who got their information
no no other source, must think its ghost still walla('
world, working wondrous mischief. These 1141
would find that its death was but an assumed one,no
that of the seed which the farmer put into the gOtto
and covered up and buried there, but which,
immutable laws of Divine Providence, was ge,r—foi
nating, and in due time would spring up ; and e
them, as for that seed, the harvest-time would C 0 fat
with a full ingathering of that glorious frnith, oto
which, as men, they had toiled and laboured in w
oe
years of struggle.—(Loud cheers.) But the Leag.
need not be judged either by the operations coded
on apart from public observation, or by that fati oo j
on which it relied in the strength and certainlid
their principles, and for which, as Mr. Cobden .01
that night predicted, the coming months would brio
the surest of all tests. But not by the unseen or bo
future need the exertions of those be tried Wit#
formed this League, and contributed largely toy
success. And his purpose that night In tio,
dressing them was, to advert to the we of
rials which the League had already created like
itself, and which need not be explored
_Alf
hieroglyphics, but which were written brna':
on the face of the county, and which would form lay
terials for the pages of the future historian. -fildijeve
ra
direction he found some impress of what the 1010
had done. The few years it had existed bad 701
marked by two Administrations of the Governnienhol
he country, and both the great political partiess
shown in their policy the influence exercised hl of
free trade agitation. It had modified the Polle
the late Administration, although it was then ,„/
youth; though at first the head of that Ministril; of
disposed to treat as the merest madness the t9OO
the repeal of the corn-laws ; yet what but that, Poi.
close of his administration served him and his of
leagues to lay hold of, as the most graceful thing, 'hi
which they could retire from office ? They fell 96
that, and in so doing made their fall more honoureer,
than had been much of their existence in P°%/oce
—(Hear, hear.) And they had their reconlPeo
too ; it was the progress which the icb
trade agitation had made at that period, wßiot
caused Lord J. Russell to be returned as Member bis
the City of London, and that gave him nolfri
chance of returning to office, provided he would c_f4""
out the- principles on which he held his seat' ;gist
possessed his prospects of office. A fixed duty 111.°„if
serve the Whigs to fall by, but they could i°v
rise by a total repeal.—(Loud cheers.) The: 01
fluence of the free trade agitation on the ,
which succeeded it, and on its policy, was ev-
/
more marked. The men who were in office" on
had been for ten years consolidating their pary 00
the principle of no change, no infringemen'',old
surrender of the corn-laws, on which they
.I'i:he
yield not a jot or a tittle. It was for this
..ted
rallied their strength, for this it was that they resjiso
every attempt at movement made by those who then s of
office, for this it was they moved a vote of wailfer
confidence in that party, which effected their 41' on
throw. What was the language of Sir R. ret'higs
the first of those great divisions by which the vi tor
were expelled from office, he meant when they iilo,l'o
duced their Budget of 1841, and when Lord Saawbig
motion on the sugar-duties gave a blow to the as to
Ministry from which it was never able afterwar op
recover ? When they gave symptoms of renigil
tp
and of resigning too by making an aPF'efloritil
the people, Sir Robert Peel taunted thou be
resigning on a mere fiscal question ;ore
said no Government need resign on a 04)
fiscal question, yet within three years he ty
beaten by his own party on this very question 0.0 to
sugar-duties, and he only reduced that party ngl°o4o,
allegiance by threatening to resign unless that of
was rescinded.—(Loud cheers.) On the inoti:hoi;
Lord Sandon, in May, 1841, Sir R. Peel spoke ilea
he was then looking forward to the change which pot
obviously become inevitable, and he said, " elole°
contemplating a re-accession to office, on 'priefei;s"
with regard to the corn-laws, other than those jo it
maintained in opposition. You ask me then hog' otte
possible I can consent to any relaxation in our e
mercial relations, if I am still to maintain the ':O4
laws. You say that now this is the master irate'
and that it is utterly impossible there can be any s!
sion of our tariff, or any relaxation of our cow° 00'
code, without also making a revision of the conjor
I utterly deny that proposition ; I say that Mr.
kisson would have spurned the proposition that ' oth
sion of our commercial system was inconsisteavcor
the maintenance of the present system of theoone-
laws." Such was the language addressed to the and for
polist Parliament, in 1841. It was then inodu`s apd
,
the purpose of election and hustings speeellio„is.
when the new Parliament was called, the nevi,..nra tr.
try was formed; and within fifteen months 1'", tP;
time of this very declaration, utterly deneatair
proposition that it was impossible to revise,tuel
without also revising the corn-laws, Sir R• Pier,
self revised the tariff and the corn-laws togetbio sp
the utter astonishment of those who placed no all
Downing-street.—(Cheers.) And whence on(
these unexpected measures ? Whence till fits es
tone, but from this cause—that public epini°7 felt
influenced by this agitation that Sir R. Pee 0
prudent, notwithstanding he was chosen 191 00b
defender of the great monopolist body. to 0)00
some lines in another direction, and claim. to _,
credit as he could for following a free-trade I°o4oo
that he might be enabled to boast that he haa,riotioo
one year, done more to relax commercial resi,ote tea
than the apposite party had effected in the IF toot •
years they w ere in office, thus making hini!ec'o'rn..l9o
monument of the influence of this aniit;" Cobdeli/g
agitation.—(Hear, hear, and cheers.) lur; to Ili
in the House of' Commons, in referenclevoens,
own success as the leader of this llonugue,,tr
might use the language inscribed on tit!, ni in
of the great architect, Sir Christopher 1../ told, if
is
,ibni.o,ooc
Paul's Cathedral, where the spectator
seeks the monument, to " look aroure .oiss 131,0,
(Cheers.) A certain foreigner, whose ta.ict. poi
exactly hit by the form of the dome nirr see 0.03
once remarked, " I do look around, an,aen 10i9gbg
one great fool's cap." When Mr. C7he Intß
rnon3in twc, grogo'a
around him in the House of Com
ni3try, see the influence of the League
fools' caps, one for the leader of the otio„fey_ti
ls
the other for the leader of the OpP.°! nacep.tw,..
caps, fitting the heads of those who nnrioinct.'"
enough to see a great, a wise, and a g_71.0 courage
there,,c
but lacked the consistency, and the "1" tine
to adopt, and carry it out in legislation'on the trailer ftr
themselves on the good sense, andHe had fart oh
terests of the people for suppoq•time, th°B,-gie
observe, that in a short period u
difficulties t° 9trZoir
difdeu f
the League had had immense -owe o
with, free-trade had obtained in the