The Sun.
London, England, 1844-01-13 00:00:00

COURT CIRCULAR.

The Queen and Prince Albert took their accustomed
early walk yesterday in Claremont Park.
Ilis Royal Highness the Prince of Wales was taken
an airing in a carriage at Claremont yesterday forenoon.
Her Royal Highness the Princess. Royal rode out on
a pony in Claremont Park yesterday morning.
His Royal Highness Prince Albert went out shooting
in the forenoon. His Royal Highness was attended by
Major-General Sir Edward Bowater, Equerry in Wait-
ing, and Lord Rivers. The Prince and suite returned
on hor,eback to Claremont, shortly before two o'clock,
to lunch.

The unfavourable state of the weather during yes-
terday afternoon prevented her Majesty and her Illus-
trious Consort taking a drive.
His Royal Highness the Duke of Cambridge has ar-
rived at Belton House to honour the Earl and Countess
Brownlow with a visit, from Belvoir Castle, Leicester-
shire, the seat of the Duke of Rutland.

A Cabinet Cottrell was held at three o'clock yesterday
afternoon at the Foreign-office. It was attended by Sir
Robert Peel, the Duke of Wellington, the Lord Chan-
cellor, Lord Wharnclitfe, the Duke of Buccleuch, Earl
of Aberdeen, Lord Stanley, Sir James Graham, the
Chancellor of the Exchequer, Earl of Haddington, Earl
of Ripon, the Right Hon. W. E. Gladstone, Sir Henry
Hardinge, and Sir Edward Knatchbull.
The Council sat three hours.
Mr.:F. Shand and Mr. Langford Hodge had an inter-
view yesterday on the affairs of Antigua with Lord
Stanley at the Colonial-office.
The Committee on Education of the Lords of her
Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council had a meeting
yesterday at the Council- office. The Lords present were
the Lord President, the Duke of Buccleuch, the Chan-
cellor of the Exchequer, and Lord Granville Somerset.
The meeting broke up at three o'clock.
The Earl of Ripon had an interview with Sir R. Peel
yesterday.
Mr. Sanford had an interview with the Right Hon.
NV. E. Gladstone on Thursday, at the office of the Board
of Trade.

THE STATE ROOMS, ST. JAMES'S. These splendid
apartments have recently undergone a complete renova-
tion. The ceilings have been painted, and the orna-
mental stucco work regilt. The walls have been hung
with crimson, either velvet, satin damask, or flock paper.
The richly-carved architraves, and cornices of the doors
and the mouldings of the panelings, and also the window
frames, have all been gilt, and the wood work painted of
a white colour, tinted with crimson. The magnificent
pier-glasses have been restored, and the frames new gilt,
and the carved marble chimney-pieces, some of which
are handsomely sculptured, have been carefully cleaned.
The entire suite (with the exception of the Grand
Banquetting- room) consisting of the Royal Closet, the
Throne-room, the Entree or Drawing-room, and Queen
Anne's-room, have been decorated. The Throne-room
is more magnificent than the other apartments, being
more highly ornamented and enriched with gold. On
the north side of this saloon, in the centre, is a grand
whole length portrait of his Majesty George the Fourth
in his Coronation Robes, painted by Sir Thomas Law-
rence. This portrait has a very handsome frame, and is
placed in a compartment hung with crimson velvet. On
either side of this portrait are pilasters of crimson velvet,
tastefully ornamented with beautiful specimens of carved
fruit and foliage, reaching to the ceiling, and gilt. The
other parts of this room (with the exception of the throne
itself) are hung with rich satin damask of a handsome
pattern.

In addition to the State rooms, the Queen's Robing-
room, the Portrait Gallery, the Presence Chamber, and
the Grand Chamber will also be renovated. The Gallery
will be fitted up to correspond with the State-rooms.
The tapestry in the Presence Chamber is being cleaned.
The Corridors and both the State and Private Stair-
cases will also be cleaned and painted.

-----
RAILWAY RETURNS.
W extract from the Railway Magazine the sums re-
ceived on the principal Railways of Great Britain
for the week ending on the day of the month prefixed
to each. The return includes the money received for
passengers, parcels, carriages, horses, mails, and tiler-
chandize :
Total.
Name of Railway.
ended
Jan. 6 Birmingham and Derby Junction 1,170 17 9
5 Birmingham and Gloucester
6 Brandling Junction .
5 Chester and Birkenhead 3BO 9 0
7 Dundee and Arbroath
6 Edinburgh and Glasgow.
7 Eastern Counties
6 Glasgow, Kilmarnock, and Ayr 1,548 4 4
6 Glasgow, Paisley, and Greenock BlB 5 5
6 Grand Junction, and Chester & Crewe 6,218 13 6
6 Great North of England 1,141 14 6
7 Great Western 10,205 15 4
5 Liverpool and Manchester 4,206 4 3
6 London and Birmingham 12,322 12 3
11 London and Blackwall
6 London and Brighton
9 London and Croydon 213 11 8i
11 London and Greenwich •• 681 3 7
7 London and South Western 4,847 18 0
4 Manchester, Bolton, and Bury 9ll 14 7
6 Manchester and Birmingham
6 Manchester & Leeds & Hull & Selby 5,095 6 8
6 Midland Counties....
7 Newcastle and Carlisle ... .. .. 1,127 17 3
7 Newcastle and North Shields . 299 11 1
Northern and Eastern
6 North Midland
North Union.
••
2 Paris and Orleans 3,742 10 7
8 Paris and Rouen 2,692 0 0
Preston and Wyre
6 Sheffield and Manchester 669 15 1
11 South Eastern
Taff Vale..
.••
7 Ulster
542 14 0
6 York and North Midland 1,269 10 2

WILL OF THE -MARQUIS WELLESLEY.—The will
and codicil of the Marquis Wellesley have just been proved by
Mr. John Thornton Down, the sole executor, who has a legacy
cf I,OCO/. He bequeaths to Mr. Alfred Montgomery, his private
secretary, 1,000/., "in regard of his affectionate, dutiful, and
zealous services," and the residue of his property to his wife,
Mary Ann, Marchioness Wellesley. By the codicil he gives to
his secretary (Mr. Montgomery), in addition to the legacy in
his will, all his manuscripts ; and gives the follovvinOtectiuns,
which are verbatim :—" And I desire him hsh • such' of
my papers as shall tend to illustrate my two ailiteirUstrations. in
Ireland, and to protect my honour against the slander. of Mel-
bourne and his pillar of state, O'Connell." To Lord Bioughim
he leaves " Homer," in four vols., and earnestly desires him, to
assist in publishing his M SS., saying, " I leave my memory in
his charge, confiding in his justice and honour." To Earl
Grey, " my George, carved on an Amethyst, and worn by
George II." To his valet he leaves his wearing apparel, robes,
stars, &c., " for his kindness during my illness." 'hie property
is sworn under 6,000/.
COLONEL SIODDART ALIVE.--`1( e inictir4a•
what may be considered authentic inte-IligetfeAdi,
reaoed town, to the effect that Colonel Stockton is*
alive, and at large, though strictly watched, by orders of
hi' Mum of Bukhara. It is stated thut he has been
emplo) by that Prince in the drilling of his troops.
I We also learn, through the same source, that Captain
Conolly is dead ; but whether he has fallen a victim to
imprisonment and disease, or been put to death, is not
positively ascertained.
MAILS rose SYDNEY.—A contract has been entered
into by her Majesty's Government for the conveyance of
mails, monthly, from the 'United Kingdom to Sydney.
British newspapers will be forwarded free of postage.
TIIE PURITY OF TIIE LAW.—That tha adminis-
trators of the law should be clean-handed is the universal
admission of the whole civilised world ; but it has re-
mained for an Irish votary of Themis to carry the prin-
ciple of legal purity to its fullest extent, as will be
seen by the following notice, which we extract from
Saunders's News-Letter of this morning:—" Notice.--
Mr. Molloy, Provisional Assignee of the Insolvent
Debtors' Court, requests that all clerks and others having
business to transact with him, will make use of the rug
and scraper for the feet, previous to their entering his
apartment." Perhaps Mr. Molloy has found that the
" clerks and others having business to transact with
him," resemble the French lady, who, when some sur-
prise was expressed by an acquaintance at the impure
condition of her hands, pathetically responded, " Ah,
mon Dieu, if you were only to see my feet I"—Dublin
Mail.

GLASGOW IREE TRADE
BANQUET.
This great and important demonstration in support of the
principles of free trade, and especially in behalf of a total
repeal of the corn and provision-laws, took place on Wednes-
day, in the City Hall. In point of respectability, according
to the ordinary acceptation of this term, the meeting was
perhaps never surpassed in Glasgow. The entire number of
persons :n the hall was about 2,000, including ladies, of whom
150 occupied the western gallery.
The Chair was occupied by the Hon. the Lord Provost.
Vice-Chairmen—Walter Buchanan, Esq. ; John Tennant,
Esq. ; Alexander Graham, Esq. ; William Cross, Esq.
On the Chairman's platform were the following gentlemen :
—The Hon. Fox Maule, M.P. ; James Oswald, Esq., M.P. ;
Richard Cobden, Esq., AL P. ; Colonel Thompson ; R. R. R.
Moore, Esq. ; John Bright, Erq., ill. P. ; Art htleaeon Hastie,
Esq., M.P. ; Rev. Dr. Ward,aw, Rev. Dr. Peugh, Rev.
Dr. Willis, George Stirling, Esq. ; Samuel Higginbotham,
Esq ; John Wilson, Esq., Dundyvan ; P. W. Kennedy,
Esq., of Drumellan ; Robert Stewart, Esq. ; George Ander-
son, Esq. ; David Chapman, Esq. ; William Gemmel], Esq. ;
Walter Crum, Esq. ; Alexander Couper, Esq. ; David :Mur-
ray, Esq. ; George Brown, Esq. ; Charles Gray, Esq. ;
James Scott, Esq. ; John Ker, Esq. ; Andrew Galbraith,
Esq. ; Thomas Speirs, Esq. ; Jan Young, jun., Esq. ; George
Stevenson, Esq. ; John Ker, Esq. ; John Kerr, Esq.
At the other end of the table were—Provost Bain, Gree-
nock; Baines, Hamilton, Whitehead, Mastic, end Anderson ;
Provost Bankier ; Bailie Bunten ; James Dunlop, Esq. ;
George Craw furd, Esq. ; George Wilson, Esq. ; John Wil-
son, Esq., Aucheneden ; John Robertson, Esq. ; Robert
Hutchinson, Esq. ; Robert Bartholomew, Esq.;- William
Gray, Esq. ; John Pattison, Esq. ; John Anderson, Esq. ;
11. E. Crum, Esq. ; A. C. Dick, Esq. Advocate ; Alexander
Denny, Esq. ; William Couper, Esq. ; William Login, Esq. ;
and P. Cowan, Esq.
Letters of apology were received and read from Lord Dun-
fermline, Lord Kinnaird, the Hon. C. P. Villiers, M.P. ;
P. :NI. Stewart, Esq., M.P. ; G. Duncan, Esq., M.P. ; J.
Fergus, Esq., late Al. P. ; and W. D. Dillon, Esq., of Wall-
house.
The LORD PROVOST, in rising to propose the first toast, was
loudly cheered. He said—Ladies and Gentlemen, I have great
pleasure in taking the chair on this occasion. The question
of free-trade has long occupied the attention of the citizens
of Glasgow, many of whom, towards the close of the last cen-
tury, zealously maintained the sound principles which the
celebrated Adam Smith so ably and admirably propounded and
practically illustrated, whilst he filled one of the chairs in our
University —(Cheers.) lam happy to find that en many of
our intelligent merchants and manufacturers of the present
time arc becoming every day more and inure alive to the im-
portant principles involved in this alliengrossing subject—the
abolition of all monopolies ; and I assure you that I feel gra-
tified, when an opportunity occurs, that I can, in the exercise
of my duty as chief magistrate, give countenance and support
to any measure that will tend to ameliorate the condition of
the working classes, or improve the commercial and ma-
nufacturing interests of this great and flourishing city,
the mercantile metropolis of Scotland.—( Great cheering.)
We have met here to-night to express our abhorrence of those
laws which, by enhancing the price of bread, cut deeply into
the comforts of this great community, as well as of the coun-
try generally. They also tend, by restricting our intercourse
with foreign nations, to limit the demand for our manufactures,
diminishing the employment of the working population, and
the necessary consequences follow—the reduction of the wages
of our operatives and artisans.—( Hear.) lam well aware
there are many gentlemen whom I have the pleasure of seeing
around me, who will in the course of the evening explain and
enter upon the details, and picture to you, in more glowing
terms than I can, the misery those unjust laws inflict on the
vast majority of our population. To them I leave the task ;
and I now request you will fervently join in doing special
honour to one whose father's principles, as well as her own
education and feelings leave us no room to doubt that in her
we have a friend to every measure that can promote the social
happiness, comfort, and prosperity of the people —" The
Queen."—( Great cheering.)
llis Loensitir then proposed successively—" His Royal
Highness Prince A lbert," and " The Prince of Wales and
Royal Family," which were drunk with applause.
The LORD Peovose then called on the Hon. Fox Maule fur
the next toast.
Mr. Fox MeueE, who was loudly and enthusiastically ap-
plauded, and " one cheer more," was given for the Member
for Perth, said—Ladies and Gentlemen, in rising to address
you on this occasion, I feel that to-night I have been placed in
a position which there are many here present much more
worthy to occupy than myself. Indeed 1 should have been
disposed rather to follow those who have already led the way in
bringing the great principles of free trade before the public,
than to he put forward as the first to introduce that subject to
you this evening. But it has been the pleasure of the Com-
mittee to arrange it so, and 1 shall, therefore, endeavour, in as
few words as I can, to give the toast which they have allotted to
my share. It embraces the great and wide subject of " Free
Trade"—(Cheering)—a toast into all the ramifications of which
I will not enter in detail—for, were I to do so, in the first
place I should weary your patience, and in the next place, I
should do, that of a hich I have sometimes had occasion to com-
plain in 'following the toasts of other speakers —I should
trench upon any neighbour's ground. I shall endeavour
to avoid that if possible, and 1 shall endeavour to speak to
those paramount principles which, if they exist any-
where, I should imagine must and will exist in that city
in which Adam Smith taught and wrote—( Hear, hear)
—in that city which boasts itself not only the commercial and
manufacturing metropolis of Scotland, but is second scarcely
to any city in the empire.—( Applause.) The principles of
free trade, Gentlemen, have begun to force themselves so con-
vincingly, day after day, upon the minds of the inhabitants of
this country, that it scarcely requires—indeed it would be an
insult to your understanding—that I should go back into their
o tirreigin o
proper
, r tracebosi emntehssoftsoutchhei
ar ultimatemeeting
g objects.
asthis id
is
to consult
ccoonnssolter that
toge-
ther, and to listen to practical suggestions as to how, in the
speediest and most effective, and, at the same time, in the
safest manner, we can carry these principles into effect in the
Government and Legislature of our country.—(Loud cheers.)
I think you will admit that we have had of late years pretty
clear and plain proof that the old systems of special protection
are net those upon which—even though you might believe and
countenance them for the moment—the vast interests of such a
country as this can permanently stand.—( Hear, hear, and ap-
plause.) Like a plant, which may be reared or forced in a
hot-bed or hot-house, monopoly may be of benefit for the
moment; but to stand all the tear and wear of a changeful
climate—to be thoroughly fixed and permanently rooted in
our soil, it is not destined, and you may rely upon it, that
monopoly is not the plant to flourish in this country ; nor is
our soil likely to be burdened with it much longer.—( Cries of
" Hear.") We are free men, and why should we not have
free trade ?—(Applause.) I think it stands to reason that that
system is best, and promotes to the greatest extent the well-
being of all, which shall give to us the easiest enjoyment of
that which the rest of the world produces, and which shall con-
vey to the rest of the world the produce of our own industry in
return. Now, there are the principles upon which I for one
wish to see legislation; and I wish to see them embraced not
in this point only, but in all. In fact, I wish to see no taxation
in this country which is not solely for the purpose of maintain-
Mg our national credit, and answering our national engage-
ments—(Hear, hear)—and I would further wish to see that
taxation so levied that its pressure might be equal on all classes,
and that no class or section should have exemption at the ex-
pense of another. There are various subjects to which the
principles of free trade have been more peculiarly directed ; but
as one deeply interested in the prosperity of agriculture, I am
not sorry to have the opportunity before this company, in this
great city, to bear my public testimony to that which has been
asserted by others—that I believe free trade in agriculture, or,
in other words, the repeal of the corn-laws, which give a mono-
poly to the owners or holders of land, should be, for the genera'
good of the country, conceded—that these laws should be imme-
diately repealed.--( Loud applause.) I have not come to this ,
opinion suddenly, nor have arrived at it from any personal
motive or purpose; but the more I have considered the sub-
ject, the more I have been convinced, not only that the land-
owner or landholder will rot be losers by the repeal of the
corn-laws, for that is a narrow view of the question, but they
will be so far gainers that, without any loss to themselves, the
repeal of these laws will confer an immense boon on the rest
of the community.—( Hear.) Now, in reference to the article
corn, I would like to say one or two words on that subject to
any farmers wino may be here present, and I would wish to
express my conviction, from the little experience 1 have had
in communication with agriculturists, and especially with the
tenantry of this country, that I believe there is a growing
opinion amongst the tenantry, that the sooner the corn-law is
settled the better, and that they w ill not consider any settle-
ment satisfactory which does not involve a total repeal of these
laws.—( Applause.) This I believe to be a growing feeling
among the agricultural population ; arid our agricultural popu-
lation, you will bear in mind, and te gentlemen from England
will bear in mind, depend mostly upon leases and upon fixed
engagements with their landlord. But to what do I trace this
change and growth of opinion ? I trace it to the efforts of a
body of which, though I am not a member myself, yet I can-
not have looked unebservantly upon what they have been
doing during the last twelve months. It was not my inten-
tion to have entered into any details regarding the Anti-
Corn-law League; yet when 1 see a body of men as much
entitled to hold their opinions, and to press them on the public
as I or any other class of the community are entitled to hold
opinions—when I see a body composed of such gentlemen as
those on my right and left, to whom have been attributed ma-
licious motives, and who have been falsely attacked and chal-
lenged for using the most atrocious of language, and the most
horrible of doctrines—when I see this / must take the liberty of
stating my opinion of the high merits of that body, and of the
important, services which the Anti.Cern-law League have ren-
dered during the last twelve months.—(Hear, hear.) I have
often remarked quietly to various members of that body, that
in the first commencement of their career, they, as well as
their opponents, dealt too much in bandying hard words with
each other. I told them that this was not only a waste of their
time, but a highly impolitic proceeding into the bargain ; but
during the last twelve months we have seen that body scattering
arguments throughout the length and breadth of the land—
reams of reason flowing from their press, and working by that
machinery, and fighting with those weapons which are most
worthy of reasoning men, and most likely to convince reason-
ing-beings.—(Loud applause.) There may, no doubt, have
been here and there, in a large body such as this, some
men wipe vivid imagination and fiery temperament may
have occasionally run away with them ; but we must judge a
body Mei this by its written feelings and opinions, not from
the sud4n speeches of some of its members. And when we
look updn the endeavours of the Anti-Corn-law League to
inform the public upon all the bearings of the great question
of free trade, I must admit I have seldom seen an association
—and I do not in general approve of such associations for the
purpose of urging on legislation—l have never known one
which had such beneficial objects in view, or urged them with
such legitimate and laudable weapons. I have thought it right
to say thikernuch, and to express publicly my opinion in order
to show. Mat though I do nut belong to them, I am so far from
iseotriaoiirg their efforts, that I regard them as the means of
east good, and it is our duty therefore to bear up against those
who would foully and unjustly calumniate them.—( Hear. )
Having said this much in regard to this great and growing
body in the country, permit me to go on to state that I believe
that cause they have been advocating is coming by slow and
sure degrees to a crisis.—(Hear, hear.) When I look into
England—when I regard the counties of England, and observe
the different tone of language which is now held at agricul-
tural meetings, I cannot help being struck with a strong feel-
ing that the landlords and farmers of England, though they
won't confess it themselves, are making up their minds for
what they see is inevitably approaching.—(" Hear, hear," and
applause.) Why, we begin to hear in the counties of Eng-
land remarks on the necessity of leases, and suggestions as
to the utility of draining—we begin to have the practice of
the Lothians quoted in Devonshire and Dorsetshire—and
we find that agricultural associations are nu longer mere
bodies met for the purpose of dining together, and hearing or
making speeches in favour of monopoly; but they have set
themselves earnestly to do business in their own line, by en-
deavouring to point out to the tenantry of the country how
they may make the land grow more, and how, by increased
production, they may meet the defalcation, should there be a
frwinwre.
butoianimlst
ellti
eethsntahesovernoremglel
hoera
wt;nessul
twtilnah.hdyhi
aai
oodtnt:hhi
:wane
that
rtdntwhe:
whl
eti
defalcation, produced by a repeal of the corn-laws.—( Hear. )
It has been generally imagined that the mast prosperous tenant
diami
nosr
feemi
necessary
reegsacs
state
a snsdt
ssdeoaahori lowestdaily
nfhl
ocataebvl.ohei
ieui
his
Tat
g,
ordinary
hnorhetteoeli u n t
authorityo f en t;
of
eminent agriculturists, that a rent inadequately low is nothing
hai
csd nrsehdaf
net' n.aaii extracteawants,r
hear.) But the man who is spurred on by a long rent, or a

frt.

large family, is ill exert every nerve to make the ground pro-
duce to the uttermost; and that man of all others is he who
will not fear any repeal of the corn-laws, but will rather court
the settlement of a question which distracts his attention, and
which, when settled, will leave him at liberty to ap.
ply Isis energies in a manner from which he will he
be sure to derive a fair return. Such seniiments, lam con-
vinced, will in due time prevail all over England ; but I be-
lieve we shall not succeed in this great question till we can se-
cure leases to improving tenants. But some of the English
landlords complain that they cannot do without the corn-laws
because their estates are burdened with mortgages. These
men, then, may not be able to afford the money to improve
their ol,vn estates ; but, if they give leases, enterprising tenants
will be found to improve these lands and lay out the money.
And shall the indisposition of the proprietors to lay out this
money, which may more properly be stated as an indisposition
lutbrtts a i n
the i ng
right thi s
class,o great
ft
he
peopleto part with their hold over the consciences of their tenantry—
shall this indisposition interfere between the public and their
o
beeno
Af
thisbooncountryit s no not—it
vis
their
fofoodar gti
t.
he
lowest possible price; and when this can be had without in-
jwtOeOy
secure
sllhr to
Sa anyelillt:e osebitttahhiaentr
ittfhleiosna athemytfhe
t
right from the Government, the more blame we should take
questionfew }ears
pyr longereiiasnrprinciples
o we
Ise amn
of aog arecunsettled.
Liberal
obtaining
convinced—we
eut .
st this
e
shall
t
Govern-
ment, or the fears of a Tory Government—we shall either
have it in the same spirit in which the repeal of the Test
and Corporation Acts or Municipal Reform were given,
or we shall obtain it in the same way as Catholic Emancipation
was secured in 1829. —( Hear, hear.) But it is a most
wretched state for the country to be in in the mean time; and
it is worse to have men in power who will nibble at reforms
without making them while there is time. There must be no
nibbling in the case of free trade. ".Nibbling," as Lord Johu
Russell said to Sir Robert Peel, "that unsettles everything
and settles nothing." And, therefore, the safe and wisest,
and best course for all parties is, to let us have done with all
those laws which give any one class a superiority over another
—which gives a boon and protection to which they have no title
in justice; for I maintain that no men or class is entitled to
protection in the shape of monopoly on any pretence whatever.
—( Applause.) It is not my intention to detain you longer
from the business of the evening. I have merely made these
remarks as leading to the practical development of the subject
before us, and I conclude by inviting you to join me, in drink-
ing the toast of " Free Trade," in condemning all opposite
principles of legislation, and in pressing for a speedy abolition
of those monopolies which are a burden to the country and a
bane to the people.—( The toast was given with the most en-
thusiastic plaudits; after which the lion. Gentleman resumed
his seat.)
The LORD PROVOST, after adverting to the fact that the
Legislature had turned a deaf ear to reasonable remonstrance,
and thereby given the League enormous power, requested the
meeting cordially to join him in tire" Health of the gentlemen
composing the deputation from the League."—( Cheering. )
Mr. COBDEN acknowledged the toast, and was received with
every demonstration of the most enthusiastic welcome.—( The
cheering continued loud and long, and the Hon. Gentleman, at
the outset of his speech, was more than once interrupted by a
repetition of the plaudits). He said—My Lord Provost,
Ladies, and Gentlemen, it gives me great happiness to have the
honour of appearing before such an audience as this, especially
when I have fresh upon my recollection the proceedings which
took place twelve months ago, and the gratifying and flattering
circumstances which then attended my visit here. Since we
last had the opportunity of meeting, important circumstances,
not a few, have marked the progress of our movement; and if
we were to be asked at what time free-trade opinions were
making the most rapid progress, I would say that now they are
progressing more than at any former period. While we had
ten converts yesterday, we have 100—nay, I,ooo—to-day ;
not only converts, but active missionaries in the cause. And
it:is impossible for any one to suppose that our cause, marked by
the circumstances which have attended the movement, can ever
go back. Our excellent Lord Provost has alluded to the
labours of individuals in connexion with this movement ;
but I would be ashamed of myself, as my friends here would
also be, were we to arrogate to ourselves the prin-
cipal merit of the great advance which Sias been re-
cently made. There are many men whom I could
name—men not publicly known—who have done as much to
promote the advance of the cause, and ensure its success, and
who are still labouring in their own circles, as those who have
been constantly before the world, and had all the eclat of the
movement. Well, then, if I were asked what is the reason of
the rapid progress we have lately made, I would say, that next
to the justice of our cause, and to that wise discretion that has
induced the League to adhere to the one great question—l.
should say, that we are more indebted to the conduct of our
opponents than to any other circumstance.—( Hear.) If I had
been requested to prescribe the course of conduct which our
opponents, both in Parliament and out of Parliament should
pursue, I would however, having a due regard to the interests
of free trade, have prescribed that very course which they
have been kind enough to adopt.—(llear, and a laugh. ) I
should have recommendedtt;ntneeext oerefisrenoffiafttdsin
tricks
outandof t
chicanery
in in the House, and the ernplo
if I could have raked up from the kennel the ready tool of any
party—if I could have found men abandoned in public and pri-
vate life, and induced our opponents to employ them as the
organs of monopoly, I should have recommended those very
men whom they have taken. I should have advised them not
to advance by slow degrees in the charges of a criminal nature
against members of the League. I should have advised to take
charges of petty larceny in the outset, and ascend through the
calendar of crime to assassination itself.—( Hear, and a laugh.)
That would have been the peculiarly proper course, for it is by
some such gradations that human nature advances from little
to the great depths of criminality ; and I should should have
said—charge the men who have the merit of ordinary propriety
and decorum in their lives—charge them with assassination
at once. By so doing, I should have known, that in dealing
with the people of England—the shrewd and right-hearted
people of England—we should have covered our accusers with
ignominy and contempt. Having said that lam obliged to our
opponents for the course they have pursued, I would also say,
that we are not setting up for ourselves the merit of possessing
any superior amount of virtue. We do not say that we have a
claim for more than a man could expect in a servant at eighteen
shillings a week. We only say that we stand here presenting
a favourable contrast to the champions of monopoly, by whom
we have beers assailed. The champions and the cause are
worthy of each other. The Hon. Member then adverted to
what the League had done and what it proposed to do, and
spoke at considerable length of the rapid and vast progress it
bad made at the meetings it had held in the agricultural dis-
tricts, of the benefit of the repeal of the corn-laws to the capi-
talists and labourers, and concluded thus:--And now I have
had a toast put into my hands to which I find it necessary to
advert. My friend, Mr. llaule, made a promise he would
not trench on any other person's ground, and, like every
other promise of the kind, given at a public meeting, he
broke it, by going over the whole of my ground.—(Laughter.)
But as he did it so much better than I could have done, and
with much greater authority, 1 am hay that he took up the
agricultural view of this question.—(pCheers.) I shall not,
Gentlemen, touch upon the ground likely to be taken up by
other speakers, the moral ground of this question, which is one
that cannot be dwelt upon too much.
---( Cheers.) For while
we consider it as one of pounds, shillings and pence, let us re-
member that there are bearings in the free trade question far
higher than these—that free trade is the most benignant of
principles. As Sir Hobert Peel said, it is to buy in the
cheapest, and sell in the dearest market. This may be said to
be a selfish principle ; but it is in fact, just to take your pro-
duce that is cheap, to those countries where it is dear.--
(Cheers.) And it is cur taking this produce, because it is
cheap there, and bringing it to our country, because it is dear
here.-- ( Cheers.) If you view flee trade with this definition,
you will never arrive at the opinion, that there is anything
selfish in free trade ; but, on the contrary, you will find that it
is the reverse—that it is feeding the hungry and clothing the
naked, in the most comprehensive manner all over the world.
Mr. Cobden then gave " The agricultural interests of the
country, and may all classes connected with it become satisfied
that they cannot prosper while commerce and manufactures
decay."—(Drunk with loud cheering.)
Mr. ALEXANDER GRAHAM proposed "The ministers of
religion who have identified themselves with the cause of free
trade." A few years ago, two clerical convocations were held
en this special subject. The first was at Manchester, and con-
sisted of 650 dissenting ministers of all denominations. Besides,
nearly 900 other absent ministers also addressed letters to the
h fe a r.)
200
ministers. The other
assembly
lield
closed at assembly, expressive of their approbation of its object.—( Hear,
solemn address to the public, condemning all monopolies, as
alike offensive to God and injurious to man. United, they form
a sacred cloud of witnesses to the justice of our cause.—
( Cheers.) I would not maliciously keep alive from oblivion
dtitngh, consisted
its sittings with a
o
the memory of that act of the Genet al Assembly, by which they
petitioned Parliament against a repeal of the corn-laws, as
threatening to depreciate the value of their grain revenues ; but
the fact is worthy of record, as an illustration of this one most
repulsive aspect of a bad system, under which the ministers of
religion have become vested with an interest antagonal to that
of the people, and are exhibited before the world as collateral
contradict
sharers
them,
in
nn
the
ee
secrecyspoils
theirunjustrmonots t Po
of—
°riweekly public prayer of their lips for plenty in the land both t ing
ot
man and beast.—( Hear, hear.)
The Rev. Dr. PEUGII, amidst loud cheering, proposed—
" The progress of knowledge, a necessary guarantee for the
extension and permanence of free institutions."—(lmmense
e eve
andn t regalemp the
cheering.) After adverting to the moral bearings of the ques-
tion, he said,—l think we are apt sometimes to blame Sir R.
Peel too much.—(Hear, hear.) We must be just to that
Minister; and in some points of view I think he is entitled to
our hearty thanks, and especially for conferring on the country
hneel
evsesr,
does meant,
n npte rahlatpers,thtoe
ha
egsrt
oeavit boonupon
whichbut
S Sir R
which,obernt
Peel
vert
nature of the gift. But for Sir Robert Peel contending for the
corn.law, and using every effort to keep it as it is, I suppose not
e
a few of the distinguished persons who figure most promi-
nently at the present day might have lived and died in the pri-
vacy of retirement. But Sir Robert has brought them out of
that privacy, which to them was luxury, to bring them into the
withdraw
I say
then,
y
or
n be
arena of public life, to fasten on them the eyes, tne confidence,
and the affections of this country and contrived to marshal
under them the people of all classes—bankers, merchants,
tradesmen, and even the farmers themselves. And we may
Siroetvheenrssutpopofosell,owthatthosese
classes, from
is preparing the way for
whose efforts I trust
eanpdowheirs.
_( ‘,
eassociatesetn e
nwt
l h
e
driventhat l
fromi
Lord Provost, is not Sir Robert Peel a public benefactor—
( Laughter)—unconscious, you may say—condescending, you
may say—but, after all, is he not a:sublime benefactor ?—( Re-
newed laughter.) Can you listen to what you have heard
from the right hand of the chair, and what you will no doubt
yet hear from the left hand, and yet say that Sir Robert Peel
is not entitled to your—l perhaps say ironical—but yet exult-
ing approbation ?—( Continued laughter.) Yes, let Sir Robert
persist, and we will persist also ; let Sir Robert support mono-
poly, we will oppose it ; let him and his friends club their
iel eitherer cheering,) )
money, we will do so too; end let it be ong or two years, if
we only continue true to ourselves, and to the great cause
we are engaged in, we are as sure to beat him as we are en-
gaged in conflict with him.--(Loud cheers.) The Rev. Gen-
tleman gave the toast amidst loud and repeated cheering.
Mr. BRIGHT now rose amid loud and prolonged cheering.
When silence had in some measure been restored, he said—l
have been requested by the Committee of management to speak
to this meeting on a part of the subject which contains the
which—that is, that part which is included in the phrase—
" The total and immediate repeal of the corn-lays s"—( Cheers. )
and if I had not been so requested, I have no doubt but this
particular part, or whole of the subject, would have presented
itself to my mind at the very first. For the total repeal we
ask, because we are resolved never to be satisfied with
less than complete justice ; for immediate repeal we ask,
because having discovered what would be complete jus-
tice, we are resolved that that justice will not be de-
layed one moment if we can help it.—( Great cheering.)
We have been for twenty-eight years living under the opera-
tion of this corn-law, and have, as men generally do in such
cases, become so accustomed to it, that we are almost unable
to discover the hideousness of its features, or the deformity of
its character ; but that it is hideous, that it has been roost mis-
chievous, that it is to this hour destroying the hope and the
happiness of thousands, we are well aware. The Hon. Gen-
tleman then entered at great length into the history and effects
of the corn-law, and spoke with his usual force and eloquence,
proving to the company that none of his energy, or his hearty
abhorrence to the law, had been diminished by his recent ill-
ness, and concluded thus :---I speak not without authority.
We have attended hundreds of meetings. No men in this
country have seen the faces of so many of their countrymen
as we have.—(Cheers.) We have shaken by the hand, from
our heart of hearts, hundreds of thousands of the intelligent

population of this country; and we have authority for saying,
that it is the opinion of the middle classes of this country, who
are intelligent, and the powerful, and the electoral classes,
that this law is bad, that it originated in injustice, and has
been maintained by an unjust exercise of power.—( Cheers. )
And we ask you, the people of this city, whether you are
willing to cornp with us to the breach, to bear all, to suffer
all, and work all that is necessary for the carrying out of
our principle, the fundamental principle of the Anti-Corn-law
League ?—( Great cheering. ) I know you well—l have not
read the history of your country for nothing; and I need not
point out to you passages in the history of your country that
prove beyond dispute that there is in the people of Scotland a
love of liberty that can never die.--( Cheers. ) Your country
has been the cradle of liberty, the home of freedom for centu-
ries back.--( Cheers.) You have not been oppressed and tram-
pled on by England, as some other Nita of the world have
been—(Cheers)—and now I trust that what you have done for
freedom—what you have done for civil and religious freedom,
you are now ready to do for yourcornmercialliberties.—( Cheers.)
I ask you to resolve with me that—
" By oppressions woes and pains—.
By our sons in servile chains,
\%o will work while strength remains,
But we shall be free."—( Cheers.)
Mr. Bright then gave, " The total and immediate repeal of
the corn-laws," which was drunk amid enthusiastic cheering.
Colonel THOM PSON, who was received with loud cheers, said
—My Lord Provost, Ladies and Gentlemen, it is well that our
friend who spoke last has interposed a few matters :of finance,
for it would be hard to take a man from hearing " Scots wha
ha'e wi' Wallace bled," and carry him directly to the discus-
sion of a dry point of political economy like that which has been
put into my hand.—( Laughter.) It was, perhaps, so placed,
because there was a confidence that I at all events should not
withhold a reply when I was regularly called on—that I should
not demur to give the most honest and clear opinion I was
able upon a point of such importance. The question lam to
speak on is :—" An adjustment of taxation to give relief to the
industry of the country and the masses of its population." True,
you might ask your gentles to tell how this might be accom-
plished, and perhaps they would not give you such an answer
as I would hint at. They would probably propose some change
in the duties of oil olive, or a relaxation of those of stick-
liquorice.—(Laughter.) Well, here is a sort of professional
workshop, out of which Parliament, and Acts of
Parliament, hereafter arc to be made. There let us pause a
few minutes, endeavouring to clear our own ideas upon
this question, although it be a dry one, and perhaps
' we may at some time find our opinions mounting into
those regions where they shall have some chance of being re-
duced to a practical result. I pass by, as a mere piece of by-
play, those specimens of taxation in which the poor, or nume-
rous classes, are ma•-'e to pay in something like proportion to
their poverty.—( Laughter. ) The invention is a silly one, but
quite effectual. It is but this, to lay on a fixed duty upon all
articles of one kind, whatever may be the differences of value
amongst them.—( Hear, hear.) Tobacco—for instance—some
here are perhaps not teetotallers in that aromatic weed—
(Laughter ) well then, in consequence of the application of
this principle, the poorest man here pays eleven times the tax-
ation on the tobacco which he whiffs on the streets, compared
with that which the dandy smokes in cigars.—(Laughter.)
With tea, Ladies, it is much the same.—(laughter.) The
poor have to pay the greatest proportion of the duty on tea.
The Duchess pays but a fragmented portion of the value of that
which they imbibe. The w asherwoman—tell it to your washer-
women when you go forth—pays the same amount, or some-
thing like it, for the Bohea with which she refreshes her irri-
tated nerves.--( Laughter.) There seems in this some
prospect of a possibility of a mixture of taxation in that
form ; but there is another form more important still, be-
cause it is more extensive than we • now imagine it to be.
The Gallant Colonel proceeded to say that he would direct
the attention cf the meeting to the same st.bject as he had
brought before them when he last had the honour of appearing
before them. The question was simply this—were they to pay
a higher price instead of a cheaper, for the benefit of some class
of the community or other : so that a national gain might be
derived from it, or whether there should be a national gain or
a national loss? Colonel Thompson went on to show that in
every such instance, where one individual gained, hundreds of
individuals lost. He illustrated this in his quaint and pointed
style by the bread tax, the injustice and impolicy of which he
briefly but powerfully exposed. But then, he said, there has
gone forth a fear and apprehension, that, since there must be a
large revenue raised, how imprudent to shake the fabric under
which it is collected—if you do anything to impoverish the race
of rich men, where are we to get the taxes ? Why, where but
from those who get richer by the alteration ?—( Cheers and
laughter.) Now, you appear a calculating race, whom no
man can beat at vulgar fractions any more than in the field of
action.—(Laughter.) Look into those things against I come
again, and let us then compare notes. Another time I will see
whether we have not made some progress in knowing what
species of taxation it is that ought to remain, and what should
be removed, in the support of my toast, which is, ', An Adjust-
ment of Taxation, to give Relief to the Industry of the Country,
and the masses of its Population."--( Great cheering.)
Mr. OSWALD, M.P., gave the healths of those members in
the Upper House who support the principles of free trade.—
(Loud cheers.) The toast was given with all the honours.
Councillor CROSS next addressed the meeting, and in a neat
and appropi iate speech proposed " The Abolition of the Sugar
and all other Colonial Monopoly," which was received with
enthusiastic applause.
Dr. WILLIS proposed " The speedy repeal of all those laws
which enhance the price of food, and are productive of poverty,
immorality, and crime."
Mr. COBDEN, with many well-merited compliments, pro•
posed " The health of the Lerd Provost." Drunk with loud
cheering.
The Loan PROVOST briefly thanked the meeting for the
honour they had conferred upon him, and, after passing a high
eulogium upon " The free trade Members of the House of
Commons who have honoured us with their presence," pro-
posed the toast, coupling it with the name of Mr. Hastie, M.P.
for Paisley.
Mr. HA STIE, M.P., spoke to the toast.
At the conclusion the Loan PaovosT proposed three cheers
for the Anti-Corn-law League, which were heartily given, and
the large meeting separated in the most decorous and orderly
manner.

' onerous duties, and, by compromising our neutrality, would
materially impair, if not ,'estroy, that confidence we have here-
tofore been favoured with by all classes of the public.
' ' Signed, on behalf of the meeting,
" ' CHRISTOPHER HUGH ES, Chairman.
" STEPHEN N. ELRINGTON, Secretary.
" January 10.'
" When the above resolution was adopted, the meeting
adjourned."
REPRESENTATION OF TIPPERARY.
There is a letter in town to-day which states that the Re-
pealers are completely nonplussed for a candidate, Mr. Maher
having declined the honour which was cut out for him. The
Hon. Mr. O'Callaghan, son of Lord Lismore, is now spoken
of ; but it is far more probable that Mr. Daniel O'Connell, jun.,
will be the opponent of Mr. Ponsonby Barker.
"NATIONAL" POETRY.
The following specimen of Irish manufacture, being a com-
panion-piece to the exquisite lyric, " Papa, who is the Saxon?"
and from the same hand, makes its timely appearance in the
Freeman of this day. It is headed—
"MILLIONS, TO THE RESCUE!"
" Up, up, to the rescue—the war-whoop resounds,
And your bravest are game for the Sassenach hounds ;
Up, to the rescue, and rally to save,
Or ye boast not one drop of the blood of the brave.
" Old tyranny oft played the game with our sires,
And they perished, alas ! in rebellion's dread fires;
But your tactics are now to await the attack,
And you scatter, for ever, the Sassenach pack.
" Each moment of life is a moment of pain
To the bondman who tamely submits to the chain,
And remember, posterity honours his grave
Who fights like the valiant, or falls like the brave.
"Be true to your chief—hold the hell-hounds at bay—.
Shun treason and traitors, but shun not the fray;
Let the onset be theirs, and each forest and glen
Shall rock at the rush of our warrior men.
" Together, together, stand firm as yet,
And fling fierce defiance at tyranny's threat—
Up, up, to the rescue, and rally to save,
Or ye boast not one drop of the blood of the brave."

THE CURRENCY.
PAPER MONEY VINDICATED.
A certain measure of value is necessary, if we would hold
commerce with foreign countries; and the average price of
wheat over the Continent of Europe in gold or silver gives that
measure. If three quarters of an ounce of silver be the average
value of a bushel of wheat in England, and that quantity be
coined into 3s. 100. (at ss. 2d. per ounce), the quarter will
be worth 31s. It one ounce of silver be its average equivalent,
the price of the quarter will be 41s. 4d.4 To preserve perfect
uniformity of price in gold or silver at all times, on the average
of seven or ten years, it should be the duty of Parliament, on
any petition to that effect being presented from those who con-
ceive themselves aggrieved, to ascertain whether the measure
had departed from the standard ; that is, whether since the last
arrangement more or less silver or gold had become theaverage
natural equivalent of a bushel or a quarter of wheat; and to
alter the shilling and the pound sterling in weight accordingly.
Unless this be done, a sudden influx of the precious metals
might take place, from new discoveries of mines, or from im-
proved methods of working those in use, which would have
the effect, in a few years, of altering the measure of value to so
great a degree that fixed films payable for a long series of years,
might not be of half the worth they are at present. How many
payments made by public companies and other corporate bodies,
on account of trusts confided to them centuries ago, are reduced
to comparatively nothing, from the want of such a committee
for the supervision of the coin as that which is proposed ! How
many charities have been injured by inattention to this plain
duty of Government ! Perhaps nothing has so much contri-
buted to deter people from making charitable bequests in
money, as the thought, that in the lapse of years it will have
become of little value. But without taking so wide a range,
every landlord who lets a farm or house on lease, and every
tenant also who takes either, ought to be protected from such
natural increase or diminution in the value of our coin as he
finds to be attended with practical loss or inconvenience to
himself. From 1287 to 1338 that quantity of silver which is
now coined into 38s. Bd. would purchase, on the average a
quarter of wheat. From 1339 to 1451, the price of a quarter
was 21s. 3d. of our present money. From 1453 to 1560, it
took only 10s. of the same money to buy a quarter of wheat..
During the whole period silver had become so enhanced in
value that one shilling was worth in the last hundred years as
much as three had been in the first hundred years, and as two
in the middle period ; so that in the course of a century he who
contracted at the beginning to -pay a certain sum, then called
100/., had to pay at the end what was still called I 00/., though
it was really worth 2001. From 1561 to 1700 the value of
silver decreased in comparison with Qom, being on the average
of that whole period exchangeable in the proportion of 455.
against the quarter of wheat, by which the receivers of fixed in-
come were injured, being paid not quite 251. in the name of 100/.
Under the direction of a " Committee for the Supervision of
Coin," the pound in gold or silver will always represent, or be
exchangeable for, an equal quantity of wheat, taking the ave-
rage of a number of years. Let it be supposed, then, that 31s.
or 355. or 40s. is the true measure of value for a quarter of
wheat in England ; as there is ne doubt that this sum repre-
sents the natural value of wheat, it is just and necessary as a
measure of value between different nations, for without this or
some such measure they could not adjust the value of their re-
spective commodities in the common market of the civilised
world. But what is just and necessary between the inhabitants
of different countries may not be equally or at all so between
the different inhabitants of the same country. Before we can
determine whether they are all entitled to be treated as the
inhabitants of another State, and paid according to the natural
measure of value, we must see whether there are not some cir.
cumstances affecting the value of money, applicable to them,
and not to the foreigner.
They differ from him in the fact of being liable to a different
degree of taxation. Every man is protected in his person and
property by the State in which he resides, for which protection
he has to pay the State ; and this is evidently a payment which
neither ought to be nor can be exacted from the inhabitants of
a foreign State by. another Power, but which may reasonably
enough be required of the denizens of each particular country.
Whether it ought to be so required from them, as to cause any'
difference in the price of commodities, will depend upon the
mode of taxation.
Such taxation as falls upon realised property, independent of
trade, needs not and will not add to prices. Whatever sums
are levied as a tax on land, or on capital in the abstract, as on
property in the funds, are directly taken from the parties, and
need not add to prices. If the landowner says, " 1 pay all the
burdens of the State, and for some of them, at least, I ought to
be reimbursed ; it is but fair, therefore, that I should be allowed
to demand more rent for my land than before this tax was
levied :" the answer would be, "If you increase the rent of
your land, the farmer must have an increased price for his
corn ; and the manufacturer who consumes it, paying that
advanced price, must have an increased price for his pro-
ductions. If he gets this by our interdict of foreign goods,
except under payment of a certain duty, which is the only way
he can get it and keep it, you must pay a higher price for every
thing you buy, and the outgoings would, in that case, greatly
exceed the additional sum you receive from your increased rent.
If we do not protect him from foreign competition, he cannot
produce his goods with so much advantage to himself here as
abroad, and he will soon transport his manufacture to countries
where corn is cheaper, by which means you will lose far more
in the end than the tax for which you are contending."—Such
taxes then as these, which do not require or necessarily lead to
an advance in the price of commodities, may be levied without
causing a difference to the individuals of a country in the price
paid by them and by those of other countries. But this is not
the general character of our taxation. There may be, therefore,
other circumstances connected with it which will have an effect
on prices, considered with reference to individuals of the same
country.
That there aro such circumstances will be clearly evident,
when we consider that our large revenue is nearly all derived
from duties on the followiog articles :—Malt, hops, beer, wine,
spirits, sugar, tea, coffee, tobacco anti snuff, corn, butter, cheese,
currants and raisins, cotton, wool, silk, printed goods, hides and
skins, paper, soap, candles and tallow, auctions, licenses, coals,
glass, timber, bricks, &c. From the taxes laid on these articles,
under the head of Customs and Excise, we raise the sum of
forty millions annually, and from the Stamps, Assessed Taxes,
and Post-office about fourteen millions more, making in the
whole about fifty-four millions for the year 1830. All these
taxes, or nearly all, are not directly drawn from the parties
who are intended ultimately to pay them : they are first paid
by the producer or vender, and he charges them, with some
profit for his outlay, to the consumer, whence they are called
taxes on consumption.
Now how is the producer to charge these taxes to the con-
sumer, unless he can add them to the natural price ? There is
clearly no other way. But if he adds them to the natural price,
his commodities will then be so much dearer than the same kind
of articles produced on the Continent by all the difference be-
tween our taxation and that of other countries. The conse-
quence of this will be, that the Englishman cannot afford to
take the same price in the common market of Europe which
will compensate men of other countries; he must have more,
or he must lose the extra amount he has paid in taxes. He
cannot get more in an open market, and therefore he is shut
out altogether ; or he loses the amount of his taxes, in which
case, the producer, and not the consumer, pays those taxes
which are then erroneously called taxes on consumption.
Perhaps you will say, " He has got the home market to him-
self, and in that be gets repaid his tax." If Government were
to lay protecting duties on all the above commodities, and the
preventive-service men were to exercise a vigilant scrutiny, we
might probably succeed in keeping up such a price at home, in
general, as would repay him ; but he is at all times liable to be
injured in the extent of his trade by the successful issue of
smuggling transactions ; to guard against which additional
sums of money must be spent, which will render additional
taxes necessary.
We will suppose, however, that he could be protected from
competition with foreigners in the home market, on all articles
specially taxed ; what in the next place is to save him from that
same competition in all other things? Men who pay taxes
on corn, beer, clothing, &c., on everything, in short, which
is needful for their support or comfort while engaged in pro-
ducing the various commodities by the sale of which they
live, must charge for everything they produce a
price as much higher than the natural price as that
taxation which is peculiar to them amounts to. They
must therefore be enabled to advance every commodity that
can be offered for sale to a higher price than their conti-
nental rival, or they are not repaid in the same degree that he
is. All competition must therefore be guarded against in the
home market, in every kind of goods, or the Englishman has
not justice done him. As this cannot be done, it follows that
with a metallic currency he cannot escape suffering in the de-
gree in which he is taxed beyond these persons who are engaged
in the production of commodities in other countries.
But it will be said that there are some articles which the
foreigner produces, and the Englishman cannot pretend to
produce, such as wine, brandy, &c., and he is at least not liable
to injury here ? 1 fear, however, that this fact also will militate
against him. Whatever is imported for sale here ought to be
paid for by the export of some other articles. The foreigner
has a bill on England for the amount of his wine, which he
wants to make the most of. If he buys English goods with it,
he must pay so much more for them, as the taxation adds to
natural price. He prefers going to a cheaper market, and con-
sequently receives gold for his bill, with which he can boy more
goods in other countries than here. Heavy sacrifices are made
by the Englishman to prevent this; and, especially after his gold
has been carried away, his price lowers; for he has then to
tempt the foreign purchaser, in order to get it back again, by
the superior cheapness of our commodities compared with those
of less taxed countries. In doing this he loses even more than
the taxes which he has paid ; and that he loses these is the
point which I have been proving.
If this representation be true, it will follow that prices in
a metallic currency cannot be maintained in England, for a
continuance, higher than they arc in neighbouring countries, or
than natural price warrants. By a desperate struggle for life or
death, our productive classes have for a long time upheld them,
in defiance of every disadvantage under which an unwise Go-
vernment has compelled them to labour; but prices still are
gradually sinking, and must soon find their true level. For
sixteen yearsf the productive classes have been paying the
greater part of forty millions a year in taxes, which ought not to
have been required of them ; taxes which should have fallen al-
together on the consumer ; and they still remain crushed to the
earth by this terrible visitation upon them of a burden which they
were never intended to bear, nor can bear much longer. Forty
millions to be taken every year from the working classes, to

I have stated the natural price of corn in silver or gold
thus hypothetically because opinions differ on the subject of its
actual amount.
t This was written in la.?.