The Sun.
London, England, 1844-06-20 00:00:00

I came before them ; that is, inquire into his habits, and
' see if he had conducted his business with skill and with
economy They should adopt the same plan towards
the West India proprietors. He (Air. Cobden)
crossed the Atlantic ten years ago with a gentleman
who had travelled over all the sugar producing coun-
tries of the globe, who told him that there was as
much difference between the mode of cultivating
West India land and manufacturing its sugar, and the
mode which other countries adopted who had no
monopoly, as there was between the machinery and
management of one of the cotton-mills of this day as
compared with one twenty years ago.—(Hear, hear.)
Therefore, he said they ought to do away with the
rotten prop of protection, which even made it impos-
sible for-them to protect themselves. Let them, like
other men in this country, fight their own battles.—
(Cheers.) Now, having told them what were the
grounds on which he had voted against the amend-
ment of the Hon. Member for Bristol the other night,
he would frankly confess that he was not aware of the
trap which had been laid on Friday morning
till the motion came, for he had on Thursday made
up his mind to vote in favour of the amendment.
Simple-hearted creature that he was, he thought that
something good might come from the Hon. Member
for Bristol.—(Laughter.), He believed, in fact he
had no doubt that a great number of free-traders, as
earnest as any in that theatre, who had voted with
the Hon. Member for Bristol, did so under the mis-
apprehension which would have caused him to vote
for it on Thursday. But that could not shut their
eves to the fact that there were other parties iu the
House of Commons who made this a party contest ;
and the newspapers, organs of that party, were very
much dissatisfied that the free-traders, who had any
other objection than party or factious objects—
(Cheers)—did not join in carrying a worse measure
than the bad enough measure of Sir Robert Peel, and
by that means upset the political coach.—(Cheers.)
He did not look on this contest as a party or political
contest. He had never given a party vote in the
House of Commons, and he hoped he never should.—
(Cheers.) Ile would get the best measure he could,
and he would never support a worse measure when a
better was proposed to the House.—(Hear, hear.)
But if he were a politician, and disposed to
look at the question as one of party tactics, through
Whig spectacles, he could see no wisdom in
those tactics. He had heard of a coalition, but what
sort of a coalition ?—(Hear, hear.) He had heard
many sensible: men say, that there were 250 Mem-
bers on the Tory side, and 100 on the Whig side, be-
tween whom there was very little difference; and
who might now be sitting side by side in the House
of Commons, if it were not for the difficulty of ad-
justing the rival pretensions of opposite leaders.
What sort of coalition could there be between the
liberal and the ultra-bigots of monopoly ? Lord John
Russell with the Whigs, and Lord John Manners with
young England, went out into the same lobby. Now,
If faction did not blind men, if they could look
beyond their noses, why should they not ask them-
selves what good that would lead to, whither it would
lead them, even if successful ? The next vote they
came to with such ingredients, would put them in a
great minority; and if ever Sir R. Peel resigned and
Lord J. Russell were sent for by the Queen to take
office, he would probably advise her Majesty to send
for Sir R. Peel, for there was nobody else.—(A
voice, " O'Connell.)—(Cheers.) With a majority of
90 or a 100 on a party question, could Sir R. Peel
be dispossessed of office by such miserable manoeuvres
of the House of Commons ?—(Hear, hear.) If, indeed,
parties came to something within 10 or 20 of each other,
then there would be an opening for party movements.
But, as he said before, with a majority of 90 or 100
on the side of Sir Robert Peel, how could those tac-
ticians in the House of Commons put the Opposition
into power ?—(No, no.) The way to get into power,
if Lord John Russell and the Whigs wanted it,
was not by joining the ultra-bigots of monopoly, but
by working strongly out of doors, that he might be
strong within doors; and how could he increase his
power out of doors, but by an advance to free trade,
which indeed he professed to advocate in principle,
but which he did not carry out to its full extent ? He
was sorry to say, that such was the opinion of poli-
tical parties throughout the country, that his belief
was, that people cared very little for one party or the
other on the present question, and that there was very
little to choose between them. He should not be sur-
prised that, for a ss. reduction per cwt. on the pro-
tection to sugar, the public would sell either of them.
Now the League, at least as far as he was concerned,
was of neither of these political parties—neither the
Whigs nor the Tories were practical free-traders.
They had never yet heard a pledge, a distinct pledge,
from the leader of the Whigs, that he was prepared
to carry out the principle of free trade. They had
plain declarations that the country was not satisfied.
When questions of free trade were brought forward,
there was always some plan to continue the pro-
tection on sugar, and some plan for protection
to corn, awl till they could get one party or other to
stand up for free trade, and against all protections,
which were mere robberies, he did not believe that
the League, as a League, would be acting with
wisdom or policy in identifying themselves with
either of them. His opinion was, that if isolated as a
party, the free trade party would be stronger in the
House of Commons, though not nominally greater,
than if it merged itself in the ranks of either party.—
(Cheers.) He saw an utter chaos into which politi-
cal parties were falling. He was not sorry for it, be-
cause, give them a compact body of free traders, the
more complication there was between the Whigs and
the Tories the sooner they would succeed in tarrying
their principles to a successful issue. The Hon.
Gentleman sat down amid loud cheers, but immedi-
ately afterwards came forward to correct a mistake
which he was told he had fallen into. He was told
he had calculated the reduction of 4s. on the colonial
duty upon 2,000,000 cwt. of sugar. He should
have calculated it upon 4,000,000, which was the
quantity imported from the colonies, and this, he be-
lieved, would amount to 800,0001.
The Rev. Thomas SPENCER, of Bath, then came
forward, and said he had listened with interest to
the address of Mr. Cobden, and was glad to find
that the party distinction of Whig and Tory was
about to be given up. He hoped another party
would be founded upon their ruins, to be called the
Justice Party.—(Cheers.) He hoped also that the
newspapers would alter their course, and, instead of
writing articles on the poor-law and pauperism, to
excite the people, would write fur truth. He con-
fessed he felt diffident of his own abilities when he
found so many persons of high character differing
from him. Ile found that there were six or seven
clergymen of the Church of England who voted for
the free trade candidate in South Lancashire, while
sixty or_ seventy recorded their votes on the other

side: He was inclined to be of the opinion of Bishop
Butler, who said " that the greater part of mankind
did not think for themselves." He was convinced
that many men were too indolent to labour with
their minds, though they might do so with their body;
and even reading: was, with regard to some persons,
an act of idleness.—(Hear, hear.) Such persons
liked to have their work done for them. They left
their health in the doctor's hands, their property in
the lawyer's hands, and their souls in the par-
son's hands.—(Hear, hear.) The Scripture says
"Examine yourselves," but it was only when men
began to think and to distinguish what was right
from what was wrong, that they would succeed.
When men became informed, the League would do
more in a few weeks than it did now in so many
years. This was one reason to account for the fact
that the League had not made greater progress ;
another reason was that men, who even might be
well informed on the subject, did not think

it necessary to act—they left it all to Mr. Cobden.---
(Loud cheer 3.) They left it to their representatives
to speak their opinions ; but it was the duty of each
man to act, and to spend his time and his money, as
though the successful cause depended upon his own
exertions.—(Loud cheers.) Each man should say
that he would take the step which was right, though
others should neglect their duty, and, without doubt-
ing of the superintendence of Providence, he should

c,
act as if Providence would only assist the man who
should assist himself.—(Loud cheers.) Moreover, he
besought of them not to follow names, however high.
When they dethroned one Pope, they should not
follow another. If they cast off one Pope, they
followed another—some had their Luther, their
Calvin, their Knox, and their Wesley. Let them
throw aside all great names, and follow the right.—
(Cheers.) What matter, though Clarks& be against
you, if truth be on your side ?—(Cheers.) Though
he was willing to pay deference to the opinions of
the majority, the minority were often in the right ;
and in this case he thought he had even an advantage
over them, because what he advocated was the
doctrine of the Scripture and the Prayer-book.
He was not going to allude to portions of that Prayer-
book to which he had alluded at other times, and in

other places, namely, the prayer for cheapness and
plenty, and the thanksgiving for it when it comes ;
but to another portion of the Prayer-book, in refer-
ence to the right mode of action when a nation was in
distress. At that particular time, for instance, the

clergymen were reacting the prayer for rain ; they had
had three months of dry weather. One farmer in his
own parish had, inconsequence, 'fast no less than six

hundred pounds. Now, what the clergymen sought to
desire was comprised in the words—" That we may
receive the fruits 'of the earth to our comfort and to

God's honour;" and the meaning of the fruits of the

earth being given to their comfort and to God's ho-
nour, was in other prayers explained by the words
" cheapness and plenty." This was the standard,

therefore, by which every clergyman was to be
guided.—(Hear, hear.) He had no faith in prayer

except as it was combined with action. The man
who said, " Give us this day our daily bread," and
did not work in order 'to obtain it, was a man of very
small sense indeed.—(Hear, hear.) lle believed there
was not an instance, throughout the Bible, of Gods do-
ing anything for man which man could do for him-

self; and this was a fact which he wished especially
to impress upon the minds of all who respected that
book. When their Lord raised the dead they did not
find that he rolled away the stone, because that the
disciples could do. Again, when the dead was raised,
he did not do any more than utter the words,
" Loose him, and let him go," because all that was
needed was in the power of the disciples. When he
fed the multitude, he instructed his disciples to tell
them to sit down on the grass, although the multiply.
ing of the bread was his own act ; whilst it was the
disciples who gathered up the fragments. that nothing
might be lost, because the act was not beyond their
capacity. In every case where a needful thing was
beyond their own power, they had a right to ask for
Divine assistance, but when it was in their own
power they had no right to expect the assistance cf
Providence, except in connection with their own ex-
ertions.—(Cheers.) He would, then, appeal to the
clergy, and to Sir Robert Peel, as a Churchman,
whether the Prayer-book did not lay down, as a
foundation to be built upon, cheapness and plenty ?
(Hear, hear.) If it were a thing to be prayed for, it
was also a thing to be sought after. He would also
appeal to Sir Robert Peel on the ground of his own
statement, that the proper rule for the State was that
the people should buy; in the cheapest market
and sell in the dearest. This, he said,
was truth in the abstract, this was right,
and it ought to have been the original basis of
their laws. But, then, he justified himself for not
acting up to this principle by the circumstances in
which they found themselves in the present day.
Now, he was bound to offer up a prayer every Sunday
for that Parliament, of which he was so conspicuous a
Member, and a part of that prayer was to this effect :
—" That all things may be ordered and settled by,
their endeavours upon the best and surest founda-
tion," which he acknowledged to be cheapness and
plenty, or free trade—" that peace and happiness,
truth and justice, religion and piety, may be esta-
blished among us for all generatiions." Now, at pre-
sent they had anything but peace and happiness
amongst them, they had anything but prosperity.
Did not Sir obert Peel, when he heard this prayer,
know that he himself was acting contrary to the
spirit of the Prayer-book ? So long as he declined
going to the foundations which was here described to
be " the best and the surest," the foundation of cheap-
ness and plenty, allowing men to buy and sell to the
best advantage, so long would he continue to act in
opposition to the Prayer-book.—(Loud cheers.)
He (Mr. S.) held free trade to be one of the rights
of man—a right of which nothing could deprive
him—a right to be exercised at all times, under all
circumstances, and by all nations.—(Cheers.) There
could be no case in which free trade ought to he in-
fringed upon ; it was the only sure foundation.
God had distributed his bounties amongst different
nations. Some climates were warmer and some
colder ; some possessed iron, some corn, some gold ;
all these things are diversified. When there was no
corn in Canaan there was corn in Egypt. It was
God's intention that men should enjoy the best of
what was produced in different parts of the earth, and
the object of the Christian religion, which was de-
clared._ to be " 'glory to God in the highest, peace on
earth, good will towards men," Could never be carried
out until the ministers of religion advocated those
principles.—(Loud cheers.) He had before him the
testimony of one who was a very great man in his day,
and who had not long been dead ; he referred to Robert
Hall, the Baptist ministers He said, "If there is
any class of persons whose opinion on these ques-
tions is entitled to deference and respect, they are
undoubtedly political economists, men who have made
the sources of national wealth the principal object of
their inquiry; and where will you find one, from
Adam Smith to the present 'time, who had not repro-
bated the interference of_ the Legislature with
the price of corn ? To say nothing of the
reasoning of that great philosopher, which is un-
answerable, common sense will tell us that taxes to
raise the price of such a commodity are unjust."
—(Cheers.) Now they
.ss ere told that the free
trade which they advocated could hardly be carried
slut in cases where the countries with which they
traded raised their produce by means of slave-labour.
He had no idea of altering a rule which had once-
been established. If a man, for instance, had made
up bis mind, from external and internal evidence of
the truth of the Bible, that it was a genuine and au-
thentic document, he was not afterwards to cavil at
any particular word which he might find in it. Every
science took for granted its axioms. Euclid began
with, definitions and postulates. Newton, in his
Ptincipia," began with axioms and postulates; and
it they began with these, they must not object to
anything which followed. Suppose they were not
yet acquainted with America; suppose they did not
yet knot. 7 what were the practices of the inhabitants
of Brazit, and yet had come to the conclusion that
free trade 'was right—that every man should be al-
lowed to act upon this self-supporting, self-adjusting
principle, and be permitted to do the best
he could in the markets of the world, they
were not afterwards to alter their course be-
cause they found different circumstances in
different countries, They did not say " You shall
not trade with Russia because the Emperor has not
pleased me by his conduct to Poland; you shall not
trade with another country because the inhabitants
are Mahomedans and idolaters, and therefore rob God
of the honour which is due to him ; or with another,
because it contains slaves." Was he to be answerable
for all these things ? The question was, did they
admit that free trade was right? If they did, they
were mot to be always departing from their principles.
—(Hear, hear.) He had been a member of the Anti-
Slavery Conventions for many years past; and he had
always heard it contended that free labour would beat
slave labour. Yet some persons who had maintained
that for years, objected to the .experiment being tried,
as though they had no faith in their own principles.—
(Cheers.) Under the old poor-law, he had seen far-
mers who preferred paying 9s. a-week to an indepen-
dent labourer to paying ss. for a pauper. The fact
was, that many a man was sustained by a feeling of
independence when he had an ulterior object in view ;
when it was in his power to lay by against sickness
and old age, he would do a great deal more work than
either a pauper or a slave. But.these persons said that
slaves were stolen, and therefore produce was
stolen. He could not quite see the correctness of
that inference. It did not follow that the earth on
which a man trod waa stolen, because the man who
cultivated it was stolen.—(Hear, hear.) But, sup' •
posing the case to be as it was represented, the par-
ties convicted themselves of sin—they acknowledged
themselves to be the greatest criminals in the country.
If the argument were just, what was the guilt of the
man who used slave-grown cotton or tobacco? The
party who resorted to such reasoning condemned
himself.—(Cheers) But then the reply would be,
perhaps, that two blacks could not make one white;
the parties might say ",Surely we are better than
you, if we do not use slave-grown sugar." He
thought that, so far from being better, they were
'much worse. Scripture said that he who offended in
"one point was guilty in all. These parties admitted
that they offended in one point. They (the Anti-
Corn-law party) did not admit their own guilt.
They were guilty, therefore, of encouraging slavery
by wilfully using slave-grown cotton, by wilfully
makin6 slave-grown tobacco,, and by wilfully taking
up their noses slave-grown snuff. He had told per-
sons of this class that the very money which they had
in their pockets might be bight in evidence against
them. He felt convinced, however, that the Master
whom they served did not wish them to tremble
at every step, lest they should happen to touch slave-
'grown produce. The Government were under a
mistake, therefore, in allowing this consideration to
weigh with them ; and he was convinced that some
of them in their own minds knew better, but they
did not like to offend the feeling which pervaded the
minds of many good men in this country. When-
ever charity or pity influenced the mind, instead of
justice,
it led men into all kinds of blunders. The
Bible did not put charity fir justice ; it first said,
" Do justly," and then " love mercy."—(Hear, hear.)
Let everything be upright, honest, fair, and equitable
—let them do what was right, and then, if they had
the means and the opportunity of exhibiting their
generosity, let them do so. But true charity was
not that which arose out of poor-rates or church-rates
—it was not the charity of the State, but that which
came out of a man's own pocket. He would tell
them a case of charity which had Come to his know-
ledge yesterday. An excellent gentleman, with
whom he was travelling from Bristol, toad him that
about thirty years ago a gentleman was travelling in
a coach in a stormy night in.winter. Outside of this
coach were a soldier's wife ' and child, ex-
posed to the pelting rain , and a very keen
wind. Hearing that the . child was ill, al-
though the journey was a long one, he immediately
changed places with the woman and child, and, bore
the pitiless storm for hours. whilst the mother and
child travelled inside.—(Loud cheers.)' This gen-
tleman was a noble free trader, and his name was
Radnor.—(lmmense cheering, which lasted for up-
wards of a minute, the majority of the company
rising.) He said to the gentleman who related to
him the anecdote, " I wonder whether Lord Radnor
would recollect the circumstance if you were to tell
him of it." The reply was, " I know of scores of things
of that kind, which, when mentioned to his Lordship,
he had entirely forgotten.--(Cheers.) That was
another mark of a noble mind.—(Hear, bear.) Now
what he wished to impress upon them was, that if
there was distress in the country they should not
resod'- to the modern system of patching, and mend-
ing, and tinkerhig,l)ut go to the fountain-head of the
misery, and try to remove its cause. It was better
to spend Si. in removing the cause of misery,
in their wretchedness. Now he would just state
desti-
tution, and vice, than 5001.. in keeping men comfort-
able

to them the views which, on the previous Sunday, it
had been his business to bring► before his congre2ation.
It' he were wrong, it was the Church which made
him wrong. In one of the psalms of the afternoon

service he read, respecting misery and distress
judgeunjtl
thestl poory, and
and accept the
; do justice to the afflicted and needy!" It was
ris w s
long
e
? Defendd
; In ofo n gthe will ye
father-
less
not the mere giving of charity, which was meant by
doing justice to the afflicted and needy. Then, in
the next verse, were the words " Deliver the poor and
needy, rid them out of the hands of the wicked."
This was what the free trade movement was intended
to effect. He found another command, which it was
very necessary to remember, at a time when religion
was so much in fashion, and when numbers thought
it sinful to interfere with the affairs of the world—
" Is it such a fast that I have chosen a day for a man
to afflict his soul ? Is not this the fast that I have
chosen, to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the
heavy burdens, to let the oppressed go free, and to
break every yoke?" It was in the breaking of the
yoke, then, and in the undoing of heavy burdens,
that religion chiefly consisted. In another part of Scrip-
ture, he found a description which might be almost
ll-
terally applied to the state of society now existing in
this country, in which the great majority of the people
were hardly able to get bread and water, while a few
I were growing enormously rich by the very burdens
of the State. This was the description to which he
referred. " Now, thus saith the Lord of Hosts, con-
sider your ways ; ye have sown much and bring in
little; ye eat, but ye have not enough; ye drink, hut
ye are not filled with drink ; ye clothe, but there
is none warm ; and ye that earneth wages earneth
wages to put in a bag with holes." This was exactly
the case at the present day. The Chancellor of the
Exchequer made a great number of holes in the bag
of the State. After the description thus given and
thus applicable to the state of England, it was again
repeated—" Thus saith the Lord of Hosts, consider
your ways !" It was because the people did not con-
sider ; it was because they did not reflect on the effect of
the presentistate of things, if they continued, that they
were badly governed.— (Hear, hear.) There could
be no tyranny where there were free spirits ; there
could be no had laws where the people were wise.—
(Hear, hear.) They could not bribe a virtuous man ;
they could net snake drunken at an election
a sober man—(.-fear, hear)—they could not in-
timidate a noble man. It was, therefore, purely the
fault of the people that the laws and the taxes of the
country were in their present state. Reform must
begin with the people. They must enlighten the
public mind—they must excite greater generosity,
and teach every man to promote his own interests
without injuring those of his fellow-men. He should
not trespass much longer on their patience. When-
ever he had talked to the farmers on the subject of
the corn-laws, he had found that their greatest diffi-
culty arose from the existence of the national debt.
It was said that free trade might be all very well if
they had no national debt, but that whilst that existed
it would be impossible for the farmers, with-
out the corn-laws, to compete with the foreigners.
Now, in the first place, he thought it was very hard,
after leading the country into war, to make it the
means of oppressing the people. But he contended
that it was, in fact, no argument at all. He would
suppose the case of two rival shopkeepers, one of
whom had a mortgage upon his property, whilst that
of the other was free from incumbrance. Would the
man whose property was mortgaged be justified in
seeking to establish a monopoly ? Should he not
rather exert himself the more in his business, and
.endeavour -to get more custom, in order to pay off his
mortgage ? He had no doubt that if free trade were
extended, the national debt would be felt as a very light
burden. It would ultimately be paid off, and great care
would betaken not to .incur a similar burden in future.
With respect to the complaints of the farmers, of the
national debt, the manufacturers and shopkeeper.;
were subjected to it also—all paid it ; and if paying
it was a title to protection, all ought to be protected.
The argument drawn from the national debt was of
no weight at all ; if it was an argument, it was one
rather in favour of free trade than otherwise—(Hear,
hear)—and the more the subject was discussed the
more shameful would it appear for men to stand up
in Parliament, or elsewhere, and advocate local and
selfish interests. He hoped they should not hear them
say, as they had lately heard them, in Parliament,
say, because the planters in the West Indies had
been ruined they must ruin England also. He
hoped they would remember that they were
sent to Parliament to represent the interests
of the nation at large, and not merely their own
pockets, or their own individul interest. He hoped
that a time would come when men would he ashamed
to deceive one another in this way; yet he was sorry
to say, in the neighbourhood where he resided, at-
tempts of intimidation were going on in a large way.
He had known petitions against the corn-laws taken
into a village by the butler or head servant of the
great house, and placed before, not only those who
were in favour of the corn-laws, but those who op-
posed them, and these latter were dared to refuse to
sign them.—(Shame.) Some were at once directed
to sign them ; others were reasoned with, and all
kinds of appeal made to their interest; but in some
cases those appeals had been unsuccessful.—(Cheers.)
That was noble conduct in those who remained
true to their principles; but it was a shameful
thing on the part of wealth and power to place men
in such a position.—(Cheers.) The League, he
hoped, would al ways use different means, so that in
gaining a good cause they might say they had gained
it by righteous nleans.—(Cheers.)
On the Rev. Gentleman resuming his seat, some
confusion occurred, in consequence of an individual
in the pit standing on one of the seats, and requesting
to be allowed to address a few words to the meeting.
His name was said to he Dwaine. The cries of
" Turn him out," " Order," and " Chair," continued
for some minutes.
The CHAIRMAN, having obtained silence, said they
could not depart from their rule of presenting the
gentlemen announced to speak in the regular order;
and, if the interruption should be persisted in, he
should feel it his duty to preserve to the audience
that order and convenience which had, prevailed at all
their meetings. He announced Mr. W. J. Fox as
the next speaker.
Mr. W. J. Fox then came forward ; he was re-
ceived with warm and continued acclamations.. He
said the motion for the repeal of the corn-laws, which
Mr. Villiers would propose on Tuesday next in the
House. of Commons, marked the completion of another
year of the League agitation ; it was a time at which
to note the indications of the progress which their
cause was making, and the rate at which it had ad-
vanced. The result of that motion would be a kind
of "taking stock" in the House of Commons—(Hear,
hear)—and exhibiting, in the first instance, how the
free trade cause stood as compared with last year.
He confessed he had no very large anticipations as to
this portion of the review ; he was well acquainted
with that prayer for the House of Commons which had
been so emphatically and soundly explained to them
that evening. But however frequently, in some quar-
ters, or however earnestlythat prayer might be offered
up, he was afraid it would be as unavailing as the pros
position made about two or three weeks since in a
country village, where the farmers were suffering
very much from drought, that the clergyman would
put up a prayer for rain. He consulted an old farmer
in the village, and wanted to know what his view
of the matter was, and whether he coincided
with the rest of the parishioners. Why,
Master Parson, said the old farmer, in my
opinion it is no use praying for rain as long as
the wind holds in the north-east !—(Laughter and
cheers.) He (Mr. Fox) feared that the prayers of
the Church for the House of Commons would be of
as little use in leading to the settlement of this ques-
tion on the foundation of truth and justice, as long as
the prevailing wind of that region came from the
bitter and biting quarter of monopoly.—(Cheers.)
Ho maid hope but little, on a question between a
class interest and the public, from a House of Com-
mons as at present class constructed, and even class-
elected. The disease was in its own very vitals, and
there must be a regeneration of the Legislative
body before they could hope for justice, to say
nothing of charity, to the suffering millions from
those who were at present the arbiters of their des-
tinies.—(Cheers.) There were other symptoms which
must lead them to moderate their expectations of the
approaching debate and division on this question. lie
confessed he should not be at all surprised if their
strength should appear less even, instead of more, than
it was on the former occasions ; and he should be by
no means disheartened by any such phenomenon ; for
whenever the Whig party got a glimpse of office,
they found that phrases and notions which had been
thought obsolete by the progress of the controversy,
were revived again ; and in the recent conflicting
events that had taken place, as soon as in the Legisla-
ture there was any such chance of upsetting a rival
party and returning to place, they perceived that the
doctrine of a fixed duty re-appeared in the Whig
newspapers. They had a perfect right to revive it
assuredly; they had a perfect right to dig a corpse
out of -the earth, if the earth belonged to them ; but
they had no right to push that corpse among living
beings, and say, here, this is one of you, and has a right
to share your functions and enjoy a portion of your
privileges !—(Cheers.) Logically, and in the public
estimation, the fixed duty was dead and buried, and
rotten and forgotten, and it only re-appeared upon
the stage because there seemed to be some slight
opening to a certain Parliamentary party, which
occupies a better position than it did erewhile.
for a return to place. Nov, with a fixed duty as
well as a sliding scale, this League waged inextin-
guishable warfare.—(Cheers.) The hostility to their
principle was as great in one case as the other. They
could no more compromise with the bread-tax in one
form than they could in the other. They abjured
them both. They were only different phases of the
intercepting of the bounty of Providence in its way
to minister to human enjoyment. And they had a ,
yet further objection to the fixed duty doctrine,
which rendered it more and more obnoxious ; that
'objection was, that a fixed duty tended to di-
vide -the interest of the class possessing capital

from that of the class having only their labour
to rely upon. It might answer the purpose of the
manufacturer, the merchant, and the shopkeeper; it
might in some measure satisfy those who were look-
ing exclusively to their own interests; but it would
do so at the sacrifice of the interests and the rights of
the great majotity of the toiling multitudes, whose
question this was, and with reference to whom
it had always . been agitated, and not one. item
of whose. claim to food should ever be compro-
mised by any friend of free trade, or that
just and broad principle which that phrase denoted.
'ln looking at the public indicatives of the state of
their cause, one could not but be struck at once with
the fact of the unabated interest that had been mani-
fested in those meetings ; and this was the more re-
markable at the present time than it wes last year or
on any former occasion, and for this reason :—The pre-
sent period was not one of very much excitement
on this question. It was not one in which there
were such stimulating and cheering electoral victories
as had occurred a few months ago. It Was not one
of those numerous public meetings in different parts
of the kingdom, which some while since occupied
public attention, and formed a continual occasion for
regarding the progress of their cause. It had not
been a period, except within the last few days, of
Parliamentary discussions, that were exciting any
very extended degree of notice or great influence
yet they had come to this place, from week to weeki;
seeing the old familiar faces, and hearing the old
familiar voices; they came under no temporary ex-
citement, under no extraordinary stimulus from with-
out ; they came because there was an increasing
stimulus in their own bosoms ; they came because
this was a matter of principle, and not of
mere passing excitement; they came because their
determination was fixed and rooted in their own souls
to protest against the atrocious impost on food till 'it
should be utterly abolished—and to reiterate that de-
termination, calling Heaven to witness, that come
storm, come sunshine, come calm, come struggle,
they were resolved to make their protest, till at
length the voice of truth and justice prevailed over
all class interests, and that the Legislature itself
should yield to the power of public opinion.
—(Cheers.) In this quiet determination they
needed no contrivance, no recourse to varied means
for keeping up their attendance. He saw in them
that calm and growing strength which worked like
the mighty elements of nature itself; it was the
power which had within itself the means of perma-
nence, and the means of permanence in moral power
implied the means of increase also. It showed a
strength that went on from day to day silently and
irresistibly swelling like the snow on the mountain
top, till it formed into an extent compact as the
glacier, really at a word, if they bided their time—
ready when that time came to rush down, bearing all
before it, overwhelming any hostile power with the
will, the resistless will of a mighty nation.—(Loud
cheers.) Miscalculating the quietness with which true
power held its own, they found some journalists
still determined to treat th e League as absolutely or
permanently defunct ; indeed, only a few days ago it
was stated by one of these papers that the League
had been driven froin Covent-garden Theatre by the
London Conservative Association, a most marvellous
rout that would have been ; but the generosity that
had allowed them the use of the theatre, had been by
no means displaced. Their meeting ought to have
been held this day instead of last Wednesday, then,
when they toasted the glorious majority of ninety,
they might have asked where it was last Monday and
on Fridays--(Loud cheers.) They might have been
called ,on to explain whether they were cele-
brating the triumph of the Tories over Peel, or of
Peel over the Tories.—(Cheers and laughter.) And
that question might have especially been asked of
Sir Howard Douglas, who voted on the first occasion
with Mr. Miles, and on the second occasion with Sir
R. Peel, and who prefaced his second vote with de-
claring that his opinions had undergone no change.—
(Great laughter.) That was the gentleman who
took on him, or had put upon him, the task of being
the responsor when the health of the Duke of Wel-
lington was given. Had the Conservative festival
waited till to-day, they might have made a pithy
allusion to the uncovered statue of the Duke, which
he was told, for he had not seen it, stood with its
face to the Post- office and the Horse-Guards, and its
back towards the Royal Exchange.--(Laughter.)
At that festival they said repeatedly, and they said
very truly, that they were not an association to up-
hold " any particular Ministry." The Ministry such
an association upheld must be a Ministry that were
not very particular—(Loud cheers)—and he won-
dered much, considering the number of mercantile
people there, and the large correspondence they must
keep up, he wondered they. did not introduce at least
some such toast as this, " Success to those who hold
the seals of office, and who break the seals of letters."
—(Loud cheers, several times renewed.) To re-
turn to the indications of the progress of their
cause, he for one reckoned it a very gra-
tifying indication, and a good of immense
moment effected by the League, that the condition of
the agricultural labourer was now forced upon public
attention, with a power that insured that something
must be done towards their amelioration. It was the
League that brought that condition first under notice.
in the face of the boldest contradiction; for every
rural district was described as a perfect arcadia, all
innocence, and comfort, and enjoyment. The veil
was now torn aside, one whiCh no patching could
ever hold together again, and the horrid and disgust-
ing reality was exposed, a reality which, however
tampered
,with, he believed could never be entirely
altered in its character, and never thoroughly
reformed, but by the accomplishment of that
repeal of the taxes on food which it was
the object of the League to accomplish.
How much had been done by the League in the cause
of free trade ? Would that great power, the Times,
have taken up their cause had it not been for previous
preparation ? The Times sent out its royal com-
mission to the disturbed districts ; he said royal com-
mission, for there were other powers of Government
besides those that met in Westminster. The Times
might be said, to a certain extent, to rule England as
Daniel O'Connell rules Ireland. Printing- house-
square, and the Penitentiary at the Cireular-road, were
seats of Government, where there were influences
which made themselves felt to the remotest bounda-
ries of either island. A series of papers had appeared
in the Times regarding the agricultural districts,
whence you might trace, as on a map, a broad, black
line—low wages and incendiary fires.—(Hear, hear.)
These papers, by the impression they would produce,
would shame down the calumnies so often repeated
against the League, that they had, or could have had,
anything to do with these disturbances. Those
sophisms had fallen in the way of so many others—
they would go down the road to oblivion, and nothing
would be left but the, plain, daring assertion—that to
tax food is good for our pockets, and that tax we will
keep up as long as you leave us the power.—(Hear,
hear.) It was pleasing to see that the condition of
these poor creatures was becoming so much better
understood, and that the need of some alleviation to
the miseries of the inhabitants of the agricultural
counties of Norfolk, Essex, and Suffolk was univer-
sally admitted. This,' and much more, was owing
to the exertions of the League.—(Hear, hear.)
The poor creature born. to filth and hunger,
brought up in a dilapidated cottage destined to de-
molition under the common-clearing system—sent
out in his early years to break stones on the road
that leads to some ducal mansion, kept up in splen-
dour by the assistance of a bread-tax—made to work
for all; he must feed, and house, and lie as he can—
his church was the beer-shop, his only refuge—his
only chance of tasting anything but dry bread,
poaching on the preserves of some squire—steering
between the Scylla and Charybdis of the workhouse
and the gaol, the view of the gallows being made visi-
ble in the distance by the fires of the blazing barns.
To reach such as this , the star of hope had risen,
land it would hold on in its course until it obtained
the meridian of truth and justice. There were indi-
cations of advance in their cause in the present con-
dition of the hostile powers. 'Where was the great
compact phalanx which had been bound against them
two years ago ? , Where was. the power which was
exercised in the election of 1841, when it carried
everything before them ? Where was that compact
now ? Quarrelling about almost everything that
could be started. They were quarrelling about a
Welsh bishopric, Dissenters' Chapels Bills, and were
about to quarrel about the New Poor-law, having
quarrelled about the Ten Hours' Bill, and were now
involved in a deadly quarrel about the sugar duties.
There were high Church and moderate Church—an-
cient Tories and modern Conservatives—young Eng-
land and. old England (Laughter) and there
was the Prime Minister himself stirring up the hete-
rogeneous material, and well might he exclaim--
" Double double, toil and trouble,
Fire burn and cauldron bubble."—(Laughter.)
Thus was Sir Robert Peel at the head of that great
Conservative party, which he had been ten years
amalgamating. These things read a very impressive
moral lesson, which was to avoid in future any endea-
vour to form a party without principle—or what was
worse, a party with five or six antagonistic principles.
In opposition, Sir Robert Peel had avoided showing
himself with wonderful dexterity. The amalgama-
tion of the Tory party succeeded in displacing the
Whigs; but Sir Robert Peel was now exhibited in
the most pitiable light in which a Prime Minister has
been placed—endured for his dexterity—tolerated for
nothing else. There he was—toiling at their work--
endured by all, scorned by all, thwarted by all—re-
proached by all—not adhered to for any steadiness of
principle, for he turned his back upon all those doc-
trines which he formerly maintained, but supported
.because be propped up that wretched system of expe-
diency, which was fast tottering to destruction.
In endeavouring to sustain himself in office he had
'been guilty of the most palpable treachery. He had
obtained fir himself the well-earned reputation of a
trickster, and if they searched the calendar they

would all agree in giving him Judas as a patron s'sr,oi
—(Laughter.) Among the recent invention;
eve
discoveries, not the least-remarkable was 6110
which Sir R. Peel had lately ascertained to
principle of administration, and which lie
founded upon) justice and sound P° 001
he meant the relaxation of the cemsl.olof
prohibitions and restrictions, and the introductid
articles produced in other countries to conel the
those produced in our own. He did not 10 °"e. so
discovery before he came into office. There 11:0.
It
announcement of it in the Tamworth manifetion
never was proclaimed on the hustings in the el: sod
of 1841, but it came out now in the difficultiv'nded
entanglements of his position. It reconlinenoJe
him to some of his followers, but it d hi:)
him odious to others. It certainly gait9e,ipstedi
no confidence from any ; and if, as was lin" repr'
the Whigs were too pragmatical to advocate a itsthe
of the corn-laws, and that Sir R. Peel proposeditioo
League would certainly receive such PrN-0101
from his hands, but not as from a cliampion.NN wbool
been its consistent advocate, but from one 'n ightl
they had no confidence, and from whom tile Inichich
power of public opinion had wrung a measly bad
should never have been refused.—(Hear) 4501
often in that place advanced earnest recolumern ever!
to those assembled there to exert themselves "'Ate tbs
way that their circumstances allowed to Prens
Liberal registration, and that whoever had soald at
power to obtain this great political right 1"iecolp;
once put himself in possession of it. He 'mu:
mended them that they should, by conversatl%o•
by the distribution of tracts, spread abroad the f thti
ledge of their principles and their conviction ° ijged
Pnus 10
truth ; and he trusted that he might be i
in taking. on himself to offer a few suggestii°l-ocso
those who might be regarded as the
of their cause in the House of Commons. .12°"not
self, he owned that it would gratify his feelings e who
more if he saw those members of the Lesghno sr
were M.P.'s, acting more in concert than tllle3rt
peared to have dope on a recent occasion more
hear.) If there were but few, they had "jf the
need for steady and efficient co-operation. 9,5ir
question did not involve principles, then there''. Ji
thing to sacrifice ; and if it were a (112e,:5n0litlie
principle, then he had no doubt bu!„, ove
consultation would • bring them all to `I. the
conviction as to any great application ~n„ Go'
principles of free trade. At a time when trn is
vernment was endangered—at a time "en'il'
fact, the Government was preserved by n',ol'"
majority of twenty—it was time for the tea-tbeic
dozens to look about them, and consider Ivhereid bot,
weight could be best thrown—how they Ould be;
unite for the common good, and how they cos
advance the great cause which they acii,vde
He did not say but those Members acted IrAnia OS,
most honourable and honest motives, but heu",;
wish to see those twelve gentlemen who di'
filled that chair, and spoken from that platforto,
vided as to the course they pursued ; but theyties7/
in fact, divided into three or four different par
(Hear, hear.) He did not wish to see those 03A them
holding Peel in office. He did not wish to see fors
,a party to any decision which tended to prolongoicil
week, or a single day, a Government in office, „hid'
ruled over Ireland with so much oppession, an or,
made the Post-office of England a great Sr shop,
made
(Loud cheers, and cries of " Hear, hear: )--„0F01,;
advocated a mock Liberalism, and supported 10" el'
when it could—a Government of subterfugae
'false pretences—a Government which vilerbeo,l,l
against the constitutional, open, fair, an", ol•oll'"
meetings of the people of Ireland, and whie",,areAi
wage warfare against meetings here if it reit
Government, line, which had opposed, and of a 5
oppose as long as it could, the first right ce,
Englishman—an open market for the Pryo6
of his labour and cheap food.—(Hear, heat the
prolonged cheering.) He was glad to find ,st`',l-v
feelings of the meeting were his, if he rig e 4 at
derstood them.—(Renewed cheering, and ch'ieclli"
" Hear, hear.") The veterans who had asset. c 0
the 'Waterloo banquet should recollect Whal', rt 10°
that first led to the downfal of the desP°" 010
was finally overthrown at that s°l°o°
conflict. It was the Berlin decree :pose:
imposed, or at least attempted to ',Toe
fetters upon commerce—that was the first nn-
reer'
effectual blow that Napoleon, in his ambitious•c°f„cti
ever received. Buonaparte threatened, and, in slots
declared, that all the ports of Britain were invilrottic'
of blockade—that was, in fact, what the,"; slr
titionists now, in substance, declared—W:l/de
flounced to . every foreign ship that ee", the
-
was restricted, and that, however 11111°Pnopol1
people of this island stood in need of food, 113°.-5.11'
reigned there triumphant, and would exclude 1' in'
far worse and more dangerous, because 0119reiist
sidious, enemy than•Napoleon.—(Hear, hear.) ire
might devastate countries, and overthrow em t
and annihilate cities; but monopoly, though
et,'
rapid or perceptible in its progress, was quitelll`,,ce,
tail in its operations. Under its baneful inti the
gradual, sure, and silent decay went forward'osr
waving corn-field was converted into the barre'
t ure—t he wealthy merchant was impoverisbeerio▪ ;
manufactory rendered inoperative, and the lifi,,o)
resources reduced to helpless weakness.—(Hear,_,,' pie
Such was monopoly which, whilst it kept the rests
.it home needy and hungry, permitted the /Anent
in foreign countries to rot from want of a enwh-510
number of mouths to consume them.—(Hear, -trees°
If war killed, if it stained the field and the 5- fife
with human blood, monopoly destroyed burn!, vest'
also, its hundreds and thousands from year th• ~e
and- by a lingering agency, worse to endure fu'od
short stroke of the sword or the Cannon-WI
war demoralised a people, so did monopoly, ratter
into life, as it did, theft, incendiarism, and oes,
evils which could befal society. He relied °novo
overruling process for the destruction of both NVII
monopoly—for the same moral law which they alai
there to advocate condemned both, and vv°,'
mately doom both to annihilation. (Cheers;) that inn
The CHAIRMAN then informed the meetingLos.t"
consequence of the motion of Mr. Villiers ° ut; ee,;
be brought before the House of Commons Del" OP
it was not the intention of the League to bold fort'
usual : meeting in that place, but on that ak
night he hoped to see them all again.
The meeting then adjourned.

CONINGSBY.—The demand for this work 11:41
we understand, every day. The Court J°2l ine t,
serves :—" In whatever point of view we exel.: 01191,,,
work, it commands unmixed admiration. It 1-iish 5".
able as a novel of real life—as a picture of tigd ptillso
ciety—as an exposition of political parties '11)0f tbe
eiples—as a gallery of living portaits. each re co;
aspects it exhibits great talent ; but it is in its, St fireio-
- of them all that it deserves the higne'arsoa'te
Many of the characters are portraits, which ne.l3;is 113° r.
quainted with the circles in which the orignjore '7OO
can fail to detect. Lord Monmouth and his crea Roo,
Rigby, who writes slashing' articles in the rest Ji,is
—Milbank, the Cotton Lord—Sidonia the gis
capitalist, who holds all the Courts of Enr°Petheef,;ic
cheque-book—Henry Sidney, Buckhurst, Vere,'l,o O,L
re
panions of Coningsby at Eton—Lucian Gay,eti
and table wit—none of them can be mistaken: o'ol
are also passages of high poetical beauty in thitbes•
The love of Coningsby for Edith is full of Peh a ?„0,
fresh-heartedness. The recommendation of eilefogsti"
vet to our readers would be a work of suPere-
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