The Sun.
London, England, 1844-01-26 00:00:00

/ • • ' i.
, rble'
•••

InY
te ;aid,
.1d bask,

,
were they a " burthen Upon the
,1!1 ii , aeer-
,ing,..) .A: thowaud years ago a"-. qin2&,... '.-I, been
made for the clergy, and the party took ,thic 4:irect to
that provision. _'(Cheers.) It was a briffleriiAtiy 'and if
they pleased, but not to the party takirier 'A
.Ire got
the land cheaper.—(Cheers".) Theft, 4ftikTiais, , , 3 poor-
rates and highway rates, they were said tliii'd Vitt
doubt they were in some measure' so; birltf .7)::c„1,:ia:
piers of houses bear equal burthens ..):••-•(Cli4rk. they
• a •
came. to _what really was a burthen—the fi -,
was the amount of that ? Why he fom:4 '
i)t.
duced 1,214,0001. ; he had looked up tie{}
e: I&
itts
of income, and he found the greater port z:h...
probate -dirty. ' -New the land paid neitbNllll7lTitir.
all.-4 Cheers.> If lie was to succeed toralgaribli
o f 50001. a year be should not pay a ihilli4,4
land hid been sold; and-the party had 'l4 q'
should‘then have Co pay 70 per' cent. dott;e4o
Cris he thought was a" good Set - off - again-An
(Cheers.)- There was another seetiort•of the( ' ...
mona who said they disregarded: the qaot;
altogether, but they said they must have rft,
te.-tie upon eorn as well es any other arti ,
traders-said to that, No, it is one of the.tur I

, •
upon that ground it would be impolitic _t'
Duties ought to be regular, and corn ce
gulav duty on account of the change o''
ter,-(Cheers.) The free trader als
fake aviittle as Tossible-frorn the pock
pay, aria ilhonld give- as much as possible
and that ,Corn would not do that.-...(Chi
with the' Chairman, that of the ultimate su'
.no- one could doubt—(Cheers)--they %venlig!
to succeed.--( Cheers.) . Let them look- ai it
t Cobs of pfolitical importance that
_had been die
f-tri, and they would find that where the ..plloilan'•
'fareur of them they had become thelaw ot_thajoui
.-Whni he woold,ask, -obtained the Refoitil!'diiti•i.:
crady?No,.,tiut the people.L4 Cheers: )Thejmakftee
it was resisted for a time, but It was .ultiniatetyiva
the'ti'pfeer-eia*ses that brought about .the abotitttiri.
No 'but the people willed it, and they slave:tea/Jean
And; to come to a practical question of swivelled/Ide
of iliefe;.though• perhaps not so important r• hirits •
i:lial to Which he lead just refevied, was- It 'ltiGra
..t.t i3.e6iiiktry who proposed, or who vvillfrigry Witi
.Vei...ellt ',Of' the people, the .penny postage ',situ'
1(.a... 3 . He contended that both-the Whigs;, add
tip.pasert to it-; it was the middle claOses.\wh4-14';
Intddle cl-4:sos, whO, if they exertetllltl42tt'iejstielfo #
• stirejo'sueCeed, and who saw the 441.iff 110-ifebt -. ..,
-aterixe it thi.,.-..eneasure was carried:4EtitVifi.9un • .' '
'titirconfine 'himself to that measufe-Pwlfatiley Wit
Out*, if thectrerelled back t=oo.ynYi, they Kojickfid t , his.
hatthrovasionghtat that period, fqpitmlii4/6figlaffo.-12'-'• ''-'' '
.-strtow, to'fight against trionopoly,l Anetf4atiaLik !I 3suit
a bed-vault was; tiiat. inonopolieo, wi,N, ~,Ais - i,=..,..
died ..and twenty_' year?, ago ,att ;ilti Av !au aa,
. daring ..that - all mgnopolles . .slimill,r_iiih,Thp, -0f•‘4.,.-- -
I
_doubted .not. that the same the ..tioujiil; 41c,..:1',.:1
;.again; that they would see an Ag; cif'j4,xi,, 7'.4‘,... - -
peihap, in. such general terms, lat!tluatt €,41, r
claTing7 that the. corn-laws were inzik!ickslstte#4e ... i
of tiler-cant/try, and that , they shou,K,ArKssIRAM:. t. 0
Ate tepeitled.,-(.l4uncl .chPqrs). •. . 1-:zizz dzilila oe_rio
Mr. W. J. Fox then carnatforwaidotp.stridikoardAk T
As the Hon. Gentleman vas_ coorefi; ;s, Willidera
. .'-' Lire k r, , , . .. ri
-fiieil? tooltplace thtoithrh the,
..f 111,,,..,g, •.
~. _
tEe siealteiA; Qrdei• hasing,lret 4 g ...;.• (l,,
he had to addiele tirein .6n` the firs mee mg . •
agitation ; at a time when confusion, anxiety, and unci

ater
tea-
att •

.1:;,
He
i „nesse:,
ent
49rests
at time

ts'eting.
deg eon-
lir near
he said

It year of
certainty,

. _
were prevailing throughout the country; when the Legislature
was expected shi•rtly to meet, and the people tonked on rather
with sullen 'expectancy than with any degree' of' hopefulness ;
when the League had gone on marshalling its strength, aug-
menting its funds, and multiplying its numbers; when political
parties were on the look-out to see what chances might
turn up for retaining their position, or for getting
into the position of their adversaries ; when Anti-
Corn-law League Associations were forming in different
counties; and when, therefore, on all accounts, it was appro-
priate and desirable to reiterate, though in terms that had been
often heard, they could not be too often repeated—to reiterate
-the League principles, the one aim and object of that Associa-
tion, that for which they were banded together, without which
they would never be content, till they attained which their or-
ganisation and their exertions would continue; the one broad,
simple principle of free trade, and, as applied to the greatest
possible case, the total, the immediate, the unconditionel abo-
lition of the corn-laws.—(Cheers.) That was -the star by
which they steered; to that single point they here right on,
heedless of all other considerations. They eared not for par-:
ties, they cared not for demonstrations of faction, new or old ;
they cared not for the consistency or the inconsistency of this
or" that leader, or of ink portion of the House of Com-
mons.—(Hear, hear) The total, the unconditional; and the
immediate abolition of the corn-laws was what they asked of
all. They sought no more, they would take no less, from Sir
Robert Peel, on the one side, or from Lord John Russell, on
the other side. They sought no more, and they would take no
less, from Lord Melbourne on the one side, or from the Duke
of-Wellington on the other side, or from my Lord Brougham
Eon all sides.—(Great laughter and much cheering.) They
waged no further warfare with those who conceded this prin-
tiple; they waged everlasting warfare with all who would not
grant this principle ; and, -because it was a principle,. in their
eiinds, which admitted of no compromise on any grounds what-
erei;.--(Great cheering.) That was their watchword.—
(Hear,, bear.) If a certain class in the_country reiterated its
eryof "-No surrender," they replied by " No compromise."—
(Cheers.) If this movement were, what it had sometimes
been mistakenly represented ; if it were a mere manufac-
turer's% combination—an endeavour to put certain portions
of the trade and commerce of this country on a different,
aad a. iakr, and a more profitable footing, and that
were. ;;If this were a mere party movement—an action of
hostility towards one set ofpoliticians, and an endeavour to in-
troduceintn'their place another set of politicians ; if this move-
ment were a class feeling ; if they really did the absurd thing
that had twit ascribed to them in the published resolutions of
societies-' 'iff.they hated agriculture (an incaneeivable absur-
dity, for Iscloccould any man hate that through which he got
bread to eat?); or, if this were a mere popular caprice, a cuckoo
cry set upslar individuals for their own personal aggrandise-
ment, or
which
of faction, like "no popery," and similar
cries, whir* had• so often led multitudes astray, and • brought
confusion to the country, why then there might be compromise
in the Matter.-=( Hear, hear.) But with them it was the very
stuff of conscience; it was a principle to which they had 'Ade
up their minds, as embracing a right of man anterior even to the
existence Of eiviliieduociety ; for if anything could be called a
natural right; it -wks that of man's exchanging the produce of
his honest labour: freely in the world's market for whatever he
might desire as oriMbstitute, welcome to him as ministering
either to his subsistence or his comfort.—(Load and long con-
tinued cheers.) Thjiyvas not a question that admitted ofdeerees ;
it was not a thing to be' settled piece-meal.—(Hear, hear.)
They respected all,riglits, but they had no respect for wrongs.
—(Hear, hear, and 'cheers.) They understood not the doc-
trine of tolerating t'tertain robbery, of iniquity, of oppression
on'the community,Land:on individuals.—( Hear, hear.) They
took up their posWiMviai the right and wrong of the case. For
property, of all goiliOts- realised by skill and labour, and as
sanctioned by- hunurclaws_and institutions, they avowed every
respect ; and tberidieid, in sacred regard the property
of the class whichz_most, opposed itself to their claims.—
( Hear, hear.) The, lyoad acres of the landholder were his ;
they meant. not teiteueli.them ; they set up no scramble for
their division—they interfered not with his retention of that
which, whether conqU'ered by the sword or gained by purchase,
belonged to him. CeV-han do as he would with his own—he
was amenable to putare4 ittion if he violated decency and mo-
rality ; but, so far as 'lecke/it-within the limits which the great
objects of human socialy,prescribed, they respected his rights
even there.—( Hear, hear.): Let
_him have his game, or let
him decimate his haresvnji rabbits—let him grant leases or let
him refuse leases—let hiyacutdown the ancient timber on his
estate to put cash into his, packet, or let him have a great re-
spect for, and be conseivativerig timber and of institutions—they
meddled with nothing Wh'atjeirei of that kind ;'let him have his
whole rights—the land. Ciaa fis, the produce of the land was
his, or those to whom hehired- out that land; but there was
one thing which was not and that was the industry of
other people.—( Cheers. )z'.'Their labour, their skill, their per-
severance, their bones arid. ,sinews, their daily toil, and the
bread which they earned byithat • toil, and which he had no
right to diminish by taxatiOrt.7-(Deafening applause.) They
were his fellow-countrymen,' and not his slaves.—( Renewed
cheers.) The labourer's bones--and muscles were. his own
property, and not a landlord"as,:4Continuel cheering.) They
claimed for themselves that 'which they conceded to him, the
fair produce of whatever powiTi4rivileges, or advantages they
possessed_—( Hear, hear.) Here their principle claimed the
same respect, the same sacrecriOneration for the rights of pro-
perty in the man who hail nothing-An the world but the phy-
sical strength with which he went forth in the morning to earn
his dinner at noon, and in theinhpritor of the widest and most
princely domains that could belleas,ted of in this rich country
of Great Britain ; and ih theLtyglrd for this principle, they
-were apposed not only to the_ present form of invasion of the
industrious man's property, bud" Wirt), other mode or plan of
invasion that might be sub,titutett for' it by any other parties, ,
or for anyother purposes.--( fieir;hear. ) 'The principle was
as opposed to a fixed duty as it was opposed to a sliding scale.—
( Hear, hear.) Ihe one was as 'tit% en invasion of the corn- •
mon rights of the people as Ras tint other. For what was its,
tendency, under whatever pretext it might be levied? There
could be no doubt that any duty;sa the importation of corn!
must enhance the price of food i. and whatever enhanced the
price of food took away from the fairearningi of the industrious.'
And when they called to mind the waif ion of great multitudes of
the industrious classes; when they'thonght how they rose up.
early, and sat uplate, -and ate the bread of carefulness, by what!
miserable and wearing toil their--pocii'pittance was won from'
-the world ; when they remembered:Woifireasiy there were whose
history, the whole history of their-liviescieas summed up in the
.
well-known verse__

" Work—work—work,,-
Till the eyes be red and diin
lirnrk—vrork—work,-7-

' • Till the brain begins, to swim !”
When they looked on such a destiny aittat, if a fixed duty
would take but a farthing out of a iiibiiiid, they said it should
not be taken from these wretches to augment the stores of the
Dukes of Buckingham and Riehmond.=( Great cheering.)
Why, there were cases in which the imposition of a fixed duty
on corn; whatever the amount, vrould.leattiluore objectionable
results, perhaps, than those which "belaigred 'to a sliding-seal&
It had .been often urged, and he believed it had been
felt, as an objection, " What will you do7,with your fixed duty
of 10s., Re., or ss. ; what will you do with.it,when food rises,
as it is subject at times to rise, to a famine py.i.4e ?" Why, it bad
been said that it mpst then be relaxed., .„-What power should
determine the
_relaxatioe, and by what test?—( Hear, hear.)
Only let them realise, in their ima,ginatiliiii, .fer 'a -moment,-
the condition of a Prime Minister who had to watch-the coun-
try to see whether the time was come, Or 'Coining, at which
the.fixed duty .on corn must be relaxed, by, s: special interposi-
tion of the Government, because food wag reaching a famine
price I Why, he must notice in the papers', how many were
picked 'up fainting in the streets for want oCie_o(l.—( Hear,
hear.) How -many cases of. starvation wield prove that
bread had risen to the rate at which• the relaxation
must take place? What, amount Of, ~Aliease, hoW
much typhus, .would be a , justificatioti,l'Or the re
laxation of the duty.? These were the irigit?ri6s a Prinie
Minister must make in such a case.—(Hear; 11'0.0 He must
watch the country, and feel its pulsation ; as°the.,regimental
surgeon stood by when the soldier was floggeddlitOr on wrist,
eye on the bleeding wounds, ear open to the sound of the cat
upon the bare back, and, with a stop-watch not rd the
instant had yet arrived when he was to interpose and say,
" Hold, enough."—( Tremendous cheers.) Was that a fitting
position for the 'chief of the legitimate governrqnt of a free
nation ?—(Loud cries of " No, no.") One VroWil of jus-
tice always led to another.—( Hear, hear.) FO;et justice,
and charity would. not long be remembered, and liiimardty would
cry in vain.—(Cheers.) A _fixed duty ! Why it was protec-
tion under--another name, that which was called pr,tic-
tion ; and protection was the very thing againA which
that -League waged warfare, and which it existed !in
order to•put down and to annihilate for ever.—(lmentetise elle r-
ing.) They hadno more charity for protection inl,one f m
than in another. What.was it ? The protection of agil4l, .6.
1
What portion of eigrieulture ? what class of person's? fileari of
devices and sophisms, and.circumloctitions, it was the ri6 ,e-
-tion of rent, and nothing else. The protection of the ten nt'
farmer! Had it ever enriched him? The protection Of the la-
bourer I What had been his history for many a year past ? He
had been protected downwards from one stage to another of ts.
scent; protected out'of his whole clothes into rags; prote tsd
out of a cottage into a mud hovel, with but one filthy room • lit
for his wife and family, all to pig together; he had en
ti
protected till his children and . wire were obliged .to
tell him that they could not go to the church I (Or .
the rites of religion ; he had been protected out of the -
fields into the union workhouse, or, perhaps, into the coutrof
justice, or the- gaol; and, at last, he had him protected into
that narrow home " where the wicked cease' from troubling,
and the weary are at rest,". finding in the cold shelter of the
grave more of the reality of protection than he ever got from the
corn-law.—( Great cheering.) Protection ! Why, what should
they protect? Not a losing trade, for that was taxing all the
community for the advantage ofe class; that was pursuing an
object that could net. repay labour; not a thriving trade, for
hat needed no protection.—(Cheers.) And why should any
me ela...s be singled out? What was there in the recipient of
e:nts that he was to be protected at. the expense of
all the• rest of the community ?—(Cries of " Hear, hear.")
Why not protect other classes of the. community ? Were not
the artistand the poet as worthy of protection ? He dared to
say that there-were m that great meeting perhaps some few
Scotchmen .present--4 Hear, .hear, and laughter)—aud they
might remember something of Robert Burns—(Cheers)—what
did he want of protection—what did he gain by it? Nature
made him a poet—aristocratic protection made him an excise-
man.—( Renewed cheering). His great protection, however,
was his stout heart and strong arm.—(Cheers.) He knew that
himself, for he says—
" For
. .
me, so lew I need not bow,
The Lord be thank'd, I still can plough."
Yes ; and he boasted further, that he could even beg. For
the independence of a beggar was to him more desirable than
the pecuniary independence which was to be obtained by plan-
' lering others of their rights and means- of subsistence.—( Hear,
hear). It had been—said rightly by the gentleman who
preceded him that the food of the people ought
not to be made a subject of revenue. Indeed, what was a less
• '.fitting source of revenue ?—( Hear, hear.) But then this ar-
gument was Met by .some advocates of the corn-laws with the
4assert ion that the duty was necessary for protection. Yet, when
. you came toeiamine the arguments of the advocates for the
Asty, you would find that those who talked of protection meant
..revenue, and very often those who claimed revenue were strug-
''r4l for_protection."—( Hear, hear.) Whether they talked of
~,:. ee;ie or pm .3tection, they were' only leading us by a round-
: .4.11 way to the same project of putting money into the pockets
.tancalacks at, the expense of the community.—( Hear, hear.)
Tisaktio • ;lit that the. circuitousness of the process mystified
tbe.-anin. se. ' They were like the dishonest churchwarden.—
ti(Lakoes and laughter, and cries of " Gibbs.") No, no ; he
iiiiiebtot.n,eart.that person. 'There had been more diihonest
chureirri4rdens,
than ene..-="( Cheers :and laughter.) But still
jirtiAlri:?. ) could not envy that peiion's position. However, it
warstwi.ko him that he had alleded, but to a churchwarden of
whopl4 was related;* that, when-.he carried. round the sacra-
tner,,,4 Dkj,ta jo receive the offerings, he put saw-dust in his
i.,,,...„'t0 prevent the shillings he: dropped in there from
IF - :
.ci••
ical‘.
u31i,,,,,-...7.,,,,tt
cl a:iungittie. r. ) Theut.t. corn-laws
emeuey waswere
notthe
the
land-
si" •""vg'--2-2,`'-`, '
.). -B hl
h ) With such men
(Cheere. ) That was not a
45auad.114zikanopy,.6:aupppraorpuraimate-endt,:_b7ialuseaer:t weaasr. done .noiselessly, and
there s44srqi.- ub no compromise.— . .
now, when
weak'enti."it wa snot -likely that they would
.
reLtli,:lrblc,Vldifbetlhoenygmteouithi en-oLteaegemueprinumit;eprucisieenut cthoneyditwirre.
V
' ptheeryM%litteerff.r°.ordl stahnaat tmheanpeYO—ple(iCuhLueeursd.e)u And
sheearemeilgybtbe
ima-
gine what, e strength .of the League was. throughoutdepthue_
country. : "'would be worth while to send a
tation in ' WA ..North, to mark the feelings of the
people theei,lVied:the strength, intensity, and progressiveness 1
of their d •cliblib:4- to, the .cause .of free trade.—(Cheers.)
It would call forth the deepett.sympathjea of human, nature, to 1
witness the multitudes of men, women, and 'Aiilx•en-,-of inas- 1

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