The Sun.
London, England, 1844-03-07 00:00:00

MEETING

AT COVENT-GARDEN THEATRE

The usual weekly meeting of the members of the
Anti-Corn-law League, was held at Covent-garden
• Theatre last evening. The doors were opened at
half-past six o'clock, and the theatre was crowded in
every part within ten minutes afterwards. At seven
o'clock, Dr. Bowring, • W. J. Fox, Esq.; J.
T. Leader, Esq , ;J. M.P.Bright, Esq., M.P., ac-
companied by many of the influential friends of free
trade entered the theatre, and were greeted with loud
applause. They were immediately followed by the
Hon. Charles Pelham Villiers, M.P., who, on making
his appearance, was loudly cheered. Among those
present we observed Thomas Milner Gibson, Esq.,
M.P. ; Sir Valentine Blake, Bart., M.P.; P. A.
Taylor, Esq.; T. A. Shaw, Esq. ; W. A. Wilkinson,
Esq. ; Samuel Lucas, Esq.; John Ashton Yates, Esq.;
Cornelius Nicholson, Esq., of Kendal ; Cole, Esq.;
Joseph Iviaiey, Esq.; Joseph Fenwick, Esq.; Robert
Clarke, Esq.; Colonel Tucker; Thomas Carr, Esq.,
Frome; Henry L. Keating, Esq.; Henry White,
Esq.; P. A. Taylor, junior, Esq.; Cowden Clark,
Esq. ; Samuel Harrison, Esq. ; E. J. Salisbury, Esq.,
Thame ; Richard Andrews, Esq., Southampton ;
John Tigar, Esq., Beverley ; Norman Wilkinson,
Esq.; Butterworth, Esq., Rochdale; W. E. Hut-
chinson, Esq., Leicester ; W. Stevenson' Esq.; Dr.
Maschet; W. Roberts, Esq., Rochdale; S. 1). Brad-
ford, Esq., Manchester; R. G. Welford, Esq.; Arthur
Pattison, Esq. ; -William Lockett, Esq., Manchester ;
James Brotherton, Esq., Manchester; Robert P.
Collier, Esq. ; James Chadwick, Esq., Eccles ; Richard
Warre Cole, Esq. ; T. Cordingley, Esq. ; C. 0.
Boyse, Esq. ; Henry Russell, Esq. ; Captain Dawson ;
Henry Lancaster, Esq.; Henry Edward Erle, Esq. ;
John Jones, Esq. ; F. H. Toone, Esq.; Adam Smith,
Esq. ; W. Ibbotson, Esq., Sheffield ; W. A. Thom-
son, Esq., Buffalo ; W. Hannay, Esq.; J. P. Bur-
nard, Esq. ' • W. E. Hutchinson, Esq., Leicester ;
Rev. John Pyer, Devonport ; John M•Leod, Esq. ;
J. N. Collins, Esq. ; W. A. Thomson, Esq. ' • J. Cox,
Esq. ; James Banner, Esq. ; E. Patterson, Esq.; R.
L. Tweedale, Esq.; Martin Thackeray, Esq.; Henry
Lloyd Morgan, Esq. ; Thomas Hubback, Esq.
In consequence of the absence of George Wilson,
Esq., the Chairman of the League, who, it appeared,
was attending League meeting in the Free. trade
Hall, Manchester, the Hon. Charles Pelham Villiers,
M.P. for Wolverhampton, took the chair amidst the
acclamations of all assembled.

The Secretary then read the minutes of the last
meeting.
On the motion of John Bright, Esq., M.P., se-
conded by John Temple Leader, Esq., M.P., the
minutes were con firmed.
The CHAIRMAN then came forward and said that as
Mr. Wilson, the Chairman of their conspiracy—
(Cheers and laughter)—was unable to attend that
evening, he (Mr. Villiers) had in consequence con-
sented to become a criminal in his place.—(Cheers
and laughter.) He was hippy to inform them that it
was not for the purpose of being innocent—(A laugh)
—or of being idle—(Cheers)—that the Chairman of
the League was absent on the present occasion that
evening.—(Cheers.) On the contrary, he was assist-
ing at a meeting, attended by many spirited brother
conspirators of theirs in the country—(Cheers)—men
who had no fear of Dukes before their eyes—(Loud
cheers)---:and who believed that they should be want-
ing in the respect which they owed to themselves so
long as they should abstain from pressing for the re-
eal of a law which provided for the luxuries of
great men out of the necessaries of poor men.—
(Loud cheers.) The Chairman of the League
was that night presiding over a meeting in
Manchester, which was being held in the
great hall which had been built in that town for the
express purpose of this conspiracy.—(Cheers.) The
men of Lancashire had been in the habit of meeting
in that hall for the express purpose of endeavouring to
make trade free and bread abundant—(Cheers)—for
the same purpose for which those present met in that
theatre—(Loud cheers)—and that was to give effect
to those principles which the first Minister of the
Crown had propounded to the country when he had
been first admitted to office.—(Cheers.) Their ob-
ject was to give encouragement and credit to that
sound system of household philosophy which Sir R.
Peel had propounded when he first assumed office.
The substance of what Sir Robert Peel had stated on
that occasion was, if he recollected right, that when
people had occasion to purchase what they wanted
they should not give more than was necessary ; but
that when they had to dispose of the products of their
industry they should not be forced to take less than
they could get.—(Cheers.) If he was not mistaken
that was the principle which Sir Robert Peel, in an
unguarded moment, perhaps, had propounded.
It would scarcely be believed in times to come that
so simple a proposition should have given rise to so
much controversy—(Cheers)—that it should not, im-
mediately on its announcement, have been received
with implicit credit throughout the kingdom ; but he
was afraid that, if history were fairly written, it
would appear that that which had of late years agi-
tated the whole frame of British society, and had al-
most exclusively engaged the attention of the British
Legislature, had been the great difference of opinion
which existed on the subject of this very simple'
matter.—(Cheers.) Doubts had been expressed as
to the words of Sir Robert Peel. Difficulties had
been raised in the way of the adoption of the princi-
ple, and such was the importance attached to the
subject, that, two days ago, the organ of the Govern-
ment, in discussing the proposition, had come to the
conclusion, that if Sir R. Peel had ever given utter-
ance to such a principle, he did not mean it.—(Cheers.)
The disclosure of that principle had brought upon Sir
Robert Peel the charge of treachery to his friends,
and it had sown the seeds of discord in the Conserva-
tive camp.—(Cheers.) It had occasioned the Anti-
League agitation, and an Hon. Baronet, one of the
supporters of the present system, had, the other day,
declared that, in order to expose this fraudulent
theory, it was necessary that they should speak out.
—(Cheers and laughter.) At a county meeting held
in Hertfordshire the other day, a Noble Lord had
stated that it was for the purpose of suppressing this
pestilent fallacy, that he had come to St. Alban's.—
(Cheers and laughter.) These Anti-League meetings
were held for the express purpose of putting down this
pestilent doctrine ; and the Tory papers congratu-
lated the country because the Duke of Richmond
took the chair in his own house every day.—(Cheers
and laughter)—and the Duke of Buckingham took his
seat opposite him.—(Renewed cheering and laugh-
ter.) Such was the account, and the only one
they could get, of the chief occupations of the
Richmonds and the Buckinghams ; and if such
was the case, how little chivalrous—how
excessively ludicrous—was the position which the
British nobility chose to assume in the present age ?,
—(Cheers and laughter.) It was, however, less ludi-
crous to insist upon the assertion of these principles
than to submit to the enforcement of them.—(Cheers.)
It would be found that the friends of free trade were
not idle.—(Cheers.) They would profit by the con-
fessions and take advantage of the course which their
antagonists had thought proper to pursue.—(Cheers.)
Those antagonists had at length announced what
course they meant to pursue. They had spoken out,
and had said what .they meant to do, which, while
they entrusted the defence of the cause solely to the
hands of Sir Robert Peel had never been done.—

(Cheers.) As long as Sir Robert Peel was entrusted
with their defence, no man living could tell the exact
grounds upon which they rested their case. The
League were accused of wishing to destroy the
Church, to destroy the Constitution ; but no one ex-
actly understood what were the charges brought
against the League, or what were the grounds on
which the corn-laws were defended.—(Cheers.)
There was a remarkable degree of mystery on the
subject.—(Laughter.) The landowners, however,
had now repudiated Sir Robert Peel's help, they had
taken their case into their own hands—they were
their own counsel—they had become clients to them-

selves—(A laugh)—and they could not have much
worse clients.—(Cheers and laughter.) The League,

however, would derive considerable advantage from
the attacks made upon it by these parties. It re-

minded him of an anecdote which had been re-

lated by Swift. An author had written a
pamphlet for the purpose of attracting the at-
tention of the public to certain principles which
he considered to be of paramount importance. The

pamphlet, however, attracted no attention; and he
wrote another pamphlet, in answer to himself, in
which he heaped on himself, as author of the first
pamphlet, all kinds of abuse, imputing to himself
all sorts of vile motives, and the commission of every
horrible crime that could be imagined.—(Laughter.)
People who read this last pamphlet began, naturally
to inquire -what it could have been that the man

could have written to subject himself to such serious
charges as those which had been brought against him
—(A laugh)—and, according to the story told by
Swift, the town soon became divided between the
enemies of the author and the friends of his work.—
(. laugh.) lie had, however, succeeded in his ob-
ject—he had effectually attracted the attention of the
public to his book. Every body wished to see what
he had really said, in order to ascertain whether he
had been rightly charged with the atrocious offences
which he had imputed to himself.—(Loud laughter.)
Much the 'same sort of good service were the oppo-
nents of the League doing for them at the present
moment.—(Cheers.) They charged the League with
all sorts of things. The League was wanting to at-
tract attention. It was most important to attract
the attention of the public to what they did, and to
what they said. There were thousands of respectable
persons who were above want themselves—who had
no thought of the wants of others—who had not con-
sidered the subject. What they wanted was to
awaken the attention of these persons to the subject.
If their attention was once properly awakened—if
persons of this description in every town, city, and
county in the kingdom, were once made fully aware
of the true state of the case—that all this controversy
—that all this hubbub—was occasioned by the fact,
that certain of the industrious classes were desirous
of selling their wares where they could get the most
money for them, and buying their food where they could
purchase it at the least cost, while certain dealers
in food endeavoured to maintain a monopoly, and
to force the industrious classes to purchase
it at dear rates—(Cheers)—if public attention were
once fully awakened to such a state of things, could
it be imagined that they could be long suffered to
exsist?—(Cheers.) Now the opponents of the League
were awakening public attention to the subject.

They were charging the League with all sorts of

offences, and heaping upon its members all sorts of
abuse. The attention of the whole country would be
fully awakened, and they would soon come to a con-
clusion upon that question.—(Cheers.) The real
question was, should the people be permitted to get
food when they could purchase it, or should they, be
prevented from doing so by those who possessed a
monopoly of supplying food, and who were desirous
of keeping food dear?—(Cheers.) They were deeply
indebted to their opponents for taking the bold course
which they were adopting.—(Cheers.) It was impos-
sible to exaggerate the advantage which must accrue
to the cause of free trade from the conduct of its op-
ponents. They were now coming out in their
true colours—they had thrown off the mask
—(Cheers)—and they no longer pretended that

their object was the improvement of agriculture.
The agricultural societies were now avowedly, what
perhaps they had always been intended to be, mere
political clubs.—(Cheers.) It was now admitted that
all the supporters of the protective system had to do
was take care of themselves.—(Cheers.) He had
seen it suggested at one of their meetings, that the
present was the moment for collecting money among
the agriculturists to combat the power of the
League. He had met with a report of a meeting
held in the county of Surrey, in which the objects
and views of the opponents of the League were
brought forward in a specific form. Their purposes
were all distinctly defined, and as that meeting had
been held since they had last assembled in that
theatre, he would beg to call their attention to a
speech made by a gentleman named Drummond at
that meeting. Mr. Drummond was a gentleman of
great ability and had declared in a manner which
could not be mistaken what were the objects of the
Noble Lords, the Hon. Gentlemen, and the Reverend
Clergy, who attended those'meetings, and formed the
staple of the attendance at them.—(Cheers.) The
speech began loyally—landlords were always loyal
when things went right.—(A laugh.) The com-
mencement of his speech was a speculation as to
what was necessary to support the Throne. He began
by stating the things upon which the Throne could
not rely. There was no reliance to be placed by the
Throne -upon manufactures—(A laugh)—or
rail-
roads—(A laugh)—or stocks—(A laugh)—or funds
—(A laugh)—but all that the Throne could really
rely on were horses—(Loud laughter)—cattle—
(Loud laughter)—sheep--(Continued laughter)—and
pigs.—(Roars of laughter.) Mr. Drummond made
no mention of any other quadrupeds.—(Shouts o
laughter.) After stating the course which was to b P
pursued as regarded the business part of the meeting,
Mr. Drummond stated to them the purpose for which
those county meetings were assembled. He begged
to say that there could be no doubt but that

it was for the interest of them all that
corn should be dear.—(Hear, hear.) They knew
that it was their great interest to make corn dear,
and the question to consider, and for which they
were assembled, really was, how best they might make
corn dear.—(Cheers.) "The only doubt with me," said
Mr. Drummond, " is, if the present course is the most
effective one for that purpose. If the result of the
meeting will be to make corn dear, it shall have my
unqualified support ; but if it will not have the effect,
I will propose an amendment, which I have in my
pocket."—(Cheers.) That was very important, be-
cause it showed what was the real purpose of those
meetings, over which the Dukes of Richmond and of
Buckingham presided. He hoped that the public,
when they read the accounts of meetings of a similar
nature, would bear in mind the candid statement of
Mr. Drummond, as to the object ofsuch assemblages.—
(Cheers.) When they considered the confession that was
thus made by the opponents of free trade in this man-
ner—when the monopolists thus openly acknowledged
the objects which they had in view, it could be no
longer matter of astonishment that foreigners residing
at a distance, who read accounts of such proceedings
as these, should indulge in doubts as to the sincerity
of that zeal which had been manifested by this coun-
try for the propagation of the Gospel among the
heathens—(Cheers)—and for the amelioration of the
condition of the working classes in other countries
who were held in a state of slavery.—(Cheers.)
Could they wonder at foreigners accusing them of
hypocrisy, when they found they paid so little regard
to the precepts of the Gospel, or to the interests of
the working classes, in their own country, as to
occupy their whole time in devising measures to
make food dear in order to swell their own incomes at
the expense of their poorer fellow-countrymen ?
It was only this day that he had read, in a foreign
newspaper, a reproach to this country upon the sub-
ject, both of their seeking to Christianise savages and
emancipate slaves, that he could not help thinking
was just. They say these people are daily in the
habit of knowing what is the policy pursued by this
country at home, and that through that policy the
working classes were daily and hourly swelling the
bills of mortality in consequence of the want of the
necessaries of life. In conclusion, he begged to
apologise for having made the few observations he
had done.—(Cries of " No, no," and " Go on.") The
meeting would be addressed that evening by Dr.

Bowring, Mr. Leader, Mr. Collier, and Mr. Fox.—
(Cheers.) He begged now to introduce Dr. Bow-

ring to the meeting.
Dr. BOWRING, on coming forward to address the
vast assemblage, was most rapturously received. He
said that if it were possible 'that in defending the
great cause that brought them together that evening
there could come over them any feelings of wavering
or discouragement, the encouraging appearance of a
meeting like the present would drive all thoughts of
despondency away.—(Loud cheers.) They were
over and over again taunted with their failures, and
yet week after week encouraging and enthusiastic
multitudes came together in that place to declare that
they never failed who strove in a good cause.
" When the heart and the mind,
And the voice of mankind
Unite in comunion,
Oh who shall resist that proud union ?''
(Cheers.) His Hon. Friend, who had just spoken,
had stated that they had reason to congratulate one
another that their adversaries were at last appear-
ing on the field. The war of words and strife of
argument had commenced.—(Cheers.) They had
hitherto been combating with shadows. They now
had something like substance to grapple with. He
rejoiced in that. He felt delighted that the pressure of
necessity had forced their adversaries into the field
of combat, and that they were now standing face to
face in the sunshine of truth.—(Cheers.) Who
could doubt where the victories of truth would be ?
(Cheers.) He rejoiced that they had again an oppor-
tunity of telling their opponents what they really
meant.—(Cheers.) The word " protection" was
again and again brought forward, as was the phrase
" independent of foreign nations !" They did not
object to one man protecting himself, or being inde-
pendent, if he pleased, of the other commodities of
the globe ; but what they wanted was, that he should
not protect them according to his interpretation of
protection. (Cheers.) Let him be as
,independent
as he would—let him go, if he pleased, to the Austra-