The Sun.
London, England, 1845-01-16 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, THITRSDAy EVENING, JANUARY 16 1845.

the price of bread.—(Cheers.) They seem deter-
mined that nobody shall 'rob the poor except the land-
lord.—(Great laughter.) Oh, it is a shocking thing
for millers and bakers to be getting this large profit
out of the hard earnings of the poor man, and it is
a shocking thing for the people to make such advan-
tage of the labourer; but my Lord Duke is entitled
to increase the ;Tice of flour by an Act of the Legis-
lature, and he has a right to call all men fools who
do not believe with him, that to raise the price of
flour in that way is a benefit, though in all other
ways he admits that it is a curse.—(Hear, hear.)
However, the day is not far distant when this great
delusion will be thoroughly exposed and understood.
I am convinced that we are approaching the time
when the corn-law question, and the question of
free trade, must have a practical issue.—(Hear, hear.)
The Morning Post is an honest paper after all.
What did the Morning Post tell the agriculturists but
the other day ? It says that the only difference be-
tween the policy which even Sir Robert Peel is pre-
pared to pursue and the policy of the League, is this,
that of Sir Robert's is a slow decay of gradual po-
verty, saddened by disappointed hopts ; while the
other, the policy, namely, of the League, is prompt as
the guillotine ; but he says they are both forms of
extinction—both are going in the same direction to a
certain extent. I believe this is true. I believe from
all that I have heard Sir Robert Peel say
in Parliament, that he is, .in his own mind,
firmly convinced of the truth of the principle
of free trade, but that he is prevented from doing all
he would do by the power of the aristocracy of this
country, which rules not only Sir Robert Peel, but
the Queen upon her throne.—(Cheers.) The
strongest Ministers that England has ever seen, have
succumbed at last under the weight of this powerful
landed aristocracy.— (Hear, hear.) Pitt succumbed
under that weight when he yielded his point with
regard to the legacy duties on landed and personal
property. It was his intention to have placed the
same duty on landed and personal property. It was
his design that the lands of the great man should pay
the same duty on passing to his heir, as the money
or the furniture of the poor man pays in
passing to his heir. Such, I s',y, was his intention,
but he was overborne by the great landed aristocracy
of the country. Ministers have always quailed before
that tyranny ; and the only power in this country
which can overcome the landed aristocracy, is the
power which exists in such meetings as these.—(Loud
cheers). It is the firm and indignant voice of the
intelligent classes of this community, cons.ioas of
their rights, and determined to vindicate them, which
will make that landed aristocracy succumb.—(Cheers).
The corn- law is the last—l will not say the last—
but it is one of the badges of feudal barbarism.—
(Cheers). It is a remain of the Norman Conquest,
and it is for the Saxon population of this country to
rise up and throw off this yoke.—(Hear, hear.) They,
and they only, can do it. No Ministers that ever will
be born can make them a present of commercial free-
dom. It will never be a free gift at the hands of the
great. It will be wrested from the great by the
exertions of the people themselves.—(lmmense cheer-
ing.) I know we are told that majorities are large,
that landed gentlemen return numbers of Members
to Parliament, and that the towns can never com-
pete with them. I would not despair, even if
there were no plan so good as that which
has been struck out by Mr. Cobden for the
registration and formation of 40s. freeholders.
No, I should not even then despair. I have faith in
the ultimate conquest of truth over error—of reason
over prejudice—of freedom over oppression.—
(Cheers.) The experience of mankind tells me that
those triumphs have always been accomplished. The
mind of this country has but to be awakened, and I
am persuaded that the hearts of all good men will be
united in the cause of commercial freedom.—(Cheers.)
It is emphatically the cause of justice—it is the cause
of truth—it is the cause of civilisation—it is the cause
of social happiness—and I cannot entertain the small-
est shadow of a doubt of its ultimate and enduring
triumph.—(The Hon. Gentleman concluded his ad-
dress amidst loud and prolonged applause.)
Mr. COBDEN, M.P., then came forward, and was
received with customary enthusiasm. When the
cheering had subsided, the Hon. Gentleman said—
Ladies and Gentlemen,—Even I, who have almost
lived in public meetings for the last three years, feel
somewhat daunted at this magnificent spectacle.
Why, is there here any friend or acquaintance of the
Duke of Richmond ?—(Cheers and laughter.) If
there be, I hope he will describe the scene of to-
night. Ido not know how he may be impressed,
but I am quite sure that if the Duke of Richmond
could assemble such a meeting as this in behalf of the
monopolists, I should abandon in despair all hope of
repealing the corn-law. But this is only one meeting.
When we look back at the numerous gatherings
which we have had of a similar kind, and
when we remember that not one discordant opinion,
not a single violation of order, or even a breach of
etiquette has occurred at any of our meetings, we
cannot but feel that there is an amount of moral
force gathered together around these great assemblies
which it is impossible for any unjust law long to re-
sist. Now, ladies and gentlemen, I come before you
to-night as a kind of connecting link, and a very short
one, between twogentlemen who have not so recently
presented themselves before you. I come between
our most able and efficient fellow-labourer in the
House of Commons, whose speech you have heard to-
night, and one of the most distinguished and accom-
plished orators of the age, who will follow me—
(Cheers)—and I promise you that on this occasion
I shall, in deference to your feelings, and in justice
to myself; be very brief in my remarks.—(No, No.)
Indeed, I scarcely know that I should have any pre-
tence for appearing before you at all, if it were not
that we are preparing for our Parliamentary cam-
paign—that it will probably he some time before I
have a similar opportunity. As we are preparing for
that campaign, it may be as well, if we can possibly
dive into futurity, to try and speculate at least upon
what the course of proceeding may be in connexion
with our question. Now I think I may venture,
without anv great risk of failure to tell you what
course the Prime Minister will pursue. He will at-
tempt his old arts of mystification.—(Laughter.) He
has acquired, somehow, a great character as a finan-
cier—that is a character which amongst men of busi-
ness does not always place a man in the very highest
grade of respectability. A clever financier ! He has nut
the finances of the country in a satisfactory state.
Yes, he has done so ; and how ? Why, I hope to
your satisfaction, through the income-tax.—(Laugh-
ter.)—Now we have nothing to do with fiscal regu-
lations here. As free traders we have nothing to do
with systems of taxation for revenue; but perceiving
that it will be the policy of the Government, and of
the Prime Minister in particular, to raise a dust, to
shuffle the cards, and to mix up revenue taxation and
free trade all together, I think we cannot do better,
at the beginning of the year 1845, than by letting the'
country know, even at the risk of repetition, what
we, as free traders, really want—that we are
not to be made supporters of this or that system of
taxation, inasmuch as we want nothing which
involves an increase of taxation of any kind. I have
said again and again—and I now repeat—that free
trade means the removal of all protective duties, and
that protective duties are monopoly taxes paid to
individuals and not to the Government.—(Cheers.)
In order to carry out our principle of free trade—

in order to realise what the League wants—what
which, if granted, would dissolve it to-morrow—it is
not necessary that one shilling of' taxation which goes
to the Queen's Exchequer should be removed. You
will increase the Queen's revenue in proportion as
you take away those taxes which are now paid to
particular classes and to individuals. We are told
that there is a surplus revenue, and there is a great
boast on this account. The income-tax has been
productive. Those men with sharp noses and ink
bottles at their buttons, who go about
prying at the back doors of houses to
ascertain how many dinners you give in
the ear, and who examine and cross-examine cooks
and footbovs to find out what style of living vou
adopt—(Daughter)—these men have managed to
secure a very reasonable surplus revenue. There is
now a very great contest among different parties as to
what taxes are to he removed in consequence of this
surplus. The parties dealing in cotton claim a re-
duction in the duty on that article; those who deal
in malt claim a reduction of the duty on malt; and a
third class step in and say, " Let us have half the
duty taken off tea." Now, what I want to have clearly
understood is this, that although there are many par-
ties claiming a specific reduction, you do not find any
one class organising themselves in opposition to the
taking off of any tax paid to the Exchequer.
Flow is it that we, who want to take off
the tax on bread, meet with such a mighty
opposition ? Why, it is because the tax which we
pay on bread goes to the titheowner and the land-
owner, and not to Queen Victoria.—(Hear, hear.)
Now, do you think it will do us any more harm to
take off a tax which is paid to the squires, than one
which is paid to the Queen's Exchequer, ?—(flear,
hsar.) It seems to be universally admitted, that to
reduce a tax paid to the Queen is a benefit to His,
community at large; the only question is, who shall
get the most. But when you come to reduce the
.1 lay on breada thous and dangers and difficulties arise.
Talk to a man about the bread-tax, and he
says, " It's a wry complicated question."—(Loud
laughter.) Talk about that other ingredient of I
the tea-table, tea. an I there is scarcely a gentle- I
man or a gentlewoman t,,-; ha found who will not hpo
tnediately say, " I think it would be a very good
thing to reduce the fluty." It you speak of taking
off the tax on bread, people say, " Why, you want to
lower the wages of the working man, and to make
us dependent on foreigners." Take the case of sugar.
As free traders, we d 6 not want to reduce the gileeni,
tax on sugar; we simply want to bring the foreign
tax down to :a level with the colonial tax on sugar,
so that the whole tax paid shall go to the
Queen's gxcheguer and not to the owners of estates

in the Wrest Indies. Now nobody opposes the reduc-
tion of the duty on sugar so far as the Queen gets
it ; but if we propose to tike away the tax
which is paid to what is called the colonial interest,
we have a powerful body arrayed against us, and all
the same dangers are alleged es in the case of bread
Now, this will serve to illustrate our position to
those who are not in the habit of reasoning closely on
this subject. I put it to any one, can it be less in-
jurious to a country to pay taxes to individuals who
make no return, in the shape of services to the State,
than it is to pay taxes which go into the Exchequer?
Now, what we wish to guard ourselves againstis this,
the mixing up by Sir R. Peel of our question of free
trade with his dexterity in finance. If he likes to shuffle
the cards, or, in other words, to make an interchange
between tea, and cotton, and tobacco, and malt, and
the income-tax, and to set up one interest against the
other, it may suit him very well as an effort in the
jugglery of statesmanship—(Laughter)—but let it
be understood that we have nothing to do with that
mystification and shuffling. Ours is a very simple
and plain proposition. We say, "Abolish those mo-
nopolies which go to enrich the majority in Parlia-
ment, and which placed and keeps it in power." I
confess I am more afraid of our friends being taken
in by plausibilities and mystifications than anything
else. I wish we had the Duke of Richmond, or his
Grace of Buckingham, in power for a twelve
month.—(Laughter.) Let them only avow what
it is they really want, and it would not be long
before we should have achieved the object of our
organisation.—(Cheers.) Now Sir Robert Peel will
meet Parliament under circumstances which may per-
haps call for congratulations in the Queen's speech.
Manufactures and commerce are thriving, and the
revenue is flourishing. Now, was that ever known
when corn was at an immoderately high price ?
(Hear, hear.) Why, the present state of our finances
and manufactures afford an illustration of the truth
of our doctrines. I have been, as the Chairman has
told you, during the last two months paying a visit
to nearly all the principal towns in Lancashire and
Yorkshire. I have seen the great prosperity prevail-
ing there, where four years ago the people were
plunged in the greatest distress, and I am glad
to tell you that I have everywhere witnessed
larger and more enthusiastic meetings than
were held in the time of the great crisis
of distress. We have arrived at that time which
I thought would be most difficult to test this agita-
tion. I mean the time at which the manufacturers
of this country have returned to a temporary pros-
perity. We are proof against that trial. We have
had larger, and more enthusiastic, and more influential
meetings than we have ever had before—(Cheers.)
I am happy to tell you, that as far as the north of
England goes, the present state of prosperity in busi-
ness is merely recruiting the funds of the Anti-Corn-
law League.—(Cheers.) There is not a working
man in the manufacturing districts who has not
had his eyes opened to the enormous falsehoods
which have been uttered by the monopolists during
the last five years. These men do not deal largely
in books ; they are not very great theorists or philo-
sophers, but they have a lively faith in what passes
under their own noses.—(Laughter.) They have
seen the prices of provisions high, and have at the
same time seen pauperism and starvation in their
streets • they have seen prices low, and the demand
for labour rising, and wages increasing in every
part of Lancashire and Yorkshire—the very oppo-
site fact from that which we are told exists.
In fact, some working men have their employers
so completely at their mercy, that they can dictate
their own terms to their own employers. I have
heard one gentleman in the north say, that if
the corn-laws were repealed he should not be able to
manage them at all. I was at Oldham the other day,
and during our proceedings at a public meeting held
at the Town-hall, a working-man got up in the body
of the hall and begged to say a few words as to the
effect of high and low prices on the wages of the opera-
tive. I have here a verbatim report of his words.
Joseph Shaw, the working man to whom I allude, said :
"Mr. Chairman and gentlemen, I rise for the purpose
of making a few remarks on the subject of the corn-laws.
I have but once before spoken before a member of Par-
liament, viz., Mr. Hindley,: at a public meeting at Lees. I
have spoken once at Ashton and Saddleworth, but
never before in Oldham. I have thought on the
subject of the corn-laws for the last twenty years
and more, and I have ever seen great reason to con-
demn them. As'there is no probability that I shall ever
see Sir Robert Peel, as he never comes down into
this neighbourhood, and I being not able to bear the ex.
pence of going to London, I wish you (addressing Mr.
Cobden) to be so kind as to tell him what you have heard
a working man say on the subject of the corn-laws in a
large and respectable public meeting in the town of Old-
ham. lam now, and have been long of opinion, that
the corn-laws are very injurious to the working classes,
and I will tell you how I prove it. I have been in the
habit of observing that, when the prices of food have been
high, wages have been low, which sufficiently accounts
for the dreadful state of Stockport and the other manu-
facturing towns and districts two or three years since.
At that time, when wheat was .up to about 70s. a
quarter, the working man would have 255. per quarter
to pay for it more than now when it is down to 455.,
and consequently would have 255. less to lay out for
clothing and other necessaries for his comfort during
the time he was consuming a quarter of wheat. I have
further to state, that, since the prices of eatables have
come down, I have seen a deal more new fustian jackets
in our village of Lees than I have seen for
four or five years during the time of high
prices ; and I will also tell you how I ac-
count for that. When provisions are high, the people
have so much to pay for them that they have little or
nothing left to buy clothes. with; and when they have
little to buy clothes with, there are few clothes sold; and
when there are few clothes sold, there are too many to
sell; and when there are too many to sell, they are very
cheap; and when they are very cheap, there cannot be
much paid for making them; and that, consequently, the
manufacturing working man's wages are reduced, the
mills are shut up, business is ruined, and general distress
is spread through the country. But when, as now, the
working man has the said 255. left in his pocket, he buys
more clothing with it (aye, and other articles of comfort
too), and that increases the demand for them, and the
greater the demand, yOu know, makes them rise in price,
and the rising in price enables the working man to get
higher wages and the masters better profits. This,
therefore, is the way I prove that high provisions make
lower wages, and cheap provisions make higher wages."
Now, is it not impossible, that when there can be
found one intelligent man like this, to rise at a public
meeting and give so clear and satisfactory a view of
the working of the system, that other equally intelligent
men, his fellow-workmen, should net also be equal')
able to do so? Well, gentlemen, one by one these
fallacies of our opponents have been, by a continued
and successful course of exposure, cut from under the
feet of the monopolists.—(Cheers). Now, I do not
know that the objects of the Association can be better
advanced than by reiterating what is our mode of
attack, what the grounds of our principles, what the
provision for the fight.—(Loud cheering). In allud-
ing to these, I may tell the gentlemen with
the pens in their hands that they may lay them
down, for I repeated the same things a hundred time-
before, but seeing some persons present who seem
strangers to our objects, I will again this evening
refer briefly to them. We do not want a free trade
in corn for the purpose of reducing the wages
of the working man. If we did so, we should keep
up the corn-laws, because experience has proved that
wages have ever been lowest when corn was at the
highest price.—(Cheers.) We do not want to be de-
pendent upon foreigners for our supplies of food, or
to give a higher price to one country at the
expense of another, merely because they
took our manufactures. Supposing one of our manu-
facturers who voted for the corn-laws sending goods to
China, and supposing that he said to the people of that
country, " Give us a higher price than you give to
the French or Germans, for we have a corn-law in Eng-
land imposing a tax urn the articles imported, and
I always vote fur it.' 'Why, what would the men
with the pigtails say ? They would naturally enough
say this, " If you are such blockheads in England as
to submit to a high bread-tax, we are not such fools as
to give you a hi . her price than we give to the Germ ins."
You compete with foreigners now, but you would be
better able to compete with them if you could get
bread at the same price that they do.(Continued
cheering.) Well, then, gentlemen, the object of' free
trade in corn is this—to have inure trade ; and the Old -
ham operative shows how more trade would raise the
workman's wages. We want trade, and more par-
ticularly free trade in that article that so materially
ministers to the comforts of the working man.
Now, in that case, every cargo of corn that comes
into the country—every quarter of corn will serve
the working classes in two ways. In the first place,
when corn is cut at all, it must be paid for, and there-
fore it is that I say.every quarter of corn that enters
our ports :serves him in two ways. It can only be
paid for by a demand for his labour, and an increased
demand for his labour will increase his wages, whilst
it lowers the price of corn. This w ill also benefit
other classes, but only through the working classes—
that is, through the classes that now unfortunately do
not get enough to eat. But then the farmer objects
if you bring in foreign corn, because for every quarter
you so bring in there is just so much the less a mar-
ket for the home farmer. It is but just and reason-
able that the people in this country should be suffi-
ciently fed. The class that I belong to—the middle
olass—is sufficiently fed; the upper classes get more
than what is sufficient—more than, in fact, is good
for them—(Laughter and cheers)—but the work-
ing classes—and in this I include the Irish, the
Welsh, the labouring s—l say are not—to our
shame be it said—are not half fed.—(Cheers.) You
have all heard the anecdote of the Irishman in Ken-
tucky, who could not write, and who, wishing to send
a letter to his friends in Ireland, got his master
to write it for him :—" Dear Murphy, I am here in
America, happy and comfortable, and get -neat once
a day." His master said, "Get meat once a day !
what do you mean ? You can get meat three times
a day if you wish it."—" Ah, sure yer anner, but thim
at home wouldn't.. behave, id if I tould
thim."—
(Cheers and laughter.) Weill now, why should not

the working men of this country be allowed to have
as much meat if they can get it as the labourer of
America? It is a hard penalty to be obliged to send
three thousand miles to be fed, but this peneitt of
nature, which the allwise Creator of the world im-
poses upon us, is greatly increased when certain per-
sons, the owners of land here, step in an .1 throw obstacles
in the way, and prevent the men of this country being
fed by their fellow-creatures three thousand miles off.
All persons being sufficiently fed, it follows that the
introduction of better prices will not hurt the farmer,
and those who are now sufficiently fed will still con-
tinue to be his customers. All we say is, that those
who now do not get enough, have an undoubted
right to get bread for the produce of their labour,
be it of the head or of the hands.—(Cheers ) Now
the case of wool will well illustrate the truth of what
I say. During the last year, not less than 2,000,000
of pounds have been introduced more than in any
previous year. And why ? The Id. duty
had been taken off, and this vast influx
of wool was but the natural consequence ; yet
farmers in this country still got from twenty to thirty
per cent. more for their wool than before. How is
this ? Simply because the extension and prosperity
of the manufacture increa,e3 in a greater ratio than
the increase in the importation of the wool. And so
if you give freedom to commerce, the ability to con
ume food will be proportionably increased.— (Cheers.)
I feel shame to reiterate these truisms to you, but I
feel that they are necessary in the present position of
the question. My own firm conviction, gentlemen,
is, that this question cannot be carried in
doors, in the House of Commons, in the next
session, although in its progress in that House
the supporters of free trade should express with
a fertility of argument the justice and expediency
of their demands—although they should cover their
opponents with disgrace in debate—although these op-
ponents should talk such stuff that the veriest child
would be ashamed of it out of the House, yet these
opponents will still vote for the corn-laws. It
would be just as easy to draw a kid out of the maw
of the wolf, as to get them to vote on our side in this
national question.—(Cheers). I remember, that at
the beginning of our labours in London, a certain
Noble Earl called upon us at Brown's Hotel. We
met him at a private interview, and he asked what we
intended to petition for? We answered, the total re-
peal of the corn-laws.—(Loud and long-continued
cheering). The Noble Earl then said, "My belief
is, that the present Parliament would not pass a 12s.
fixed duty certainly not a 10s. ; but, for a
total repeal of the corn-laws, oh, you may
as well try to overturn the monarchy." Now,
I do not think that they will think the con-
summation so remote now, and, if you go to
Tattersall's, my Lord George may not be inclined to
lay long odds that this law will last much longer.—
(Laughter and great.cheering.) We are doing all
we can to shake the old edifice, but it wants a good
deal of battering yet to bring it down.—(Cheers.)
Down, however, it must go, if we enlarge the consti-
tuency.—(Continued cheering) I have done some-
thing in aid of this object since last I saw you.—
(Tremendous cheers.) I have done something to-
wards bringing some four or five thousand voters,
good men and true, upon the electoral list—(En-
thusiastic cheering)—four or five thousand votes that
will very greatly influence the counties of Lanca
shire, Yorkshire, and Cheshire.—(Cheers.) But a
good many more in the country could be equally well
organised. Some people had said, and many say, "It is
dangerous and unconstitutional thus to invite persons to
take up their freedom by buying 40s. qualifications." I
say, without being in any way revolutionary or de-
mocratic, that the sooner the power is transferred
from a landed oligarchy, and placed absolutely in the
hands of the industrious—the middle and working
classes, the sooner it will work well for the com-
munity.—(Cheers.) I hope that every man who has
it in his power to purchase himself a franchise for a
county will regard it as a sacred and solemn duty
to do so before the 31st of January. I ask you to
take into your own hands the power of doing justice
to the twenty-seven millions of people in these islands.
You remember what the immortal Watt said, when
presented before his Maajesty George the Third
The Monarch asked him what he had made,
and the great inventor of the steam-engine replied,
" I have made that which kings are fond of—
power I"—(Great cheering.) Now, we seek to
create a moral power, by inducing those favourable
to the abolition of the corn-laws to place themselves
on the electoral lists of the country. We wish not
merely to have the boroughs, but in carrying the
war into the country of the squires, we wish to give
the counties to the towns, instead of, as formerly,
the towns to the counties.--(Great cheering.) There
should be no father now but ought to purchase a
county qualification for his son, and—there are
ladies here—though it is a strange anomaly that
ladies cannot vote themselves, yet they can confer
votes on other persons—l wish they could vote.
for they would make a better use of it than their
husbands and brothers do.—(lmmense cheering.)
When in Manchester yesterday--for now the power
of steam brings that town within an eight hours'
journey, a lady presented herself to make inqu ries
how she might confer a freehold qualification on her
son before the 31st of January. She received every
instruction how to do so. Now, the ladies who feel
strongly on this question cannot do better than make
an addition to the county votes, by conferring suel•
where they can bestow that privilege. The time is
short, and we have much to do. Let us qualify for
Lancashire, the West Riding of Yorkshire, and
Middlesex. I will guarantee Lancashire and the West
Riding if you will assure the county of Middlesex.
This is a labour in which all may engage. It re-
quires no ostentatious exertion—no gaudy oratory.—
(Cheers.) Let all follow up the movement—let all
do their best to further this object.—(Cheers.) We
are not without consolation in the meantime ; for
when I think of this odious and oppressive system—
when I see the people of this country tamely submit-
ting to this odious tax, deprived of the first necessary
of life—l blush that my countrymen should submit
to it ; but I console myself that I did my best to put
an end to it.—(lmmense cheering )
The Rev..W. J. Fox then came forward to address
the meeting, and was received with the most en-
thusiastic cheering. The Rev. Gentleman several
times attempted to address the meeting, but such was
the rapturous reception given, that for some minutes
he could not obtain a hearing. Silence having been
somewhat restored, he proceeded as follows :—The
practical measure by which the Anti•Corn-Lan
League is characterised this present year, is that to
which Mr. Cobden has just adverted—the correction
of the registration of counties, and the enlarging o:
the county constituency, by inducing the wealthy
free traders of towns to employ part of their surplus
money for such a purpose, and the industrious classes
of the same towns to invest their savings in purchasing
forty-shilling freeholds, in the contemplation, at no
distant time, of meeting the lords of the soil on their
own ground, and, as we confidently believe, fight, aye,
and drive them from their own strong-holds.—
(Cheers.) This policy has excited a remarkable degree
of satisfaction and dissatisfaction. The displeasure at
it has been expressed by the use of the Word uncon
stitutional, which, for the purpose of political dis-
grace, is analogous to the word respectable
as a moral characteristic. The late William
Hazlitt says that one never calls a man respectable
if there can be any other defined quality by which he
can be designated. If a man uses ardent and ima-
ginative language—if he makes good verses you
call him a poet; if a person is learned in profound
problems, if versed in diagrams, you call him a ma-
thematician or philosopher, till, having run the round
ef the qualities by which men may be honourably
distinguished, and having failed in discovering any
one of them, you conclude by saying he is certainly a
respectable man. And so in politics, if a person
acts not illegally when he violates no engage-
ment of the laws of the land—if he cannot
be charged with acting immorally because he com-
mits no breach of the commandments, if you cannot
account his conduct dishonourable when it is perfectly
consistent with all conventional forms, von can fail
back on the word which has been inferred, and say, at
any rate, " It is very unconstitutional."--(Laughter
and cheers.) Although it is with singular impropriety
that such dispraise is applied to a policy that tends to
give life to the constitution—to make it more than a
dead letter, and to enlarge the number of those who
possess its prvileges, and through that extension to
multiply its blessings to the community—(Cheers)—
we displease our enemies, but we gratify our friends.
With the Central Society for the Protection of
Agriculture the case is reversed, and whatever
is the effect of these proceedings on theirs
opponents, certainly during the last year they have
excited the strongest dissatisfaction and reproof from
their friends.-- (Cheers.) Never was protection, if it
can be so called, so thinly represented. They stated
that they were the friends of the labourer and of the
farmer, but thi-oughout these classes there was hut
one feeling of disappointment and uneasiness. At a
meeting they held the other day—not a meeting like
that of the League, unless every Noble Duke
counted for a thousand, and every Member of Par-
liament for two hundred—at a general meeting of the
Great Central Society—(Laughter)—in the first
floor in Boni-street, numbering about forty, even
the members of the Committee found fault with their own

report, and baeliod their own dissatisfaction by saying

that :t was generally thought throughout the country
that the agriculturists had carried out nothing—had
done nothing—attempted nothing—had not suggested
or originated any proceeding—had not gone to Man-
chester, and had not held a great discussion there. I
wish they had done so. • They thought the farmers
were going to ruin, for the prices which were to have
been secured at 565. by Sir Robert Peel's Bill, were
found not to have averaged five-and-forty shillings
And there war?, truth and reason in this disatisfaetion.
The League had risen during the last twelve months
in the-opinion of every well-thinking man, and the
monopolists had by its exertions been led to mortifica.J

------- ------ ]
tion, defeat, and disgrace.—(Cheers.) The,
ILA taught the monopolists tnis lesson, that ttl_ej
not attempt to carry out their principles by 5.
means. Wheat and corn was grown by the taw'
..t,.
and so were surf lives and gowns.—(Cheers.t_
but after ail this, was it not better to have a 11'
than no bread?—(Cheer i.)
law League had used all means in their pOlB-1..,
accomplishment of the great object they hat! '__`'
and they had succeeded in a most ernaw,
hustings.
Their great efforts now must be
hustings. That was the principal focus to Nvh,lc,
The leaders of thel
strength was to be applied. Now, how does tri:
Corn-law League act, notwithstanding all Lts
been said against it ? Did it follow the I.°°
the Duke of Buckingham ?—(Cheers.) Did it ~.
dirty tricks and unworthy proceeding to pip'
ends ?—(Cheers.) The mandate of the Log'
gone forth that the people shall have che,llsll
and that mandate will be carried out, not
means of trickery on the part of the Leagolelli
the means of the people themselves. He sl,e,e
to see her Majesty—God bless her—(t'uf
conic to their free trade bazaar next May ;of
did not expect her to take a stall there---t:e
-ter)—but he was sure that none would Iv.,
with a more hearty welcome.—(Cheers.) 1 1
useless to di,guise facts. The leadets of thew
had shown themselves to be men who w° 11t,
cease to persevere in obtaining the great ohjeclit
ere long, they hoped to obtain. In the grteo
in which they were engaged, they had n° 031
or more hearty friend than Colonel Theo
(Cheers)—and he trusted that the time wt'oc,
distant when they would see him in the.„.lo,
Commons fighting the battles of the .1-41,u;
(Cheers.) What was the object of the sal
Why, to make bread cheap, to enable the
to be well paid, and to ensure the peaPle,_ 1
tuency which would send such Membersltube
went as would look to their interests. led
law League wished to make a couatev
reality and not a farce.—(Cheers.) ~,,'",.,
this the interference of strangers! 'Jute
absurd way of speaking of the LeagiTegl
stranger everywhere; I contend that the J-.4c_t
now a stranger nowhere! We are domesti;
London ; besides, the League is with evell,,, f
sees clearly, and whose heart beats strong
cause of free trade.-7(Cheers.) We, lwri ‘
e;.001
League in London ! and, if you look 3' e:
the towns and districts of the country, whef rj,
see the true interests of the I.l_,3twi.inl
feel the wrongs of the poor, and "the
against oppression, say this tax i
upon _ „„ 0
of the indigent shall not continue--weriil
League! The League are there ! When j7reo
or Lord Radnor rise in their place to 9" iloti
fellow Peers, then the League is in the hod
Lords—(Cheers)—and when by any chaece'the
remote, a courageous thought shall arise 'o. ii it
of the Premier, and one honest determiaßt,Talilf
matter should come from his mouth on°6lo
leagues, then the League will be in the ill(
(Loud cheers.) Principles of this nature ores, t
air and water ; they have an elements:ale
presence ; they are wherever there is 6
and warmth of feeling. Besides, what
representation representation ? Are not towns :-, 11l
part and parcel of counties ? Are %jelling
countries ? Are they " aliens in blood, 00
and religion ?"—(Loud cheers.) Are net,l'i 90,
ties made of the towns and cities in them , foili
not arise as the crown of the riches and ;,0°
your prouder counties ? And where there - 100
fertility, but where natural treasures lie Oll
surface, do we not find works and harbone
coast ? Why, the towns and cities • :,,, 00
counties, by a work which may sto
compared to creation; they give
~,a: i'
the numbers, wealth, grandeur, au fo%
tance which nature seemed to have gi
or overlooked.—(Cheers.) What would '
to ,
be if you struck London out of it ?—(CbefLo°
f
what would your most rural counties be ' TOv
from them the advantages of their towns ? dee
richest•counties, those said to be the most in bul
Of towns, what would they do it you did 13:);10
wheat at their own monopolist price ? $;:il
not often feed their poor who see,l'do: eilli;
here ? Do you not supply with emPkc'r, B,'"
refuse and surplus hands ? Do you notAeil, P`',l
to the victims who seek refuge here? :).;,...(v
all this, do you not purchase their game; 010,
and laughter.) Cities are the hearts ei At;
and are the last portion of them that elit'ave
left unrepresented. If it be said they .0:' no
own separate representation, I say, it, 400
at all. It is property that is representea AA
authority of the law under which we live', r,,,,"
ever has a freehold of forty shillings a Per
the constitution supposes, and, b 3 supposing;
and demands of us, if we are patriotic, a e„rgiat,
ing vote also. It is not your forty shill OA;
holder who is represented by the C 1,114.0
Members • he has yet his claim ""010,'
and well is it when that claim ye,
urged with such happy results as `ri
to attend it in the present instanne'ol,l
' this plan there is a moral good beY:tiool
haps, that which in its original concer,ter
thought of. It tends to act upon the char''' tipl
entire labouring population of the countritto,,
working classes, and the more toilsome LPL,' siPPij
middle class ; it holds out to them the hope or
wise of an incitement of the most desirol;'•
,'I
eating description. It says to them, ''
/00
proprietor of a portion, however mat 0,014 0
England. Have a stake in the on' a, 1
something here. It was thoughtA bfiti
thing when, by the measure introduerrd
late Mr. George Rose, the savings banks `,,-tito
connected with the public funds of the c°' soll
was thought a judicious link b which °wit'
those who could amass only ver Ysmall stim: viise;
national ins,itutions and interests. If it gtirel'i
good to endeavour to make all who could l''',3l;
tance become fundholders, it must heicli!
as wise and good to induce them, accnthe''
their proportion or means, to induce 000
become landholders also, joint short colol
their lovely and beautiful country—thee
as much as it was that of the welg'"eeroj
whose lands cover half a county--(v":th rdiJ
gives them a tangible bond of connexion oi 0 ra
and a feeling of independent and boaeoecri
they are put in possession of that which wn5,301i1
to citizenship in the republics of ancient oleo
which was best adapted to cherish in thefil6
of consistency, propriety, and dignity °if an 'loll
The poet Campbell describes the feelings ° vi heal
'
when he wanders through a village • 110 h°.wistfully at a cottage with a little garden' „ill'
hangs over the gate and says— old '
" Oh! that for me some home like this Ito, d,,
Some hamlet's shed to yield my sicklY 'l,°e- st‘P.o
Health in the breeze, and shelter from 'lie
el
And such, too, is the hope of those vvhn'efistal'lnc
been spent in toilsome exertions and cljefote ii
durance. Let theni take opportunity hY,.t,seo 0,
r,
at least to such an extent as this; the 1)-05 egg
holds out such an incitement to mil" oilfire
country ; may the spirit rise to spur theeithei V
seize, and, obtaining it, they may think of
°f li
the high-road towards a better choieetioa l:10
lators, and a more complete identifiesinteroill
interests of those who toil with the ,he cil'rci
those who think, a better direction for 't del!, IV
classes extending throughout the dirferee 9 d9SIII
tions of society. The House of Comae sod (1/
better show what it is to have a full, nals:cl' ,
representation of the Commons of ,ijises 1
(Loud cheers.) You have had well-urtornof 16
you this evening the constituent eletbia 0I)
great financier. You have heard so°:;1•00 tb;/ 1
prosperity of the revenue. I have a ll° tao°oi
revenue is most prosperous when more orbe, 1;
mains in our own pockets than _,,,ter.10,11'
is taken out of them.—(Cheers and lattro.otldll
comparative prosperity, for it is only c°lllo, sole
falsified ev,ry assertion of the in000Po; tbditiolt i
verified every prediction of the leaders °fo ig 106
—(Hear, hear.) We rejoice that the'. flit
,0 OP
comparative prosperity ; but Yet, 11°, Wries Ptidoillo
gone towards the reduction of the
trtlesieo-doetfoitl'iiattibosoi
(lured by a very large portion of
rake up the daily newspapers, and J-,ioo "4,5 v,;
look at them for many days in suceet:ordePioje;
meeting again and again coroners' itiglies„,, a 17°„plf I/01
destitution—some poor wretch perishes vssor,-0.0 i
straw, in them tier of a hovel, where he lig, .10 th 10.
any nutriment for days and nights! 1% til: to,e, is )!
such scenes as this, it is not for our effor„,ooooie.,
is not for us to " bate one jot of heart 0,1'0". doe!.
great struggle, but still to " press rigill'n°t of
neistle_o
is another testimony to the fearful am(,'llrent syjtier
that yet remains untouched in the dir''' ti WA,
continually forming ; societies such as );.04),- thelitit;
of, for grinding aid baking the bread 0 5i1.,6
societies for furnishing the poor with 136.0 wor,:o.ge
ing- Louses—societies for setting them 'doh',
sieties for putting them into
the I)"have' tiel
societies for relieving the wants of „,
ae 0. ,„I
women. And the leaders of the Leng e fee
these les
better
,sor 0 V.
blamed, because they looked coldly en,;freree care II
and evinced a jealous, or, at least, an lo"'
eat or ',I ill,
towards then], as if they must be indiffere entere.ef, V'
' of the wants of the poor, unless they of retie le
these specific modes, or attempted moti,e_s ore l' Oil
fact being that the leaders of the LeoVi:f the'' fits
solicitous for the removal of the roi6(;hey 51,1„°,15, $(1
who thus complained of them ; but ' reteostill °I,
as measures of relief, these are mere P„ wor, to „
so miserably inefficient as to be scaree'iwinc°oot "I
thought, while the great battle still re_, the !wag
fought about that which could alone rell,cr",,. Iv_ 1,001,
the ( vil, and abolish it from the coup' fa the oers
deep feeling, and not a want of feretliirnigg to...thhenes:.ellit
tthioantso;eicnalstioani(l•od,his mode of adve
that those ho ,b 0
quick to detect what is is:3'r'
repres if
on the part of free trader, Inigu"
that
tliof