The Sun.
London, England, 1844-05-16 00:00:00

TIIE SUN, LONDO

that night, had it not been for the earnest desire
of his brother farmers, who had requested him
to speak his and their sentiments before the citizens
of London. All that he was anxious for was to elicit
the truth, and when the truth was elicited, to see it
acted upon. The truth must out. There was no
neutral ground to stand upon, for there must be 'either
free traders or anti-free traders.—(Cheers.) There
could be no doubt that lengthened tenure would be
beneficial to the farmer, and lengthened
tenure was what free trade would give.
What they required was security for the investment
of capital in land. He had lately been at some pro-
tection mee ings, and the speakers there most cau-
tiously shunned the discu.sion of that subject—the
instability of the present corn-law. He had been to
one of those protection meetings, where the talking
was all on one side —on the side of protection, of
course, for they refused to allow any discussion whatever
as to the benefits offree trade. The Morning Post had, in
one of its recent articles commented in very s acastic
terms upon the ungrammatical language used by the
tenant-farmers who spare at the meetings of the
Anti-Corn-law League. Why, it was not to be won-
dered at, if these men were deficient in learning,
considering the slight opportunities of improving
themselves which they possessed, and the manner in
which they were ground down and oppressed by
their landlords. The wonder was that they ever
possessed so much information as they did.—(Hear.)
It was a matter of great doubt to him whether, if the

present corn-laws were persevered in, the farmer
would be able to give his children any education at
all. The Anti-Corn-law League had very much en-
lightened the tenant-farmers in 'his neighbourhood,
and their tracts were eagerly sought after by the
farmers of Somersetshire. They were anxious to be
informed on a subjezt which had been so much dis-
cussed, and upon which their interests so much de-
pended. The farm labourers were at present in a
most depressed condition, and many of them threw
the blame upon the farmers ; but upon a perusal of
these well-digested pamphlets, they would see that it
was not the fault of the farmers that their wages
were so low, and their condition so had, but
of the landlords, who kept up high rents.
These poor labourers would see that the wages which
should go into their pockets went into the coffers of the
landlords ; but if the farmers would stand forward,
and, in a bold and independent manner, avow their
opinions, and their determination to act upon them,
the landlords would cease to exercise the tyranny they
at present practised. Another very erroneous opinion
prevailed among these farmers, that the manufac-
turers were their enemies. He was disposed to look
upon no man as his enemy, but he regarded the
manufacturers as his best friends, because they were
working out that for them which they could not
accomplish for themselves.—(Cheers.) Without the
manufacturing population, it was impossible for the
farmer to thrive. They'were the home consumers,
that furnished the best market for agricultural pro-
duce. They were, in short, their best friends. He
thanked the meeting heartily for the kindness with
which they had heard him ; and, as the advocate of
truth, would conclude in the words of the poet:—
" To seize on truth, where'er 'tis found,
Among our friends, among our foes—
On Christian or on Heathen ground—
A flower divine, where'er it grows."
The Rev. Mr. BURNETT then came forward, and
was received with great cheering. He said that it
was exceedingly gratifying to the free traders of
London to see such numbers of the tenant-farmers
come forward to advocate the "principles of common
sense." The landlords said the repeal of the corn-
laws would be ruinous to the farmers. The farmers
said it . would be serviceable to them. Now which
were they to believe, the landlords or the farmers—
_ _

those who felt or those who spoke ? Were they to
believe those who had no experience whatever in
preference to those who had a great deal of ex-
perience ? "Oh ! but," said the landlords, " the
farmers are ignorant men." Then why should
they blame them for being ignorant when
the pressure of high rents was the cause ? The
gentleman who had just sat down had, with great
propriety and feeling, alluded to the mode by which
the landlords contrived to extend their political influ-
ence, not only at the expense of the farmer's pocket,
but of his conscience also. Why should the British
farmer be the slave of the British landlord ?—(Loud
cries of "Hear, hear.") Was he not a freeman, and
shmild he not possess the dearest privilege of a.
freeman—voting according to his conscience? But
at present lie was obliged to act like a slave. The
farmer, like a mercantile man, entered into a contract
with the landlord for a certain number of acres at a
certain rent, and when he fulfilled that contract, the
landlord should have n) further claim upon him. He
could not conceive a more degraded position than that
of a landlord who forced a tenant to vote against
his conscience in support of a system which
was injurious to both.—(Hear, hear, and cheers.)