The Sun.
London, England, 1842-02-12 00:00:00

MORNING SUN

THE GREAT
-ANTI-C 0 RN-L A W
CONFERENCE. _
(YESTERDAY.)

The CrnelllsaN took the Chair at Half-past Eleven o'Clock,
. and upon doing so he said—ln the olden time historians had
- -told them that persons in England were accustomed to immure
in their castle dungeons individuals who were suspected to be
possessed of wealth, and by the application of torture their
' treasuies were wrested from them ; more daring than their
ancestors, the landed aristocrats of the present day have con-
. find, a monster engine of torture, which wrung from a nation
' itS wealth, and was more cruel in its application, as it
inflicted the severe pangs of suffering upon the poor and
• destitute instead of the wealthy. They were met again that
morning to endeavour mo destroy that monster machine, and
it was vain that Sir Robert Peel should tell them that the
oQmplex machine he proposed would not be so painful as the
lest—( Cheers )—and that the agony it would inflict would riot
..be so intense—that its lever would not be so long—and that
the sinews of humanity would not be wrenched to so great an
extent. —( Cheers.) -They were met there to tell Sir Robert
'Peel that elle voice of the nation—and he trusted the nation
• - would tell hen in a voice of thunder—that he should not, more
Of less, continue to torture the nation. If he might be permitted
ehe would again recommend, . without it being supposed
e.• • to be at all as imperative, that the range of discussion should
be limited.--(Cheers.) He knew that one gentleman was
charged with the duty of addrening the Conference on the
• subject of statistics, but the object of most of the speakers
should be rather in recommendation of the course of conduct to
• be pursued, and the actions to be adopted, than in showing the
• evil effects of the Corn-laws.—(Cheers.) He felt this to be
the more necessary, because he believed that to n great extent
the peace of the country was In their hand, and it was much
to be feared that the patience and long-suffering of the people
would give way when they learned the heartless intentions of
the present Minister of the landed aristocracy, for according to
the example of yesterday, he would not call him the Minister of
the Sovereign.—(Cheers.) If, in the first brush of their
righteous indignation,— if, in the first action of despair, any- .
thing could be done to control the people, and keep them from
out-burst and vengeance, it would be the confidence they had
in the deliberations of the Conference.—( Cheers. ) They would
wait and see what they would propose, and what action they
would suggest, and, in proportion as their efforts were bold, vi-
gorous, and energetic, would be their confidence in the Con-
ference, and the greater would be their power of controlling the
people. Two letters had been received, which he would
now read. One was from Mr. Johnson, the Chairman of the
Corn-law Association at Derby, and it was as follows :
" Sir—At a meeting of the Anti-Corn-law Associa-
tion, hastily convened, to take into consideration the proposals
of her Majesty's Government on the Corn-laws, the following
resolution was unanimously passed : —"flat this meeting have
heard with indignation the measures proposed by her Majesty's
Government to the House of Commons for an alteration of the
Corn-laws, and cannot refrain from denouncing the scheme as
unjust and iniquitous towards a loyal and suffering people e and
this meeting hereby pledge themselves to oppose, by every Con-
stitutional means in their power the proposed enactments.'
The Association are taking measures for furthering the objects
of the Anti-Corn-law League, and a deputation will probably
• be in London from Derby either on Saturday or Monday to co-
operate in the cause of total and immediate repeal. At a
meeting of the Town Council, held this day, a petition against
the Government measure was unanimously passed, and for-
warded to E. Strutt, Esq., for presentation to the House of Com-
mons, which, it is hoped, will be in time for presentation this even-
ing. "—Another letter that had been received was from the Church
and Congregation of Hope Chapel, Rochdale, and they stated,
that "having felt the grievous effects of the Corn and Provision-
laws in our pecuniary affairs, and in the distress that abounds
inthe habitations of our poor weavers, we therefore feel anxious
that those oppressive laws should be wiped off the Statute-
,• - book-of the realm. We appoint the bearer, Thomas Turner,
Esq., as our delegate, to represent. us at the Anti-Corn-law
Conference, to be held in London on the Bth of February,
1842." The latter was signed by the Minister, the Deacons,
and two Elden for the congregation. They had also received
a letter from Mr. Brindle, of Manchester, in which
he said—" I am happy to inform you that a most
numerous meetitig is now held in the Rooms,
Newell's Buildings, condemnatory of the scale of Sir R. Peel,
to agree to resolutions which will be submitted to a meeting at
• the Bazaar at seven o'clock to-night. All is agitation—the
Tories on 'Change have expressed their disappointment." The
letter was dated half-past five o'clock.
The CHAIRMAN then called upon the Rev. T. Spencer, of
• Bath, to move the first resolution, when
The Rev. Dr. WADE rose to a point of order. He would
suggest that every speaker should be confined to a quarter of
an hour, and five minutes to wind up, unless the meeting re-
quired them to go on. —( Cheers. )
The Rev. Mr. WELLS seconded the proposition. All they
wanted was to find out their strength.—(Cheers.) They
wanted to know where their Delegates came from, and in what
position they were, and after that let some one point out their
path and they would walk in it.—( Cheers.)
The CHAIRMAN said before the first resolution was proposed
the Hon. Charles Villiers wished to make a few statements
to the meeting-
Mr. VILLIERS said that he had asked leave of the Chairman
to stop the proceedings for one moment, in order that he might
explain the nature of two notices that were reported in the
Journals of this morning, as having been ,given in the House
of Commons last night, on the subject of the Corn-laws —( Hear,
bear)—one of whicn was given by Lord John Russell, and the
• other-by himself. With respect to the last, he begged to in-
form them, that it was in conformity with his own opinion, and
Se its eompliadee with their wishes, as conveyed to him by
saran gentlemen belonging to the Conference, and it was to
.eattritelareeolutien to the effect that the duty on corn should be
entirely abolished.—( Loud cheers.) He wished to inform
upeinlieiring that it was the general wish of this
~•Ceiniseessei,sand'etheis who -were here, ccmsideringin what way
tkey,osalithest edvenee the cause, to submit 'this motion as
• sseelairo as • poseilele, hes- had gone •to the Speaker of the
House of Commons,and,asked him what would be
the earliest opportunitie &insistently with the fortes of the
Houses en ! which it could be brought forward.—(Loud
.„ gimlets.) He said that as this was a motion affect-
, Ing a duty, it could only be mcved after he had left the chair,
and when the House was in Committee, but that as it was
for the purpose of abolishing the duty, that it would
be. taken as the first motion in Committee.—( Hear.)
,He had therefore given notice last night of his intention to
move this resolution on the House going into Committee.
—(Loud cheers.) With respect to Lord John Russell's mo-
tion, as far as he knew of it, he believed that he had consented
to make it in compliance with the earnest solicita-
tions of several Members of the House of Commons
for the purpose of considering the principle of Sir R. Peel's
measure—( Hear, hear)—to which extent they had made up
their minds against the present Corn-laws. And as such a
motion could be made before the Speaker left the chair, for
the House to go into Committee, he believed it would take
precedence of the motion in which they were peculiarly inte-
rested. fle certainly had not suggested this course himself,
agreeing with themselves that the best mode of condemning
Sir Robert Peel's measure, would be by moving for the total
abolition—(Cheers)—but he was not aware, and he did
not believe, that the course intended to be pursued,
would prejudice their cause.—( Hear, hear.) Indeed, such was
,ilia detestation in which some Members held this sliding, slip-
., very system of duties recommended by Sir Robert Peel, that
be could not help hoping that, timid as they might be with
respect to the total abolition, that if the alternative was
to maintain the present system, or to abolish it altogether,
that they might prefer the lat ter. ( Loud cheers. )
However, whether that would be so or nof, he was not aware
that the cause would suffer by discussion ; it had not hitherto,
and the more there was of it perhaps the better.—( Hear.) He
was chiefly anxiouseto show them that, with the view to give effect
to their wishes and feelings on this subject he had adopted
! the only course open to him, and that there had been no tardi-
mess on his part at a moment when exertion from all was so
peculiarly called for. He was glad to inform them that even
=the Howie of Commons the very imperfect— he could almost
say insulting—measure proposed by Sir Robert Peel, seemed to
'ave roused fresh spirit and zeal among those who had before
een with them.,.-(Cheers.) For every man saw in that
• weeasure an utter disregard of all that had been said, written,
and suffered for so many years, on account of the laws, and a
positive refusal to effect any change with a view to
mitigate the evils which, in the opinion of the wisest among
them, and of millions now suffering, they had produced._
(Loud cheers.) He would not longer detain them—(Cries of
es Go on, go on")—lie had only made that explanation
out of the respect which was due to them, and to prevent
any misconception as to the course intended, knowing
that the forms of the House were not easy to
to understand—( Hear, hear)—to prevent any man from sup-
posing that there would be any compromise in the House of
Commons of the great and good cause in which they were
united.—( Cheers.) He only hoped at this crisis that nothing
..essiottlet• be left undone that could possibly promote their object,
4-for never were they before so completely dependent upon them-
, 4iiivessfar success.—(Loud cheering.)
)fr. Lowe announced that since Sir R. Peel's intimation
• `'ierth to• the Corn-laws, such had been the feeling in the
'Perish' of Whitechapel, that the people were flocking by hen-
edredi :every twin' to sign the petition ;30,000 signatures had
r'ileeddy
,Lien obtained since Sir R. Peel's intimation had been
z-insuie known—( Tremendous cheers)—and a gentleman had
`told hint that he could, on the shortest notice, get 1,000 people
inaccoritisany this Conference in any movement they might
' This viratsurPly an inducement for them to go on.
'!* 'The Voir:NV: SPENCER, of Bath, said that he had to move the
etelleseing.reiolution
:44'thist thitftneeting,* duly appreciating the effbrts of ministers of
'sdittiiiicritititatioris to linpress thy people with the religious bearings
`atilikkiiitilieitd 'tax movement, would respectfully suggest that
.4144 the i ireutd hetioradderetdy Increased by simultaneous meet-
ings of their people all over the country, - and that the standing
COmmittees-Wthe various ministetial Conferences be requested to
take the same into their immediate consideration."
*s this was a motion particularly connected with the ministers
of religion, it had been committed to him as a clergyman of
the Established Church—(Hear)— and would be, he believed,
seconded by a clergyman of the Scotch Establishment—
(Cheers)—and he had no doubt that the more this subject was
examined, the more it would be found that the ministers of re-
ligion were never so much in their places as when advocating
the rights of the people. It was very common for ministers of
all 'denominations to assist in any charity ; that was, no doubt,
eight, but he considered justice before charity any day.
Ire considered it better to spend 5/. :in removing the cause of
poierty,than•sool. in relieving that poverty.—( Cheers. ) He
ehmeldered it right to do good to one distressed object ; much
more so, then, to do good to 6,000,000; and if there were
6"0,000 poisons at present in this country who were not able
to obtain wheaten bread, with thousands of persons who had no
clothes. shoe", or hats to put on, and a measure were proposed
which should immediately find them work, put clothes upon their
I'm-
". and plenty of- wheaten bread, he could not understand
what kind of men they were who would join in relieving two or
three persons, sad would not a measure like that.—
( Cheers.) They had great authoritiesioln for adopting the cow se
which they had adopteA. The Archbishop of Dubin was one
of the first had
men in Ireland • Dr Wak. ling was
a
' err;
west distinguished Free-trader, and indeed he knew many
clergymen who were decided
r
Spencer) attended the 'Manchester'
eele. Whin he (Mr);
several letters from clergymen of Conference, he received
the Established' Church, in
Lincoln and the South of England, approving of what he had said
at that Cosference, andexpiessingreeta theirown inability to
attend.—( Hear.) Besides, when they looked around, they
saw the bishops and the clergy take part in things similar
-to this ; they took part in teetotal meetings, and advocated very
dthe
pple having less beer and mere bread.—(He
ar) He (Mr.
. Bpeneer) was for less beer and less gin, but he was for giving
The Bishop of
dues more bread instead.—(Hear, hear . )
Bath and Wells was the great father of the allotment system
and this was very like the abolition of the Corn-laws, be:lilt:17:
by it the people got bread and potatoes cheap,
same
In his (Mr. Spencer's) own parish,. he had
*rim, and by it the labouring people, instead of paying at.
Alt acre for their land, as they otherwise would do, new.
p
tot it for from U. to IL 10s.er acre, being the same as the
_filmier paid for his laird. If the Bishops and clergy, thee,
took part to such measures as these, he could not. see why it
ea. not "roper, nay, almost imperative, on the minister of reli-
.'°ftAereestst -iti this great national cause.—(Cheers.) He
jdea of a religion which rested on prayer alone,
I***444W •

and would not acknowledge the efficacy of works.—(Hear.)
He contended that it. would—be- found- without a- single
exception, that the rule of Providence was never to do
fin man, that which man could do for himself, but to assist
man where his own efforts were unavailing.—( Hear.) Man
could plough and sow and reap, and therefore the Almighty
would not do those things for him, but man could not cause
the winds to blow, or the sun to shine, or the rain to fall,
and, therefore, Providence took those things into its own
hands. It would be vain to pray to the Almighty that he
might change the hearts of our rulers, if the people did not
themselves take the proper steps to enable them to obtain the
redress which was due to them. Unless those steps were taken
the people would not be true to themselves. Some persons
had said to him, that he ought not as a minister of religion,
and a preacher of the Gospel join the present movement. His
answer was this—" It is true, and you say that the Lord
has said to his ministers, go unto all the world and preach
the Gospel in every quarter, but he also said, as you
go along cure the sick, cleanse the leper, cast out devils ; freely
you have received, freely give."—( Cheers.) Now, if it wa,
true that there were thousands suffering from sickness and
poverty in this country, in consequence of the present Corn-
laws, and if a spirit of anarchy and jealousy had been spread
throughout the land, the ministers of the Gospel were obeying
the Divine command when they advocated the cause of repeal.
(Hear, hear.) They were told that the preachers of the
Gospel ought not to unite with the manufacturing :set.
They were told that the manufacturers were worshippers of
mammon, the authors of the factory-system, and that no man
of Christian feeling should sanction the proceedings of such a
class.— ( Flear.) Now he had been in agricultural districts,
and he knew what was the condition of the labour-
ing classes there.—( Hear, hear.) He had also been
in commercial districts and he ought to know something
of the condition of manufacturing labourers. He declared,
then, that the working men of Manchester and such places
were far more kindly treated than the working men engaged
by farmers.—( Hear, hear.) lie had frequently questioned
children in the agricultural districts as to their condition ;
and he found that in places where they were employed in herd-
ing cattle, some received one shilling and others eighteenpence,
and very few two shillings a-week. That was the constant
practice in agricultural districts ; and in many places, such as
Salisbury Plain, these boys were removed, at a distance, per-
haps of miles, from any shelter, except such as that trees might
afford. He would take another class—the labourers in coal-
pits ; and he could tell them of sufferings there such as Lord
Ashley bad never discovered elsewhere. Lord Ashley was a
man who only saw with one eye.—( Hear, hear.) The men
who worked in the coal-pits were exposed to vary dangerous
accidents. But when the coal was got, how was it brought to
the surface? It was dragged for miles, perhaps, under ground
in waggons by children and women—( Hear, hear)—and they
frequently drew it on their hands and knees.—(Hear, hear. )
Talk of manufacturers—he had never known anything like this
among manufacturers. He called upon Lord Ashley to look
not merely at what was going on in the manufacturing districts,
but to look to the condition of the women and children in the
coal-pits. He had lately beard from a number of brick- makers,
working near the line of the Bath Railway, at a distance of
only 15 miles from the metropolis, which were well deserving
the notice of Lord Ashley. He had been told that these men
worked 17 or 18 hours a day during the summer; every
brick-maker was attended by two boys, one of whom filled a
barrow, while the other wheeled it. Now these boys had but
three rests during the day—each of no more than 20 minutes
or one hour out of seventeen or eighteen. The master of these
workmen, a gentleman of large property, had told him that a
good brick-man would make 60,000 bricks in a week, or 10,000
a day, while each of these bricks required that 91b of clay
should be thrown into a mould. Thus, one man had to throw
into a mould 90,0001bs weight of clay, or nearly 45 tons, each
day. These were things to which Lord Ashley should look,
when he talked of the sufferings of the labouring classes.
(A gentleman here asked what was the age of the boys em-
ployed). They were generally boys between the age of 12 and
14. He was sorry to find that Sir R. Peel, who might have
been a greater man, seemed to join in the outcry against the
manufacturers. e did not believe that Sir R. Peel shared
in the sentiments of those who denounced manufactures ; but
his words were capable of that construction. He seemed to
join in the outcry against machinery, while every reflecting
man must know well that machinefy was the best friend of
man ; that machinery found work for ten men for one it dis-
placed ; and if machinery had not conferred all the benefit
which it might confer, it was because the present Corn-laws
did not allow it to be fully put in operation.—(Cheers.) Sir
R. Peel had also spoken of over-production, and he might be
ashamed in joining in that outcry. Now, hew could there be
over-production, when he could tell them that he
had been informed, at a public meeting at Leicester,
by hosiers of the town, that foreigners were actually underselling
them in their own market ?—( Hear, hear.) Was that over.
production ? It did not look like it. Surely if there was
over-production these foreigners were very foolish men to take
coals to Newcastle. He had yesterday conversed with an
honest and intelligent American, of whom he had asked his
opinion of the prospects of trade with Sir R. Peel's proposi-
tion. He replied that it would effectually stop any exchange
of American corn for our manufactured articles; and that the
trade between the two countries could not be continued under
such a system. The gentleman told him that if the trade in
corn was opened in this country, America would clear the
whole stock in Manchester in one year.—(Hear, hear.) They
had immense districts in America where it would be much
more advantageous to sow corn than to establish manufactures ;
and if the Corn-laws were repealed, a vast portion of the
capital which was daily being vested in manufactures would
be devoted to agriculture.— (Cries of " Hear, hear.")
A word had been said about class legislation ; he should not now
enter into the question of how it was that Sir Robert Peel
dared to do as he now does, but he traced the evils they were
now complaining of to a period of several years back. He con-
sidered that Sir R. Peel and his party in Parliament dared to
do what they now do, and will dare to do much more, that they
cared very little for them, because they had succeeded in dis-
couraging, dispiriting, and dividing the people of England, till
they had little er nothing to fear from them. The people were
in a paralyzed and divided condition, and though they
might have all strength and power, if united, yet
they had very little union as they now were.—(Hear,
hear.) An American gentleman had stated to him a circum-
stance that had given him an exact idea of the cause of the
strength of the aristocratical party, and those who maintained
the Corn-laws. They were conversing of the probability of the
continuance of the American Union, and he was informed.that
the men of the Southern, or slave-holding States, had itnong
themselves ene common bond of union in the maintenance of
the slave system. But it appeared that the Northern, or in-
dependent States, had no such bond of union ; they were all
divided ; and therefore the slave-holding States ruled over
them. Now, there was a slave-owning state in this country, and
they bare a common bond of union in the continuance of the
Corn-laws. The Corn-law takes more from the labouring man
than he had a right to give, and whenever labour was taken and
no wages given, that he considered amounted to slavery.
( Hear, hear.) If, as Mr. Connell had said, the landowners
demanded 2d. out of every loaf, and exacted, as it had been
calculated they did do, on an average, 3d. from every shilling
the labourer earned • if, when a man earned 95., 2s. or 3s. of
that amount was taken by others who never worked for it, just
so far as that it was slavery.—(Cheers.) He said that they
were an Anti-Slavery Society; if therefore there was a bond
of union among the slave-owners of this kingdom, and we have
no such bond, then they were divided, and it was not to be won-
dered at that the slave-owners were as powerful as in
America. He was travelling by railway last week,
and conversed with a gentleman, who made this remark re-
specting what Sir Robert Peel was about to do, " That he did
not think be would give way this Session—that there was no
reason why he should do so ;" adding, " that it was a lucky
thing the Corn-law League had quarrelled with the Chartists,
for if they had united they would have upset the Government."
—( Hear, hear.) He thought to himself, you should not have
told me that, fur as sure as ever he met a body of Anti-Corn-
law men he resolved to tell it them.—(Cheers.) He con-
sidered that the evils they were suffering dated not from the
Reform Bill, or before the Reform Bill, but the period a short
time after it. Before the passing of the Reform Bill the
people exerted themselves to the utmost to get their House of
Commons, but in an evil hour the Liberal Ministry was dis-
missed, and Si: R. Peel took office, and shortlysent that House
of Commons about its business. He thought that was a slap
in the face given to the nation, and which the nation had never
recovered. It felt that it was no use to try to get a good
House of Commons, for it felt that it would be sent back if
it did not happen to suit the Minister. The consequence was,
that men cared less for their votes. He had known man of the
most respectable class, medical men, surgeons, and clergymen,
men of a most respectable rank in life,who, rather than be intimi-
dated and harrassed, would not put their names on the egis-
try. A discouragement had been given to the people of Eng-
land, they had been disappointed and sent back, after having
done a great work ; and they had never done any other great
work, from that time till now.—(Loud cheers.) • What, then,
was to be done? They were here to consider practical mea-
sures, and he would take the liberty of giving them a
word or two of advice ;—First, to the ministers of re-
ligion, and the , clergy of the Established Church, of
whom those who held the same opinions he did,
would no longer hide their light under a bushel.; there would
be a goodly number of them if they would only speak out ;
let their names be known. With respect to the Dissenting
ministers who hod acted an honourable part, and had taken
a part in this discussion, he hoped every ene of them would
instruct his people in all righteousness in this matter, for sin-
less the people were thoroughly furnished with all good works,
and the minister who had not declared to his people the
whole counsel of God, if he had not thoroughly furnished
them on this point, he had never done his duty yet. If those
gentlemen who would really be the friends of the people, and who
would go about doing good, they must not take a les,on from
Peel as to the way of doing it. On the distress in Bolton

says Sir Robert in 'Parliament, how very badly the Poor-law
must be administered in that place ? Their ambition, he
thought, would be of a nobler kind than this—that if the poor
man was distressed he should have parish pay to keep him
quiet. Men, year after year, went on relieving the distress,
and wondering there was such saffering, but never taking the
trouMe to examine into the causes of it. Had they done this
they would not say that the Poor-laws were working badly, but
that the Corn-laws were operating injtriously. The; people
would not want relief if justice were done theta,—. ear,
hear.) He wished that every man was abate parish' pay,
and he would be se if the door were opened to labow,
Let every Minister, then, advocate the cause of justice they
must show them that they must not depend on others, but on
themselves ; they must show them that they bad to earn their
bread by the sweat of their brow, and if obstacles were placed
in their way, not to lie down and die, or depend on parish pay,
but to cry out against the, Legislature which places those ob-
stacles in their way.—(Cheers.) Peel well knew that it was

the police that keep- the people quiet. Now, if it were not for
this law the country could not be in the orderly condition in
which it was ; and his aim was to encourage the people to be
satisfied with the present state of things, in order to de-
prive you of the assistance of the thousands and millions of
England. Mr. Massey had stated on the first day of the
Conference that he (Mr. Spencer) had said they should send a
thousand men from Manchester to the metropolis, but he had
not told them all the story, and he would explain it to them,
with an addition. He was for moral force, not for physical.
He found in Scripture two cases of moral force, one in which
Gideon fell before a small number of men, who broke their
pitchers and displayed their lamps. In the other there was a
town which God had determined should fall without a single
stroke, in the same wanner as he hoped the citadel of monopoly
would be carried, without a single stroke or shedding a single
aro' of bl rod.--(Cheers.) He said to his people, " March
round the walls of the town, march round the walls
of Jericho, every man with a trumpet, and as you march blow
the trumrebs. And they did as they were told, and they
w alked round tie walls, and blew their trumpets, and as they
walked the walls fell flat."—(Cheers.) He would not have the
i eople of London selected for such a march—people who were
given to admire sights and shows, and the next moment are to
be found in the ginshops, were not the men ; he had no con-
fidence in such people as could be picked up in the streets of
London. But take a thousand men from the streets of
Manchester ; let a portion of the 10,0001. acquired by the
Bazaar be appropriated to this purpose; make an agree-
ment with the Railway Proprietors, engage a special train,
land them in the streets of London, marshal them well,
put banners of " Free Trade," and " No Corn-laws,"
in their hands.—( Cheers.) Let them be maintained in Lon-
don for a fortnight or a month, if their funds allowed it; let
them march every day past the fronts of the houses of those
who uphold the Corn-laws, and blowing their Anti-Corn-law
.'recta
ofof Commons—(Cheers)—and —as (thCeh eers)
trumpets, let them mareh seven time roond the walls of the
show their and as they march through the
people are caught by sights, let them
Paned iii.thes and pale faces, and let the best man

_e -o sse si
amongst tens make them a speech, and aasif,-:"lireArei
workmen-- of Manchester, Who would
alatiour willihgly, a
but are -obliged to stand all the day idle' because 'MP'
man hath hired us. The warehouses of our. Master! 'ai-e-'
full of goods, which the people of America would tale,,
but the law will not let them. You have a set of. Men here id
London, who make the laws, and say to the men-ef Mancheeter -
you shall not make goods for the men of America ; . our mis-
ters' shall not have that money for their goods, which would
enable them to employ us operatives, and we now appeal to
you." Let them tell the story of their distress, and go
through every street of the metropolis, or every street
let their cry be heard, let them call for a repeal of the Corn-
laws, and for free-trade ; let them ask for pity and justice to the
manufacturing operative, and before many weeks had gone by,
these Anti-Corn-law trumpets would cause the walls of
monopoly to fall down.—(Loud and continued cheering. )
At all events it might be tried. He said this without
reference to physical force ; in hi' opinion it was a contemptible
force; he had some little opinion of himself, yet in physical
force he conceded the point to the first bull he might meet.
He should say that the very donkey was better as a physical
force agent than himself: there was not a horse in the street
but was his superior ; but it had been truly said that no Go-
vernment could stand against the force of public opinion.
Only let that he made to appear in London, where the people du
not seem to be suffering altogether so much, let those poor
people be brought to London from the manufacturing districts
of the north, and let them declare and show their sufferings in
the streets of this city—let them be paraded through the streets
of London, and no Government could stand out for a day
against such a general feeling, such a demonstration of suffering.
A Voice from the body of the M eting—Your plan may- be
very good, but if such a demonstration as that were made, what
would be done with the London police and the Government
forces ?
The Rev. Mr. SPENCER did not see why it should be ne-
cessary for the police force to interfere. Not long since there
was a very numerous and respectable meeting convened in his
neighbourhood for the abolition of the Corn-laws; the police
force did not interrupt them—nay, though there was a large
body of persons employed actually for the purpose of interrupt-
ing their proceedings, anti their Chairman, Lord Radnor, *as
grossly insulted, the police force did not interfere.—( Hear,
hear.) The poor people, who are suffering those grievances
from the effects of the Corn•laws, might walk through the
streets of London without violence or obstruction to any one,
then why should the police or the Government forces interfere
—though there was a procession of tee-totallers three miles
long the other day through part of the country they were
allowed to walk through the streets—no police interfered with
them—if the poor operatives and working classes of England
assembled, and walked through the streets of London, up to the
House of Commons, harmlessly, as the delegates did the
other day, why should the Government forces interfere
to prevent them 2—(Hear, hear.) The Anti-Corn League
had already ten thousand pounds in their hands, and he (Mr.
Spencer) hoped they would have twenty thousand pounds more
before many days.—(Cheers.) He was sure they would.—
(Loud cheers.) There were thousands of persons throughout
the country whose hearts were interested to the last degree
in the proceedings of the Anti-Corn-law Conference. He
would suggest that they should offer a prize of 1001., two prizes '
of 501., and ten more prizes of 101. each, for the best solutions
a this problem .—A Parliament of interested men who are too
much for the people ; to find out all honest and industrious
means to enable the people to be too much fit the Parliament.
—(Laughter.) In order to be more distinctly understood tie
would state an instance by way of illustration. Suppose that the
people were anxious to get an Act of Parliament passed for the
establishment of railroads, and that the House of Commons
was all composed of coach proprietors, and the House of Lords
of turnpike commissioners—(" Hear, hear," and loud cheers)—
commissioners who were receiving 5 per cent. interest for the
money they had expended in the purchase 07 establishment of
these turnpikes.—(Renewed cheers.) Suppose the Houses of
Parliament were constituted in that way,-what chance could
the public have of getting an Act passed for the establishment
of railways ?—( Hear, hear.) Were not the working classes of
England situated precisely similar ?—(Loud cheees. ) The
problem was the same as that for the solution of which he re-
commended the Anti-Corn-law Conference to offer those prizes.
He would appeal in that way to the talent, to the virtue, and to
the ingenuity of Englishmen, and surely if there were so many
thousands of persons interested in this measure—if so many
Hints and steels were stuck together, there must be some good
result; it was possible that there were means not yet dis-
covered which would show the aristocracy of England, that in
six months to come the people could do more than all they had
hitherto done.--( Loud cheers.) He had now trespassed very
long upon the meeting.—(No, no, and loud cheers.) How-
ever,
his last word to them would be, to follow the excellent, i
the admirable advice which Mr. Thompson had Oven to them
the day before—that was, to throw themselves into the arms
of the working classes.—( Vehement cheering.) They should
take a warning from their enemies—if it was true that
it was a lucky thing to have a union between two
great bodies—a union between the Anti-Corn-law Conference
and the Chartists must have the effect of upsetting the proposi-
tions of the Ministry.—(Loud cheers.) In Bath the Char-
, tists came forward manfully—every hand was held up there for
the total and immediate repeal of the Corn-laws. At South-
ampton, too, they offered to co-operate with the Anti-Corn-
law League; but they said that they (the Chartists) whilst
they did so, would expect that justice would be done to them,
and that they in return should obtain assistance for the attain-
ment of their objecis from the general body of those who en-
deavoured to repeal the- Corn-laws. It was truly said yester-
day that it was a fortunate thing that Sir Robert Peel had
brought forward such a measure as he had with respect to the
Corn-laws ; for, if he had recommended a more plausible mea•
--ore, it might have had the effect of misleading the people, and
that many of their present active supporters might be dissuaded
by vain hopes not to adopt those decisive steps which it was
manifest now was the determination of the people to take. The
Chartists say that all they wanted was that whilst the Anti-
Corn-law League ask for those measures which would be for
the benefit of all the working classes of the country, they should
be assisted in obtaining those measures which would in their
opinion he also, for the advantage of the people of the country.
If those measures were for the benefit of the people, the Corn-
law Repealers should promise their earnest and active support
to the Chartists.—(Hear, hear.) They should co-operate
eith the Anti-Corn-law League manfully and boldly—
(Cheers)--they offered them their best services, and - all they
sought in return was, that
_when the Corn-law Repealers had
accomplished their objects, . those of the Chartists should not
be thrown osierbOard:—( Hear, hears) He hoped, therefore,
:that all the working classes of England would co-operate with
the just-and righteous of the land, for the assertion of their
,common rights. • The Rev. Mr. Spencer, having thanked the
meeting for the attention with which he had been listenen to,
resumed his seat amidst loud and general applause.
The Rev. Mr. STRACIIAN, of Forfar, in seconding the reso-
lution, considered it a very high honour to have an opportu-
nity of succeeding a clergyman of the Church of England who
had so ably and eloquently discussed the motion, and the ques-
tion generally. He was sure, as he concided fully and com-
pletely in what had been stated and recommended by the Rev.
Gentleman who preceded him, that the meeting would not expect
him to enter largely into the subject. As a member and a
minister of the Church of Scotland, he had been induced to
agitate the question of Corn-laws to the utmost extent of his
power. When he first mooted it he was told by persons on
every side that he would bring about his ears a house
that would cover him in its ruins; that it was a dan-
gerous subject to interfere in.—(Hear, heat.) • But
now he was permitted to speak out, and had the pleasure of
meeting with sympathy amongst his brethren in every direc-
tion. —( Hear, hear.) He was reminded, however, when he
considered the conduct of many of the clergymen in and out
of the Establishment—he was reminded of a text which was
illustrated by an old divines—that text was " Follow me :"
follow me, said the old divine. Now there were three
sorts of followers--some that follow behind, and some
before--(Laughter)—and some there are who follow
by standing stock still.—(Loud laughter and cheers.)
There were many who said it would be a good thing for the
morality, peace, and prosperity of the country to have the
Corn-laws abolished, but still the sweet voices of those persons
were never raised in support of that righteous and just cause.—
( Hear, hear.) For his own part, he (Mr. Strachan) was
obliged to agitate that question, when he considered
the text " alleviate all misery and walk humbly
with thy God"—no minister, in his opinion, who for a
moment considered that text in its true spirit, could do his duty,
according to the recommendation contained in it, whilst he
stood silently aside and witnessed so much misery, and poverty,
and suffering as existed amongst the poor working classes,
oho are ground down even into the dust.—(Hear.) It is
the duty of the minister of religion not only to speak but
to guide the people in all their movements, in religious as
welt as political principles.--( Loud cheering.) They
sl.ould consider the condition of the poor—their destitu-
tion—their misery--( Hear, hear)—and reflect that even
when the arm of health is able and willing, and anxious to be
employed to enable the people to obtain the common neces-
saries of life for themselves and their families, there is
rushing but poverty in the morning,- and destitution in
he evening, staring them in the face.—(Loud cheers.)
But considering them in a state of sickness, when they cannot
acquire their scanty allowance for the day, and what a state of
oretchedness does this present ?—( Hear.) The labouring
classes, not able to provide for to-morrow, find, by woeful ex-
-1 erience, that it is too true that .' sufficient for the day is the
, oil thereof."--( Cheers.) And what could they expect from
the Parliament, which it was said was formed by them, when
the Members of the Conference, who walked in procession to
the House, eould not get admission thereto, and were scarcely
permitted to stand in the high way ? They were surrounded by
pellet-, and he was pushed away by them himself.—(Shame.)
That could not be called a Parliament of the people, nor a Par-
liament of the Queen—it was the Parliament of the aristocracy
—(Cheers)—an aristocracy who ground the people to dust.—
( Cheers.) It was their duty to look abroad, and to see whence
their health was to come, and it was to come from an united,
a well instructed, and an organised community.—(Cheering. )
They must have the people to struggle with them—it was work il
for the people, and it would be accomplished.—( Cheers.)
They must,consider- it their duty as ministers, as men, as
members -of the. community, to use their endeavours to set an
example to the people.— (Cheers. ) But if the Ministers were
lagging behind, the people would push them on ; and
he could Answer for his -own congregation, that if he
'dirt not: atm:id-forward he would be looked on a 3 a " pelican of 1
'The wilderness r' and scorned by every good and every benevo- 1
lil
when.•,n,
drl dahnlweoeunpv
honour
go
peooynlneegt
hewneeh thoughter
crutch
ts
esti
mmth
aoahtn
doctrines. they-1,
protection,
talcnei
leed
couldre so, ,
n)
hley
tfiTwnhhdaee
walk
tke t
rrwteuofas
ust i
ce ade
wealtht
oi
tmr h
aee 1
skulking place 'among ' them.--( Cheers. ) Protection was the
_ruin. and sacrifice of a nation to the interests of a few.—
( Cheers.) It was their duty to put their hands to the plough,
lbaawc.kAillchaehereya. procured a total andspeedy repeal
accursedsperi ty
ebnalfanand:
mhdneedowtbc.thleaoonranktt,thheesepro
He . trusted the tinie was at
aniclawaels
b;haamescoanasmanonoffpearirntigeitopatthieeeseina
thegod
vaweetaregetoof beall
mcasustt
bteo
secured
,pareriddewethieann is
of
fwotbaeldebaertb.r_o-
( fThheaßßeve.v.GHentßlemENanTossat, doofwKnealanno,dtsht
elonncleateeers.)
forward,
andb
said he would not occupy much of the time of the meeti
any repetition of those arguments which they had Zeal
heard for the total and immediate abolition of the Corri-lawsy.
Ile would content himself by producing a few facts respeeting
the state of opinion in his own neighbourhood, which was en-
tirely agricultural. He came from a place wholly dependent
on agriculture, and which for a high state of cultivation was
nat surpas,ed by any other in the kingdom, and which, for the
last twelve months, increased in its productive capabilities
more than in any corresponding period of former tires. The
labourers were fully employed, and there were no symptoms of
that distress which prevailed in the manufacturing districts,
and was not uncommon even in the agricultural counties of
England.—(Hear, hear.) There were no small farms there,
but they were let for sums front 3001. to 1,0001., and under
leases of 19 or 21 years dura' ion. And it was in such a place
that a meeting was called three weeks ago, by adveraisement
ar the local newspapers, for a repeal of the Corn-laws.—(Loud
cheers.) An Anti-Corn-law Society was formed, and a pe-
tition was prepared, to which there were a greater number of
signatures affixed than to any petition from the same place,
either for the abolition of the slave trade, or for relief from
ecclesiastical grievances, or even for the destruction of the
horoughinongering system.—(Loud cheers.) Yet no person
m"esnt, as keadndto siti gnwtashat
op:ltyi t i oann,n
owuhniccehd wat so nt
hos: bpeef:;:el e pwa
nr lei
ere
this petition was placed for signatures.—(Cheers.) Such
wore the cordial, and disinterested, and unsophisticated
feelings of benevolence and philanthropy, which actuated the
people of Kelso in opposing these laws.--(Cheers.) They
need not fear any lack of sympathy front the agriculturists—
( Hear, hear)—he could answer at least that there would be no

'Lie :among. the. 'agriculturists -of—Sretland. —( Cheers. )
The peasants there are, what, they always-were—a readine, a
4hinkirgea deep feeling, an, hopest, and well-judging people.—
tCheeise ) It was not the labourers or, poor farmers alone who
were with them ;. on the contrary,, men who paid 1,0001. or
2;000/Nr their farms, and who were of thehighest respectability
joined isith them.—(Cheers.) They viewed the question in
'its remote consequences, and they saw that though the existing
system'haight do very well for them -at present, it would tell
against ';hem in the end, because it would not leave any persons
who world be able to purchase their corn and their cattle.
He knew one farmer, who had paid a very high rent, and was
fully impressed with the importance of supporting the present
system of Corn-laws, as a protection to the agricultural inte-
rests, and who eventually became convinced, after a short con-
sultation '-vith him (Mr. Renton), that it was merely a landlord's
question.' 1 hey were not, however, to suppose that such a feel-
ing of candour was general amongst the farmers of Scotland.
The greaf majority of them were hostile to any change, and
deemed protection to be absolutely necessary for their interests,
and the meeting might depend upon it that Sir Robert Peel's
measure would be most unwelcome to them, giving, as it did,
less protection to the landlords than the proposition of Lord
John Ruseell. But it was not unreasonable that those persons
should be allowed some consideration in consequence of a great
change, the results of which they could not foresee, as in
Many instances large capital had been expended ; and
he -therefore thought that they should have a very strong
claim upon the landlords who had deceived the country and
deceit ed them. That was a subject which required great con-
sideration, but the truth had been firmly fixed upon the minds
of the people in his district that it e Corn-laws were not a ques-
tion which concerned the practical agriculturist or the la-
bourer, but one in which the landlord alone was concerned.
In the words of Sir James Graham this was a question in which
one portion of the nation would be arrayed against the other—
millions against thousands. It was a question between 30,000
landlords and 3t1,000,000 of the people.---( Loud cheers.) It
was stated that the party which was against the Corn laws
was very limited; but to those who said so he would reply,
witness this meeting, composed of delegates from all parts of
the country, and also thousands of petitions which had been
laid upon the table of the House of Commons for the re-
peal of those laws. Sir Robert Peel would net receive
evidence from the melebers of the Conference, he would not even
meet them before he went down to the House on Wednesday.—
( Loud cries of '° Shame, shame.") He (Sir R. Peel) was
the dupe of the party for whom he governed—(Loud cheers).—
and one of the main features of that party was refusing to re-
ceive information from those best able to afford it. The Prime
Minister skulked to the Continent, he listened to half a dozen
Socialists, but refused to. hearken to the voice of the nation,
speaking through its delegates—(Loud cheers)—and yet he
styled himself a patriotic British Minister ! But he was not
the Minister whom the people acknowledged.—(Loud cheers,
and cries of "No, no."). Ile was the Minister of a rapacious,
oppressive, and heartless party.—(Cheers,) That party acted
upon the old feudal system, by which the people were treated
as beasts of burden for the aristocrats to ride on.--
( Cheers.) They seemed to please themselves with the syren
song of peace and security, like the man in the days
of Noah, who drank, and feasted, and wallowed,
in voluptuousness until the flood came on, and hurled him to
'ruin.--(Loud cheers.) They were in peace and imagined se-
curity whilst destruction was gathering around them. He
feriently prayed to God that not a hair of their heads should
be injerM, nor an article of their substance be touched, and
he reposed the most unlimited confidence in the good feel-
ings and principles of the people that his prayer would be
effective. He held a rather curious extract in his hand which
he should read to the meeting:—" The feeling of the public
must be hostile to the present Corn-laws. The receivers of
rent are a very small body ; backed by public opinion they are
almost omnipotent ; in violation of public opinion they cannot
long retain any advantage. The contest is fearful, for on
what grounds would it be decided? On the very topic
which inflames to madness. That hunger which breaks
through stone walls will be arrayed against them
--reason will be heard no • longer—the barriers of
society will be broken down, and estates, distinction, honours,
swept away in one resistless torrent. Are there, then, no
limits to the powers of the landed proprietors, if they could be
brought to act with unity of purpose, constituting, as they
do, the vast majority of both Houses of Parliament, and
backed, as they ultimately must be, by all the powers of
the Crown ? I freely own, I know no bounds but public
opinion, and this is a barrier which they cannot pass.
Common interests and common dangers, may at last, unite
them, and lead to the exertion of their combined strength; but
continually it will prove insufficient unless they enlist on their
side the sense of the British public, and the interest of the
great body of the people. The seat of public opinion is
in the middle ranks of life, in the numerous class re-
moved alike from the want of labour and the cravings
of ambition, enjoying the advantages of leisure, and possessing
intelligence sufficient for the formation of a sound judgment
neither warped by interest nor obscured by passion. Public
opinion thus constituted cannot be outraged with impunity, and
hence the established check which we possess over the Legis-
lature itself; for be it remembered there are measures which
King, Lords, and Commons, though united, cannot carry. It
behoves, therefore, the landowners not only to act in
concert, but so to frame their measures as to combine
with their own the interests of the community, and to establish
their case on grounds which they can maintain conjohitly
with the safety and prosperity of the State." such were the
molds of the Right Hon. Sir James Graham; and if he (Mr.
Renton) had spoken treason, he was sheltered behind a pillar
of strength.—( Loud cheers and laughter.)
Mr. COBDEN said he should ask, in the words used by his
Hon. Friend, Mr. O'Connell, What stuff they were made of?
Their metal would be tried in a fortnight or three weeks, and
he asked them to suspend their energies until that time. It was
a great point to get a Committee of the whole House. They had
the bull at the stake now, and they knew how to treat him.
Most certainly their friends in the House of Commons would
very much neglect their duty to the country if they did not,
during the next three weeks, learn more with respect to this
iniquitous system than they had learnt for many years.—
( Cheers.) Why, what a glorious thing it was to get au ad-
vertisement of an Anti-Corn-law speech inserted in Monopo-
list papers.—(Laughter.) Only think of their being obliged
to go through the purgatory of reporting them.—(Continued
laughter.) They knew some of the arguments by which their
system was to maintained. They had heard something about
them the other night.—(Hear, hear.) It appeared that they
must not be dependent upon foreigners for bread. Now he
said, let them be dependent upon anybody rather than upon
the British aristocracy.—(Great cheering.) But, said
Sir Robert Peel, they had an energetic peop.e, and
he relied yet with confidence upon the energies of the
British people. Yes ; and whose energies were they ? Did
they belong to the people' or wore the people endowed with
those energies-merely that they might be plundered by the
aristocracy.?--(Hear, hear.) But they did not want corn in
or linary years, said Sir Robert , they only wanted enough, and
they had. better not have a surplus.—(A ) Who was to
judge when corn was wanted ? It was exceedingly convenient
for the landlord, or the landlord's humble instrument—it was
very convenient for those who dealt in that commodity—to sit
down and decide when the people who eat corn had had enough.
But lie apprehended that nature had endowed the working
people of this country with appetites and digestive powers and
capacities, and that they themselves were the best judges when
they performed their functions aright.—(Cheers.) fie (Mr.
Cobden) was a thorough free trader to the backbone, and he
would tell the meeting: what it was that he meant by
free trade s it was,. when the consumer of every
commodity was the judge of when he had had
enough, where be should get enough, and whether it was
good eneugle.---( Hear, hear.; They should not let a body of
men sit down, whether they dealt in sacks of corn, or whether
they dealt in packs of ribbon or silk, and decide where the
people should buy their commodities, and when they had had
sufficient of them.—(Hear, hear.) The principles of free
trade were adapted to offer the greatest happiness -to the
greatest number. He would not injure the producer. Let the
produce of silk go to any part of the earth which he might
choose to exchange it for other articles ; and let the man who
dealt in corn, Sir James Graham, for instance, take that corn
to Switzerland or France, and there exchange it as his inclina-
tion, or interest might dictate. All he claimed was to be al-
lowed to carry his calicoes and fustians to the best market, and
he was willing to allow the same kind of liberty to every other
member of the community. It was but the •true principle of
duingunto others as they would that others should do unto:them ;
and if they could carry this Christian principle into the House of
Commons, and persuade the corn-dealers to act upon it,
there would be no difficulty in settling the disputed question of
the Corn and Provision-laws.—( Ilear, hear.) He was curious
to learn what kind of arguments would be found to justify the
monopoly. On this question justice had never been dealt out
in the House of Commons. He looked forward with anxiety
to next week. They had had a good deal of skirmishing, and
divers promises, and sundry evasions of the question, but the
" Artful Dodger " should be brought to the test of
justice.—( Great cheering.) Yes, justice to the great
body of the working people.—( Continued cheering.) Before
the landowners passed a law to keep up artificially and legisla-
tively the price of their commodity, corn, they should first pass
a law to keep up artificially and legislatively the price of the
working man's commodity, labour.—( Great cheering.) He
would bring them to the test in that House ; they should either
confess that they could not, by Act of Parliament, maintain
unnatural prices for labour, or else they should pass a law
to give the labouring man his two bushels and a half
of wheat a week, and make it penal for any farmer
to give him less than the quantity. Let them do that
before, as Christian men, they got up, and, in the very spirit
of highway robbers, passed a law which created a monopoly ia
food.—( Immense cheering.) But Sir Robert Peel said he did
net pretend to promise that he could give a remunerating price
to the farmers. There were some curious admissions and
curious doctrines in the speech of Wednesday night,
and that was one of them. He did not pre-
tend for a moment to say —it would be folly
to pretend to say that he could give a remune-
rating price to the farmer ; that must depend upon
other circumstances, upon the quantity produced, and the de-
mand. No; but he would do his best to give the landlords their
full price; and if so many were starved off in the attempt to
obtain it, if so many were ruined and murdered by the process,
he would turn round with a kind of -smile and apology to the
landowners and say, he would not do • more than he
had already , done, so many had already been victims
to the system. It reminded him very much of a celebrated
character, called Turpin ; 'who, when charged by his confede-
ratesl with having committed a robbery,
w uatnhd at w as'inhr_readb. `og
defended himself by saying-
the plunder consisting of three halfpence
h d (L
to the landlords
ter. ) Thus Sir Robert might justify himself
could extract.from the people.
The Corn-laws would be discussed by saying that hc.had taken all he co
in the House of Commons upon
chaan—iniquaiutogus-
and it would then be seen
the principles of abstract justice;
And then the next
whether they would squase their condoperpendicular line of rule. They would try them by
the
estand by it. He predicted
jus-
tice, arid see whether they would
bread, and starve
question would be, ,-the- House. of Commons h •
eying
d justice, of argument and
that they would not.—(Hear, teaakre.n)ctabllyshsue
people'sstion would be, how under
bee'e
Why would they submit to
truth, that
tihnatthethefyacewoo4fidretaaxsontha:
)
started, and he now re-
peatedeed? Thus
htlitsoue
theuc such
poor
coufmtshtzenleesand.—sht,huehinetxhteyelupehraode.
he came
soaunndt :my me
bask to the point from which
weeks would try the metal of
his statement that three
I\ 0, no.") He was sure
be starved, and put upon short allowance. thirty or forty
that if they knew how insignificant, both morally arid
physically those thirty thousand ar forty thousand
would not fear aristocrats and squires were, they .
them.—
( Hear, hear.) But though really insignificant, they were not
conscious of any weakness.; they were as confident in their
—(Hear,
strength as were five they •rs since ; they
yea would not. shrink
one atom ; and until they had frightened these men, they
would never obtain justice at their hand:. lie could nut be-
lieve for a moment that the English people, who boasted of
their exploits abroad and at home, who had given laws, lan-
guage, and literature, to so large a portion of the world, would
exhibit to the present
and succeeding generations the spectacle
of a people crushed by the tyranny of an insignificant minority.
Hoes could they account for such an anomalous state of things?
He could only account for it, by the blind veneraton for the
established order of things which so frequently existed in every
old country—a feeling that because things had been they
ought to be. It was only that blind veneration for the es-
tablished order of things that could account for the existence
of such an anomalous state of things in this country.—( Hear
and cheers.)
There was ancient Egypt, the cradle of the
arts, of the sciences, and of literature ; and yet the
ancient Egyptians worshipped beeth s, oxen, and birds.
Now, if the English people submitted to fall down
blindfold at the feet of the aristocracy, if they did not worship

beetles and birds, they would be falling down and worshiping
something that was not much better.—(lmmense cheering. )
The time would come, ere long, when they would have to
determine what must be done to give bread to the people. A
great deal had been said about the necessity of union between
the middle and working classes.—(Cheers.) Why, where was
there any disunion between them on this question ?—(Cheers. )
It was nonsense to talk about disunion. He had ben
in all parts of the country, and had addressed
many meetings, and he had never found any disunion be-
tween the middle and the working classes.—( Loud cheers. )
He had found that at all the me-tings for the repeal of these
laws which he had attended, the great majority of those present
were composed of the working classes, and of the signatures to
the various petitions which he had presented, he was certain
that there were ten signatures of working men to one of the
middle classes.—( Cheers.) And yet there were persons who
were worrying and fidgetting themselves about a disunion be-
tween the middle and the working classes.—(Cheers.) There
was nething of the sort.—(Loud cheers.) The working
classes were as anxious for, and as interested in, a repeal of
those laws as the present meeting; and if they meant to
carry this question, they must adhere to the ground of justice.
Let them stick to the question as a tax on the bread of thepeo-
ple, and not treat it as a question of increase of trade for the
cap:talists, and they would have the working seen with them.
—(Loud cheers.) He thought some of his friends must
have been exceedingly gullable to have allowed a fellow
to go about in a fustian jacket addressing the working
classes, and saying he was one of the working men, and
was seeking to obtain their benefit, when the fact was, he had
never been a working man at all, but had belonged to the
middle classes until he had been discarded.—( Hear.) He
was no working man; he was only masquerading in a fus-
tiau jacket, when he ought to have been wearing a black
one.—(Loud laughter.) He (Mr. Cobden) was not to be
gammont d by sushi nonsense as that.--(Cheers and laughter. )
The working classes were with them, and they would have
their support in carrying their question; and if they carried
it it, must be by their support—( Loud cheers)—as long as they
kept an eye to the interest of the working classes.—(lne-
mense cheering.) Weal, what were they to do? Ile
would point to the presence of so many Ministers of
religion of every denomination, as a proof that their cause had
the sanction of morality and religion.—(Lend cheers.) That
was their first bond of union and of strength.—( Immense cheer-
ing. ) He had told them the aristocracy must he fright-
ened, and this bond of union of religion, and morality, was
1 kely to frighten them more than anything else.—(Cheers.)
Were they prepared to make sacrifices, and to undergo suf-
ferings, to carry this question ?—( Cheers, and loud cries of
" Yes, yes.") The time was not far off when they might
be called upon to make sacrifices, and to undergo sufferings.
The time m ght soon come when they might be called upon to
inquire, as Christian men, whether an oligarchy which has
usurped the Government—(Cheers)--placed its foot on the
Crown—( Immense cheering, which continued some minutes )
and trampled down the people—(Continued cheering)--how
far such an oligarchical usurpation was deserving of their
moral and religious support. —(lmmense cheering.) They
might have soon to inquire of themselves whether a
Government which outraged the laws of the God of the Crea.
tion, whether they could, without themselves participating in
the guilt of such a Government lend it any voluntary aid
'either pecuniary or moral.—(lnsmt nse cheering.) 'They
must not violate any particle of any law. Let the laws be ad-
ministered. Leave the Government their own resources, but
let them offer to that Government a peaceable, a passive, and a
moral resistance.—( Immense cheering and cries of " We will.")
If they were prepared for suffering, they would soon have an
opportunity of suffering.—( Cheers.) When the proper time
should come he would be prepared to set them an example of
suffering, to suffer with them.—( Loud cheers.) For he would
Tver recommend a course to the adoption of others in which
he himself was not prepared to take a part.—(Hear, hear. )
And when would the time come ?—( Loud cheers.)
As soon as the Bill should become the law of the land, by the
physical force of a brute majority against reason, then would
the time come when he should feel it his duty to secede, as far
as he could do morally, from giving all voluntary support,
whether pecuniary or morally, to such a Government.
—( The whole meeting rose, waving their hats, and cheering
for several minutes. The effect produced was electrical ; and
never, en any occasion, or in any cause, have we seen a tithe of
the earnestness which was exhibited.) The administrators of
the law might enforce the law—he would not resist the
law—but there must be somebody to administer the
law, and somebody to enforce the law ; and he thought
that three weeks hence the whole people would so thoroughly
understand the real bearings of this bread-tax question, that
they would not want physical force while they were unani-
mous.—(Loud cheers.) He would only say farther, that the
question had long occupied his mind, and his feelings on the
subject were the result of earnest conviction.—(Loud cheers. )
He had given the question during the last three years as much
attention as any man in Europe, and he had come to the solemn
and deliberate conviction that unless the system of monopoly
under which the country wa.s now suffering were done away
with, and that speedily, they had not time now to waste—
it was not an affair of years, but of months.—( Hear,
and cheers.) They had no time to lose, and unless that
system of monopoly were done away with, he looked upon
the downfal of this country as certain as that Venice had fallen
beneath the gripe of a selfish and heartless aristocracy.—
(Immense cheering. )
The resolution was then put and carried unanimously, amidst
loud cheers.
The CHAIRMAN then stated that the Executive Committee
considered that resolution, which they had just determined on,
was one of such importance, that it ought to be interposed be-
tween the resolution which had just been passed, and the grand
resolution of the day, " the Memorial to the Queen to dismiss
her Ministers."—( Immense cheering, which continued some
time.) He had, therefore, to announce that Mr. Joseph
Sturge, of Birmingham, would propose the resolution.
The CHAIRMAN then read the resolution to the following
effect :—" That the Delegates assembled having denounced the
Corn and Provision-laws of this country as a national sin, in-
flicting incalculable suffering upon the industrious classes, and
enormous evils on the community at large, pledge themselves,
and earnestly recommend the constituency of the United King-
dom, not again to support any Member of the. House of Corn-
mons who does not vote, or any candidate who does not pledge
himself to vote, for the total and immediate repeal of this ob-
noxious law."—( Great cheering.)
Mr. JOSEPH STURGE then came forward, and was greeted
with the most cordial cheering. He said that the Executive
Committee, in asking permission to introduce this resolution,
did not do so wigs any slight consideration of the importance
of the memorial to the Queen—( Hear, hear)—but because
they deemed it unreasonable to ask the Queen to do that which
they themselves were not prepared to carry out in their own
practice.—( Cheers.) He congratulated the meeting on the
noble feeling displayed by the Conference in its present ses-
sion.—( Hear. ) Some years ago he found that the zeal of
many was frittered away by their getting too near St. Ste-
phees'.—( Cheers and laughter.) But so far from there being
too little zeal inspired into the Committee, he could inform
the meeting that their distinguished friend Colonel
Thompson had had to put the drag upon them.—( Hear.) With
respect to the measure of the Queen's Government, it was his
ewer conviction that no Ministers could have made up their
minds to set at defiance the feelings and sufferings of the
people.—( Hear, hear.) He would not hesitate, for a single
instant, to say, that the laws supported by the aristocracy
were such, that the greatest despot in Europe could not
support them.—( Hear, hear.) And he thought that it was on
the 9th of February, when this proposition was made in the
House of Commons that the contest began between the aris-
tocracy and the people.— (Cheers. ) Much would
depend on their (the Delegates') forbearance, and
their cordial union with the working classes.
—( Cheers.) He had been looking this morning to the time
when the laws were passed in 1815, and he thought that the
meeting would not lose much time in looking to the manner in
which they were passed. He found in the Gentleman's Maga-
doe, Vol. lxxxv., Part LlBl5, p. 272, the following account :
"It is our painful duty to record a series of outrages, oc-
casioned by popular irritation against the Corn Bill. On
Monday afternoon (March 6), various persons assembled near
the House of. Commons, not numerous at first, all inveighing
against the Corn Bill and the Members who supported it.
An order to clear the passages of the House was executed with
difficulty. Several of the mob acquainted with the persons of the
Members pointed them out, and hooting or applause followed,
as the Member was known to be friendly or adverse to the Bill.
At length many carriages were stopped, and the 'Members
were obliged to walk through the crowd. The civil power
beimg now deemed i nsufficient, the Magistrates, having applied
to the Speaker, received an order to call in the military. The
Horse Guards suppressed the tumult, but the populace repaired
to other parts of the town." He might here mention
that he had been shut out of the lobby of the House of
Commons on Wednesday evening. He did not regret it—
he thought it rather a privilege.—(A laugh.) But
after a while he received a message from the Speaker to
the effect that he should be admitted, and he could say
that at the time, which was between six and seven o'clock
in the evening, the lobby was not half so crowded as he had
seen it on other occasions.—( Hear, hear, and " Sharne."')l To
return to the account of the passing of the Corn-laws, as re-
lated in the " Gentleman's Magazine," he should re-
mind the meeting that mobs assembled before the House
of some persons who were supporters of that law, amongst
others that of Mr. Robinson (Cries of " Goderich,"
" Ripon," and hisses)—and some lives were This was
the account of the inquests on Edward Vize and Jane Watson :
—" The Coroner's inquest who sat on the body of this unfortu-
nate youth have found a verdict of ' Wilful murder a,gainst some
person or persons firing shot from and outof fire-arms from Mr. Robinson's front parlour windows,' and their verdict was ac-
companied by the following obsert ations Ist. It is the opinion
of the Jury that the military acted improperly in entering the
house of Mr. Robinson without proper authority to do so. 2d.
It is the opinion of the Jury that, from the evidence adduced,
there was no necessity for firing with shot at the time Edward
Vize met his death. :3d. It is also their opinion that the firing
was unconstitutional, in not being ordered by civil authorities.'
The Jury on Jane Watson have returned a verdict of Wilful
Murder against Mr. Robinson's butler and three soldiers."—
Loud cries of Hear, hear.) There was another remarkable
fact which he observed in connection with this question, which
they (the Conference) were discussing from year to year. This
measure was introduced on Monday, passed through both
Houses,• arid received the Royal Assent on Friday.—( Hear,
hear, and Shame.) But he also found something which was
honourable to the City of London.—(Hear, hear.) He would
read it from the same chronicle :—" The Corn Bill has passed
both Houses of Parliament and has received the Royal Assent.
Among the several petitions to Parliament, that of the City of
London to the House of Commons presented an extraordinary
number of signatures, 40,571 having signed within ten hours.
The signatures of that addressed to the Lords were estimated at
upwards of 80,000. The Court of Common Council came to-a
resolution to petition the Prince Regent to withhold his
assent, and the petition was presented by the Lord Mayor in
State." Mr. Sturee then made reference; in terms of
the highest eulogy, to the exertions of those gentlemen who
report for the public press, anti expressed a regret that
the management of a large portion of the press was in the
hands of persons who belonged to one or other of the two
great ministerial factions. He knew well the value of passive
resistance, being a member of a sect which acted on this prin-
ciple two centuries ago with great success. But in their re-
sistance they should regard the Government only, for they
could consider the Queen as little better than a state prisoner.
—( Cheers.) They should act on the conviction that it was their
duty hot to contribute the sinciva to a Government which op-
pressed the people.—(Cheers.) The time he believed would soon
come. These were many cheering indica( ion 4. Between 9,0001.
and 10,0001. had been conti ibuted to the Bazaar at Manchester,
and this money, in a great degree, had passed through the
lingers of the wives and daughters of a most influential class of
the people of England. He had also the gratification to know
that a great body of the religious and moral community, gene-
rally reluctant to come forward on political occasions, were now
ready to join the people in breaking down those laws that were
made and upheld by class legislatiou.—(Cheers.) He believed
there were many in that assembly whose ancestors had made
great saerifict s for the cause of civil and religious liberty, who
though they might not be able to trace up their birth to coro-
nets, or to distinguished heads of the aristocracy, could yet par-
ticipate in the sentiment of the poet—
" I boast not that I deduce my birth
From loins enthrones', or rulers of the earth,
But higher far my proud pretensions rise,
The son of parents passed into the skies."
—(Cheers.) Appealing now to these men, he would remind
them that much depended on them, and if they excited them-
selves with unanimous energy, they might look for a peaceful
and triumphant result of this great question.—( Cheers.)
Mr. I)ullest:4 APLatteN seconded the motion with great
pleasure. They had now met for three or four days, and had
amply discussed the principles on which the iniquitous Corn