The Sun.
London, England, 1842-11-21 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, MONDAY MORNING, NOVEMBER 21, 1841 k.

meat in his possession which completely contradicted
the statement alluded to.
After some further observations from several of the
Aldermen, who strongly supported the principle of the
most strict inquiry, and from Alderman I'. Wood,
ho said that he was at all times ready to prove that
his conduct was blameless, the motion read by the
Chairman was agreed to unanimously, and it was de-
termined that the Town Clerk should summon the
members four days after Alderman Thomas Wood
shall have sent in his written statement of the charges
against him, and his answers. The Committee then
broke up.

Loftus Tottenham Wigram, Esq., Q. C., appointed
Counsel to the East India ompany, is the son of
the late Sir Robert Wigram, Bart., Member for Wex-
ford at the Union, and brother to the Right Hon.
Vice-Chancellor Wigram, and Sir Robert Fitz Wy-
gram, Bart., late M.P.
SALISBURY, Nov. 16, 1842.—STRANGE DOINGS OF
THE TORY TOWN COUNCIL.-011 Monday, appointed
for the election of Mayor, the Town Council elected
Dr. William Corbin Finch, keeper of a lunatic asylum
here (late of Hammersmith), Mayor, when he declined
the office. The Town Council then elected Mr. James
Cove, dealer in seeds, as Mayor, and he not declaring
his intention as to serving or otherwise, the Council
adjourned. To-day it appears that the Council have
annulled their election of Mr. Cove, and allowed the
Doctor to take on himself the office, although he had
previously refused and another Mayor had been
elected in his place. The burgesses are about to take
steps to try the legality of the Doctor's appointment.
The fine for refusing to serve the office is 1001., and
the Borough Fund, by this juggle, loses the Doctor's
fine.—( From a Correspondent.)
Lord Ranelagh, Lord Somerton, M.P., and Mr.
Cochrane, M.P., were to leave Paris, say our pri-
vate letters, on Thursday, for Bourges, on a
visit to Don Carlos, whose continued confinement
in France is rousing even diplomatic indignation.
The detention of Don Carlos, the Princess of Beira
his wife, and the Prince of Austrias his eldest son, is
really disgraceful, while Queen Christina is suffered
to go at large, actively intriguing to upset Espartero's
Regency. The Carlists, it is well known, have long
ceased to conspire, and there does not exist the slightest
grounds to keep a branch of the Bourbons prisoners
in France after three years' captivity.—Post.
FALL or A HOUSE.—Yesterday evening, about 7
o'clock, a large new house, nearly finished, at the
corner of Charles-street, Bayswater-road, the property
of Mr. Taylor, of Marlborough-Cottage, Westbourne-
terrace, fell down with a dreadful crash, the roof carry-
ing everything before it, and so completely rendering
the whole a ruin, that only a small part of the walls
remain standing. Fortunately no lives were lost, as
the workmen engaged on the interior had quitted work
for the evening about a quarter of an hour before the
building fell.
Thelate Sir George Walker was equally distinguished
for bravery in India and in the Peninsula, particularly
at Badajos, where he led the forlorn hope. He held
the appointment of Lieutenant-Governor of Chelsea
Hospital, which was given to him by William
IV. in a most flattering manner. It was, we believe,
as follows :—Sir George, having accompanied a bro-
ther to Court, whom he presented, was desired by the
King to kiss hands also. " I shall be proud of the
honour," replied Sir George; "but I should not have
presumed to do so again without a cause, unless your
Majesty had ordered me." " Cause ! cause !', ob
served the good-humoured Monarch, "you have
cause. I know your affairs better than you do your-
self. So kneel down at once." Of course Sir George
obeyed ; and on returning home found himself ap-
pointed Lieutenant-Governor of Chelsea Hospital.
ACCIDENT TO LORD HATHERTON.—WE regret to
state that an accident lately happened to this Noble
Lord which might have been attended with serious
consequences. His Lordship was struck a little above
the eye with a shot from the gun of John Mott.,
Esq., of Lichfield. Considerable haemorrhage ensued,
and the shot has not been found ; but we are happy
to state that the eye has escaped injury, and that the
wound is better.—Stafford Examiner.
A few days since the wife of a poor man, named
Biddle, occupying lodgings at No. 66, Essex-street,
Hoxton Old Town, was safely delivered of three fine
children—a girl and two boys. Both mother and
children are going on exceedingly well. The father
is in his 50th year, and the mother in her 30th.
SUPPOSED VOLUNTARY STARVATION.-011 Satur-
day, while Mr. Baker, the Coroner, was attending
an inquest at the Black Horse, in the Kingsland-
road, on the body of a young man, named William
Butcher, who was respectably connected, and which
was adjourned without the examination of witnesses,
at the request of the father, in order to have a
post-mortem examination of the body, Waller, the
summoning officer, applied for an investigat;on into
the circumstances connected with the death of a per..
son of the name of William S. Jones, formerly an
excise-officer, whose death is reported to have taken
place as subsequently detailed. On Thursday after-
noon he engaged an apartment at No. 4, Eagle-
street, City-road. The same night he went to
bed early. As he had not been seen in the course
of the following morning, the landlady gave informa-
tion to the Robert-street station-house (N division),
when Sergeant Dubois sent a policeman. He got
into the room by a ladder, which was raised to the
window of the first floor, on entering which he found
Jones apparently asleep in bed. He awoke him;
upon which Jones remarked that he had not been long
in bed, though he had been there nearly twenty hours.
It was then supposed that he had been in a state of
somnambulism. He was seen on Sunday by the landlady,
but he made no complaint. He was never seen to eat
anything in the house. Last Tuesday afternoon, as he
had not been seen for several hours, the door was broken
open by a policeman, who discovered him in a very ex-
hausted state. He obtained the assistance of Mr.
Coward, the divisional surgeon, who stated that he
was dying for want of necessaries. He immediately
administered to his necessities, but without being able
to restore him, and he gradually sunk, and died on
Thursday. From papers found in his possession, the
police were enabled to ascertain his relatives, who were
found to be most respectable, and who instantly called
at the above residence. It appears that he was a
widower. About four years ago his wife died, by
whom he was left a considerable sum of money, the
greater part of which, it is believed, has been got rid
of by him ; on which account, it is thought, that he
was latterly in great difficulty.
CORONER'S INQUEST.—On Saturday an inquest was
held at the Dover Castle, Hampstead, before Mr.
Wakley, on the body of Frederick Augustus Rey-
nolds, Esq., aged 60, who resided at Willow-cottage,
Hampstead-heath. Thomas John Allan, who had
been butler to the deceased for several years, said, on
Wednesday morning, at hall-past eight o'clock, he
knocked at the door of his master's bed-room, but re-
ceived no answer ; he went again at nine o'clock, and
found the door locked ; this being an extraordinary
circumstance, witness forced it open, and he
then saw the deceased hanging by a cord to
a nail in the wall. Though dead and cold,
witness sent for a surgeon, who promptly attended,
and said his services would be useless. The deceased,
who was formerly of a cheerful disposition, lost his
wife about five years ago, and had since been in ill-
health, and much depressed in spirits ; he laboured
under the delusion that persons were sitting in an
adjoining room talking about him, that men would
come in the night, with pistols, and threaten to shoot
him, and that there was poison in his food. Owing
to this latter impression he would sometimes ab-
stain from eating for several days. He on one oc-
casion got out in his night-shirt and walked on the
parapet, and he would have been dashed to pieces had
it not been for the police. He frequently complained
of pains in his head and looked wild, but being of a
mild disposition, he was considered harmless. On
Tuesday night he said he felt better, and thought he
should get over it. He was formerly a merchant of
eminence in the City, but he had retired some yearS ;
he kept his carriage, and was in no pecuniary difficul-
ties. The Jury returned a verdict of " Temporary
Insanity."
SUICIDE OF A FEMALE.—On Saturday morning,
about five o'clock, a Dunstable white straw bonnet,
under which was a pair of white whiskers, with a pink
flower, was found tied to the side, by the banks of the
Canal which passes by Bow-common, and near it, on
the ground, was a rich black silk scarf, with a fringe
attached. Rolfe, lock-keeper of the Ben Johnson lock,
being informed of the circumstance, immediately
dragged the canal near the spot, when he found the
body of a female, who was elegantly dressed, and who
was taken to the Gun-maker's Arms, Bow-common.
In her bosom was a letter addressed to Mr.Benneston,
No. 23, Seymour-street, Euston-square, with a signa-
ture supposed to be " Rahere," in which she states
that she 'had committed suicide, and requests that her
fate might be advertised in the London journals, so
that her husband, who is residing in Lyons,in France,
may become aware of it. She appears to be a French
woman, and about 30 years of age. She is about the
middle height, and rather stout. She had on a black
silk shawl and red silk scarf, an Orleans gown, green
colour, two flannel and two white petticoats, a pair of
stays padded at the breast, a chemise, a pair of white
stockings, which were marked with the letter " V,"
and a new pair of cloth laced boots, galoshed. The
inquest has been appointed by Mr. Baker, the Co-
roner, for Tuesday afternoon.
On Saturday, a fire broke out in the naphtha manu-
factory of Mr. Teepe, at Bow, and owing to the in-
flammatory nature of the spirit, the premises were in
a very short time destroyed. Several engines arrived
about ten o'clock from the metropolis, but their as-
sistance was not required, in consequence of the rapid
destruction of the property. The fire is supposed to
have been caused by a leakage in the funnel of the
gas-still, and which, having communicated with the
fire of the furnace, produced the immediate conflagra-
tion of the whole of the naphtha in the retort, amount-
ing to about thirty gallons. Fortunately there was
no au in the wore at the tlialc.

GREAT FREE-TRADE

FESTIVAL.

_LIVERPOOL, SATURDAY MORNING.

Last night :the members and friends of the Anti-
MonopolyAssc'elation of this town, in pursuance of
uncement, held their grand meeting in
h
iphitheatre, commencing with refresh-
mentse previousßoy a aln n
Ano
in tea an d coffee, which were succeeded by ad-
mirableby-a number of gentlemen, distin-
guished, addresses
in other
!Arts of the kingdom, as well as in
oura
d o
vcause of free trade. Placards
h
before been posted, a nnouncing that,
some‘n town,
days i n t h
amongst other speakers, Daniel O'Connell, Esq., M.P.,
and
JosephM.P., would be present
and this, coupled Eeq., ;
the further announcement of
the names of other favourites of this and other places,
excited much interest in the minds of the Reformers
of "the good old town." The tickets of admission,
to the better parts of the house, were consequently
much in requisition, particularly during the last two
days, and even yesterday morning had become at a
premium, purchasable only from a few private indi-
viduals, the number, equal to the accommodation of
the house (upwards of 3,000) having previously been
disposed of by the 'Committee. Unluckily,
owing to circumstances which were ex-
plained by the Chairman (as will appear), neither
Mr. O'Connell nor Mr. Hume were present.
It appeared that both were detained by events which
they could not control, and that the Committee, from
the communications of assent which they had received
from each, were justified in issuing the placards, so far
as a belief, amounting to almost certainty, in the ar-
rival of the distant parties, gave authority to their de-
cision. The meeting, nevertheless, was most animated
and interesting, there being a number of eloquent
speakers on the stage ; and the enthusiasm with which
the sentiments uttered were received by a crowded
auditory, sufficiently showed that there is yet a strong
" backbone" of reform in the town, and that a slight
impulse is alone required to bring the whole body into
energetic action.
The house was simply but suitably decorated and
fitted for the occasion. At the back of the stage, and
in the centre, was fixed a motto in transparency, being
an extract from a recent speech of the Premier, as
follows :

SIR ROBERT PEEL'S DECLARATION IN FAVOUR OF FREE

TRADE.

" It is a Principle admitted by all, that We should
BUY in the CHEAPEST MARKET and sell in the DEAREST."
—See Speech, May 10, 1842.
On the right of the stage, behind, was a large blue
silk flag of the Anti-Monopoly Association—device,
Britannia and the Lion guarding the Reform Bill,
and inscribed below, " Instituted January, 1842."
On the left was a blue flag of equal size, with the
Liverpool arms and motto.
The tables for the tea party were ranged in paral-
lel lines across the stage and the pit, about ten in
number, and calculated to accommodate from 400 to
500 persons. Similar refreshments were provided
for those in the boxes, in the saloon, and ante-rooms
attached to that department of the building. About
1,000 tickets in all were, we. learn, issued for tea ;
but, including the galleries, a ,inuch greater number
were present, the theatre, which will hold between
2,000 and 3,000, being filled in every part, not ex-
cepting many of the passages. A musical band was
stationed in front of the central gallery, and played
several airs in the early part of the evening.
Amongst the company we observed the following
gentlemen :—W. Rathbone, Esq. (announced as Chair-
man) ; Messrs. J. S. Buckingham, J. Bright, C.
Holland, John Smith, Richard Shiel, W. B. Hodg-
son,
Vincent Higgins, Lawrence Ronaldworth, J. P.
J. A. Picton, Joseph
Cook,c.
Rawlins,Alexander
J .I‘P
Blackburn,C lel l an,V. T. Caine,
J. —, W
pa i
Tj jun., Thos.
Rae,
Hornby, 11. C. Langton, J. Wilson, Alderman Bully,
Urquhartrle,
e n r Henry B o, Boot, hh,
o m—a
s Haig,R
obe n j. Ai
ian Es
William Fawcett, J. Cooper, J. C. Snowball, Thomas
Blackburn, James Harvey, jun., John Yates, John
Eastwood, Thomas Yates, Thomas Woolwright, John
Yates, sen., Thos. Jevons, Ellison Harvey, R. R. R.
r s v
Moore, and Thos. Robinson (late Tory Member for
ll
Great George's Ward) ; the Rev. J. B. Stanner, the
Rev. P. Wilcock ; Colonel Williams, &c.
The three boxes on each side of the stage, as well
as the managers' boxes, were filled almost exclusively
by ladies. A number of others were also interspersed
throughout the pit and centre boxes, and the house
throughout presented a very animated and gay ap-
pearance.
The business of taking tea and coffee, with the ac-
companiment of cakes, bun loaf, &c., was concluded
about seven o'clock.
WILLIAM RATIIBONE, Esq. (the Chairman), rose to
open the proceedings, and was received by immense
and prolonged cheering, clapping of hands, waving of
handkerchiefs, &c. Addressing the assemblage as his
" fellow sufferers" (for such he might, he said, pro-
perly call them), he acknowledged the high compliment
paid to him. The situation which he occupied that
, night was an arduous one, and he felt that he could
not adequately perform his duties without their cor-
dial co-operation. He requested that all would take
their places, and be seated, so that those behind them
might have an opportunity of hearing the proceedings
as well as themselves. He had never yet appealed to
a meeting of his countrymen in vain, and he felt as-
sured that their innate gallantry would induce them
to preserve order ; and that they would acknow-
' ledge in the ladies amongst them a police, to whom
they would render a proper and willing obedience.—
; (Loud cheers, during which many gentlemen who
had before stood up, took their seats.) He should
endeavour, in the little he had to address them,
to make himself heard by all. They might
naturally ask, in the first place, why he appeared in
the honourable position in which he there stood, and
not a better and more competent person. He could
not but state in reply, that if they could not get all
they wanted, they must take all they could obtain.
They must in fact be contented with his endeavours
on this occasion, and he would do his best to meet
their wishes. He then stated that he had several
letterslto read, which would account for the absence
of some of their warmest and most distinguished
friends. The first was a letter from the Earl of Sef-
ton, who stated that he cordially agreed with the
principles of the Society, but he had given up attend-
ing public meetings, and must content himself with
promoting the progress of free trade by his heartfelt
wishes ; adding in a postscript, that -he would be
happy. to enrol his name and record his adhesion to
the principles of the Association.
The CHAIRMAN proceeded to state that he must
now trouble the meeting with a rather longish letter
and correspondence, accounting for the announce-
ment of Mr. O'Connell's presence, and the absence of
that gentleman from the meeting—a circumstance
rhich they had all to regret. —(1Ie then read two
letters, one from Mr. O'Connell and another from his
son, Mr. Morgan O'Connell, from which it appeared
that Mr. O'Connell was to leave Dublin on the 17th,
and would be in Liverpool by the 18th.)—The
Society (continued the speaker) were thus justified
in announcing that Mr. O'Connell would be present
that evening. With respect to Mr. Hume, it was
enough to state, he doubted not, that he had been un-
able to do so from an unforeseen domestic calamity.
Bills stating that neither the one nor the other gentle-
men would be in attendance, were that day posted in
the town, with an intimation that those who looked to
them alone (and not to the cause generally, and its
other supporters) might, on application, receive back
their money. A placard was also put up in the Exchange
News-room to the same effect ; but though it was
paid for, a certain party, in a spirit that did him little
credit, thought proper to pull it down.—Cries of
" Shame !" and " Name !") No ; he hoped he should
be excused in naming him. He hoped that he would
see the impropriety of his conduct, and not be so far
forgetful of what was due to his character and to the
public, as again to commit a like breach of decorum.
The question before the meeting was one of the great-
est importance to those around him, and to the com-
munity at large. He rejoiced that the feelings of a
great portion of the community accorded in this re-
spect with his own. He had never seen so large and
respectable an assemblage as that before him. He
rejoiced, also, to see so many of their fair townswomen
present; but his gratification was, nevertheless, min-
gled with regret, when he reflected that had such as-
semblages met together with equal enthusiasm years
ago, their present efforts would have been uncalled
for, as they would have effectually averted the evils
that now pressed upon them, and threatened them
with even greater calamities. The truth was, that
the effects of iniquitous legislation were at length
felt by all classes of the community, and that all had
found the necessity, of bestirring themselves to ob-
tain a remedy. It was, however, better late than
never; and if they continued to act on the principle of
doing unto others as they wished to be done by,in fine,
to abide by the common principle of •their
cause justice,
cause must be triumphant.—(Loud h
c eers.) As he
considered it the duty of a chairman rather to conduct
the business of a meeting than to occupy its time with
lengthened remarks ; and as, moreover, ;there were a
number of gentleinen more competent than himself
to elucidate the objects they all had in view, he would
now introduce to them Mr. Buckingham—a gentle-
man whose travels and researches, both abroad and at
home, together with his ardour in the cause of all just
reforms, entitled his opinions to the highest respect.
The cheers of that assembly sufficiently
evinced
the high estimation in which they held him, and ren-
dered it unnecessary for him (the Chairman) to say any
thing further in that gentleman's behalf,
—(Cheers.)
thlitgs Su DucauciaLut, EN.) Commenced by

saying that amid the great varietS, of scenes which it
-had been his lot to visit in every quarter of the globe,
he could call to mind none more magnificent than that
which he saw before him.—(Hear.) The object for
which they were met, the relief of suffering humanity,
the city in which they were assembled, the second
commercial emporium in the globe, the character and
complexion of the individuals composing the meet-
ing, the most respectable and intelligent persons of
the community—these, happily mingled too with
sympathy for the poor, and a desire to relieve their '
sufferings, and a wish to dry up their tears, anda deter- '
mination to arrest the progress of the evil which was
now overwhelming the land—gave to this meeting a .
solemnity, a sanctity, and a holiness, which no temple
upon the earth which ever had existed, or which ever
would exist, let it be built where it might, and be
occupied by whom it might, could excel.—(Loud
cheers.) This question, indeed, was one as sacred
as Christianity itself, since Christianity was proclaimed
to men in order to teach them to love one another, to
have good will towards each other; and that must
necessarily be hostile to love which kept bread
from the hungry ; that must be destructive of
good will which saw the sufferer, and yet held
out no helping hand to his relief.—(Loud cheers.)
He said this was the cause of suffering humanity.—
(Hear.) The great peculiarity of the day in which
we lived was, that all classes, from the lordly pos-
sessor of hundreds of thousands of acres, down to the
labourer who lived by his daily toil, complained of the
badness of the times.—(Hear.) All said, and it would
be found the universal answer if you appealed to them
upon the subject, that they were worse off now than
they were ever before. There must be a cause for this
universal evil. One cause was this—the population of
the country, continually increasing, had, at length out-
grown the limits necessary to supply them with food.
Imagine a family of ten individuals occupying a
square of a hundred acres, which yields to the whole
of the ten an abundance of food. rmagine an adjoin-
ing estate of the same extent and description, on
which there is also a family of ten persons. By and
bye the ten of one family intermarry with the ten
of the other; they knew the geometrical ratio in
which the population increased, that ten times ten be-
came a hundred. Suppose them, however, to have two
offspring each ; in that case, the land not increasing,
but the mouths to be fed continually augment-
ing, either new processes must be discovered to make
the land yield more food, or the parties themselves
have a diminished allowance of food, or else they must
suffer. This process goes on for years, and the meeting
would readily perceive that the power of multiplica-
tion in the population being greater than the power of
multiplication in the produce of food, they must of
necessity go beyond these two spots, and either bring
new land into cultivation which had not been culti-
vated before, or they must eat each other.—(Hear,
hear.) Our population had, then, arrived at present
at that state. England did not yield more than six-
teen millions of quarters of wheat, which constituted
the chief food of the English population ; and there
were twenty-eight millions ,of persons in this king-
dom who ought to be able to earn bread in sufficient quan-
tities for themselves and families, and because the •
supply from this country was insufficient they must I
have it from others or perish. This, then, was one
cause of the present distress. (Ifear, hear.) He 1
asked them whether legislation which impeded our
trade—whether it arose in the House of Lords, or in
the House of Commons he cared not—was less offensive,
less unjust, or less insulting than if the impediments
had come from other hands ?—(Great cheering.) He
held, on the contrary, that it was more so, because the .
Legislature, whether the Members held their seats for
ever, as the hereditary branch did, or sat by virtue of
election, as the other branch did, all acknowledged, I
publicly, and on the hustings, that the people were
the legitimate source of all power, and that from the
Queen herself, down to the lowest among them, all ex-
isted only by the sufferance of the majority of th e nation?
Mr. JOHN BRIGHT, of Rochdale, next addressed the
meeting, and his appearance was the signal for hearty
and unanimous cheering. He said he might commence
in saying that he had never before seen so magnifi-
cent an assembly as the present.—(Loud cheers.)
As a member of the Anti-Corn-law League, it gave
him special pleasure to see that meeting ; but as a
citizen of our common country, he rejoiced far
more to behold such an assembly in Liverpool,
because it was so strong an intimation of the
growing feeling upon the subject of free trade—which
was becoming so intense in every part of the country,
that we could not dispair of entire and very speedy
success.—(Cheers.) At a meeting of the Anti-Corn
Law League, some two or three weeks ago, he felt it
his duty to make some observations with regard to some
portion ( judging fromthe appearance of the meeting he
should say a very small portion) of the inhabitants of
Liverpool. It was in taking a view of the state of the
representation of this country ; and he alluded to the
extraordinary fact, that Liverpool should return to the
senate of this country men whose principal claim upon
the electors was that they went to support a system
which had crippled trade—to make a little trade—
and, considering the great source of the prosperity of
the borough which they represent, to the serious
' loss of property of the citizens. He had had forwarded
to him some extracts from some of the newspapers
in this town, which supported the monopoly party,
in which extracts there were some curious notices.
He had said that shipowners stood in the relation of
carriers. This newspaper said he had sneered at them
as carriers, as if carriers were not as respectable and
honourable men in their station of life as those who
" tore up rags, mixed them up with devil's dust, and
sold them in the shape of calico."—(Hear and
laughter.) He did not sneer at them as carriers ;
but it was a simple fact, that if shipowners were
carriers from one land to another, and from one con-
tinent to another, it followed very clearly that if there
was an extension of trade, by which we under-
stood that there would be a larger quantity of
goods produced, to be carried across the ocean, that
these shipowners must receive some benefit from this
extension of commerce.—(Hear.) But, said this organ
of monopoly, these men "would not mind having this
extension of trade if they could be assured that their
ships could carry all the goods."—(Loud laughter and
cheers.) They would help us to destroy one great
monopoly, if we would but grant them another great
monopoly.—(Loud and long-continued cheering.)
Why was it they did not carry all our goods? Why,
for the simple reason that other persons had ships too,
and' they must live. If they had not supported
so long the Canada monopoly, by which they had
bad and expansive ships, and the corn monopoly, by
which they expensively provisioned them, then they
would have had as good ships, sail as cheaply, and
take goods at as low a freight, and upon as good
terms as any shipowners in any other country; then,
whatever goods there were to be carried, they would,
at least, have had their fair share of them.—(Hear.)
Liverpool, unfortunately, was connected with mouo-
poly ; therefore it was not to be wondered at, that
there should be some people here who were in favour
of the perpetuation of this greatest of all Monopolies.
—(Hear.) Nothing could be more certain than this,
that the sugar monopoly was doomed suddenly to fall.
The Anti-Corn-law League had taken their stand on
the right place ; they had attacked the corn monopoly
first, which was the key-stone of the arch, and they
might rely upon it, that, if that monopoly were once
overturned, the farmer and landlord would soon find
out that theyhad no special interest in maintaining the
West India and Canadian monopolies.—(Cheers.)
Why did the farmers return the men they did ? Not
because they had any favour or bias whatever, but be-
cause they believed that a certain political party was
identified with protection, which protection they be-
lieved to be essential to their interests ; and without
considering any other question, they voted for that
man who said he would support corn monopoly.—
(Hear.) Let that monopoly be once abolished which
was now fostered, and we should find these men as
anxious for the abolition of all monopolies as we our-
selves were; instead of having them as opponents, we
should have them among our warmest friends ; and
the next time they came to express their opinion at
the hustings, instead of being driven up there as usual
like cattle, to vote for the Squire, they would vote for
any one else whatever.—(Cheers.)

Mr. COBDEN here rose. and was received with most
enthusiastic cheering, which was again and again re-
peated. When silence had been restored he spoke to
the following effeet :—IIe said Chairman, Ladies,
and Gentlemen, if I should feel, i.. r
ordinary cir-
cumstances, some embarrassment in addressing you, it
has not been a little increased by the kind manner in
which my Hon. Friend has :Introduced me, and the way
in which you received me; coupled with the fact that
much of what I intended to say has been antici-
pated by those who have spoken before me, and that
I am unwilling to indulge in repetitions. I have
heard on this occasion an expression of satisfaction,
which I must be allowed to repeat, that we meet here
in the presence of ladies this evening. Now, as an
old agitator on the question of free trade, and the
Corn-laws in particular, I have laid it down as
a maxim, that no town or borough can be con-
sidered to be sound and safe in the true faith
until the ladies join the gentlemen in demon-
strations at the tea table.—(Loud cheers.) My
friends have thought it necessary to go out of
their way to justify the ladies in appearing on this
occasion. Why, every one knows that whether the
ladies take sides or not in public, they take sides in
private.—(Great laughter.) I have heard an old
electioneering campaigner say, in a contested election,
that for every man that was publicly canvassing there
were two ladies canvassing secretly on one side or the
other.—(Cheers and laughter.) But on the Corn-
law and the Bread-tax in particular, I hold that the
ladies are following their duties, their household duties
—in agitating for the cheap loaf.—(Cheers.) Even
if they were not called upon by the claims of huma-
nity and charity so to do, there is another ground
upon which the ladies have an ancient and hereditary
title to become agitators for the poor, of which many
i
of them may not be aware. The very
is derived from the Salon, name of " Lady"
qiginally ironing "bread

divider"—" bread distributor."—(Hear.) The word
drrived, as I have said, from the Saxon, has taken its
origin from the custom of the Danes, in ancient times,
among our Saxon ancestry, who assisted their brethren.
That was the origin of the name " Lady." Surely
you would not be so untrue to the name as to forget
your poorer brethren, now when the question is agi-
tated—whether the poor shall have a cheap or a dear
loaf?—(Hear, hear.) But the effects of these mono-
polies in sugar and corn are brought home, not only
to the rich, but, in diminishingthe demand for labour,
they affect the poor sezipstresses just as much as the
weaver at his loom, or the spinner at his jenny.
Looking at the London papers we see that a meeting
was called to make known the injustice practised on a
deserving body of females in the metropolis, who are
engaged all day for the sum of sixpence. Five hundred
of them in Shoreditch are engaged in making shirts for
the sailors, for which they get ld. each. You may
have noticed that the case drew from the Magistrate and
the bench a severe censure on the parties who paid this
monstrous and miserable reward for labour. Well ! but
those who answer us when we agitate for free trade in
food, let them answer us now, how is it that those poor
females are getting only sixpence a day for 12 hours'
labour in toiling at their needle ? There is no machi-
nery there.—(Hear.) We have not yet managed to
spin or weave shirts.—(Hear, and a laugh.) How do
they answer that ? Why to hear the advocates of the
Corn-laws in reference to the wages of labour, you would
fancy there was something inherent in the Corn-laws
that while they were maintained wages would be main-
tained; but when these sempstresses make their case
known, what is the redress we have from the whining phi-
lanthropists ? Why, the very parties who are up-
holding monopoly denounce the people that employ
them, and call them " Jew slop-dealers," and say
they ought to give better wages ; and so the only re-
medy those poor people have from the upholders of
the present system is not an Act of Parliament, nor
to go to the Duke of Buckingham—they are handed
over to the tender :mercies of their employers, who,
we are told at the same time, are " hard hearted Jew
slop-dealers."—(Great laughter.) Well, now, six-
pence a day for making shirts !—three shillings a
week ! ! Ladies and Gentlemen, you are here in sup-
port of the Anti-Monopoly Association. You deal
in bread. How much do you think these poor
people pay to the Duke of Buckingham, the Glad-
stones, and others.—(Hear, hear.) Let us calculate,
if you please. How much do these lordly bread-taxers
condescend to take from the hard earnings of these
sempstresses ? They have 3s. a-week. They must eat
fourteen-pence worth of bread, for they get little else.
You, gentlemen of monopoly, will give us three-
pence for the Duke of Buking, ham on that article.
—(Hear.) They must have half-a-pound of sugar, on
which there is a penny for the monopolists. Well,
there is coffee, meat, and all these things they tax.
Everything they eat and drink is taxed. 'Why, it is
not less than sixpence out of the three shillings for
the benefit of the lordly bread-taxer.—(Hear, hear.)
When I get up in the House of Commons and ask them
to pass a law, which I do in mere irony, remind you—
(Hear, hear)— to expose the iniquity of their system
—(Cheers)—when I get up and ask them to pass a law
to regulate the wages of labour for those people before
they regulate the price of their food, they tell me they
have not the power to do it, and point me to the re-
cords of the House to show that they have not the
power to regulate wages. And yet the House hands
over to the Duke of Buckingham—l said Mr. Glad-
stone also; I did not allude to him personally, but I
say any man who benefits by the corn and sugar laws.
—(Hear)--the House of Commons, composed of
such men, pass a law to give to them an artificial and
enhanced price for their merchandise, at the same time
that they acknowledge that they have not the power
to regulate wages.—(Hear and cheers.) Well ! I say, is
not this the case with your suffering fellow-country-
women ? They come singly cut, without any modifica-
tion of machinery or anything else, with an appeal that
ought to be irresistable ; and does not what I have men-
tioned above justify the ladies of Liverpool—ladies
either of fashion or rank, for I despise that fashion that
would frown on such patriotism as theirs—(Hear)—
does it not justify and call on you to come forward and
use that influence you possess, which you are always
using on one side or the other, and which I wish to be
greater and greater still in a cause such as I have
been describing ?—(Cheers.) Besides the ladies who
are here, I see there is a portion .of another section
of the commnnity—l mean the working classes. I see
them in the distance. I have been looking at your
papers the other day, and I saw some account of a
meeting here which was held by the ship-carpenters,
complaining of distress in trade, and one of their resolu-
tions say that they will not allow any more of humbug
in religion or politics in their trade.—(Great cheers)
Now, I do not understand how religion can interfere
with ship-building at all. But this I can understand,
that there may be parties who have come to the ship-
builders, and in the name of religion—like wolves in
sheeps' clothing—have dared to use the ship-builders,
not for purposes of religion, but for secular aggrand-
isement, and for the obtainment of temporal power
and ascendancy.—(Hear.) I cannot perceive what
party politics can have to do with ship-building,
But I can understand how a certain political party
may set up to be the exclusive benefactors of a cer-
tain class of men, whether they wield the mallet, or
the shuttle, and claim them as their confederates,
with a promise that they shall attain beneficial
ends by the partnership. Well ! they had that
partnership; and now, in the month of Novem-
ber, we see the stock taking on the part of the
ship-builders, and a very dismal kind of balance-
sheet it seemsfto be.—(Great laughter.) They have
declared thatjhey dissolve partnership from this heur.
I am not surprised at that. My only astonishment is
that men who have raised enough to wield a mallet
and chisel should not have more brains than to have
entered into such an unholly alliance.—(Loud
cheers.) Did they ever read the fable of the
giant and the dwarf that went a fighting together—
how the dwarf lost a leg, an arm, and an eye, and
afterwards found out that he had been carrying on a
losing game, and declared a dissolution of partner-
ship with the giant ?—(Laughter.) Well, but I
perceive that some of your ship-builders here have
gone to work, to mend their trade, a little after the
fashion of their betters. I find they have been de-
claring that other men should not work, and threat-
ening them to confine themselves to their own
localities. Now, that is just the design of the
Duke of Buckingham. They want to send away
all who were not born here. But the ship-builders
at Whitby, Portsmouth, and other places are just
as bad as they are. We will suppose they all sent
away their men, and what the better will they be
after that ?—(Hear, hear.) But it seems the most ac-
tive of the monopolists—the leaders, Buckingham and
Richmond—have been brought up before Mr. Rushton ;
and I certainly read thespeech of Mr. Rushton, which
surprised me, and I think he will be fortunate if he es-
capes the notice of the Attorney-General for sedition.
—(Great laughter.) Why, he declared it is rank
tyranny and despotism to turn away a man from his
labour in the market where he can dispose of it ! He has
declared that the Magistrates of Liverpool will send to
gaol for three months any body they detect prevent-
ing the people from selling their labour to advan-
tage. Now, I think they will have a goodly set of
culprits at their bar before long, if they carry out
their threat.—(Laughter.) From what I have seen of
the vigorous manner of your worthy Magistrate, I
should like) nothing better than to see the monopo-
lists—Buckingham at their head—placed before him
to answer before the Magistrates of Liverpool for an
offence against the Act of George the Fourth, chapter
the second or the fourth. I think it is, but, at
all events, the Magistrates would tell all about it, and
I would desire nothing better than to hear Bucking-
ham and the rest enter into their defence, not for hav-
ing gone and thrown men out of their work in the
docks, but when he was told by your Borough Ma-
gistrate that he had to answer for having thrown
out of work some thousands of riggers and ropers,
for having oppressed the whole of the manufacturing
districts, and for breaking down the sempstresses—
I should like to see your sugar and corn mono-
polists answer for having doner"bl thtiso,
ttrewhimcohntthhse
ship-carpenters were made ,
imprisonment.—(l-lear, hear.) Well, DOA must
say thel hope ship-carpenterssome of on the wrong
scent.are here who will hear
me.
thm are
They want better trade. They want employ-
ment. wayges. How is that to be
goltl. Thill ey wantt goodellihem. B bringing more ships to
Liverpool, and giving more trade for them when they
come. You have ships 'here, it is
_time, 1 under-
stand there are 70,000 tons of shipping in the
docks, worm-eaten and rotting, looking for
freight. There may, to be sure, be work
for the shipwrights . when the bottoms are eaten
away by the worms—(Great laughter)—but what are
they to do in the mean time ? They want more trade
and how are. they to get it ? By not sending men to
Parliament to vote for the timber and sugar duties, and
for other things of which they want most.—(Hear.)
Now suppose the monopolists, your own Members
included, were to carry outtheir principles a little fur-
ther. Suppose they pass a law to cut off Liverpool from
the Cheshire coast. We will suppose they pass a law
for that, and it would be just as natural as to cut you
off from intercourse with Canada. Does not the
humblest ship-carpenter see that if you cut off the
trade with Cheshire you would put a stop to the trade
in steam-boats, and those people must be thrown out of
work ; whereas, between the passing of a law to cut
you off from the other side of , the Mersey, and the
passing of a law to cut you off from America, there is
this difference, that you are doing ten thousand times
more prospective injury than by shutting yourselves
out from the coast of Cheshire.--(Hear.) I am very
-carpenters have come to the
ofthaltoothkeinsbi
looking
Pat the question, independent
glad
resolution to find
of party politics, and not be used by any plausible
politicians who want to carry their ends by the cry of
monopoly. There will be little chance for good go-
' vernment or good trade unless the people who have
the electoral franchise will look to their duties '