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

Mr. Ear ART then rose to move the second resolu-

tion. It consisted of three parts. It declared, in
substance, first, that the Government of this country
would not repeal the Corn-laws ; secondly, that the
Legislature of this country would not repeal the Corn-
laws, unless, thirdly, the people compelled them to
repeal the Corn-laws. Whether the Government
were Whig or Tory, unless full expression were given
to the will of the people, the Government would not
repeal the Corn-laws. Who would have believed,
when the doctrine of free trade fell from the expiring
lips of the Whig Administration, that Sir Robert Peel
would have stood forward as their personal represen-
tative ?—(Cheers and laughter.) He had tardily
adopted the principle as he had done on Catholic
emancipation, waiting till he was won over by the
determination of the people. He (Mr. Ewart) would
ask, therefore, whether it was or was not right, as a
mere matter of expediency, to continue the agitation?
Whether the Ministry were Whig or Tory, from the
the Ministry they could expect nothing, unless they
continued unceasing constitutional agitation. If such
were the only means of producing conviction in the
Government, could they succeed any better, except
by the use of similar means, with the legislative body?
If the Ministers would not give them free trade, let
him ask whether the Legislature would? The advo-
cates for free trade had not only to oppose the heavy
artillery of the old country gentlemen, but the lighter
forces of the legislators who had been distinguished as
the " white waistcoats." It was with legislators such
as these that the voice of reason was thrown away,
unless it were confirmed by the unanimous voice of the
people. It was to obtain this support that the Anti-Corn-
law League was proceeding by giving lectures and
information to the people, backed by a 50,0001.
purse, to pierce the sevenfold shield of the aristo-
cracy, and attach the labouring classes. Already the
landlords were beginning to doubt whether the Corn-
laws were really a benefit to them—they doubted
whether agriculture could exist without manufactures.
Already the farmers were asking for long leases, and
were telling the landlords that property has its duties
as well as its rights; and, finally, the labouring agri-
cultural classes in the country were penetrating the
mist, and were discovering that they could not be be-
nefited by the obstructions of commerce and manu-
factures, and by the interference with the labour of the
people. Was it not obvious, therefore, that they could
expect nothing from either, except through their own
exertions ? As the French proverb declared, " Aide
toi, et le Dieu Caldera." Unless the Legislature and
the Government were impressed sensibly by the dis-
contented, they would do nothing. They had, how-
ever, heard it declared from the Bench by a British
Judge—from that Bench whence nothing unconstitu-
tional should flow—that Englishmen ought not to
meet for the purpose of discussing their rights and
interests. They had, however, the right so to meet,
and they would continue to exercise it.—(Cheers.)
He knew of no Chief Baron of old who would have
promulgated such doctrines as to the right of free
discussion, except Chief Baron Minos or Rhada-
manthus—(Loud cheers)—whose decrees were so in-
exorable that it was in vain for any individual to
struggle against them. They would, however, exercise
this right ; and if they had no such- right, English-
men would see whether they could not establish it for
themselves, even at the sacrifice of their lives, before
they would willingly leave such a degrading inherit-
ance to their posterity.—(Cheers.) These were the
constitutional principles on which their ancestors had
resisted every obstacle to the right of free discussion,
and that right their descendants would maintain.
What was left to them upon this important question,
except to agitate the people of this country, to impress
upon them the conviction which almost universally
prevails in the commercial classes, and to extend as
far as they could the growing concurrence of the ag-
ricultural community ? For himself, he did not de-
spair of producing a conviction on the agriculturists,
partly because many would be convinced by reason,
and partly because nothing tended so much to weary
an unjust domination as the exercise of the power of
ceaseless agitation by those engaged against it in de-
fence of a just cause.—(Cheers.) The system of re-
striction was detrimental to all, and he rejoiced to see
the principle of freedom extending, not only here, but
in America, which was about to shake off the shackleswhich an unwise legislation had placed upon her,
and to reject a system which had bound her in com-
mercial slavery.—(Cheers.) He was rejoiced to
know that whilst we were struggling in our own be-