The Sun.
London, England, 1842-07-14 00:00:00

ANTI-CORN-LAW CONFERENCE.
The Delegates tnet again yesterday, at Herbert's Hod
(late Brown's), Palate-yard. The Chair was taken shortly
before It: o'clock.
The CHAIRMAN said, in opening the business of the day,
that they ought not to be discouraged at their meeting not
being so large as might be wished ; they must not regard them-
selves ae a meeting of individuals; they were there as repre-
sentatives, and although their number as individuals might not
be very large, yet probably they represented hundreds of thou-
sands. There were gentlemen there from very populous
districts ; they must recollect that, and he trusted also that,
applications having been made to various districts to send up
Delegates whom business had called away, they should have in
a few days a much larger attendance.
A short conversation took place as to the probability of the
Conference continuing to sit, during which
The CHAIRMAN stated that the question had been debated
in the Committee, and it had been decided that for the present
they should continue to sit, as some effect had been produced
by their meeting. He informed the meeting that he had re-
ceived reports from Christchurch, itlarylebone, and from Mit-
cham ; but as they were to the same effect as the reports they
bad heard from au many other parts of the country, he should
not detain the meeting by reading them. He then called on
Mr. G. THOMPSON, who rose and said, I respectfully beg
permission to occupy a few moments of the time of this Con-
ference, for the purpose of offering some remarks upon the
-present state and prospects of the cause which we are now
prosecuting. lam the more anxious to do so, because lam
conscious that the eyes of the country are upon us—( Hear)—
and that it is therefore peculiarly important, that we should
adopt every method in our power of giving expression to our
views, while at the same time, we sedulously labour to fulfil
the duties which have been delegated to us.—(Loud cheer.. )
It is to me, and must be to all of us, a source of unutterable
thankfulness, that we are able, through the medium of
the Press, to circulate far and wide, over the face of
the land, the facts and opinions which are brought before this
meeting.—(Cheers.) And I am :dire I shall only be embody-
ing your feelings when I say, that we arc deeply grateful to thet
very large and influential portion of the daily and weekly jour-
nals of the metropolis, who have aided our design, by giving
so full and faithful a narrative of our proceedings.—( Loud and
eon:invert cheering.) Without the Press we should be able
to do little.—( Hear.) Aided by so powerful an auxiliary, we
are warranted in the belief, that we shall ultimately succeed in
our efforts.—( Cheers. ) I consider the information sent forth
from this room, and the impression'produced upon the public mind
by that information, fully equal in value to the employment of
fifty lecturers. But our thanks are due to the cunductors and
proprietors of the London Press, not only for the copious re-
ports they have furnished, but for the noble manner in which
they have seconded our efforts, by the able and stirring appeals
they have made in their editorial columns.—(Loud applauge.)
Sir, we have a thousand times confessed our inability to carry
our point, unless assisted by the people ; and we know, from
experience, that the people of this country can be effectually
aroused and enlisted only by the constant repetition of facts
and arguments in the public prints.—( Hear, hear.)
Gentlemen may loudly demand the announcement and
adoption of strong, measures, but we reckon without
our host, if we proceed in the absence of a full know-
ledge of the state of the public mind, arid an enlightened confi-
dence in the willingness of the people to carry out our plans.—
( Cheers.) The great body of our countrymen can only be
reached by means of these swift-winged messengers, carrying
and depositing over the length and breadth of the land. the
.seeds of truth and the principles of justice. This has been
done, and is row doing. The very words lam this moment
uttering, will by them be spread before the eyes of millions,
hundreds of miles distant, in less than twenty-four hours.
They will be Chronicled, they will be Advertised, they will be
blazoned on the very face of the Sun—they will become
part of the great Globe itself.—( Laughter and loud cheers. )
We are thus able to speak in the audience of the whole country,
and to tell our countrymen that. we are at our posts, willing and
g waitin to do their bidding.—(Cheers.) Thus far we have
acted, e 1
believe, as resolutely and as boldly as we were autho-
rised to du. We have not, however, despised or rejected the
counsel given us by our experienced and fast friends in Parlia-
ment. Our future proceedings must of necessity take their
character from the manifested feelings and expressed determi-
nations of the people at large. The gentlemen deputed to visit
London, both those who were some weeks ago, and
those who, in larger numbers, have subsequently arri-
ved, have honestly dune their duty. They have laboriously
sought to make known the actual condition of the people they
represented. They have laboured publicly and privately to
awaken the sympathy, to inform the minds, and to enlist the
exertions of Members of both Houses of Parliament ; and they
have not laboured in vain. They can confidently appeal to
recent debates, for the proof that the Legislature have had the
condition of the country spread before them. Generously
assisted by several distinguished noblemen in the Upper House,
and a still greater number of patriotic men in the Lower House,
they have, during the last three weeks, unfolded from night
to night, the position, the claims, and the wishes
of their const.ituents. It will not be deemed invidious to men-
tion the eloquent, argumentative, and heart-stirring addresses
of Lords Radnor, Kinnaird, and Brougham ; an Messrs.
Hume, O'Connell, Gibson, Villiers, Wallace, Bannerman,
Brotherton, and last, but far from least, Richard Cobden.--
( Great cheering.) Besides all this, an effort has been made,
and not without effect, to engage the attention, and secure the
co-operation of the Christian ministers of the metropolis, and
their congregations. Finally, a last and solemn appeal has been
made to the Prime Minister, in an interview of unusual length.
and you can all bear witness to the extraordinary ability and
fidelity with which that delicate and responsible duty was per-
formed.—(Cheers.) Never were the claims of suffering merit
more nobly vindicated than on that occasion. Never'was the state
of a aountry brought to the verge of ruin by bad government
more graphically or truthfully depicted. than by those who
spoke on your behalf.—(Cheers.) Never were the causes of
our national distress more clearly revealed, or the remedy more
distinctly pointed out.—( Cheers.) Never was the tremendous
responsibility of a Minister of the Crown so justly or so ear-
nestly insisted upon.--(Cheers.) The conduct of those who
represented us and our censtituenaies on that occa-
sion, deserves to be held up as a model for the
close imitation of all who shall hereafter approach
the persons of those who are entrusted with the manage-
ment of the affairs of this country.—(Cheers.) And, let
me not omit to say, that never was Sir Robert Peel—the
dextrous debater an disingenuous pervertor of facts and docu-
ments—more completely foiled in his subtle attempts to betray
the speakers into admissions favourable to his tortuous and
dishonest policy.—(Loud cheers.) The triumph of truth was
most signal, if not over the heart, at all events over the talents
of the Minister. lam confident that the fruit of that inter-
view will appear, though it should be after many days.—
(Cheers.) But still the question returns, what have we rea-
lised? and we are forced to reply, nothing. An inquiry
into the causes of our calamities has been asked; but it has
deen denied, and denied in a speech demonstrating at once the
callous indifference, and abject ignorance. of the Noble Lord at
the head of the Board of trade, who was formally known by the
name of " Prosperity Robinson," but should hereafter be called
" Starvation Ripon."--(Cheers.) Mr. Wallace's motion has
been thrown overboard—Mr. Bannerman's proposition treated
in like manner—and Mr. Villiers' motion has been lost. In
words the distress has been admitted, but in deeds denied.--
( Hear.) In effect, the Government and Parliament have said,
We know the people are starving, but we will give them
ro bread.—( Loud cheers.) We admit and admire their
patience, and will reward it. by leaving them to die.—
( Hear, hear.) We have such confidence in their fortitude and
resignation, that we are firmly of opinion that if they are not
inflamed to uiscontent and mutiny by the Anti-Corn-law
League, they will meet death, and endure it without complaint,
and without resistance.—(Cheers.) We have such a high
opinion of the people of England, Scotland, Ireland, and Wales,
that we believe we are secure in the selfish enjoyment of our
plunder, if no meddling agitator goes near them, to
point them from their rags and wretchedness to our
robes- and riches, and to tell them, ere they give
up the ghost, that they do not (lie by the visitation of God,
but by the visitation of the Corn-law=.—(Cheers.) Sir, what
a barefaced and wicked insult is conveyed in such conduct.—
(Cheers.) Be ye warmed, and clothed and fed ( is the language
of the Lords and Commons), but look not to us to help you to
the means. As for you, who pity these miserable multitudes,
and are daily anti nightly tormenting us with your prayers in
their behalf, we hold you to be officious, and self-elected, and
self-seeking advocates of then for whom you care nothing—who
make their miseries the mere stalking-horse thr the accomplish-
assent of your own plans of ambition— in fact, you are " the ve-
riest hurtibup on the face of the earth."-( Laughter and applause. )
Imitate us. We have philosophy enwugh to heir all the Woes
you speak of, anti ten-fold as many inure. while they belong to
others, and not to us.—( Cheers. ) We know the people are
starving—we admit that the distress is wide, and deep, and in-
ereaeing ; but what of that? the people are patient, and why
not leave them in patience to possess their souls, until they
shall exchange worlds, and go where they shall hunger nu
more, neither thirst any more, where the wicked cease fsorn
troubling, and the weary are at rest. Why not leave them do
await this happy deliverance—happy for them, and happier still
for us, who will then be left. to enjoy our good things,
without a Lazarus or a Mordecai at the gate. —( Loud applause.)
Such is the language of the aristocracy, by their acts. Sir,
either they do believe in the distress of the country, or they de
not. If they do, then, of all men, they are the most inhuman ;
and, if they do not, they are, of all men, the most hypocritical.
--(Cheers.) But we, who are here, have no doubt upon our
minds. Nitither have we any doubt respecting the remedy.
Still less have we any doubt respecting the justice of that mea-
sure which we demand from the Government of the country.
Though it could be proved that it would but bring the relief
which we confidently believe it would bring, it is just in itself.
It seems to be tile natural method of escape from the ruin which
impends. It is the right of the nation--it is the right
of the labouring poor. We, therefore, demauded it when
times were better—we demand it with a still louder voice, in
this the season of our adversity—and, should relief come from
any other quarter, we will demand it Cheers.) But
who are they who deny both it and all other remedies ? The
very men who have by force, intimidation, and bribery,
snatched the reins of Government—who compelled the late
Government to abandon office, and come into power, proudly
vaunting? heir ability to find, and to apply the remedy. Who
are they They are freeetraders in the abstract, who have re-
cognised the principle but refuse to apply it, who hold the line
and plummet in their hands, and have laid it to seven hundred
and fifty articles of comparative insiguificence, but have care-
fully abstained from trying the merits of monopoly in timber,
corn, and sugar.—(Cheers.) They have enacted a tariff,
which contains 7M) paltry .exeuses for leaving untouched the
giant monopolies I have named.—(Cheers)
The people ask
for bread, i,ut they give them leather—(Cheers)—they ask
for employment, but they tell them that they may buy turbot
duty free—they ask for money, but they receive an Income-
tax—they ask for repesl, but they are answered with a sliding-
aeale.—( Cheers.) There is one man in the Cabinet who seems
in my eyes to stand
"Exalted midst his less abhorred compeers."
The prince of apostates—the man who has written with his hand
the sentence of his own condemnation, and who seems bent on
precipitating the events which he has himself predicted.—
(Cheers.) Mr. Gaily knight talked or, Monday evening of
hanging certain prophets. Sir, there was one prophet near him
who must., I think, have felt an uncomfortable compression of
the windpipe when his friend, the Member for Nottinghamshire,
was speaking.—( Loud laughter anti cheers. ) I allu.le to the
Horne Secretary.—( Hear, hear. ) Sir, it needs some of falls
patience of the suffering elassea of nu e countrymen to enable us
to endure the sight of the man who wrote the boo:: I hold in my
hand, and who is now found in the ranks of the it traders of
sliilingh'eale system of Corn-laws. There is not a public
man in • Great Britain who, as suelt I regard with 1
such unmixed scorn and detestation as Si; James Graham_
(Loud applause ),„(1 'l'do marvel at the tolerance of my coun-
trymen, which perm its such a mart to fill the situation which
be now holds—a situt his
si mi whtich places the fate of the starved
people of England ,
It is Sir James Graham who
bas proclaimed the ..
"onespiritn of the landOwners"—
(Hear)—yet he himself is the tioistth., headlong of them all, and
w
is propelling his country to ruin his eyes open.—( Cheers.
it is Sir James Graham that has told us, that " the marufac-
tarer is the best customer of the landlord" _yet • isSir .E.‘Gra-
bans that is found foremost in tho work of annihilating—oo-nedtolf h the ma-_
nufacturere of the country for the proposed
teheandlordl
it is Sir James Graham's speech that hals4tauvhtt
that agriculture, under a sliding-seale eystem of Corn-law,
"a gambling and a haza -Limn speculation--(Hear)—un-
just' to the grower—( Hear )- -unjust to the consumer
—(Hear)—exposing the people to the horror, of fa-
mine—(Cheers)—and the agricultural interest to the inci-
dents of the hazard table, and makes revenue from the soil the
Mof wind and weather."—( Cheers.) Yet it is Sir James
aw. who is POW found among the chief advocates of this i