The Sun.
London, England, 1845-02-20 00:00:00

the order of the union tworkhousel.—( Hear, hear, and cheers.)
Well, if those 17, Bond-street gentlemen played such fantastic
tricks with the interests of the farmers, how do they conduct
themselves in the House of Commons? They sit by the side of
Ministers—though they distrust the Government—they
look uneasy, they are a little sullen, but they do not
make any great demonstration of resistance. I told
them the other night that the character given in a very
innocent book of certain faithless guardians, of old " dumb
dogs who either could not, or would not, bark" was applicable
to them.—(Hear, hear, and cheers.) This was considered
rather vituperative.—(Laughter.) Sir Robert Peel, not
wishing to displease his party, took it upon himself to lecture
me for want of manners.—(Renewed laughter.) He forgot
the charges which he himself had made against an Hon.
Friend of mine.—(Loud cries of " Hear, hear,"—" Hurrah
for Cobden," and great cheering.) There was another
Member on the Ministerial side of the House, Mr. Stafford
O'Brien, the Member for Northampton, Chairman of the
Publication Committee, of the Great Central Committee,
which meets at No. 17, Bond-street, who lectured me like-
wise. Mr. Smith O'Brien was, he was going to say, guilty
—no, but he must be held answerable for the publication of a
pamphlet in which the sentiments of the venerated Adam Smith
were garbled and perverted—when he was told that the land-
lords ought to serve their tenants and labourers, Mr. O'Brien
said that was not a way to speak of the gentry of England.
Nos it is a great mistake in Mr. Stafford O'Brien to clothe
himself in the lion's skin, and then take upon himself the cha-
racter of the most sincere man in the House of Commons;
he disappointed the designs of nature very much, for, from his
dress and manner he showed that he was much more suited for
a roan-milliner.—( Great laughter,) I believe he might have
filled with great respectability such an office.—(l-aughter.)
They don't, then, make a great demonstration against the Go-
vernment—it is only a sort of human growl they utter, but no
great resolution on which the body agree. Their cause is
bad, and they know it, and their courage oozes our, for
they have no faith in the maintenance of their principles—
they never had any soundness. Sir R. Peel drags them along
and they can make no opposition. A very beautiful and
pleasing writer, Leigh Hunt, in one of his essays, describing
a number of pigs being driven to Smithfield—(Laughter)--
says, " Unwilling was their subjection, and more in sorrow
than in anger, they were overgone from rage, their cause was
hopeless, they did not see why they should proceed, but felt
themselves bound to do so—they first conglomerated, crowded,
grunted, but onward went, impelled by fate and Peel. Often
would they have rebelled under any other master—they halted
and grunted in ordinary—they sidled and shuffled, half-
stopped, turned their eyes towards all outlets and
lanes by which they might escape, hut in fine there
they stuck, for their very progress was a sort V
sticking-charm at the centre ef their sphere of action—
laying their heads together but to no purpose, looking on all
sides—shrugging their shoulders and eschewing the knotty
end ef the whip of office—much eye had they to their left
legs. " They shrink backward with groans—not an incipient
squeak—but a sound suspicious - in character and violent to
a degree." But pigs find it more difficult than any other
animals to accommodate themselves to circumstances.—
(Shouts of laughter.) "He with his tail out is in the
highest state of wonderment, is sluggish and obstinate,
not very civil, and has no desire to see foreign
parts. Think of him in a multitude forced to travel,
and wondering what the devil it is that drives him."—
( Continued laughter.) Well, as far as the great Central As-
sociation for the protection of British agriculture is concerned,
I think it will make a very ridiculous figure in the pages of his-
tory—that is, if any historian will deem it worth his while to
notice it.—(lronical cheers, and laughter.) It was an impos-
ture when first started, got up .for the purpose of making a
spasmodic effort to propagate a gigantic and monstrous injus-
tice.—(Cheers.) But now its true character is begin-
ning to be clearly developed, and all the intelligent classes
see through its motives. This knowledge is extend-
ing, and even the farmers are beginning to find
that it. wears the features of an imposture, so that we
may speedily expect to see it put down altogether.—(Great
cheers.) But now of that other Association—that which we
are here met to-night to sympathise with—the Association
which ever has advocated and tried to promote the truly grand
principle of free trade, and perfect freedom to industry.—
( Immense cheering.) We have no Richmond. or Bucking-
hams, or Knatchbulls, to whom we can point as ornamented
with stars and garters, or to whom we can give promotion in
the army or in the civil service. The prominent men in the
ranks of the Anti-Corn-law Leaguers here, or (for they are
widely extended) in other parts of the kingdom, have sprung
from the ranks. They are not joining in agitation for the purpose
of obtaining places or power or station—( Cheers.) If there
is one rank that they covet more than another, it is this, that
they may occupy a place in the minds of their countrymen—
that now and in after times it may be remembered by the
grateful people of a happy land, that they did something in
their day and generation to strike off the shackles that fettered
their commerce and their industry, and that they contributed,
in however little a degree, to make their beloved country happy
and prosperous.—(lmmense cheering.) From the beginning
of our exertions, some six or seven years ago, we have had no
reliance on any interests further than these—first, on the eman-
cipation of truth ; and, then, on the intelligence and the virtue
of our countrymen. We have appealed to you time after time.
We have unremittingly appealed to you and my fellow-men in all
parts of the country—( Cheers )—and nobly have you and they
responded to that appeal.—( Cheers.) No man in this country,
be he who he may, connected with any political movement
whatever, has met or can meet with so hearty, so efficient a
response, as was given to the appeal which the members of
the Anti-Corn-law League addressed to the people of Great
Britain.—(Great cheers.) In 1839, we asked our friends and
neighbours, principally in Lancashire and Yorkshire, for sub-
scriptions to begin to carry on the war against the corn• laws,
and 5,0001. was almost immediately subscribed. In 1840 we
asked for further subscriptions, and 7,000 i or 8,0001. was sub-
scribed for that and a portion of the following year. In 1841
we sent out circulars to every county in the kingdom, asking
the men who were engaged in teaching the doctrines
of Christianity, what they thought of the corn-laws, and re-
questing them to meet us at Manchester, and no less than 700
of these men did leave their districts at immense inconvenience
and at great expense, because they were summoned to discuss
this great question.—( Great cheering.) In the year 1 842 we
had a bazaar in Manchester, and the ladies there pr lidded arti-
cles, sold them at the bazaar, and handed over a sum of 10,0001.
to the Council of the Anti-Corn-law League.—( Great cheer-
ing.) In 11343 we asked for 50,0001., and 50,000/. was at
once toll acted.—( Continued cheers.) In 1844 we asked for
100,0001., and between 80 and 90,0001. has been already sub-
scribed, although the great bazaar to be held here in May
next was considered when we asked the country for 100,000/.
—( Tremendous cheering, which was continued for some
minutes.) This year is but young, as yet but two
months are almost gone. In the first month of
this year, and in three months of the last, we ap-
pealed again to the free traders in the Northern counties, and
we asked them, not to subscribe money, but to do something far
mere beneficial—we asked them to invest some of their pro-
perty in the purchase of a powerful weapon by which they
could at the election hustings defend their dearest rights and
liberties.—( Cheers.) And how was that appeal responded
to ? I will tell you. The free traders in the Northern coun-
ties, principally in Lancashire, Cheshire, and Yorkshire, at the
recommendation of the League, invested a sum no less than
250,0001. in the purchase of county qualifications.—(Great
cheering.) You are aware that there is a class of men every
where who de not take the trouble to inquire into the truth of
any matter, but who nevertheless go about spreading that
which is not true. Such men had they here. Many in the
country said, "It is quite unconstitutional in the League to
collect money for the purpose of buying county qualifications."
—(Laughter.) These are fictitious assertions. The League
never collected a pound to buy qualifications for anybody.—
(Cheers and laughter.) The members of the League pur-
chased these qualifications for themselves.—(Cheers.) My
five brothers--there are six of us—and myself have spent 9101.
in buying qualifications for counties in the North of England
—( Cheers )—and so these 250,0001. have been subscribed
wholly by individual free traders throughout the country, who
have resolved to get within the pale of the Constitution, and
to fight the battle firmly, and coustitutionally too, on the hus-
tings at the next election of theirrepresentatives to Parliament.
I have said that we shall have a large bazaar here in this
house in May next, and I may also tell you, that in this me-
tropolis, in Manchester, and in a large number of towns in
England, committees are formed, and at work, for the purpose
of providing materials for that bazaar; and a magnificent col-
lection of articles, the production of ladies, who have kindly
aided us, will be then submitted for your purchase.—( Cheers.)
Every body in the country asks—" While we are doing so
much, what are they doing in London ?" In the country the
connexion that binds society is favourable to projects like
these, and we can get the ladies, therefore, to do it in first-rate
style—( Laughter )—but here it is not so easy. One does not
know one's neighbour so well as in the smaller towns of the
northern counties. I do not doubt that a great deal has
been done, and I expect that a great deal more
will be done before three months are expired --(Hear, hear,)
And when this bold speculation is fully matured and perfected,
it will be no discredit to the Sovereign of these lands to be pre-
sent in this building.—( Cheers,) Now, I take it that our pre-
sent position is a very prosperous one. I never advise any
one to look at the dark side of things. I always look myself
on the cheerful side of the picture, and troubles we know come
fast enough without our going to meet them. Recollect what
the present Prime Minister says—he came into office on the
shoulders of the Central Association, but what says he new,
and what was his opinion in past times ? He no doubt hopes
that a liberal policy, and liberal measures at this time, will at
an after period induce the people of England to remember
him without unkindness, if not with attachment.
I will read you an extract from a speech of his
in 1824, when Mr. Huskisson brought forward some measure
of free-trade, in the article of ribbons, &c. Mr. Secretary
Peel is reported to have exhorted the House to firmness. He
reminded the House that the eyes of Europe were upon them,
and how greatly their commercial policy would be prejudiced
if they yielded to the force of circumstances. He knew a good
deal about these questions iu 1824, and he certainly could not
be less familiar with them in twenty years after. In 1842 he an-
nounced the important principle, that the true policy of the nation
was, to buy in the cheapest market and sell in the dearest. In his
speech on Friday last, when alluding to a combination among
the coal-owners of the north of England, he said that there
could not be a greater abuse of national resources, than for a
combination to exist among coal-mine proprietors fur the
purpose of raising the price to the consumer. I
shall read it in another way. I know of no
greater abuse •f a national monopoly than for a
combination to exist among landlords for restricting the supply
of corn, in order to raise its price in this country. Can we
doubt that the man who can be so right in his, conception of
the blessings of a free-trade in coal is not equally right with
regard to the principle of a free-trade in corn ?—(Cheers. )
It was said, in the conclusion of his speech, that his
object, while establishing the principle of a
extension of reduction of taxation was to realise the utmost
degres of good, without the disturbance or alarm of interests
which could not be rashly interfered with, without para-
lysing the industry of the country. He openly acknow-
ledges the very principles which we have advocated out of
doors and in the House of Commons. All his sympathies are
with the Anti-corn-law League at present. But let them look
to the other side of the House of Commons. There was Lord
John Russell, who was altogether stationary for three years on
this question. He advocated an adherence to protection. What
is Lord John Russell's opinion now? On the very first
night of the present session he expressed his full
conviction that protection was the bane of agricul-
ture; and the night before last, in the discussion on the
income-tax, he said that he still adhered to this declaration;

•
and ho went further, for he not only said that protection was
the bane of agriculture, but the bane of every other interest to
which the principle could apply. He referred to our colonial
interests—to our silk manufacturers, and to our timber growers
in our North American possessions. We are associated to
carry out the principle of liberty and freedom in every branch
of trade. We are associated to carry these principles out by
concentrating the invisible but the almost omnipotent
t'ithni:o u(r.:yuinntPrathy endeavours of
power of public opinion in their favour. We have
pthroesperpintybloief
par o m ol taer large
e interestsseetie n
aenfd
Masted, ancsl'.. Our. opponents are broken—their courage is
in Parliament or out of they'thave
confi-
dence to advocate their opinion
password be still" Onward,
0n5w..,1)7 course is plain—let our
, faith in the intelligence, in the power, Let us have continued
the people of England to second on esindertp the capacity of
no thought of going back. but let us press forward us
have
achieve a complete and final trinnaph.—(Cheers.) m until we
charge us with adhering too strictly to a dr prineiplean
2,f
men
litical economy. Such attacks are equally harsh and tinge:
neroug, and they may in like manner characterise all attempts
to relieve the distresses of the country and to ameliorate tile