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and prepares tho fleece in the heart of Australia , and from us lie receives , in return , all those commodities which are produced with most advantage in old communities , where vast masses of capital are accumulated . His candlesticks , his pots , his pans , come from Birmingham—his knife comes from Sheffield—the light cotton jacket which he wears in summer comes from Manchester , and the good stout cloth coat which protects him in winter comes from Leeds ; and in return he sends us the produce of what was once a wilderness—the good flour , which is to be made into the largo loaf that the English labourer divides among his children [ immense cheering ] . I believe that in these changes we see the best solution of the question of the franchise—not so much by lowering the franchise to the level of the . great masses , as by the rise in a time , which is
very short in the existence of a nation , of the great masses up to the level of a reasonable and moderate franchise . ( Loud cheers . ) Gentlemen , I feel that I ought to stop . I had meditated some other things to say . I meant to speak of the ballot , to which , you know , I have always been favourable—something , perhaps much , of triennial Parliaments , to which , you know , I have always been honestly opposed ; I meant to have said something of your university tests — something also about the religious equality movement in Ireland ; but I feel that I cannot well proceed . I thank you again , from my soul , for the great honour you have done me in appointing me , without solicitation , to the distinguished post of one of your representatives . I am proud of our connection , and I shall try to act in such a manner that you may never be ashamed of it . "
Such was the speech of the member for Edinburgh , closed obviously , not from want of matter , but want of strength . As the orator sank into his seat , the cheering broke out again in all the heartiness of " Scotch emphasis , " wound up by three cheers for Mr . Macaulay ; and , oddly enough , tliree more for " The History of England . "
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THE MANCHESTER FREE-TRADE GATHERING . Manchester was again the theatre of a Free-trade demonstration on Tuesday . The scene was laid in the Free-trade Hall ; the actors were the leading men . of the Anti-Corn-law League ; and the spectators its supporters . Some hundred and twenty members of Parliament—English , Irish , and Scotch—attended , or sent sympathetic letters apologizing for absence . Nearly forty towns sent industrial representatives . It was not a banquet , but a dessert , of which they assembled to partake ; and the guests , tliree thousand in number , sat at tables covered alternately with pink and white drapery . Outspread on these were pies , sandwiches , and tarts by the thousand ; grapes , raisins , almonds , by the hundredweight ; some three hundred pounds of biscuits ; the whole garnished with upwards of two hundred dozens of wine .
Mr . George Wilson , the old chairman of the League , presided . After prayer , the loyal toasts were given ; and after these " the Free-trade Members of the House of Commons ; " and Mr . Cobden , as the representative of the largest constituency in the kingdom , responded in a long speech . He said , they were thereto see that the groat question of Free trade and Protection should ho brought to a speedy settlement ; and why this question should be now raised , when everybody was convinced of the advantages of Free-trade , was because we had a " packed House of Commons . " When Lord Derby came into power , he said In * would take the sense of the country on the subject , and on that ground he had been let oil' all last session : —
" 'Well , gentlemen , we have had that election , and defeofivo as is our representative system , still there is a considerable majority in the Mouse of (' ominous pledged to Free-trade ( loud cheers ) . I have I . lie high authority of a member of the Government ( Major . Hereford ) for this fact ( laughter and cheers ) . Gentlemen , all \ stipulate ) in that when Parliament re-assemble ^ we should know whether the Government be now Protectionist , or Free-trade ( hear , hear ) . Is there anything unreasonable in that ? ( No , no . ) Why have we hud a general election , but . to decide that , question P Why do we meet now before ( Mirist . imis hut avowedly to Kettle that question H ( Cheers . ) I propose , therefore , that to follow out that view , which
nceins to be so much m accordance with your sentimenth ( cheers ) -- I propose that the I'Yec-t rude members of tlio House of (' ominous hIiouIiI bring the Derby (¦ ovcriiment to a declaration of their principles upon this question ( loud cheering ) . Now , I say , that , if the Queen ' s Speech do not contain a distinct renunciation and recantation of Protection on the part of tins administration ( cheers ) — then the I'Yee-trade majority , if they are true to their principles , as I honestly believe they are , are bound , either by mi amendment to the- Addrews , or by a substantive ve-Nolution of the House , to declare that no Government will hnve the confidence of the llou . se of Commons which iIoch
not avow mind , I say avow ( loud cheers ) its determination to adhere to tho policy of Fred-trade an it has boon liilhorto adopted , and to carry it out in every practicable Avay ( loud cheers ) . I say , gentlemen , that the JIouho of Commons ought to cull upon the Government to avow its opinions , becnuHo I draw a very great distinction indeed between the declaration of a Government and the intimation , the mystical intimation , of a Government that , limy do not at , present think of interfering with Free-trade , « nd the avowal of a Government that they have changed their opinion , ami are honestly in favour of Froo-trado ( cheorn ) . 1 euy , that when niuut « uii-twontiulliH of tho population of
the country , and a large majority of the House of Commons , are in favour of certain principles , that your constitutional system is a fallacy unless you can have a Government in consonance with that system ( loud cheers ) It ought not to satisfy you that those who have been the inveterate enemies of the principles you have met to support should be left in possession of the executive of the country , and free to damage the progress of those principles , and prevent their extension , and , if possible , to bring 1
back a return" to Protectionist principles . That will not satisfy you or satisfy the country . But the reason why such a specific and determined course is to be taken by the Free-traders is , that nothing short of that will ever settle the question of agricultural distress . The great seat of this delusion of Protection is in the dark corners of our agricultural districts . It is there that survives this faith in a Ministry , who promise one thing at the market tables , and talk in another tone in the clubs and coteries of
London ( cheers ) . And by this talk they had diverted the farmers from their natural pursuits . As to the agricultural labourers , he protested that they were better off now than under Protection , though still badly off . The only way to improve their condition was to invest more capital in the soil ; hut that could not be done while the Protectionist delusion , fostered by Lord Derby and Mr . Disraeli , was kept up . In the interest of agriculture , therefore , he called upon the Free-traders of the House
of Commons to bring the question to an issue . Would that suit political parties ? He held that they should not conciliate parties in the settlement of the question . We want , he said , to bring the matter to a close ; and , having cleared away the rubbish of Protection , we give them free scope to all fresh combinations of parties ; and there is no honest man who wishes to see progress made in other questions who is not interested in removing the Protection and Free-trade question from the category of party contention ( loud cheers ) .
" I know it is very fashionable among certain politicians to say , Why don't you members of the House of Commons get together , and form yourselves into a party ? Some people out of doors will say , You should be a Eadical party . Others say , Why don't you make yourselves into a progressive party ? Well , I must confess that the people who look to the members of the House of Commons to form parties or determine the policy of the country , have a very insufficient notion of what it is that constitutes the force of political movements in this country . What is it that makes Free-trade now a powerful political question P What is it that gives to Free-trade in Parliament the vitality and force which it possesses P Not by a few
members of the House of Commons getting together and determining to make a party question of Free-trade . Freetrade did not become a powerful question in the House of Commons ^ or among politicians , until long after some men , rather young in years , and who had never been known as politicians before , engaged most actively and energetically in the promotion of the doctrines of Freetrade out of doors , and , by means of such meetings as the present , gave an impetus to the question , and enabled the members of the House of Commons to carry it triumphantly . ( Cheers . ) But if anybody supposes that , until the question is settled , any members of the House of Commons can meet together and form any other
partyuntil the people out of doors have indicated what they want , and prepared a question for members to deal withthey have forgotten the Free-trade agitation , and are ignorant how parties are constituted in the House ot Commons . " * * * * " Gentlemen , I should not wonder if we are met by some of those wise politicians with the question , ' What are you going to do if you turn out this Government ? How will you make up another Government r ' Wow , I think this attention is much easier of solution after the experience of tho last six months than it was before . ( Laughter and cheers . ) I do not think we should have any great difficulty in finding a Government after the formation of the present . ( Laughter . ) It comprises a dozen or so of very worthy and respcctablo men ; but 1 venture to say tliere are at least live hundred ill
men in this hall quite as competent to ( the ofliees of Cabinet Ministers . ( Cheers and laughter . ) Wo have seen that it is not requisite that your ancestors should have been "Ministers . It does not require you to have boon an adept , in red tape nil your days . It does not require a very broad euat of arms , or even a crust . ( Laughter . ) It does not matter what , race you belong to . ( Continued laughter . ) There is no sort of embargo henceforth upon anybody being a Cabinet Minister . Therefore the difficulty we used to meet with is very considerably lessened . ( Cheers . ) Free-traders started by declaring that they had no political object to serve . ] Nfow , I will not be guilty of such a transparent piece of hypocrisy us to affect the modesty of not beini ; able to make as good a Cabinet Minister an some half-score of persons upon whom that dignity has been conferred . ( Loud and long-continued oheorinij . )"
Wo must have , an emphatic recantation from Ministers . " They must Hay Free-trade doen not lower wages—( cheers ) they must nay Free-trade does not cause a drain of golil from this country ( cheers ) -- tlieV must «» y that l < Yee-trade has not , thrown land out "f cultivation- ; - they must , say the land of this country is still worth something ( eheorn ) and they must say that , wheat , good wheat , has not been imported into this country , and cannot , bo imported into this country , at , 'Mn . per quarter . ( Cheers . ) Now , thoso are a few of the things which tho ^ y must say in opposition to what they fluid before . ( Cheers . ) There must be no talk about compensation . They must curry out Fre « -trado in all it « oonseqiuncon ; advocate Free-trade , and not unoor nt tho MuuehcBter
school ; but in every way promote the extension of -the principle in all its ramifications . He had been sneered at as a Utopian , because he connected Free-trade and Peace ; but he was only * securing the legitimate consequences when he said it would render nations more independent of each other , and being independent of each other , they will be bound together in bonds of
amity and friendship . " I am not Utopian . I am practical , and I can eive a reason for the faith that is in me . I see Free-trade an accomplished fact in this country ; and as the greatest commercial country in the world , I say that its example must be followed , and must lead to the extension of our intercourse with other nations . Men must be made peaceable , because it is their interest to be peaceable . ( Cheers . )"
After a speech from Sir William Clay , not containing anything more remarkable than the last sentence , in which he said that the friends of Reform must advance from the Corn-law victory to future triumphs , Mr . Bright spoke to " The Anti-Corn-law League . " When the League was re-formed last March , people said it was only the ghost of that body . But their opponents were not the first band who had teen frightened from the field by a ghost .
" I talfe leave , however , to assert , that the manifestation of opinion during the last few months , and especially during the period of the general election , has been such as to show , that if the League was buried , its spirit is still an existing and a living spirit ( cheers)—a spirit that dare and does defy any Cabinet that may exercise authority in this country to touch again the sacred question of Freetrade . ( Loud cheers . )" He pointed to the facts of the case , as affording good ground for reconstituting the League .
" Lord Derby , the notorious and unscrupulous leader of the most intolerant of the Protection party , came into office . It is difficult to say how he came there . I iave heard of generals surrendering with whole armies at discretion . I am not sure that the leader on our side of the House did not surrender without discretion . ( Laughter . ) Some say his staff was disordered ; some say his troops mutinied . Some felt that they were almost as often led
into the ranks of the foe as led against them . But , whatever ^ e the reason , somehow or other Lord Derby came into office . We had Protection blasts ; and finally , lord Palnoerston offered himself as the great trumpeter , and the V ^ alls of the Whig Jericho fell at once to the ground . ( Laughter and cheers . )" But now the Protectionists were in , they sang small
about Protection . " A Whig poet wrote a couple of lines about the Whigs , which maj well enough be applied to the Protectionist party : — ' ' As bees on flowers alighting cease their hum , So , settling into places , squires are dumb . ' ( Great laughter . ) But I take it for granted that such persons throughout the country—farmers and others—who are honestly convinced that Protection is a sound policy , and that these men in office ought to endeavour to advance it , will ask what advantage it is to them that these talking oratorical Protectionists when in opposition , should become dumb dogs that cannot bark when in poverate ^
( Laughter and cheers . ) I certainly anticipa gr . »• - most , interesting ' breach of promise' case ( lauaMerj ; an what with cornfand ships , and colonies ^• J >} m , fj 3 be the defendant against the claim * of three fan- ladies at once . ( Renewed laughter . )" Contrasting tho position of the Free-traders who had maintained their convictions so long , and Ministers who had surrendered theirs the moment they came into power , he continued" But tho fact is , that we are not statesmen . ( Lauglitcnj We aro cotton spinners (' Hear , ' and laug hter ) , an manufacturers , and bleachers , and printers , and « hI keepers , and J ^ * ¦* ^ « £ r ^ " £ Jiear aim ito vu w
r , near , «« w " s " v Tn Uhh statesmen , and we have never pretended to bo bo . j country thoro has been a great gulf fixed between «> interested in industry and the paths of HtatesmariH » P' £ ( ip , ; though wo were right fourteen years ago , and Wiv right on this question ever since—though three t , n ^ have been wrong , and one of them has not yet p , ,. right—it is to be held that we aro not statesmen , »« those men only who could not nee what was b'H'I'OL * on this grent fundamental , all-absorbing ¦ cnieslion , > . |) l ( , titled to deseriho and to carry out the political po V } nation . Wo bavo not hereditary brains . ( Urea' , mi . We are < a Jacobin club . ' ( Renewed laughter . ) ' ^ know on the authority of a gentleman who is h w , ,, 1 ( , the Cabinet , the Chancellor of tho E * choc l f . ^ , no »« - leader , at least , of a minority of the Hous <) o ^ ^^ w | j 0 ( Laughter , Home hisses , and <; h « l 0 nn P ; 2 ' , ,. on 8 i Htent wit , h rail * us a Jacobin Club must think - * " " < ' ° ™ V th in loyalty to the Throne to ^<\ . /^ , 'Jj , jXltar »¦« country shall not bo P *« rvec Wo 11 ^^""^ chiiet \« e- ) an , a . / acoh ^ T ° r noL ( L ? ! ii" iKvt Y h lU " » " i » .. i wr , urn the democracy . Lord UeiDy « ay » ' „„„ ., ! . tw
must , be a hig h authority , for Iuh blood , ior v . ^ ^ lions , hafl flowed at the high evel of an ear Id . >" ; ,, (| , h all tho anctMtorsof the Stanjoy . over Idn , m ^ part so much to give comfort and W "" . ^ " ^ country a * . , tho democracy of tho Ann League , have done . ( Loud eheers . ) t He concluded that tho present «" coim ! rl , , () rI 1 , i » a ought to he pointed nt with indignation . in ^; hurkd from tho « eat of power ! H »» peroration markuble :- —
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1056 THE L BADE R . [ Saturdav
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Nov. 6, 1852, page 1056, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1959/page/4/
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