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were doomed to great hardships. But there is something worse in existence than the union, or its inmates would not have been found there. It was a fearful alternative which was presented before them. There was starvation on the one hand, and the union, with all its possible miseries, on the other. They fled, as nature dictated to them, from the one, and consented to take refuge in the other. (Cheers.) Then there were large gaols pointed out to us, for crime of late years has been fearfully on the increase. Poverty and crime generally go hand in hand. A great deal has been said lately about a special gaol delivery, the reason assigned being that the gaols are now so much crowded. We have seen during the last five years a state of things having a tendency to the general wreck of all that is desirable and excellent, all that is advancing to our species in the country. And then the class for whose especial benefit this hideous system was ostensibly created, and for whom it is now hypocritically maintained, is at this moment the most suffering class of people in the country."

Then referring to the public position now occupied by himself and his friends, he went on to say:

“We sought not that office we now hold; we had no wish to leave our homes, our occupations, and the pleasures which belong to them, or our ordinary business, to come thus prominently before the public. We have no wish to see ourselves lauded beyond our deserts, and at other times most foully slandered. But here we are, borne along upon the wave of public opinion, which is every hour rising higher and higher, and can we now retreat? (Loud cheers, and cries of “No, no.”) We should be unworthy the name of independent, honest men were we to do so." (Cheers.)

Mr. Bright next made his way to Liverpool, where on the 6th of December, a meeting was held in the Amphitheatre. The enthusiasm in the cause of Free Trade was unmistakable. Mr. Bright and Mr. Cobden, as soon as they appeared on the platform, were received with tumultous and prolonged plaudits. Mr. Thomas Thornely, M.P., presided. Mr. R. Cobden, Mr. Lawrence Heyworth, Mr. W. Rathbone, as well as Mr. Bright delivered speeches, and £4,600 were subscribed by the ladies and gentlemen present.

A large number of the inhabitants of Huddersfield met in public meeting in their Philosophical Hall, on the 7th of December, and practically manifested their sympathy with the objects of the League by contributing £1,322. Mr. F. Schwann was unanimously called to preside, and in opening the meeting remarked that the labourer was still cheated of his hire, and the poor deluded farmer, instead of trusting to his own energies and asking for long leases, still believed in the magic power of Protection. He was continuing to allow himself ignorantly to be protected into ruinous rents, into servile dependence,

and into the dreary prospect of seeing his poor children compelled to seek a new home in a distant clime. Messrs. W. Willans, T. P. Crossland, J. T. Clay, George Mallinson, R. Cobden, J. Bright, and R. R. R. Moore also addressed the meeting.

On the 15th of December Mr. Bright was present at a meeting in the Free-trade Hall, Manchester, which was held for the purpose of receiving the report of the League Fund Committee on the progress of the subscriptions. The magnificent hall was crowded, and intense interest was taken in the proceedings. Mr. George Wilson was in the chair, and was supported by a large array of gentlemen. Mr. Hicken read the report, and announced that £20,280 15s. 4d. had been subscribed in Manchester up to that time.

66 Manchester was the cradle of the Anti-Corn-Law League," said Mr. Bright, “and the League in those days was but an inefficient instrument-weakly, but still giving promise of strength and now it has grown up to be a giant of enormous strength and good proportions, which is marching on to the accomplishment of the greatest triumph which mankind probably has ever achieved." (Applause.)

Mr. W. J. Fox was next introduced to the meeting, and in the course of his speech he said :

"I am glad to see those who have sent forth through the length and breadth of the country the men who, if they may not yet be said

'The applause of listening senates to command,'

are in a way for accomplishing a much greater object than the applause of any senates; and as they march onward to the accomplishment of their great purpose,

'Will scatter plenty o'er a smiling land,

And read their history in a nation's eyes.' (Applause.)

To the anxiety of these men for the success of this cause, to their devotedness of spirit backed by your cheering aid, what will not the country owe? and how proud shall all be who, like myself, are thus privileged to come among you to acknowledge the obligations which, throughout the land, we feel to them-feel to many on whose merits I will not dwell because they are here round me."

A spirited demonstration came off at the Oddfellows' Hall, Halifax, on the 16th of December, at which Mr. Bright and Mr. Cobden spoke.

Mr. Bright witnessed at the great commercial capital of Yorkshire, "busy Leeds," an enthusiastic demonstration of public feeling on the 13th December, 1843, in the Music Hall of that town, which was crowded to excess. Mr. Hamer Stansfield, the Mayor, was the chairman;

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Mr. James Garth Marshall was the first speaker. Messrs. Darnton Lupton, Henry Ashworth (of Bolton), Councillor Carbutt, George Wise, Richard Cobden, Frederick Baines, John Wilkinson, J. Bright, Col. Thompson, and J. C. Marshall addressed the meeting; and £2,110 were subscribed to the League Fund by the ladies and gentlemen present.

Mr. Bright was next at Holmfirth, at a meeting in the Town Hall, on the 15th of December, there being present about 800 persons. On this occasion he dwelt at length on Protection, and warned the audience against it. £105 was the amount subscribed at the meeting. On the 19th of December Mr. Bright was present at a larg meeting at the ancient town of Warrington, in the Reformers' Hall. Though suffering from serious indisposition, he made a speech full of sterling argument and abounding in original illustrations. Rylands also addressed the meeting, and £340 were subscribed.

Mr.

CHAPTER XVIII.

AWAKENING THE COUNTRY.

Bright and Cobden's Journeyings-Indisposition of Mr. Bright-Visit to Carlisle, Glasgow, and Edinburgh-Speech on the Apathy of Macaulay in the Free Trade Cause-Again in London, and at Greenock, Ayr, Kilmarnock, Dumfries, Sunderland, Sheffield, York, &c.

M

R. BRIGHT had promised to address a meeting in the Theatre at Barnsley on the 20th of December, 1843; but in consequence of over-exertion, and the severity of the weather, he was compelled to desist from travelling and public speaking for a short time; for it must be remembered that this was the last month of the year, which has been described as the "severest of them all." Travelling about the country on blustering nights, through nipping and chilling blasts, after speaking in densely-packed halls, was a very different thing from being snugly seated at home. He was no laggard, and turned out to face the storm, travelling here and there to different places many miles apart, for he knew that the cause was just, and needed all the support and influence he could give it. The luxurious fireside, with all its surrounding comforts, did not tempt him to become dormant until fine weather set in. He might have, like the majority of gentlemen in his position, stopped at home on winter nights, taking a seat before a good fire, in company with his motherless little girl, and enjoyed all the comforts of an opulent mansion, spending his evenings in reading the "grand old masters," while all was tempest without-the boisterous wind whistling through the trees.

"And the night shall be fill'd with music,

And the cares that infest the day

Shall fold their tents, like the Arabs,

And as silently steal away."

All men, whether their work is manual or mental, require and deserve ease at the close of the day; but Mr. Bright, although possessing the

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means of ample rest and pleasant relaxation, did not always find his pleasure in such welcome variety. The fact is, he was more than an ordinary British gentleman: he was a patriot, and unable to take his ease while his countrymen were starving.

On the 8th of January, 1844, Mr. Bright had sufficiently recovered to visit the ancient city of Carlisle, which is rich in historical associations, and “legends of festal and of warlike deeds." In the evening a meeting was held in the Athenæum. There were present the principal manufacturers and tradesmen, as well as a number of ladies. Mr. Bright spoke with his accustomed vigour and eloquence, and was much applauded. £403 18s. were subscribed.

Two nights after, Mr. Bright was one of the speakers at a banquet at Glasgow, in the City Hall, when upwards of £400 were subscribed to the League Fund. The meeting, which was one of the most powerful exhibitions of public sentiment on the question of Free Trade that had been witnessed in the west of Scotland, was addressed by Mr. Fox Maule, Mr. Cobden, Mr. Alexander Graham, Rev. Dr. Heugh, Mr. Oswald, M.P., the Rev. Dr. Willis, and Col. Thompson.

"Think not that the present cessation of distress will be permanent," said Mr. Bright at this meeting. "Has Providence granted you the blessings of bountiful harvests for ever? Does not the same Divine wisdom rule now that ruled in 1839? and may not the same events await us in 1845 and 1846?—and then comes a scarcity, followed by all the distress which fell upon us a few years ago. I ask, may not these calamities become so dense and unbearable that it may be that men may break the bonds they can no longer bear? I may say that the deliverance of the industry of this people is at hand. I speak not without authority. No men in this country have seen the faces of so many of their countrymen as we have, and we have authority for saying that it is the opinion of the middle classes of this country, who are the intelligent and the powerful and the electoral classes, that this law is bad; that it originated in injustice, and has been maintained by an unjust exercise of power. (Cheers.) And we ask you, the people of this city, whether you are willing to come with us to the breach, to bear all, suffer all, and work all that is necessary for the carrying-out of our principle-the fundamental principle of the AntiCorn-Law League. (Great cheering.) And now I trust that what you have done for freedom, what you have done for civil and religious freedom, you are now ready to do for your commercial liberties. (Great cheering.) I ask you to resolve with me that

On the 11th of January, Mr. Bright took part in an enthusiastic meeting held in the new Music Hall in Edinburgh. The Lord Provost