and he retired without a cheer. He talked of broken pledges on the part of the tories on the Corn Law and New Poor Law, without a response; he abused the New Corn Law, without a response; he praised the whig eight-shilling duty proposal, without a response; he promised fixed and "adequate protection," without a response. All was silent as the grave, Never before was seen so dead an audience at any election. Never before was seen a meeting of electors without a single partizan to raise a shout. It was obvious that the farmers cared nothing about whig and tory, and that they expected nothing to relieve their distress from either faction. But the moment I began to speak from the other side of the Corn Hill, the whole audience instantly turned round, eager to hear what could be said in favour of entirely free trade; and their attention was soon rivetted, and continued to be so during the whole of my address, which was interrupted only by audible expressions of assent to my arguments, or loud laughter at the devices of the fixed-duty and sliding-scale men to prevent the farmers from seeing what was really the cause of their distress. The consequence of this state of opinion, this utter distrust of both whigs and tories, this conviction that landowners had legislated only for their own interests, made it obvious that a great many farmers, and a great many freeholders in the towns would hold aloof from the contest altogether.
Advantage was taken of the adjournment of parliament during the Easter holidays, a period at which the working men of Manchester usually take a few days' relaxation from their toil, to have a great tea party of that class, numbering between three and four thousand, at which an address was presented to Mr. Cobden, signed by 11,372 working men, He spoke with his usual ability, and was evidently moved by the striking testimony of esteem from so many of his fellow-countrymen; and the intelligence of the audience was manifested by their evident appreciation
