Page:History of the Anti corn law league - Volume 2.pdf/256

 for its triumph, was Mr. John Benjamin Smith, who in 1841, at an emergency when it was necessary to show that a protectionist whig stood in the same relationship to the League as a protectionist tory, stood a manly contest at Walsall. In that borough, in this 1844 represented by a free trader, there remained a deep feeling of gratitude for the services which had led to its independence; and the ladies, who had taken a deep interest in the effort to return Mr. Smith, had subscribed to present him, in the shape of a handsome silver salver, with a testimony of their esteem A tea party was considered the most appropriate medium through which the compliment could be conveyed. An evening of September was selected for having the soirée in the large assembly-room. At five o'clock, the appointed hour, the room was filled to excess by a highly respectable company of ladies and gentlemen. Robert Scott, Esq., the member for the borough, presided at the head of the table, supported by John Bright, Esq., M.P., Charles Greatrex, Esq., Thomas Brittle, Esq., Samuel Cox, Esq., Charles Wilkinson, Esq., and Messrs. Grafton, Mason, Swift, Standley, Westwood, &c. At the same table sat a number of highly respectable ladies, amongst whom were Mrs. Cox, Mrs. Whitney, Mrs. Grafton, Mrs. Bartram, Mrs. Myring, Mrs. Griffiths, Miss Mall, Miss Creswell, and Mrs. Standley.

The chairman said he well remembered when, in the year 1841, they were called upon to come forward as the champions of free trade in England. That was the first borough in which the question was fairly tried, and nobly indeed did they respond to the call. They had then a whig candidate who did not come up to the mark; they tested him and found him wanting upon which, with great prudence, he retired from the contest; and the conservative candidate was actively engaged in his canvass, and his friends busily employed bringing to bear upon the electors every possible interest which they possessed. Many