Page:Speech of the Rev. T. Spencer, of Bath, delivered at the meeting of the Anti-Corn-Law League.pdf/12

4 Now, at present we have anything but peace and happiness among us we have anything but prosperity in our land;—and why does not Sir Robert Peel, when he hears this prayer, know that he himself is acting contrary to the spirit of the prayer-book, so long as he declines going to the very foundation which is here described as the best foundation—cheapness and plenty—by allowing men to buy wherever they can to their own best advantage, and allowing them to sell wherever they can to their own best advantage? (Loud cheers)

I hold Free Trade to be one of the rights of man (loud cries of "Hear") that nothing can take from him; I hold it to be a right to be exercised at all times, under all circumstances, and with all nations, and that there can be no case in which Free Trade ought to be infringed upon. It is the only true foundation. God has caused the earth to be differently divided, some climates being warmer, some colder, some possessing iron, some possessing corn, some fruits; but all these things diversified, so that when there is not " corn in Canaan, there is in Egypt;" and it was His intention that man should have the benefit of that which was produced in every part of the earth: it is for His honour and our comfort that it should be so—and the Christian religion, which is declared to be "Glory to God in the highest; peace on earth, and good- will towards men," can never be fully carried out until the ministers of that religion come forward and advocate this great and good principle. (Great cheering.) I have before me the testimony of a very great man in his day—a man, indeed, who has not been a very long time dead—not a clergyman of my own church, but Robert Hall, the Baptist minister. (Hear, hear.) He says, "If there is any class of persons whose opinion on these questions are entitled to deference and respect, they are, undoubtedly, political economists men who have made the sources of national wealth the principal subject of their inquiry; and where shall we fir d one, from Adam Smith to the present time, who has not reprobated the^interference of the legislature with the price of corn. To say nothing of the reasoning of that great philosopher, which is unanswerable, common sense will teach us that laws to raise the price of such a commodity are unjust and oppressive upon the whole community for the exclusive benefit of a part." (Loud cheers.)

Now I may be told that the Free Trade, which I have advocated can hardly be carried out in the case where the countries we trade with grow their produce by slave -labour; and, as I have taken some conspicuous part in this matter, I may be allowed now, after all that has been said in the country, to give my present opinions on this point. (Hear, hear.) I have no idea of altering a rule after it has been once established. If a man, in coming to the Bible, for instance, once makes up his mind, from external and internal evidence, that its pages are genuine and authentic, then he is not to cavil at any particular word afterwards, but recollect the conclusion he had previously come to. (Hear, hear.) Every science takes for granted certain axioms and definitions. Euclid begins with his definitions and postulates. If you grant these you must not deviate from them; in every proposition afterwards you must take them for granted, and as settled. So Sir Isaac Newton, when he commenced his "Principia," begins with his definitions, his axioms, and postulates; and, if we go so far with him, we must not afterwards quarrel with him on these points. So in this country, supposing we did not know a place where slavery existed—suppose we did not yet know America—suppose we did not yet know the Brazils and its inhabitants—and suppose we had come to the conclusion that Free Trade was the right of man, that it was only just—that it was only right that he should be allowed to enjoy that self supporting and self-adjusting system which would enable every man to do his best in the markets of the world, you are not afterwards to alter it from circumstances either here or there—you cannot say, "You shall not trade with Russia," because the Emperor has not pleased us with his conduct towards the Poles; you shall not trade with another country because they are Mahometans, or because they are idolators, and rob God of the honour due to him. But am I to be answerable for all these