On the Corn Laws. 153 



other objects to be attended to, as the manly vigour, and moral habits 

 of a nation, of much higher importance than the mere acquisition of 

 wealth. 



22. That the present unsettled state of the corn laws, is highly un- 

 favourable to the interests of agriculture : That it prevents those ex- 

 ertions for improvement that would otherwise take place ; nor is it 

 possible, during that state of uncertainty, to form any just idea, what 

 ought to be the rent of a farm, or the value of an estate. 



23. That if we wish to continue a great arid flourishing country, 

 our object ought to be, to lay the foundation of national prosperity, 

 on the basis of domestic, and not of foreign agriculture, and with 

 that view, that it is incumbent upon us to take care, that the prices of 

 agricultural produce stall be such, as to encourage production, and 

 shall not have the effect of driving inferior soils out of cultivation. 

 That if such an unfortunate event were to take place, thousands of 

 industrious individuals, who depend for subsistence on the culture and 

 produce of such lands, would be reduced to misery ; extensive tracts 

 of country would be rendered waste ; and all hopes of any farther 

 improvement of our national territory must be abandoned. 



24. That even those British Statesmen, who were the least favour- 

 able to the agricultural interests, admitted the danger of depending on 

 foreign supplies for food. 



That the late Lord Liverpool, in a speech on the 15th March 1815, 

 admitted, that a nation of 10, 15, or 20 millions of people, could not 

 depend on foreign nations for the necessaries of life, without the most 

 palpable impolicy, and the greatest danger : And that Mr Huskisson, 

 in a speech, on 27th of February 1815, expressed his apprehension of 

 the hazard of such dependence. " If foreigners, (he said), withheld 

 " their corn from us, it might only affect their revenue ; but the want 

 " of corn, might inflict on this country the mischiefs of revolution, and 

 " might occasion the subversion of the state" 



25. That those who must procure food from other nations, must 

 ever be dependent on those who sell it : That the celebrated commer- 

 cial cities of Tyre and Sidon, (the London and the Liverpool of an- 

 cient times), who depended upon Judea for grain, had rashly ven- 

 tured to quarrel with Herod the King, but finding their error, that 

 they were compelled to bribe the King's ministers to obtain a supply. 

 " They made, (we are told), Blastus the King's Chamberlain their 

 " friend, and desired peace, because their country was nourished by 

 " the King's country * ." That such is the state, to which the degene- 

 rate sons of commerce, would wish to reduce this mighty empire. 



26. That the northern countries of Europe, are not to be depended 

 upon for a constant supply of ^rain : That, in Dr Aikin's Annals of 

 George III. (2d edition, vol. i. p. 358,) we are told, " That in the 

 " year 1785, destructive inundations occurred in several parts of Eu- 

 " rope, particularly in Germany, where vast losses were sustained. 

 " This calamity, joined to the inclemency of the seasons, occasioned 

 " a scarcity, approaching to a famine, in the north of Europe." What 



Acts, ch. xii. v. 20. 



