logical; he carefully collected and massed his facts, and used strong,
homely Saxon English, and short crisp words; he was a master of telling
epigram whose force lay in its truth as much as in its humor. Several
volumes of his speeches have been published: 'On Public Affairs'; 'On
Parliamentary Reform'; 'On Questions of Public Policy'; 'On the American
Question,' etc. His life has been written by Gilchrist, Smith,
Robertson, and others. He died March 27th, 1889.

FROM THE SPEECH ON THE CORN LAWS (1843)

It must not be supposed, because I wish to represent the interest of the
many, that I am hostile to the interest of the few.

But is it not perfectly certain that if the foundation of the most
magnificent building be destroyed and undermined, the whole fabric
itself is in danger? Is it not certain, also, that the vast body of the
people who form the foundation of the social fabric, if they are
suffering, if they are trampled upon, if they are degraded, if they are
discontented, if "their hands are against every man, and every man's
hands are against them," if they do not flourish as well, reasonably
speaking, as the classes who are above them because they are richer and
more powerful,--then are those classes as much in danger as the working
classes themselves?

There never was a revolution in any country which destroyed the great
body of the people. There have been convulsions of a most dire character
which have overturned old-established monarchies and have hurled thrones
and sceptres to the dust. There have been revolutions which have brought
down most powerful aristocracies, and swept them from the face of the
earth forever, but never was there a revolution yet which destroyed the