Liberty in the Old World. The people are beginning to wake up from their long sleep, and ask their rulers for liberty: the boon must be granted. Tyrants cannot hold their empire much longer over prostrate humanity. God made his creatures to be free: and the voice of his Providence can be heard among the confused struggles of the race, proclaiming that his lofty purpose is being carried into effect. "Oh yes, blessed be God, we shall have a free world yet. You may live to see it, but I shall not. But my faith is strong in man, and in Heaven. And although God may not let me see the great brotherhood of man enter the Promised Land, yet he will suffer me to stand on the Mountain of Vision, and view the land afar off. Oh! humanity! what greatness there is in man when he is free!" When I commenced this letter, I did not intend to trespass so long upon your patience. That your last days may be as peaceful and happy as your whole life has been honourable and illustrious, is the prayer of Your humble friend, C. EDWARDS LESTER. To the Hon. John C. Spencer. IN ancient times those men were considered worthy the highest honour who became illustrious in government and letters; and although you cannot consider yourself flattered in being addressed by so humble an individual, yet I trust you will award to the writer the simple merit of appreciating those qualities by which you have rendered yourself distinguished in the political and literary world. As a member of the Legislature, and Speaker of the House of Assembly of your own state; in the National Congress; as a lawyer and jurist; and as Secretary of State for New-York, you have been alike eminent for patriotism, learning, and a deep regard for the interests of the people. But should after times be unmindful of every other claim you may have upon their remembrance, your name will never cease to be mentioned with gratitude, so long as the walls of a district school-house shall be left standing in the Empire State. I have ever considered our system of common school education as the glory of our country. We shall never see oppression, want, or vice prevail among our people, so long as the means of intellectual and moral elevation are placed within their reach. Our children shall never bow down at the feet of a tyrant, while in every hamlet the lights of science illuminate the popular mind. With the subject of this letter you have no doubt been long familiar. At no period has the public mind of Great Britain and America been so feelingly alive to the evils, the injustice, and the oppressive character of the existing Corn Laws, as at present. Nor has there ever been so general a conviction that the time has arrived when the interests of Great Britain imperatively require that they be immediately and totally abolished. This subject is instinct with human life! It is no less a question, than on what terms shall an Englishman breathe; on what conditions his mouth shall open and shut, his jaws and teeth perform the duties of action and re-action: yea, more, this Corn Law legislation deals directly with the stomachs of men, forbidding those ancient and anxious customers any employment of their skill in the great art of digestion, until a solemn question has been settled with the three kingdoms of the British Empire. One would suppose, to see the ruinous operation of the Corn-Laws upon the whole manufacturing system; their horrible results upon the working classes, and the crime, suffering, and discontent they immediately cause, that the English Aristocracy has been struck blind; furnishing another illustration of the truth of the ancient maxim, "Whom the gods wish to destroy they first make mad.” No man who has watched the aspects of English society for the last few years, can wonder that there is there such a "dragon as popular discontent." Indeed, I was astonished at nothing I witnessed abroad so much as the endurance of the English people. But America is also deeply interested in this question; for no man can estimate the advantages we should gain by a repeal of the CornLaws. This, as well as many other matters of vital interest and importance, will more clearly appear in the progress of this letter. I am well aware that this is a subject which requires more experience and knowledge than I am able to bring to its elucidation; still there are a few things that I will mention which cannot but be obvious to every mind. What is the nature, then, of the present CornLaws? After the peace of 1815, a law was passed, which excluded all foreign corn from the British ports until the price of wheat at home reached eighty shillings the quarter. This law originated in the desire to preserve, during a state of peace, the high rents and prices which had existed during the war. The interests of the landholders alone were consulted in this cruel enactment; whose provisions were such, that no grain could be imported, until the scarcity became so great that the people were upon the verge of famine. The measure was opposed with great ability by several of the most eminent statesmen of the times; and Lord Grenville drew up a protest, embodying the views of the minority; but the landed interest prevailed. By an overwhelming majority the bill passed both Houses, |