And now, gentlemen, what is the condition of the great body of the people?  In the first place, gentlemen, they have for centuries been in the full enjoyment of that which no other country in Europe has ever completely attained—­complete rights of personal freedom.  In the second place, there has been a gradual, and therefore a wise, distribution on a large scale of political rights.  Speaking with reference to the industries of this great part of the country, I can personally contrast it with the condition of the working classes forty years ago.  In that period they have attained two results—­ the raising of their wages and the diminution of their toil.  Increased means and increased leisure are the two civilizers of man.  That the working classes of Lancashire and Yorkshire have proved not unworthy of these boons may be easily maintained; but their progress and elevation have been during this interval wonderfully aided and assisted by three causes, which are not so distinctively attributable to their own energies.  The first is the revolution in locomotion, which has opened the world to the working man, which has enlarged the horizon of his experience, increased his knowledge of nature and of art, and added immensely to the salutary recreation, amusement, and pleasure of his existence.  The second cause is the cheap postage, the moral benefits of which cannot be exaggerated.  And the third is that unshackled press which has furnished him with endless sources of instruction, information, and amusement.

Gentlemen, if you would permit me, I would now make an observation upon another class of the laboring population.  This is not a civic assembly, although we meet in a city.  That was for convenience, but the invitation which I received was to meet the county and all the boroughs of Lancashire; and I wish to make a few observations upon the condition of the agricultural laborer.  That is a subject which now greatly attracts public attention.  And, in the first place, to prevent any misconception, I beg to express my opinion that an agricultural laborer has as much right to combine for the bettering of his condition as a manufacturing laborer or a worker in metals.  If the causes of his combination are natural—­that is to say, if they arise from his own feelings and from the necessities of his own condition—­the combination will end in results mutually beneficial to employers and employed.  If, on the other hand, it is factitious and he is acted upon by extraneous influences and extraneous ideas, the combination will produce, I fear, much loss and misery both to employers and employed; and after a time he will find himself in a similar, or in a worse, position.