1 6-12-29 MVP. TO THE MEMBERS OF ANTI-CORN-LAW SOCIETIES, WITH THE MOST SINCERE WISH AND HOPE, THAT THEIR GENEROUS ENDEAVOURS, AND UNEXAMPLED LABOURS, IN BEHALF OF SUFFERING HUMANITY, MAY BE SPEEDILY CROWNED WITH TRIUMPHANT SUCCESS, These Pages are dedicated, BY THE AUTHOR. PREFACE. THE Letters of Diogenes are meant to resemble the strongly-marked sketches exhibited in booksellers' windows, for the purpose of attracting customers to the valuable volumes on the shelves within. Though a vast deal has been written about the Corn Law, daily experience convinces me that its nature is far from being generally understood. Indeed out of the immediate range of commercial circles, I have met with many well-educated men, absolutely unacquainted with the provisions and details of this enactment, and very small is the number of those who seem to have made it a subject of prolonged inquiry and regular study. Yet one would think, that what has so long agitated all parties, and repeatedly threatened to separate the nation into two irreconcilable factions, must claim general consideration. Even if chance, I mean bad seasons, should occasionally afford a temporary solution of the difficulty, still this vital question cannot be left for ever to the decision of such unstable arbiters as wind and weather; the moment must come when an opinion or a vote will be required from every one, and there can be no doubt, but all rational and conscientious men ought |