ated to the taste and apprehension of men
who labour daily for their bread, and are of course indifferent to
refinement either of language or reasoning."--Quoted by Lord Sandon,
20th June 1836; _Parl. Debates_ (_Commons_), vol. xxxiv. col. 649.

[279] The duties on newspapers at that time were (1) the duty on paper,
3d. per pound weight (1/4d. a sheet), (2) a duty of 4d. a copy, (3) a
duty of 3s. 6d. on every advertisement.

[280] "The change which had taken place in the political condition of
the country made it essential to communicate to the people sound
political knowledge and information. He would say that the security of
that House, living, as it did, in the affections of the people--of the
Government, possessing, as it did, the confidence of the people--and of
the Monarchy, reigning, as it did, and as he trusted it ever would, in
the hearts of the people, depended upon the diffusion of sound political
knowledge."--Chancellor of Exchequer, 20th June 1836; _Parl. Debates_
(_Commons_), vol. xxxiv. col. 634.

[281] "Many of these publications circulated to the amount of several
thousand copies weekly; their sale, in several instances, was larger
than the sale of some among the most popular legitimate papers; their
influence over large bodies of the working classes was much
greater."--E. Lytton Bulwer, 14th June 1832; Ibid., vol. xiii. col. 623.

"You have laws imposing severe penalties upon those who are guilty of
breaches of these laws; but it has been found impossible to stop the
sale of those cheap and obnoxious publications by fiscal laws; and the
success with which they are broken, the sympathy excited in favour of
the offenders, and the assistance which they receive, only give
encouragement to pursue the same course. I have been informed that,
within the last fortnight or three weeks, between forty and fifty
persons have been taken before the police magistrates, and convicted for
selling these publications."--Mr. O'Connell, 14th June 1832; Ibid., vol.
xiii. col. 637.

"As long as the Tories were in power Lord Liverpool, or even Canning,
could consistently advocate the restriction of political discussion. But
the fact that the Whigs had now held office since 1830, and that the tax
remained undiminished, was only to be explained by their rooted
disbelief in every principle which they professed to hold.

"Year after year Place had brought the question forward. Every year the
Chancellor of the Exchequer decla