[T]he Conservative party...cannot deny that Trade is prosperous, That the people are contented, That the Labourer has a greater Command than he ever had over the Necessaries and Comforts of Life.
That Chartism is extinguished, or at least fast asleep.
That the Church is stronger than ever it was except for its own internal stupid differences & Controversies.
That any wish for organic Change in the Constitution, for addition to popular privileges, is dormant.
That the Revenue is so prosperous that our calculations of deficiency are certainly baffled.
That our monetary system is sounder than it has ever been, and yet that there has been boundless activity in commerce and in all speculations of gain.
That even Land is increasing in value in consequence of the prosperity of Commerce.
But we have Reduced protection of agriculture, and tried to lay the foundation of Peace in Ireland, and these are offences for which nothing can atone.
Former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (1788–1850)
Sir Robert Peel, 2nd Baronet (5 February 1788 – 2 July 1850) was a British Conservative statesman who served twice as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (1834–1835 and 1841–1846) simultaneously serving as Chancellor of the Exchequer (1834-1835) and twice as Home Secretary (1822–1827 and 1828–1830). He is regarded as the father of modern English policing, owing to his founding of the Metropolitan Police Service. Peel was one of the founders of the modern Conservative Party.
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My belief is, that a wiser decision than that to which you came—to subject property to direct taxation within certain limits—to remove the prohibition upon foreign cattle—to permit swine and sheep to be imported—to reduce the duty on corn, on sugar, on lard, on butter, and on cheese—you never made. My belief is that you have been amply repaid for any loss you may have sustained by that reduction; that you have gained the confidence and goodwill of the labouring classes in this country, by parting with that which was thought to be directly for the benefit of the landed interest. It was that confidence in the generosity and justice of Parliament which in no small degree enabled you to pass triumphantly through that storm which convulsed other nations during the year 1848.