The Sun. — London, England, 1835-07-20 00:00:00

Too* Vind ly 19• amde n v ole; g t the 7 a ylor, I gsto ll, unbill , from ,sbo pa in• NO' , star. LITERATURE. TA L. ES OF THE PEERAGE AND THE PEASANTRY. Edited by Lady DAcnx. In 3 Vols. London : R. Bentley, 1835. These tales are at once graceful, natural, and en tertaining. The moral throughout is obvious, and the sentiments bespeak an amiable and accomplished woman, rather than a profound observer of ',lie mo tives which influence human conduct. The tales are a transcript of what passes in the circles from which the materials are drawn ; so that the reader will neither be startled by what might appear incredible, nor be under the necessity of pausing to analize the truth of a proposition, or to examine the correctness of a conclusion. The " Countess of Nithsdale," and " Blanche" are our favourite talcs. The heroine of the first is a beautiful creation, which could only have been imagined by a lady whose mind was replenished With the noblest sentiments relative to all that consti tutes a perfect female character. These volumes abound in correct delineations and manners, and in passages of great beauty, both in sentiment and ex pression. , boror SEA SIDE COMPANION, or MARINE NAT V RAL HISTORY. Whittaker. London. 1835. W e are indebted for this interesting little work to a young lady named Roberts, who is, already favourably known to the younger class of readers by her publica tion, entitled the " Conchologist's Companion." The work is illustrak i d with numerous wood -cuts, a few of which are worthy even of Bewick, and contains some varied and amusing reading. POPE'S WORKS. Vol. 3. Vain,. London. 1835. W e havehere Pope's Dunciad—the most elaborately, th oug h not the most happily, finished of all his works— entire, with Warburton's notes attached, and a few un important ones from the pen of the editor. Few, we be lieve have ever had the courage to read this poem right through, but most readers are acquainted with detached portions of it. It abounds in exquisite satirical touches, and the closing passage rises almost to the sublime ; but, as a whole, it is wearisome and monotonous. The embellishments of the present volume are two in num ber, but not so striking, as to call for any particular notice. SPORTING INTELLIGENCE. 4., Thy St%nley LirE Rp 0 OL JULY MEETING—FIun4r. Stakes of 20 sovs. each, h. ft., with 30 added. T. Y. C. 6 subs. Hon. E. M. L. Mostyn' s Usury, by Banker Ly e 1 Sir J. Boswell names Denhall Mr. Johnson's Venus Mr. R. Turner's b. f. by Langar 4 Won in a canter. Th e Stand Cup, value 100 sovs., added to a Sweepstakes of 10 sovs. each. Two miles an a half. 15 subs. MSir J. 13 osvvell's General Chasse J Holmes 1 r. Barrow's Catharina, 5 yrs: 2 Sir R.W. Bnlkeley's Lambkin 2 1 / 1 , Won by a length. High odds on the w i nner . 2 A rtowesley Dinner Stakes of 100 sovs. each, h. ft., for three yrs old. On ce roun d. 14 su b s . Mr. Mostyn's Queen of Trumps ...Lye 1 Mr. Houldsworth's Hectic Lord Wilton names c. by Conductor 11, 3 and 4t o l on the Queen, who won very easy. - "e Farmers' Plate of 80 sovs. ; three yrs old, 6st. 91b ; f our yrs , 4 8 st. 21b ; five yrs, Bst. 81b ; six, Bst. 121 b ; aged, 9st. -Heats i wo utiles. Maiden colts allowed 21b., and fillies 31b. Mares and geldings allowed 31b ; winners 31b. extra. Doke of L eeds's Zohrab, 4 yrs Templeman 1 3 1 . Barrow's b. m. Catherina, 5 yrs 2 1 2 M n. r. Bowers's Mr. Merryman, 4 yrs nurrr. Crompton's Mayflower 4 4 4 Thy • Nanney's Ratcatcher, 5 yrs whin ' Main of cocks for 500 guineas, between Messrs. Walker and G eneral was won by the former by one battle. ,i,eneral Chasse does not go to Goodwood. Iliuidica STAMFORD RACES.— FRIDAY. Sweepstake s of 5 sovs. each, with 25 sovs. added from the t'und. Heats, once round and a distance.. 5 subs. Air. Wilders's Stonesby, 5 ❑ yrs ...Wilders 1 1 rAir. B oor's Lincoln Lass, 5 yrs A!r. T. Standwell's Vixen, 5 yrs r• S tevens's Palmerine, 5 yrs Th e -,,,.`r• nurbidge's Quicksilver, 4 yrs '' nbl ernen and Gentlemen's Plate of 50/. Three yrs old, Est. 121 b agedA ; four yrs, Bst. 7 1 ,b31b ; 6 yrs, 9st. 81b ; and , ° , t• 1016. The bat' of three heats, twice round to a heat. . he winne r o f a Plata, Cup, or Sweepstakes to carry 4lb s. extra, including the Plates of Wednesday and Thursday in the present meeting. The winner to be sold for 150 guineas if demanded, &c. Lord Chesterfield's Bon Ton Boyce 1 1 Lord E xeter ' s B od i ce .................. 2 2 General Grosvenor's Mousetrap ........................ 3 Match for 50 sovs. h. ft. New mile.—Mr. T. Standwell names Quicksilver, 4 yrs, ldst., received forfeit of Mr. Perkins's Queen of Trumpe, 5 yrs, list. FASHIONABLE INTELLIGENCE. The Duke d e Stackpoole, AßßlVALS from a continental tour ; lion. L ieut.-Colonel and Mrs. Perceval, from the Continent ; Lord Chichester, from ditto; the Hon. Arthur Trevor, in Pall- Thall, f rom Wi c k over P ar k , Stony Stratford ; Hon Capt. an d Mrs. Villiers, from the Continent ; Lord and Lady Bar rington Dynevor, and the Hon. Misses Rice, in Dover- s t reet, fre esßarrington Park, Oxon ; Si r H e d worth and the Hon. Lady Williamson, from Montburn H ouse , D urham : the Earl of Courtown, Kettering Northamtonshire L OdY Morris, from Br i ghton; Sir , Geo. Gou p ld, from a our f o r Wm. W oo d, f rom B r i g h ton ; Vi scount Bolingbroke, Im 'Min ditto ; Mr. an d M rs . M oore H a l se y, i n C onduit-street, Naples. V Estrvius.—Vesuvius is still agitated by i n t erna l "Avulsion s , an d th i c k clouds of smo k e cont i nually envelop its summit. When these clouds, which are filled with volcanic 431 'es, descend on the plain, and a heavier rain than usual falls thate same time, the latter acquires such a corrosive quality mthe leaves wetted by it almost immediately wither and fall the as in autumn. This phenomenon, which is injurious to ...e vines in particular at this season, and has not occurred for long time, has been s evera l ti me s noticed for the l ast two t i r e u tbs, and has filled with cons t ern ation the inhabita n t s near r Somma, the grapes of which produce the celebrated Lach -Y,ul Christi. The government has excused almost all those Rine districts from the payment of ground rent, and will give line unfor tunate wine-grower further relief.—A//genzeine Z ei - " 9, July 12. H~The Rev. Vere Monro is about to publish a Nar s r ive of his lat e E xcurs i on to Egypt, Syria, and. Canaan, an, researches have enabled him to determine the p . recise lo calities alluded to by the sacred historians and the prcpbets ; 4 :d , in this way, his illustration of the Scriptures is t'uller and `,'„°_l;e convincing than any accomplished by othe.. travellers. ,u4ausisii:mode.ed, was the purpose of his . journey. The Bible fled t guide- was and, by its unerring pays, he was quali -8!10 detect many traditional errors into v:nich the ignorant .Piterstition of the natives had betrayed them, and to reconcile utt t has often puzzled the anxious Chris',ian inquirer. now All the 'circ u i ts, except that ei't . North Wales, have c o m menced; th e business, both civil and criminal, is ex pected to be everywhere uniisual } ,y light. It was stated from the R',:nch, at the Wakefield petty S t S e s ion s, last week, that in conseq of fora in hi' pow New W eights and Mee. sures Act, uence justices an of in Ridin m gs lity have er to convict uncle. : its provisions. ( . i . c e ° u n p it ie A ti N th cr;eEe days, AGEs. After the evidence, which had been gone through in the case of the Ic ° o u rn g Woman w1..0 was killed on the 12th of July, we learn, ret, the Beffr_st News Letter, that the Jury last Thursday Moorrnecl the 'following verdict :—" That the deceased (Anne ta r ., i e) ' cP•me by her death from a gun-shot fired by the mili- Beffasn.o:,e discharge of their duty, in quelling a riotous mob in of jl„ 'Y inby order o f t h e M ag i strates, on the evening of the 12th stant." preOn Thursday - last, her Grace th e D uc h ess d e M assa, t he Bar on and Baroness de Varenne, had the honour of senting their respects to her Majesty, at Windsor Castle. itt pile reason for the falling- off of law business, both Stateozion, and on the Circuits - , is said to be the . undecided % . vitt "t Which causes remain after trial, the practice of 7- ti o4 g Points for the consideration of Courts above, in adoi -1,4? the numbers of, and delay in obtaining new trials, hav .l creased the " glorious uncertainty " to a most incon lent extent. THaNn E C y OMNIITTEE ON TILE GREAT YARMOUTH tne et i n aa K PETITIONS.-This Committe e h e ld a p re li m i nary lio us - e - g ,, on Saturd ay i n t h e C omm i ttee Room, No. 3, in the tioner s I . co mmons. M r s. A s h urs t, th e agent for the peti- TL, c ' o u as called in, but no b us i ness was pu bli c l y transacted. tb e chaTnimittee is to meet aga i n thi s d a y, w h en i t i s expecte d an will be chosen. praha Dab ° in and Yates have paid to the stewards and to_ sns who conducted the grand fete on the opening of' the th em r u m upwards of five hundred pounds, to be divided by eve n i,.mongst the various charities to which the profits of that c o l os "_a Were devoted. The enterprising proprietors of the rselint are entitled to great praise for their liberality. ears has Adel hi Theatre, which for the last seven ti f d f !, ll a been so profitably conducted by Mr. Yates on be 144ttublhimself and his late partner, the . lamented Mr: Chas. abl e ws, will, we understand, be again opened under the Il ee management of Yates, who has already engaged John A d . 1 ;e , and the majority of the company who performed at the eiphi during the last season, fro' frov i QUC rff po," fro' Alex . is , ' ckla rA gilds, re this )se hiii, ,a, t" TAXES ON N4WSPAPERS. On Saturday, a meeting was held at the Crown and Anchor Tavern, for the purpose of petitioning ford total repeal of the stamp duties on newspapers. Long before the proceedings commenced, the great hall, which contains 2,000 persons, was , full in every part. Among othet s getAiieil on the platform we observed Mr. O'Connell, M. I , Mr. Grote, M. P., Mr. Hume, M. P., Dr. Bowrllig, M. P., Mr. R oe b uc k, M. Sir W. Molesworth, :it P., Mr. Wallace, M. P., Colonel Evans ) M. P. Mr. Tulk, M. P., Mr. W a kl ey , M.P., D r . Bi r kb et k , the ReVi J. M. Fox, Dr. Epps, &c. Lord BROUGHAM arrived at half-past two o'clock, anti was greeted with loud cheers. Havi_Li; taiten the chair, he pro cecdnd to say—Gentlinen : In opening the business of this meeting, I bag to return my thanks to my fells,* Citizens for the distinguished honour they have confet.i bn me on this im portant occasion, in asking mew! take the chair. I received your requisition signed by Pi 'names, being the names of some of the most respeetstiiis inhabitants, merchants. trader, end others of various professions in the cities of London and 'Westminster, and I hesitated not for a moment to obey the call.—( Cheers.) I shall not detain you long now, as I shall have occasion here after, before the meeting closes, to address a few observations to you; but you are all well AVON that the subject which brings us together is one in which the public have, whatever some interested parties may say, long felt a deep and general, and of late au universal interest.—(Cheers.) I am sure no words of mine, in opening the business of the day, can be wanting to explain what it is which brings us here; but I shall make way for those who are about to propose for your acceptance certain resolutions, which, if adopted, and it ap pears to me they are framed in the spirit of perfect modera tion, combined with accuracy of principle, becoming the firm ness of language in which you should speak ; and if those re solutions receive your sanction, let them be adopted by this vast assembly to-day, and I feel confident that they will be productive of the happiest results to our great cause—( Hear, hear)--because, I venture to say that they will produce public improvement, correct manners, sound principles, and politi cal improvement—( Cheers)—and of every species of advance ment and important progress which most interests the people to assist, and which it befits those who are anxious for the public good to make.--(Great cheering.) Again I acknow ledge my sense of the honour conferred on me, and my in tention now to make way for those who are to address you, and at the head of whom stands one of the soundest friends of all improvement—the most valued and tried friend to the great cause, whom I have ever known—and with whom I am always happy to co-operate, and whom I have known more than a third part of a century—l mean Dr. Birkbeek. Such a man as this, who never mixed up with party politics, shows by his presence that our design is far removed above all the vulgar contests of faction.--( Cheers.) But though, as well as me, he is a friend to knowledge, and therefore an enemy to a ll taxes on knowledge, nevertheless there are others by whom I am surrounded, who are not insensible to the primary impor tance of one species of knowledge upon which the taxes, per haps, press the most heavily and cruelly—l mean political knowledge.—(Loud cheering.) I mention these things merely that it may not be supposed I am one of those foolish people who are willing that the people should learn what ever they please, except that which it most befits them to know—their political rights and their duties as citizens.— ( Hear.) I place the two words together, because I have found, by experience, that the better men know their rights, ' the better they will do their duty.—(Cheers.) 'With these few preliminary observations, I take my leave of you for the present, and I hope in the course of this meeting, (and I am sure of it) all violence both of language and opinion will be avoided, because they are not wanted where men are in the right, and feel it, and know it.—(Hear.) I am confident your discretion and good conduct here this day will prevent our motives from being misrepresented and misconstrued by those watchful and dextrous agents of various kinds by whom we are surrounded.—(Cheers.) Dr. BIRKBRCK, in moving the first resolution, observed that he had been all his life the friend of the diffusion of use ful knowledge, and had exerted himself, so far as lay in his power, to remove every obstacle to its general dissemination among the people. He appeared before them that day for the purpose of proposing the most comprehensive and gene ral of the resolutions to be submitted to the meeting. He fully coincided in every word of it ; and he was satisfied the respectable assemblage before him would also do so ; and he should, therefore, with little emphasis or preparation, after reading the resolution, submit it to them. The resolu tion was as follows : " That the prosperity of every community is dependant upon the knowledge diffused among its members ; that newspapers have been justly deemed the great instrument of civilisation, and therefore the stamp duties tend to destroy the effects of that instrument, and perpetuate the evils of moral and political ignorance."—( Cheers.) Never was a proposition submitted to the adoption of any public body of greater importance, and he believed there could not be the slightest opposition to it in the numerous and respectable meeting before Loud cheers.) He would only observe, that so far as the question had been tried, mankind had nothing to fear but from ignorance ; and that truth, of whatever description, whether moral, political, or popular, had never, in the slightest degree, injured mankind. Whenever they had suffered, it was because they were imper fectly informed. He conceived that the newspaper was a great instrument of civilization ; but if it was multiplied it would become much greater. Instead of being merely a newspaper, it would become a literary paper—a science paper; and if pro duced upon terms such as would place it within the reach of all, they would find that instead of being filled with useless discussions and false information, the appetite of the public would be such that the conductors of these papers would supply a very different material.--( Hear.) It had been alleged that the repeal of these taxes would interfere with vested rights ; but this he (Dr. B.) denied, and he believed that those con nected with newspapers at present would speedily find that so far from injuring their property, it would marvellously increase it. He trusted, therefore, that this absurd prejudice on the part of the newspaper proprietors (who were the least in his con sideration) would be at an end, for it was certain that no Go vernment nor no people could be injured by the extension of knowledge, of whatever kind. With these observations, and trusting that he would shortly see the day when knowledge would be diffused with that freedom which the demands of the people required, he begged to submit the resolution to the consideration of the meeting.--(Loud cheers.) Mr. HUME rose to second the resolution, amid loud and long continued cheering. He had attended the Meeting to assist in the important object for which the Committee had called them together. It afforded him great pleasure to support the excellent resolution which Dr. Birkbeck had proposed, and and that pleasure was only exceeded by the delight which he felt on seeing so great an assemblage met together for so laud able a purpose as demanding their rights, and the restoration of those privileges and advantages to which they were entitled, and which had so long been withheld. Despotism and igno rance were so closely allied that those who wished well to their country would dolall they could to separate them.—( Cheers.) Why should men be placed in the situation of not knowing what their rights were, and of knowing the proper mode of demanding those rights.—( Loud cheering.) Those who wished for the continuance of such a state of things were only anxious for the benefit of the few, and not the interest of the many.—(Cheers.—The institutions of the country at the pre sent moment in principle were excellent, but they had been subverted for the interest only of a few.--(Cheers.) The country was now awaking from its slumber, and was on the high road to its regeneration, and if perseverance was con tinued, it would be effected. Of taxes he would say nothing; all present knew very well that they had enough of them._ ( Laughter, and cries of " Too much.") If the people of Eng land had. not been beasts of burthen, instead of reasoning men, they never would have allowed such a state of things to exist. They had met this day for the purpose of attaining such a dif fusion of knowledge as was calculated to improve and enlighten man's reason and to raise him above the brute creation, and by so doing to enable him not only to estimate his rights, but also properly to discharge the duties those rights imposed. It was with that view that he and others had advocated the policy and justice of removing the taxes on knowledge. It was monstrous to see a country descended from Great Britain surpass her in the means of information and the general diffusion of know ledge amongst its community. He need scarcely say that he alluded to America, the smallest town, in which had more newspapers in circulation than had the metropolis of this great empire. The people of this country had long been kept in ignorance, in order that an oligarchy and corrupt Court might rule over and oppress them, and it was now time for them to stand forward and say " We have duties imposed upon us and rights to exercise, let us now have the best information, and by it be the better enabled to exercise those rights and perform those duties as citizens in such a manner as will be best cal culated to improve the social state of the community to which we belong." But to return to the state of things in this re spect which even now prevailed in America. His Hon. Friend the Member for Greenock ( Mr. Wallace) had produced before the House of Commons the newspaper which he (Mr. Hume) now held in his hand.—[The Hon. Gentleman here produced and exhibited to the muting an unusually large newspaper, and thus proceeded :]—Here was a sheet double the size even of a double Times—( Cries of " Do not mention the Times here,") which was published daily in America. On a ques tion of this kind, one fact was worth a thousand arguments. This large newspaper was published daily at the price of 1-d. or at an expense of 10 dols. or 455. per annum, with liberty to the subscriber to insert an advertisement daily throughout the year free of expense. Instead of Gs. or 7s. being re quired, as in this country, for a single advertisement, in Ame rica it would be published for 50 cents, or half a dollar— ( Cheers)—and a newspaper would be sent by post to any part of the state in which it was published, comprising in this in stance no less than 3,000 miles, at the small expense of one farthing. Compared with this sheet, the productions of Print ing-house-square were as nothing, for it contained no less than 1,371 advertisements. (At this moment the noise and con fusion outside announced the approach of Mr. O'Connell, who took his seat upon the platform amidst loud cheers.) Mr. Ilume proceeded. lie was delighted to witness the reception which his Hon. and Learned Friend had that day met, for he was satisfied a very little time longer would remove those prejudices from the minds of the people which had been at tempted to be raised against their true friends, who had been bold in asserting truth, fearless in enforcing rights, and deter mined in their exertions to maintain them. His excellent friend, Daniel O'Connell, had done all this, and as such at tempts which would ever fail were made to blacken and de tract from the services he had rendered his country. Ho apologized for detaining the meeting so long upon a resolu tion which could not be objected to, and which he now begged in conclusion most cordially to recommend to the adoption of the meeting. The Rev. Mr. Fox then stood forward to - propose the second Resolution—" TUat, in the opinion of the present meeting, if any portion cf this tax be retained, a very nu- TH.E SCI.N 2 ;LONDON, MONDAY, JULY 20, 1835. mesons and important class will continue to be deprived of tnat knowledge of passing events, without which none can properly diseharge the sinties of eititens s and that a m e r e re duction of the itarhp duty is id be deprecated as a half mea sure, which, by , lightening the bnrden; would only fix it th e more firmly bripn the ,Shodld'eri of the ppople, without realiz ing tht3 Benents tnat would necessai by arite froth a total repeal." He felt much pride in having been called upon to move such a Resolution. He had a strong aversion to half measures in general, and to the instance then in hand in par ticular. It waS net cf edit§cVetied tliat newspapers should Intik eticapti the iiiettlttre be carried out at once. Of what use would it be for on to a Staryi:g Man; WIIQ bad only 2d. i n hi s pocket, " ;NI) , good man, I pity your case, and I will red u ce the price or tills ithir fled I!.;ptti-..,e le rotirpt;ad; t fit positively no farther." He recollected very well a story of former days —a man was promised a guinea for every mile he walked North, and the same sum for every mile he walked'East. The conseqUente tvah, that he might be walking North East to this moment, but yet without earning a single shilling.._ (Laughter.) So it would be with the Government, if they attempted to take a North East course upon the present ques tion. It was such a subject as could not be compromised— the moment it was touched, it was sure to become of so much importance that it would yield to none even the most vital of the eternal interests of man. The present system of stamp laws was bad, because its effect was to throw the whole trade in the hands of a few—to make it a monopoly—and he was a decided enemy to monopolies of all kinds. They might, by legislation, attempt to put a curb upon the mighty steam en. gine, by the means of which some hundreds of thousands of people were enabled to disport themselves on the river—they might stop the means for healthful recreation, but they could never by any possibility stop the march of opinion and of knowledge.—(Cheers.) Could they even do that, they would make the people merely be a better clothed set of savages—a better fed set of savages than their fore fathers.—( Hear.) While these taxes were continued no man could go into the trade without some thousands of pounds of capital; the effect of which was, that the man of a mighty and gigantic mind was made the mere agent of some tronopo lizing Cheers)—and was obliged to blow his trum pet through the means of the capitalist, who gave his own tone to it.—[General Evans here ascended the platform, and was received with cheers.] These odious Taxes were detrimental to the interests of the literary man, and he (Mr. F.) was most sincerely anxious to see them abolished, because he was one of those who thought the pen a much more powerful as well as a more honourable instrument than the sword.—( Loud cheers.) They had been for three centuries learning the use of that mighty machine—the Press : it had hitherto been clogged, but he trusted the day had nosy come when the drag would be removed, and then it would start forth with an all-powerful impetus, and no one could calculate the mighty good it would do for the country. Hitherto it had been confined to the almost mere teaching of words to the people : let its fetters be broken— let the people demand that its bonds be loosened, and then the press would become a blessing to the country, and would gladen the heart of every patriot and freeman.---( Cheers.) They might hear the name of a hero put forth to fill the situa tion fit only for the profound Statesman—( Loud cheers)—they might then see such a farce without fear, for under the stan dard of a free and enlightened press, such as had been exhibited to the meeting by the worthy Member for the County, the people would march on to a good and moral victory. Dr. BOWRING rose to second the resolution. He was glad to see the people so determined to rid themselves of this ob noxious impost ; for when thus resolved, they would not be disappointed. These taxes were originally imposed under the pretext of fiscal considerations : but the real object was to create an atmosphere of moral darkness, that deeds of darkness might be committed without detection. There had been heard com plaints of taxes on property, but these were taxes on the pro perty of the mind ; there had been taxes on light, but these were taxes on the light of the mind ; there had been, and were taxes on food, but these were taxes on the food of the soul ; there were complaints against taxes on industry, but here was a tax on industry in its best and highest and noblest shape, for it was doing the most good to mankind in creating wiser and better men, and preparing for future generations something more exalted than those which have passed and gone.— ( Cheers.) He had never heard a shadow of an argument in favour of this tax, by which a hetacomb of the national intel lect was daily offered up at the shrine of tyranny and avarice, but which, if allowed to continue, would reflect eternal shame upon his countrymen. He should be ashamed of them, if they did not display moral courage and virtue enough to re dress that grieyous wrong.---(Cheers.) A report had got abroad, that a portion of this tax was to be surrendered to the opinion of the people ; but it was no account to be settled by halves.—( Hear, hear.) A long debt was due to the people, and they would have it paid to the uttermost farthing.— (Hear, hear.) The people would not consent to dwell any longer in twilight. It was true, as a speaker had already ob served, that a great battle was coming, and he trusted that the people would not want leaders.—(Cheers.) By that mighty instrument which the Noble Lord had so frequently referred to, and so often used in the interests of the people— (Cheers)—by that instrument, the guide of which was the mind, they must prevail • and need not care anyt hi ng for bru tal force, or oppres s i ve laws, or courtly menaces.—(Cheers.) The great interests of truth, knowledge, and freedom, had always been triumphant when in the keeping of enlighten ed men, and to secure that object was the intention of this meeting.—( Cheers.) The resolution was then put and carried unanimonsly. A person on the platform here claimed to be heard, as he had been " a vender and victim of unstamped papers." The CHAIRMAN said that at present there was no question before the meeting, and therefore for the sake of regularity, the gentleman had better reserve his observations until the next resolution had been moved and seconded, vriSen be should have a hearing. Mr. D. WAKEFIELD, in proposing the third resolution, hoped he was not preventing any other individual from ad dressing the meeting who had claims upon their suympathy, and who had been the victim of these most oppressive laws. He should detain the meeting, however, but a very few mo ments, and it could not for a moment be supposed that he whose duty it had frequently been to advocate the cause of those who bad been fastened upon by the harpies of the law, for breaches of the Newspaper Stamp Act, would in terfere to prevent a victim from being heard.—( Hear.) It was absurd in any Government to attempt to chain down the minds of men by persevering in this iniquitous tax. The people knew their own strength, and the value of the informa tion that was withheld from them, and they would demand the free and unshackled diffusion of knowledge in a voice that could not be mistaken, and with a una nimity which would make them irresistible. He was surprised that any enlightened Government could persist in the imposi tion of these iniquitous restrictions, for the sole purpose of dragging a miserable amount of taxation out of the pockets of the people ; and he trusted that one effect of their meeting that day would be to show the Legislature the utter impossi bility of continuing the present system much longer. They had heard many eloquent addresses that day, and there were many more to be delivered by some of the most eloquent and distinguished men that this country had ever produced.— ( Hear, hear.) It would, therefore, be unpardonable in him to trespass at any further length on their time. He should conclude by reading the Resolution to them, the purport of which was to put forward the sentiments of that meeting, and address them where information was, he feared, much wanted, the Houses of Lords and Commons.—(Hear, and a laugh.) Mr. Wakefield then read the Resolution, which was to the ef fect that petitions be presented to the two Houses of Parlia ment, praying for the immediate repeal of the stamp duty on newspapers, and at the earliest possible period every other tax affecting the diffusion of knowledge.—(Cheers.) Mr. GROTE, M. P., had the greatest satisfaction in seconding the resolution, and he could assure the meeting, that of all the thousand petitions daily presented to the Legislature, not one aimed at higher or nobler objects than that which they had met at present.—( Cheering.) He would venture to say, when he considered the numbers, intelligence, and respecta bility of the meeting, that the present petition would not be disregarded by the Imperial l'arliament.—( Hear.) Since he (Mr. Grote) had first been able to form an opinion, it had been his wish to see the people exercising a wholesome con trout over the Legislature ; but this he did not desire until he saw that the people were worthy of it ; and the only way, in his opinion, to render the people worthy of exercising that legitimate controul, was to make them enlightened and intel ligent, by removing all restrictions upon the diffusion of useful knowledge. Formerly, it had been the fashion to advocate the restriction of knowledge to the higher classes—such had been the system universally acted upon a hundred years ago; but he ( Mr. Grote) would be glad to see any per son who would now stand forward to advocate the policy of keeping the great mass of the people in ignorance and brutality. The desire for information was daily gaining ground among the people, and it would be impossible for any Government who wished to preserve the goodwill and support of the public to persevere much longer in restricting its general diffusion among all classes. Knowing, as he did, that many obstacles opposed themselves in a thousand quarters to a wise, and good, and economical Legislation, he scarce knew whom to trust for that peaceful moral declaration of decided and confirmed opinion, without which such improvement could not be brought about. Knowing, he repeated, as he did, the many obstacles that opposed themselves, he knew not where to look, except among a people universally instructed and educated —a people aware of their rights and anxious to fulfil their duties, and embodying the sentiments of those he saw around hire.___( Cheers. ) The vender and victim of unstamped newspapers here stood forward, and announced himself as Joseph Foster, adding, that he was one of those who had suffered under the Six Acts of Castlereagh. He had endured imprisonment ►.nder a Whig Government--( Laughter) —for selling unstamped publications, and he would now beg to read to the meeting a petition which he had sent for presentation to their Chairman, but of which " my Lord Brougham" refused to take charge. —( Loud cries of " Oh, oh," cheers, and confusion.) Mr. Foster, as soon as silence was obtained, read the petition, to which he alluded. It stated that he had been sentenced to two months' confinement by Mr. Chambers, the m agistrate, for selling unstamped newspapers, on the evidence of two per sons who were unworthy of credence, and urged the injustice of inflictidg so heavy a punishment for that which ought not to be considered an offence. lie had also solicited Mr. Roe buck and Mr. Wakley to present his petition, but those gen men refused, and it was now in the hands of Sir Samuel Whalley, and had been for two months.—(Hear, and oh.) He wished to know from the Hon. Member for London (Mr. Grote) whether he would present it to the House of Com mons? lie was an independent man, and therefore did not like to see .his complaint " Burked."—(Laughter.) He had applied to the Duke of Richmond and Lord Wharn cliffe, as well as to Lord Brougham to lay his petition on the cable of the House of Lords, but, of course, being Tories, those noblemen gave his application the go-by. 'r CHAIRMAN said he could assure Mr. Foster that this ' .' 4 of his petition, but when he went 1 i•.. .. wos the first be hart new,. home he should inquire about it. Mr, Posfma.— I wrote your Lordship a letter to know. .. you would present It, arid that letter' remaining unanswered, I concluded you declined to comply with my fetiitegt. The CHAIRMAN observed that he had no recollection of the letter, and asked when it had been sent? Mr. FOSTER.—About a fortnigN ?tee, CHAIRMAN said he feared the answer kOlt. to give woUld be anythit!st but satisrav:;;;" to Mr. Foster. The nuftiiief of iettefl ,Vtiiich readied him daily, varying fl - urn 90 to 100, obliged bird to iive 4 &en'i , pireeedeue'd id the order in which they were receives, atld it Wag Much as he; Msse cretary, and his clerk could do, to dispose df them even in that won He, did not doubt, but that though this convergittlun had not ensued, Mr. t'ostcr Wco,ld have received an answer to his letter in the course of the ensuing Week, At all events, he should give his attention to the subject, dad If Mr, Foster affixed a priver to his petition he (Lord Brougham) would un dertake to present It to the House of Parliament to which he belonged. The resolution having been put and carried tmonimously,_ -• ;f• The CIIAIRNIAN then explained to the meeting that' ft would be necessary for them to sign the petition. By the rules of the House of which he was a Member, a petition signed by the Chairman of a public meeting, was treated as the petition of an individual. Now, he knew that he had very little weight in the place to which he alluded—and, therefore, he did not wish the petition to be considered as proceeding from him. Mr. O'CONNELL here stood forward, and was received with enthusiastic cheers, and cries of " Get upon the table." He said that he was in favour of the floor.—( Laughter, and cries of " Oh, but we want to see you.") He was ono of the peo ple, and he therefore did not desire, and certainly would not seek elevation. --( Renewed laughter.) He was one of that sect of politicians that was deeply persuaded that every ame lioration of the social system could be made only in one way, —namely, by the force of public opinion ; that alterations might be effected by means of force, but improvements could only be brought about by the moral strength of combined and informed intellect. The history of this country proved that fact, especially the pages which told of the restoration of Charles 11., and which narrated the tyranny of Cromwell. The latter, by reason of an appeal to brute force, left the coun try in a worse state than that in which he found it while the former, by working upon the intelligence of the land, had ef fected a bloodless change. So also, so far as his own experience had gone, every amelioration had been produced by the effect of enlightened understandings. The meeting would remem ber, as well as he himself did, the times, when a proscription was placed on the man who did not believe in the exact square of 30 articles—when the Protestant Dissenter who threw overboard 18 of the 39, and the Roman Catholic who aided about 100 to them, were equally proscribed in their native land ; and because they worshipped God in the sin cerity of conscientious conviction, they were for that very virtue declared criminals, and proscribed as such in the land which gave them birth. A change in this respect had in their own times been brought about, not by an appeal to force, not by the effusion even of a single drop of blood, but by the improved sense of the community. So also with respect to the great change recently effected by the measure of Par liamentary Reform. That great measure had been brought to maturity and efficiency, not by an array of constables or of soldiers from the Horse Guards,—no sword had been un sheathed, and no weapon been brought forward except the argu ment, the reasoning, and the moral combination of the intellect of the people of England. It seemed to him that this was a dull sermon he was preaching, because these facts were well known to all who heard him. He must, however, remind them of a few obvious facts, and first he would point at the improvement which must result to many of the institu tions of the country by such additional information as would necessarily be afforded to the people if the press was free. He would first take the Sovereign on the throne, who, though irresponsible, became more secure as his subjects be came more informed; for when men became aware that the safety of their own families depended on the " fixity" of the throne, doubtless the security of that throne was increased. Again, in this manufacturing country, in which, though griev ances calling for redress existed, let but the people know and Ettnderstand that one day's insurrection would break up all her interests, and lead to the starvation of 2,000,000 of her people, and strict peace and tranquillity would result from such in formation being promulgated. This was said to be dangerous ground; he, however, thought otherwise—nay, he firmly be lieved that the more information was spread, the more secu rity would be afforded to the throne, as well as to the best and most important interests of the community. He hesitated not to declare his conviction that never was monarch safer on his throne than was King William IV. the day on which he affixed his signature to the measure of Parliamentary Reform. There was another institution in this country which in his judgment would be benefited by an increased circulation of information—he meant the House of Lords. He owned that he was not much pleased with the system of here ditary legislation, but this might be prejudice in favour of the noble individual who that day presided. —( Hear.) But he could not accord to the system by which, because a man's father was a peer, that man should become at 21 years of age, if his father should die, an hereditary judge of dernier ressort, and net only a Judge himself, but a begetter of Judges. How strange it would be if a man should ask another to be allowed to make him a coat, urging, as a qualification for the task, that his father was a tailor. Yet, this was quite reconcilable with the system of hereditary legislation. It might be said that the Peerage frequently served as a reward for a man whi had devoted his gigantic talents and energies to the cause of his country. He believed so, and was ready in that case to give that man the benefit of it. " Yes, my Lord," continued Mr. O'Connell, " vote are entitled te- that benefit ; and when I see the people's friend and the Peer in one and the same person, I am ready to contribute that crown of glory and honor which may serve as a halo round the head of the man." But still this was no reason why some additional light should not be thrown into the House of Lords ; upon the rats and owls who there delight in darkness, the light of knowledge ought to be made to shine, for there was ample room for it. The House of Commons, too, stood in need of illumination in this respect. With respect to the brood of hypocrites that House contained—hypocrites who said they would support the principle of the Corporation Reform Bill, yet sought to des lterodygeitiscedreetadiliskuhseedWgoellilideraatlylNa'hmeothngers,tift h i e nf p o e rm op a l t e i , on th a o n s d e know- hypo crites would not be scouted out of society by every well thinking man ? If the people were fully informed, would the House of Commons continue long to contain the Represen tatives not of the people, but of the 101. qualified, and the 50/. enfranchised portions of the community only ? No. In the present state of the representative system, be feared they would never have what they required ; the people would never be properly represented until every man was entitled to his vote. They had heard of such things as freemen in towns ; but, if knowledge was more generally diffused among the peo ple, they would know that these persons had obtained their freedom by a usurpation of the rights of their fellow citizens. The system was similar to that existing in the city of London, where none but liverymen were entitled to vote, and a payment of 401. to the Corporation to take out the livery gave a privilege which the other citizens of London did not possess till the passing of the Reform Bill.—( Cheers.) If newspapers could be circu lated at a cheap rate—if the people were better informed upon the principles of legislation, and that every man could ascertain his right to demand that representation should be coequal with taxation—( Loud cries of " Hear")—and that his share in the honours and advantages of the State should be coequal with his liability to serve his country in war, these anomalies would not exist much longer—( Cheers)—and a few would not enjoy all the honours and emoluments to the exclusion of the many. Why had not these defects in our social system been sooner reme died? Because the people had not had sufficient education and information upon these matters, and because the sources of knowledge were a sealed - book from the great bulk of the community. If this general knowledge was more generally diffused would the law remain in its present state—a disgrace to civilized society ? Would not those necessary reforms be speedily introduced, and the legal profession stripped of the cabalistical nayste,•y at present attached to it ?—( Cheers.) Was it not a fact that the most intelligent and enlightened man upon all other subjects, was a perfect child with respect to the law until he came to one of us legal conjurors ?—( Hear, and laughter.) He would not say one word of Judges in Equity —( Hear, and a laugh)--but was it not a fact that the intrica cies and absurdities of our Courts of Equity had almost swamped one of the most powerful and gifted intellects that had ever adorned the human frame ?—( Hear, hear.) He would not allude to the ridiculous importance and im plicit deference paid in that profession to the opinions of old judges, but this much he would not hesitate to say, that there never was a class of men who had done so much mischief to the cause of human liberty as the Judges of former times.----( Cheers.) If the people had but the necessary information to fathom the depths of this mischief— if the means were only placed within their reach of ascertain ing the amount of human misery occasioned by bad legislation, these things would not continue twelve months longer. Look at the effects of the present system of taxation upon the press. Look at the daily papers, the atrocious Times and the blood stained Standard.—( Hear, hear.) Could there be a more frightful lesson respecting the importance of throwing open the channels of political knowledge to the people. It had been rightly said that power was apt to corrupt those who possessed it, and it was thus with the villains belonging to the Times: when they had endeavoured to make the most of one party and had found they could not make enough, they could not resist the lure of bribes—not bribes of mere paltry money, for that they had, but bribes of power ; they had therefore wheeled to the right about, and thus this instrument of great influence and great talent, he admitted, had exhibited a most frightful instance of human profligacy, corruption, finesse, and treachery. They had abused him (Mr. O'Connell) on Monday—( Hear, and laughter)--an s d during the whole week they had abused him te, ice a day. --(Laughter.) Why had they done so ? Because it took 25,000/. to establish a news paper under the present system.---( Cheers.) Because, unless a man had 15,000/., or 20,0001., or 30,0001., he could not attempt to compete with them—and thus, by this monopoly of Power, they were enabled with impunity to affright the people with these instances of profligate immorality. The Dorchester labourers were in Botany Bay ; but what was their crime—what was the enormity they had committed compared to the crimes of the writer of the Times 2—( Hear.) Public pickpockets and thieves were sent to the treadmill for their misdemeanors against society ; but what was their crime, compared to that of the writers of the Times ?—( Laughter and " Hear, hear.") These men (the great offenders) " walked in purple and scarlet ' and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day ;" while tli. sentence of the law was inflicted without mercy upon petty offenders and minor wretches.—( Hear, hear, hear.) Let there be but a cheap press, and what, he ( Mr. O'Con nell) would ask, would become of Printing-house-square ? In4eacl of having one overgrown miscreant selling himself ','4 l 9ne party to. ay, and to another party to-morrow—in ' stead of having a miscreant conducting himself in such a way—and, really, he was astonished, in an enlightened society , where there Waylike that of England villain, a double r villain, with one f ace one d ay, an d another Fe another :: jf t -ould still continue to purchas e hi s ware--- day, that they . his, political and moral infor m ation (bond lattgliter)—inateaa . would tie thfcatn . open to wholesome and salutary competition. mNo respectable an i-inVid gdattd shake hands in the street with a common sheep-stealer ; in Ms (Mr. O'Connell's) ophtien, the sheep-stealer was not half so great eeiaereant as the 1 7 irli:a§a-4eleeere, and cries of " No, no.") These Issareona tell us iliat they do rite( leant to Iraae the stamp duties lessened, and they put forward pataigraphs amazingly disinterested, in which they state that they pay thirty, forty, or fifty thousand pounds a year to the revenue, in the shape of stamp duties. They say we bear all this heavy impost ourselves—why sliceald the public complain that we have to pay it ?—(Much laughter.) That laugh convinced him ( Mr. O'Connell) that the people undetatoed the trick.—(Hear.) In the first place, saving their presence, they lie !--they only handed the money over, but it was the people who were obliged to pay it.— (Loud cries of " Hear.") They advanced the money, but only that they might have it come back into their own pocket with compound interest. They charged the people with the stamp duty, and a commercial duty thereon, and thus they not only fleeced the people, but kept cheap and useful instruc tion from them.—(Loud cheers.) There was also the Morning Herald, but God knows it was not worth mentioning. —(A laugh.) There was also the Chronicle, vcticli had the good fortune to have men of honour and principle connsacted with it, and accordingly they found it standing up for tt: rights of the people. But he had against the Morning Chroni cle also to complain of the monopoly that existed, and in which it was a sharer, for if that monopoly was annihilated they would have, instead of one, twenty Morning Chronicles. The daily press would then be not pandering to the depraved appetites of the people—not disgusting the public with their gross immo rality—not having their conductors gorging themselves at the tables of state paupers, who lived in splendour on the pecula tion and plunder of the public. But the Chronicle, and Times, and Herald of the day would then be newspapers looking for public support through the honesty and integrity of their writers, and they would then be more dependent upon popular favour, as forming a portion of the great moral power of the nation—their tone and subjects of discussion would take a more enlarged and comprehensive range, they would study more to promote the happiness and improvement of their readers, and they would grow into wealth by diffusing literary strength and moral worth among the people.—(Loud cheer ing.) It might be said, that in looking for the reduction of these taxes they were asking for too much ; but this he (Mr. O'Connell) denied. He did insist on sweeping away the whole, for it was not worth making " two bites of a cherry."—(A laugh.) Taking off half the stamp duties was really doing nothing more than giving the evil a kind of paralytic stroke— making it dead on the one side, while the other remained in full vigour.--(Laughter and cheering.) 'net was in fact all they would do, so long as they continued any peration of these iniquitous taxes—the monopoly still remained behind, and the principles of free trade and cheap information were pro hibited.--( Great cheering.) And here he would ask, bow was it that in a country in which men were accustomed to eat bread every day of their lives the oppressive corn-laws were permhed to remain on the statute-book ? If the nation was' sufficiently informed, did they suppose that it would allow a tax to be placed upon human food, and such in his (Mr. O'Connell's) opinion was the operation of the corn-laws. What was the operation of these laws? Why, simply, that the poor man, who had only enough of money to buy one loaf for his starving children, was obliged to cut it in two, and give one half of it to the tax-gatherer, while his family must be con tent with the other half.—(".Hear, hear, and cheering.") If knowledge was more generally diffused, the corn-laws would not remain a block on the 'scutcheon of England. The tax upon the press prevented men knowing and feeling these, and many other equally important truths, and day after day, and hour after hour, some defects in the present system were concealed from the public by this tax. It might be said that the Ministers wanted the present tax, and that he (Mr. O'Con nell) should not be the man to deprive the Chancellor of the Exchequer of this money, which was necessary to carry on the business of the State. He avowed that he was decidedly a supporter of the present Government, and was deeply grateful to it. That might be considered by some an offence. Why was he a supporter of the present Government ? Was it that he forgot the past history of his country? No; but he chose to remember only the best part of it, and it might be asked why? Because the Whigs were opposed to another party in the State.—(Cheers.) Because they stood between the people and the revival of the Six Acts to which a former speaker had alluded, because they stood between the people and such atrocities as the Manchester massacre.—( Loud cheers)—because they stood between the country and the man of iron heart and brazen head, who, because British valour had placed him in a situation of pre-eminent distinction, would seek still to trample them down with the iron hoof of his mili tary boot.—( Laughter and applause.) What was that man's merit but that he had marched the people in a row, when they had been called out as soldiers, and then, when the victory had been gained, at the price of the blood of these brave men, he took from the people their privileges, and assumed the highest offices of the State upon himself? He (Mr. O'Connell) would not calumniate those gallant spirits who had hearts as well as heads—who had sympathy as well as courage, who had feeling as well as swords, and who drew these swords in the defence of the sacred cause of liberty—there were many choice spirits among them, but he, the chief among them all, had none of those attributes which would entitle him to the grati tude and love of the people, and which adorned the lovers of true freedom. He promoted—he (Mr. O'Connell) could not say whether he loved—those that flattered and fawned upon Is", and bestowed 'upon them all the places asas-perisaals as nie-- disposal, without regard to qualification or merit. But so far as he (Mr. O'Connell) knew, there was nothing in that man to raise him above the scale of others, or entitle him to the extraordinary pre-eminence he claimed. What was it that be had created and perpetuated, those mighty Gogs and Magogs of the state? The want of information among the people. —(Cheers.) When he (Mr. O'Connell) saw such a vast number of goodly beings—when lie saw before him such a mass of intelligent British freemen, when he recollected that the intelligence of these men had been applied, through the medium of machinery, to crude matter, so as almost to make it think, that it had created powers of combination almost beyond the reach of thought, working self-possessed and self directed with a force and rapidity exceeding that of myriads and myriads of human beings, combining the stupendous force of the thousand horse power with the nicety and accuracy of pointing the Whitechapel needle, and mixing up the minutest details of ingenuity with the grandest and most sublime efforts of power.—(Great applause.) When he saw all this he asked himself, why had not the sources of knowledge been laid be fore them on every other point ? Why had these men not been put in possession of the means of reaching the instruments of Government, and directing the making of the laws, and the appointment of responsible Magistrates ? Why had not all this been done? Because the press was not free enough for it. The press was the oil that would make the machinery of Government move regularly and smoothly—the press was the steam-engine that would overcome every resistance—the press was the hundred-thousand-horse-power, which would grind Toryism to the dust.—(Cheering.) Let it loose upon the Magistracy—( Cheers)—that enlightened race of men, and here he would observe that in the House of Commons every Hon. Member who was a Magistrate praised the Magistracy, and every one who was not did not praise them.—(Laughter.) How could it be expected that this body would be efficient or impartial, when they wc.c totally irresponsible ? But if they had a press which would hang them up whenever they had in flicted the slightest injury or hardship upon the poor—( Hear, hear)—if they had a press which would be vigilant on behalf of the poor, and whose reporters would devote themselves to finding out instances of oppression and illegality for the pur pose of having them exposed and redressed—if the press became thus really useful, and had hunters out of that sort, what would be the consequence ? Why, that the Magistracy, instead of being appointed by the Crown, in violation of the prerogatives of the people, would be appointed by the people ; and, instead of being as at present, wholly irresponsible, they would be responsible to that law which they now set at defi ance for every violation of human liberty.—( Loud cheering.) How was this to be obtained but by the power of information diffused among all classes of the people? When offences against the law were committed, the Press, as the recognized organ of public opinion, would then be stria: :' , T to punish and denounce the offenders to the full extent the Law awarded ; and, if the poorer classes were better informed upon Ncli sub jects, was it likely that those foolish burnings of liaggari and stocks of corn would occur? Or would they not be aware that the silliest possible way to make bread cheap was to destroy the corn of which it was made; and the most absurd way to make employment general and remunerative, was to destroy the property the sale of which would procure the farmer money to pay for their labour? The Press would soon convince the most miserable and discontented among the peasantry, that such abominable proceedings tarnished even the wild justice of revenge. A free Press, capable of instructing the people fully as to their rights, would be thus almost omnipotent for good. It would, back those who had no votes in the re presentation of the country to surround those who had, and to say to them, you are the trustees of our privileges, and if you vote for the upholder of useless taxes and pensions, and all sorts of State extravagance, you vote against us all.— (Loud cries of " Hear.") With such sentiments generally diffused, the franchise need hardly be extended universally, unless for the purposes of justice ; and on that ground he (Mr. O'Connell) should always advocate its extension. The people would become too honest for the lovers of corruption, and . . would scorn the paltry bribe by which they might be tempted to betray their rights and their country. lie bad addressed them at great length, although when he got up he had had very little to say, and he feared they would think so—(" No, no") —but the subject was interesting, and had supplied him with materials. What he (Mr. O'Connell) wished to see was knowledge extended and reaching to every human being—that knowledge should be of the best sort, and that could only be obtained by opening the field for the competition of all ; mere brute violence and the force of ignorant men, instead of giving strength and tapidity to the wheel destroyed the power of the machinery—but informed power worked its way to utility. They had two great . parties in the State—the Whigs on the one hand, and the Tories on the other. The Whigs were not going on perhaps so fast as . they ought—( Hear and a laugh)—but he ( Mr. O'Connell) ought to speak well of them at all events, they had introduced some excellent measures during the present session : and, after seven hundred years of misrule, they were opening the door of justice to the loved land of his birth. Oh ! (continued the Hon. Member) may they be confirmed more every day in their good purpose of doing justice .to the poor people of Ireland—of that country for which nature has done so much, and man so little : and oh ! may that God who has shed to many benefits and blessings .on Ireland (although she has been so fatally cursed by misgo vernrnept), strengthen their power and fortify their hearts to give to the good and enlightened people of England the gra ee in u g sti t c h e em at d le is n pe gi n h se to jus l t r i e c l e an to d. En The ela e nd, i g o tic a e n t d o t s ia c c o a ti t a io n n of seeing j d ,an Learned Gentleman sat down amid loud and long-continued cheering, which lasted for some minutes. • WALLACE, Esq_, M. P., rose to secon d t h e reso l ut i on, which -eith much • which he u pleasure. He said he would not de tain the meeting for any length of time, but they must al low him to remark that the piper which had been shown to them by Mr. Hume came from America—that glorious country where the people elected their own magistrates ; and he was proud to say that no longer ago than yesterday, he had the ho nour to present a petition to the House of Commons from his native town of Greenock, which was signed by every one of its Magistrates and Council, in favour of the object for which that Meeting was held. It might be in the remembrance of the Meeting, that about three years ago a Bill similar in character to that now in the House, for the purification of the Corporations of England passed, with respect to Scotland. The people in that country now had the important privilege of electing the council, and through those upon whom their choice fell, the Magistrates, and therefore it was that he could now boast that the Magistrates and Council of the town he had the honour to represent—the largest seaport in Scotland, had petitioned for the immediate removal of the Stamp Tax upon information.—( Cheers.) Had the Government of Towns been under the old system, the petition, he was afraid, would have had a 'very different prayer. He most cordially supported the resolution proposed by his Hon. Friend who preceded him. The resolution was put to the meeting, and passed unani mously. General EVANS, M.P., then rose and was well received. H e said he felt honoured in being asked to propose a Reso lution to the Meeting, which he was certain to have the con currence of all in—it was one of thanks to the Noble, Lord who had been so kind as honour them by taking the Chair.— Immense e eeeein , g.) There might be some of his consti tuents present, ana as that was the first time he had been in public since he had joieed the cause of liberty, by entering the service of a Foreign Power, they might expect him to address himself to that point. He felt that was not a proper opportu nity, but he could assure all, that he would take a very early opportunity of meeting his constituents and explaining to them the position he was placed in. —(Cheers.) He ( General E.) had not the facility of expression possessed by some of his Hon. Friends, but not one of them was more deeply sensible of the debt the meeting owed to the Noble Lord for his con sistent and long-continued labours for the education of the people. The Resolution was seconded and. carried with loud and long-continued cheering, and one cheer more. Lord BROUGHAM rose to express his acknowledgments for the kind reception they had given him, but was for some time prevented from proceeding by ehe loud and general cheering; it was indeed the same he had always met among his fellow citizens of London and Westminster, with whom he had passed so many years of his life; but upon no occasion had he ever met them with greater satisfaction than at present, because he had never yet known then:, among all the important designs in furtherance of which they had been fellow-labourers, en gaged in one of superior importance—he might almost say of importance equal to that for the promotion of which they had that day assembled. The time would fail him if' he attempted to describe the prodigious consequences which he expected to result to the improvement of mankind from mak ing knowledge cheap and free. They bad been labouring for seven or eight years to diffuse cheap knowledge among the people, and at every turn and step of their progress they had been defeated by the tax and the stamp. It was in vain they toiled; it was to no purpose they made others write ; it was fruitless to correspond with the uttermost ends of the earth for the purpose of diffusing what those men wrote, and which they caused at the cheapest rate to be printed ; they were met by the tax-gatherer and the stamp collector at each pace they made, at each turn they tried, and over all the' powers they could put forth to enlighten the peo ple there was thus exercised that control which the powers of darkness had over the children of light—not because wiser in their generation, i'er they were less wise—they were foolish in their generation, but• because they had the power in their hands, and because, thOugh knowledge was power, it was not force, and its strength cee7e by slow degrees. But why did he detain for one moment lonaen - those who, on coming into that room were satisfied on amat . subject? Arguments there were none required to convince lease who were already persuaded—(Hear, hear, hear)—information there was none wanted to fill minds which were alream l Y brim-full and overflowing with all the information upon the subject— ( Hear, hear)—but he rejoiced they had been addressed by those gentlemen who had preceded him, because these speeches would encourage and animate, and make them t ero onward fearless and firm, though temperate in their course; fo: beyond firmness, and beyond temperance, nothing was required w pro cure for them the greatest of victories. But let them not be taken in_ by any man who should talk to them of a partial re duction—(Hear, bear)—don't let them be deluded for one in stant of time, by those who would offer even two-thirds of the tax. If one penny remained (said the Noble and Learned Lord), I tell you the necessary consequence will be, I cannot send penny knowledge into the country ; for that penny must be paid to the stamp duty, and there would remain another penny to be paid, of which the hawkers took about one half, and whose assistance was absolutely necessary, before in formation could reach the cottage and the farm. He had gone into the market-town and the large city, but igno rance, like the desolating plague, was not confined within walled towns and fortified cities, and knowledge was stopped not at the walled town and fortified place, but it was stopped where wanted most of all—it passed not the threshold of the peasant—the ignorant farm-house. " Take off that tax," said he to the late Mr. l{uekisson, in 1827, take off that tax, and there is not a farmer or farm-ser vant, or ploue-hmen, or plomiebboe in the laud._ that shall not read next hall-year, what he never read before." Not that he denied the paramount importance of taking it off, and making all knowledge. political as well as general, cheap and univers ally distributable in towns as well as the country, but he named the case where it was most wanted, and most excluded by the pernicious tax which they all so fervently deprecated. He had addressed them thus shortly, because more words would be superfluous, and he had addressed them late in the day, be cause he was anxious that others should precede him in illus trating a subject on which he had so often expressed his opinions, and so reneatedly stated his views—on which so re cently in another pleee, in the House of Parliament to which he belonged, he had se fully urged and largely enforced so many arguments in favour of the only thing they could think of or listen to, or at all sut'l'er--he meant the total and absolute repeal of this obnoxious impost. He had even done what was most unusual with him, and certainly very laborious, in having taken the pains of publishing an accurate report of what he said on that occasion, so that. it would be in vain to think of longer occupying their time, most, if not all of them, having no doubt read all he had to say, and much more than was wanted to be said in defence of their great cause. But he rejoiced heartily he had heard that day from so many mouths that in England, in Ireland, and in Scotland there was but one prevailing wish and one universal desire—that the fyod of the mind, the staff of virtue, the staff of the better life of man, should not be burdened by a tax of 200 per cent., when no man durst name the purpose, directly at least, and in plain downright terms, of imposing a tax of one farthing on the cwt. of that bread by which they had the highest authority for saying man did not alone live. If the bread which they ate to support their natural life were proposed to be taxed to the amount as lie had said of a farthing in the cwt., the Minister who broached the scand&ous proposition durst not hold up his head. Would not the press in that case • lift up its voice against such a measure? Aud yet, for reasons best known to itself, because not on that footing on which they all hoped, before many months', to see it placed, the press, with very few exceptions, breathed not one whisper against this tax of 200 per cent. upon whet he had ventured to call the staff of the intellectual, the better, the immortal life of man. The Noble and Learned Lord then shortly referred to the excise duty of 3d. on the pound weight of paper, which should also come down ; but to take it off altogether was another matter; he did not certainly for the present recommend that; "but I know for certain," said the Noble and Learned Lord, " I know it, I may say profes sionally and as a tradesman, as a preparer and dealer in cheap - works, a trade to which I am devotedly attached, and which I have carried on many years of my life in my capacity of schol master—l know for certain that hundreds and thousands of works now altogether prevented from appearing to the edifica tion, amusement, :.-nd still more the instruction of the people in political and general knowledge, and hundreds of others, not newspapers, but other publications, now languishing or strug glingf for existence under the severe pressure of the excise on paper, •would, if' that duty were diminished by one half g i ;ring into new life and spread universally through the coun try, diffusing knowledge and by knowledge diffusing virtue. He did not wish to detain them longer, indeed it was out oe . his power, having made arrangements which re quired his immediate departure from town, in order to fulfil some promises m.2de long ago, but accidentally still undis charged, to one or two mechanic and other institutions of that character, in the great any populous town of Lancaster. He was glad, however, to have attended that meeting, when it did take place, because, it pos,tz.ned for a fortnight, they might then have been told by the Min;ster that they were too late, and that the plans of Governirent were fixed for the present year. Ilis opinion on the subject was very strong, and he never heard anything that could et.'nvince him of its error. Ile would much rather see the whole cx e the stamp-tax kept on, th in 2d. out of the 3d. repealed ; became se sure he was if retained for another year, the voice of the co.'intry would spurn all bounds—the desire of the people woe'ld force itself to be heard, Government must yield to that desire, and Parliament, with the Government, must take off time tax. But if 2d. out of the 3d. were remitted, they might have mane years longer to contend mvith the remaining Id., which he re garded as at least 3,000 fold worse than the other 2d., because it would still prevent cheap knowledge fiam being generally diffused. The Noble and Learned Lord again expressed his thanks for the kind reception they had given , him, and con cluded by strongly recommending them to sign the petitions which lay at the door for signature, embodying the sense of the resolutions which had been adopted. The Meeting then bloke up. Mr. O'Connell, Mr. Hume, and Mr. Grote were enthusiastically cheered on leaving tho Meeting. Such was the anxiety of all present to sign the petition, that the tables on which they were placed were completely beset far some time after time conclusion of the Meeting. TRADE IN LANCASHIRE.— = The silk weaving eon tinues brisk, yet some alterations are taking place. The fancy waistcoatings, woven by the Jacquard loom, are nearly all changing to figured sarsenets. Plain and check sarsene4 9 continue in good demand. Cotton hand-loom weaving is de. dining. The trade at Bury, Heywood, Rochdale, Oldham* &C., is brisk. flatting is in a middling way. Brickkers, masons, joiners, &c., are very busy, and hands a *a , arse. Vb e nt 1911'' V