The Express.
London, England, 1852-01-29 00:00:00

AGGREGATE MEETING OF

Lent right, an aggregate meeting of labourers
thrown out of employment through the strike In the iron
trades, was held at the National Mall, High Holborn, to
take into consideration their present position, and to take
such measures for their laters support as might be deemed
necessary. The meeting was convened by the labourers'
own committee, but the expenses attendant upon it were
defrayed, we understood, by the executive council of the
Amalgamated Society of Engineers, &c. No skilled work-
men, whether society or non-society men, were allowed to
take part in the proceedings ; but the attendance of la-
bourers was less numerous than had been anticipated.
Mr. MARSTON/I, on taking the chair, briefly enforced the
necessity of peaceable conduct.
Mr. LLOYD, in moving the first resolution, stated that
when the shops were first closed, the executive council of
the Amalgamated Society bad promised to aid in pro-
curing subscriptions from the public, and had with
that view issued a circular, but spparently without pro-
ducing any satisfactory results, as the labourers had
only received three shillings as an allowance for the
first week, while the non-society men were paid is. A
great deal of dissatisfaction consequently arose, and a depu-
tation of labeurers was appointed to wait upon the Execu-
I live Council, to represent the condition in which they were
placed. The answer of the council was very peremptory.
! It was, that only the subscriptions derived from the public
could be applied to their relief, as the subscriptions coming
' from organised bodies, such as the compositors, and other
trade societies, must go to the support of the non-society
men. Another deputation had subsequently raped at the
. office of the employers association, where they met with •
most courteous reception. Without even knowing or ask-
ing their object, Mr. Sidney Smith, accompanied by three
of the largest employers in London, came out to speak to
them. They would not acknowledge the deputation as
such, but advised that two labourers from each shop
should wait upon the employers to represent the condition
in which the labourers were placed ; and they further
promised to pay due attentiou to any written communication
which might be sent from the labourene central committee.
Yesterday the executive council had handed over Is. 6d.
per man, but the committee, by judicious management,
paid each man 2a. Upon the merits of the dispute he would
say nothing; but one thing was quite clear, they were
thr)wn out of work through no fault of their own' and in a
destitute condition. HOw could it be otherwise? When
in work, they earned only from 16s. to 245. per week, and
they found a great difficulty out of that sum to pay as much
to a friendly society as would secure them 10s. per week
when sick. However the question in dispute might be
settled, it would make no material difference to them ' • and
while he gave the central council credit fee all which they
had done for the labourers with a pure motive, there
were some things which he thought they hail not done in •
pure spirit, and for which he could give them no credit.
(Hear.) In conclusion he moved the following resolution
" That this meeting views with ex• reme regret the tinter-
, tunate dispute between the Amalgamated Society of Engi-
neers and their employers, and it will therefore exert its
utmost energies to impress upon the mind of a benevolent
public the immediate necessity of contributing towards the
support of that large and unorganised body of men, the
!labourers, who have hitherto been, and still intend to con-
tiouc, neutral upon the subject of the strike, but who have,
nevertheless, by it been entirely deprived of the means of
support. And it would further recommend all persons
favourably disposed to the proposed philanthropic object,
particularly to state that their subscriptions are for the
labourers list,' so that the labourers may derive the im-
mediate and unconditional benefit."

Mr. ALDRID(II, in seconding the resolution, said it was
unjust to pay the son-society men 7s. per week while the
labourers had only received 3s. The labourers had ex-
pected to be placed on the same footing as the others.
(Hear, hear.)
The resolution was then put and unanimously adopted.
Mr. EVANM moved the following resolution : " That this
meeting cannot but express its firm conviction that the
Employers' Association have no desire to see any of their
labourers reduced to destitution, but that the masters, both
in their collective and individual capacity, would most wil-
-1 lingly assist the labourers whom the impending dispute has
thrown out of employment ; and it would, therefore sug-
gest that a petition be presented to the Employers' Asso-
ciation for the purpose of laying before it the position and
prospects of the labourers, and also to receive any sum the
association may think fit to advance, whilst, at the same
time, it would recommend that one labourer from each firm
, should wait upon their respective employers for a like
pulre6uszon seconded the resolution, expressing a de-
cided opinion that the labourers would meet with universal
sympathy from the public, when their position and pro-
spects were fairly stated.
The resolution was carried unanimously.
Several other labourers addressed the meeting, and a
central committee was appointed to collect subscriptions
solely fur the relief of "labourers."
A vote of thanks to the chairman terminated the pro-
ceedings.

Yesterday Mr. Gooch, superintendent of the loco-
motive department on the Eastern Counties Railway,
visited the company's works at Stratford, and, sending for
two of the engineering workmen into his office, stated that
information hail reached the directors that the workmen
were contributing a day's pay per week towards tho sup-
port of the engineers' strike, and that, io consequence, he
had been instructed to intimate that any man so contri-
buting in future would be discharged.

LEMURS BY MR. WALTER, M.P.—On Tuesday
night a lecture on " Life and Death of Socrates," was de-
livered at the Mechanics-hall, Nottingham, by Mr. Walter,
M.P. The room, which is one of the largest in the town,
was densely crowded, and several hundreds returned home
unable to gain admission. Mr. Newham, one of the vice-
presidents, presided. Mr. Walter (who was received with
considerable applause), said, that having undertaken, at
the request of the committee of the Mechanics' Institute, to
deliver a lecture during the course of the present season, he
thought he should best consult the wishes of his hearers' and
at the same time relieve himself from some difficulty, by re-
furring the choice of a subject to the gentlemen most likely
to be acquainted with their tastes. In selecting, out of se- I
vend which were proposed to them, the subject that had
been announced fur the evening, they had done their best
to consult the credit of their constituents, if not of the lec-
turer himself. In opening the topic selected for discussion,
he said it would be superfluous to dwell on the advantages
biography possessed as a channel for moral instruction over
other species of literature. If history had been correctly
defined to be " philosophy teaching by example," it might
be asserted that moral philosophy was best illustrated and
enforced in that branch of history which was dedicated to
the memory of the wise and the good. Of those who prior to
the Christian era taught mankind that most important
knowledge—knowledge of themselves, and tore off the mask
from self-satisfied ignorance and conceit, the greatest beyond
all comparison wu Socrates. He, however, did more than
this : he was not only the first moral philosopher, but the
first martyr to philosophy. The poet who had so exquisitely
pourtrayed the terrors and solaces of the winter season,
dwelt with delight on the evening task, most suitable to
that season, of-
111Mgt muses withuds the mighty dead,
4•14113 ssaleentale, mewed,
As gsisbarlatat. sole limo( manned
With NY ea& arms sad Its wised • world.
The claims, however, of Socrates wan of a higher order,
and the poelyweeeeded to describe him as the man—
WY Maly pal la a essrupsad state
Aspisat tha moat Irma' doe, mood
lawilisMia, ads sessies kaly law
Olooleg. lied= winnow death,
Greet metal Weibw—seimet al mankind-
Adopthig, thee, the poet's sogigoideo, he (the lecturer) pro-
po•ed beruPes an hoar of s winter's evening with a slight
sketch of the life and character of this remarkable man,
who, prompted by his heavenly monitor, whose voice he
had obeyed from his childhood, and undaunted by the scoffs
and insults to which his mission exposed him, devoted a long
life to the moral reformation of his countrymen, and crowned
the arduous career of a missionary with the triumphant
death of a martyr. He deemed it no disparagement to
the missionaries of • purer faith to apply a similar term
to Socrates, because hi was firmly persuaded (end he be-
lieved no one could attentively consider his history with-
out coming to the same conclusion) that Socrates acted
under the influence of Divine inspiration. The whole tenor
of his life and the whiten°e of his teaching justified this
Opinion. No sell appointed teacher ever led so strict and
blameless a life, sir iaeulcated a system of morality so simple
and unpretending that it could hardly be called a system
at all. Socrates founded no school—he propounded no new
revelation . the text on which he preached was that which
had been inscribed for ages on the temple of Delphi—
" Know thyself;" and the means by which he taught his
hearers to obtain that knowledge were the subjection of
the passions and the confession of their own ignorance. A
passage from the defence of Socrates before his judges was
then quoted in proof of this opinion. Mr. Walter proceeded
to sketch an outline of the life and character of Socrates.
Afterwards he translated a few passages from
Xenophon and Plato, illustrative of his style of
teaching, and then vividly portrayed his conduct on the
occasion of his trial and condemnation These disquisitions,
which were somewhat lengthy, were listened to with the
I the most profound attention, the deep silence which pre-
' sailed being broken occasionally by warm plaudits greeting
those sentiments of the Greek philosopher, and many of
the historical iucidenta mentioned, which the minds of the
audience appreciated as markedly applicable to more modern
times. The lecturer said he could not conclude without
drawing attention to the contrast which the Philosophy of
Socrates presented to that purer and more perfect system of
teaching in which it was oar privilege to have been in-
structed. Mr. Walter retired to a rest on the platform
amid much applause. Votes of thanks to the lectuier and
chairman of the evening closed the proceedings.
St'IEIDE AT GUY it HOSPlTAL—Yesterday morn-
ing, shortly after 6 o'clock, great alarm was created among
the inmates of Guy's Hospital by the discovery of the
suicide of a patient named William Cayley, aged 46 years.
Deceased had been admitted on the 26111 of November last
with a tumour of the side, from which he suffered consider-
able pain. Ile seemed, however, to proven favourably
under the treatment, and on Tuesday night he was left by
the nurse in Neeman's Ward quite calm, but when she
went yesterday morning to the bedstead where the deceased
lay, she found that he had a severe wound of the throat,
which divided all the main arteries of the neck. A razor
was lying by the side of him, and he was quite insensible.
The dresser was called to the unfortunate man, who had
lost a large quantity of blood, and every assistance was
afforded by the medical officers of the institution, but he
expired at 3 o'clock last evening.