The Express.
London, England, 1848-03-07 00:00:00

MEETING LN TRAFALUAR-SQUARE.

A meeting was announced to take place yesterday
at one o'c.ock, for the purpose ot petitioning govern-
ment against the income tax and, accordingly before
the hour indicated, there had collected a large number
of persons, who, if their object was to relieve the country
from the income tax, were certainly most disinterested
since, were the impost applicable to incomes of
301. a year only, its liabilities would not have fallen, judging
from all appearance, upon 50 of the 1,500 or 2,000 persons
present.
Mr. Charles Cochrane, however, who had convened the
meeting, did not make his appearance but sent out instead
a number of men carrying the following placard:—
The comrolasioners of pollee haring declad that the public meet-
lsg be held this day m Trafalgar-square, against the Incorostag,
is Moral, Mr. Cochrane respectfully, but earnestly, requests the pub-
lic will not congregate or remain m the square, but return quietly
and orderly to their homes. lie deeply regrets, In consequence of the
decision of the commissioner., he has put the public to we much wins-
emery ineoneenience.—Monday morning, March 6, leis.A
limited portion of the assembled throng hereupon dis-
persed, but the mass was not so satisfied, and, pending the
manifestation of an orator, the more turbulent idlers is
front of the centre balustrade amused themselves by
various practical jokes upon such of the somewhat better at-
tired and more peaceable people as had indiscreetly got new
or amongst them—tearing their clothes, crushing their ham,
and so forth. Without the denser crowd, numbers of
persons were looking on, singly, or in little groups, some of
them having a private orator, a portion of the address
of one of whom struck us as not unworthy of a report—
" You talk of settling the affairs of the nation, you chaps,
and putting the government all right ; to my notion, yoel
better see a little about governing your own affairs. Whys
there's a mate of mine that works away like bricks tram
Wednesday till Saturday ; then he gets his money, and get&
drunk, like bricks, till Tuesday night, and then he's got no
money to work upon till Saturday night comes round again.
And he wants to settle the government. I often says to
him, ' Mate, you'd much better regulate your own affairs
first, before you set about telling other people what to do.'"
At length a working man mounted the balustrade in front
of the centre dome of the National Gallery, and gave
forth a long and vehement address, which we saw,
but heard not, imitating, as we did, Mr. Coch-
rane's discretion by keeping in the background.
One little bit of his oration, indeed, the favouring breed*
brought to our ears—the assertion that nobody there wasted
a sovereign, a proposition instantly repudiated by several el
the bystanders, who with much earnestness declared that a
half sovereign, much less a sovereign, would be decidedly
acceptable.
By•and-by the initiative speaker yielded the balustrade
to another orator, Mr. G. W. Reynolds, as we are
informed, who, as we understood, proposed himself as
president of the meeting, and after an address denouncing
the income tax, introduced several other speakers to the
crowd, by whom resolutions condemnatory of the tax were
successfully proposed. At about 3 o'clock the police, who
though present all along in some numbers had taken
nothing resembling a hostile course, began to disperse
the throng, which by this time had materially in-
creased. Resistance was offered, and they had re-
course to their staves, which they found it ne-
cessary to exercise somewhat roughly, stones being thrown
at them, in addition to the manual violence used. There
were, we understand, several severe wounds received on
both aides, Inspector Baker being obliged to seek the aid
of the surgeon of the force, and two or three of the crowd
being conveyed to the hospital.
Shortly before 9 o'clock a detaehmment of the crowd, con-
slating probably of two hundred persons, and headed by a
youth with a pair of epaulettes, dashed off towards Pen-
man, amidst loud cheering. Many of them were armed with
pieces of wood from the palisade at the Nelsou Column ;
and, as they proceeded along the Mall, they occasionally
gave vent to their love of mischief by shattering a street
lamp or a window. Several squares of glass were broken
at the Retorm Club. A portion of the mob,
to avoid a party of police who were sent after them,
entered St. James's-park by the Duke of York's Co-
lumn, and another portion by -Stafford-house. Here they de-
stroyed a great many lamps, and at length a cry was raised,
"To the Palace." In the direction of Buckingham Palace
the mob accordingly proceeded, breaking almost every
lamp in the range lining the south Aide of the walk,
those on the north being left untouched. In front ot
the palace two or three of the fine large lamps were
demolished, but here the guard k.cl been promptly turned
out, and a single glance at them as they stood in line before
the guard-house had a wonderful effect upon the spirits of
the mob, who instantly ceased their work of destruction,
and passed out at Bue,•'agham-gate into Jamesstre-et, where
a windows • they also forcibly else

they-demolished some shop
tered one or two baker's shops, and demanded and obt;ined
bread. In one instance, at least, they also stopped at a
publican's, and • few of them compelled the land-
lord to regale them with beer. Proceeding by this
route, through Westminster, the mob reached Strut-
ton ground, when a party of police encountered them,
and took one or two into custody. Discomfited, they
fled towards Westminster-abbey, and got into Parliament-
street, and thence found their way to Charing-cross,
from which they had originally started. Here several strong
bodies oT police were stationed, watching the movemen,s
of the crowd, and ready to intercept them in whatever
direction they might proceed with a hostile intention. The
latter, however, gradually diminished, and by 12 o'clock
Trafalgar-square was almost entirely cleared. A small body
of persons at that hour assembled in front of the National
Gallery, and by dint of shouting gathered around them a
1 tolerable snob, whom they led westwards and then up the
Haymarket. From this point they gradually separated, a
few passing into Piccadilly, where they gave evidence of
their presence by the destruction of a few lamps,
and the remainder breaking up into small parties,
contemptible in point of numbers. In the course of the
night the fellow with the epaulettes was apprehended by the
lice. He was a mere stripling, and blubbered like a baby
.when he found himself in the hands of the authorities.
; Indeed, by far the greater proportion of the mob was coo-
-1 posed of boys and young lads, whose only incentive was sport

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