The Sun.
London, England, 1839-03-20 00:00:00

a rural police amongst them—he would be a Traitor to the country
if he did not advise them to arm in defence of the constitution.
(This declaration was received by the meeting with the most
enthusiastic acclamations.) When first he began to agitate he
always had his meetings called by the authorities, but now
he
acted in a cont..ary way ; he called the meetings together
without having the sanction of Mayors, Magistrates, or gold
chains. Perhaps it might be forgotten by the public
press that
he would not again petition, if so he would now tell them A eras
so. Let the Morning Chronicle be aware that this is his
intention, and for this reason because that when the people
petitioned for a repeal of the Poor-law, Lord Howick—( Heart).
—yes, remember that name; it was one of those morsels whim'
they might have occasion for hereafter—(Hear, and cheers)
—that Lord Howick, who he believed was a Member of the
Government or some such thing, had said that those petitions_
werenot worth thinking on ; they were only the effusions of
some five or six agitators, and would not either burn or kill.
This was what led him to think that it was foolish to petition
a power that would neither allow them to remonstrate or give
ear to the prayer of their petitions. He did not advise the
people to arm, but they would do so privately, which he knew
they were doing in private.—( Hear, hear.) He heard a great
deal of the dagger, but when he saw the Government not ping
to fight by the regular army, but by the villainous police, he
thought daggers were good enough for them.—(Loud cheers.)
We are told that the army is against us, but he had a good way
of bringing them to his view of the question. This maybe
called tampering with the army. But he has not ceased giving
to the troops in his own country, all those writings which de-
tailed to them their duties towards their Queen and their
country. The people and the army meet with every symptom
of satisfaction and amity. lie and the officers had
often gone together into crowds of people, and they always
successful in their endeavours to keep the peace. He then
related an anecdote of an old soldier who was compelled to
go to the workhouse, and said, " There's you, soldiers, will you
now fight ?" Let Lord Brougham turn up his; nose to-morrow
night when he hears that the maniac some time in the night
discharged an uten it filled with unmentionable stuff on the
wife of a British soldier. Hear that, soldiers—will you 110
fight ?—( Hear, and cheers. )
Mr. Oastler continued to address the meeting for some time
longer. He detailed the evil effects of the New Poor-law it'
the country, and concluded his observations by apologising for
detaining them to so late an hour.
A vote of thanks was given to Mr. Frost, after whichAe
meeting broke up at a quarter past twelve o'clock. were
Several gentlemen had their pockets picked when coming
from the meeting, among whom was Dr. Fletcher, one of the
Chevaliers d'lndustrie doing him the favoar of relieving ht,
from the inconvenience of carrying three sovereigns, which ne
had in his purse; and, but for the keen sightedness ef
gentleman in the crowd, Mr. Oastler would have come in for a
similar honour, as the °°expert gentleman" was in the act f
,urning his pocket inside out when he was detected.

METROPOLITAN' POLITICAL

-SUMMARY.

s~,~~

The Morning Herald of this day contains a leading
article on the subject of—what our Contemporary calls;--
" the prOected Ministerial violation of the City's charter
and privileges," in which he strenuously urges them nnti,
submit to any infraction, however slight, of their prol"
leges :—" If the City of London should submit to this nee
variety of Whig tyranny, what meaner Corporation sniglit,
dare to resist the unconstitutional encroachments of ‘",.t:
Home-office? Orrkthe City of London there now, in fad
devolves, as there has often in times past devolved, the te4
so' defendii g all our most valued privileges against ?,
pretensions of despotism. The present civic dignitall
appear to be animated by a spirit worthy of the best of the
e r
predecessors ; and never certainly did there exist stronqe,
necessity fcr bringing that spirit to bear against the eneTle,.
of all our time-honoured institutions."
The Morning Chronicle, in the course of a lea u 7
article on Post-office Reform, and Mr. Hill's plan °'
uniform postage, observes as follows Whatever be
upon the primary purposes of civil society ought to be sal° f
from taxation. Of these most assuredly are the means
support, and the facilities for locomotion and communicji
Lion. Hence our antipathy to the Corn-law moneq,
operating as a bread-tax. Hence our amusement at t
wiseacres whose heads run upon taxing railroad con/r);
ances, and mulcting the spirit of speculation that, at be
°.
risk, does the duty of an enlightened and energetic
i 0
vernment. These arc kindred tendencies to mischief will
that which, in the high rates of postage, presses upon
kinds of friendly, pleasurable, useful, and profitable OD;
munication between parties at a distance from each abort ,
;
The Morning Post is still chuckling over the late C°rl.
law division in the House of Commons, just as if it !e0
not far more a subject for bitter regret, than clanlonuf
exultation I " The complaint of the agitators," snYs -at
Contemporary. " upon the subject of that Division is a,
once melancholy and metaphysical ; it combines the
tho 3 of disappointment with the philosophy of reflect' °0
They who will not accord to it the tribute of a tear, irio,
perhaps bestow upon it the encouragement of a smile• the
deed, the agitators' discovery that a decision against.
existing Corn-laws should have been a matter of inst'„
"cts
resulting from the operation of, what they call, 1 an i°1,1,--ot
sense,' is one of the most curious to which the imOc".;,,t,
inquiry has given rise. It must be a consolation in
that such a philosophic discovery has been made.
glory of scientific achievement is one of which even a i'eie
fish majority'—a class interest'—cannot deprive
mild, modest, and uncommonly respectable agitators.' the
The Morning Advertiser remarks, in reference t°
recent Corn-law debates in the House of Commons'
" The vote of that House on the Corn-laws is a 'let°
strative proof, an unquestionable record, of the neccssitY;
infusing into the constitution of that assembly a grel'oe
portion of public opinion, which is to be done only by r,
extension of the franchise, and the proteceon of its ele,r,
cise. This is a consummation which has long been des'd,
able, and the time is most propitious for its successful s
vocacy." iees"
The Times, speaking on the subject of the '4,41.'
Brunswick Boundary quarrel"—to use our Contempor'te
own language—observes as follows :—.d We deprecs
war. We dread it for the sake of humanity, for the eal'j,
of North America, beyond all, for the sake of Englailo
which must dearly suffer. But there is such a thing.;s
driving a great country, however temperate and toler7,,
and pacific, into war, just as it is possible for the e, bcl
natured And most benevolent man in the world to be for no
oy indignity into a private quarrel. England can u°ice,
more towards avoiding war, than abstain from liking'. (I.
If both Governments be wise, they cannot go on to bl°°
shed."