The Sun.
London, England, 1838-08-22 00:00:00

thE LOII/41ik*, *RIJN ESDAV, AUGUST 22, 1838,

PUBLIC MEETING OF THE WORK-

ING CLASSES.

(Abridged from the Aberdeen Herald.)
On Thursday, evcniess a Public Meeting of the Working
Classes was. held on the proadhill. Although the meeting
was only advertise d_' by a few small hand-bills, it was well
attendeci.
Mr. \VALLEY was called on to yresi.rk. lle briefly ex_
r•lained the object of the meeting, and then introduced the
strangers from Edinburgh, who had come to Aberdeen to
Wei-A in baled of the principles embodied in the National
Mr. DUNCAN then addressed the meeting for upwards of an
hour. The progress of knowledge had enabled the people to
discriminate between tyrannical and just Government but still
it Vi;, lftmentable to think that many, very many, of the people
hag! tamely "tbdtlitcrl to tyranny. He said the working
!hat,rkig classes
judginghad struggled hard i:-'he R fvrm Bill,
franchise were once vested in the rii.`l.`lic gasses, the middle
classes sympathise with the working clasp"!',- ar,f.i en-
deavour to get itic gS!N-Yancca redressed of which the wet Un.;
classes so justly complained. Bot It nor turned out that the
middle classes were no better than the
ta bofoughmongers.
The working classes had no alternative now but to fight their
own battle. The middle class: s, the ten-pounders, had re-
solved to keep the working classes in slavery ; and if the
working classes tamely submitted to the effects of such a reso-
lution, slaves they deserved to be. Would the working classes
of Aberdeen endure such bondage ?—( Loud cries of " Netier,
never.") What had the Reform Bill done? All that tile
people had gained by the Reform Bill, was the pleasure of
seeing the Whigs and Tories change places in St. Ste-
phen's.—(A laugh.) Since the Reform Bill passed,
there had been three general elections. The first was
but an indifferent representation ; the second was obe-
dient, at times, to the Tory faction ; but the third was suf-
ficiently Toryfied for all the purposes the faction might re-
quire. The Whigs, in short, held the " promise to the eat',"
while they " broke it to the hope." The people, therefore,
Should bid good bye to the Whigs, as they had long ago bid
good bye to the Tories.—(Cheers.) According to Black-
stone (a Tory), taxation should be the basis of representation.
Now, this was a Tory theory, and was in operation three cen-
turies ago. But how stood the fact at present? Why, you
are all taxed. Flow many of you are represented ?—( Cries
of " Not one.") According to this rule, all who are taxed
ought to be represented ; but the ten-pounders, while
they are represented, have managed to shift the taxation
to the shoulders of others ; and we never will have
the mystery explained so long as they get you, simple
souls ! to submit to the tyranny, and listen to their talk-
ing and boasting of the integrity of the British Constitution.—
( Cheers.) How many of the Peers and the Commons would
stand the intellectual test ? How many of the grocers, clothi-
ers, and all the others of the ten-pounders would stand the in-
tellectual test?—( Laughter.) I say that the working classes
will stand a comparison with any of them, and prove their claim
at least to equality of intelligence--(Cheers.) But the point
on which we take our stand is—we are taxed, and ought to be
represented.—( Great cheering.) You who drink spirits and
ales contribute nine millions of taxation ; for tobacco, seven
millions more ; for duty on tea, tobacco, and spirits, the reve-
liTn,uooerrkiedinsegriav:oesr, •in all, twenty-seven millions; now, if you sus-
pend the use of these exciseable articles for one year, the
Government will soon see the necessity of consulting the
working classes.—(Cheers.) Then there is the land-tax,
How much do the landowners contribute ? One million ; and
tyrant.oh(G uaL raompu geoal hd
tax industry for the other fifty ! And this is the glorious
)
atlilierelßiglotiushs inCeonnist(itlurotinoinoarl,_cii(eCerhse)c_rst.i)ley Thetalk
much about religion. —(Laughter.) They want more new
Churches, and more stupid blockheads for Ministers—
)—and each parson, for telling the truth, is to
devoure
os widows'
yohatowues
Christlevs. —m (iilsllli
millions
tsohe
des.aurp.
teboe\r:ovnned
Jesus
Pharisees—theythe
make l
aThe p r
aTy
co
rr ( parsonsij a u
gh
oars
—they pray in the corners of the streets—(Laughter)—but
our
is
r tyranttmhuesnp-taoh)f.asittahhre:
:Tohrtelt
priest, and the priest deludes the people for the sake of the
and not an enemy in all the world. Twenty-five thousand
bayonets are required to protect the Gospel of Jesus Christ
in Ireland 1—( Cheers.) Are you content to tolerate such a
state of things ?--(Great cheering, and cries of " No,
never.") If any editor of a Tory paper be crawling and
grubbing hereabouts to-night, he will tell us, by-and-by,
that we have visited you for the purpose of inflaming the
people's minds; and will caution you not to be led by
the nose by such demagogues.—(Laughter.) But we
speak the truth—we claim our rights; and justice and truth
must prevail.—( Cheers.) He then came on to the Corn-
laws. Ott this point he said the landlords say the Corn-
laws never will be abolished. Neither they will, if they can
help it.—( Hear, hear.) How do these iniquitous laws op-
press the country? We shall see. In Paris, at present,

the working man can get as much bread for .sd. as we can
get for 10d.—( Hear, hear.) Now, France is not a Corn-

growing country; and if the Corn Laws were abolished in
this country, we would have bread at the one-half it now costs

Iyiethobserveds thatw htoh, e i
of uii
theirde debex
ttr
awvaasgoarni
egei
nally (e. ()Coll er
let er e')d b
first plunged the nation in debt, and then, to get money,
pledged the Government to give 941. for every 301. they could
borrow ; thus the country was saddled with thirty-two mil-
lions of taxes, and all to pay the interest of that unjust obliga-
tion.—(Cheers ) After seriously urging the working classes
to subscribe it, and use all their exertions in behalf of the ad-
vance,nent of its principles, and after deprecating all intention
of resorting to physical force in the event of the petition being
rejected, he complained of the conduct of the Press towards
the Radicals, and announced the intention of the working
classes in Edinburgh to establish a True Scotsman, a news-
paper which would fearlessly tell the truth. Mr. Duncan sat
dawn amid loud and long-continued cheering.
Mr. FRASER then rose and addressed the meeting. His
speech was mostly declamatory, occasionally eloquent, often
m t
pointed, and alwa3s e • perate _ll _e argued chiefly on the ab-
surdity of eight millions of working men being without the
franchise, while it was enjoyed only by seven hundred
thousand. lie founded on the doctrine that " all men are
by nature equal." This was the law of God, and therefore
men had no right to assume distinctions. He told some
good
anecdotes in the course of his address, and the meet-
ing seemed much pleased with their application. A far-
mer and his son were one day walking on the farm.
The little boy was leading one of the horses, and turning
to his father, he thus accosted him :—" Faither, I won-
der boo this big horse tats himsel' be led by a wee laddic
like me?" " The horse has not yet begun to think on his
strength," answered the father.—(Cheers.) But the working
classes, added Mr. Fraser, have begun to think on their
strength, and to feel it. too; and, if they constitutionally and
nobly and perseveringly apply their strength, their power will
be felt in the proper quarter. In illustration of the propriety
of doing the work themselves, and not in any degree trusting
to others, Mr. Fraser quoted the well-known fable of the
" lark and its young ones." Ile earnestly cautioned the
working classes to be sober. Sobriety, among others, had
these four advantages—it kept the head clear, the temper
even, the body strong. and saved time—(Cheers)—while
drunkenness and its awful consequences had kept the work-
' classes in poverty and misery.—(Cheers.) In conclusion,
work-
inn
he urged warmly the claims of the intended new paper, and
also quarrelled with the conduct of the press generally.
A vote of thanks was passed to the Chairman for his con-
duct in the chair, and three hearty cheers were given to the
delegates. The meeting began to disperse about nine o'clock,
and a more attentive and orderly assembly r e never witnes„d.
There were a few Conservatives present, some of whom-
seemed inclined to disturb the harmony of the evening
they were
disappointed in their intentions—no doubt.
y
disappointed.

CAPITAL PUNISIIMENT.-It has become the
lishion of late with the Destructive faction to declaim against
capital punishments. A wretched young villain who delibe-
rately poisoned his maser's family in revenge for some ima-
gined hardship, and a b,ood-tiarsty ruffian who in cold blood
slaughtered his comrade and attempted to take a second life in
at Hampton Court, have been special objects of
lltituk:lle,,;:iecrl manner,
Tsympathyr and selectedper s
m s
deludeexamples
h eomf
sWe'll%!_iegs emTeh ne ccyl.) re
organ of the attack on cur sanguinary laws is the Conservative
Herald, which speaks on this point the sentiments of all en-
lightened men in every part of Europe. Reflecting men,
who abhor murder, do not comprehend how it can he excused
when perpetrated at the gallows in cold blood, with fore-
planned design, with irresistible power, and the helpless vie-
. tim pinioned and baund without a chance of resistance or
escape. Of all murders, those perpetrated at the gallows in
the name of Justice have become most abhorrent to mankind ;
and those who, lika the Ulster Times, lock to cruel punish-
ments for preserving the superiority of a party, or the reign of
~a faction, are doomed to taste bitter disappointment.]
HORSE CASE.-IMPORTANT DECISION —The
I;linwing case was tried at Bristol last week, Coats v.
St(The"s• It was an action for the breach of warranty of a
horse, sold by the defendant, a horse-dealer, to the plaintiff,
who is a surgeon. The plaintiff proved that the horse had a
bad cough upon him immediately after the sale, whereupon he
sold the animal for 171. by, public auction. The defendant
called the purchaser of the horse at the auction, and a number
of other witnesses, wh) proved• that after the horse had been
sold by the plaintiff he had performed long journeys, and that
'he was sound both in wind and limb. The Learned Judge
directed the Jury that, if they believed the horse had a mere
common colld,h7
the
er
v ile
afterh
then th%t was an unsoundnesa, and the verdict must he for the
locked up until a late hour,
at length attended to his Lordship's directions, and a verdict
vi,,s found for the plaintiff. purchased by the plaintiff,
THE VICTORIA STEAM-BOAT-FINAL CLOSE
OF TUE PIZO,`EEDINGS. - Yesterday Mr. Baker, the Coroner,
and the jury, brought to a final c!ose the long.-protracted pro-
eecdin
jury in the case of James Young. Mr. Mellish said the jury
gs in this important case. The Coroner charged the
-n the whole eight cases to similar verdicts to
agreed
the case of Andrew Brown, timely. acci-
dentalthlaiadt returned in
death,latesto thin, and that the en
ex-
pressing the opinion of the jury that the construction of the
and
bolters was unsafe, that the water spaces were too small, _
with a deodand of 1,5001., at the same time
engine- room over the safety valve. The jury afterwards se-
parated. sneer had no control in the
ta

LITERARY PROPERTY.—We know not a more
striking exemplification of the mutation of literary property,
under the present law of copyright, than the fact that the
g, Lady of the Lake," for which Sir Walter Scott perhaps re-
ceived a larger remuneration, comparing the sum with the
number of words in the poem, than was ever before paid to a
British poet, and which when first published was sold for two
guineas—is just now advertised at sixpence