The Sun.
London, England, 1836-02-17 00:00:00

PARIS.

INFERNAL MACHINE PLOT.
COURT OF PEERS, SUNDAY, Fun. 14.
(Continued from The Sun of Tuesday.)

~...
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TRIAL OF FIESCHT, PEPIN, MORCY, BOIREAU, AND IsiSCIIER, FOR
THE CONSPIRACY TO TAKE AWAY THE KING'S LIFE
EY
MEANS OF THE INFERNAL MACHINE EMPLOYED ON THE 28TH
JULY, 1835.

The Court opened at half-past one. Morey was brought in
a little before the other prisoners, and, from the conversation
in the tribunes, it was easy to find that he had excited much
interest, and had gained ground in the feelings of the public
since the commencement of the trial. Fieschi came in with a
kind of threatening air, and began conversing with M. Par-
•quin, using at the same time the most animated gestures. It
was said that he had become exceedingly irritated, since the
pleadings of the defence had dwelt with so much energy upon
the profound immorality and baseness of his character, and that
the endeavours of the Crown officers to re-establish his repu-
tation had not succeeded in healing the wounds inflicted on his
amor propre. •

M. 'Palhet, Counsel for Boireau, added some observations to
his client's defence, in-answer to the new charges raised in the
reply of the Procureur- General against him. He ended by
asking what benefit: to society would be conferred by the con-
demnation of Boireau ? He was not a veteran hardened iu
crime, but a young and simple workman, anxiously begged of
them by an aged mother; he should, therefore, entreat them
to restore him to his home, and to be sure that hereafter the
very idea of crime would never come again to his imagination.
(On the termination of this address, two or three voices
among the Peers exclaimed, " Very well ! very well !")
M. Chaix-d'Estange, Counsel of Fieschi, said that he hoped
to have spared the Court the trouble of listening to him ; but
Fieschi insisted upon his speaking. That agony which the de-
fence had made Fieschi suffer for three days was renewed yes-
terday. Yesterday powerful but passionate voices were lift,ff
up against him. This man, who has:been misapprehended and
di.figured, must be restored to himself ; he must be shown as
he is, with his vices, his virtues, his courage, his weakness,
whatever he hai of good and of evil. He had committed an
abominable crime ; but if he had confessed the truth, would
justice, that had profitted by his avowals, be content to owe
him what it had engaged to pay? Hopes had been held out
to him of his life—was every gate of hope to be now shut
against him ?

President—Fieschi, have you any thing to add to your de-
fence ? The law allows you to speak.
Fieschi—l should perhaps find difficulty in making myself
understood. 111 y honourable defender has smitten my heart.
If the Court will suspend the sitting for ten minutes, I will try.
President—Repose yourself for ten minutes.
The sitting being resumed, Fieschi rose, upon which the
most profound silence prevailed in the Hall. He leaned for a
short time on the Bar, and then expressed himself in the
following terms :
!' HonourablePeers—l have begged you to be indulgent
to my fau:ts in language, and I hope you will now pardon me
for the blunders I mag commit. lam happy in Shaving lived
to this day : to-morrow I may die, and I will tell my manner
of thinking hereafter. lam happy in having lived to this
day, because I have been able to disclose my accomplices.
My conscience, my reason, and the Gospel dictated to me the
duty of being useful to my country. It is not after the bril-
liant address of my advocate that I shall endeavour to defend
myself. Ido not pretend to whitewash m 3 affair. No,
Gentlemen, I know that I am guilty, I became a sol-
dier when very young; you have seen the registers of my
service. I made the campaign otealabria and went through
it with honour. I was made a prisoner in Sicily, and was
transported to Malta, whence I escaped, came and joined
the army, and made the disastrous campaign in Russia.
Upon try breast shone the star of honour which I gained in
Russia; I will not speak of the unfortunate circumstances by
which it was torn from me. It will follow me to my burial,
and I will have it placed on my grave. I have been
annihilated for these three days, and have need to recover
my moral strength after having been stoned by the advocates
of my, accomplices. But I forgive them. It was I that told
of the attempt; it was I that declared the plot ; not that I
wished to save myself, for I am desirous of going alone to the
scaffold. You, gentlemen, you judge with the law, and you
cannot do otherwise. But the advocates, why are they
anxious to see me go to the scaffold ? However, I pardon
them. I have been a captive at Embrun, and I have already,
allowed myself to tell the Court that I am an observer.
When a prisoner I always conducted myself as an upright
mars, and entitled myself to the confidence of my chiefs. I
was appointed foreman. I remained ten years at Embrun.
But why? It was because on my register there was a note
which said, " If Fieschi resumes his civic rights, he will re-
..

turn into our country," and they well knew that I was no

fool. (Laughter.) You will not find prisoners, gentlemen,
who conduct themselves so well as I did, and vet I was

not pardoned. But let a director of a prison be asked why ?
I will tell you. In a prison those who behave ill and will not

work, who pass their' lives in the blackhole, or who dis-

turb the repose of the chiefs, are got rid of by being par-
doned. But I remained ten years in prison. On coming out
of it I arrived at Lyons. I will not speak of my sojourn there.
I will speak of another circumstance, of that unhappy woman
who will have to reproach herself all her life for her con-
duct towards me, and whom I still love, but whom I ought
never to have seen. However, lam unwilling to speak to you
any longer about that matter. She turned me out of doors
rriked, without a shirt to my back, without five sous in my
pocket. I found a good old man (my heart bled while I ac-
cused him) who gave me his shirts, lodged me and fed me ;
it is not, therefore, from vengeance that I have spoken against
him. If I light a candle in midday in the presence of the
sun, the strongest will prevail; well then, if I have accused
Morey, it was to say to my country, take care of thyself !
Let men who have studied in their cabinets travel like me
from Calabria to Moskowa, they will then know what are
the manners of different countries; therefore, as for myself,
while at Morey's, I made my machine for amusement ; for
I have a habit of always doing something; I can never cat
except standing; it is a custom I have, good or bad. Good
God ! Sirs, you see I were without resource ; I had a bene-
factor, but my benefactor received me ill, and he were right.
I am persuaded that at this day to-day people regret me.
But the scaffold is waiting for me; I shall march to it.
Everything cospircs in a few words for the truth. There
is nothing remaining behind as far as lam concerned. Pepin
and Morey said to themselves before the 28th we must keep
ourselves ready, we must say that the Carlist party are
to strike the blow. But people say that I was dissimu-

lilting; must I then have liecti like that young scamp Boi-
reau. —( Laughter, and noise in the Court.) I know only of
three persons to whom a secret ought to be trusted—a
friend, an advocate, and a confessor ; but for me, I have
not many friends. I have not been anxious to destroy my
accomplices ; I wished only to enlighten justice and France.
Perhaps there are other accomplices, but I do not know
them. I did not wish to make songs, I am no poet. I
come to the fact : Morey is not a bad man ; he is kind,
generous, and courageous ; but a shot with a gun is what
suits him. After that, every thing is indifferent to him.
Pepin is not to be feared ; but he has a skewer for drawing
chestnuts out of the fire. His courage is no great shakes.
Therefore, before committing my project, I was sad and cast
down; I did not sleep; I had not the charms of conversa-
tion—none of the sweets of life. Pepin dragged at a distance.
As to Morey, he is not the man for dragging. I needed to
have my head broken in order to be prevailed upon to tell
you word for word the truth against him. My accomplices
will say the rest after me. Do not be afraid of this; for me
itis enough that my country and the world should know that
I have said the truth. I have a conviction that Morey loaded
the barrels in a manner so that I might be killed ; but I have
no desire that he should die—let him live. On the con-
trary, he will have great reproaches to make to himself.
Look at this shattered hand ; look at my head, out of
which they have taken twenty-four pieces of bone. If I
wanted to die it depended only upon myielf ; I have
the means of sleeping when I Ike. I should not have poi-
s ined myself; but it depended only upon myself whether I
died of my wounds or not. I have been unwilling to die in
order that I might tell you all the truth. M. Lavocat is my
benefactor. He is the cause of my lowering my machine, and
1 am happy, although I made some victims. I went to my
dungeon. I said to myself—Fieschi, you will never go out
from hence till you go to the scaffold. I wished to die under
the name of Girard. I said to myself what pain it will give'
my former benefactors to know that Fieschi is going to the
scaffold. N. Lavocat came to see me. He took me by the
hand and said, " I am Lavocat, do )ou recollect me ?" I said
to him, " I am an unhappy wretch, go away—l do not know
you." I was lost. I saw the tomb to which I was to descend,
but not in my old age. I remained two and forty days without
revealing anything, without naming anybody. I said to myself
if you speak they will say that you are an informer ; no, I have
not been an informer, for an informer denounces his accom-
plices before the blow is struck ; but I could not breathe—l
had a horrible weight oppressing me. I hate at last some-
thing to say about my country. You have been told that I
am a Corsican ; no, I am a Fs enchmen. Corsica has been
French for the last eighty years. I was a Frenchman long
before those who have called me a Corsican. People were
always coming to me to ask me to say something ; I said to all
the world, to the Ministers, to you, Sir, that I would. net do
so. I said to M. Thiess, I look upon you as a good Minister,
and a statesman, but you do not inspire me with any confidence.
If I say anything it shall be to M. Lavocat. I have met many
people whom I like ; but when I have once plighted, faith to
any one I would brave anything before him. I would leap over
a barrier the first. At.the same time I saidt.o myself,__ m) fu-
ture fate is ruined—you arc lost, poor Fiesch
f; but I have no
I shall bra
justice of declaring have
feelings against my liecomi Lees. I pardontiem.
satisfied if the. Court does Inc the
said the trath, and that my country shall know whether I have
been useful or not. It is Nature that speaks to us, after God,
and lets us go on ;
she says to man, " 1 have giver, you life_
maroh on !" Well ! for my part, I found two roads—two
taranchings off; I took the wrong one. I have committed a
I great crime, and I shall die pith courage. But I beg for the
yasnedlf; beg it for Morey.
who is dangerous no
that
s old
nuilya c,ogmupuadn iuounds ,gneenterf for
sm,
longer. Pepin ! him I I wish to annihilate him by saying
what he is. Pepin I—he made himself a name in the affairs
of June. His house was riddled with balls, but it was not
hims if that invited thorn thithe,a A patriot, as he says, an
unhappy man, came to him. Because he had some money he
gave him a few sous worth of silver. This was all that he did..
Pepin is a man deconted.with the Order of July; but may
God punish me if ever he won it at the barricades. He and
fear have never been separated. Pardon him, he is not to be
feared. As for myself, there must be an example. I know it.
I cannot have my liberty any more. I can never again be happy.
I am waiting for my sentence. I hope that it may be within the,
twenty-four hours. I have wished for pardon, people have said;
but when I spoke to M. Lavocat he knows that I did not expcett
it. It was on account of that poor thing, Nina, that I said;

is him, " Have patience; we must still hope ; all the lambs I
are not yet come for the wolf to eat them." I knew myself
well enough that I was no longer worthy of life. I
ask you for five minutes more. The crime which I have
committed, it is great ; but it does not belong to me to set
myself np so high as his Majesty. But the French, they love
him who is for the people. I always called Louis Philippe
the Napoleon of Peace. And then at the report of my ex-
plosion I assure you he was not troubled ; he endured the
whole artillery of the great assassin, wtich is myself. (Here
Fieschi struck his breast with violence.) No, the King was in
nowise troubled ; and hence they cried Vive le Roi r and
from this day foreigners will say that Louis Philippe he is
very capable of putting himself at the head of armies ;
and
Louis Philippe, he may say to his children, See, my chil-
dren, to what a crown exposes one. The Neapoleonists, they
have rallied round the actual Government because they have
their national flag. I leave the rest, Gentlemen. I beg the
life of my two accomplices. Do not kill that good old man ;
he will tell you the whole truth. And I, I shall be con-
demned ; for I ask nothing but to go down to posterity, and
I shall be happy in doing so. I have nothing more to say.
I am waiting for the moment of the scaffold, and I shall march
to it with redoubled steps. I shall not flag ; I shall mount
the ladder, and then commend myself to God. I have made
my political confession, and I will make my religious confes-
sion. lam not a heathen. I have nothing more to say.
Fieschi hesitated for some instants, to consider whether he
should ask anything more, but the President put on end to his
hesitation by addressing himself to the other prisoners. Fieschi
then folded his arms, and sat down.
The President—Morey, have you anything to add to what
your counsel have said in your behalf?
Morey—l have nothing to add, Sir. but that I protest, and
shall do so to the very last, that I am innocent.
The President—Pepin, have you anything to add in your
defence ?
Pepin—l have only to insist upon my innocence.
The President—And you, Boireau, have you anything
to say ?
Boireau—Only a few words. Then, reading a paper, he
continued—l should be wanting in duty if I did not begin
offering my thanks to my counsel for his zealous exertions in my
defence. This done. I have to supplicate the Court to show
its indulgence towards me. lam here in consequence of hav-
ing frequented pernicious societies that are the bane of youth.
The Court may say Boireau is still young, and may live to ob-
literate his errors. I hope, therefore, that your judgment will
not inscribe on the tablet of its condemnations the unfortunate
name of Boireau.
The President—The other day I stated that I would put
some questions to you at the end of the trial.. Recollect your-
self. Have you any further revelations to make.
Boireau—l will say all I know. Ceitain vague reports were
in circulation, which I attributed to the spirit of party. But
I am in a very difficult position_; for the Procureur-General
has already turned to my disadvantage my candid avowals.
However, I will say what I know concerning the plot at
Neuiily, for I have related everything respecting the attempt.
He then repeated his former evidence.
The President—Have any of the Counsel for the prisoners
anything more to add? Profound silence. The proceedings
are closed.
The Court immediately retired into the Council Chamber,
when it was resolved to postpone the deliberation upon the
judgment titl to-morrow (this day). We hear that the Court
will continue to sit in permanence with closed doors till the
judgment is come to, and will then resume its public sitti-gs
to pronounce it, however late the hour may be.

MEETING TO PETITION AGAINST

THE NEWSPAPER STAMP DUTY,

(From the Leeds Times.)

On-Monday last, at twelve o'clock, a meeting of the inha-
bitants of the borough of Leeds was held at the Court-house
in that place, to petition Parliament for the Repeal of the
Stamp Duty on Newspapers. At the commencement of the
proceedings a small number only was assembled, but the inces-
sant accessions during the early part of the proceedings soon
filled the area of the Court-house ; until at the close a great
number of individuals were present.
GEORGE GOODMAN, Esq., Mayor of the borough, opened
the business of the meeting by stat►ng that a requisition, signed
by eighty-two highly respectable householders, requesting. Lim
to convene a meeting on the subject, had been presented to
0.1 the Friday previous. The Mayor then proceeded to ;read
the requisition, and said that lie had very gladly complied with
it in caling that meeting. Having done which, he resigned
tho chair into the hands of the assembly.

Mr. R. BAKER moved, and Mr. ONES:JAN seconded, that
the May or be requested to resume the Chair, which was car-
ried unanimously. _ _ _ _

......
His WORSHIP on re-ocupying the chair was greeted with the
most hearty cheering, when, as soon as it had subsided,
he said—l have no doubt that on this occasion every one will
have a fair and impartial hearing, and that this first public
meeting held under the Municipal Act, will be so conducted
as to show the good feeling and right principles of the in-
habitants of this town.—(Cheers.) I had scarcely been ele-
vated to the high and important station which I now occupy,
before I was called upon to hear a case, in which the question
of the Stamp Duty was involved. The magistrates used every
argument and every entreat) in their power, to induce the
parties to keep the law in future, and bad their request Leen
complied with, a mitigated penalty only would have been
awarded ; but these arguments not proving effectual, the ma-
gistrates had out one plain course left—to administer the law
as they found it.—(Hear, hear.) I shall now be happy to
hear any gentleman who has any observations to make.
Mr. THOMAS PLINT, merchant, then presented himself, and
was received with applause. After some observations, he pro-
ceeded to read the following resolution
ist. That this meeting regards all restrictions on the ac-
quirement of knowledge, and on the exercise of the privilege
of unfetterd discussion, as unsuited to tie spirit and institutions
of a free government."

After which he said, I am sure, Sir, this is a proposition which
does not require from me, in this assembly, any particular or
extended remarks. A free and popular government of course
rests upon public opinion for support.—( Cheers.) A free and
popular government is therefore greatly interested in the freest
and fullest communication of information to the public.--
(Cheers.) If a body are to be tested by their acts, those acts
must be known, and these can only be so known when fully and
freely published.—( Cheers. ) I consider that a tax, the effect of
which is to prohibit the circulation of all newspapers, prevents the
acts and conduct of public men from being known to the whole
community, and is injurious to a free government.—(Cheers.)
The establishment and conducting of a newspaper requires a large
capital, and when you add to that cost the amount of the tax, the
cost becomes great, and shuts out the opportunity of communicating
information to all those persons who cannot afford to pay for the
paper.—( Cheers. ) But, admitting these principles some persons
think it not desirable to give this vast amount of information.
If ours were a despotic government, or an oligarchy, it would
be interested in keeping the people ignorant, and de-
priving of the means of acquiring knowledge the men
who would submit implicitly to any course that Government might
adopt.—(Hear, hear.) But this is a Government founded on
public opinion, and which has given to the people that which they
did not possess before. It has thrown the choice of municipal
officers upon the rate-payers.—( Loud cheers.) Then the Govern-
ment has done something more, it has extended the choice of Mem-
bers of Parliament to a much larger number than possessed it
before. The Government are extending a degree of power to the
people, which demands that they should be as fully and perfectly
informed as they possibly can be.—( Hear, hear ) What is the
nature of the trust? It is, that they shall have the right of choos-
ing those individuals who are to administer their municipal affairs.
It is of the utmost importance, when so great a power is exercis;d,
that the people should be fully informed. Mr. Plint then very suc-
cessfully replied to the objection urged by some individuals that a
little knowledge was an evil • and concluded a long, but very able
address, by alluding to the different tone which would be adopted
Editors of newspapers in general, if the stamp duty was repealed.
The speaker concluded amidst loud applause.
Mr. JOSEPH LEES, who was also received with marks of appro-
bation, came forward to second the resolution. He said, Mr.
Mayor and Gentlemen, in seconding this resolution, I shall have
very little to do. For many years past, many will be aware that
this tax has been resisted on the ground that we could not spare
such a sum of money, and the Government had no means of sub-
stituting another which would be equally agreeable. But I have
the pleasure to say that this ground is entirely cut from under the
feet of the Ministry.—( Cheers.) During the last week a deputa-
tion of about thirty-five individuals, all but five of whom were Mem-
bers of Parliament, waited upon. Lord Melbourne as a deputation
from the Radical Union of London, with a petition, praying that
the Government would remit the entire tax—Dr. Birkbeck was at
the head. A great deal of discussion took place, and in so straight-
forward a way were the arguments used, that they cut from under
the feet of Ministers those objections. Lord Melbourne quits the
ground, and puts it upon another point, and I shall now take up that
objection. He says a change in the morals and habits of the people in
duced them to continue the tax. Granted that he is sincere, which
I believe he is—is he progressing in the right path by continuing
the Stamp Duty on Newspapers ? I think that the result of a re-
peal would be this, there would be a number of individuals, both
religious and political, who would publish their opinions, which are
considered illegal ; and I have seen them brought into this Court-
House and receive sentence for a breach of the law ; but there are
individuals, whose moral rectitude is so Feat that it will not allow
them to transgress the law, who, if this law was repealed, would
furnish papers of a highly moral character. Lord Melbourne is not
warranted in this assertion of his ; public opinion is against him. If
.we look back ten years to what has happened, if we go further
back to twenty years—if the people were dissatisfied (I will take
machinery for instance)—if the people were dissatisfied, they hurled
their vengeance not only against machinery, but against the people
who employed it. Now, however, the people have so progressed
in intelligence, that such a thing as the destruction of machinery is
never heard of in any of our manufacturing districts.
The MAYOR then put the Resolution, which was carried with
cheers.
Mr. Councillor BOWER then came forward, and was received
with loud cheers. He said—Mr. Chairman and gentlemen, I rise
to propose the next resolution, which is—
That the imposition of a tax on political knowledge partakes
of the pernicious and odious character of an infringement of the
freedom of the press.
This, Sir, is what was put into my hands, and I should like !oleave out one word ; but not wishing to throw any impediment in
the way, I shall take it as it lays before me. This subject, Sir, has
beenon my mind for many years back—it is not a new idea with
me that not only political, -
should but every other kind of knowledge,
come free and easy to the people.—(Cheers.) Years and
years have rolled over iiscores since I first conceived that there
should be no tax upon knowledge ; it should be within the reach of
the operative, the workingela-
it free and easy—{ Cheers)—rnds. I mean that they should have
that they should have publica-
cations from the first press in the country at a cheap rate. I don't
,agree with these cheap (unstamped) publications. On political
matters I always wish to submit to the law in being, but do every
thing I can in a legal manner to throw off that odious' tax.—( Hear,
hear.) But there is one observation which my friend, in his abld
and eloquent speech, made. He alluded very nicely (I may say it
plain out)—(Laughter)—to those whose interest it is to keep the
tax on. As it is, it takes a greater capital, and they will have
.fewer opponents.—(Laughter, and " That's it.") I don't blame
th em, but I say it is no hardship for men in business to withdraw
put' pf their capital, and to carry on the same business with less.
Mr. Councillor CI.ARE seconded the resolution. He also w a

cheered on rising, and addressed the assembly as follows :—I rise
with great pleasure to second the resolution which my worthy
friend Mr. Bower has proposed. When Mr. Pitt was asked to
restrict the liberty of the press, his reply was, " No, the press is
like the licensed libertine, and must be free." For my own part I
consider it should be as free as the air we breathe. (Cheers. )
Gentlemen object to the liberty of the press because they say
many things are inserted in a spurious way. That I admit ; but
that is not the use of the press, it is the abuse of the press.
(Cheers.) If I was asked how I would remedy the abuses of the
press, I would say by the use of it. (Loud cheers.)
The MAYOR then put tho resolution, which was also carried by
acclamation.

Mr. Councillor BAKER next came forward, and was extremely
well received by the assembly. He spoke as follows—Mr. Mayor
and gentlemen, I have the honour to be one of the requisitionists—
(cheers)—whose name is attached to the paper, and in compliance
with which this meeting has been called. I have also the honour
to have a resolution put into my band, which I shall in a little time
submit to the meeting. I shall have to plead the same excuse that
other gentlemen have done, that the shortness of the period has not
enabled me to collect so many facts, neither will it enable me to
say so much on this subject as I should like to have done ; for
there is no man in this assembly, or in this country,
more anxious to see the entire abolition of this tax, than the
humble individual who now stands before you. (Cheers.) I
consider the tax upon newspapers not only an objectionable tax,
but in the words of a Chancellor of the Exchequer, in 1834,
" a bad and an illegal tax."—( Cheers. ) It is necessary, how-
ever, so long as the law exists, that we should obey it ; but it is
equally necessary to see that these laws have within themselves the
utility they profess, before we can be called upon to give them our
implicit obedience. We have this right left us, the right to peti-
tion, and we must petition that House from which alone we can
obtain redress, that the redress may be as speedy as possible. Our
ancestors formed these laws to suit the measures of the times, but
they suit not iss---(Cheers); not because we are less obedient than
they were, but because we have risen above their necessities.
When we petition the Legislature for the repeal of any tax which
presses heavily upon any individuals or communities, it becomes us
that we should explain to Government how these taxes do press
upon us; and I am of opinion that we can show that the tax upon
newspapers does press heavily upon the community, and that we
Kaye strong grounds for petitioning for its repeal. (Cheers. ) It
operates injuriously because it circumscribes the diffusion of civil
knowledge—it operates injuriously, as it gives precedence to that
class of productions which have been deprecated by preceding
speakers, and which must be deprecated by every individual who
gives attention to the subject.—The speaker concluded a long
speech amidst the applause of the meeting.
He moved-
3d. That this meeting therefore deems the Stamp Duty on
Newspapers to be an impost of the most objectionable nature, and
regards its total abolition as an object deserving the support of
every friend of liberty.
Mr. CUM 311 NS was also greeted with loud plaudits. He said—
Mr. Mayor and Gentlemen, I have the pleasure of being allowed to
second the motion you have just heard commented upon. The
variety of observations. all tending to the same happy effect, which
you have already heard, leaves one of limited capacity very little to
add on the present occasion.—(Laughter.) I am going to observe,
that taxes of every sort, both physical and moral, I have a perfect
hatred of. I had the,pleasure, some years ago, of showing a foreign
friend through the streets of London, with all the pride of an Eng-
lishman when he goes over the metropolis of the •world. He ad-
mired our shops and our streets, but remarked on the paucity of our
windows ; he said, I am surprised you should have such bad taste
in the first place, and so little physical knowledge in the second, as
to exclude both light and air. I was compelled to explain to him,
that it was not to keep out the light and air, but to keep out the
tax-gatherer.—(Cheers and laughter.) The prohibition of those
blessings which nature has given us in common with all its crea-
tures, appears to have been a refinement upon this recrement. But
this has been refined on again; for not only our physical eye, but
our mental eye, our mind's eye, is more completely blinded by the
oppression of this enactment.—(Cheers.) Any restriction en the
acquirement of knowledge is in effect to keep mankind in that state
of moral blindness. as much as this tax upon windows has tended to
keep us in physical darkness ; the removal of one is desirable, the
removal of the other is indispensable—we may get over the first,
for if we choose we can take a walk out of doors; but as regards
mental or moral darkness where are we to look, to each other?
Why, if the blind lead the blind, we know where they wilt go.
As to the objections of those who themselves possess what they
so adroitly term the uselessness of a little knowledge, for if they
had been very wise, they would have seen the folly of attempt-
ing to keep in darkness so bright a luminary as the human in-
tellect, but upon the principle and feeling that a man with sue
eye is king amongst the bind.—(Laughter.) They were very
well satisfied with their one eye, provided they could keep both
your's blinded. Some of the objectors to enlightenment—to in-
fsrmation—lieve been pleased to say that we of the lower or:leis
have a taste for coarse viands. I deny the allegation, both morally
and physically ; for not one amongst us would sit down to a toad
in a hole, if we could get a nice slice of a sirloin of roast-beef.
—(Loud cheers and laughter.) But it is no less true than ex-
traordinary, that the grossest, the most vicious (if I may call it
se) of literary garbage which the press of this kingdom pours
forth, is to be found in the publications patronised and reed by
the first and the highest classes in society, and these in the
shape of a Sunday press. There are two of them—and as I
don't stand in f: ar of editors' thunders, and as the Bull may I,ot
think it worth while to take the opportunity to rage at such a cal;
as myself, and as the master spirit of the Age may not
think me worth a consideration, I shall venture a few re-
marks.—(Loud laughter and cheers.) The two Sunday pap, rs,
the Age and the John Bull, strange to say, have a circulation
greater than that of any other paper in this kingdom, and this also
amongst the highest nobles and classes in the kingdom, and I am
sorry to say, one of them the elergyrnen.—(Hear, hear.) If I
wished to present to a foreigner a paragraph partaking of seurril-
lity and brutal feeling of the worst description, the columns and
the pages of the Ape and John Bull, not to say abound in them,
but are full of nothing else. lam free to conies; that if the JJIO
Bull and the Age upon the same principle were to be released from
the shackles of this tax, and promulgated for a halfpenny, curiosity
might induce you to buy them once, but after the first glance, not
one of you would offer another farthing for such (as they call it)
trash.—( Cheers.) In observing further upon the effect of a free
competition, Mr. C. observed, that although at pres4nt some profit
might be got out of dishonest prints, when the duty was repealed
it would be out of the power of the Carlton Club or any other hone
"to get a bit of honest roguery"when the people can get truth at the
same price. The speaker concluded a most hurnourous speech
amidst great cheering.
Mr. SMITHSON and another person in the crowd supported the
resolution, which was carried as the previous-line.
Mr. H. RICH A RDSON (Editor of the Leeds Times) said—as
the meeting had already expressed their hostility to the Newspaper
Stamp Duty, it is my lot to call on them to petition Parliament
against it. I will first beg leave to say •a word in self-defence.
Newspaper editors have been attacked by a previoui speaker, and
as one of them I wish to defend myself. As to the dogmatism or
arguments of my writings, it is not for me to judge ; but I never
have, and never will, as a newspaper editor, make a personal attack
on any individual. The resolution that I have to propose, is as
follows:-
4th. That the following petition from the inhabitants of Leeds
to the Honourable House of Commons be left for signatures at the
Leeds Newspaper Offices, and at other places, and afterwards be
forwarded to Edward Baines, Esq., M.P., for presentation ; and
that Sir John Beckett, Bart, M.P., Lord Morpeth, M.P., Sir 0.
Strickland, Bart., M. P. , T. Wakley, Esq., M. P. , J. Hume,
Esq., M.P., Daniel O'Connell, Esq., M.P., E. L. Bulwer, Esq.,
M. ~ J. A. Roebuck, Esq., M.P., and Dr. Bowring, M.P., be
requested to support the prayer of the petition.
"TO THE HONOURABLE THE COMMONS OF THE
UNITED KINGDOMOF GREAT BRITAIN AND IRE-
LAND IN PARLIAMENT ASSEMBLED:
" The Humble Petition of the Undersigned Inhabitants of the
Town and Borough of Leeds,
" Sheweth,—
" That your petitioners regard the Stamp Duty on Newspapers
as an impost alike indefensible in principle and pernicious in

practice. -
" That your petitioners regard the tax as obnoxious on financial
grounds because it defeats its own ends, by obstructing the circula-
tion of advertisements, and thereby limiting the consumption of
other taxed commodities.
" That your petitioners regard the tax as obnoxious on moral
grounds, because it drives the labourer to seek for information and
amusement at the public house, which otherwise he might procure
at home, and thus encourages and increases drunkenness.
" That your petitioners regard the tax as obnoxious on political
grounds, because it deprives the largest class of the community of
the means of acquiring political knowledge, and thereby unfits them
for the right performance of their duties as citizens.
" That those late Acts of the Legislature which bestow on num-
bers of the industrious classes political and municipal privile_ es,
render it highly important to place within their reach the means of
learning the acts of those whom they, in the exercise of their fran-
chise, have invested with important trusts.
" That your petitioners, considering that a reduction of the tax
would scarcely alleviate the evil, but materially postpone the re-
medy, beg respectfully to state to your Honourable House their firm
conviction, that nothing less than a total abolition of the Stamp
Duty on Newspapers will meet the requirements or satisfy the de-
mands of the nation.
" Your petitioners, therefore, humbly pray your Honourable
House wholly to remove the Stamp Duty on Newspapers, and to
adopt such other measures as may be requisite to render the aboli-
tion of the tax efficient to the welfare of the people."
The speaket continued—After so much has been said, little is
left for me to do ; but there is one point which has been overlooked
by preceding speakers—the question of reduction or abolition—on
which I have a few remarks to offer. A fact came to my know-
ledge the other day, bearing strongly upon the three points of
the present duty, reduction, and abolition. At a village near
Leeds, there is a congregation of about three hundred indivi-
duals of a sect who have several monthly religious periodicals,
at Id. and • 2d. each. In that congregation there are seventy
religious periodicals circulated per month.—(Hear.) In the same
village are four other congregations, amounting to about 900, of
sects, none of whose religious periodicals are lower than 4d. each,
and among these, although thrice as numerous, not half the num-
ber of these publications are circulated as among the congrega-
tion of 300 who get the ld. and 2d. publications. These may be
taken as examples of deduction and abolition. Now for the ex-
isting duty. Nina years ago, when there were no religious pe-
riodicals lower than 6d., which is less than the price of a stamped
newspaper, that congregation which now gets seventy pamphlets
per mon h, did only take in five. Dr. Birkbeck also mentioned a
fact of a similar nature, when he waited on the Premier as one
of the deputation already mentioned. Some years ago, a person
opened the Rotunda in London, as a place of public amusement,
the admission being 3d.: he found he could not pay a rent of
twenty shillings a week. He reduced the admission to ld., and
was then able to pay five pounds a week, and clear a fair profit be-
sides. After some further remarks, Mr. Richardson said, in con-
clusion, I congratulate you on the prospect given by the liberal
policy of the Government, and the combination and determination
of the people, of the speedy and complete abolition of the stamp
duty on newspapers.
Mr. Councillor Baeww seconded the adoption of the petition,
which was then put from the Chair, and agreed to with acclamation.
Mr. GREGORY moved, and Mr. SMITHSON seconded, the ap-
pointment of a Committee to superintend the signing and forward-
ing of the petition for presentation.
Mr. Councillor BUTTREY moved a vote of thanks to the Mayor,
which was scleonded by Mr. JOHN CIiIESMAN, and responded to
by tremendous cheering, waving of hats, and other tokens of ap-
probation.
Mr. Councillor BOWER then put the motion, which was carried
by acclamation.
The MAYOR rose to return thanks, when he was instantly saluted
with several distinct rounds of applause. As soon as the cheering
had subsided, his Worship said, I most sincerely thank Mr. But-
trey, and also the Gentleman who seconded the motion, and you
for supporting me in the chair. It is the first time that I have oc-
cupied a place so important ; I can only say, when the public wish
to be called together on any business, I shall be most happy to
attend them.—(Loud cheers.)
The Meeting then separated.

S U 'l' 1-1 E Y'S C 0 NIT p E
THE SECOND VOLUME
WAS THIS DAY PUBLISHED.
London : Baldwin and Cradock, Paternoster-row.

HAMBURG, FEBRUA RY 5, 1336.
AriN approach of the 24th INSTANT, HEINE
'11.5 BROTHERS, Contractors for the GREAT LOTTERIES
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