The Sun.
London, England, 1841-12-29 00:00:00

MEETING OF THE FRIENDS OF

A REPEAL OF THE CORN-LAWS.
An important meeting composed of those friends of a
total and immediate Repeal of the Corn-laws, resident
in the various metropolitan districts, was held on Monday
at the Office of the Metropolitan Anti-Corn-law Asso-
ciation, No. 448, West Strand, for the purpose of report-
ing the progress which the question has made in their
respective localities within the last fortnight; George
Beacon, Esq., was called to the chair.
Mr. MURRAY, of Bethnal-green, apprised the meeting
that in his canvassing for signatures to the Repeal of the
Bread-tax petition, he discovered that in New York-
street, Bethnal-green, there was not a single bed, a
frightful indication of the state of suffering to which the
iniquitous Corn-laws had reduced the people in that
populous and industrious district. The petition as a con-
sequence was most numerously signed in that district.
Mr. ANDERSON, of Bishopsgate, stated that out of
fourteen Common Councilmen whom his ward returned
at the late election, thirteen of them had declared in fa-
vour of a " total and immediate repeal of the Corn-laws,"
and were, on that ground, returned.

. .
A letter was read from Mr. IL Cove, representing the
growing state of the Tottenham Association ; and, that
while the clergymen of the Established Church, in their
district, declined to sign the petition, those of the Bap-
tist and Roman Catholic congregations, and also some of
the members of the Society of Friends, had signed it, and
pledged themselves to do all in their power to further the
objects of the Association. The letter suggested the
%Jeffrey,
various
riCongregationaleuys,di
district
t r
ic t
ell'eertgi
yt i
Imo nesn,
." of which Mr.
Smith very highly approved, and for that purpose, the
of 100/. had been raised b3' grwe,eaatiltiiinturggo :no': c't
f:thre: A letter was
con-
gregation of that town, by a penny subscription, collected
by means of cards, havine• 940 seares marked out on
a penny,
receipt. Letters were also bAylatithlsetomnee,tisitaodtiisntg
chapelthat a sum
each, one of which was perforated with a pin by each
person paying
eerilng'ayalsora,
of l;xbridge, from the Rev. Mr. I\ ewland, of Chalfont,
and from a correspondent at Beaconsfield, stating the
distress in their districts
frightful amount of iereepderbfr lo.nGaenosr‘gy
1 'ere so much " under the
and that the peoll-e " ~ b
iron heel of the
~, sign the petition. " Bread-tax
bread-tax, as. .to e afraid in
many instances,
te-ed . y
Cormac, of Hammer-
receipts,"
smith, wereosritrtengaly recom_ mended to be brought under
By an arrangement with a baker,
the present season.
who receives such tax-ticket is to receive the
the notice of all bodies and persons dispensing charity at
the party .
p
persons (h
41b. loaf; p.pocecallrocure the tickets from the Anti-
Corn-lawlld., for sd. ; the charitably disposed
Association), paying the additional 311-d.,
which is the landlords tax on the loaf. The effect will
be to show the people the amount for which they would
obtain the 41b. loaf at all times but for the landlord's
tax. Mr. Herne proposed a plan the reverse of this,
namely, that the people should only pay the tax, and
that the charitably disposed should pay the value of the
bread.

-.Alscussion followed, which ended in leaving the ques-
tion open, both plans having the merit of exposing the
landlord's tax on the poor man's loaf.
Mr. SYDNEY SMITII reported the rapid progress which
the question of repeal has made within the last fortnight,
and the meeting then separated, elate with the fact that
the working-classes are rapidly uniting in all quarters in
the just and desirable objects of the Association.

About a fortnight ago, a farmer of Montredgar,
in the Loire, whether out of a juke, or with
an intent to
steal, cannot be known, took away the horse of a neigh-
bour, named l)estemonts, from the door of a public
house, where its master was drinking. Being informed
of what had taken place, Desremonts sallied forth in
pursuit, and was soon perceived by him who had got
the horse. The latter left the beast, and
ran off, but
was overtaken by his pursuer, with a knife in his hand,
and was struck down with a severe wound. Recovering
himself, he again ran off, followed by Desremonts, re-
peatedly plunging the knife into his victim's loins, and
having once more got him down, buried the weapon in the
poor man's bowels, and left him dead. Taking his horse,
Desremonts returned to the public-house, and, showing his
bloody hands, boasted of what he had done, then paid his
score, rode home, went to bed, and slept soundly till morn-
ing. A little reflection, however, induced him to set his af-
fairs in order, and leave the house. Gendarmes have
been ten days in search of him, without finding him. The
Journal de Saint Etienne, from which we take the ac-
count, observes that all the acquaintances of the brutal
murderer still speak of him as a brave home.