The Sun.
London, England, 1850-01-05 00:00:00

The CHAIRMAN having promised to advert to Sir
Robert Peel's letter in the course of the meeting,
he was allowed to read Mr. Benett's, which was
merely an apology for nct attending on account of
ill health.
The CHAIRMAN—They must now Comet to the
business of the meeting, and he would place it before
them as shortly as be possibly could.—(sesar, hear,
and " Cut it short.") It was the fashion of their
opponents to accuse them (the Protectionists) of being
influenced by selfish motives, and to extol the Free-
traders for their philanthropy. If he (the Chairman)
thought it would be only doing himself good by at-
tending that meeting, he could assure them he would
not have been present. lVhat sacrifices had they
made that they.talked so much of philanthropy ? They
began with the cry of free trade and cheap bread for
the poor, which every person knew was a fallacy.-
-[llere a fight took place between some of the
partizans of the rival factions in the body of the hall,
the confusion from which rendered the speaker quite
inaudible.] When he was again heard at the re-
porter's table he was understood to say—The Duke
of Bedford had recently said that free trade would have
the effect of crushing all landholders, except those of
very large capital. It would have the effect of exter-
minating the present race of tenant-farmers and putting
in their place the Manchester manufacturers—(That
won't do; it's a lie)—who were said to be able to get
quadruple crops off the land.—(Cries of " Reduce
our rents," " Why don't you read Sir Robert Peel's
letter.") Free-traders (continued the Chairman)
admitted that there was distress, and they proposed
as a remedy that the rents shou!d be lowered.
—(Hear, hear, and cries of " That's what you
must do.") Ile knew fur himself that he had laid out as
much as he received from his land, and if he reduced
the rent be must stop from the farm the amount which
he had been in the habit of laying out in improve-
ments.—(Hear, hear.) The Chairman, who, from
the frequent interruptions, had evidently began to
lose his temper, said he begged to remind those per-
sons who were interrupting, that the meeting was
called by farmers for the purpose of discussing the
principle of protection; those who held different
views from the conveners of the meeting were at
liberty to stay, but they must remain silent or they
would certainly be ejected. This remark, instead of
having the desired effect of quieting the meeting, gave
rise to a fearful disturbance; the farmers commenced
the battle with the Free-traders, and in different
parts of the building about twenty fights took place
simultaneously. .
Order having been somewhat restored, Mr. R. P.
LONG rose for the purpose of moving the first reso-
lution ; he was received with derisive cheers and
laughter for several minutes, and anxious inquiries
as to whether his " Mother knew ho was out.'
The farmers, finding that they were getting beaten
by the Free•traders, commenced to forcibly eject their
obnoxious neighbours, which, amidst loud cries of
" police, and murder ! " they succeeded in doing.
Order, however, was only restored until such time as
the vai.quished got into the street, far the moment
theyrgot on the outside of the building they struck
up a sharp lire of stones and other missiles against the
windows of the council chamber, which were shat-
tered in all directions. A strong body of police hav-
ing been procured, the ringleaders were conveyed to
the station house. After some time,
Mr. LONG said he would give them the beads of
the address to the Queen, which was the resolution he
was about to propose. It was that the meeting views
with the greatest alarm the agricultural distress
which pervades Great Britain and Ireland, and that
nothing can enable the farmer to compete with the
untaxed foreigner. [The latter part of the resolution
was quite inaudible, owing to a fresh battery at the
window from without, which sent the glass flying in
all directions over the room.] Mr. Long, after some
further observations, resumed his seat, amidst a crash
of broken windows, cheers, and groans.
Mr. S. MILLS seconded the resolution.
At this stage of the proceedings another fight took
place, and another batch of Free traders were ex-
pelled ; after which
The CHAIRMAN put the resolution, but only a few
hands were held up in favour of it, and the Chairman
declared it was carried.
The Right Hon. the Earl of MALMESBURT moved
the second resolution. He said, it was a proud
satisfaction for him to have been invited to attend so
great and important a meeting.—(Hear, hear.)
There was no sacrifice, if he had been called upon to
make a sacrifice, which he would not have made to
have answered that invitation. Ile was requested to
move a resolution approving of the National Society
for the Protection of British Industry, and that they
should juin that society. Ile thought there could
not be a more practicable measure, as by so doing
they would concentrate the forces all under one
head.—(Cries of "No brains.") Among the many
causes which led to their defeat was that they had an
leader, that they were much too scattered and not suf-
ficiently combined; but by taking a leaf out of their
enemies' book, they would perhaps be able to frustrate
their designs. Much had been said with respect to
protection being kept up for the benefit of the aristo-
cracy. Now he could speak for himself, that in the
parish
' where he resided there were SOS landowners
beside himself. Now, if protection were put on for
the benefit of the aristocracy, it was only 1 in 308.
lie admitted that land must come down, but ha
thought it would fall heavy on the poor, as all classes
would have to share alike; and if the landlord re-
duced from 3001. to 2001. the labourer would be
reduced from 9s. to 6s. per week.
Mr. C.W. EYYRETT seconded the motion.—Carried,
The next resolution, advising her Majesty to dis-
miss her present Parliament, was moved by Mr. KING
and seconded by Mr. Wieraams, but the confus'ea
was so great that it was almost impossible to hear a
word that any of the speakers said with any degree of
accuracy.
Several other speakers followed; but the noise and
confusion continued until the end, notwithstanding
occasional batches of Free-traders were ejected, but
it was quite clear that, although the Cnairman de-
cided that the resolutions were carried, it was very
doubtful whether they were so or not.

residing Thursday,near
211,7,it
Hastings,nhe hut,l ult., MELANCHOLY OCCURBENCE.—On
excursion
nthoen
ac eSaausmmseaaxnr,she
accidentally shot in the
waskn e
foundyato 1, • arge from his
companions' gun, which be of. such a dan-
gerous character as to render amputation necessary.
The shock which the nervous system had endured ap-
pearswhtopnblaevaestbeeexnpetcotoedgrbeyathifsormtehdeicuaroarttteunndastentzahne,
whiles,
tor,
the
held following
before
Kell, O a
die
Thursdaydo n t the morning
inquestwoafs
coroner for East Sussex, to inquire into the circumstances
of this melancholy case, and Hobert Kent, the man from
whose gun the discharge came which produced this fatal
result, was suLjected to a lorg examination. It appeared
by Lit, as well as the deceased's statement, made while
alive, that while Page was in the act of bring at •
blackbird the other's gun accidentally went off, lodged
the contents in the deceased's knee, reached the joint.
and severely shattered the bone. After the examination
of four surgeons, Messrs. Ticehurat, Duke, Savery, and
Cumming, who were present at the surgical operation.
the jury returned a verdict of " Accidental death." It
was stated that the deceased, who was twenty-five fears
of age, was shortly to have been married to Kent's sister.
_ .

A ROYAL MEEzsuAum.—During the past NA eek,
several tons of damn, d and contraband tobacco have
been burnt by order of the Board of Customs, in one of
the flues of the distillery of Messrs. Coates and Co.,
Southside-strcet. The fumes impregnated the air of all
the neighbouring streets. This is the first time such an
operation has been performed at Plymouth, although in
the London Docks it is common enough—the chimney
in which it is burnt being p)pularly known as the
Queen's pipe.— Western Times.
SHERBORNE.—The Rev. Charles T. Penrose has
resigned the head mastership of the grammar school of
this town.—Sher Lorne Journal.