The Sun.
London, England, 1842-08-23 00:00:00

Ili THY. SI2"N, LONDON, TUESDAY EVENING-, AUGUST 23, 1842.

SERIOUS DISTURBANCES ON
KENNINGTON COMMON LAST NIGHT—
CONFLICT WITH •THE POLICE.
(FROM OUR OWN REPORTER.)
Placards were extensively issued yesterday and
circulated on the other side the water, fot the purpose
of calling a meeting, to be held on Kennington-com-
mon, of the Chartists, to discuss the principle of the
Charter and the pi-esent distressed state of .the eoun-
try. In consequence of this placard a public notice
was immediately issued by Mr. Commissioner Mayne,
cautioning persons not to assemble on Kennington-
common, end warning the public, that if a meeting
were persisted in the utmost exertions would be made
to take the persons so assembling into custody. These
placards, of course, caused the neighbourhood of Ken-
nington to be in a very excited state. Several divi-
sions of police were stationed on and near the Com-
mon, fbr the purpose of preserving peace. Several
troop of soldiers were also in the vicinity, with two
or three pieces of cannon. By about half-past four
o'clock in the afternoon the avenues leading to Ken-
nington-common showed the same appearance
as on the days of the races at Epsom, ex-
cept that there were no carriages. The crowd
continued to increase till about half-past five,
when, on the Common and round it, there could not
have been less than five or six thousand persons, com-
prising men, women,, and children, there being a
great number of the later. The congregation con-
sisted chiefly of working men, with a great number
of the white jackets. At six o'clock the Common
had the appearance of a fitir. The:e were those
well known gentlemen who place snuff-boxes on
sticks to be thrown at with short sticks " three a
penny." These gentlemen were there in abuncianees
On another part of the Common a party was playing
at cricket, and everybody seemed in search of amuse-
meta rather than the .t!iscusson of politics. At about
half-past six o'clock several of the persons appointed
to address the meeti4arrived. on the ground, and a
large table having 'been procured, was placed hi the
middle of the Common, and an immense concourse of
te;rsons gathered round -it. It was then moved that
iMr. Nortley do ..t `so the Chair, which, being
seconded, the motion was carried amidst loud cheers.
Tilts • Chairman their erdaliesel, a:few' observations to
the assembled mulLitridtef- 'upon them to pre7
serve good order towanititmiest,of‘thcir power. and to
show a due submission Wthe hiwg. .1.-le-,then called
upon Mr. Anderson to move the first resolntion, who
commenced by saying that meetings like those could
be defended upon erery principle of liberty. Ile was
proceeding to condemn the conduct of the Blue-
bottles," as he rather aptly termed the police, when a
loud cry was raised of " The Peelers, the Peelers !"
On turning round, it was discovered that about e
dozen of the horse patrol, armed with heavy cut•
lasses, and backed by several divisions of police., were
rapidly advancing upon the crowd. In another
moment the horse patrol galloped into the assem-
blage, knocking down several persons, some of whom
were severely injured. The vast multitude was then
Seen flying m all directions, pursued by the horse
patrol and the other police. The conduct of the
police at this time, we cannot but say, was most in-
judicious. Persons who were on the Common as
mere spectators, were knocked down with their staves
without a word. From all parts of the Common,
men were seen coming away with the blood streaming
from their heads. One poor man, who said he had
attended merely as a spectator, was struck to the
ground, and a frightful wound was inflicted upon his
head. Ile came into the road which runs along the
side of the Common, and held up his neckcloth, which
was completely saturated with blood, and cried out,
" Englisninen, look at this ! Is this England that
we live in ?" If any poor fellow happened to
make the slightest resistance, he was knocked
down, and then beaten severely about the head. Our
reporter saw at least a dozen instances of this sort.
But this was not all. We regret extremely to be
obliged to say that the conduct of the Inspectors of
police who were on horseback, was most unwarrant-
able. One of these individuals who appeared to be
"the General," a short thick-set man, with a great
quantity of silvery hair, and who appeared to be near
sixty years of age, mede himself culpably conspicuous.
Ile walked up ai d do ai the street waving his staff,
and crying out to the filen in white jackets, " Come on
you devils, we are ready for you." Some persons in
the crowd called out " White headed Bob," and he
turned round and said, " Let those people come up by
my horse, and I will soon lay thorn down," at the
.same time flourishing his staff over his head. Several
times he cried out, " Come on, we are quite ready for
you ;" and on one occasion of his doing so, some one
in the crowd said, "We are not ready now, we shall
be ready on Wednesday," and ho replied, " Very well,
come when you will we are ready for you." One of
the Inspectors came up to this man and said, " Shall
we gallop them down ' and he gave him the order. to
do so, and the man galloped off at full speed across the
Common, appearing determined to execute the order to
the utmost. The crowd continued to increase till
about nine o'clock, when the place 'became a little
more tranquil, and by eleven o'clock, the time at
which our reporter left, the multitude had. very con-
siderably decreased. The police were, however, to
remain on duty all night. They continued to take
parties into custody who refused to. "move on," and
the police station must be crowded with charges. A
great number of persons were, of course, wounded—
many of them seriously. We cannot conclude our
account of what took place without expressing our
conviction that if . the police had not interfered all
would have passed off quietly, as at the beginning of
the evening, as we before remarked, the appearance
of the place was more like a fair than anything else,
the people appearing to be in search of amusement.

THE WOMEN OF THE INSUR-

RECTION.

One of the most hide6us features of the present in-
surrection among the working classes, is the turn-out
of women! Many thousands of women, mothers of
families, have travelled from Lancashire into York-
shire during the past week, urging on the men, and
supporting them in the daring work they have un-
dertaken to do. Can any one measure the vast
amount of suffering which has been necessary thus to
invert all the laws of nature, and to draw woman
forth from her home, which is her true sphere, into
the bustle, turmoil, rioting, sabreing, aid shooting, of
this frightful insurrection?
From the commencement of the strike, the women
have mixed in all its excitement, and taken part in all
its dangers. Thousands were to be obs&ved on
Skircoates Moor, near Halifax, on Tuesday, many of
them fifty miles from home, as determined in their
strike as any of their male companions. They urged
the men to retaliation, raising the howl of indignation
against their " oppressors" and " tyrants." Is not
the entire scene calculated forcibly to remind us of
the early events of the French Revolution, which, in
the striking language of Burke, arose " Amid the
fierce cries and violence of women !"

Picture the scenes on Halifax-heath=the encamp-
ment of about fifteen thousand people on the purple
heather, the women collected together in groups,
singing Chartist songs, and stirring up the men to
rescue the prisoners which had been made ! These
women also entered Halifax - almost at the head of
the mob. When they reached the North-bridge,
where the military were drawn up to oppose their
progress, numbers of women sprang forward and
seized the horses' bridles to turn them aside, exclaim-
ing to the soldiers, " You wouldn't hurt women,
would you ?" On one of the infantry presenting his
bayonet at a woman's heart, she put it aside, saying,
" So, no, we want not bayonets, but bread !" words
which furnish a key to the entire movement of the
working classes.
The " rebellion," from beginning to end, is one of
the belly." It is only those who are, or have long
been in want of bread, who have joined it. There. is
no wealthy person among the turn-outs—no middle-
class man or shopkeeper, and exceedingly few of the.
better-paid class of operatives. '1 hey are all of them
of the worst paid class, wretchedly b oar, and reduced
by long continued starvation to a state bordering
almost on the condition of savage life. There is no
bread in the homes of the Lancashire mothers; hence
are they driven out like famished hyenas in search of
food for themselves and their offspring.

We observe that the same feature —characterizes the
strike in every part of the country. In the Stafford-
shire Potteries, the women cheer on the men, hoot
at the soldiers and the magistrates, and take part in
all the riots and assemblages. Can any one predict
the end of these things ? Remember, the class to
which these women belong, constitutes the nation :
the children which they rear man our fleets, and sup-
ply our armies. It is the women who train an I rear
them, who instil into them their opinions, principles,
and feelings, be they right or be they wrong. What
may be the issue of the present state of things, if not
promptly remedied ? Whv, that in a few years the
entire working population athe country, soldiers and
sailors included, will be trained into deadly hatred of
the Government, the authorities, the upper classes,
and the entire institutions of the State

Surely, these considerations ought to be sufficient
to induce all classes to combine heartily for an ame-
lioration of the bitter grievances of which the working
classes have so long complained.—Leeds Times.

We have learnt within the last few days that Lord
John Russell has signified to Lord Palmerston, in an-
swer to representations made by the latter, ai to the ne-
ces,,ity of the Liberals advancing with the popular feel-
ing, that, closely connected as he (Lord John Russell) is
with the Bedford family, be could not consent to be a
party to further reform ; and that therefore he thinks it
were better if the Opposition would look out for some
other leader before the crimmencetnent of another Par-
liamentary campaign.--Morning Advertiser.
LRRATUM.—WQ have to apologise to Sir Benjamin
Heywood. We remembered yesterday his exertions to
found a Mechanic's Institute at Manchester, and to
promote the improvement of his fellow-men. We had
quite forgotten that he received a title from .the :Whigs.

U [SIT TO ScOTLAND.
BENJASIIN EDGINGTON begs to call attention to
his .11ARQUEEt-, TEN and 'PA, VILIONS, elegantly
litted up, and adapted for nut-door entertainitn-nts to any ex-
tent. 'they can be •efeeted on very short notice, and, Lein.'
portable, can be forwarded brsteam or railway to any part of
Scotland. Orders per post immediately attended to.
Address in full, Benjamin Falgington, '2, Duke-street, South-
wark. A Warehouse at 20:4, Piccadilly.

C77l' 4'4
tgL . to
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Rte', ,

SUN OFFICE Three o' Clock.

We gave an account this morning;, furnished by
one of our own reporters; of the meeting at Kenning-
ton •common last evening, and of the violent conduct
of the police towards an unarmed multitude. As the
violence of the police seemed so totally inexPicabie,
we suspected tilery might be some exaggeration,
and therefore modified the report till we could
a certain whether the circumstances were so bad
as represented. From various parties we now learn
with regret that the account given of the violence
used by these preservers of the pub7ie peace was not
at all exaggerated ; but, on the contrary, did not
come up to the whole truth. ,Alen, women, and chil-
dren were thrown clown by the galloping of the
mounted policemen; persons were severely beaten
by the police constables, without the slightest
grounds for such a wanton assault ; and . even
some of the men themselves were knocked
.lown in the furious el arge in ;de by their mounted
Superintendents. Whilo a, gentleman belonging to
this office was walking quietly along, suspecting no
danger, a policeman came behind him with his baton,
unawares, struck him, and kneeked him don n, A Su-
perintendent or Inspector, came galloping upon him
it that moment, and it wv,s only. by a miracle
that he escaped being trampled to death.
We have from at least seven persons accounts of FiL,
milar outrages, all of thiir committed without the
's!ightcst provocation, or even warning.. This .is not
merely cruel and disgraceful conduct, it is dangerous
to the peace of the ( community, and if per-
sisted in; will render this new police fore
the most obnoxious body ever constituted
to preserve public order. It appears, besides,
to have been totally uncalled for. There was
no violence used by the people, and no confusion or
disturbance, till a general,nssault was made by some
thousand policemen on about four times the number of.
unoffending men, women, mid children. Ave will make
no further remarks on this painful subject at present,
from a hope and belief that the Home Government
will institute a rigid inquiry and bring the guilty
parties to condign punishment. Other Journals also
notice the violence of the armed force. The Tory
Post states that the police made a general charge, and
several persons were knocked down in attempting to
escape. The Tory Herald takes a still stronger view
of the bad conduct of the police, and animadverts
on it in the following judicious remarks :
These dispersions by the police were nut conducted
with the order and moderation which are always
expected from a well-regulated civil force. In the
first place, a few very small sections could easily
have prevented the assembling together of the per-
sons alluded to ; in the next place, the pell-mell
style in which the police ran towards and scrambled
over the railings, had a very ridiculous appearance
and produced a very ridiculous effect. Such a mode
of action is not at all calculated to gain for
a civil force the merit of being operated upon by a cool
and unimpassioned sense of duty. Besides, there was in
fact, nothing to warrant a sort of running attack npcn the
idle and curious. It may be good policy to cool down the
ardour of the political incendiaries and rogues and vaga-
bonds who assemble on such an occasion, but this is to be
done rather by clever tactics and determined firmness, tem-
pered by moderation, than by the very'hurried, somewhat
immoderate, and impolitic way in which the thorough-
fares in the vicinity of the common were cleared by the
police yesterday evening. We believe that a few cases
of slight resistance to the police on the part of several
Chartists and some obstinate and foolish spectators oc-
curred ; that a few fellows were taken into custody ;
and that a number of• persons will have reason to re-
member the policemen's barons. There was an over-
whelming police force in requisition, suffieient indeed to
have held in check all the Chartists in and within 100
miles of the metropolis.

Acts of Parliament, .as has been often observed,
are by -.no means remarkable for conciseness and per-
spicuity of language. Generally speaking, their prin-
cipal object seems to be, to convey the least possible
quantum ormeaning in the largest possible quantum,
Of verbiage. As the Diitchladiea of old, according
to the amusing historian, KNICKERBOCKER, used to
envelope their persons in ten or a dozen pairs of
petticoats, so in the majority of our Acts: of Parlia-
ment, the simplest facts, which might be sufficiently
explained in a line, are not unfrequently
encumbered by at least a dozen. sentences—to say
nothing of clauses,•riders, and such like supplemental
serve no other purpose than to
nuisances, which
teaze, perplex, and mystify. This is particularly the
ease as regards the Income-tax Act, which—if ob-
scurity be a source of the sublime—is certainly among
the sublimest prose compositions in the language,
and every way worthy of that Minister who
told his " faithful Commons " the other day, that
the guiding principle of his legislation was
a generous love of fame ! We have made many at-
tempts to fathom the meaning of this most enigmatical
Act, but hitherto with but very indifferent success—
and no wonder ; for even its framers seem perfectly
aware of its unintelligible character, and accordingly
refer all those who may be - in the same blessed state
of ignorance as ourselves, to
.their respective
local Assessors, who are enjoined to play the
part of schoolmasters on the occasion, and
"teach the young idea how to pay!" We
see also by several advertisements in the daily
journals, that certain gifted individuals, who, like
cats, can see in the dark—that is to say, can grope
their way even through the Cimmerian gloom of an
Act of Parliament—undertake to explain all the
mysteries of the Income-tax Act for the small charge
of one shilling, discreetly adding, however, that this
charge will be raised in proportion to the
time employed in explanation. How complimentary
is this fact to the clear and lucid understandings of
those who drew up the notable Act in question ! One
would actually suppose that they had drawn it up in
Sanscrit, and needed the aid of dragomans or inter-
preters, to make-its meaning obvious to the public !
We understand that people are rushing in all di.-
rections, in order to seek a solution of this financial
Conundrum, and that there is scarcely an Assessor in
the metropolis who cannot - boast of as many pupils as
Doctor HAwTREY of Eton. For our own parts, we
are hopeless of ever being able,. to discover any other
meaning in the Income• tax Act than just . this—
namely, Ministers want money, and Ministers will
have it! •

The Paris papers of Sunday have been received,
accompanied by the usual continental advices. The
Chamber of Deputies, having terminated its sitting on
Saturday, politics have of course ceased: to be a fea-
ture. There is equally a dearth of other news.
M. Thicrs, with his flunily, have left I'aris; for a tour
through Switzerland and the adjacent countries.
OR AN, AUG. 7.—C6mmercial affairs are still going
on very well. It appears, however, that they have been
a little checked at Tlernecen, in consequence of a consi-
derable duty,imposed by the Emperor Abdherraman, on
cattle and wool exported from Morocco. We have in
this town the Colonel and Lieutenant-C&onel of the 2d
Regiment of Chasseurs of Africa. These officers have
applied to
.have their regiments collected at Oran, in
order to prepare for the inspection ;. but it appears that
the superior authorities have not been able to comply
with their request. The country, it. is • true, had sub-
mitted, but it i; still in arms, and it is thought proper
to leave untouched the division of Mascara and Mosta-
ganem, which are to be constantly in readiness to march
against Abd-el-Kader. The Emir has still some hun •
Bred horsemen with him. By his promises and threats
he has succeeded in awing some fractions of the tribes
whose horsemen are gone to join him. It is necessary,
too, that the chiefs lately given to the -Arabs by the
French authority, should be able to depend, till further
orders. on prompt and effectual assistance.—Le Ton-
lonnais.

THE WEA T ER VRIDAY .—The heat of
the weather increases in 'intensity. Even et twelve
o'clock on Wednesday night the thermometer was as
high as 27.2-10 of the c;ntigrade scale, Si of Fahren-
heit ; and, although at six yesterday morning it got
dfmn to 22 5-10 C., 79i- F., by two in the. afternoon it
had risen to 35 C., 95 F.; the highest point it has realised
this year, and, indeed, for many years. A complete
change took place on batv.ri:ay morning at an early
hour, and refreshing showers faliin; nearly all the after-
noon, relieved the apprehensions which had existed from
the great heat. Slight symptoms of cholera had been
manifested, but the returns from the hospitals exhibited
'no great degree of .siehness.
The harvest in Westmorland and Cumberland has
now -become general; and. the quantity and quality of the
crops far surpass the most sat-loin° expectations of the
farmers. • ,