people. Thus, the potato-diet (and this | but they had no bank with a few hunought to be called the potato-commis- dred thousand louis-d'ors in its chests, sion) would be, as these wiseacres think, with twenty-six millions of pounds afloat completely enforced. The fact is this: in paper! They had not this terrific the country labourers insist upon not item; and, even only three years bebeing starved. They have the means fore their houses were in flames, their of preventing their starvation, and the chance of escape seemed not to be so police-force is to deprive them of those very bad. Our aristocracy has a terrible means. Alas! it will never do! it will affair to deal with; therefore, it is time only bring open war; and it is truly as- for them to begin to think about sometonishing, that the aristocracy cannot thing besides a gendarmerie. I shall see, that the end of these things, if they have plenty of occasions to return to should be so foolish as to adopt them, this poor-law-commission affair; but I must be destruction to themselves. It shall only find it that which I expected; is a strange thing, that they will not abounding with schemes, not to make look at the cause of the poor-rates, and the poor better off, but to make them the fires. It is a strange thing, that they receive less money in the way of relief. will not recollect what took place in France; that they will not perceive that they are marching just in the steps of the aristocracy of Louis XV. They had gendarmerie in every village; and yet, while these gendarmerie were in the villages, still in the villages, they were driven from their mansions, and those mansions were burnt. Is it not time for ours to begin to think of the final consequences? Is it not time for them to begin to think about obtaining security other than that which is given by daggers and pistols? The people want to live well, as they ought to live; and until they do live well, no gendarmerie schemes will be of any avail for any length of time. It was easy to see what this poor-law commission would be, when we saw STURGES BOURNE one of the commissioners! That which they have now published is a little beginning. It lets out, however, the scheme of the gendarmerie; and puts us upon our guard, and enables us to give it a warm reception. This I, for my part, shall not fail to do. Our aris-been compelled to pay pensions and tocracy ought to recollect, that there are two items in their affair, which make it more dangerous than the affair of the French noblesse was. FIRST, they had no church-and-poor property in their hands; they had no lay-tithes and abbey-lands in their hands; and, what is of still more importance, they had no savings banks and paper-money. They had a debt, indeed; and it was that which, in fact, brought them down; SEEING the oppressions which we endure; seeing how small a share of the taxes is paid by the aristocracy, and how large a portion of them they receive, it appears to me, that this is the great evil of the country; we have seen the game laws hardened to a degree that our fathers never could have dreamed of; we have seen the new trespass. law, and the new Highway Acts, almost deprive us of the right of setting our feet upon any part of our country; we have seen the trial by jury in great part laid aside, as far as related to the offences of the common people; we have seen our property seized by the tax-gatherers of various descriptions, and by tithe-gatherers, and taken from us without any trial by jury; we have seen our property taxed most enormously by stamp and auction duties, while the landowners have escaped those taxes, and while we have sinecures to support the families of this aristocracy. In short, we have seen ourselves ruined, pressed down, one after another, into a state of pauperism; and now we behold schemes for establishing a gendarmerie to compel us to submit in silence to all these wrongs. What, then, are we to do in such a case as this? What are we to do in our own defence? It appears to me, that there ought to be established an association under the following title, and for the following objects: DEFENCE ASSOCIATION; Or, an association for protecting tradesmen, and other the industrious classes, against all unconstitutional encroachments of the aristocracy. To be established in London, with a chairman, deputy chairman, aud secretary. To correspond with all parts of the king dom; and to receive statements of acts done towards the industrious To classes, which would be proper subjects of representation to the Parliament. To give advice upon the subject, and obtain redress where that is possible. To To receive statements relative to all acts of oppression, particularly relative taxes, an accurate list of the names any of his relations have received, not omitting his predecessors for three or four generations; showing how he came by his estate, and particularly showing what men, women, or children, appertaining to him, are or have been on the pension or sinecure list, and to cause a sufficient number of these papers to be circulated amongst the industrious classes in his own immediate neighbourhood; so that we may all know one another well. get the names of all the justices of the peace in the several counties, and to ascertain whether they be receivers of tithes or of taxes, and to what amount. ascertain, as nearly as may be, the amount of the lay-tithes, of the abbey-lands, of the college property, of the bishop's property, and of the dean and chapter property, in each county; and also of the corporation and public charity property; and to ascertain in whose hands each parcel of this property is. The association might take care to furnish lists of the abbey-lands; and the correspondents would inform them in whose hands they are, and the worth of them. There are divers other things to mention of a most interesting nature. I throw out this merely as a hint for others to improve upon. This is the sort of "commission" that is wanted; and I would call it the " Reckoning Commission; for it is absolutely necessary that we begin to make up our accounts, and to have them ready. It would be a sad thing for us to be taken by surprise. When we all know one another well, we shall easily arrange matters quietly, we shall easily come to an "equitable adjustment." the landowner has derived from not PETITIONS PRESENTED BY ME having had to pay these duties. To cause to be printed, upon a small piece of paper, and at a very cheap 1. rate, a true pedigree of every great landowner, showing how much of the public money he or ON THE 1. OF APRIL. FROM the mayor, aldermen, common council, burgesses, and other electors and rate-payers of the town and borough of Kidnelly, in the 14. 15. 16. county of Carmarthen, praying | 13. that the Irish Coercion Bill may not pass, and praying that the real cause of it may cease, namely, the cruel exaction of tithes. 2. From the electors, rate-payers, and inhabitants of the county of the borough of Carmarthen, expressing their alarm at the introduction of the Irish Coercion Bill, and praying the House not to pass it, also praying that justice may be done to Ireland, and that the English may be no longer taxed to collect Irish tithes. 3. From the electors and rate-payers of the towns and borough of Saint Clears and Pentre Llanfhangel, in the county of Carmarthen.-The same prayer. 4. From Preston, in Lancashire, agreed to at a public meeting called by the mayor, praying that their Irish brethren may not be subjected to a military law. 17. 18. 19. 5. From the city of Norwich, praying 6. From the parish of Callan, county of 7. From the parish of Muhar, in the 8. From the inhabitants of the Tower 9. From the parish of Kilvine, in the county of Mayo, beseeching the House not to pass the horrible bill which is to enable a few military officers to transport them for life. 10. From the city of Ely, for the repeal of the assessed taxes. 11. From Chipping Norton, for the repeal of some of the present taxes, and for the substitution of a regulated property-tax. 12. The petition of Timothy Hutt and Mark Anthony Johnson, praying 22. 23. The petition of James Hamson, of Thorne Falcon, complaining of the dreadful pressure of local taxation. The petition of the undersigned inhabitants of Manchester, praying for the repeal of the taxes on knowledge. Petition of James Dunn, Esq., of Gray's-inn, barrister-at-law, complaining of certain proceedings of certain magistrates. Petition of William Blaxland, of Leamington, against the longer existence of tithes. From Joseph Townsend Holman, of Gray's-inn, praying that a law may be passed to authorise the defendant, in cases of libel, to produce the truth in justification. Petition of R. Webb, of Harcourtstreet, Marybonne, praying for a repeal of all the taxes on knowledge. Petition from the borough of Lymington, in the county of Hants, praying for the adoption of the ballot at elections. From the society of Free Inquirers, From the undersigned inhabitants matter. From the undersigned inhabitants of the city of Norwich, against white slavery; setting forth the state of degradation and misery in which the working classes now are; setting forth the injustice of paying in gold the interest of a debt contracted in paper; setting forth the injustice they have endured from laws passed by the aristocracy and its nominees; setting forth the injustice of the tithe system; praying for that equitable adjustment for which they prayed in the year 1823; praying that a bill may be passed to give protection to electors at future elections; praying for a repeal of the taxes which most oppress the working people, and praying that no supplies may be granted until these measures be adopted. 24. From the inhabitants of Eccleshill, in the county of York, praying the House to pass the Ten-hour Factory Bill. 25. From the frame-work knitters of Blasford, in the county of Nottingham, praying the House to take their hard case into its consideration, and to afford them relief by those means which the petitioners very respectfully beg leave to be permitted to suggest. 26. From the working classes and others of the borough of Great Yarmouth, in the county of Norfolk, describing the horror they feel at seeing their Irish fellow-subjects subjected to trial before red-coat courts of justice, and praying the House not to pass any bill having that object in 'view. 27. From the members of the Political 31. 32. 33. 34. 35. 36. the horrid bill for coercing Ireland, and for compelling the people of that ill-treated country to pay tithes at the point of the bayonet. From the council, associates, and friends of the Northern Political Union, in public meeting assembled, praying for the enactment of the vote by ballot at elections for members to serve in Parliament; and for a repeal of the unjust and odious Septennial Act. From the inhabitants of the hamlet of Lea, in Lancashire, praying the House not to pass the Martial-law Bill for Ireland, and praying it to impeach those who had dared to propose it. From John Martin of Canterbury, complaining of the abuses of the law by attorneys, and praying for an alteration and a simplifying of the law, in order to render justice more cheap. From Thomas Parkin, complaining of the conduct of certain magistrates, praying for redress. From a public meeting of the national union of the working classes, held at the White-Conduit House, against the Irish Coercion Bill. From the inhabitants of Oldham, praying that coroners' courts may be in future open public courts, and that the transactions therein may be fair. From the undersigned inhabitants of Manchester against the Irish Coercion Bill. From the labourers of Stoke-holycross, in the county of Norfolk, setting forth the real causes of their poverty and misery, praying for re dress therein, and praying also that their Irish fellow-subjects may not be trampled under foot. From the inhabitants of Cong, county of Mayo, against the Irish Coercion Bill. From the inhabitants of Manchester, against the Military Law Bill for Ireland, signed by 15,000 per sons. From the inhabitants of Anghavass, 61. 48. From the Norwich Political Union, 52. From the members of the Political 55. From the inhabitants of Hammer- 56. From the National Political Union, 63. for an investigation of his hard case. From the inhabitants of Tonbridge, county of Kent, praying for a diminution of taxes, for an extension of suffrages at elections, and also praying that the Irish Court-Martial Bill may not pass into a law. From certain members of the Na tional Union of the Working Classes, praying that their burdens may be lightened, and that they may be treated fairly by the Parliament and the Government. From Richard Newsham, soldier of the 53d regiment, complaining of unjust treatment, and praying the House to investigate the grounds of his complaint. From the inhabitants of the town of Clare, Galway, praying that the bill which is to take from them the protection of trial by jury, may not pass into a law. From the Protestant Dissenters of Oldham, in the county of Lancaster, praying that their places of worship may be exempted from taxes and rates, in the same manner that the established church is; praying, that the registration of baptisms and burials may be so altered, as to make it convenient and just with regard to them; and praying, that they may not be compelled to have the marriage ceremony with regard to them, performed in the established church; also praying that they may be exempted from paying rates to the established church. From the members of the council of a society calling itself the National Political Union, assembled at Saville House, Leicester-square, March 23, 1833, complaining that the whole of the taxes are partial in the extreme; that they are made to fall upon the industrious classes and to spare the rich; praying for the repeal of all the taxes that press on articles of consumption; and praying that, if a great amount of taxes were still necessary, they might be raised by an equitable property-tax. |