“It seems, at first sight, very strange that the Government should not have taken warning in time. But it had so long been in the habit of _despising the people_, that its mind was incapable of entertaining any notion of danger from the oppressions heaped upon them. It was surrounded with panders and parasites, who told it nothing but flattering falsehoods; and it saw itself supported by 250,000 bayonets, which it thought irresistible.… And if you ask me how the ministers, and the noblesse, and the priesthood, who generally know pretty well how to take care of themselves; if you ask me how it came to pass that they did not _take warning in time_, I answer, that they _did_ take warning, but that, seeing that the change which was coming would deprive them of a great part of their power and emoluments, they resolved to _resist the change_, and to destroy the country, if possible, rather than not have all its wealth and power to themselves. * * * * * “You have been represented by the _Times_ newspaper, by the _Courier_, by the _Morning Post_, by the _Morning Herald_, and others, as the Scum of Society. They say that you have no business at public meetings; that you are rabble, and that you pay no taxes. These insolent hirelings, who wallow in wealth, would not be able to put their abuse of you in print, were it not for your labour. You create all that is an object of taxation; for, even the land itself would be good for nothing without your labour. But are you _not_ taxed? Do you pay no taxes? One of the correspondents of the Board of Agriculture has said that care has been taken to lay as little tax as possible on the articles used by you. One would wonder how a man could be found impudent enough to put an assertion like this upon paper. But the people of this country have so long been insulted by such men, that the insolence of the latter knows no bounds.