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Northern Star (1837-1852), 2nd September 1848, Edition 2 of 3, Page 5, THE CHARTIST TRIALS. CENTRAL CRIMINAL CO...

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      The Future. In Most Cases The Future Is ...

      Chartists must he . I'd like to * be a Chartist , nurse—don ' t you think God fill love them for assisting the poor ?'— 'Yes , my child , God loves everybody that ' s good to the poor—if it is not from a selfish motive . ' 'Well , nurse , how did the Chartists do it r ' — - Why , my child , they took the people out of those large towns and hot places , and they built cottages for them , and placed them on the land ; and then papas and mammas brought up their little children in fear and love of God , and they all worked and supported themselves ;

      and then when all were happy , there were no soldiers , nor policemen , nor detectives , nor hangmen , because the people were all good ; and now , my child , every fifty years there ' s what ' s called a jubilee , to rejoice at the change , and tomorrow is the day ; and if yon aregood children , yon , and Fred , and Jane shall come out , and see the people bringing flowers and dancing and singing , and all so happy and comfortable And now it ' s time to go to bed , and 111 tell you the rest of my story another time—and if tbe Chartists didn ' t live happy—that you and I

      may . ' Oh , thankee , nurse , how nicely the story ends . God Almighty bless the Chartists 1 '

      ^ Jfegrogmmb. _ Fhe Northern Star. 5

      ^ jfegrogMMB . _ fHE NORTHERN STAR . 5

      Dr M'Douall. We May Not Pass Over The Tr...

      DR M'DOUALL . We may not pass over the trial at Liverpool on Monday last , without special notice . One of the bravest and holdest in ihe people ' s cause , is separated from us for two years . « 5 < It is true that many as brave and honest have fallen in the same contest , and many as brave and honest are , we fear , doomed to fall ; hut their fate , speaking of them generally , although it grieves us as much as that of him of whom we now write , does not excite infns exactly the same kind of sorrow as

      his . Our struggle for political power for the people—to be actually exercised by them and for their own actual interest—has lasted now through many long years } and through all this long period of anxiety Dr M'Douall , though even yet hardly advanced to the prime of manhood , haa been one of the firmest champions ef the cause of liberty . We will remind our readers of the broad facts of this case . A Oiartist meeting had been advertised by numerous placards on the walls of Ashton-under-Lyne , to be held at the Charlestown Meetingkouse , there to hear the Doctor give an account

      of the occurrences in London daring the last few months . The meeting was held accordingly , and the Doctor and other speakers addressed the audience , occupying the time from half-past eight in the evening till half-past ten . During the progress of the lecture two or three policemen applied for admission , bnt the meeting declined their presence , stating that so many garbled and false reports of rseetings and speeches had been used against the Chartists in London and elsewhere , by the police , that the meeting felt it necessary to exclude them . Tbe determination was

      expressed with mildness and civility , ana was resolutely adhered to . None of these gentry were permitted to enter tie meeting room . Their disappointment was extreme . Newton , their chief , waslwild upon the matter . Some say & at his vexation caused tears to start from his eyes—but this we 4 o not believe , nor does it matter . After tfiis meeting at the chapel , the audience , as has always been their wont at Ashton , and in most other places , determined

      to see their lecturer home , and so they did . They formed into a sort of extempore procession . The Doctor walked first , -and more than four or five hundred Chartists followed him . They went through the town ; there was a cheer or two ; but it was admitted by the policemen , who were afterwards called as witnesses , tsat all was peaceable , and that though some of the inhabitants were averse to such meetings , yet that no oneoa this occasion expressed any fear or alarm .

      Arrived at the Odd-Feflows ' Anns , where the Doctor slept , he took reave of his friends for the night by delivering a short speech , f rom fifteen to twenty minutes , feom the window ; this done , the Doctor said , ' 'Good nig ht , ' and retired- ; the people then gave a hearty cheer , and went te their homes . These are the circumstances forming the frame work of the indictment . The meeting at the Chapel was charged to be an unlawful assembly , —the walking frem thence to the Odd-Fellows * Arms was , in the opinion of the police /* riot ;' and the speech from the

      window wascalled' sedition / and all of ittogether was called * a conspiracy- ' The-sedition was the principal point of" the evidence . The Doctor , it seems , had pointed out the * ecessity of carrying out the Chartist organisation , and had illustrated this necessity , and the -strength derived from organisation , by alladiag to the relig ious -and political bodies who have divided themselves into sec tions , classes , & c ; he had -shown that the discontent -ecisting was genera ? , « nd not confined to the unemployed , —tbat it-extended even to

      the array , of whom some , & was said , had revolted , — -others had appointed a committee to consider their grievances , « nd were about publishing a pamphlet upon them . These and subjects lessdnteresting , were scattered through a discourse of twenty minutes . The Doctor warned the audience against ieing led into any violence , especially against drilling and training , of which he pointed -out the heavy penalties ; asd . he concluded by most emphatically calling upon them to support the Chartist organisation . ' Organise ! organise- or . „ .: „« i * uiac

      gct This was the sedition , and the following is the process by which it was made into a shape fit for indictment . Three policemen stood at different parts of the meeting to listen to what -was said ; and it so happened that all of them , without , of coarse , any prior arrangement , fell into a recollection or exactly the same sentences . The sentences themselves were three er four—spoken far apart from each other ; hat , by a most curious coincidence , it occurred tsat all the policemen heard at the same moment , and all recollected at the same moment , exactly the same words , and then all went to the police-office , and , without saying a word to each other , wrote down these sentences . In copving them , too , it happened that , though

      these policemen had no communication with each other , they none of them forgot , omitted , or added a word different from the others . And there was another most curious coincidence ; they all forgot every other part of the speech excep t those parts which were suitable for an indictment ; their ears , both mental and bodily , opened and closed at exactly the same moment and took in exactly the same quantity ; and this without any previous or subsequent preparation , conversation , or agreement . The electric telegraph , or meenerism , perhaps , would really seem to have had something to do with this . We give the story as it was sworn to in court .

      But the strangest is yet to come . These sentence * , it will be recollected , were uttered with many sentences and many minutes between them . Between the first and the last there would probably be ten or twelve minutes . There was cheering , swaying : about , and much to disturb the attention . Well , we have told hewthev collected , ¦ " * « Bn ^ i . £ ^ st-ed , and notwithsVaudms their difeculties and notwithstanding the fact that the Doctor is id aker it rauii obwu

      a very rapspe . * s very * « v . . « When they came into court , however , the best of the lot was selected for an experiment , to see whether his mind at Liverpool retmned the wonderful power exhibited at Ashton . The judge tried hard-it was painful to see it—to prevent this , but the prisoner's counsel was inexorable . Mr Pollock rend from another speech of Dr M-Douall ' s , haltof * paragraph contaifW three or four sentences ; he read

      them s j * ly , and was emp hatically compeiiea to do so bv the judge , who really appeared to be in torture whUe the thing was progressing -and warned the witness to listen with ail his attention ; and then he asked the witness to report what was just read , | W & e

      could not . " "A part of itV * "No . " " The sense of it i" c 'No . " « Or something like the sense of it ? " "No . " And yet on this man ' s testimony a judge and a jury have consigned their victim to two years ' imprisonment . We give the facts as they are , without exaggeration © r comment , and rather understating them than otherwise . The jury also found that the meetine at the

      Chapel was an unlawful assembly . We cannot acount for this . The Clerk of the Crown asked , " On which count do you find the prisoner guilty ? " and the quick response was , "On all the counts—on all . " What was there of an unlawful assembly ? It was held in a room hired by themselves—the Chartists ; no one need go who did not choose to go ; no one was hurt ; no one was frightened ; nothing was sworn to of a seditious nature . One

      witness , indeed , saw something which he thought looked like pikes , but he could not say for certain . Our main object in calling attention to this trial , is to inform all who are interested in the Doctor ' s welfare , that if they support Mr Roberts in the attempt , he will , on the first day of next Term , apply to the Queen ' s Bench to set aside the verdict . Before that time , indeed , much misery must be endured ; the prisoner is now in the gaol dress , on prison allowance , in solitary confinement , and allowed to be out of his cell for one hour only out of the twenty-four .

      His last words , on leaving ; the court , te Mr Roberts were ^ " It is not for myself that I care about it , but what are the children to do ? " Ah ! what a bitter reproach is tbat ! What a ,-e tbe children to do ? Think of that working men and Chartists j and don ' t think onl y—act 1 Any sums for the support of Mrs M'Douall and her three children—we may add that she is at this moment on the eve of " confinement ''—may be forwarded to Mr Roberts ( Essex Chambers , Essex-street , Manchester ) . We understand that Mr Roberts intends to publish a full report of the trial . The profits on which , if any , will be given to Mrs M'Douall .

      The Victims. Want Of Space Compels The P...

      THE VICTIMS . Want of space compels the postponement of comments we were prepared to offer on the trials at the Old Bailey , and the monstrous sentences passed upon the unfortunate victims of Whig malice and middle-class hatred . For this week we can only find room for the following letter ; in our next we shall have I something more to say respecting these mock-¦ eries of " Justice . " S ' Z * . VOICE FROM NEWGATE .

      Newgate , Tueaday Morning . j What think jou of the dreadful and afmostuparalleled ¦ sentences passed on the Chartist prisoners yesterday 1 ; The poor fellows all complain of the very harsh sentenca : they have received , the mode in which they were tried , ' and the manner ia which the evidence was summed , np to the jury , and marvel where they ( being poor working men ! are te either get £ 10 er £ 2 'i to pay to the Qaeen , or procure friends as sureties for their good behaviour for jiee j / ears , eten Aonld they survive the two years , to which tier are doomed to linger under the horrible silent system . Verily , these atrocities cannot he too extensively known throughout the country , to show how justice is administered to the poor , and how the laws of the

      land are strained and perverted fortheparpose of punish , ins poIiKcal-ofienders . I am convinced of the utter inn tiUt ; of wch State prosecutions . Ton should be here and witness the firm determination of the men to strictly adhere to their principles , and bear their expressions of deep-rooted hatred to that system which punishes poverty and troth as crimes—nay . in fact , much worse ; for , in reply to a question put to tbe rant by Bryson , Baron Piatt said , he was indictedfor misdemeanour only ; had it been / tlony , he would have been allowed to address Qs & court . There certainly is something terribly wrong in the administration ol justice in rite criminal courts of this country .

      It will be seen that Powell ' s victims have been f a % committed for trial , under tbe new Felony Bill , the law under which Mitchel was transported .

      Louis Blanc. This Persecuted Patriot, An...

      LOUIS BLANC . This persecuted patriot , and true-hearted champion of Labour ' s rights , reached the English shore on Tuesday . He left Dover on Wednesday morning for London , where he novHs . Lamenting the -cause of his presence in England at this time , we , nevertheless , give him that welcome he is so well entitled to . For Louis Blanc—let the vile Pressgang say what they will—has more than "deserved well of his country / ' he has deserved well of mankind , without distinction of race or « lhne .

      Parliameintary Review. It Will Be Rememb...

      PARLIAMEiNTARY REVIEW . It will be remembered that , on the assembling -of the present Parliament , one -of the earliest and most important debates that took place had relation to tbe operation of the Bank Act of 1844 , the extent to which it had-caused the bankruptcy which overtook some of the proudest commercial houses in England , and which—if it had not been suspended by a special discretionary order from the Governmentthreatened to produce general insolvency and ruin . The Ministry asked Parliament ,

      immediately on its meeting , for an indemnity in ordering such a . suspension of the law , but were obstinately bent on maintaining it , though their own experience proved that it had broken down . They proposed a Select Committee of Inquiry into the matter , which , our readers will remember , we said at the time was meant to cushion the question , and prevent its settlement at s time when men ' s minds were still fresh npon it , and the recollection of the mischiefs it had caused was recent .

      As we anticipated , so it has turned out . The Committee of the House of Commons made its report too late for any effective consideration of its contents , and was followed shortly after by that of the Lords' Committee , appointed to inquire into the same subject . Apparently , both of them would have been left unnoticed , had not Mr Herries—himself a great financial authority—thought it to be his duty to bring the subject before the Commons , in the shape of a motion , calling attention to the fact of these two reportskavingbeen issued , and pledging the House to take them into serious consideration at an early period of next Session .

      The Committee of the Commons and the Committee of the Lords have come to totally opposite conclusions on the subject . The Commons report in favour of , the . 'Lords against , the Act of 1844 . When we come ; to examine the facts connected with the former Committee , however , the weight to be attached to its decision is exceedingly slight . As Mr Hume truly said , the object in appointing it was to whitewash those who had a hand in

      making that Act , and it was presided over by the Chancellor of the Exchequer , one of its most decided partisans . The Report , as drawn up by him , and agreed to bj a bare majority of two , was in favour of the Act , but directly in the teeth of the evidence taken by the Committee . Some secrets were let out in the debate , as to the manner in which this result was brought about , which—however it may tell in favour of Sir C . Wood and Lord J . Russell , as partisans—reflects little credit on them in other respects . The Chancellor of the Exchequer—according to Mr Herries—exhibited

      great "dexterity andintrepidity"in pushing his case , and he complimented him ironically upon his accurate knowledge of times and seasons , and the admirable manner in which he worked the usual Parliamentary machinery for extorting a verdict in favour of a foregone conclusion . Lord John , it appears , was equally adroit and intrepid as his Right Hon . colleague . At the commencement of the sittings of the Committee , the Premier could not attend , in consequence of his other duties—a very fair

      excuse . But , as the conclusion approached , and votes and influence were wanted—both rendered doubly valuable in consequence of the crushing nature of the evidence against the Act which had been laisl before the Committee —Lord John ' s "other duties" seemed to have suddenly ceased . He was first in his place , and the last out of the door of the Committee-room , and proved not less zealous than efficient in his support of the Chancellor . Yet , with all this whipp ing and screwing , the Report was agreed

      To By The Bare Majority We Have Named ; ...

      to by the bare majority we have named ; and , as Mr Hume stated , if it had not been for the accidental absence of two of the members of the Committee , tbe numbers would have been equal—thus leaving the Report to be carried by the casting vote of its author—in which case it would have been still more indisputably the Report , not of the Committee , but of Sir C . Wood . As it is , however , we imagine its real value is tolerabl y well understood . The country will dul y estimate a document thus concocted . There were twenty-four witnesses examined

      by the Committee ; eighteen of them declared in the most distinct and positive language that they were convinced the Act of 1844 was a public nuisance / and ought to be abated . These witnesses were not ordinary men . In whatever way they were classified the utmost weight was due to their opinions . They were the representatives of the London Bankers , and of the Scottish Bankers—they were the delegates of the great commercial corporations , the leading men of the manufacturing and mercantile communities , the principal money dealers , and the men of abstract theorywho

      , have devoted their life to the study of the philosophy of the question . All these men united in one opinion , condemnatory of the Act of 1844 , which was only supported by the author of the Act , Mr Jones Lloyd , and those Directors of the Bank of England upon whom that Act confers special privileges , and a monopoly . Under these circumstances , with the failure of the Potato crop all but general , with the prospect of a harvest under an

      average , and the Cholera approaching us , we think Mr Herries wati fully justified in calling attention to this subject , and that his premises , instead of leading him to ask that Parliament should pledge itself to give tho subject its earnest attention at an early period of the Session , led to the conclusion that immediate * precautionary measures should be adopted to avert , if possible , a recurrence of that wide-spread ruin which shook our commercial system to its centre , only a short time

      since . The Chancellor of the Exchequer was as flippant , as ignorant , and as incomprehensible as usual ; but , aided by the willing hacks jh the back benches , and the Peel party ( who , on this subject , are as hopelessly wrong as their leader ) , he succeeded in parrying any division on the subject . The motion is , therefore , left again to the contingency of an Order in Council , after the mischief has been done . A repetition of the old folly of " shutting the stable door when the steed is stolen . "

      We do not know whether the affair of Vancouver ' s Island is a job or a blunder ; Either way it is calculated to add to the discredit which already attaches to Earl Grey ' s Colonial Administration . The Hudson ' s Bay Company is by its very nature hostile to colonisation in the ordinary sense of that term . The nature of their principal trade , that of fur dealers , requires tbat their territories should be kept as nearly as possible in a state of nature ^ and be occupied principallyby wild beasts , and the almost equally wild racesof men required to hunt and trap them . If , therefore , in view of the

      futureimportanceof Vancouver ' s Island , as a commercial station in these remote seas , it be desirable that it should be colonised at all , the Hudson ' s Bay Company are the worst parties iu the world to cede it to . There can be no doubt whatever , we believe , of its importance in this point of view . In the recent negotiations with the United States respecting the Oregon territory and our North West boundary , the retention of that island by this country was especially insisted upon ; and now , when we have secured it , to give a territorial supremacy for eleven years to this Company , is virtually to close it against colonisation ; besides , by the terms of the bargain , saddling this country with a pretty large debt if , at the end of tbat period we choose to take it out of their hands again .

      In The Lords A "Show Debate'' On The Sub...

      In the Lords a " show debate'' on the subject of African Slavery was got up by Lords Denman and Brougham . From the report of the Committee of the House of Commons on the subject , it appears probable that that transcendant humbug is likely to receive its death Wow at no distant period ; and , of course , all the pseudo philanthropists and dilletanli friends of humanity are ready to rush forward to the support of this venerable piece of deception . But whatever { the Denmans , Broughams , Wilberforces and Buxtons may do , we believe

      tbe time has gone . by for saddling this country with an enormous annual expenditure , for the purpose of maintaining an ineffectual blockade of the coast of Africa , and other equally costly and useless machinery for the Suppression of the Slave Trade . The whole policy of the Anti-Slavery Society has been an utter and a signal failure . The " millions of treasure that have been squandered on their hobby , and the thousands of European lives that have been

      sacrificed to it in those pestilential climes ef Africa , have , so far from suppressing the Slave Trade , only added to its horrors and abominations . Yet in the face of this fact , now universally admitted , we have such men as Lord Denman and Bishop Wilberforce asking for a stringent and complete blockade of the whole coast . They might as well ask us to blockade the Moon . The one is nearly as practicable as the other , when the extent of coast to be guarded is taken into consideration .

      The Indefatigable Bentinck Has Had A Par...

      The indefatigable Bentinck has had a parting fling at Sir C . Wood oa the Sugar Question and his Custom-house blunders , which the Chancellor treated in what Mr Osborne calls his "jaunty" way ; and the House having been already sufficiently dragged through the dirt on this question , had no objection to take another dip in the mud , for the support of our Finance Minister ' s vagaries . ( The preceding remarks were excluded last week by press of matter . ]

      Sir Charles Wood Commenced Afourth'edi'-...

      Sir Charles Wood commenced afourth ' edi' - tion of the Budget on Friday night , by stating that he should have very little that was " new " to say on the subject ; and he followed that statement up by one which certainly was no news : namely , that he had made " various' * statements on the subject already . Of that there could be no doubt , and as little that these speeches and the financial plans they professed to expound varied very materially from each other . In his last essay , this " comical Chancellor / ' as Lord G . Bentinck truly styled him , played some strange fantastic

      tricks with figures , reminding us very much of the conjurors and sleight-of-hand folks who frequent fairs and races . First he gave along rigmarole story , which led to the conclusion that the actual deficiency on the ordinary ' revenue for the year would be about 300 , 000 / ., in consequence of the Government having reduced their original estimates by the sum of 800 , 0001 . Remembering that at the commencement of the sessbn the estimated deficiency approached somewhere to three millions and a half , and that { an increase of the income-tax , from three to five per cent ., was proposed to meet it , we certainly breathed a

      little more freel y when we heard that deficiency reduced to 300 , 000 / . We were almost about to repent for having lig htly estimated the financial abilities of Sir Charles Wood . We were , however , speedily undeceived . It was only a novel way of looking at the figures , invented for this occasion b y that ingenious gentleman . In the first instance , he looked at them through a diminishing glass , and then he applied the magnifiers ; the deficiency on the

      ordinary revenue under their influence , speedily mounted from 300 , 000 / . to 2 , 031 , 000 / ., which , to make a long story short , Sir Charles proposes to meet by borrowing to the amount of 2 , 000 , 000 / . ; in other words , in addition to the nine millions added to the National Debt last year by this eminent financier , we are this year to add two millions more ! The Chancellor , with a candour and naivete peculiarly his own , admits that this is a very objectionable

      course being neither more nor less than adding to our debt and burdens in a time of peace . But , then , . what else can be done 1 . Re does not know , and as the Government have still plentv of credit left , the . easiest way is to " chalk up . '' The whole of the eleven millions , in round numbers , which in two years Sir Charles Wood will have added to the National Debt , and charged upon , posterity , are as utterly sunk as if they had been thrown into the Atlantic . He professed to he hopeful as to the future financial prospects of the country . We confess there appears to our mind no ground whatever for that hopefulness . Clouds and storms are gathering on all sides of us , and the disasters of 1 U 1 appear as if thev were

      merely the heralds of still more fatal calamities in the succeeding winter and spring . Should pur anticipations prove correct , there will inevitabl y bean extraordinary demand and a heavy drain on the Exchequer . This will drive the Finance Minister to devise other expedients of meeting their demands-and we suppose , reductions being practicable only by hundreds of thousands , while additional expenditure goes on at the > ate of millions , there will only be one termination of the affair—either in Jargely increased taxation , or in adding to our burdens by additional loans , and saddling pos-; j ; . fcy a * the same time with taxes , because their forefathers were so silly as to have Sir Charles Wood for a Chancellor of the Exchequer .

      On The Same Night That The Chancellor Th...

      On the same night that the Chancellor thus gave another proof of the financial incompetency of the present Government , an event occurred in the Lords which showed , in an equally conclusive manner , their general administrative incapacity . During the whole Session , the attention of Parliament has been directed to the subject of Corruption and Bribery at Elections . Numerous Election Committees have reported that seats , gained by such means , were null and void ; and these reports , both general and special , have been the subject of

      reiterated debates . Sometimes the discussions took place on the motion for issuing a writ for a particular borough . Then the Government brought in a Bill , called the Horsham Borough Bill . After proceeding with that for some stages , they dropped it , and took up Sir John Hanmer ' s Borough Elections Bill , as being superior to their own—which was , certainly , no difficult thing to achieve . They carried that Kill through two triumphant divisions , and then dropped it for the Corrupt Practices at Elections Bill , which they persevered in carrying through all its stages in the Commons

      , where it occupied amain portion of June—four or five weeks . The Bill , thus forced through the Lower House at a late period of the Session , and which was itself a prominent cause of the protracted sittings of Parliament—was sent up to the House of Lords , and , on its second reading , abandoned by Lords Lansdowne and Grey , the colleagues of Lord J . Russell , with an admission that it was so full of blunders that they could not ask their Lordships to sit long enough to make it a feasible or practicable law .

      Thus , the great show of virtuous indignation against bribery and corruption , which has been made during the whole Session , has turned out a mere farce . The franchise of several boroughs has been suspended during these debates , and , at last , Parliament will separate without any further settlement of the matter tlan may be gained by some of the accused boroughs getting separate writs—as Derb y has already doneand resuming the trade in votes , with the implied sanction of the Whig Government .

      In A Debate On The Bill For Reducing The...

      In a debate on the Bill for Reducing the Duties on Copper and Lead , Lord G . Bentinck exposed another of those fabricated and false returns which it is the custom of the present Ministry to get up , for the purpose of carrying their Free Trade measures . Lord George has a happy knack of finding out these things . On this occasion he showed up Mr A . W . Fonblanque , one of the clever arithmeticians and critics of the Land Company and Mr O'Connor . Of this worthy Whig hack , Lord George said : —

      I do not know who be may be ; perhaps some pluralist , who combines the duties of editor of a newspaper with those ef a secretary to the Board of Trade , and , U so , the multiplicity of his business may account for the confusion of bis returns j but if the miners of Cornwall are to suffer for his blunders , then It becomes a matter of no small importance that the Board of Trade should produce to the country those representations on wbi * h the happiness , the comforts , tbe prosperity , the subsis . tence , and even the lives of lODfiaO English people depend . The question is—these misrepresentations having occurred so often , and always in favour of Free Trade nostrums—whether they are blunders . Are they not frauds ?

      We Must Reserve Comment On Several Other...

      We must reserve comment on several other topics , including Mr Disraeli ' s Review of the Session , until next week , when we shall bring up all arrears .

      To Fleabera # €Ovnsuommts.

      to fleaBera # € ovnsuommts .

      3. Sweet Acknowledges The Receipt Of Tfe...

      3 . Sweet acknowledges the receipt of tfee following turns for the defence of Dr M'Douall : — £ 8 , d . From Klrkby-in-Ashfield „ .. „ 6 18 Mr Gee .. .. .. .. M 0 o 9 Mr Shepherd « „ „ .. 0 0 3 From the Shoulder of Mutton , Barker . gate 6 2 0 Mr Bobeats has received on account of the Defence Fund for Dr M'Douall , the following sums : — Wm . Kllshaw , Elland n .. ,. 0 0 6 T . Baothroyd , Almondbury ,, .. M o 4 6 James Sweet , Nottingham .. „ „ 0 8 " 6 T . H . Simpson , Tcdmorden „ „ one From Mr Wallace , Burnley .. ,, 1 n o From Mr Carpenter ., .. ,, 0 2 0 W . H . Cmfton ' s communication ia respectfully declined . An American Citizen . —No room . Diseased Potatoes . —Mr John Flint , of Derby , recom . mends our correspondent at Lowbands , to dig the potatoes out as soon as possible , as the diseased ones

      will decay , whether in the ground or out , and to boil or steam , and mash them , adding some salt , and then store them away for feeding stock . Land Mketihos . —The Chartist trials and other Important matters , compel the postponement of reports of .. several meetings of Land members . Mr J . Ironside . —The correspondence shall appear in our next . The M'Dobah Depskcb Fund . — The balance sheet : shell appear in our next . Newcastie-on-Tine . — Press of matter compels the exelusion of the report this week , Manchesteb . —Mr T . Austin . —Next week . The Victim Fond . —A few females of Leicester three weeks ago sent 16 s . id . per Mrs Culley to London , which has not yet been acknowledged . Our correspondent should have stated to whom tbe money was BSBta John West . —Received *

      Present And Future State Of Europe. Euro...

      PRESENT AND FUTURE STATE OF EUROPE . Europe is in a state of anarch y and mental confusion , and evidently all parties are at fault , and know not what to do or recommend . 1 hey are in that state when they know too much , or too little . Too much to continue in the ignorant , divided , and oppressed condition in which they have so long been ; and too little to enable them to adopt practical measures to relieve themselves from the evils of . anarchy , into which this half state of knowled has hurried them

      ge . Ihey now require the aid of cool heads and sound minds , to relieve them from the anarchy in which they are , apparently , irretrievabl y involved . They vainly expect relief from political changes , when these , from the extremes of despotism to the most licentious liberty , with every phase between , have been tried again and again , and ever without success . No experienced and reflecting mind can be satisfied with any mode of government , or of forming the character of any people hitherto practised . It may now be asked , what then is to be done , seeing that these have all signally failed ?

      The answer is , that it is amoral , intellectual , and social , and not a mere political change that is required . The population of the world , arising from a false fundamental principle , on which alone their characters have been formed , have been made to become most ignorant and immoral , and their reasoning faculties so perverted / that they call falsehood and deception truth and virtue ; and there are none ( owing to this

      Present And Future State Of Europe. Euro...

      falsehood ) that understand how to , introduce the change into practice . In a former article it was stated , that truth can alone save society from otherwise interminable anarch y and confusion ; and this saving truth shall be given to the public , in T , f t * °£ anot ! ' 80 that > if P ^ ible , it shall be full y understood , and its immense importance to the human race so fullv

      comorehended , that governments and people cannot fail to appreciate its overwhelming advantages for themselves , and all future generations . This moral , intellectual , and social revolution is now demanded by Europe ; and this perplexing agitation will not cease until the change from falsehood to truth shall be accomplished . To effect this change throughout Europe ¦ —for it is now an European question—it is

      necessary , 1 st . —That the | governmentsand people composing this quarter of the globe , should openly and ; simultaneously acknowledge the great error on which all governments have acted , and on which the character of all has been formed , and agree to abandon it in principle and practice . 2 nd . —That , in like manner , they shall acknowledge and adopt the unchanging law of nature , which is opposed to this falsehooS , and

      commence te arrange a new practice in conformity with this law of nature . And 3 rd . —This practice will consist in creating new arrangements , all of a virtuous and good character—1 st , to produce wealth abundantly ; 2 nd , to distribute it justly ; 3 rd , to form , according to natural capacity , a good and valuable character from birth for each within those arrangements ; and , 4 th , to enable them to well govern themselves locally , and also to assist , when necessary , in the general government . To those who understand the science of

      society , the science of the formation of a rational character , and the science of the influence of circumstances over human nature , the above will be sufficient to enable them to have a distinct conception of the practice ; but , to those unacquainted with these three sciences , and their application to practice , no words will enable them to comprehend such a new combination of physical , mental , and moral power , nor will they , from want of the requisite knowledge and experience , comprehend such scientific arrangement for accomplishing , in a very superior manner , all the business of life , until they see the whole change in practice .

      Yet , when these arrangements shall be seen in practice , it will be discovered that they will perform , in a very superior manner , all the business ef life , with far more ease and pleasure to the producers , and far mere economy to society , than have' been experienced at any time in any part of the world , under any government , or by any people . The only real difficulty ia to overcome the earliest and deepest prejudices arising from an erroneous education from birth , and the constant inculcation of a false principle in childhood and youth , which , in after life , pervades every association of ideas , unfits the mind to detect error , or to discover truth , when , except for that error , both would be most obvious .

      This is one reason why no party in Europe can discover the cause of its present general anarchy , while all adroit that there is something fundamentally wrong in society . This is the reason why the only remedy for this evil is not perceived or even imagined , although the cause of , and remedy for , the evil , are most obvious , and the application of the remedy to practice simple and easy . But , so irrational are all parties , that they cry out for the practical remedy , and refuse the admission and adoption of the only principle that can make the practice successful .

      Another difficulty arises from the transition , which is unavoidable , from one principle and practice to another principle and practicebecause it includes a change of almost all preconceived ideas , and acquired habits and prejudices . It is , however , most important that this transition state should be well understood : its condition and the future state of Europe shall be explained in succeeding numbers of this

      paper . Robert Owen . London , 29 th August , 1848 .

      Receipts Of The! National Land Company, ...

      RECEIPTS OF THE ! NATIONAL LAND COMPANY , FOR THB WEEK ENDING THURSDAY , AUGUST 81 , 1818 . pe * mb O'comon . sm » ss . £ i . d . Mertbyr , Mor . Nottingham „ 16 0 gan .. 19 0 Sleaford .. 016 6 Portsea » 8 8 6 Thomas Hodges 0 2 6 Brighton , Arti- Wm Bailey „ 0 2 6 choke „ 8 Z « 9 K T Hallam ,. 1 11 o Lambeth „ 9 1 5 T K Turner „ 016 o Walsall „ 2 16 6 JA Smith .. 0 8 6 Chepstow .. 1 18 0 Chas Howl .. 0 l 0 Westminster „ 0 5 6 Wm M'Mahon ,. 0 16 0 Lichfield „ J 12 6 GHChatwin ,. 0 2 e £ 8111 8 EXPENSE FUND . a 55 aa = B Brighton , Arti- Lichfield ,. 0 16 choke .. 0 3 0 Nottingham , Westminster ,. 0 2 0 Sweet „ 0 16 £ 0 7 0 Land Fond ... ... ... 21 11 8 Expense Fund 0 7 0 21 18 1 Bank ... ... ... ... 55 15 ( j Transfers , Snig ' s End ... ... 45 0 0 £ 122 14 2 Wm . Dixotr , CausTonua Doilb , Taos . Ouu , ( Cones . Sec . ) FmxiF M'G « ATH , ( Fin . Seo . ) THE LIBERTY FUND . King ' s Cross Northampton , locality , Mr W . Munday .. o 10 0 Mosaier .. 0 5 0 Gainsborough , J Halstead , per R Man ., o S o Payne .. 0 3 0 Sheffield , O Lincoln , J Sharp 0 7 6 Cavill „ 0 5 0 _ £ 1 15 J SMATDM . Two pounds , formerly acknowledged from A . Walker , Edinburgh , w » b from A . Walker , Hamilton . John M * C »« , Secretary . FOR FAMlLlIToF VICTIMS . KOSIVKD Br W , BIDSB . Hammersmith , Northampton , per George per W Mundy 10 0 More .. 011 4 Northampton , J CropJey , Orad . per J Gardner 0 0 6 ley , near Stour- Northampton , „ hridge .. 0 I 0 per R Clark .. 0 0 6 J Thomas , Ditto 0 l 0 A few Chartists , G Pearce , Ditto 0 0 6 Hartlepool ,. 0 8 0 £ 1 17 10 RECEIVED AT LAND OFFICE . JHR .. 0 2 6 Mr T Williams 0 2 6 Worcester .. 0 16 Moses Topham .. 0 2 0 £ 0 8 6 BKCEITED BT J . X ' CRlE . Sheffield , per G Charterrille Al-Cavill .. 010 0 lottees . per G Bubb .. 0 5 0 £ 0 15 _ 0 FOR DR M'DOUALL'S DEFENCE . KKCBIVED BT W . BIDBR . Mansfield , per T A few Chartists , GHibbard » 9 10 Hartlepool M 0 18 £ 0 5 8 FOB UBS LOONEY . BIOB 1 TED BT W . BIDEB . Newcastle-u pon . Newcastle-upon-Tyne , 1 to 10 , , Tyne , Mr Mul . Morley Hill , lins , per W per W Downe 0 2 6 Downe » 0 0 6 < 0 8 Q DEFENCE FUND . RECMVin AT LAND OFF 1 CB . Mr T Williams , 0 2 6 Mr Thompson 0 8 0 Worcester 0 017 6 £ \ 6 ~ 0 DEFENCE OF W O ' OONNOB'S "AT 1 M MMU 1 IMIX . WorceBter ,, « M »

      The Chartist Trials. Central Criminal Co...

      THE CHARTIST TRIALS . CENTRAL CRIMINAL COURT .-Augost 26 J Robert Crowe , alias Crone , 24 , tailor , was indicted for sedition . The Attorney-General , Mr Wclsby , Mr Bodkin , and Mr Clerk , prosecuted ; Mr Parry appeared for the defendant . Tbe Attorney-General , in stating tbe case to the jury , said that the present case differed in this respect from those which had preceded it ; that the , words alleged to have been uttered by the defendant would not be deposed to by a professional aborthand writer , but by a police . constable . The jury must be aware that the Government had not always the opportunity to send professional short-hand writers to these meetings , and , therefore , they were compelled to resort to other means . Iu this case it

      would be impossible to deny that the language used by the prisoner was of a highly seditious character ; and although the fact of the speech being made would no doubt depend upon the evidence of one constable , he was instructed that that constable waa a very respectable man , and they would bear in . mind he could have no maim for miuepseaehfaVtan * . The defendant was a journeyman tailor . He was an , Irishman , and a member of what was called the-Irish Confederate Club , an association established ^ in this country , and which was in correspondence and communication with other clubs , both in England ' and the sister country . On his room being searched ^ , a card was found , on which was inscribed a harp , with the motto 'Let every man have his own country , ' and * Mr Robert Crowe was duly elected a member of the Irish Confederate Association

      onthe 15 th of May , 1848 / and there was therefore no--doubt of his being a member of the association towWcVi he had referred , The Attorney-General thenproceeded to state that the meeting in question was . held on the 31 st of July , a few days after the rumour , had reached England that Ireland was in a state of rebellion , and that the prisoner uttered the seditions language imputed to him at a Chartist meeting-housein Dean-street . The prisoner was not taken into custody until some days afterwards , and on the constable telling him what be was charged with , he

      endeavoured lo hand a paper to a woman , but the constable took it from him , and it turned out to be an address or speech , probably intended to be made by the defendant at some future meeting , andwhen the jury would have that speech laid before them , they would have no doubt of its dangerous character and tendency . At this time Ireland was supposed to be in rebellion , and the jury were aware that , a abort time previously , a person named Mitchel had been most , righteously and properlyconvicted of felony .

      Mr Parry interposed : Surely the Attorney-General ought not to prejudice the defendant by alluding to other parties . This indictment had nothing to do with Mr Mitchel . The Attorney-General admitted he was wrong , and withdrew the observation . At all events , there was very great excitement upon the subject of Ireland , when this meeting took place , and a police , constable was directed to attend it , and after he had been there a short time he heard a person read

      something from a newspaper , in which there waa the expression' to hell with the Queen . ' This was received with cheers , and loud expressions of approbation , and that circumstance would give the jury some idea of the character of the meeting and the persons who attended U . The defendant , after this proceeding , addressed the meeting and made tbe observations imputed to bim , and which were received with marks of approbation . The following evidence was then adduced : —

      . Reuben Brothers , a police constable of the C division , proved the delivery of a speech by the prisoner , on Monday , the 31 st of July , at 83 , Deanstreet , Soho . The defendant in the course of hia speech said , ' The late insurrection in Paris has shown bow easily a crown may be crumbled , and the time is now come for men to be brave and the game is their own . I do not care for those persons present who wear other people's clothes . I do not care if what 1 say is criminal . I , for my own part , shall do all in my power during the next week to put a stop to trade , and urge the Irishmen in London to rebellion . '

      By Mr Parry . —1 swear I did not copy this statement from my deposition . I have been only six weeks in the police force , reckoning from the present time , and at the time this meeting took place I had not been more than ten days or a fortnight in the police . I had attended fire other meetings ot a similar kind before the 31 st of July . There was a meeting every night except Saturday . I was s druggist's assistant before I became a policeman , and I occasionally made up prescriptions . My salary was £ 20 a year , but I did not « find myself . ' My pay now is I 6 s 8 d per week , and the commissioners do not board and lodge me . ( A laugh . ) I resigned my last situation at a druggist ' s , and was for twelve months out of employ expecting a situation upon a railway , but did not obtain it . During that time rev father supported me .

      Re-examined .- —My character and testimonials were fully inquired into before I was appointed to be a policeman . I swear positively that I made the notes which have been produced before I went to bed on the night the meeting took place , and gave tbem the next morning to Superintendent Beresford . I was ordered to go to the meeting by one of the sergeants of my division . By the Jury . —I was not asked whether I was a Confederate or a Chartist before I was admitted to the meeting .

      John Gray , a police sergeant , deposed tbat he apprehended the prisoner on a warrant on . the 5 th oi August , near his residence , in Orchard-street , Camden Town . He told him that he waa charged with making a seditious speech at the meeting in Dean-street , on the 31 st July ; and he replied that be was aware of it , and he had beard about it the night before . The prisoner then put bis band into his coat-pecket , and took out a paper , which he handed to a female standing by him , and witness took the paper from her , and now produced it . He afterwards searched the prisoner ' s lodging , and found the Confederate Club card , which he also produced . The Attorney-General then put the documents in as evidence , and required them to be read .

      Mr Parry objected to the written document being received as evidence against the prisoner . There was no proof that it was written by him , neither was there any evidence tbat it had been written before tbe alleged seditious speech was made , se tbat it could not be taken as any proof of tbe mind or intentions of the prisoner at the time of the meeting . He was aware that in a celebrated case , that of Algernon Sydney , a paper found upon the prisoner had been received by the judge— Judge Jefferies he should state — as evidence of an overt act of treason , but tbat decision , be believed , was now universally considered to be an infamous decision , and he trusted that this paper would nothe admitted on the present occasion , upon the grounds he had urged .

      Baron Piatt & aid , \ t appeared to him that the paper was clearly admissible . What were the facts ? A man was taken into custody and told tbat he wae charged with sedition ; he says in reply , that he expected it , and pulls out a paper and endeavonn to get rid of it by passing it to a woman standing by . Surely , under such circumstances it would not be said that the paper was not admissible ; but , as to the effect or value of the evidence , that was , oi course , quite another point , and would form a proper subject of remark to the jury . The paper was then read , it ended abruptly and was signed ' Robert Crowe . '

      The Attorney-General then said , that in conge- tesequence of the line of cross-examination adopted ted by the ooucsel for the defendant , he had thought it t it right to send for the , Superintendent of the Divi- ivi > tion to whom the constable first made his report , « t , and be should call him aa a witness . Mr Beresford was accordingly examined , and be be supported the constable in bis statement respecting ing tho report beiocr made to bits on the-flight of the the meeting , and also said that he gave him paper to r te make a written statement , and be aaid he believed ved he saw tbe written statement , by the constable the the next morning , but he did so at all events before the the examination took place at Bow-street .

      Brothers was then re-called , and in answer to a to a question from Mr Parry , he said that the expression mob ' To hell with the Q , oeon , ' was read from some news- jw « . paper , but he could not tell whether it was part of . * of * report of a drunken person being apprehended in Ire * Ireland for making use of the expression . Mr Parry said he was'instraoted snob was the the fact , and that the odious expression had nothing to \ to do with the meeting .

      Ihia waa tho case for tbe Crown . Mr Parry took aa objection to the indictment , on i , on the ground that the different sentences were all given Wen aa though they had been ; consecutively delivered , ired , whereas the evidence showed that there were other ther sentences interspersed with them . Thie , he aaid t taidi he apprehended was a fatal variance . After eome argument the objection waa over . > v « . , tuled , Mr Parry then aAittml the jury for the dtftfe rfofa i

  • Citation
    • Northern Star (1837-1852), Sept. 2, 1848, page 5, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/ns/issues/ns2_02091848/page/5/