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    THE NORTHERN STAR May 3 ' 18 ^

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    O'BRIEN, ASHTON, MOSELEY, ANJ> BILL A QJ...

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    THE REV. WILLIAM HILL'S LETTER. ASKTOS'S...

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    THE DESTROYER OF FROST DISCOVERED. "A pl...

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  • Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.

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    The Northern Star May 3 ' 18 ^

    THE NORTHERN STAR May 3 ' 18 ^

    O'Brien, Ashton, Moseley, Anj> Bill A Qj...

    O ' BRIEN , ASHTON , MOSELEY , ANJ > BILL A QJURTEm K A SOBBT ICSE . The foBowine is the correspondence referred to na JfeoBS , and which appeared mM * Spottiswoode ' s paper , the National Reformer , edited ly Mr . O'Brien :-l « n « llosley , Leeds , writes to say , he has had the «! £ „ Sort "fiendish charges , " about his being a Go-^^ t spy ^ d having recdved ^ fov mstigatoEthe oeonle to ri ° t » a *" then informing against them , brought Cfore the Keds lown Council , by letter , which was read to the council in the presence of Mr . Hobson , one of his trtducers , and one of the councillors then sitting , and that the subject is to come before them again in May . Meanwhile his character having grievously suffered in

    the estimation of many who taiow mm not , as also Ms business , and baring no funds to prosecute his traducers , being a poor man , he writes to request that we will publish the annexed letter from Mr . Wm . Ashton , of Barnslev , that tbe public may know the real character of his principal accuser , and may be thereby induced to suspend their J udgment , till O'Connor has given him the opportunity ne has hitherto , in vain , demanded , to vindicate bis character . O'Connor ' s character is dear to many , because he is-a great man and an aristocrat . Moslems character is dear to us , because he is our friend , and because , though poor , he is , what his traducers are not , an honest man and a true Chartist Had Mosley not been a friend of ours , his malignant traducers would not have drawn upon their invention . But they shall not crush him , because he is poor and honest Dr . John Taylor was sent to a premature grave . Deegau never raised his head after his character was assassinated . The best of

    the good—the most amiable and upright of mortalspoor John Duncan was driven to madness and a torturing death . Watkins was nearly starved and brought to the Brink of eternity . Macartney had an almost miraculous escape from the ruin of himself and entire family . After unheard-of sufferings , the writer of this saw his house broken up , his family dispersed , and his beloved wife driven into a consumption , by tbe same murderous system of calumny and persecution which destroyed the others . But , come weal , come woe , Mosley shall not be added to the list of victims , becauseheis guilty of independence , aud of being oar friend . At all events , he shall not be out ofthe means of defence and re taliation while we can give it to him . Talk not to us of the interests of the A ' ationai Jfcfora * rin a case like this . Perish 500 , 5 , 000 , 5 , 000 , 000

    Reformers , if they must perish , because a deceived people will have their best , their truest friends immolated to appease a ruthless idol who traffics in the miseries he creates . Yes , we mil publish Ashton ' s letter , aud let O'Connor answer it if he will . He , at all events , cannot consistently complain of the publication . In the two following letters he has the names of the men who accuse him , and he knows where they are to be found . And when he lately published an anonymous private letter , impeaching JI * I ) onall , did he not lay it down that it was for M'DouaU ' s interest that the anonymous thing should be made public , in order that M'Douall might know all about it , and have the opportunity to defend himself ? "Well , if publicity was good for M'Douall , it must be good for O'Connor . But , unlike O'Connor , we require accusers

    to put their names to their accusations before we suffer them to appear in print , Let the man who would d—n Hosky on the strength of the Star ' s accusations remember , that the victim has dared the accusers to the proof , and that they have not met them . And let them read Ashtou's letter , and remembering that the subject of it is the same man who , in August , 1842 , pledged himself , with his colleagues , to extend the strike frith all his means , instead of redeeming his pledge , did instantly , after his dupes were committed , wheel round and denounce as traitors and tools of the Anti-Corn law League , the men with whom he had pledged himself , by a resolution of the

    Conference , to head his constituents in extending the Strike—thus placing them between the fury of the people and of tiie authorities , at the same time—just calling this io mindset them then ask themselves whether Mosleys character and means of living should suffer by the unproved accusations of such a man . But , enough . Never again shall we mention the man ' s name , unless he gives us fresh cause to radicate our own or our friends'reputation . It -would be an act of mercy to take the Trades' Unionists out of his hands before he has dished the cause , as he has done that of Chartism . With a view to that end , as much as to vindicate poor Mosley , do we publish the annexed letters .

    "Barnsley , March 30 . 1845 . * ' 3 ) eab Mosiet , —1 have been waiting with very great anxiety for yesterday's Star , expecting , of course , that O'Connor and Co would completely annihilate you . But , behold . ' not a word in fulfilment of their promised dreadful revelation * . . 'What can this be owing to ! Have they i » t yet laked ^ iramcient lies and calumny to suit their Bsafignaat -dtspusitibn ! or have their base souls recoiled at their own viflany ? and , therefore , will they make amends for the wrong they have already done you ! I think not ; tor J solemnly believe that O'Connor would , without pary or remorse , sacrifice thousands of our best men , rather than be stopped in his career of dictatorship and rarity . Look at the life of this man ; see the scores that he has already rained . Still , his insatiable soul is , not glutted ; he yet pants for fresh victims , —witness his ! attempts upon poor O'Brien and yourself ! . To this man , I

    Kodej , I attribute the death of Holberry and Clayton , ana the'banishment of Frost and his companions , with the death of Shell , and the rest at Newport . IwUl . inas few words as possible , give yon my . reasons for the above . "In 1839 , just before the ~ brealdng up ofthe Convention , 1 was in London . I then "became acquainted with the contemplated rising in England and Wales . The Convention broke up on the Friday , and that night F , B -, T _' . , , B ¦ ¦ , & c , pledged themselves to make # a * tt « nptto alter affairs , by a rising in arms of the tetf & e . The main feature in this agreement was , that should they not be able to get the people out , they were to call apritaite meeting of each other / in . London . In the event of no such meeting being required , at the expiration of four weeks , by any one of the partisans , it was then to be deemed as finally settled that the rising should take place on the 3 rd of November .

    "I left London with Bussy , and , before I parted with him , in Leeds , I learned , from his propositions to me , that he bad not the son ! to carry bnt his engagements with his confederates , and I became convinced that they would be Bold . I was , at that time , afraid of being apprehended for what I afterwards suffered two years' imprisonment ; and a few days after I parted with Bussy , and went with my wife to France . The then Editor of the Star , Mr . Hill , accompanied me to Hull , during which time I communicated to him the whole affair ; at the same time I strongly urged him to inform O'Connor of my suspicions , in order that he might apprise Frost of his danger . This he promised to do ., . On my return from France the Newport affair had occurred , and the whole of my suspicions were confirmed . . 1 instantly waited upon O'Connor , at

    ms residence , at Hammersmith . I asked him why he had not attempted to save Frost , upon the information he had received from Mr . HOI . Be denied having heard about the affair until it had occurred . I was not then in a position to say to the contrary , as I had not had any communication with Mr . Hill on the subject However , on my arrival in Leeds , in February following , I waited ¦ upon Mr , Hill , at his house in Bedford-street , when he solemnly assured me , that he had communicated the whole affair to O'Connor , fonr or five days after parting with me at Hull , at the Bull and Month Inn , in Leeds . George White went with me afterwards to Mr . Bill , upon this subject , when he again repeated his former solemn assurance , and added , that Mr . O'Connor started for Ireland soon afterwards , where he remained until the

    Kewportaffairwasorer . Xow Mosley , isitnotevident , from the above plain narration of facts , that O'Connor wished Frost to be sold ! Why would lie wish such ' , you may ask . Because Frost was his rival in popularity ; therefore he went to Ireland to be ont of harm's way , whilst some of the best of men were cold-bloodily sacrificed . Then witness the effrontery of this modern Juggernaut , in pretendmgtobepMrFrost ' sfriendlSeehisboastingabont his sacrifices and friendship for the man he had quietly allowed to be sold , and others slaughtered . This dark deed of villany was a fiendish stroke of policy . His riral was removed , and by his unbounded sympathy for him , he thought he would become the demigod of popularity Ah ! Mosley , poor Frost is well aware of O'Connor's villany in this afikir , hence he never acknowledges him with

    a line from that land of wretchedness and woe . I can scarcely restrain my feelings when I come to think of this affair—even this moment I am nearly blind with tears ; let me indulge in them . It is no shame to weep for the fall and sufferings of such men as Frost and his companions . What would I not risk to restore them to the blessings of freedom and the happiness of domestic bliss ! I have , once or twice , endangered liberty , if not fife , on their account . I would again ; but , enough of this , let us return to O'Connor . Whilst he was in London , previous to the Monmouth trials , a second Convention assembled . The object of these men was to devise , if pcfiEEHey ^ ome means of saving the lives of Frost and the other brave men , in the event of their conviction . I was in London at the time , and regularly attended their sittings—aye , their sittings ! both at the Arundel

    Coffeehouse , and over in the borough of Southwark . O'Connor was elected a member of this Convention , but never once attended to his duty . The reason of this was , these men were sent on a hazardous enterprise . However , a deputation waited upon him , at the Tavistock Hotel , from this Convention , to Receive his advice . Mr . Geach , Frost ' s son-in-law , was with him at tbe time . He told tiie deputation that , should Frost and the others be convicted , and their lives endangered , he would place himself at the head < rf the people of England , andhave ah—y t n to save them . Geach said that he would head the people of Wales ; and added , that he had twelve men out in Wales who could speak the Welsh language and prepare the people for the event Both of them impressed upon the deputation flte necessUy of the people being prepared . The deputation gave in their report to the Convention , at their secret meeting in Southwark . I was present ! - i :

    "At this fame there was assembled , in Dewsbury , a large delegate meeting , for the North of England , for the same purpose as the Convention . A messenger was despatched , per railway , from this delegate meeting to ascertain the determination of the Convention and O'Connor . This messenger was sent back with word that the Convention were determined to have & rising to save the RewportTictims , and that O'Connor had solemnly pledged Jnmselftoheaathem , andGeaiiaieWelihpeonle . in » few days the same messenger retained , with theiu & r-^ nttat the delegate meeting had come to the same ^^ mafi ^ andrhed fixed upon the 12 th January , at SSRf ^ W ***!* Kfte CWtion ^^^ f ^^^ O ^ S to return to their . ™~ totasaei , and CConnor wu to be requestedto l ! i . , 1 : ¦ i i i : >

    O'Brien, Ashton, Moseley, Anj> Bill A Qj...

    fulfil his promise . He wasjtthfc time rnjl onnwutk He had , the same day , sent an order upon JohnCleave-for £ 25 to assist the Convention in any measure they might adopt . A member of the Convention , who lives in London , was immediately despatched for O'Connor . The leading men in London were apprised of the intended rising , with O'Connor ' s and Geach ' s promise , and they were requested to adopt some means of occupying the attention of Government Hence the meeting at the Trades ' -hau , Bethnal-green , and the rush upon that meeting by the armed police force , and the apprehension of a number of them . At this time the members of the Convention had returned to the country to bring the people out I had done the same , having received a request

    from the delegate meeting to that effect . In Sheffield , on my way to Barnsley , I attended the secret meeting there , at the house of poor D— . This was on the night of the 11 th . Poor Holberry gave me * * * * fortte next nighf s work . They all spoke in high hope and confidence of the result , expecting a wonderful rising , on account of O'Connor's promise . It was expected that the Star would appear next day printed in letters of blood . But , lo , and behold ! it appeared with a denunciation of the whole plan 1 This struck dismay into tens of thousands ; the wholeaffiur was blown toatoms by thatcursed paper . The same night Holberry and the rest were apprehended ; and the next week O'Connor himself appeared in the -Star denouncing his confiding dupes !

    "Now , Mosley , who do you think was the principal cause of Holberry ' s imprisonment and death 2 Was it not 0 'Connor , bystimulatingarising , andpromising to head it * Did not these men and myself place confidence in him ? and had we not all cause to curse our credulity ? Did he not basely betray and denounce us ! Could O'Connor have beard our bitter curses , when assembled , after our sentences , in York Castle , he would then have learned who was the cause of our misfortunes . But it's over . Some have sunk into their graves , others are still in earthly miseries , and O'Connor is deemed , by thousands of his dupes , a patriot . He has still the power of making fresh victims ; he thirsts for the destruction of O'Brien , because he has the means of unmasking this modern Juggernaut by bis paper . Down O'Brien must come , or , like Othello , O'Connor ' s occupation is gone .

    "As to yourself , I think both O'Connor and Hobson are in a fix . This is wonderful , for the devil himself cannot devise more base means than them to accomplish any infernal scheme they desire . " I am tired , at present , thinking about them , therefore T defer to another opportunity any further remarks . " I am , most sincerely yours , & c , " To Mr . James Mosley . " Wm . Ashton . " " O'Bbiex , what infernal traitors ! I never knew what tiie cowardly swindler sneaked off to Ireland for , —Ashton explains it ; and this , also , he explains , why a certain tool of the arch-traitor ' s was ordered to hire post-chaises to stop a morement in the West Biding of Yorkshire , which he himself declared , only the night before , to a secret meeting , could be carried out successfully , without any trouble and with little risk ; he also explains why Bussy , on one occasion , forbade a number of delegates from informing O'Connor , or any of the Star-office crew , of anything which transpired at that meeting .

    "Yours sincerely , in the cause of truth , justice , and liberty , " JAKES & 0 SLEV . "

    The Rev. William Hill's Letter. Asktos's...

    THE REV . WILLIAM HILL'S LETTER . ASKTOS ' S BEVELAT 10 H 3 . Sib , —Thanks be to God , I am again able to resume my pen . I have been " at death's door" since 1 last wrote you , and I am still very weak ; but Providence has removed apparent danger for the present and permitted me again to hope that I may perform some uses to society . I find , in your present week ' s National Reformer , a letter from William Ashton , of Barnsley , to James Mosley , of Leeds , in which my name is so introduced as to make it incumbent on me to follow it with a few observations .

    I have long and often , from a mistaken love of peace and fear of injuring "the cause , " permitted myself to be quietly made the scape-goat for other men's sins . I intend to pursue this policy no longer . So loug as my name does come before the public at all , I shall , whenever and wherever I see it necessary , give , or seek to give , such explanations as may canse the exact truth to be known , and leave " every tub to stand on its own bottom : " I seek no more credit than is due to me ; and I think I have suffered enough . I shall , in this matter , be as brief as possible , and confine myself solely to what is personal tome .

    The revelations contained in Ashton ' s letter about the secret meetings in London and the intended risings talked of aad promised by the mouthers , do not surprise me . They are not new to me , in outline : but they are new to me in their details . 1 learn now , for the first time , the extent to which the plot had been apparently organised , and the particular part taken in it by the persons whom he names . With one exception—or rather with one matter of explanation—I can fully confirm Ashton's statement , so far as I am concerned in it . Ashton says that he communicated to me "the whole affair . " Now , if by this he means all the details contained in this letter of his to Mosley , he mistakes . I was ignorant of those details till now .

    What Ashton did communicate to me ( not on the way to Hull , but at Leeds , in the office and at my own house , before" going to Hull , ) was this : —that Frost was , to his certain knowledge , engaged upon a dangerous enterprise ; aud that he had good means of knowing that he was in danger of being sold by some of those with whom he was associated . He mentioned no name to me but that of Frost ; but he said that O'Connor knew all about it , and would perfectly understand it if I named it to him ; and he implored me to urge upon O'Connor to see to Frost without loss of time and put him on his guard , for that , if this were not done , he was certainly a lost man . I promised to state to O'Connor all that he said to me ; and I did so the very first time I saw him .

    You will see , sir , that this explanation detracts nothing from the value of Ashton ' s statement ; ( his statementso far as I have the means of knowing—is substantially true } , but it precludes misunderstanding , as regards myself . I have always held the doctrine , and I hold it still , that the people have a right , when moral means fail , to oppose physical resistance to oppression . But I also hold tnatitshouldbe regarded simply and only as a dernier resort—and that it should never be had recourse to without due preparation and a reasonable prospect of success . The man , sir , who would bring an undisciplined , unarmed , and altogether unprepared , starving people into collision with the systematically trained and well armed forces of the Government—or who , for any personal gratification , whether of vanity , avarice , or any other passion ,

    would excite and encourage them , under such circumstances , to rush upon these forces of their own accord , is either a maniac or a villain ; generally the latter : and , mostly , you will find him to be as great a coward as a villain ; taking- care of his own carcase while the victims of his treachery pay the penalty of his transgression . For such a man , sir , no epithet is too base ; no hatred too intense ; no loathing too cordial . He is a devil , fit for no society but that of Hell . And next to such a wretch as this , would be the man who , knowing that the people were bang , by others , thus "led" to their destruction , should hesitate—the means being in his power—to warn them at once , and to denounce their "leaders . " "Sow , sir , I knew perfectly , in 1839 , that the people were not able to carry out a physical revolution ; I knew that the

    Government was amply prepared to put any attempt of that kind effectually down ; and I should have despised myself for a wretch , if I could have known- that such a thing was actually brewing and not have told the people that they were going to destruction . I knew , sir , not one syllable about all these secret meetings , and all this plotting among the then "leaders ofthe movement , " of which Ashton speaks . However far Mr . O'Connor may have been implicated in these matters , he was , in any case , too wise to entrust me with his dangerous secrets : be knew mc too weU . To me he always told a very different story ; professing his entire conviction , not only that the people were utterly unprepared for any physical outbreak , but that no such thing was needed , as our object could be much better and more safely effected without it . Whatever professions of a contrary character Mr . O'Connor may or may not have made to other parties and in other places , I know nothing of them . In the office and in his

    private communications with me , he always appeared cordially to accord with my opinion that the people ought to be instructed that they had a rigbt to possess arms , that it was their duty to have them , and that they had a right , in case of extreme necessity , to use them in their own defence ; but that , in the condition they were then in , to incite them to aggressive violence would be to seal the destruction of the movement , and give a death-blow , for at least a long period , to eveiy hope of good . Such was his doctrine to me ; what it might be elsewhere , amongst the people and the " leaders , " they who consorted with him best can tell ; I know nothing of it . But I know this ; that if I bad been assured that he was then acting such a part as is described in Ashton ' s letter , I would have taken care that one number , at least , ofthe Northern Star thouldhave denounced him as a villain and as the people's worst enemy , though 1 might never have had the chance of doing it in another .

    I know that I got , very undeservedly , much ill-will among the Chartists of Dewsbury and other places , about the time that Ashton speaks of : so much so , that my life was threatened by them more than once . And , if things were as Ashton states , I am not much surprised that the poor " lads , " knowing O'Connor to be cognisant of ( and , indeed , active in ) all these proceedings , and supposing me to be also cognisant of them , all through , should have been furious at the idea of my permitting the thing to be wrought up to a fatal head without warning them , and then coming out with a sweeping denunciation of the

    whole matter , when my denunciation was too late to serve them . If this statement of Ashton ' s be true ( and I know some of it to be true ) , I can then account clearly to myself for many things which at that time seemed to me inexplicable , and which gave me no little share of annoyance and vexation . God help the poor people who have such "friends" and "leaders" as have figured prominently in the " movement" which has been cursed with the name oi Chartism ! They have dragged "their party ! " through the mire and filth and muck at sush ante as was never before seen in this world ; until they have actually stifled itto deathiniteownstink . It is true ; sir , that my own observation of passing circumstances sometimes raised suspicions in my mind that all was not light ; that there wasi something brewing somewhere ; and I again and again named those suspidons in the Star : I again and again warned thepeopl « against secret meetmgs and against spies and traitors thai I suspected were among them , I could only do this is general teiinsi'for I had no fcnow & djje on the matter ; it

    The Rev. William Hill's Letter. Asktos's...

    was all surmise . I had no positive knowledge of the thrngs ^ nntilthe riots actually took place ; and everyone who then read the Star knows the tone that was instantly taken on it . I did not know who were the agents in the plot ; ( I certainly did not then think that O'Connor had anything to do with it ; for he declared to me that he knew nothing in the world about it ;) but I knew that be they whom they might , they were villains , or madmen , or both—for it was a work of consummate telly or villany—and , as such , I denounced both it and them ; and I have O'Connor's letters now by me , thanking me for the articles I then wrote in the Star , and entreating that I would not slacken in my vigilance .

    Sir , I have thought it due to my own character to make this statement . I wish it to be known that I had neither act nor part in that infamous affair ; that , as soon as I suspected it , lmaderoy suspicions known ; and , as soon as I knew it , I denounced it . If my denunciation was illtimed—if it came too late—the fault was not mine ; it came as soon as I had power to make it . Upon the heads of those who concocted the rile plot be all the blood and all the blame ; I wash my hands of it , for I am clear ) Thatpoor Frost was betrayed aud sold , I verily , believe , andhave no more doubt than I have of my own existence . I say not by whom ; for I don't know ; and I will assert nothing of which I am not sure . Of this I am sure , that if the people have not had enough of such "leaders" as they have heretofore trusted in , I have no hope of their salvation . 1 am , dear sir , yours faithfully , April 21 , 1845 . Wiuuh HlIX .

    The Destroyer Of Frost Discovered. "A Pl...

    THE DESTROYER OF FROST DISCOVERED . "A plain tale is best being plainly told . " To the Chabtists op the Empire , and especially to those op Glasgow , who did not wait for assistance FROM ME TO MEET AND REFUTE THE Calumnies of my Traducers . My Friends , —It is not rigbt that a public man , whose character is public property , should think solely of himself ; nor should he leave to others the performance of a task which properly telongs to himself—the defenceofhischaracter . Nomancanactupon the presumption that he is above suspicion : because the moment that he is assailed he is suspected ; and no matter by whom ov by how few , he owes the duty to the public of wiping on the stigma from a character

    that is dear to them . I shall now presume that my twelve years' service in the democratic cause has established a love and respect for me amongst those who beltcvehie sincere , honest , devoted , faithful , and trustworthy : and that the party to which ! belong must suffer damage if I am guilty of dishonourable or treacherous practices . In Mr , O'Brien ' s paper of the 19 th of April , he publishes a letter from William Ashton , of Barnsley , to James Mosley , of Leeds ; and also a letter from the same James Mosley to O'Br ien . He does more ; he fathers the contents of the said letters . I do uotcomplain of the publication of these letters , but I do complain ofthe repeated necessity imposed upon me of doing the same thing over and ^ over again . T blinll nnt i \ n \ v * mcita * Ai . Aali ^ on and \ fnHlftV * K

    letters , but I shall also answer the comments of Mr . O'Brien himself : arid when my work , —which shall now be complete , —upon this subject shall be ' ^ in the possession of the Chartist readers of the Northern Star , I trust they vriUpresewe it—raver partsrith it—but treasure it up as a proof of . the daugersirom which I have preserved tiMto > . as a faithful representation of the . character of-men with whom I have been compelled b > act ; and aim-tautim data whom they should trust in future . When my narrative of the transactions referred to in this correspondence # placed before a discerning public ,. the one , ihe , pblyi the unanimous feeling to v / hich ^ tuvin . 0 w ^^ jwjil be one of unmixed astonishment that t ) 3 m $ ! ffe and honoured .. Tho reader wiU ^ jfchat'whiie

    defending myself from mere guesseSf ^ ja . mecplative charges for many years past , that I h ^ sp ^ flcalt most delicately with the-characters of aienwftwnl knew to be traitors , lest- the knowledge of their treachery should create injurious distrust in our ranks ; while , at the same time , ! have hazarded liberty ; and ' life itself , as well as the suspicion of jealousy-andjajtfi bition , to remove them from a position m' ^ hich they might have entailed greater dangers upon our-causoj I shall not only answer the letters of-Ashton and Mosley , and [ the remarks of O'Brien ; but [ shall also answer the letter ofthe Rev . W . Hill , which appeared in the last week's number of the National Reformer . And my reply to that gentleman's epistle , although brief , will at once convict him of " malicious ,

    wilful , and corrupt pequry . " In opening this business a-fresh for you , I must especially direct your attention to dates , to which my mUere have unfortunately for themselves attached but slight importance . The Newport affair presents two distinct questions—the one the organisation of that physical outbreak of which it was the result ; and the other , the subsequent agreement on the means to be resorted to for saving Frost ' s life , in the event of an order for his execution being issued . I shall dispose of the question of organisation for rising in the first instance . In the 3 rd page you will find all that has comefrom O'Brien , Ashton , Mosley , and Hill , on the two subjects ; and by reading the letters of Ashton and Hill you will see the foolish ,

    and insane , but hellish attempt of the parson to apply Ashton ' s revelations about " secret meetings " in December , to the organisation of the outbreak which must have been decided upon in October ! New let me keep your minds directed to the first point : I mean the organisation for the rising . From Ashton ' s jletter you will learn that . 'F , B—— , T , and B—— decided , after the Convention had broken up , that if no further communication took place between them within one month , that a rising should then take place on the 3 rd of November . " That there may ue no mistake here , I give the paragraph from Ashton ' s letter . Hesays : — " In 1839 , just before the breaking up ofthe Convention , I was in London . I then became acquainted with

    the contemplated rising in England and Wales . The Convention broke up on the Friday ; and that night F , B , T , B , & c , pledged themselves to make an attempt to alter affairs , by a rising in arms of the people . The main feature in this agreement was , that they were to call a , private meeting of each other , in London . In the event of no such meeting being required , at the expiration of four weeks , by any one of the partisans , it was then to be deemed as finally settled that the rising should take place on the 3 rd of November . " Fr om the time the Convention broke up , late hi September , until after the riots took place , I never saw , I never heard from "F , B , T , or B , " to whom this affair appears to have been entrusted . "B . " means Bussey ; "T . " means

    Taylor , and the other "B . " means Burns . Bussey returned to Yorkshire , and soon began to funk . Ashton was cognizant of his cowardice , and rested satisfied with communicating his suspicions to Mr . Hill in order that Mr . Hill might communicate to Frost the danger in which he stood ; and this done , the valiant Ashton , like a good soldier , starts with his wife for France , instead of communicating withFrost himself ! thusmakingsELpperfectl y secure , and taking but little precaution to make the friends for whom he felt , equally secure . Hill , by his own confession , ' was in possession , not only of the plot , but ofthe danger sure to arise to the parties concerned , through the cowardice of one of their body : and yet this tenderhearted man , who takes credit to himself for having

    prevented the Dewsbury rising , waited for my returnto Leeds fofeorroiiuntcate the fact tome ! and now tells us that he had no " positive proof oi the intention of the parties until after the rising took place . " Mr . Hill must just follow me a bit , with the Northern Star newspaper in his hand . In the Northern Star of the 5 th of October , 1839 , the first notice to correspondents runs thus : "Notice .- —AU communications addressed personally to Mr . O'Connor must reimin unanswered , as he xvas required instantly to proceed to London , to enter into bail to receive judgment next month in the Queen ' s Bench , for the libel for which he was convicted at Hie York assizes . Three days' notice of bail is required , and the recognisance taken before a judge in chamber . " Keep that "

    notice" and its date before you ; and bear ; ib . mind , that , to appear iu the Star of the 5 th , it must have been written , at the latest , on Thursday the 3 rd . There is also a letter from me in the Star of the 5 th , addressed from London , and bearing date "Wednesday the 2 nd , the latest hour at which I could have written from thence for insertion in that week ' s Star . In that letter I state my intention of going to Ireland . I now refer you to the Star of the previous week ( Sept . 28 th ) , to the leading articles , every one of which I wrote ; and as soon as I liad written them , I started for London on Thursday morning , the 26 th of September , to give bail for my appearance to receive judgment in the November term . Mind , I left Leeds on the 26 th of September ; and 1 never

    saw nor heard from William Hill from that day until my return from Ireland on the 6 f & of Novetnber . AFTER THE WELSH OUTBREAK and the ap-. prehension of Frost . ' When I arrived in Leeds , the news of the outbreak and arrest was in the office ; and in the conversation which I then immediately had with Mr . Hill , he told me that Ashton had communicated certain matters to him . The assertion of Mr . Hill is correct , that he mentioned to mc that Ashton had desired that Frost should be put on his guard against some of his associates , " the first timehe saiv me" after such matter had been entrusted to him by Ashton : though he has not the manliness to say when he did so " see" me . His manner of putting it leaves it to be inferred , that he had

    communicated the information in time for . me to have warned Frost : while he knows , and his yery manner of stating the fact proves that HE KNOWS , that he never " saw" me from the 26 th of October to the 6 th of November , between which periods Hie plot was entered into , and the explosion in Wales effected . This is to mc an important point ; and I will show , by facts and dates , the utter impassibility of Mr . Hill ' s having communicated Ashton ' s information pO me , until after the whole occurrence had taken place . Ashton says that the rising fn arms fjp ; to take plaeo on ffie $ d of NovemM ffi no ajfangement ^ we . w a meeting betwper i : ' the jart % pilin rmontjfk jjefpre that time . . I Jeft Lee ^ s oj t the 2 « tK- of : ^ plieinber , or a ^ fpiftnight ..- ' . i * ' A $ - ¦ > ¦ : ¦¦ ¦ ¦ '¦'' ¦ -. ' : ' . '

    The Destroyer Of Frost Discovered. "A Pl...

    before the plan was even concocted , and consequently betW -ASh'tbif opuld have ^ cd ^ iuiiuhicated it ' toMr . HDl , or Mr . llm to me . The Convention did not break up , I think , until Friday , the 20 th of September : indeed Ashton says the Convention broke up on . the Friday ; and I left Leeds on the following Thursday . Ashton remained in London for a considerable time after the Convention broke , up . I left London for jLrelahd ,-rhaving madethe necessary arrangements in the Court of Queen ' s , Bench , —on thcltndayof October ; and went direct from Liverpool to Dublin , where I arrived on the 6 th . day of October . I r eturned from thence on the 2 nd of November , and arrived in Leeds on the 6 th of November , pained enough at the news of the outbreak and consequences

    at Newport . I thm saw Hill , and from him learned as above . Ashton could not , I repeat , by possibility , have communicated the circumstances to Hill wail I was in Ireland ; but he did communicate in sufficient time to have enabled Hill to have warned Frost of the imminent danger in which he was placed ! . Did he do this ? Did he take any step ? And , if he had communicated it to me ., and if I took no step to save Frost , was not HE bound in honour—was not HE bound in common honesty— to have gone to Wales to have seen Frost , and to have cautioned Mm against the treachery of his confederates ? The immaculate parson leaves as much as he can

    to doubt as to the period at which he communicated Ashton ' s revelations to me . He says " that he did communicate them the very first time he saw me . " Aye , but the " smooth man" does not tell you that he did not , and could not , communicate them to me until the thing was over ! But in the ruthless attempt to support a false witness , he does , even admitting that he told me in time to stop it , and that I took no steps to do so ; he does , I say , without possibility of palliation , convict Umself in relation to Frost , Williams , and Jones . Here ' s his conviction , written by himself , not by me . He says : " what ASHTON DID COMMUNICATE TO ME ( NOT ON THE WAY TO

    HULL , BUT AT LEEDS , IN THE OFFICE AND AT MY OWN HOUSE , BEFORE GOING TO HULL ) WAS THIS : —THAT FROST WAS , TO HIS CERTAIN KNOWLEDGE , ENGAGED UPON A DANGEROUS ENTERPRISE , AND THAT HE HAD GOOD MEANS OF KNOWING THAT HE WAS IN DANGER OP BEING SOLD BY SOME OF THOSE WITH WHOM HE WAS ASSOCIATED . " Here we have the admission of certain knowledge that" Frost was engaged in a dangerous enterprise , " and that "he was in danger of being sold by some of those with whom he was associated . " And that knowledge was possessed by a man who impudently tells us in the same letter , that if he had been assured that I was acting apart that would bring the people into danger , he would have exposed me in ono Star if he never wrote in another ! During the whole month

    that I was m Ireland , he had " uncontrolled power over the Star . Did he give ohewobd of sotice ? Did hb sound a single note of alarm ? Must he not have conjectured that if I had had previous knowledge of the occurrence , I must have fled to Ireland for the same reason that Ashton fled to France—to protect myself from danger . The field was open to him , therefore : he could have given what alarm he pleased , lie might , at least , havo written to Frost , or communicated personally with him . But no : his breast was cither the sole depository of a conspifacy ; against Frost ' s life , or he was co-partner in Ihe ^ ecret with me ; and , after a lapse of nearly six yeai ^ jie has the folly to convict himself as the destroyer of Frost , for tiie mere purpose of aiding

    ' Ashton m his endeavour to injure my character ! Having now disposed of the Reverend " perjurer , " I shall proceed to consider the letter of William Ashtpuvv ) Autoh says , that he communicated the j ^^ fo 'im ' . ' Eill ; and , that on his " return from ^ ralce . ^ ffer , ! the Newport affair had occurred , and ' $ H $ n iWif & ble of his suspicions were confirmed ;" " jjakb " 4 ' f 0 r the affair had occurred— " and when there was the same reason for remaining away that induced him to go , he then called on mc at Hammersmith ; and " 1 denied having heard about the affair till it had occurred . " After a good deal of speculative writing , Ashton tells us that at the moment of his writing he was nearly blind with tears ; and he cadds , it is " no shame to weep for the fall and

    suffer' £ nfiaj )& sach men as Frost and his companions . No , ; ai ^ pBi | j' 3 t is anything but a shame . But , it was a ¦ JmcU ^ mme to have b n c nizant f acts that would Ihwe' ^ aVed the sufferin gs of Frost and his companions , if they had been communicated in time ; and a crying sin to have fled to France without liaving communicated one particle of tlte valuable information to the parties % vho were most interested in possessing it ! Before I dispose of this branch of my subject , I may be permitted to ask for the date of Ashton ' s departure for France . I am not so much defending myself—that I have done too frequently before—as I am convicting ' Hill and Ashton of lying and treason . Now to generalise a little . On my return from Ireland I was made acquainted with the whole

    machinery , both general and local , by which the affair was to have been managed . I learned that a pack of the most reckless , cowardly , and blood-thirsty scoundrels that ever lived , constituted the " Central Board , " who had so far assumed to themselves all power and control over Frost's person as to send a delegate post-haste from London to Bury , where he was to have attended a public dinner , to order him to proceed forthwith to Wales ; and that upon his return to London , and before his starting for Wales , he said , " I am a doomed man . " l'rost consequently could not have been aware of tho doings of the board of management , every one of whom , with one honourable exception , has turned traitor to our cause . As to the local management , it was entirely under the direction of

    Mr . Peter Bussey , as far as Yorkshire was con cerned . Mr . Bussey , and the whole Convention were in full possession of my opinions on the subject of physical outbreak . In several speeches in the Convention 1 denounced it . In addressing the people I cautioned'them against it . Mr . Bussey , on his return to Yorkshire , found it necessary to ciiU delegate meetings throughout the county ; and at those delegate meetings the principal injunction was that Feargus O ' Connor shoidd not hear a word of what was passing ! A very wise precaution ! for if I had , I should most assuredly have cautioned the people of the dangers into which their treacherous leaders were driving them . So much at present for the concocted outbreak at Newport ; merely adding upon that subject , that I never heard , directly or indirectly , by word ,

    L E TTER , OR SURMISE , THAT SUCH A THING WAS ABOUT to take puce ; and assuring the people that if it had come to my knowledge I would liave used my best and most strenuous exertions to have saved Frost and his fellow-sufferers from the treason of bad men , and the people the sore infliction of so much damage to their cause , as well as the loss of their friends . I now beg to refer the reader to the notice to corcorrespondents in the Star of the 5 th of October ; and I think , considering that I had some property in Ireland ; that I had not visited that property since 1836 ; that I was about to receive jttdgment in the Court of Queen ' s Bench early in November ; that I owed the Messrs . Wrigley a bill , which was due on the 1 st or 2 nd of November ; that I could not make

    provision lor that bill , except from my property : I think that all this , added to the fact , that at about the latter end of September , Mr . O'Conneli , in his speech at a dinner given to him at Macr ' oom , asserted that" I dare , not go back to Ireland , " and added to the further fact , that the franchise I had conferred by my own labour and expense on the constituency ofthe counhttf Cork had expired , and had to be renewed : I say , r think , that under all these circumstances , — without , any possible knowledge ofthe Newport affair , —that my visit to my native country was neither as untuned nor as suspicious as Mr . Ashton ' s trip to France , who went aivay with a perfect knowledge of what was to occur ! and with a clear undei'standing of the danger arising from secresy 1

    I shall now direct the reader ' s attention to the second branch of my subject—namely , the assembling of the second Convention in London , —the object of which , Mr . Ashton says , was to devise , if possible , some means of saving the lives of Frost and his compiinions in the event of their conviction . To the doings of that body as a Convention , and as a secret association sitting at Southwark—( of which I never heard one single sentence in my lite—that is , of the secret meetings—until I read Mr . Ashton ' s letter ) , Mr . Hill would apply the information that hereceived from Ashton while I was in Ireland in October , although the sittings did not take place until December ! It is quite true that I never did attend a meeting of that Convention , for two reasons : firstly ,

    because 1 mew that many of the men who composed it had deserted Frost in the hour of need ! and , secondly , because my whole time during the sittings of that Convention was taken up in attending Mr . Geach , and in begging and borrowing money wherever 1 could get it , to insure a fair trial for the victims . It is true that a deputation from that Convention waited upon me at the Tavistock Hotel . And it is true that I said to that deputation , that I would rather risk my life than allow Frost to be hung ; but it is not true that I said that " I would place myself at the head of the people of England , and nave a b—y r— -n to save them ; " but I think I may now say , that while I would not trust either the deputation or the Convention with any risk that 1 might have been prepared to run to save Frost ' s life , that I would have ventured my own with greater cheerfulness than any single one of my revilers . There is one fact , however , which appears to have

    escaped the notice of the sympathisers altogetherthe fact that Frost was not hung—and the further fact that Sir Frederick Pollock and Mr . Kelly , who were his counsel , had assured me that the points reserved in his favour must be favourably decided upon by the judges . Mr . Ashton has not thought proper to state the real business of the deputation that waited upon me at the Tavistock . As he has failed to do so , I shall supply the omission . The business of that deputation was threefold : first , to request money to take the country delegates home , to which appeal I gaw £ 25 ; the second was to knew why , being elected as a delegate , I had not atattended the sittings of the Convention ; the third was to induce me to be : party to waylaying and murdering ^ three inoffensive , unoffending persons ! That was the business of- the deputation ; and no doubt the delegates communicated niv reply to the Convention , which was : " Good God f what Commitjpder . ' No ! I would willingly sacrifice

    The Destroyer Of Frost Discovered. "A Pl...

    my life rather than allow Frost to be hung ; bi never shall my hands' be stained with the blood < three innocent men !" I must now treat this matter more generally . Tl efforts that I made to save Frost , after my traducei had betrayed him and deserted him , brought me inl contact with Mr . Geach , the attorney of Newpor At first I was pleased with the connection . The grei interest that Mr . Geach evinced in the fate of h relative , Mr . Frost ; the ability that he displayo and his extreme readiness to do $ that alawy could do in such an emergency , won on my con dence ; and I spoke of him as I thought . But I wj soon most bitterly undeceived . I soon found Gea < to be a man ef the very worst character , a Tory of tl highest order , and a person against whom there wei the most serious charges of fraud , for which he w afterwards transported for life . I soon found that 1

    was despised , distrusted , and abhorred by every mat in Wales who knew him : and yet , rather than injun Frost , I was compelled to associate with him . Th < following was the source from whence I received son of my information : —I called in at Mr . Hctherington's shop late one night to ask him where I could borrow money , stating that though I had given Geach £ 70 ( already , he required £ 1200 more to begin . Hether ington said , "I am glad I have seen you . Here ' s i letter from Morgan Williams , of Wales , in which lu describes . Geach as the biggest thief and swindlei that ever walked ; and regrets that you should hav ( anything to do with him , or that he should have the management of Frost ' s affairs . " And yet this was the man with whom 1 was to associate and plot t ( have . i"b yr n !! " How likely ! Me trust myself into s « c 7 i hands ! What a fool the Barnslej " brave one" must think me !

    Mr . Geach had to leave London for Monmouth or the morning after the deputation called ; and Mr , Kelly ' s clerk had appointed that evening for mete attend at his chambers to pay the remaining half oi Mr . Kelly ' s fee , which I think was 200 guineas , h < having received a cheque from Mr . Geach on tlw Old Brecon Bank for the other half . When I arrived , to my astonishment the clerk informed me that he had taken the precaution to forward the cheque to the bank , and the answer was , that " they knew no such person "—that "lie had no account there ; " and it was subsequently to this transaction that the deputation waited upon me in presence of Mr . Geach And is it likely , after such an exposure , that I should have trusted him , or his twelve men in buckram

    cither ? I remained up the greater part ot that night , endeavouring to borrow money for Mr . Kelly ' s lee , and did not succeed in procuring it until the next morning , when my good friend , Mr . Rogers , cashed a bill for me , I think for £ 200 ; and another friend cashed another for £ 100 . Now , that was the way that my time was employed on behalf of the victim of those rascals who , not satisfied with betraying Frost , would have made me a murderer , if possible . I now come to the delegate who was despatched to me at Monmouth . It was Henry Ross ; and the reader shall have not only the substance , but , as nearly as possible , the words in which his commission was delivered . He told me that he rejoiced that 1 hadw ) connection ividi what was going oiiMthe North ;

    that Dr . Taylor and others had been actually selling commissions ; that Major Bcniowski was to be appointed tho commandei ' -iu-cliief , as he was a good officer ; and as soon as the battle was fought and won , that then Beniwoski , ashe was a dangerous and ambitious man , was to be shot . I cannot exactly say how I felt on receiving this intelligence ; but I know that I cursed the whole gang . Before I take final leave of this Convention , consisting of eight individuals , ol which number my well-known enemy , Mr . Lowrey , was one , I may state , upon the authority of one oi their body , that during their whole sittings they never took a pen in hand , or committed a sentence to paper , in the way of minute or resolution ; that they were appointed for the mere purpose of watching the proceedings of Frost ' s trial ; that they unanimously denounced and opposed every proposition made to

    them to sanction an outbreak ; and their communications with Sheffield and the north , one and all went to expose the danger to which sucli proceedings would expose Frost and Ms friends : and , injustice to them , I must state , that they received the intelligence of Dr . Taylor ' s intentions with disgust . Nowhere let'the reader understand , that chiefly owing to my exertions , and the exertions of Mr . Pitkethly , the lives of Frost , Williams , and Jones were spared—that I had the assurance of the two ablest counsel in England , not only that their lives must be spared , but further , that the verdict must be altogether reversed , and their liberty granted : and , possessed as I was of this knowledge , what a service I should have rendered them and the working classes interested in their fate had I lent my sanction to proceedings which must have ensured their destruction !

    When the verdict against Frost was delivered , I had still great reliance upon the word of Sir Frederick Pollock and Mr . Kelly , added to the fact of two of the three judges being " with us on the points reserved . This gave mc great hopes : hopes that , I was not prepared to blast by any act of rashness . But I will state what I did say to some honest Welshmen , working men , after the verdict of Guilty was delivered . I said— " Precovkerted plans always fail . While there's life , tlicre's hope ; and before Frost shall dio on the scaffold , I'll risk ray own life at all events , and rely upon his countrymen that I shall not fall alone , if we fail . " And I now feci disposed to believe , —that is , if I know myself at all , —that I should have made the attempt rather than bear such an infliction as the murder of three innocent

    men . The reader must always bear in mind how Ashton states my pledge- to the deputation . He says that " I told the deputation , that should Frost aud the others be convicted , AND THEIR LIVES ENDANGERED , I would place myself at the head of the people of England , and have a b y v n ( which I presume means a bloody revolution ) to save mem . " Now , admitting this to be true , —which 1 utterly deny , —what was the revolution to be for ? Was it to be for fun ; ov was it to save their lives ? And why not say— " Let us have the revolution at all events ? " It would appear as if the salvation of the men was but a secondary consideration , and that the revolution was the primary object . The thing altogether is so truly farcical , that I can onlv compare it to the grievance of

    those gentlemen who were sold to the Government at Lancaster , at the price of their acquittal and perfect impunity . Suppose I had been foolish enough to commit myself to persons of whom I showed some distrust by not attending one of their sittings , what pledge was violated ? Ashton says , that in the event of conviction , and their lives being endangered , I resolved upon an outbreak : but , their lives being spared without tbe outbreak , was I still to be held to the b—y r n ? Now , should I not have been in excellent company , and should I not have well deserved the confidence of the working classes , if I had preferred the sympathy for martyrdom to the preservation of thousands , and tens of thousands ? Every man in England knows that I have through life denounced secret meetings ? I never did attend a secret meeting , aud I never will attend a secret meeting .

    I shall now make a passing allusion to one sentence in the comment of O'Brien . In speaking of Mosley and Ashton , he says : — "In the two following letters he has the name of the men who accuse him , and he knows where they are to be found . " I do ; and in Leeds and Barnsley , where they are both known , the mention of their names would be sufficient to render any reply from me unnecessary . I have been no party to the recent denunciation of Mosley : but I believe him to be airaitoivto . the cause of Chartism . I know him to have endeavoured to entrap me and thepeople of Ashton-under-Lyne . I know HIM TO UdVE UfcfcN COSCERSBD IN FLOTS THAT HE shrunk from tiie execution of , while others bore the danger . As to Ashton , I know that he has been

    drummed out of the Chartist ranks at Barnsley . I know , for I heard him cbarged witb it at a public Meeting before his face , that he was paid by the Tories of Barnsley for denouncing and villifyiug me . I know that I went to Barnsley at his express desire to meet him before a public meeting of his townsmen , to hear any charge that he might prefer against me . I know that the Town Hall was crammed to suffocation . I know that I told him I would step there till morning , or as long as he had a complaint to advance ; and I know that his townsmen hissed him , hootedjiim , and groaned him , when hesaid that his complaints were agai 7 ist Mr . Hill , and not against me ; and when , instead of accusing mc , he attempted to shuffle out of his own delinquencies , O ! but " my enemy has written : " and here it follows : —

    a voice raoa wakevielb hell . House of Correction , Wakefield , 15 th April , 1811 . Deab Sm , —Being permitted only once a month to have any communication with my friends , I am , as may be expected , nearly ignorant of passing events . However , I am informed that that curse of Chartism , disunion , exists to a deplorable extent . This is precisely as the enemy could desire . They know that union is strength and therefore will exult in our disunion . I have long lamented this evil , and would most willingly sacrifice my own feelings on particular points , to obtain union in our ranks . Of this the enemy in Barnsley are perfectly aware , having dragged rao out of my own house there in 1829 , under a charge of sedition , for liaving at a public meeting recommended union as the only means , of destroying tyranny , and liaving at the same time proved

    the necessity oi such uinon , and referred to history for glorious examples of its uprooting despotism and oppression . Admiring as I do your unparalleled exertions to ameliorate the condition of the working classes , and feel , ing convinced that those exertions emanate from the purest and best of motives , I deeply regret that the bitterness of your confinement should be augmented by the insidious conduct of pretended friends . I must confess that I have not agreed with every action . of your political conduct ; but I have never for one moment doubted the purity of your intentions ; and the greatest fault that 1 have been able to defect , has been what ! then , and at this present moment consider , a too extreme desire to conciwaie men , who have on all occasions evinced any . thing but a friendly feeling towards you , I watched witli painful feelings the conduct of Lovett , and the 'Workinj Men ' s Association , during the late agitation , every actiot

    The Destroyer Of Frost Discovered. "A Pl...

    of which exhibited a SECRET , but persevering and fe placable enmity towards you .- Whether you observed jm or not I am unable to say . However , it made a d ^ p j' ' pression upon my mind ; and when I visited London ' whilst the first Convention was Htting , I embraced ever . ' opportunity of satisfying myself why such feoling Z exist . I shall not refer to , the many convincing pr 0 () f , I received of their maUgnity towards you , and will onl , add , that after remaining in London altogether about three months , and associating during that time wjtj , ' great number of as good Chartists as there are in e „ land , I was extremely glad to find that this ungenCrous " and unjustifiable feeling was confined to Mr . Lomt a few of lu ' s immediate friends .

    The above remarks apply in part to Mr . Collins al so as the whole tenor of his conduct , after the Bttmhigl ) am rupture , was anything but generous or friendl y . jj e - , extremely desirous , Sir , for union , I rejoiced cxceedingif in your noble and disinterested conduct on their behalf when they were committed to Warwick Castle , C 0 I 1 C | ' ding in my own mind , that the exertions you niade ou that occasion would obliterate from their minds any n „ feeling of jealousy that might have biassed their better judgment . But , Sir , judge of my surprise , 0 u learninp through the medium of my friends that these two indiv duals , backed by a few others , have most treacherously concocted a plan for the ostensible purpose of kii 0 W ] ejc Chartism , but for the secret purpose of removing you out ofthe way of Judas O'Conneli .

    I have been nearly ten years a prisoner under this aiiQ my former conviction , during which time I have suffered every privation and hardship that the refined cruelty of man can devise : yet I solemnly declare , that with the ' ex ception of what I have felt on account of my family and " , relations , that I have experienced more regret on thy base attempt , than I have on any circumstance that has occurred during the whole period , excepting also , of course , the unfortunate Welsh affair . Feeling confident that the ingratitude of such conduct must wound , to a certain extent , feelings already harassed aud oppressed by dreary confinement , ( and I know that no man hVIng can be more sensitive than yourself , on questions of honour , consistency , and independence of character , ) and having witnessed your extreme desire , by indefati gable perseveranceiiithemostdisintcrcstcd actions , to keep them above-suspicion;—I know , Sir , that you must have felt intensely on the subject . I do not , Sir , write to flatter . It is a mean and

    grovelling disposition unworthy of a man ; but I think that it it equally mean and grovelling to withhold the sentiments of one's mind , because in giving utterance to them we are compelled to speak in praise . Neither do I write to have my opinions published . My only motive in writing ; is to express my indignation at the base conspiracy , and to assure you , Sir , that it is my firm belief few men in England could be found to possess such unworthy motives as Lovett and Collins appear to be actuated by . 1 regret such disunion occurring , not because I think they possess any interest to injure you , but from a

    conviction that such divisions retard the cause wc all profess to admire and advocate . The real intentions of those individuals must be manifest to all , since tho old crotchet of moral and p hysleal force has been so very properly buried in oblivion . Hence Ihey are compelled , for the effecting of thou * sinister designs , to introduce somtwsw subject of contention . That their principal object is to ruin if possible your hard-earned reputation , and universal popularity , I cannot for one moment doubt , neither can I imagine that they will succeed . The base attempt will recoil on their own heads , or I am much deceived in my opinion ofthe Chartists of Engla ; : d .

    Trusting that what I have said will be sufficient to draw your attention to the subject , and that you will triumph over all your enemies , and live to sec all yoar benevolent intentions towards the working classes carried into effect , I remain , Sir , Your uncompromising and sincere Friend and Admirer , Wm . Asutob . To Feargus O'Connor , Esq ., York Castle . My reply , printed in the same paper , I also publish ,

    1 have read the above letter with great pain and pleasure—pleasure , in deserving tho confidence of my old friends ; and pain for the keen and cutting censure which it conveys . Yes , it is keen , and for this reason . The very day before poor Ashton ' s trial , he made a tenth attempt to put me on my guard against several parties who have since tried to injure mc ; and , instead of thanking him , 1 rebuked him most severely , when he turned and said , " Well , Sir , you may hve to repent . " I have lived ts repent ; but it is of my injustice to poor Ashton , to whom I cheerfully tender my contrition . —Feargcs O'Cosnoe .

    Now then , that letter was printed m the Northern Star of the 29 th day of May , 1841 , and addressed to mc , at a time ivhen Ashton had had a year ' s reflection after his conviction ; at a time when no new light Could have reached his mind upon the subjects'therein discussed : and just let the reader contrast that letter , written in April , 1841 , with the following passage in the last paragraph of his letter to Mosley , where , in speaking of his trial at York , in March , 1810 , the year previous , he writes thus : — " Could O'Connor have heard our bitter curses when assembled after our sentences in York Castle , he would then have learned who was the causeof our misfortunes . " Now , is it not strange that men will be such silly fools as thus to commit themselves ? Think of a man

    bitterly cursing in 1840 , and with the same knowledge of all the circumstances that led to that embittered feeling representing me , in the following year , as tub vicim op ingratitude , as the champion of mbkrty , and the ukuo op democracy \ Having so far disposed of the living , I shall say a word of tlje dead . In speaking of the departed , Mr . O'Brien says— " Dr . John Taylor was sent to a premature grave ; Dcgan never raised his iiead after his character was assassinated ; the best of the good , the most amiable and upright of mortals , poor John Duncan , was driven to madness and a torturing death ; Watkins was nearly starved , and brought to the brink of eternity ; Macartney had almost a miraculous escape from the ruin of himself and entire family .

    After unheard-of persecutions , the writer of this saw his house broken up , his family dispersed , and his beloved wife driven into a consumption by the same murderous system of calumny and persecution wliich destroyed the others . But come weal , come woe , Mosley shall not be added to the list of victims because he is guilty of independence . ' To this obituary Ashton adds Holberry , Clayton , and Shell . Now I am charged with the murder of all these : let us inquire into the process by which I destroyed them . From the time I first saw Dr . Taylor , in 1836 , to the day of his death , I never ceased conferring kindnesses upon him , as is known to every man in Scotland . I sustained hini against the indignation of a very moral people , infuriated against the liberties which he took with his constitution . What

    man could do to save that constitution , I did : but it was irrevocably gone . Continuous disregard of health was manifest in his every act . About the time of the Bradford rising , Dr . Taylor came to me at Leeds , and told mc that Frost had been sold by Bussey ; that it was decided in Yorkshire , before the outbreak at Newport , that the affair should be postponed until Christmas eve . " This of course was to gain some little time for the Yorkshire hero ofthe fight . He told me also , "that the answer ^ , that the Welsh people would not wait ; and that ho kue * & - —u wen it would be a failure . That he was now going to do the whole thing himself . He was going to Newcastle first ; " and he asked me " if I thought he could sufficiently trust Lower ? to nut him in possession

    of the town and barracks . He was then going to Carlisle to put James Arthur in possession of that town and barracks . lie would get Arthur to ' recommend him a man to put in possession of Durham Castle ; and he would put John Duncan in command of the town and castle of Edinburgh . " He also toldmc "that he had purchased a ship at Ayr , the ' Black Joke , ' andselectcd a crew of men , who had been with him in Greece , and who belonged to a Republican Association ; and that he should put to sea , intercept the vessel in which Frost was to be transported , and bring him into Ayr . " Well , I thought that that was pretty good work for one man : and my answer was , " Taylor , 1 always thought you mad , but I ' m sure of it now ;" and it ended in nis laughing most lustily , and asking me for £ 10 to take him home , which " £ 10 I gave him . Now observe , this was in January , ISiO . In the following month the Assizes of York were to

    commence ; and Dr . Taylor was brought to me to Yprk by Wylde of Hull , not being able to stand alone . He and Wylde came to my hotel . I was shocked when I saw him , and said , "GoodGod , Taylor , what's the matter ? " " Why , " said he , " my . - heart is broken . " "How , " I replied ; " have m- t been at your old tricks ? " " No , no—damn it—that 5 would never kill me ; but that villain—[ who does the 5 reader think)—hasniurdercdme . " Who ? why . noother : than William Ashton , of Barnsley ' . Taylor took c the Star of the 29 th of February from his pockets » and lying on the sofa with tears in his eyes , reaa a the following extract from a letter of Mr . William i Ashton observing , " I wouldn't care what the vil- llain wrote or said of me , but to make poor Mary Ann n —as innocent and virtuous a girl as ever lived—the ie victim of his malice was damnable . " From that it hour Dr . Taylor was never the same man . The fol- 1 lowing is the extract from Ashton ' s letter which Dr . r . Taylor read : —

    Murder will out , but the time has not yet come . I I cannot , however , refrain from slightly alluding to one of of those gentlemen who cut a conspicuous figure at the late ite Manchester delegate meeting . My God ! the effrontery sry of this fellow surpasses anything I could-have imagined , ed . Does he suppose that there are none in . England to bear sar witness against him , and his accomplices ? Does he he imagine that tbe memorial to her Majesty with 20 , 000 sig- signatures has been overlooked ? Does he forget his pro- iromise , and Ms childish and criminal ( not carnal ) dalliance nee with Jforji . 4 nn for five weeks I If he do , let him think ink of THE RESULT , and take this caution , and retire tire from advocating a cause that has received much Injury jury from his base treachery . If he take this advice he may may maintain his character ; if not , he shall hear from me ia , e in plainer terms .

    Sometime after that , Dr . Taylor made a tour in in the north , and lived for three weeks or a month with ritn James Arthur , of Carlisle : and while there he held held meetings denouncing me , and telling the people th » that if he could get seven men to keep a secret he would ould ( Contimtd , in m seventh page . ) J .

• Citation
  • Northern Star (1837-1852), May 3, 1845, page 6, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/ns/issues/ns2_03051845/page/6/