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Northern Star (1837-1852), 7th November 1846, Edition 2 of 3, Page 1, MR. FEARGUS O'CONNOR AND HIS COUNTRYMEN....

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    • TO THE IRISH PEOPLE.
    • Central Criminal Court
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      To The Irish People.

      TO THE IRISH PEOPLE .

      It Fy Beloved Ctonatrymen, , • Ulu Since...

      it fy Beloved Ctonatrymen , , ulU since predicted the time has armed * 4 ander and unblushing fe ^ ood vvould be fflien - " _ . , Jostmchve power , and ^^ fV T ^ p toU tho ^ t won ld ^ cTX l iSL long years l Oiave ^ ed caprice , tor now ui » confidine neoeapnce . ™ 0 raVeand confiding

      peo-WOS | aaodle f on Aerator made me a presented Ple , t ° frtionftom the hig hest to thelowesth * ajthong h faction ^ stifle ^ ^^ or m . srepresent ¦ Sfrf st ives , vet does the ripening season JLi an reflection promiseto all who have " overshadowed by the weeds of ignorance , a teons reward in an abundant harvest of

      repentanc e . Ts , my countrymen , you will have to repent for r unjust censure of me and many others whose J 0 , ir ftr their country ' s liberty has been set fl flTto hostility to your religion , your principles , J vonr cause , and if vengeance conld find a place f ^ patriot ' s breast , mine would be complete in ! L proud reflection , that I have no sin , no crime tr eason against Ireland to repent of , while , if -gee has touched your hearts , you have much to L ne for- My countrymen , is there a family upon

      . . € 3 rt ] , ihat has suffered so much and so disintgdly for Ireland as my family has , and is there gn < rie living man who has tamely home so much t ^ jf abuse and oppression as I have borne tom the Irish people and their leader without t ^ w betrayed into a single hostile expression o * act ? ^" en yowrhetrayers were even hounding you cn to assassinate me at Manchester did I avenge the assault by any intemperate retort , or did I not rather bug my wounds as so many signs of that

      rictor r which right was one day sure to achieve over jBig hf , reason over prejudice , and truth over false-JHXK * - ' In 1841 yon would have assassinated me for proclaiming opinions , the truth of which you have now jgarned , and / or tie r ight of expressing which you jje now stoutly contending . Even those who are joff foremost in advocating the right of free discission have invariably suppressed all mention of jilt kindly feeling , which amid unmerited and continuous abuse of the English people I have

      sucked inengendering between tbe people of the two ronntries . From the establishment of the Northern ^ ter to the present moment ( now within one wee k of nine years ) that journal has not only been the xnifiinchingand persevering advocate of a Repeal of fte Union , but has been the only journal that has dared to grapple with every act of government misrule aud-individual oppression } it has never failed to communicate English reprobation of Irish injnsriee , while yonr own press , as if governed by the oppressor ' s rule ,

      DIVIDE AND CONQUER , has systematically withheld every manifestation of English sympathy for Ireland , in the hope of widening tie gulph which I fondly hoped to bridge over , as if its object was but a mere transfer of the exposure of Irish grievances from one set of jugglers to soother , proclaiming nationhood to he attainable hj a mere loosening of the ties of bondage , and asking for a domestic representation of that degrading superiority which cannot fail to preserve all the horrors of galling inferiority .

      I , as an Irishman , heed not the sentiments of the deserters , Charlemont and his middle-class volunteers of 1782 , who sold Ireland when they had enhanced the value of their corruption in the political mart by raising the price of parliamentary votes , and , consequently , of their own boroughs . We , of the year 184 G , are not to be governed by the opinions of 1782 ; for I tell yon , that no power on earth , save the Irish people , through their own chosen representatives , have a shadow of right to make laws to govern the Irish people . Tour government of Bug , Lords , and Commons , as proclaimed by Charlemont and the boroughaiongers , was an admis- ,

      Hon of the right divine of Sings to rule and reign , and of hereditary fools to reject , adopt , or alter laws made by the representatives of usurper ' s slaves . I have been before yon upon the question of repeal In 1823 I stated it to be the one thing needed for the redress of Irish grievances ; and in 13311 contended for Annual Parliaments , Universsl Suffrage , and Vote by Ballot , as the means of Baling it complete ; and I heed not now what time-serving scribblers may write , -what placehunters may say , what waiters-upon-Providence may tMnk , or how the fastidious may feel , I tell you that s > an Irishman I am for

      SEPARATION , which can alone mean and realize

      NATIONHOOD . Belgium , with less than one-half of Ireland ' s population , is an independent nation ; and Belgium is only separated from Holland hy ' a stream , and from proud Prance by a tollbar . Switzerland , with not a third of Ireland' s population , is a nation ; and only separated from France by a landmark , and from Italy by to arch ; while Ireland rocks as a cradte in the midst of ocean , which her usurpers have , from rime to time , been compelled to fence , not for native protection , but to" maintain a step-mother ' s sway over her reluctantly-adopted child . I tell you more , that every sincere Irishman in the world means separation , with the Charter to ensure and perpetuate

      NATIONHOOD . Talk not to me of nnitr of interest , and identity of justice , between a conquering and a conquered people living under the same government . Canada has its parliament , Botany Bay has its parliament ; but the King , Lords , and Commons of England , by their representatives for the time being , have the power of controlling or annulling the Acts of their Parliament ; and , I would ask , can Ireland boast of nationhood upon the grounds that her people are represented at home by usurpers , and abroad by oreigners ? I say No , a thousand tunes—No .

      My countrymen , the first step in the road to liberty is , the schooling of the national mind in the value of the jewel ; the mode of acquiring it , and the means by which it ma ; be preserved . And , now , if you are in truth prepared for sober discussion , let us begin with a consideration of your progress from infancy to old age ; in fact , for the whole of a long life of learning , as your Liberator boasts of a fifty years' tuition , the promised result of which was to be

      NATIONHOOD . Isitthen NATIONHOOD to shout , throw up your hats , and applaud , when you are offered as hired murderers ; to shed the blood of your fathers , brothers , friends , and relatives , in a struggle of King , Lords , and Commons , against American republicanism , to maintain and preserve the very ascendancy that yon have been taught to hate , detest , and abhor ?

      Is it nationhood to pin you ( o a declaration of moral force only as a means of achieving your liberty , while those means have been annually weakened and frittered away , by the sale of counties , cities , and boroughs , of the national represen tation of which you were taught to expect redemption ? " it nationhood , or even civilization , to coalesce toft a base , bloody , and brutal faction , who have ^ wn to resist to the death your demand for the Onl y thi ng that you have been taught worth contend-Jag for ?

      kit nationhood for the general of a national *** to sell his jons and nephews and brothers-in ks ' and staff to the enemy in the very hour of that

      It Fy Beloved Ctonatrymen, , • Ulu Since...

      weakness which you have been taught to look upon as your opportunity ? Is it nationhood to promise you your country as a reward of your long and patient suffering , and then to carry the begging plate humbly to the Castle-gate or Stranger ' s Lodge for alms to purchase your forbearance ? Is it nationhood to shut the young blood from Ireland ' s heart , that her betrayer may plead its coldness in justification of bis own treason ? Is fy a nationhood to build a temple of liberty with ^ your money and exclude all expression of your sentiments from it ?

      Nationhood means a wall of mind , of blood , bone and sinew around national institutions accepted by the whole people , and for their safeguard you have been taught to substitute the dictates of an autocrat . Is it nationhood to throw the apple of discord into your own camp , when the very contingency you were told to pant for had arrived ? Is it nationhood to fritter down a representation of the national mind in the House of Commons / row 43 to nothing , when you were taught to rely upon moral force only ?

      Is there no fine feeling , no manly sentiment , involved in a great national struggle for liberty , and is it nationhood to drink your greatest oppressor and tyrant ' s health , his glorious , pious , and immortal memory , in the waters of that river upon whose banks your chains were rivetted ? Is it nationhood to extract a large revenue from a starving people upon the pretext of its necessity to acquire power as the means of achieving their rights , and then to sell that power to their enemies ? Is it nationhood to teach the people that their fifty years' tuition was but to serve the purposes of one family and its dependents ?

      Is it nationhood to ask a nation of one religion to acknowledge even the temporal supremacy and sway of a nation professing a totally different faith ? Is it nationhood for a father to sell his sons to their country ' s oppressors for places , pensions , and emoluments ? Is it nationhood to denounce castle subserviency as the basest and most servile slavery , and then to become a portion of the vice-regal kitchen ; panders at the Vice-King ' s table , and toadies at his miniature court and mimic pageant ? Is it nationhood to beg for what yonr teacher told you three years ago von were prepared to take ?

      Is it nationhood , or even manhood , to become a national juggler , twisting grievances into profitable excitement , and dashing from you the means of redress when it was within your reach ? Is it nationhood to lie , to slander , revile and denounce those who follow the precepts they have been taught during the whole of life ? Is it nationhood * to promise a brave people liberty as their reward for tranquillity and obedience , and then to disband the national force when the spoils of victory was within their reach ?

      Is is nationhood to make a people ' s blood boil with recitals of the butchery of their ancestors , to ascribe their degradation to the force and fraud of their enemies and oppressors , to | boast of physical force enough to re-conquer their lost rights and liberties , and then preach passive obedience and nonresistance as the national creed ? Is it nationhood to forge , rivet , and hug the chains of slavery ? Or , Is it nationhood to proclaim weakness , ask for co-operation and then renounce assistance ? Is it nationhood to foster anti-English prejudices with the view of perpetuating a profitable traffic in Irish grievances ?

      Is it nationhood to appeal to cold old blood , when every vein and artery should be fired with hot and young enthusiasm ? Is it nationhood to brave , bluster , bully and defy in the hour of secur ity , and to be found skulking at the Castle gates when hunger , pestilence , famine and danger threaten ? Is it nationhood to bear oppression one moment beyond the power of the oppressed to shake it off by the same means by which it was imposed ?

      If such has been the definition of nationhood that you have learned from your Repeal Dictionary , all 1 can say is , from such nationhood Good Lord deliver me and my country . Believe me that you will not discover the true meaning of the term nationhood from a banker , a brewer , a renter of tithes , a middleman , a lawyer , and a place-hunter , and your Liberator is one and all of those . Irishmen ! in 1831 , when Ireland was ripe for the total abolition of tithes , and when I was prosecuted for leading the national ardour , O'Connell smothered the national fire , sold her agitation , and in due time

      transferred the grievance from the difficulty of spiritual law to the facility of landlord ' s law . In 1832 , 1 succeeded in returning seven out of eight members for the county , city , and boroughs of Cork , pledged to a Repeal of the Union . The hope of success had prompted Ireland to a noble exertion . In 1833 , according to my pledge , I endeavoured to force your general into that position which he had pledged himself to Ireland to assume . I told him to his face and through the Irish press , that the Repeal army was ready for action , and that if he would not lead them on I would . In 1834 I forced

      him into the first struggle—it was a glorious struggle—it pinned the skulkers to their colours and enabled the Irish to estimate the value of their sacrifices . We triumphed , because we inspired courage where courage was needed , and we inspired fear where fear was weakness . No man expected to succeed in carrying a repeal of the Union by a majority in the House of C ommons , but every man who valued the principle thought he had derived benefit from the debate .

      When a great national object is struggled for by a nation , and when the people are told that their sole reliance must be upon moral force , common sense tells us that the only possible way of augmenting that moral force is by an annual discussion upon the merits of the national question . It is the only mode by which you can annually test the sincerity of your representatives , and the reason why O'Connell and the rsock Repealers did not bring the question on annually is , because they did not wish to be tested annually . We had forty-three then , and gained Dungarvan after our defeat , and if a single pledged repealer had voted against us , he would

      have been indignantly hurled from his proud position . There was no skulking then , but the twelve succeeding years , during which the national question has never been mentioned , has been one continued succession of skulking , lying , juggling , exciting , damping , tricking , scheming , trafficking policy ; parading grievances to create excitement to get money , and then selling the excitement for patronage when the last egg was laid . Oh , unhappy Ireland : unhappy Irish ! how my blood boils with indignation when I read of Scotch Highlanders proclaiming , through the Times , that you may be imported to reclaim the waste lands of Scotland at 7 s . 6 d . a

      head . Have you yet discovered the' error of your policy and the superiority of ours ? Have yqu not

      It Fy Beloved Ctonatrymen, , • Ulu Since...

      seen the worse than folly of political excitement without a tangible , cheering , and universal , social prospect being appended to it ? My countrymen , all parties are now talking and writing about the value of your land , if your labour was applied to it for their henefit . Take advantage of your position and their weakness ; struggle for it yourselves ; write to the Nation , which is now your organ , and impress upon the young blood of Ireland the necessity , as a first step , of establishing the Repeal Co-operative Land Association . Let 500 four-roomed , stone-built ,

      slated , comfortable cottages , be built in Tipperary , each in the centre of five acres of land , leased for ever to the occupants , and you will have a Conciliation Hall in every parish ; you will have an eloquent proponnder of your principles in every cottage ; you will soon have possession of the representation of every country . I will pledge myself that your receipts would soon exceed £ 10 , 000 a-week ; and thatnot an Irishman residentinEngland will contribute a farthing towards the support of gin palaces , beerhouses , and the government , until he has secured for himself that home in his own country ' from which oppression has driven him .

      This is what the juggler would call " mending the old shoe "—putting " ruffles to the shirt ; " this is putting a leg of mutton upon the spit . Irishmen in England—if you want to free your country , and lrre"in it in freedom , begin , enrol , send your monies to William Smith O'Brien , through the Nation office , and then yon will see a correct list of your funds , and a balance-sheet of your expenditure : Heavens ! what a sight it would be to see the first hundred Irish freemen going to take possession of the land , from which their ancestors were ejected by physical force / Your faithful friend and countryman , " ^ Feakgtjs O'Coknor .

      ./^^/^/^/^^/^.^B^^/^^/Av^Vw Letter Viii....

      . /^^/^/^/^^/^ . ^ B ^^/^^/ av ^ vw LETTER VIII . TO THE IRISH RESIDING IN GREAT BRITAIN . THE FACTORY BRIBE ! Fellow Countrymen , In order that you should understand this question rightly , it is necessary that I should enter upon il

      fully . There is a great deal of misapprehension about the Factory Question as well as the Factory Bribe . Some people are , and , indeed , many still are , under the impression that Mr . O'Connell ' s vote against the factory children , for which he got the £ 1000 Bribe , was given on the occasion of "Mr . Fielden ' s Ten Hours' Bill , " but Mr . Fielden had not brought in any bill on the subject . Mr . O'Connell ' s vote against the factory children was given on Tuesday the 10 th of May , 1836 , on the second reading of Mr .

      POULETT THOMPSON'S FACTORY ACT AMENDMENT BILL ; the object of which was to repeal the main part of the Government Act , passed in 1833 . This Act ( the 3 . and 4 . William 4 , cap . 103 ) was passed in August , 1833 , to prevent the horrible torture which children were proved to have suffered in manufactories for a very long time . It was proved that , prior to the passing of this Act , children of ten years of age worked

      THIRTEEN HOURS A DAY in the factories . The surgeons and physicians of England denounced this system , and declared that the factory Masters who forced children of such tender years to work even ten hoursaday were infanticides . Mr . O'Connell , with that eloquence for which he is so pre-eminently distinguished , roused the indignation of the citizens of London against the Factory System . He said , that shedding the blood of the holy innocents was not

      half so inhuman as the cruelties practised upon little children in the manufacturing districts of England . King Herod did not , like the manufacturers of England , the proud cotton lords , shed the blood of children for money ! " Bear this honest language in mind , my countrymen , and contrast it with what O'Connell said after he got the £ 1000 from those whom he had previously denounced as more cruel , and inhuman than Herod , " men , who , for money , shed the blood of infants !"

      No one can forget that Mr . O'Connell was in 1836 what is called a "thick and thin" supporter of the Whig administration , He entered into a compact with that faction . It was called the " Lichfield House Compact : " the conditions of which werei that Mr . O'Connell should give his cordial supp ort to the Whig Ministry ; the Ministry in return giving to him the whole Irish patronage . No appointment could be made in Ireland except with his concurrence , in return for which he supported the Ministry with all his power and all his influence .

      Now the Right Honourable Poulett Thompson was M . P . for Manchester and President of the Board of Trade , and consequently one of the Ministry which Mr . O'Connell was bound to support . The Act which Mr . Ihompson attempted to Repeal , though passed in August , 1833 , had not come fully into operation till the first of March , 1836 . The division on the second reading of Mr . Thompson ' s Factory Amendment Act took place on Tuesday the 10 th of Afarch , 1836 . The Factory Act ( 3 and i Will . IV . cap . 103 ) enacted that children who had attained their eleventh year were to work no more than

      eight hours a-day from the 1 st of March , 183 i ; that children who had attained their twelfth year were to work no more than eight hours a-day from the 1 st of March , 1835 ; and that children who had attained their thirteenth year were to work ho more than eight hours a-day from the 1 st of March , 1830 . It was to repeal those clauses , and therefore to empower the manufacturers to work the children of all ages thirteen hours a-day , that Mr . Thompson brought in his Factory ' s Amendment Bill ; and for this Bill Mr . O'Connell and thirteen members or "joints of his tail , " as they are called , voted on Tuesday the 10 th of May , 1836 .

      The only excuse I ever heard him make for having given this vote against the Factory children —children who , he had often and often said , were sacrificed on the altar of the Factory Moloch , was that the deputation from Manchester had convinced him , that unless Mr . Thompson ' s Amendment Act were passed , upwards of thirty-five thousand children would be thrown out of employment . Now , my friends , bear in mind , and keep steadily

      in view , that at this period a subscription was going on in England , Ireland , and Scotland , for the purpose of indemnifying Mr . O'Connell for the costs incurred by the City of Dublin Election ; that Joseph Hume , Esq . M . P ., was Treasurer for Great Britain ; that the Duke of Bedford subscribed £ 100 , and that there was a general and a particular or special sub . scription in Manchester ; the general subscriptio n got up for the purpose of screening the special or manufacturers subscription .

      Just think of this deputation of manufacturers convincing Mr . O'Connell , and Mr . Hume his Treasurer , that if the HOURS OF LABOUR were shortened one-third a-day that the Factory children would be thrown out of employment ; convincing Mr . O'Connell s » thoroughly , that , on the very day of the interview with those bearers of the £ 1000 , he in his place in Parliament , designated that as a mongrel species of humanity which , while it professed to shorten the hours of Labour , would throw those children out of employment altogether ; " this , " said he , "is SPURIOUS HUMANITY !"

      ./^^/^/^/^^/^.^B^^/^^/Av^Vw Letter Viii....

      He who , a day or two before this magic deputation visited him , said " That these very men TRAFFICKED in the BLOOD of CHILDREN , that they shed the BLOOD of BRITISH INFANTS for MONEY . " You are well aware that Mr . Hume professes to be a very eminent calculator ; and you know that Mr . O'Connell is no fool . Well , Mr . Hume voted with his friend and p atron , Mr . O'Connell , upon this occasion , and they both voted against the Factory Children , and agreeably to the views of the deputation from Manchester . I 8 it not passing strange ,

      that neither the Member for all Ireland , nor the Great Arithmetician of North Britain , would see , that if the HOURS OF LABOUR be shortened the number of hands to perform the work must be increased . Surely , these great statesmen must have known , that if ten children worked thirteen hours a day each , it will require sixteen children at eight hours a day each to perform the same work ; and , therefore , the short or eight hour Bill should , of necessity increase the number of hands , instead of decrease them . This is precisely what the manufacturers dreaded . And bene * the deputation and the £ 1 , 000 bribe to Mr . O'Connell , for his vote .

      It is not the fact that this £ , 1000 was tendered to Mr . O'ConheH ' ias a bribe for his vote against the Factory . Children * ,. It is not true that Mr . Richard Potter , the Member for Wigan , was the bearer of it , or that ever he handed it to Mr . O'Connell . But it is true , that the £ 1 , 000 was subscribed by the Manufacturers of Manchester ; that a deputation carried the money to Louden , that that deputation persuaded Mr . O'Connell to vote for Mr . Poulett Thompson ' s Factory Amendment Act ; and , consequently , for the repeal of the Act passed in August , 1833 , for which he had previously not only voted , but spoke most eloquently . It is also true ,

      that the £ 1 , 000 was held fast by the deputation till Wednesday , the 11 th of May , 1836 , being the day after Mr . O'Connell voted agreeably to the wishes of the deputation , when , the money was paid over to Mr . Hume , the Treasurer , and not to Mr . O'Connell . Itis true that Mr . Potter intimated to Mr . Hume , that the £ 1 , 000 would not be paid till after the vote on Mr . Thompson ' s Bill . It is also true , that Mr . Potter told me in the presence of Mr . O'Connell , but not in his hearing , in the Speaker ' s Room under the then House of Commons , where the Committee on the Drogheda Railway was sitting , and of which committee Mr . O'Connell was chairman— " That the

      MANCHESTER FOLK WERE NOT SUCH BUNGLERS AS TO PAY OVER THE MONEY 'TILL AFTER THE VOTE . " The money was paid over to Mr . Hume , the Treasurer , and not to Mr . O'Connell ; but not at all as a BRIBE , but on the contrary , in the usual way that money is paid into the hands of a Treasurer , with this slight difference only , which is a matter of no consequence among honourable men , such as the Liberator and Alexander Raphael , and the like , that the money was most honourably paid over for the vote . It should have been £ 1 , 300 instead of £ 1 , 000 , as thirteen tails-men voted with Mr . O'Connell .

      The noise that was made about this money deprived Mr . O'Connell of the use of it for a considerable time afterwards ; and those who wrote and spoke about it were generally so wide of the facts , so far astray , that they reminded me of the farce of " All in the wrong . " However , in process of time , and when the storm had subsided , the money not only turned up , but like many other public monies turned into the Liberator ' s capacious pocket : which will be seen by the following letter from the Treasurer . Bryanston-square , November ' 25 , 183 e . My dear Sir , —It is with unfeigned pleasure I send you a copy of the resolutions agreed to at a public meeting , held at the Crown and Anchor , on the 1 st of Juno last .

      The committee appointed to carry into effect tbese resolutions have terminated their business , and I now transmit to you the sum of £ 8 , 489 15 s . 2 d ., which is the balance in their bands after defraying all incidental expenses . The reformers of Great Britain have by their liberal contributions towards the objects proposed , shown their entire approbation of the intentions of tun meeting ; and the committee rejoice in thinking that the pecuniary pressure which the Dublin election caused you to sustain , will by this means be materially alienated . The torrent of obloquy with which you have been so long and so furiously assailed by the leaders as well as by menials of the Tory and Orange faction , has onlv tended to raise you in the general estimation ; and to secure to you the cordial support of the friends of Libert } and of the advocates of Reform in the whole United

      Kingdom . The malignity of your enemies has but stimulated the sympathy of your friends . '; your enemies have devoted you to a martyrdom of calumny and abuse ; but the people of the three Kingdoms hailed you as the champion of Ireland ' s violated rights , and the able advocate of civil and religious liberty throughout the empire . When the long catalogue of Ireland ' s wrongs and sufferings shall have become matters of history , the great achievements of Ireland ' s regeneration will be inseparably connected with your name . ContemuovarUs may be envitus and ungrateful ; posterity will be more just .

      I cannot conclude without expressing my sincere condolence upon the heavy domestic affliction with which you have been lately visited ; and permit me to remind you , that , embarked in the cause of a nation , you must not yield to the distressing influence of private grief , but , nobly struggling against those natural feelings pursue , your patriotic cause till its object is attained . Believe me your ' s sincerely , Joseph Hume . To Daniel O'Connell , jJsq ., Dublin ,

      Now then , there is the money , the bride , clearly and unquestionably traced home step by step , to the pocket of the Liberator , "the august moral force regenerator of his country , " as that beastly drunken cowardly buffoon Tom Steele calls him . But hear how the Liberator himself explains the matter ; attend to his own account of his sudden conversion from the advocacy of the cause of the poor helpless Factory child , to that of his cruel , sordid , tyrant master .

      MR . O'CONNELL'S EXPLANATION OF HIS VOTE ON THE FACTORY QUESTION . At a meeting of Mr . O'Connell ' s constituents held in Kilkenny , on Monday , the 16 January , 1837 , being eight months after the infamous vote against the factory children , and two months after he had received the Bribe through the hands of Mr . Hume , Mr . O'Connell speaketh : — As your representative , my public character is your property ; it is identified with you . I do not mean , however , to notice all the calumnies uttered against me . I shall only notice those of that comical genius , Fcargus O'Connor , who got his own cousin , a Tory , into Parliament . 1 shall explain to the men of Kilkenny the part taken by me on the Factory Bill . A number of operatives wished to have the time of labour limited to ten

      hours a-day , for everybody , old and young , children and adults , I refused to have anything to do with that plan , so far as it would interfere with the regulations affecting grown-up people . Yet I was ready to give protection to the children . ( Hear , hear . ) Their onlyproperty was their labour . Had they been rich , the Chancellor would protect them , even against their parents . ( Loud cheers . ) I was , therefore , the active partisan of the bill passed in 1883 , which thus assisted , and purported to protect , the children , as minors in law . The 7 th sec . of that Act prohibits the employment of children under nine years of age—it prohibits such employment totally . From nine to twelve years they are to work eight hours a-day ; and from twelve , if their

      parents choose it , twelve hours for a limited period . That is by the bill of 1833 . Inthe year 1836 , children who were twelve years of age were to come under the regulation making the hours of work . The children of the age of twelve years were , from Marcl' , 1836 , to be restricted to eight hours a-day . By this bill , which I supported , children under nine years were not to work at all ; and children who were nine , and under twelve , only a certain number of hours . ( Hear , hear . ) The children of the age ef twelve were , on the first of March , 1836—that is , the March o ( last yeai ^ -to come under a new regulation , and to be subject to be worked only eight hours a-day . Under these circumstance " , Mr . Voulett Thompson brought in a bill , leaving it to children of

      ./^^/^/^/^^/^.^B^^/^^/Av^Vw Letter Viii....

      twelve years to work for twelve hours as they had there , tofore done . The question was to be discussed on the second reading . I went to the House determined to oppose the Bill . The debate came on . I found this to be asserted , and not denied by the opponents of the bill , THAT THE COTTON TRADE INSTEAD OF BEING UNHEALTHY AS IT HAD BEEN DESCRIBED TO BE , WAS THE VERY CONTRARY ; that if the bill was not passed , a number of not less than 25 , 000 children would be thrown out of employment ; that a proportionate number of men , probably 10 , 000 , would also be thrown out of employment . Under these circumstances , I considered It would be cruelty to the children

      themselves if I did not vote for the bill . Now , I will take care that this statement goes accurately before the public . I make it to you , as I wish to show you I have discharged my duty as an honest man and as becomes your representative , and your thinking so , I care not a twopenny ticket what may be the opinion of others . ( Hear , hear . ) I hare thought it necessary to give you this explanation ; and now I ask my constituents , is there a man amongst you who does not think that I voted rightly . ( " Hear , loud cheers , and cries of " You did . '' ) I will carry that cheer back to England , and tell them that every one of you , under the same circumstances , would hare given the same vote I did . ( Hear , and loud cheers . )

      Was there ever such a clumsy , trumpery , mysterious explanation as this ? It is " confusion worse confounded , " and intended as such . There was not one of his constituents in the rotten borough of Kilkenny that would not have voted as he did for half the money , that is , £ 500 . Who produced the sudden conversion in the mind of the august moral force regenerator ? The deputation from Manchester and the £ 1000 . But he took good care in this mysterious explanation to eschew the real question , which was this : —

      I , Daniel O'Connell , your representative , pieudo member for all Ireland , am publicly charged with having received a bribe of £ 1000 from the cotton manufacturers of Manchester for voting against the poor helpless factory children , whom I had , by my former votes and speeches , led to believe that I was their Saviour upon earth , their father and protector from the tyranny and rapacity of their heartless taskmasters ; and although I had the evidence of the most eminent physicians and surgeons in England , taken before a Committee of the House of Commons , that the cotton factories were unhealthy ; that children under thirteen years of age could not work even ten hours a-day without injury both to body and mind ; that instead of the Short Hour Bill , for

      which I voted in 1833 , bad only come into operation two months before I voted for its repeal , must necessarily have the effect of employing at least one-third more hands than the long hour hill , for which I voted : that , although I had read Mr , John Fielden ' s unanswerable pamphlet , and heard his and Lord Ashley ' s humane and unanswered speeches in favour of the Short Hsur Bill : and pledged my honour to both these gentlemen on Monday the 9 th of Ifay , ISSfi , the day before the debate on the second reading of Mr . Poulett Thompson ' s Long Hour Bill , yet the deputation from Manchester convinced me by a thousand cogent reasons , that it would be for

      the benefit of the children themselves that they should work for twelve hours a day , though their wages were to be no more than if they had worked but eight hours : that it is a base calumny for any one to say that I got £ 1000 for my tote , when everybody knows that it was my friend , honest Joseph Hume , got the money ; and that , therefore , my vote upon the occasion was influenced by the purest humanity , which , I am sure , you , my most excellent , sensible , and patriotic constituents of Kilkenny will cartify . ( Hear , hear ; " We all certify that nothing could be more pure , honest , consistent and incorruptible , than your vote upon the occasion . )"

      Would this not have been as good an explanation , and an honester one , than that which he gave to his Kilkenny constituents . Mr . Hume's letter , remitting the money , bears date the 25 th of November , not quite two months before be made this extraordinary explanation to his constituents . There is a very amusing correspondence , upon the subject of this bribe , between Mr . O'Connell , Mr . George Condy , Mr . J . Bell , and Mr . Oastler , arising out of the publication of the following paragraph in Blackwood' s Magazine for July , 1836 , page 126

      The second reading of Mr . P . Thompson's . factory Amendment Bill was ably contested on the 10 th of May , and after the eloquent and unanswerable protests vf Lord Ashley , the Right Hon . H . Goulburn , Messrs . F ' . elden , Brothertnn , and other friends of the factory cl . ild , to which we can do no more than refer , was carrfcd by a majority of two , " the members being 178 for , and 17 C against the bill ; after which the government , in dismay , abandoned the foul design of further persecuting the infant operative population . The division was signalised by an instance of shameless turpitule , of which one wretch alone in the British dominions would have been capable . Mr . O'Connell has spoken on various occasions , in and out of Parliament , on behalf of the factory children . Three days before tbe debate alluded to , he had eagerly sought Lord Ashley to assure him of his support , comprehending , of course , the whole weight of the

      " Tail . " On the day of trial , to the indignant scorn and contempt of all men , he and they voted against him and against the infant suppliants for mercy . The sordid Judas of these days betrayed them for gold . Three days after the traitor had fulfilled the conditions of the compact , had sealed tbe bond of his iniquity , a purse of £ 700 from the millowners of Manchester was presented to him . It was this mistake about the mere handing over of the money , and tbe error of £ 300 in the amount , that led to the correspondence above alluded to , the publication of which , one day or other , will not be uninteresting , especially as , under the hand and seal of the " August Moral Force Regenerator , there are strong symptoms of fighting , in which Mr . P . Costeilo , of Kilkenny , Mr . George Condy , of Manchester , the Liberator himself , and a Captain Bell , have cut a conspicuous , if not ludicrous figure .

      Having now , fellow countrymen , fulfilled my promise , I trust to the entire satisfaction of every honest and sound thinking man , I shall for the present take my leave of you , with the assurance that I have been influenced in this correspondence by no other motive than an ardent desire to prove . to you the folly of relying upon any man instead of principles ot which your conscience approves , and your judgment and understanding sanctr . 'i . Patrick O ' IIiggins . Dublin , 25 th October , 1816 .

      Jz^^R^Zi^^^ -^ ^ Tjk&A ^ ^Y^ I ^ Yt^Gi**...

      Jz ^^ r ^ Zi ^^^ - ^ ^ tJK & a ^ ^ y ^ i ^ yt ^ gi ** ^ —** + - " ¦**•'" —— " _ -

      — And National Trades' Journal.

      — AND NATIONAL TRADES' JOURNAL .

      V01lix. No. 472- London, Saturday, Novem...

      V 01 LIX . NO . 472- LONDON , SATURDAY , NOVEMBER 7 , 1846 ~ 7 ™«» -Fra ™™ « . * ¦• - Vive Shillings ami S > i | ft , f , ice per Quarlrr

      Mr. Feargus O'Connor And His Countrymen....

      MR . FEARGUS O'CONNOR AND HIS COUNTRYMEN . TO TUB EDITOn OF TUB NORTHERN' STAR . Sib , —There never was a more fitting opportunity for Mr . Feargus O'Connor to address his expatriated countrymen in this metropolis , than at the present time , on the subject of Repeal , and the position of Ireland generally . He would find them rally round him in large numbers . There has been great surprise evinced in many quarters that he has not been amongst them since O'Connell deserted them . There remains but one opinion among tbe resident Irishmen in this metropolis as regards his intended visit

      to Ireland—that of a glorious reception in his native land . It is very much desired by those who wish well to Ireland that a good feeling should be brought about between the working classes of England and the Irish people : and I know of no person hotter able to undertake the happy consummation of such a task than Mr . O'Connor . I am , Sir , Tour ' s most obediently . An Ex-London Repeal Warden . Bridge-street , Westminster , Nov . 3 rd , 1846 .

      Loss Ot Osh Hundred Lives.—Accounts Rece...

      Loss ot Osh Hundred Lives . —Accounts received at Vienna from Austrian Friuli , contain particulars of an unfortunate event that had lately occurred at Gnritz . A large number of soldiers and citizens were crossing a bridge of boats for the purpose of assisting at a military review , when suddenly tho bridge , which was inadequate to support the weight with which it was loaded , broke downj and a great many of the persons upon it fell into the river . According to the most credible reports , fifty-three Chasseurs and about forty citizens have perished in ths waters of lsonza .

      JPROROGATION OF PARLIAMENT . A supplement to the London Gcmuc of Friday states : — " At the Court at Windsor , the 30 th day of October , 184 G ; present , the Queen's most Excellent Majesty in Council . It is this day ordered by | hcr Majesty in Council , —that the Parliament , which stands prorogued to Wednesday the 4 th day of November next , be further prorogued to Tuesday , the 12 th day of January next . "

      Loss Ot Osh Hundred Lives.—Accounts Rece...

      NATIONAL ANTI-POOR-LAW PROVIDENT AND BENEVOLENT UNION . w * * c ? u ^ P ' ^ ng cenVenei ] td " pBia 6 te ^ tWb \ r jects ot tinsi institution ,-was held on Thursday after-Ttiofc ltl JK tafge room of the London Tavern , £ the fir * Gt ' th & Ri ^ lloD ' the Lor < * Mavor dfiS ^ iV ° * ^ . M . P ., one of the chief founaS ^ iarl ? f i , tuti 0 D ' dotai , ed tne P roDOSed P'M which ^ If removo ^ e distress and sufferings Suntvr rev - ?' 1 » mone ? t < he working classes of the admitted hv ™ e n early u ? - artof tl , e last se 8 sion ** * ^ nherifflii puWlfl , 'S ' na even by : the ^" !"! m f speech from the thronethat

      _ ., , the new poor law had been found to be not only defective , but jnapme respects cruel and oppressive , and yefc the session closed without any ^ . decisive steps being taken to remedy tho evil , ft wk » mainly to this fact that they wereindebted for the formation of a society whose chief object was to devise means for bettering the condition of the working classes of the country , and he was happy to inform the meeting that since its foundation at St . Alban's , only a month ago , communications bad been made to the heads of the church and leaders of the clergy , the majority of whom approved of the objects of . the society , and promised to use their influence in its attainment . It was not then injemkd to seek to ajroliSli the Poor-law , but to induceHHe rich to come

      forward and assist the poor , who were anxious to do the best to relieve themselves to steer clear of the Poor-law .. ^ He might mention th $ T . seventy-five young ladies , who had been brought "' up in the lap of luxury ; and who had till the evening of their lives filWi . the offices of governesses in the highest families of the kingdom , had applied to the society forjttlief . They could only afS . rd it to three ; and what , let him ask , ww to become of the other seventy-two ? They could not go to one of the existing union workhouses . Well , then , the present' instiution was to meet such cases as these , and he hoped the City of London would not be backward in sunnortim ? it . f Hear , hear . )

      fhe proposed union would consist of three classesfriendly societies , building societies , and insureance societies . It was proposed now only to approve of the principle of the plan , and a future meeting would be called for sanctioning and carrying out the details . . " ' A resolution approving of tbe principle was , on the motion of Mr . L . Hensard seconded by Mr . Wire , unanimously agreed to , and the meeting was subsequently addressed by several gentlemen who have frequently distinguished themselves in advocating the cause of the poor . A vote of thanks was afterwards carried by acclamation to the chairman , and the meeting which was numerously attended , broke up .

      Central Criminal Court

      Central Criminal Court

      On Monday, William Tine Was Sentenced To...

      On Monday , William Tine was sentenced to transportation for seven years , for attempting to extort money from William Stoddart . A companion named Webb was tried last session for the same offence , and traneported . The prosecutor was walking acrou Hyde Park in the evening , when he was assailed by the accused partiee , who threatened to accuse him of an atrocious offence , unless he complied with their demand for money . John Brown , who was accused by John Cook of indecent assault , surrendered to his bail . The prosecutor prevaricated grossly , and gave a very unsatisfactory account of himself , and the Jury without hearing the counsel tor the defendant , returned a verdict of not Guilty ,

      Criminal Information against Me . Febrand . —On Monday , the first day of Michaelmas term , Sir F . Thesiper , on behalf of Mr . 6 . C . Lewis , one of the Poor Law Commissioners , moved for a rule to show cause why leave should not be granted to Mr . Lewis to file a criminal information against Mr . W . B . Ferrand , M . P ., for two letters published by Mr . Ferrand in the Times news , paper of the 8 th and 10 th of August last , These letters Mr . Ferrand had admitted to be his . They referred to the celebrated Mott enquiry into the alleged irregularities at the Keighley Union , and charged Sir J . Graham with having instigated a false report to be used to the damage of Mr . Ferrand in Parliament , and vlsoMr . Lewis with having been guilty of wilful falsehood and perjury in the evidence he gave before the Andover Union Committee . Sir F . Thesiger stated he had affidavits from Sip James and Mr . Lewis , denying the truth of the allegations against them . The Court granted thorule .

      A Base Shilling . —Margaret Murphy , an Irish girl , was placed « t the bar before the Recorder , to receive tbe sentence of the Court upon an indictment charging her with unlawfully uttering a counterfeit shilling , to which she pleaded guilty at the last session , The case had stood over for the purpose of inquiry , and the result exhibited great depravity on the part of the accused . It appeared that she was servant at a public bouse , and that upon the occasion in question a person had taken some refreshment and tendered a shilling , which the prisoner declared to be counterfeit , and the party was taken into custody ; and the prisoner , upon the enquiry before the magistrate , swore most positively that the accused party gavehcr a bad shilling , and he was in jeopardy of being committed to take his trial , when fortunately for the

      ends of truth and justice , some circumstance transpired which aroused suspieion , and the girl was closely ques > tioned , and she at length admitted that the charge she had made was without foundation , and that she had herself substituted abad shilling . of her own for tbe good one given to her by the jcustomer at the time in question . The Recorder animadverted severely on the prisoner ' s depravity , telling ber that if she had been convicted of perjury she would have been liable to transportation , and under the cirenmstanees he felt it to be his duty to pass upon her the full period of punishment affixed by the law to the case of a single uttering . Taking into consideration , therefore , the imprisonment she had already undergone , the sentence was that she be kept to hard labour for ten calendar months .

      A Sussex Magistrate.—At The Brighton Pol...

      A Sussex Magistrate . —At the Brighton Policecourt , James Privett and Joseph Lock , two young men , were charged witk poaching . Henry Galton , Steward to Baron Goldsmid at the Wick , stated that between 6 and Y o'clock in the morning he was on thefarm and saw the two prisoners in a field close to the gardens of Baron Goldsmid . They were also seen by the gardeners , who took them , and , on searching them , he found a set of snares on Privett and a phial of gunpowder upon Lock . —Clerk : Were they hare or rabbit snares ? They would catch either . —Major Willard : Yes . but there is a great difference between hare and rabbit snares . Witness could not speak as to this . —Clerk : They did not say what they were for ? They said they were bird-catching . —Had they nets ? There were nets in another field 300 yards off . Privett said he was out bird-catching , and found the snares . Lock said he worked in a brick-yard ; but lately he

      had been a bird-catching . —Major Willard : Do you get enough by bird-catching to maintain yourself ? Ics . —Major Willard : It is a very clear case . No doubt you were there fop an unlawfal purpose , although there was no game found on you . It is necessary to put a stop to this poaching , and therefore , you arc committed to the House of Correction to hard labour for one month , and ( calling prisoners back ) to find sureties . —Clerk - . No , Sir , no , —Major Willard : Eh ? What ?—Clerk : No , no , Sir . Major Willard ; Read the Act . Mr . YerraJl accordingly read the act . Major Willard ( to prisoners ) : There is a distinction made as to night and day poaching . You are each fined £ 2 and costs , or one month ' hard labour , and to find sureties . —Clerk ( again interrupting the magistrate ) : No , no , Sir . —Major Willard . No ? ( To prisoners . ) That is all . —Prisoners were then removed . [ His worship no doubt accuses the law of being too lenient in this case ]

      Effects of Si / PERsrtTuTKwr . — An inquest was held , on Monday , on the body of Mary Wolley , Minories . A short time ago , an Irishwoman residing in the same house lost some money , when , not being able to discover the thief , she called upon a fortune teller , who told her that some person in the house had stolen tho money . She , in consequence , accused the deceased of the robbery , The charge hap such an effect upon her mind , that on Friday night she was found suspended by a handkerchief to the bedpost . Verdict , " Temporary Insanity . " Great Distress is Paris . —120 , 000 persons have already caused their names fn be inscribed as applicants" for relief at the different mayoralties in Paris .

      Inquest . —Insaluhiuous Dwellings . —By Mr . Mills , at the White Horse , North-street , ' Fitzroy square , on the body of Caroline Warters , aged three months , the offspring of Sarah Warrters , a dress maker . The deceased had been placed out to wet nurse with a woman named Brown , the wife of a por : ter , occupying an apartment over a close slable' in North-mews , adjoining the above house . On Sunday morning last , about 3 o ' clock , Mrs . Brown suckled the deceased , afterwards laying it down by her side , and on waking at 8 o ' clock she found it quite dead . Ever since the child was born it had been afflicted with weak eyes , which had latterly become very sore

      and bad . The deputy coroner remarked that he would have defied any one to have cured the badeyes while the child lived where it did ; and the effluvium arising from the straw in ill-ventilated stables was the cause ot so many horses going blind . It was , he considered , a great pity , that where efforts were made to improve the dwellings of the poor , and a law passed forbidding living in kitchens , that stables , like the one they had witnessed , and other places similarly confined and unhealthy , had not been included . : Thcre being no reason te suppose that deceased died from other than natural causes , a verdict was recorded of " Found Dead . "

      Death Or A Chartist—Died Nt Sutton-In-As...

      Death or a Chartist—Died nt Sutton-in-Ashfield , on the 25 th ult ., George Hayes , aged 30 years , leaving a wife and one child to mourn his loss . The deceased was an honest man , affectionate husband , and sterling democrat . lie was a member of the Chartist Association , C hartist Land Company , and several other popular societies . Uoth his private and political friends deeply deplore his death , f

  • Citation
    • Northern Star (1837-1852), Nov. 7, 1846, page 1, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/ns/issues/ns2_07111846/page/1/