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Northern Star (1837-1852), 13th November 1852, Edition 2 of 2, Page 9, THE SQUIREARCHY AND THEIR GAME LAW. In a...

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      The Two Royal Speeches. Blessed Are Thos...

      mates a tetter understanding with the "fair , fat , and forty" Donna TVjW > witil rsgard t 0 that im Portant brailcl 1 of onr commerce with i at country . We are sorry to add that her Majesty assures ns of the continuance of amicahle relations with all foreign powers We ] iinst S ! iy that this jars upon onr feelings It is as though a respectable and amiable lady m private hie should announce her friendly conation with a gang of convicted smashers , perjurers , bursars and

      assassins . T his is an age of wonders . Last Tuesday we had an earthqu ake ; in another Tuesday or two the new Empire will be finally proclaimed ; and on some other Tuesday , not very far di stant , the Eevolution will be in full swing , « cat awampously ch awing up" the crowned varnpyres of Europe . But , not to

      speak of the future , it appears we are alread y arrived at , Glare closely verging upon the Millennium . " Prosperity " is so g eneral that only the suffering landlords , like " poor froze-out g ardeners '' need and claim the sympathy of the Legislature . Alas ! that Majesty should send to May-fair only for "best pos sible advisers . " If only Rag-fair might be consulted , what another story there would be to tell J

      And now let the reader turn back to last Saturday ' s Stapv of Freedom , and read over the speech Victoria might have d elivered . Imagine her inaugurating free knowledge and universal suffrage . Imagine her expression of sympathy for the down-trodden nations of Europe , her appeal to the hearts and arms of the people , and her declared resolution to defend England ' s own and Freedom ' s cause against <( a world inarms " —the voice of all the nations would pronounce her ' * every inch a Queen , " or rather the benificent incarnation of power , combined with right and justice . But the speech of Thursday proves that it is not the mission of monarchy to regenerate the world that glorious task is reserved for Democracy—for the peoples

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      The Squirearchy And Their Game Law. In A...

      THE SQUIREARCHY AND THEIR GAME LAW . In another column will be found an account of a " riot , " which took place last week at Keighly , in Yorkshire . The facts of the case are briefly these : —Some poachers , while pursuing their nocturnal avocation , fell in with a game-keeper in the employ of Mr . Busfield Ferrand , of Harden Grange . To prevent his being troublesome , the poachers tied his hands to his heels , stowed him away among the leaves , and there left him . A truly pitiable condition , this , for the defender of the Law and the Rights of Property . He was , however , relieved by some of his fellows , and in

      consequence of his knowledge , of some of ms captors , a reward was offered for their apprehension , and three were duly caught , and placed in " durance vile" a few days afterwards . They were examined before the magistrates , and held to bail to answer the charge at the sessions . But as the defendants left the court , Johnson , the gamekeeper , was surrounded by the immense crowd that had collected outside of the court-house , and it is very probable that the keeper

      was addressed in no very good-natured terms , since it is just possible that the persons forming the crowd were mere "rabble , " altogether incapable of appreciating the justice and the advantages of the Game Laws . That they laboured under this deplorable incapacity is all the more probable in that a goodly number of the inhabitants ot * Keighly are somewhat averse to recognize those laws ; and it is likely enough , therefore , that very many in the crowd had ample reason to hate one of a body by means of whom they had had relations , friends , or acquaintances arrested and imprisoned , or had themselves suffered , in pocket or in person .

      Be that as it may , it is certain the crowd gave Mr . Game-keeper Johnson no friendly greeting , but' it does not appear that he met with any personal injury . In this pitiable plight was the unpopular keeper , when up comes the still more unpopular master , Mr . W . Busfield Ferrand himself . Now it so happens that this Mr . Ferrand has been at considerable pains to win for himself the heartv execration of the inhabitants of the

      district , in which he has residence and authority . During the period of political excitement in 1848 , the conduct of this worthy was especially ferocious . Then , his manner had that in it which seemed to say , that he would be far more at home , as the assistant of Havnau in the Italian and Hungarian butcheries , than as an English " country gentleman , " resident among the democratic populationofthe West Riding of Yorkshire , where , unfortunately , he had no sufficient opportunities of proving his sincerity in the cause of Monarchyand his hatred of " rabble rule .

      , Such is Mr . Busfield Ferrand , whose presence , it may be presumed , was but little likely to allay the irritation of the crowd . Jud"in * the countenances of those around him to be by no means favourable to himself , our anti-Chartist hero of 2848 , considering probabiv , that all men entertain the same feelings , and love of _ - ! . * __ i - ~ u „ j ^ . ri < r / licninupd . mward-hke , he at once violence he had formerl displayed coward-likehe at once

      _ , as y , , began to conjure up thoughts of a personal attack upon him by the crowd . He then must needs proceed to a course of abuse and provocation . His stupid terror was : such as-tt > make : him only contemptible in the eyes of all , and had there been among the persons assembled those who desired to inflict upon him personal violence , they could not fail to have been reminoed of it by FerrWs unmistakeablemam festation of cowardice showing what his conscience led him to expect at the hands of the

      * Mr . Ferrand ' s subsequent proceedings were absurd enough in all conscience , and they were as criminal as they-were , afcrord . He had the Riot Act read , but the crowd seemg no ^ "" ° * why they should disperse , refused to do so , and warned to witness the further antics of the terrmed squire . * natter the crowd outside , orthe fears in bis own mind ^ ^ pro Mi . Ferkand telegraphed to Bradford for the aid of the mihtar , and accordingly , a " detachment of the 21 sfc Regiment was d . s-

      P™ ° aS indeed ? " correspondent , on whose testimony wej « nf . aceimplicit kance , positively ° ^^™ ^^ Z quietly on and relieved the crowd of his unwelcome piesence , ne uuie iy on , ana rei evu , the railway station without woulQ have been allowed to proceed to cne ranw *) molestation . This he did not do . He took every means >* ex asperate the assemblage , whose sentiments hewell . ^ ° £ hostile to himself , and he wonnd up his lolly by caihng oul , the military , thus risking confusion and bloodshed , by * collision between the troops and the excited W ^ J ^ tunatelv , nothing of thekind occurred Ihe P ? P ^ *^ g when the military came up , and the heroic F *?«™ ™ J * master of the field . But if bloodshed had taken place , whose would have been the fault ?

      The Squirearchy And Their Game Law. In A...

      heart W ' ^ that thc P rimiti ve cause of all these I Game Law , t t ° f the « nha PPy F *» a * d . No doubt w ^ TtW ' the * Se V ? ' ^ stitute the cause of the chronic PeorT th at lS TV Camef- ° ^ etween the Squirearch y and the ben fit of ^ ? m 0 n 0 p 0 h S ? * u pr ° dQCtions of ^ '" the 25 , ^ s 0 P ? abIy ^ J « st , that their breach is naturally looked upon as a meritand not as a crimeWe need

      , . not wonder , therefore , that poachers ,. knowing themselves to be innocent , will not tamely submit to be punished . They are apt , mn ;^^! ln ^ , J f tanCe as a d % > ' ™ d thus it is that so much bloodshed has been occasioned bv the accursed Game Laws , ^ yery unju st law is demoralising / but we believe that no species of legislative enactments have done more to vitiate the people than these .

      And what hope have we of obtaining their abolition so Ion * as the legislative power shall remain in the hands of that class of which Mr . Ferrand is a sample ? Clearlv none , and it is , therefore , the imperative duty ot" every man who loves justice to seek by all means to obtain a Legislature composed of men who will not suffer such disgraceful and vitiating enactments as the Game Laws to remain upon the statute-book .

      The Prisoners Of The * Inquisition. Two ...

      THE PRISONERS OF THE INQUISITION . Two natives of Tuscany , man and woman , husband and wife , by name Francesco and Rosa Madaiai , were recently condemned by the tribunals of that state , acting under the influence and by command of that priest power , which may still be best described byjhat name of fear—TAe Inquisition , to six years imprisonment , for the offence of having been detected in the act of reading -the Bible ! The advanced age of the victims , and the severities and indignities

      connected with their sentence , have moved a section of the British people , —the Exeter Hall and Dublin Rotundo section , the ultra-Protestants , who recently sent a mission to Florence to solicit pardon for the unfortunate Mabaiais . When we say , that " Lord ' ' Roden headed the deputation to the "Grand Duke , " our readers will comprehend the narrow and contracted point of view from whence our Protestant sympathisers took cognisance of this shameful act of

      persecution . Tory bigots standing up for the rights of free conscience , and free speech , have a rather difficult part to perform , inasmuch as they have to reconcile their assertion of religious freedom with their traditional belief in the right divine of despotism I Arrived at Florence , " Lord" Roden and his friends sought an interview with the Duke , which

      was refused ; his dukeship s minister intimating , that his " august Sovereign ' ' ( a miserable flunkey of Austria !) could not allow any foreign interposition" in his affairs ; and this too while he is the prisoner of an Austrian Guard ! There was nothing for " Lord" Rod en and his friends , but to return whence they came . Accordingly they faced about leaving behind them a letter and address to the u Grand Duke /' containing sentiments -which make us blush for the cause of

      Free Thought , dishonoured by the misrepresentation of these men . In the documents before mentioned they assure his " Imperial Royal Highness" of "the profound respect , " towards him , which fills their breasts ; and they take care to add . —This respect which is on our lips , is also in our hearts !" They proceed ;— " The evangelical Christians who have sent us hither have all learned , in the study of the Holy Scriptures to honour established powers . " Elsewhere they express their '' respect for the sentiments of the prince . " With these slavish

      despicable ideas to guide them—Roden and ins friends had no mission to play the part of Freedom ' s friends . The il established power" in Tuscany answers the deputation that " the husband and wife Madaiai , Tuscan subjects , have been condemned to six years of seclusion by the regular tribunals for the crime of spreading protestantism , which , inasmuch as it attacks the religion of the state is punished by our laws . '' Thus hath willed the ' established power , " and the sentence on the Madaiais ' express . es " the sentiments of the prince . "

      Both that " power , " and those " sentiments , " Roden and his confederates profess to honour and respect even from the bottom of their hearts ! With what right , consistency , or decency can such men ask the Tuscan Duke and his Jesuitcouncillors to reverse the sentence of tho " regular tribunals ?" The Evangelicals , whether they mean it or not , do but labour to bring the Bible into contempt , when they tell us that their

      gtudy of " The Holy Scriptures " has taught them to worship Despotism and whine like scourged curs at the footstool of arbitrary power . They have been bad students or they might have learned something better . When Ehud went to Eglon , King of Moab , with the words on his lips " I have a message from God , unto thee , 0 King l" his petition for the liberation of the enslaved took the shape of the avenging steel . A scriptural lesson which oppressors would do well to bear in mind ,

      and which the oppressed should never forget . Be the effect of Bible-reading what it may—whether it makes men sycophants like the Evangelicals , or tyrannicides like the immortal Commonwealth men who severed the head of Charles Stuart from his body , it is the right of all who choose , to read it ; the right of the Madaiais as it is our right to read the same book , to read the Koran , Shakspere , and Petbakgh , Milton and Dante , Gibbon and Sismokdi . We sympathise with the Malaiais not only because of their under which entire

      wrongs but because of the great wrong Italvls suffering . In every Italian state it is an offence to read the Bible ; it is a crime to spread Protestantism ; it is treason to study the master minds of ancient and modern days ; and blackest of all earthly sins to attempt to irradiate the darkness of priest-wrought ignorance by diffusing the light ot Free Thought To sympathise with the Madaiais is well , but insufficient miserably insufficient . It is not merely two persons but twenty-two millions who pine nnder the like oppression , wear the like chain , and should command the like earnest

      lit these anti-popery men show their consistency and prove their sincerity by giving a helping hand to the Italian Republicans . Italy , freed from the compression of foreign bandits , would make short work with the Papal abomination I lie temporal power of the Pope would at once be abolished ; and all pains and penalties for Bible-reading and " spreading Protestantism , " would forthwith terminate . With free discussion , free knowledge , and free and general education through-

      The Prisoners Of The * Inquisition. Two ...

      out the Italian peninsula , the spiritual influence of the Pope would soon share the doom of his temporal rule ; and his last chance of fleecing the faithful , would bo to unite with Mister Lucas in editing the Tablet of Infamy . Aslo his High Mightiness the Arch-Duke of Tuscany , King JBomba and the Jesuit gang , they would have to tramp in double quick time . Here is a mission for Protestant sympathisers ; and their reward assured . Let them help Joseph Mazzini . Free Italy will guarantee them freedom of religion and that reformation commenced five hundred years ago by tho bold Englishman John Wicklufe , will be completed under the banner of regenerated Rome .

      Robert Blum. In The German Fatherland, E...

      ROBERT BLUM . In the German Fatherland , even in the more circumscribed circle of his native Saxony , it is forbidden on pain of police-violence , fine , and imprisonment , to pay public homage to the memory of Robert Blum . The throned cowards shrink at the name of a dead man . The purple-clad Cains tremble in the presence of that spirit of Freedom which the name of Robert Blum embodies , and which they could not consign to the grave along with the poor mortal frame riddled by Austrian shot .

      Robert Blum was an extraordinary man ; sprung from the lowest depths of poverty , he knew personally all the miseries of the people , and he devoted his wonderful talents to the overthrow of that system which presses with the most crushing severity upon the working classes . Gifted by natnre with the invaluable faculty of eloquence ( so potent for good , though so often foully misused ) , he laboured by sludy and exercise to perfect that talismanic power ; of course he succeeded , By energy and perseverance he gradually raised himself from the squalor of poverty to that better situation in life which he ornamented by his unfailing

      devotion to the cause of the people . He was essentially a man of progress . With the Free Congregations founded by Ronce he battled for the rights of conscience . As a politician , he developed his free sympathies before the Revolution ; and when that Revolution came he was formost among the most advanced , and very early saw that German Unity and German Regeneration were incompatible with the continued existence of a brigand band of kings , princes , arch-dukes , & c , animated by hostile interests , and uniting only * in one league of oppression against the people . We have no doubt that had Robert Blum lived , and had the Revolution progressed , he would have advanced with the

      requirements of the hour , until the consummation of the struggle by the establishment of the German Republic—one and indivisible , democratic and social . His presence in the midst of the Viennese , at the time of their hopeless struggle against masses of barbarians was as chivalrous as the manner in vvhichhe met death was unaffectedly heroic . It would be useless to indulge in a very natural but fruitless outburst of denunciation of his murderers . " Curses kill not , " as Hamlet wisely observes ; a sufficient reason for postponing to the day of deeds , and the hour of retribution , the full expression of that feeling which must animate the heart of every true man at mention of the name of Robert Blum .

      In remembering this one martyr we do not forget the manythe multitude of Germans—not to speak of others , who in 1848 , and ' 49 , gave to Freedom ' s Tree the life-sap of their own blood . As was well said at the Commemoration , on Tuesday last , Robert Blum is homaged not only for his own virtues , and death in Freedom ' s cause , but because his name is a representative-symbol of those who shared his doom . The meeting alluded to was of importance , in so far as it manifested on the

      part of the German exiles , that prime political virtue perseverance —so properly lauded by Dr . Tausenbau . But it struck us that the occasion was not turned to the best possible account . 11 might have been used to have made a more direct appeal to the British people to renounce their criminal apathy , and commence the performance of the long neglected duty they owe to Humanity ; and such an appeal might have been made without any injudicious interference with our domestic politics .

      As is usual on the occasion of any great principle being brought before a public audience , that section of the press-gang commonly called " the reporters , " or as Cobbett termed them , the Suckmugs , must needs do their best to turn the Blum Commemoration into ridicule—the Times man taking the lead in the dirty but congenial work . Seated to report a meeting of railway directors , they would not dare to interpolate a single sneer ; or in attendance at a civic feed , their hearts warmed and their

      sympathies expanded by a skinful of wine and liquors , they would as soon think of hanging themselves as of interlarding their reports with their very small attempts at wit and sarcasm . But a meeting called to bear testimony for Freedom and Humanity , against the crimes of Tyrants and Assassins , is in their estimation fair game to be run down for the amusement of those who cat ., pay for literary prostitution . Truly these " gents " of the press are a venal and a contemptible band . But neither sneers nor calumnies can dim the glory of Robert Blum . " Whose name will be A watchword 'till the future shall be free . "

      Working Men's Associations. When The Ass...

      WORKING MEN'S ASSOCIATIONS . When the associative movement had arrived at the state indicated at the close of last week ' s article , a conference was found to be advisable , and the meeting of Jaly was projected . Associations , besides those connected with the Council , were invited to send delegates , and twenty-eight of them were represented , many others expressing a warm interest in the result of the deliberations . The questions submitted to this conference were of considerable importance . At the ; first formation of the Associations , great

      difficulty was experienced in consequence of there being no available legal means of orginization . Partnerships composed of more ttoan twenty-five persons were not allowable , and the Joint Stock Companies Act , besides being too purely commercial , was far too expensive to apply to bodies of poor working men assisted by friends , with limited funds at command . Mr . Slaney ' s committee investigated this aspect of the question , and the bill

      for promoting Industrial Associations , lately passed , was drawn up by one of the promoters . It is worthy of notice , that , though the Whigs promised to take it up and carry it through , they broke their word , and it was left to a Tory adminisiration to manifest a greater interest in the subject , and to pass the act . It is worth recollecting , also , that the leader of the Manchester party essayed to "damn it with faint praise ; " and while consenting to its being embodied among the statutes at large , spoke contemptuously of it

  • Citation
    • Northern Star (1837-1852), Nov. 13, 1852, page 9, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/ns/issues/ns2_13111852/page/9/