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Northern Star (1837-1852), 4th January 1851, Edition 3 of 3, Page 4

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    • THE GENTLEMAN'S MAGAZINE.— ti„ p;™. ie„mw r.f ,h«.«E*rTLEMA5**5MAGA-
    • portraits of .patriate*
    • , Eo tfronwonBems.
    • THE lOKTmi STAB SATUttDAir, JArYBJABY 4, iS5l,
  • Adverts (11)
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      And Nature Is For Tho Whole Le To Resent...

      , r , m _. n January 4 , 185 ] THE NORTHERN STAR . - ¦ _-. - - _^ _^^^ -- _^ _r-- _^ ** ... i . I , . I i i , » . ¦ - ~ " " .

      The Gentleman's Magazine.— Ti„ P;™. Ie„Mw R.F ,H«.«E*Rtlema5**5maga-

      THE _GENTLEMAN'S _MAGAZINE . — ti _„ p _;™ . ie _„ mw r _. f , h « . « E * _rTLEMA 5 _** 5 MAGA-

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      _„ _„ , 7 . ISE fi . r 3 S 51 » tmt * 2 iT * _r-l _vrAb c Fortran o . the laic Tuoaias _Amyot . Esq .. Treasurer d the _docistj 01 _Antoou ? - ries . _arcWanicd v _. iih _menhirs _Trnttcn by two o _, las _maniniimatcfri-as . A _scrrmd _ifete _tmresenu awry 2 & iV _cmrfBU-d I * _oman Sword recently _diacoveredncar W « £ _ucd _;« i « _usu _* y in ihe _Xagarine Ate . amoi .-: « _tt _*^ _rtideB . Tlie _-unrcWisl-ed Diary of John first Farl of _SSSTbSot . - r « tatai _aw-Own _, tht Shiner , of Hit _"Sralicr ' r . i . _dKourrwiead :. Notes cf _tn Anuquanan Tour citul o _Rhiue . t _* G . » atthSniMi , E » _a , _f- S . A ; Milton and ibe _Amilo fecnto cf S ? E * ar . ara : tbe Barons ol London aud file Cinque _I'orls ; rffipy < -fa _Sc-iery ( with an engraving ) . Ac , At new-re of . Miss Str _* cikta _* _i Lives of the Queens of _Scotland ; Vols . V . _anaVLofSoatie 5 _'sL-fe : ic ., & c . ¦ Wi lli _LiterK-v and Ar . tiquarir . i- Intelligence ; _historical Chronicle : sn * _dOUwarj-, _indaoias Memoirs ol _tlieMarchiuueis _Cosi «« iHJs . Lord Sagent , lit- lion . Sir W . II . _Frcmau-Jc , Hr . Eapaari , Mrs . Kt ! l Msrun , 4 c . 4 c . Price 2 s . Cd . Sithds nnd Son , _C 5 , rarliament-street .

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      JSATIOSAL CHARTER _ASSOCIATION . Office , 1-1 , _Soutfcampten-strret , Strand . _TPHE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE A _herel-jannosnKiLtfol ' _owirigmetUiip - — On _SSundax ; _EYtni-ig nrxt tt 'he _Roefc _Twern _, _Lissoa-SWc-rrint-esr . "loyal , Circus-street , Marylebone-King and Queen . _Foley-s-. reet , Por _tland-place-Bncklaycrs _* Anns , _Tonbridse-street , _Se-v-rc _^ d-Grown and Anchor , Cheahir < -s : re « , Waterloo Town—Globe and Friends . Morjpiu-street , _Gunimtrcial road east—and _JTew Eastern literary and _scie _^ _tifiu Institution , Morpeth-street , Greenstreet , _Sethsal Green . On the same _crtming tlie late Whittington and Cat Locality wiU meet in the large room at the Woodman Tavern , "Wiiiic-sireet , Waterloo Town , ( where for the future this locality will ineet ) ilr . Finlen will lecture on the ' DownfsM uf _AnciiJ-t'j-eatneES . '

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      "THE LONDON CO-OPEEATIVE JL STORES are new _onsned at

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      TO TAILORS . Hy approbation of Her Majesty , Queen Victoria , and U . R . H . Prince Albert .

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      _BUriUitES EFFECTUALLY CUHED WITHOUT A TRUSS ! . DB . BAEKEH still contiEuef * to supply the _afilicted vtith the celebrated remedy for every variety of Single or Double Rupture , the efficacy of which , in many thousands of cases , is too well known to r . eed comment It is applicable alike to male or female of any age , per & ctly frte from danger , causes no pain , ineon--rcnience , or " confinement , and _twlibejent free by post , _jrith _inspections , fa ., on receipt of 7 s . in _postfge Etaic ; s _, -or a Post-ofSte , payable at tie General Fust-office . Address , ALFRED BA 3 . K 5 R , M . D ., 48 , Liverpool-street , "Hing ' _s-cross . bondoa . At home for consultation dailv , _Jroax 10 till I , and 4 till 8 tSanday excepted . ) A great _naabfir of trasses iiave oeen left behind by persons cared , at trophies of lie _immtnse . . access of this _rejaeay , which Dr . B . wUl We _htppy : o give to _^ y _rega _^ _s _Ibemafteratmlofjt , J A c

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      T ETTEliS TO THE HIERARCHIES , - _" By Robebi Owen . Also to Richard Cobden , Esq ., M . P ., with obsemtitns cd the means to well-place , well-employ , and _wel ! -e < Jucate the population ; and other interesting matter , in EOBEET OWEN'S JOUMAL , yo . IX . contains LETTERS TO THE CHARTISTS , A > 'D TO THE CABINET _MINISTERS . So . XI . will be published next Saturday . Part II ., price 4 d ., is now ready . Published weekly by Clayton , 265 , Strand ; and Watson , Queen ' s Head Passage , Paternoster Row . Price , Id ., and in Monthly Parts , id .

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      ENLARGEMENT DF THE NATIONAL INSTRUCTOR . The First Number ofthe ifeff Series " TIE NATIONAL ISSTRUCTOH , " Is now ready . SIXTEEN LARGE ROYAL OCTAVO PAGE ,

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      _AANTERBURY versus ROME , U _TU'O LECTURES , BY ERNEST JONES , Of the Middle Temple , Barristtr-at-law . "Sow publishing in four weekly numbers , price twopence . No 1 , will be published on Saturday , the ISth inst . Contests . — "What is really the teaching of Christ ?—Ilow has he been obeyed ?—How did the church perish ? —The fire taints exemplified : ambition , avarice , usury , insanity , blasphemy . The _Papai Chubch of E . _vctAND .-British—Saxon—Norman—Anglican—Old Coifi—The Devil ' s messenRer—Church piracy—How the Charier was got . and what it was worth . —The Mlards—Ficketfields—The fiery pit—The price of wood—Luther ' s letter—The church property —Did the church help science freedom , or learning?—Papist and state churchmen , Dissenters and democrats . Published by Mr . Dipple , Holywell-streei , Strand , "London .

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      ERNEST JOSES Will repeat the two lectures on th 9 above subject at THE XAT 10 NAL SCHOOL-ROOMS , _COWPEB-STREET , CITY-ROAD , On Monday , January the Cth , and On Wednesday , January the 35 tb , 1851 . Admission : —Tlall , Id . ; Platform , 3 d . To commence at eight o ' clock precisely _.

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      OPENING OF A XEW PEOPLE'S LVSTITUTIOiV . A PUBLIC MEETING of the Friends of NATIONAL REFORM will take place on Toesdat , the 7 th Instant , at the Eclectic _Lnstitdte . 17 a , Denni _* rk--treet , Soho , at Eight o ' clock in the Evening , on the occasion of opening this new Institution . Mr . J . B . O ' _-Brien will preside ; and Messrs . Hart , Ernest Jones , Ellis , _Leao _, and other friends of the Working Classes , will address tlie audience on the objects of the Institute , and on the duties of the people in respect of the new year , and the approaching Session of Parliament . Admission , 2 d . each , to defray expenses . S . B . —Ltctares , in future , every Sunday and Friday Evenings , at Eight

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      NOTICE TO SUBSCRIBERS . Now ready for delivery with the Northern Star , authentic , highly finished , and beautiful STEEL ENGRAVINGS , UPWARQS OF TWO FEET LONG , From the contractors' ( Fox and Henderson ' s ) own Drawing of the Interior and Exterior of TBS CRYSTAL PALACE : OR

      Portraits Of .Patriate*

      _portraits of . patriate *

      The Readers Of The " ^Northern Star," An...

      The readers of the " _^ Northern Star , " and the Democratic party generally , are informed , that there is now a re-issuo of the -various Steel engravings lately distributed -with the " Northern Star . " They consist of Kossuih , Meagher , Lome Biasc , Mircum , EasE 6 _i Joses , Smith O'Bries , Richard _Oasiier , John Frost .

      These _Engrariags have excited tlie admiration of every one who has seen them . They are faithful portraits , and are executed in the most brilliant style . Price Fourpeflce each . There has also been a reprint of the _-undermentioned portraits , which have been given away at different times with the 'Northern Star , " and which are striking likenesses , and executed in the most brilliant manner—Andrew _Marvel , William Cobbeti , Arthur O'Connor , Henrt Host , Patrick O'Higgins , F . O'Coa'Sor , Brosierre O'Brien , W . P . Roberts . J . R . Stephens , There is also a re-issue of the two large prints ,

      * THE : KATT 0 > AL C 0 BSVENTIO 1 ! OF 1 S 39 . " THE PRESENTATION OF THE NATIONAL PETITION , by Mr . DUXCOMBE , in 1842 . " To he had of J . _Patey , Holywell-street .

      Extensive Fire At Ccmsok, Behks.—On Tues...

      Extensive Fire at Ccmsok , Behks . —On Tuesday a fire , supposed to be the act of an incendiary , broke out on Lower Whitley Farm , in tbe parish of Cumnor , the property of Lord Abingdon , occupied by Mr . Haines , and consumed three large wheat ricks , a hay rick , a stack of atraw , a barn with its contents , about thirty quarters of beane , and another bam filled with wheat straw . Mr . Haines is fully insured . This is the third fire , supposed to be the act of an incendiary , that has taken place in the neighbourhood of Abingdon within the last

      month . The two previous happened on a farm at Kingston Bagpuize , tenanted hy Mr . Brooks , who was also fully covered from loss by insurance . The fire of Tuesday night raged so furiously , and the flames reached to such a height from the strong wind that prevailed , that it could be seen at the distance often mile 3 . At present there is no clue to the perpetrators of these cowardly offences . The Dresden Conference . — The Daily News of tnaay publishes the following significant hint from its correspondent : — " The whole of Germany i 3 _inajflerent as to the Conference at Dresden . *

      _i „ r « * 7 . F _^ . _"nn-cnse majority says : —¦ ' We know beiorehand wnat is in Btore for us atDresden-that all traces of the revolution of 181 S will be effaced by them , and the new police laws will be let loose on the German people , a more compact central power be established , and that will be all . Let matters go on , our turn will _eome , and then we ha _.-I have onr rerenge . ' " A Word fob Mr . BESHEiT . __ Whatever we may say about the conduct of Mr . St . Barnabas Bennett , there is , at any rate , no doubt that he is adverse to the display of one very great rime—resignation . — Punch .

      Extensive Fire At Ccmsok, Behks.—On Tues...

      THE _TOL 1 SH AND HUNGARIAN BEFIjGEES . ¦ _B-EABGUS O'CONNOR , ESQ ., M . P ., X ; "Will deliver a lecture at THE SOUTH _LONDOK CHARTIST HALL , On Wedsesdat , January 8 _td , ISal , For tho benefit ofthe Refugees , who will be presont , aud sing some of their national soni ; e . Chair to be taken at eight o ' clock . Admission , One Penny . A Meeting will also he held at the Babhonic Hail , Woolwichon Tuesday , January 7 th .

      , Eo Tfronwonbems.

      , _tfronwonBems .

      Srcoxn Collection For Honejit Fund From ...

      Srcoxn Collection for _Honejit Fund from the allottees ol O'Connorville Mrs . Dimmoek 6 d—Mrs . Gambell Cd —Mrs . Hoare la—Mrs . At Bradford 6 d—Mrs . Ford 6 d—Mrs . Mead Gd—Mrs . Merrick 6 d-Mrs . Burnett fid—Mrs . Heaton 2 d—Mrs . Smith 6 d . —Messrs . R . Avison Is—S . Blackbrough Is—R . Smith Is—Bntts Is—T . Sturgeon Is —R . Wnlstenholme Is—W . Dimmoek Gd—W . Gambell 6 d—J . H ., Bradford Cd—T . Heaton Cd-T . Bailey Is—P . Ford Cd-J . Burnett Is—T . Mead 6 d—M . _Fhzsimon _Cfl—Martin Grffiths Cd—E . Whitmore sen . Is— G . " tVliitmore is—S . Cole Gd —& . _"VV . Wheeler Cd—Small sums Is . Ebsest Jones's Lectures . —We learo that Mr . Jones , in cocpliance with a general request , intends _publishing his two lectures entitled " Canterbury versus Rome , " in four

      weekly numbers , as soon as he has ascertained tbat he will have readers enough to cover the expense . He is therefore , desirous that all localities or individuals intending to have tbe lectures , will write to him to that effect , statiDg the number of copies required . Seeing the torrent of invective and folly that ia poured forth on occasion of this " Papal aggression , " it is highly necessary the people should " earn what they have to thank lie Established Church for , and what _tiiey have to expect at its hands . These lectures draw the veil aside , and expose Ihe huge deception . They come mostopportunely as an antidote to the vertigo that is throwing the people once mare towards the arms of a grasping and designing priestcraft . They unveil the whole history of onr church , acd give an exposure of its sins , its dupll city , its income , and its _rYsuJs _, euch as has not often hpp n concentrated in one focus . Mr . Jones ' s address is

      Hardwieke Lodge , Moscow-road , _Bayswatcr , London . Tub Husgaeia ** Refugees . —T , Brown ' s _LiBt . _—HuddersfieldCs—Allnuttls—Nobbs Is—Bcal Is—National Hall Collection Gs 5 d—A Few Compositors 2 s ( id—Lecture at Fraternal Home lis lid—Mr . Lunn , at Christmas party 2 s 2 d—Ball at Fraternal Home , part proceeds £ 113 s 2 d _Matkball Is—Mrs . Sturgeon Is ( id—Cox Cd—White Hart , Drury-laue 4 s 0 | d—Lady 2 id—Crockett 3 d—Murray ad-Mr . Lear Gd . Fousn and Hussabian _Reeooee Fund . — Collected at the City locality , Golden-lane 4 s 4 d ; Blyth , Burdge and Baughan 7 d ; Friends of democracy , Oriental Hotel , Southampton , £ 1 . The committee meet till further notice , at 56 , Golden-lane , every Tuesday evening , at Bine o ' clock , and at the Crown and Anchor every Saturday _evecinj " . Thomas Ferguson secretary , 3 . {' ays-build

      ¦ ji gs , _mizabeth-street _, Hackney-rond . J . G . —As the time for holding a Conference is near at hand , and as the question has been bo fully discussed , we must decline the insertion of all farther communications on tbe 6 ! it ject , Joseph Pickles , Greenock , expresses his sympathy for Mr . O'Connor on the decision ef the judges in the late libel case , and baring sent a subscription for the Defence Fund , advises him in future to avoid all courts of law . As an eight , 'Four acre shareholder' he says tbat if all the members of the Company had been of his opinion , and had acted up to the rules , there would have been no need of govermental interference . S . H . H .-Write to Mr . P . M'Grath , 14 . 4 , High _UoUkku , London . Mr G . Wilson , Alloa . —Received .

      The Loktmi Stab Satuttdair, Jarybjaby 4, Is5l,

      THE lOKTmi STAB _SATUttDAir , _JArYBJABY 4 , iS 5 l ,

      Eighteen Hundred And Fifty, If The Year ...

      EIGHTEEN HUNDRED AND FIFTY , If the year -which , has just closed is remembered at all in history , it will be on account of its pre-eminent dulness . It was the antipodes of 1848 . In that year the nations of Europe woke up into vigorous political action ; in 1850 they went to sleep ; the political pendulum swung to the other extreme . The ceaseless , insidious , and stealthy conspiracies and encroachments of the despots , who are forging new chains for Europe , has met with no resistance worthy of the name . Deep slumber has fallen upon the people .

      Chartism is not the only public movement which has exhibited languor and apathy during 1850 . Every other question of Reform—Social , Education , or Financial—ha 6 been marked by the same characteristics . There was no " getting the steam np . " The Protectionists became dumb . The Financial Reformers dozed over their figures . The voices of Sir Joshua Walmsley and his co-agitators for the " little Charter , " died into silence . Public agitation of all kinds was awfull y uphill work , and disheartened every one who engaged in it . John Bull was not in the humour . He wanted to be " let alone , '' and did not care a pin how much his pockets were picked , provided it was done quietly .

      There was , and is , no want of real grievances requiring redress—of real abuses requiring to be removed . Six out of every seven adult males are excluded from participation in political rights , and endure all the consequences of political inferiority . They are plundered , in a thousand indirect forms , ofthe fruits of their industry , without having the power to resist the plunderers . In the midst of apparent freedom , they are really slaves _. In the House of Representatives there is no representation of Labour . Capital speaks for itself in every shape . Land , Funds , Shares of every kind—Mills , Warehouses , Shops—all , have voices in Parliament , but the working

      man has none . When , occasionally , the one ortwo members who understand his wants , and sympathise with his views , give utterance to them in the so-called Council of the Nation , they are either listened to with contemptuous indifference , or cut short by insolent and impatient contumely . The House of Commons , that sits patiently for half a dozen hours three or four nights to discuss trumpery matters of detail , affecting monied interests , cut short , in ten or fifteen minutes , a debate on the People ' s Charter . There was no end of legislation for the benefit of capitalists . The introduction of a bill for improving the condition of Labour was scouted as Communistic , Red Republican , and subversive of all the best interests of

      society—in short _, the wolves legislated for the sheep , and took good care there should be no impediments in the way of devouring them . But the masses , who know all this , have been as supine and indifferent during the past year , as if the political atmosphere had been surcharged with chloroform . They left to a few men of principle the arduous task of keeping alive the embers of public spirit , which escaped extinguishing in the midst of this dreary and deplorable apathy , far more fatal to the cause of popular liberty than the fiercest persecution . Parliamentary Reform has nothing to thank 1850 for .

      Neither has Financial Reform . The Whig Chancellor of the Exchequer found himself in the strange and unwonted position of having a surplus ; and , being ignorant what use to make of the money , he managed to squander it in a way which did the least possible good to anybody . The Economists in Parliament had no heart in their work . They allowed themselves to be beaten , when the slightest spirit and determination would have insured victory ; and , out of doors , they allowed matters to sink into drowsy inertness . Yet in this department , too , all , or nearly all , the abuses which drew forth the tracts of tbe Liverpool Association , and gathered together large public meetings , yet remain untouched , The infamous window tax

      yet shuts out light and au' from the dwellings of the industrious classes . The income tax continues its unjust and unequal pressure on poor clerks , and others who are caught within its net ; while owners of real estates , shopkeepers , and tradesmen , whoBe actual profits cannot be ascertained , escape with a far smaller per centage on the real value of their income and its sources . Heavy taxes on tea , tobacco and malt , limit the consumption of these articles in the households of the

      labouring classes ; taxes on paper and newspapers create an artificial aud injurious monopoly in favour of the capitalist , and prevent the diffusion of knowledge . We knew all this , aud more , in 1850—but did _Nothing for the lightening of those burdens—nothing for the more equal distribution of taxation in proportion to the means of tbe various classes of society . Educational Reform was egually unfortunate in 1850 . As Dickeks , in his ' Household Words / ' trul y reminds us , we are , in Educational matters , on a par with Spam , Portugal , South Italy , Turkey , and Russia . In other wer & B , we rank with { ho most ignorant and

      Eighteen Hundred And Fifty, If The Year ...

      degraded nations , in tho _ku ' iount and nature ofthe public provision made for Education .. Every other country ; _-jreteuding to be civilised , has recognised the importance of Education , and the duty of the State , in its corporate capacity , to provide the means for instructing the young in such a mauner as to enable them to grow up useful and good citizens . We are too feud of '' liberty , " to impose any such restraints upon our untutored young barbarians ; they are left to the glorious freedoin of the gutters , or the almost worse fate of being crimped by sectarian fanatics , and having the errors of superstition added to the darkness of ignorance . Year after year workhouses , lunatic asylumsand jails , multip ly and ex-—

      , pand , in order to provide accommodation for the augmenting stream of poverty , madness , and crime , which flows from this poisonous fountain ; yet we , who do not grudge millions spent in building useless ships of war , and then knocking them to pieces again , cannot afford the price of a single frigate yearly , for the purpose of Educating the people ! On one subject only was any excitement manifested in 1850 . A very fat priest presented himself among us with a red hat , rather large iu the brim , a red cloak , and purple stockings ; forthwith John Bull was roused to a state Of fury , almost bordering on madness . That the people should be excluded from their own House of

      Parliamentthat those who usurped tho functions of representatives should levy unjust , oppressive , and unequal taxes , and spend them for the benefit of the privileged classes—that the masses of the rising generation should be left either to grow up in savage ignorance , or to acquire erroneous and superstitious ideas , almost more adverse to their well-being than ignorance itself—all this mattered not : John Bull was quite content to bear it all ; but a red hat on a fat priest was too much for him ; and so for the last two or three months of 1850 , he spent bis energies in frantic _bellowings about " Papal aggression . "

      We repeat , that as far as actual improvements are concerned , we owe nothing to 1850 . Abroad , the retrospect is equally unsatisfactory . France groans under a terrible reaction . With a Republican form of Government , it is subject to a despotism as rigorous as that exercised by the Czar over the serfs of Russia . Liberty of speech , writing , and action are nearly as little known or respected in the one case as the other . The leading men are engaged in ceaseless intrigues and squabbles , for the retention or attainment of powerthe liberty and welfare ofthe people at large is their last thought . A tyrannical and insolent majority makes popular representation a mockery and a sham .

      In Germany , Russia , through the instrumentality of its bond-slave , bankrupt Austria , has gradually woven a net of despotism , which threatens to enmesh the whole ofthe states of the empire . The barriers which have heretofore interposed between Western Europe and its barbarian hordes are thus being craftily and insidiously removed ; and the time approaches for the fulfilment of Napoleon ' s prediction at St . Helena : — " In fifty years Europe will become either Cossack or Republican . ' At present the odds are in favour of

      " Cossack . " The nephew of the prophet , the nominal head of a Republic , is Cossack in his sympathies and policy ; and the political tricksters , intrigues , and adventurers by whom he is surrounded , however they may hate or oppose him , are equally reactionist and despotic . Prussia , the natural leader of German Constitutionalism , has betrayed the cause , and basely negotiated terms with the Autocrat , the object of which is to give added power to the dynasty of Hohenzottern at the cost of the liberties of the people .

      The moderate , constitutional , and brave people of Hesse Cassel , have already been crushed by the iron hoof of armed tyranny _, and the policy of Russia appears as though it would speedily be triumphant in Holstein—Italy has been restored to the dominion of the pr iests—the press is silenced—liberty strangled— " order , " as understood by tyrants , priests , and generals , is in the ascendancy . 1850 has indeed done little for the people anywhere . The darkest hour , it is said , is near the

      dawn . May it prove so in this instance . In the year upon which we have just entered , may we witness the revival of public spirit and vitality at home and abroad . The seeds of a sound opinion on all the questions we have alluded to , bave been widely sown ; we trust , that under the influences of the coming year , they will spring up into a rich harvest of public good—and that 1851 will prove what we now cordially wish to all our readers— A HAPPY NEW YEAR !

      The Chartist Movement, The M^Y Executive...

      THE CHARTIST MOVEMENT , THE _m _^ _Y EXECUTIVE AND THE MANCHESTER CONFERENCE .

      Those who will closely examine the antecedents of all organic changes in the constitution of this country , and analyse the elements by which they were ultimately brought about , must come to the conclusion , that no one class of the community can effect such changes . That they must , and do in almost all cases , originate with the struggling and suffering masses , is quite certain ; but that they can succeed , unaided by the varied experience , the best qualities , and the avowed support of at least a portion of the other classes , is an assumption as yet unsupported by the facts of our past history ,

      _^ One indispensable preliminary to this combination and blending of the varied powers and qualities of the differen t classes of society is , that the masses shall , in the first place , be thoroughly and universally in earnest . Whenever they are so on any subject , apart altogether from the power they can exert , they create a species of political magnetism which extends to and affects all tbe other portions of society . It is before the irresistible torrent of an all-embracing and hi gh-toned popular enthusiasm alone , that the weighty and firmlyconstructed barriers to progress are finally swept away .

      Apply this to the Chartist movement , and it indicate * at once what ought to be aimed at by all professing Chartists . In some way or other a national and well organised party must be created . At present it does not exist . No one will pretend that an Executive , for the highest member of which less than two thousand votes were polled , can claim either national authority or respect . Argue the question as we may—turn and twist as we please—there is no getting rid of the fact , ; that for the Central Executive of the National Charter Association onl y some eighteen hundred votes could be mustered in the whole of the nation .

      If any other party was to assume national authority , or claim to be the head of a National Movement , on such a slender basis , there is not a Democrat in the country who would not laugh to scorn such a preposterous assumption . Surely , then , we may a sk Democrats to be consistent and act upon their own principles . It is quite clear that , at present , the people at large , from some cause or other , do not take any interest in the existing Chartist organisation . We must endeavour to find out what these causes are , and to remove them . Itis well known that the working classes of this country are , almost to a man , Chartist in principle . How is it that we find them exhibit so lamentable and general an apathy on the subject ?

      That should , to every earnest and honest ad . vocate ofthe People ' s Charter , become a paramount question , and one to which immediate attention should be given . It cannot be too frequentl y repeated that , the oDly way to induce the ruling _claasejs of this country to make any gg cr _Or-ifeal

      The Chartist Movement, The M^Y Executive...

      change , is for tho whole people to present such an united and determined front as to render it _dangerous for thorn longer to resist the popular demand . The British Constitution is composed of stubborn , but yet elastic materials ; however immoveable it may be when an insufficient force is applied , it will always give way when the requisite pressure is brought to bear upon it . Mere talk will not do it . The wild and foolish declamation about physical force , and violent revolutions , is as mischievous as it is contemptible , Whatever may be the case in other countries , there is with us no need for having recourse either to barricades , or bloodshed . If ever the necessity for them does arrive , they will be resorted to without previous babble or bluster about pikes , guns , or ~ . „ ., i „ _, „ _„„„ _,, )„ + 11 nraocnf _ennh

      blunderbusses . We can understand and sympathise , to a large extent , with the use of such revolutionary weapons in continental countries , because in them the patriots who struggle for political freedom , are in a position similar to the Oalifornian gold seeker—they must work armed , or run the risk of being robbed and murdered . Force begets force ; and where at the outset deliberation , discussion , free speech , and free writing are denied , blows are the natural , though melancholy alternative . But w have never yet met with an intelligent continental democrat who did not deprecate resort to force in this country . "We have what they are endeavouring to obtain as the

      indispensable _pre-requisites to self-government . There are ample powers given by the constitution _ofthis country to enable us to form a legal and powerful organisation , for the purpose of amending whatever is defective in the constitution itself , or of extending its protection and its privileges to whatever class is at present excluded from both . If these means have not been , are not now , rightly appreciated and applied , the people have themselves to blame . Either they are ignorant of their existence , or are too apathetic and careless to use them . When we have done that to the utmost , and find them insufficient , it will be time enough to begin blaming other parties , and to look out for other weapons .

      The result of the attempt to elect a new Executive must , we think , have convinced tho most earnest and sincere supporters of that policy that it is a failure . To hold office under such circumstances can only entail ceaseless anxiety and difficulties , without any corresponding advantages , either personal or political . We presume that every Chartist is a Chartist primarily , because he wants to see the People ' s Charter become the law of the land . Whatever secondary and accidental , or personal motives may have subsequently

      crept in to influence him , that must be the great and crowning object of his efforts . We may also assume as a proposition needing BO proof , that to gain the assent of Parliament to that measure there must , in Borne way or other , be _organized a powerful and compact Peoples' Party . We must have the masses with _ue—we know they are so in heart and sentiment ; but we must also have them in person and purse . How ? That is the question to be discussed at the coming Manchester Conference .

      Whatever weight , then , may have been in the reasons formerly urged against that Conference , they have lost it since the election of the new Executive , and the policy it has adopted . The late Executive had tho first trial to create a new movement . Tbey appealed to the country to give a new Executive power to speak in the name of the Chartists of Great Britain , and to support that Executive while pressing forward the great object which , no one will doubt , every member of it has sincerely at heart .

      To that appeal as many persons have responded as could be collected in an ordinary market town , to hear a lecture on vocal music , accompanied by illustrations , at sixpence a head . This cannot be accepted as a national response . The Executive themselves must be convinced that something else must be done , in order to organise and fairly represent the Democracy of this country . To hold office under such cii-iumBtances _, except temporarily , can , in our opinion , only entail continual difficulties on those who are saddled with large responsibilities without having any means of

      meeting them . Another reason why we think all opposition should be withdrawn to the Manchester Conference , oh the part of the new Executive , is , that they have themselves abandoned the May Conference in London , upon which so much stress was laid by its advocates . Instead of that , it is now proposed to have a " Convention"in March . Why , when the change was made , not change to January at once ? There is not a single reason that we can think of wh y March

      should be preferred to April , or February . Having once shifted their ground , and given up all that was so strenuously insisted upon as to the superior advantages to be derived from a London Conference in May , it would have been only a graceful and a brotherly act , for the New Executive to have removed all further cause for contention , by agreeing to meet , this month , in Manchester . There might havo been something intelligible in the division that previously existed , but we confess ourselves totally unable to perceive any reason whatever

      now . Of the tone of the address agreed to by the new Executive , at their first sitting , we have to express unqualified approval , in as far as it lays down a calm , constitutional , and argumentative policy . But we respectfully put it to them , whether the state of the Chartist body , as disclosed by the appeal of { he late Executive to it , and the small number of persons by whom they have been elected to office , does not demonstrate that something more must be done to make Chartism a living rea % ? b

      We earnestly assure the Executive and the Chartist body , that we have but one feeling and wish in this matter : —We desire to see all the advocates of the Charter lay aside personal differences , make mutual concessions on minor points , and unite together cordiall y , to devise the means by which Chartism may be made commensurate with the magnitude o f its objects . "We really see nothing whatever of a serious nature that stands in the way of such an union ; and we need not tell them h ow suicidal it is for them to be wasting their energies in squabbling with each other , when there is so much work to be done outside demanding all the powers they possess .

      % respectfully suggest to the new Executive and the localities which support it , the propriety of sending delegates to the approaching Conference at Manchester , to consult with those who may there assemble earnestlv and calmly how the movement can be made a . national one . There is vet time to do this and if all parties will but unite to pull t ogether for the Charter , and discountenance any personal vanity , ambition , or ill-feeling which may stand m the way of that union , we may vet see , in the year which we have now entered , a resuscitation of Chartism , and brighter prospects for he People ' s Cause than any which shone on the year that has passed away .

      Taxes On Knowledge. Nothing Need Be Said...

      TAXES ON KNOWLEDGE . Nothing need be said at this time of dav as to the iniquitous nature and injurious operation oi these taxes . Argument and discussion are out of the question . They have been long since tried and sentenced . Execution a r ? * ' _^ een stave hecause our Legislature and Government do not represent the people , or act in accordance with public opinion . To the able and masterly speech of Mr . Milner Gibson , laBtyear , _* £ he Chancellor had literally no repl y , except that Joe could not afford the

      Taxes On Knowledge. Nothing Need Be Said...

      money . As this year it is understood [ lQ | have a very considerable surplus , t , _* " v il ! | will not be a valid one . But , in fact , it , 5 o ought to have been accepted as valid _^ _v _* 1 Government ought to be permitted , on . "' ° $ ground whatever , to impose fiscal _restriof _* _* ' I on ihe diffusion of knowledge . Tax _anvti _^ 1 but that . m \ | It is of the utmost importance that I movement , having for its object ihe v _^ § of these imposts , should be kept on tho _v-l I ground of moral and political priQci'f | and also that it should aim at ft * , •• | and complete abolition . On Thursd ay _^ _jf _fi a meeting was held in the London Ta . ve $ for the single object of repealing the p _/ 11 ' 1 money . As this year ifc is _undersinnrt _iT _""^

      , 3 .. 4 - ** _titTi-t si It VlAtllflVflP A _Atatttnlkln " _PCf duty , which , however desirable per I comparatively insignificant , compare d ' ( v _v the repeal of the stamp duty on ne papers . It is _trus that the duty ou Pai ! ' largely increases the difficulty of provid cheap and good periodical literature ; j , *" - the newspaper stamp has the _woiifW * effect of debarring the working classes fo _, J acquiring that particular species of krjowJ U ( i for which they have the greatest taste , and / * which they feel the deepest interest , be cause _^ it most nearly affects their condition Jprospects . a

      When we contrast the supply of news papc in this country with the proportion _they'L _^ to the population in the United States , tlie _ftf ferencc between a taxed and a fettered pre < ' and an untaxed and free one , is immediate ] ' _, apparent . There is scarcely a little villaa-. ! three or four hundred inhabitants that has not one , at least , paper of _^ its own ; ' | _, er are few towns of an ordinary _sizo that do not support several daily papers . To the English working men the daily paper j , an unattainable luxury at his own _fireside *

      He must read it at the public-house , the coffee shop , or the news-room , at a cost greater [ h he would be required to pay for a paper to him . self in America . It is true , that in uppeavimtr . " in getting up , in literary style , the Briti _* daily newspaper is superior to tho American But the superiority is on the surface only ' j far as the labourer is concerned . The iiti _mengc capital required to set on foot aud maintain a daily paper in this country , has made such journals virtually the instruments ofthe money . monger and the capitalist .

      Tlie real sentiments and opinions of the labouring classes seldom or ever find utterance in them ; or if they do , it is only to be ridiculed or' denounced by writers who have been trained to look at every subject through tbo coloured spectacles of tbe capitalist . Tho removal of the Taxes on Knowled ge would create a new national press , give birth to a new school of political Hunkers . and writers , and tend more to rouse the people this country to healthy and vigorous political action , than any single measure that c an be named .

      It was with great pleasure , therefore , that we found Messrs . Holyoake and Collet were resolved not to permit the movement to sink into a mere trading one , or , by permitting the divorce of the paper from the advertiseme nt and stamp duty , to incur the risk of having these saddled for another eighteen years upon the working classes , after the wealthy paper manufacturer had succeeded in escaping from the trammels ofthe Excise-office . The tone and temper in which both these gentlemen advocated the simultaneous abolition of the whole of these duties , and showed the impolicy of the one-sided and defective

      movement contemplated by those who called the meeting , did them very great honour . It did more it convinced the meeting , and produced a feeling of respect and admiration on the minds of those who came with contrary views ; which cannot fail to have a beneficial effect on any future proceedings with reference to this subject . They showed that strength is not violence—that powerful arguments are weakened , not aided , by an antagonistic bearing , or resorting to aspersions either on motives or character ; and the result was , the unanimous adoption of their motion , condemnatory of the stamp duty and tbe tax on advertisements .

      The example shown , and the victory won on this occasion ought not to be forgotten , when occasions arise in future where the leaders of the working classes feol it to be their duty to differ from tho policy adopted by any other party . They will at once crcato a feeling of respect for the purity of their motives , ana of admiration for the ability aud gentlemanly courtesy with which they advocate what they believe to he true and _Toenoficial for the community at large .

      O'Connor Defence Fund. The Response To O...

      O'CONNOR DEFENCE FUND . The response to our appeal has so far been of a gratif ying nature . The letters received at this office prove iki Mr . O'Connor ' s position has excited sincere and wide-spread sympathy , and that with proper arrangements , that sympath y will show itself in deeds commensurate with the occasion . System and organisation , however , are nc- cessary in such cases ; and , as this is ono whicli especiall y demands prompt exertion ., it has been considered advisable to issue a %

      circular containing the facts briefly staled , I , together with directions as to the course too be pursued in the various localities . The circular is so brief , and so much too the purpose , that we subjoin it , merely _aild-1-ing our earnest request , that its _SUggCStiOllSlS may be immediatel y acted upon , tbrotigboutut the length and breadth of the country . " " Northern Star" Office , London . By the recent decision of the Court olol Queen ' s Bonch in the case of O'Connor * , * . Bradshaw , F . O'Connor , Esq ., M . P _., ha » a been saddled with the costs of two protractctci and expensive actions at law .

      A Select Committee of tho House of Coram mons , after the most ample investigation intat the affairs of "The National Land Coram pany , " pronounced its proceedings to ham * - been conducted throughout " _bona-fide , " anan added , that the personal character of MAIi O ' Connor , in relation to it , was _unimpeackl able and _ucimpeached . In the face of this Report , Mr . _Bradshawawi

      SrL- , of a Tor y J ° urDal published d t ; Nottingham ) , accused Mr . O'Connor of pope : sonal dishonesty in relation to the Companyny ,, An action for Libel was immediately _cottoni menced , which terminated in the Jury returnni ing a verdict grossl y inconsistent with _iteetsG ! and with the facts , namel y , _« that the libclhcllii waB justified in his charges , but that there wv wn no ground whatever for any personal imput ' ut tion on Mr . O'Connor ' s honesty "' The Jud

      ge , in summing up . acted tho papa ; of a hostile _partizan , and misled the Jury ic im giving a verdict , which threw tho entire _coicoii of the action upon Mr . O'Connor . That gentleman tried the question agaigaii by moving for a new tr ial in the QuecDecm Bench . The case was re-argued at great cit _ei pense , but , as the " Times" expressly _atattafcE the Judges «¦ shirked'' the merits ofthe _caser-se i a " cowardly" manner , and refused a new tn trii on quibbles— again subjecting Mr . _O'Connonni to all the costB .

      This is but the last of a series of proceedindin {( all of which indicate a determination on t > n tt part of Government , and the law _authoritiritwi to deny justice to Mr . O'Connor , and to refirefu him either redress for wrong done , or prottroto tion against injury . The object is to " ruin him with expense ose _** as advised by Lord Melbourne years a [ a {{ He has spent Wb life and fortune in tbe cat can ofthe people , and has never travelled a ma ran nor eaten a meal at their expense . All who sympathise with an honest but but ; oppressed man , are called upon to come tie ft '

  • Citation
    • Northern Star (1837-1852), Jan. 4, 1851, page 4, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/ns/issues/ns3_04011851/page/4/