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Northern Star (1837-1852), 28th September 1850, Edition 3 of 3, Page 4, A FREE PRESS. In proceeding with the con...

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  • Departments (4)
    • jotttafo* of #att(ote.
    • PORTRAITS OF THE AMERICAN PRESIDENTS.
    • '¦US ^i . &0 ttorr-egpoiffleM*.
    • THE NORTHERN STIR SATURDAY, SEP1EMBEK 98, 1850.
  • Adverts (16)
  • Text (10)
  • Transcript

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

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      Ad00408

      UNITED PATRIOTS' AND PATRIARCHS' BENEFIT . SOCIETY . Enrolled _pnrsuant to 10 Geo . IV , c 56 , 4 & 5 Wffl . IV . c 46 , & 9 & 10 Vic c 27 . —Instituted , 7 th _tfeD ., 1843 . . » ¦ PATEOSISED BV THE _WOiKIHO _MHJJ 0 S _3 . „ , . _-.-. v _.-j-a an The Society is divided into six sections , to meet the necessities and requirements of aU classes oM » _ecnanicsanu labourers , from fifteen years of age to forty-five . This Society consists of above two thousand _" _^^™\ *" JX _£ * fended capital of 2 , 6221 16 s . 9 d . ; having paid the following snms for benefits since ite fomattoa .-aicKness , 5 , 70 « . 5 s . lOd . Funerals , 1 , 3821 . Superannuation , 3 M . Os . 4 d . Fire , 361 . 16 s . 5 " | d- —Tot : il . 7 , 1591 . Zs . 7 ia . __ _^ The _fcUOTrinsis the SCALE OF FEES to bepald at entrance : 3 s . must be paid when adm itted . and the remainder can WtenaoTerap « M tf 6 _ttmOUths , _' tobe paia _-withthe suhscriptions _, mon _^ y , rfa _<^ _a : — . ___ Age _lstsectioi . 2 _ndK _* JW section . -i _^ aectba . IK *™* _ffgW Froml 5 to 32 .-. £ 0 5 s . 2 d . .... £ 0 4 s . 8 d ..... £ 0 4 _S . 2 < L .... £ 0 3 s . 8 a ..... £ 0 3 s . 2 d £ 0 _* _XUte 4 - 32-36 .... 0 7 2 .... 0 6 8 .... 0 6 2 .... 0 5 8 .... 0 5 2 .... not atoittea _- 36—40 . 0 10 9 ftqs 092 .... 0 8 8 .... 0 8 2 .... over - _« -45 I" : li I "" ? I % I : ! : 019 8 .... _OW 2 .... OU 2 .... . twenty years _rowttumscE rasickhess _t _^ o ' s ' uesaxssoATioit . hi _^ _- s d _^ -we 's o » _nominee 8 d £ mh , KrrtSecfion m . Od . 6 s . od . Jbe _* _Subaa .... ± 20 0 0 .... fcW 0 » Second ditto 15 0 ...... 6 0 _Secomdditto .... If J « _•••• f _» n ThMaitto ii n I 0 Thirdditto .... 12 0 0 .... 6 0 0 STtto _^ I -t 0 Fonrthditto .... 10 0 0 .... 5 0 0 _kKST _? * I 5 Fifthditto .... 6 0 0 .... 3 0 0 _jcumoiKo ...... 7 0 ...... * " _et-. u _ji « . o in 11 none Sixthditto ... 7 0 none . _Sixm ditto .... ¦ i IV v .... «« " ° lOSS BY _FIBB . —In aU the "Divisions ( with the exception of the Sixth ) £ 19 . Monthly contributions to ensure the above benefits . - Under 30 yearsofage . _Unto-M . _VtOaO . ST , : ; 1 8 1 _* 1 . Monthly . 1 10 or 201 . 3 d . a month . 2 l J _Medicme . Yoathfid , Gift , Widow and Orphans' Funds extra , for which , see •*«» _£ * „ . _r _^^ _ei in all a _gencies are established inmany of the principal Towns throughout the Kingdom , and 85 _^ L 2 lf 8 K 3 iI 7 _^ l _^ _toSaBberalanowanceWae : Ev _^ infonnation can be obtained , by JV _fcg" _^ * ° _, * _5 * _Sfif' _£ _fee _<^ rf £ be Society , 13 , Tottenham-court , New-road ( thirteen doors from the top of Tottenham _^ _ourt-roadj , st . P p _^ _S _? _CoantW app 1 ymg _-te _Bnlescanhayeihemforw arded , by enclosing twelve postage Stamps , and if for na _^ application , or information , three stamps must be enclosed . _^ _^^ _^^ _Genenl _g _^^ .

      Ad00409

      at on THB BRITISH EMPIRE FREEHOLD LAND AND BTJILDIN (* SOCIETY On an Advance your Rent is Saved—you become your own Land and Householder . _PATKOJOSED BT THB WORKING MILLIONS . Bankers * - ! The Commercial Bank of London ( Branch ) 6 , Henrietta Street , Covent _Uarden , Chaiman of Directors . —Seokoe W . M . _RbTNOIDS , Esa . _Lon & _t i OMH _. —NO . 13 , Tottenham Conrt , NewKoad , St , Pancras , London . —Daniel Wieliah Rotft , Secretary . Abuxqed di Three _Sbcihjss . —Valne of Shares and Paymentfor Investors . Full Share .. .. £ 120—payment of 2 s . 5 d . per Week , or 10 s . 6 d . per Month . HalfShare .. .. 60 1 2 | 5 3 Quarter Share .. .. 30 0 _7-J 2 8 Applicants are requested to state in their form the Section they desire to be a Member of . No Sobveiobs * . _SoHctxois * _, oa _Redemptioh Fess . —The present Entrance Fee , including Certificate , Rules , & c , is 4 s . per Share , and 2 s . 6 d . for any part ofa Share . Price of Boles , including Postage , Is . OBJECTS . _t ,., _ . 1 st . —Toetuible members to build Bwelling Houses . 5 th . —To give to Depositing Members a higher rate of _inai _^ _f _^^ e 3 riir : hasingl , oth FreehoW 1 _tsssse £ _^ _a _^ _Leas _^ _oldProperfaes _O _T Land , . _chZtoen , or Husbands for their Wires , or for Marriage 3 rd . —To advance Mortgages on Property held by settlements . _naeaibers . 7 th . —To _purehase apiece of Freehold Land of sufficient 4 tiu—To enable Mortgagers being members to redeem value to give a legal title to a County Vote for Members ol their Mortgages . Parliament . _Secnrat L—By jmninjs this section every person in town or country can become the proprietor of a House and Land « i his _ownneighbomhoodr-m thont being removed from his friends , connexions , or the present means himself and famuj B _SSu _^ _ilfee U a _Swby shares topurchase Estates , _erectDwelllngs thereon , and divide the land into . allotments from _half-aitacni upwards , ia or near the towns ofthe various branches of the society . The property to be the bona fide freehold of the member after a term of seven years , from the date of location , according to his subscriptions . _SectiosIIX-Saving or . Deposit section , in which members not wishing to purchase are _enabed . to invert small sums , receiving interest at the rate of five per cent per annum , on every sum of 10 s . and upwards so deposited . ti : B . — £ 5 W ) Will he advanced to the members of the first Section in November next , when all persons who have Mid Hn _^ become members for shares , or parts of shares , on or before the 4 tk o November next , _afld who pay six months absorptions in advance , or otherwise , will be eligible for an advance .

      Ad00410

      EMIGRATION . THE BRITISH EMPIRE PERMANENT EMIGRATION AND COLONISATION SOCIETY , To secure to each Member aFAEM of notlessthan Twenty-five Acres of Land in AMERICA , By Small Weekly or Monthly Contributions . Loksox _Osncs : —13 Tottenham Conrt , New-road , St Pancras . —D . W . Rom ; Secretary . OBJECTS . To purchase a large trac O Land in the Western States To purchase in large quantities , for the common benefit , of America , npon which to locate Members , giving twenty- all necessary lire and dead stock , and Other requisites , -five acres to each Share subscribed for . supplying each member on location with the quantity _xe-To erect Dwellings , and clear a certain portion ofthe quired at cost price . Land on each allotment , previous to the arrival of the allottees . _ To estahlish a depot , from which to provide each family _a-S _^ _AURS- _^^ _-ihthe _^ _uiredquantityof wholesome food , until their collective and separate rights and immunities . ( own laud produced sufficient for their support VALUE OF SHARES . Each Share tobe of the ultimate Value of Twenty-five Pounds . To le raised hy Monthly or Weekly Subscriptions , as foUows . *—A Payment ofNinepence per Week ior Ten Tears will amount to 19 / . 10 * . Bonos , 51 . 10 s . Ditto Sixpence per Weefe & r Fifteen Years will amount to 19 L 10 s . Bonus , SL 10 * . Repayments may be made to the Society in Money , Produce , or Labour . Prospectuses , Rules , Forms of Application for Shares , and every other information , may be bad at the Office as above . AH applications by Letter , addressed to the Secretary , must be pre-paid , and enclose a postage stamp for reply _. By enclosing twelve postage stamps a Copy of the Rules will be forwarded , post free . Forms of Entrance by enclosing three postage stamps . Agents required in aUparts of Great Britain .

      Ad00411

      DEAFNESS AND NOISES IN THE HEAD SPEEDILY CORED . DR . BENNETT , Aurist , whose study is devoted to Diseases of the Ear , continues , by his newly discovered easy Remedy , to effect astonishing Cures Where Snfferers of both sexes have been Deaf ( even forty or fifty years ) , and considered incurable , have found a Speedy andPermanent Cure by using Dr . BENNETT'S Easy , Sa e , and Painless PREPARATION , even to an Infant or the delicate nervous Female . Sold osit by Dr . Besnett , atthe Institution fbr the Cure of Deafiiess , 80 , Upper Stamford-street , near Waterloobridge , London , and sent carriage free throughout the Kingdom on receipt of 5 s . in post stamps . Attendance to the Poor Monday , Wednesday , and Friday evenings , from 6 till 8 .

      Ad00412

      DjEAFNESS . —Important Notice . —Mr . FRANCIS the eminent aurist , who has devoted his attention solely to DISEASES of the EAR , continues to effect the most astonishing cures in all those inveterate eases which hare long been considered hopeless , and ef tfcir tv or forty years standing , enabling the patient to hear a Whisper , without pain or operation , effectually removing deafness , noises in the head , and all diseases ofthe aural canal . Mr . F . attends daily from 10 until 6 , at his consulting rooms , 6 , Beaufort-buildings , Strand , London Persons at & distance can state their case by letter . Advice to the poor , Monday , Wednesday , and Friday , from 6 till 8 in he evening .

      Ad00413

      CURES FOR THE UNCURED ! HOLLOWAY'S OINTMENT An Extraordinary Cure of Scrofula , or Ring ' s

      Ad00414

      NATIONAL CHARTER ASSOCIATION . Office , 14 , Southampton-street , Strand . THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE hereby announce the following meetings : — On Sunday afternoon , September 29 th , the Metropolitan Delegate Council will hold their usual weekly meeting at the City Chartist Hall , 26 , Golden-lane . On Sunday evening ( same date ) Mr . T . M . Wheeler will lecture at the hong and Queen , _Foley-street , Portlandplace . Subject : 'The Evils ofa Standing Army . ' To commence at half-past eight o ' clock . On Monday evening . September 30 th , a public meeting will be held at tbe City Hall , 26 Golden-lane . Messrs . Fussell and "Wheeler , with a deputation from the Democratic Propagandists , are expected to attend and address the meeting . Chair to be taken at eight o ' clock . On Tuesday evening , October lst , a "Working Man ' s

      Ad00415

      Brother Chartists Beware ! " of Wolves in Sheeps ' Clothing . " BTJPTUBES EFFECTUALLY CUBED "WITHOUT A TRUSS THE ONLY CURE FOR RUPTURE is DR . BARKER'S REMEDT . of which there are numerous dangerous imitations ; sufferers are therefore earnestly cautioned against a gang of jouthful impudent self-styled doctors , some of whom have lately left the dough trough , and others the tailors' board , who _dishonestly counterfeit this discovery , adopt a multiplicity of names , both English and Foreign , for obvious reasons ; forge testimonials ; profess ( under the name of a lady assumed for the purpose ) , amongst other wonders , to tell the character of persons from their handwriting * , produce whiskers , & c , in & few weeks , and by assertions the most absurd and _conflicting , have recourse to the basest practices to victimise the public . Testimonials from numbers ofthe Faculty and patients who have been cured of Rupture , establish the efficacy of DR . BARKER'S REMEDT in every case hitherto tried . It is perfectly free from danger , causes no pain , confinement , or inconvenience , applicable to both sexes , and all ages .

      Ad00416

      THE BLOOD Our bodies have been entirely formed , art now forming , and will continue to be built up during Lfe from the . Blood . This being the case , the grand object is to keep this precious fluid ( ihe blood ) in a pure and health y st a te , for without this purity , d is ea s e will show itself in some way or ihe other . It is universally admitted that this Medicine will purify the Blood better _tftan any other , and wll conquer Disease .

      Ad00417

      Education for the Millions / THIS DAY IS PUBLISHED , No . XIX . OF " THE HATI 0 NA 1 " _ _INSTRUCTOR . PRICE ONE PENNY . The objeot of tho Pi ? 6 pr ietoi \ _FBARens 0 _'Oonhoh , Esq ., M . P _., is lo place within the reach of the poorest classes that Political and Social Information of which they are at present deprived by the Government " Taxes on Knowledge . " SIXTEEN LAH _6 e " 0 CTAV 0 PAGES , Price One Penny . -

      Ad00418

      f _lOOPBB'S JOURNAL ) \ J or , UNFETTERE D THINKER AND PLAIN SPEAKER FOR

      Ad00419

      TO TAILORS . B y approbation of Her Majesty , Queen Victoria , and H . R . H . Prince Albert .

      Ad00420

      LAND AND COTTAGES FOR _TEBTOTAI _. I . _E'KS . THE OWNER of several landed estates , ( one of which is only ten minutes ride from London by a ninepenny return ticket ) , being most anxious to promote the cause of total abstinence , offers land of very superior quality at from £ 2 to £ 4 per acre , and cottages at from £ 4 to £ 10 per annum , to Pledged Teetotallers with a good character . Not less than one acre , nor more than four , will be allotted to one family , except under peculiar circumstances . Applicants must state their former pursuits , present trade , number in family , and amount ot capital at command , and forward the same to Mr . Halmi _!* _, at Plummer's Parm , Colney Hatch , Whetstone , Middlesex . No letter answered unless it contains a penny stamp .

      Ad00421

      FRAMPTON'S PILL OF HEALTH . Price ls . ljd . per box . THIS excellent Family PILL is a Medicme of long-tried efficacy for correcting all disorders of the stomach and bowels , the common symptoms of which are costiveness _, flatulency , spasms , loss of appetite , sick head ache , giddiness , sense of fulness after meals , dizsiness ofthe eyes , drowsiness , and pains in the stomach and bowels , indigestion , producing a torpid state of the liver , and a constant inactivity of the bowels , causing a disorganisation of every function ofthe frame , will , in this most excellent preparation , by a little perseverance , be effectually removed . Two or three doses will convince the afflicted of its salutary effects , The stomach will speedily regain its strength ; a healthy action of the liver , bowels , and kidneys will rapidly take place ; and instead of listlessness , heat , pain , and jaundiced appearance , strength , activity , and renewed health , will be the quick result oi taking this medicine , according to the directions accompanying each box .

      Ad00422

      DEAFNESS AUD SINGING IN THE EARS INSTANTLY CURED WITHOUT PAIN OR

      Ad00423

      I _WEEKLY-JOURHAUY ROBERT OWEK . On Saturday , the 2 nd of "November , will bs published the First Number of _, ROBERT OWEO WEEKLY JOURNAL , ' . " _'¦ - ¦ PMC'S ONB PENNY . A Periodical intended to instruct all classes in the principles and practical measures , by which alone the poverty , injustice , and misery - of tho existing system can be peaceably superseded by universal wealth , justice , and happiness . To be had of all Booksellers in Town and Country , THE RECENT _WORkToF ROBERT OWEN May be had of Effingham Wilson , Royal Exchange ; Watson , Queen ' s Head-passage , Paternoster-row ; and Tickers , Holywell-street , London .

      Jotttafo* Of #Att(Ote.

      _jotttafo * of _# att ( ote .

      The Readers Of The "Northern Star," And ...

      The readers of the " Northern Star , " and the Democratic party generally , are informed , tbat there is now a re-issue of the various Steel engravings lately distributed with tbe " Northern Star . " They consist of Kossuth , . Meagher , Louis Bland , Mitch-si ., Ernest _Johus , Smith _O'Bbibn , Richard Oastlbr , John Frost .

      These Engravings have excited the admiration of every one who has seen them . They are faithful poftraits , and are executed in the moat brilliant style . Price Fourpence 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 Cobbbst , _iRTHffB O'GotmoB , _Hssur . um Patrick O ' _Higoinb , f _« OT nnob , Bronterre O'Brien , W . P . . Roberts . J . R . Stbphkns , There ia also a re-issue of the two large _, prints ,

      " THE NATIONAL CONVENTION OF 1889 . " " THE PRESENTATION OF THE NATIONAL PETITION , by Mr . DUNCOMBE , in 1842 . " To he had of J . Pavey , _Holywell-atreot ;

      Portrait Of Sir _ Robert Peel This Admir...

      PORTRAIT OF SIR _ ROBERT PEEL This admirable likeness of the Great Statesman , is now ready , and may be had of any of the Agents , price the same as the previously published Portraits . London Agent , Mr . Pavey , Holywell-street , Strand .

      Portraits Of The American Presidents.

      PORTRAITS OF THE AMERICAN _PRESIDENTS .

      This Magnificent Historical Engraving , printed on a whole sheet , containing Portraits of all the American Presidents , is now ready for delivery . __ Agents who have not furnished the Publisher with a list of the numbers they require , are requested to do so at once , when the Prints shall be immediately forwarded .

      '¦Us ^I . &0 Ttorr-Egpoifflem*.

      ' ¦ _US _^ _i . _& 0 _ttorr-egpoiffleM _* .

      Nottingham.—James Sweet Begs To Acknowle...

      Nottingham . —James Sweet begs to acknowledge the receipt of the following sums for the Winding-up Fund : —Mr : R . Wataon , ls ; Mr . T . Smith . _6 d . ; Mr . T . Haaketh . ed . Mr . HoaNEB , Newport , Man . — "We should have sent the portraits , did we know where we should send them for -Enclosure . The same to other Agents . Mr . Smith , Bramhope . —Itis sent to Mr . Fisher , bookseller , West-street , Leeds . Mr . B . Howabd , Hull . —Twopence each for postage . There is every probability of their being spoiled by being sent through the post . Mr . A . Barnett , Dundee . —They were sent for enclosure early last week . Mr . G . Wimok , Alloa . —Your present quarter terminates

      on October 12 th . Mr . W . FAvm , Salford . —Your letter is forwarded to the Directors , 144 , High Holborn ; The Lacey Fond . —Beceived from Mr . John Arnott this week , £ 215 s . 2 d . Erratum—In last week ' s Stab appeared the following sum— " Messrs . Rees and Paver , 2 s . " It should have been 3 s . The Polish Refugee Fond . —The monies for the above fund will be acknowledged next weeek . — Wm . Davis , Secretary , D . L ., Jersey . —We are much obliged ft r your information , and regret that it came to hand too late . We should be glad to hear from you again , should anything occur worthy of notice . " " Bks" and " Mill 0 pebative 8 . "—Received . Mrs . M . J . Gilbert . —Received .

      The Northern Stir Saturday, Sep1embek 98, 1850.

      THE NORTHERN STIR SATURDAY , SEP 1 EMBEK 98 , 1850 .

      A Free Press. In Proceeding With The Con...

      A FREE PRESS . In proceeding with the consideration of tbe measures that ought to be passed by a People ' s Parliament , we come next to a Free Press as the natural and appropriate compliment to tbe system of National Education , outlined in our last article upon this subject _. The spirit of Protestantism , and the defence by John Milton of " the liberty of unlicensed printing , " prevented the introduction into this country of the continental censorship but different administrations , from the time of

      Queen Anne , have sought to attain , and , to a serious extent , h ave s u cceeded in a tt ainin g th e object of a censorship —» that of restricting the rights of political discussion to a favoured class , by tbe indirect medium of official burdens and restrictions . A stamp duty on newspapers was first imposed in 1712 by the 10 Anne c . 19 . The amount was a halfpenny on a half sheet ; a penny , if not exceeding a whole sheet . The mischievous and repressive effect of the tax was immediately made evident by its extinguishing the Spectator of Addison and Steele , at that time decidedly

      the best publication issued by the Press . The worst portions ofthe laws , passed with the view of indirectly restricting the diffusion of political information , still remain on the statute book , having been re-enacted in 1836 , with additional penal clauses of great severity . That measure was one nominally for the reduction of the newspaper stamp duty to a net sum of Id . from 4 d ., with a discount of twenty per cent , off , to which it had risen from the time of Anne . But it had become impossible to collect a higher duty , and it waa admitted

      at the time by the Chancellor of the Exchequer ( Mr . Springi Bice , now Lord Monteagle ) , that the sale of unstamped journals , published in defiance ofthe law , had extended to 200 , 000 weekly . These were all sacrificed to the interests of the stamped Press by the 6 and 7 Will . IV . c . 76 , whioh gave the most severe and summary powers of suppression , and , in point of fact , renders it impossible for any" unstamped periodical to exist when the Stamp Office may choose to set in motion the despotic powers with which it is invested .

      The penny stamp is equivalent to a formal prohibition of newspapers of the class which exist in the islands of Guernsey and Jersey , at the price of one penny , three-halfpence , and twopence . In those islands , as in the United States , there are few families without a newspaper at home . In Great Britain and Ireland it is only by frequenting a public-house —and not always then—that a poor man can read the report of a trial by jury . He must obey the laws without discussing them or learning the nature of their operation The privilege of postage conferred by the ' stamp would be a fair _conainfiratmn ft »« _t-u t „ would be a fair consideration for tho

      penny if the stamp were optional ; but as the stamp must be paid-whether postage be required or not-the postage privilege becomes a benefit to a few onl y of the London iownaland amounts therefore to watte _^^ r _^ _stnction as affecting the diffusion of intelll gence of local interest . The competition of the leading London journals , delivered by Government carriage free , so aggravates the mischief ot the stamp in the case of the Provincial 1 ress , that a local daily paper cannot be maintained even in suoh towns as _JMwcbester , Liverpool , and Glasgow . These vast and wealthy emporiums of manufactures and commerce are deprived of any advantages _pos-

      A Free Press. In Proceeding With The Con...

      _sesaed by the youngest and smallest towns ia iihe United States . _s - f The effect of the existing Press Laws _is _> in short , j _|» give a practical monopolyin the _diffusioniof _intelligenceto a few capitalists—proprietors of _2-tondon daily journals , too often interested in its distortion , and to suppress the natural safety Talve of popular discontent ; in consequence of wliich those in power are

      continually misled as to the state of the public mind . A daily _newspaper , speaking ofthe feelings of the working classes , representing their interests , advocating their views , and correcting the misrepresentations and calumnies heaped upon them by the Capitalist Press , does not at present exist , and never can exist in this country under the present state of the law . ' I

      It is scarcely possible to estimate all the evils attributable to this source . By deceiving the Administration and the Legislature as to the real state of public feeling , it produces in their minds a feeling of false security—causes a fatal postponement of needful Reforms , and becomes thus the proximate cause of violent and sanguinary Revolutions . Nothing contributed so much to the sudden overthrow of the throne of Louis Philippe as the severe censorship , which , in fact , muzzled the press , and prevented the utterance bf publio opinion . The Revolution of 1848 , not only 1

      in Iranee , but throughout Germany and Italy , gave birth to a free unstamped press , and the avidity with which the people everywhere availed themselves of it , showed how earnestly they hungered and thirsted after the information and the mental stimula thus provided . To the honour of the Revolutionary Governments , they gave unlimited and unlicensed power to all parties to publish and maintain their own opinions in any manner they thought proper . They . were not afraid to let truth and falsehood grapple , for they bad the faith of glorious John Milton—that

      truth could never be put to flight in a free and open encounter . The reactionary party , as soon as they regained their supremacy , reverted to the old repressive system . The press was again placed under vigorous supervision , prosecutions , fines and imprisonment , or summary suppression by armed force , have been resorted to everywhere on the Continent , as the means of propping up Governments hated by the people . The press is more shackled now than at any former period . If any one lesson can be more clearly deduced from the experience of the past tban

      another , it is , that all such violent and arbitrary measures must fail . In due time popular diseontent , thus forcibly pent up , will burst forth in a destructive explosion , scattering on all sides the wrecks of institutions opposed to the natural instincts , and the inalienable rights of humanity . The very best and most effective instrument of good government , is a thoroughly Free Press . Its influence is of the most salutary kind in producing a reading and an orderly population . Besides this , it provides the proper medium for the peaceable solution of the great social and political questions which are now

      agitating the minds of the millions . Inthe United States , the leading men of all parties feel that Education , and a "Free Press , are the two great guarantees for the successful working of Democratic institutions . An ignorant democracy would be a terrible power to deal with . As the people are certain to achieve their rightful sovereignty in the future , it will be wise in Governments and Legislatures to provide , betimes , for their proper education , and the means by which , at all times , public opinion may be expressed without let or hindrance . Newspapers are less expensive and less mischievous _revolutionises than barricades

      and muskets . A People ' s Parliament , elected by , and responsible to , the whole people , would have no interest in stifling public opinion . It is only when despots or oligarchies usurp supreme power , and assume to make their whims , caprices , or fancied interests the standard by which society is to be regulated—the objects to promote which it primarily exists—that there can be any objection to a Free Press . A People ' s Parliament would abolish the newspaper stamp duty , and the duty on

      advertisements . It would remove all the restrictions now imposed on newspapers , to prevent an evasion _' of those duties , and it would enact such improved laws of newspaper copyright and responsibility , as would tend to raise the character of the Press , while extending its influence . By such measures , a really Free Press would be enjoyed by the nation , which would perform , simultaneously , the two important functions of creating a sound and enlightened public opinion , and of reflecting , accurately and faithfully , tbat opinion , in all its phases .

      Irish Agitation, It Was Thdtaght By Some...

      IRISH AGITATION , It was thdtaght by some people that the fire of agitation which , from time to time , for many years has blazed so fiercely in Ireland , had burnt itself out . That tribune of the people—O'Connell—who used to gather them together by thousands on their native hills , and pointing to their mountains and valleys , rivers and plains , tell them , that that glorious land ought to be their own , while Celtic tongues responded with the shouts of " Repeal , " and " Ireland for the Irish , " has " gone down to his fathers , '' and the mantle which he wore

      has not fallen to any of his descendants . The Smith O'Briens and Mitchells of a later day , are prisoners in that vast prison house the Australian continent ; and Orangemen and Eibbondmen are pressed down by the strong hand ofthe law . Famine and pestilence , too , have swept with the wings ofthe destroying angel over the ill-fated isle . Thousands of the boldest hearts and strongest arms of Ireland , despairing of peace in that abode of horrors , have fled from the star of the west , to that great community in the farthest west , which is spreading abroad its vast arms over the best half of the world , and are there adding their own sense of wrong , and there avow

      thirst for vengeance to that flood tide of dislike for England , and jealousy and hatred of her power , which pervades every current © f feeling , manifested by our Anglo-Saxon cousins across the Atlantic ; aHd those who are left behind , hunted from their homes by the tools of landlordism , the roof tree pulled down almost as soon as they have left its shadow , nestling upon the ruins of their own hearths—dying in ditches by the roadsidepent up in the overcrowded workhouses of bankrupt unions , and rotting in their fever wards ; this broken , Btricken , despairing , outcast , beggared remnant , did not seem to have nerve and sinew enough in them to join in a fresh agitation .

      But out oi misery and uttermost degradation the wailing cry for help breaks forth in tones of misery , till it is taken up by others than those of the mere peasant class , and , for almost the first time in the history of Ireland , Irishmen seem to have consented to sink their party feuds , to bury their local animosities , and to forego their religious discords , for the purpose of making one great effort to redeem their native country . It is out of the

      misery and wretchedness of the people of Ireland that that Tenant-right League , wliich promises to become so powerful , has arisen ; and the union of Eoraan Catholic priests , and Presbyterian clergymen , which lends to it so much of power and importance , shows how strong the motives must be , which have sufficed to bring together in even the appearance of amity , those who have hitherto been almost as irreconcileable as fire and water .

      And this same union which serves to mark the strong impulses at work , goes far to ensure the success of the League . In Ireland , no great movement can succeed without the

      Irish Agitation, It Was Thdtaght By Some...

      helpotthepriests . ' Thel ifcrection ofBal ingarry , _* o easily , put down by a * few poiw men , might have teen , nay , would have been a Woody , if not a successful , revol ution and SmitbV O'Brien have been somewhat besides a convicted felon , had not the priests arrived with spiritual terrors , and _alarwed by the Protestant and freethinking opinions of _some of . the most influential among the Jtiider s holdback the people from the standard of revolt ; but now , the pastors are the first io the field , and all the vast machinery of religion will be put in motion , to urge the people on to destroy one of the institutions of the country , Only those who know the Irish mind _inti . mately , can understand the power religion has _^

      over the impulsive devotees who kneel—at Catholic altars . It is not , as with the colder Protestant , a mere seventh-day matter , it enters into their lives , and becomes a part of their politics ; and their pastors , disowned by Government , and treated _contemptuousl y by the clergy of an establishment , which has no hold , even upon the respect , much less the affections , of the people become to them as ihe veritable ministers of the Almighty ; and when they raise the banner , are followed as implicitly and as devoutly as ever Mahomet was by those who were in search of a paradise , peopled with the black eyed houris of Oriental fable .

      If the priests are in earnest , then they can give to the Tenant-Right League a power , which no government , however averse , can afford to disregard ; and we may make sure that , in this instance at least , tbey have their hearts in the work . As men they could not have been indifferent to the scenes of oppression and tyranny under which their countrymen were daily suffering . Their hearts must have been as callous _* as the rocks which form

      their mountains , if they had not bled at the scenes of distress which have never been absent from their eyes . They could not have stood at the bedside—bedside did we say ?—we mean by the heap of dirty , mouldering straw , upon which some famine-stricken wretch , or some victim of man-bred fever and pestilence was breathing his last , wbile wife and children stood round , with grief rendering yet more haggard their hunger-wasted faces and shrunken limbs , without a deep curse bursting out of their human nature , at the system which worked , or permitted such atrocities

      and they could not have looked around upon that land , among the most fertile of all the lands of the earth—a land capable of support _, ing ten times the present number of its _inhatants in plenty and happiness—they could not have seen drove after drove of fatted beasts , and ship load npon ship load of golden grain , sent from the very enamel house of famine to the abode of comparative plenty , so that the insatiate cry for " rent ! rent ' . " might be satisfied , and the gaping jaws of moneymongers , and usurers and such vile creatures as fatten and swell upon the misery and downfall ofthe workers , without feeling that landlordism had squandered its resources in debauchery ; and at the last gasp of its

      profligate and reckless existence was seeking to prolong it ' s life , by sucking the very heart ' s blood of the despairing workers . The priests must have been either more or less than men , if they could have seen this and borne it tamely ; and besides , the very existence of their order was at stake , and they could not afford to stand by passive spectators . The Protestant clergyman , belonging to a church richl y endowed b y laws , can do without a congregation . Perhaps , indeed , sure of their pay , the less souls there are for them to shrive , the better they are pleased . They can manage to get on without being disturbed from their port wine after dinner , or their snug bed at night , to ride over miles of mountain or bog , to comfort the last hourB of a dying Binner , but the Catholic priest is in a very

      different position . The existence of a peasantry Is lo him a necessity . He must have a flock . The voluntary , or semi-voluntary offerings , upon which he exists , come , for the most part _^ from among the poorest in the land . "Every cabin levelled to the ground by a remorseless middleman of a remorseless landlord—every small farmer ' 8 crop seized , or cows driven for arrears , substracts something from his income —and every death or emigration diminishes his congregation . The temporal as well as the spiritual condition of the people , is bound up with his own self-interest , and putting out

      of sight that even the very blackest hearted and moBt callous of men could not live among an affectionate peasantry in the same way as the Roman Catholic pastor lives among his flock , without , to some extent , sharing in their joys , sympathising with their troubles , and being touched by their miseries we see sufficient of mere worldly reasons , to account for the priests sinking , for the time , their old religious bitterness , and joining with the "black north in a bold straggle for the attainment of tenant right for all Ireland , heralded in by the vast meeting at Enniscarthy , mentioned at greater length in another part of our columns .

      Of course , landlordism , both here and in Ireland , shrieks out its universal affright at the idea of an attempt to interpose between the lords ofthe soil , and the slaves who till it . They regard it as an impious interference with the most sacred of rights , that those who , through long centuries , have abused the usurpation , dignified by the legal name ofa constitutional trust , so as to make it the means of subserving their own indolence and debauchery , and inflicting ruin , expatriation , and death , upon hundreds of thousands—whose crimes , or errors , or both , have been the means of

      wrecking the happiness of a warm-hearted people , and desolating one of the loveliest of God's creations—should not be called to an account for their past miscalled ' stewardship , but be prevented from making of it , in the future , such a Moloch as it has been in thepast . Their outcries reach even up to the heavens which have so long looked down upon their misdeeds . Forgetting the wrongs of property , they appeal to its rights ; and ask , who dare to meddle with them as clamorous as foul birds of prey , scared in affright from the carcase upon which they have been battening .

      And well may peasant landlordism , in trembling horror ; clamour thus , and be afraid ; for the day if not of retribution , of reckoning , is coming to them and theirs , and that quickly The eyes of reformers of all countries , as well as of Ireland , are turning to the land as the only means of securing the temporal salvation of the people . They feel that without a right to plant his foot upon the soil , man is but an alien in the land of his birth ; that without some right to draw from the bosom of the universal mother the necessaries of ' existence , he is but an outcast in the world . They feel tbat if the land is to be held any longer by a privileged aristocracy , that aristocracy must hold

      it as a trust , and not b y any divine rig ht in disguise—in trust for the good ofthe whole people , and not as a means of making them paupers and slaves ; and that the ag itation for Tenant Right in Ireland , where the trust has been overmuch abused—to England , where it has been abused more than enoug h—will be as certain as the progress of an epidemic , which , propelled by natural laws , roves resistlessly from east to west , and no man staying its march . In fact , this Tenant Right , giving the people some sort of hold upon the eartb f rests upon a wider basis than a mere Irish ag itation , which is but a sign heralding the advent of Justice to the nations of the earth ; and before that cry the demou of class desdotism first holds his breath in terror , aud then

      stuns us with his _outnes . The landlords and their orgauB wish to know why the law is to be invoked to regulate their bargains with their tenants , any m oj _, _*^ any other sort of commercial bargains i _* * tenant , " they say , " is free either to taketheir land or let it alone - why , then , should tne

  • Citation
    • Northern Star (1837-1852), Sept. 28, 1850, page 4, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/ns/issues/ns3_28091850/page/4/