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Northern Star (1837-1852), 3rd June 1843, Edition 4 of 5, Page 4, TO THE GRAND JTRY OF THE COITNTY OF WEST...

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      To The Grand Jtry Of The Coitnty Of West...

      TO THE GRAND JTRY OF THE _COITNTY OF WESTMEATH . < jE _> tlzhes , —The page of history will record -with indignation a late transaction of yours . At Midsummer _AsrZiS yon voted a _eerrice of plate to the officers of the _Wiciaow Militia , for their exertion * in _preserving the peace -tf yonr conDty . Before I animadvert od yonr conduct , I * _h * _" take a _sbort review of seme of those transactions which _reconunended these gentlemen to yonr r-atitude aad favour . These men of blood , from the moment they entered tbe _service cf tbe present Administration , ( I can't aay that cf their country ) foresaw that the high read to preferment _, was to wade through _bloody to turn boosts , imaolstc victims mo matter whether guilty or innocent ,

      to _scrpurt the system cf terror , perhaps open the false _charge of the basest of _awwains or miscreants , called as _bifarmer , or perhaps their own suggestion , plunge the -larger into the breast of hoary and helpless age , and _cep-ive , by Are and sword , numerous wretched _families of the means of existence , and _Uka their prototypes _, the bloody Cromwell and _Robespierre , hunt lite wild beasts 'or the maroons of Jamaica ) the objects of tbeir vengeance , whose greatest crime is perhaps their btiDg Irishmen , and loving their country . Among the many cruelties practised by the _ facers and privates of this _regio-ent , I shall mention scaie few , which for enormity have not been exceeded by the most _sznguinaiy savages that ever disgraced hnman _ntturs .

      A Lieutenant well-known by the name cf the _Walking-rallows , at the head of a party of the regiment , _Eiarebed to a place called _G-anderstown , in your county ; tbey went to the house of an old man _iname-3 Carroll , " of seventy years and upwards , aid a _* ked for arms , and having promised protection and indemnity , the old man delivered up to this _iii _^ nster three guns , which he no _sooner received , than he with his own hands shot the old _sian through tie heart , and then had his boiis itwo young men butchered ; _bcri-ed and destroyed thtir h * _-ase , eorn . hay , and in _ahoit every property they _possessed . The wife and child of one of the sons -were enclosed in the _htaise when ? et fire to , and would have bsen bnmet ; had not one of the soldiers begged their lives from the officer ,

      but on condition that if the bitch ( using his own words ) made the least _ioise they _should share ihe same fate ss the rest of the family . This bloody transaction _happens ] about two o ' clock on Monday morning , the 29 th of June last . He then pressed a . car , on which the three deed bodies were thrown ; and from thence ¦ went to a village called Myvore , took into custody three men , named Henry Smith , John Smith , and _Michel Murray , under pretence of their _beiug United Irisbinen ; mi having tied them to the car on which the mangled bodies of the _Carrolls were plaeefl , they were marched about three miles , passing in the blood of their murdered neighbours , and at three _o'cl _^ ck on

      the same day were shot on the fair green of _Ballyaiore ; and so universal was tbe panic that a man could not be procured to inter the six dead bodies—the sad office _wtis _obliged to be done by women . The Iaentenant _, on the morning of th" deliberate and sanguinary murder , invited several gentlemen to stay and see what he calltd partridge shooting . It may not be improper to remark , _tkat Lord Oxmantown remonstrated with the officers on the monstrous cruelty of putting these men to death , who might , if tried by the laws of their country , _sppear innocent . He begged and ? _ntreatt * l to have them sent to gaol , and _prosecuttd according to law ( if any proof J _conld be _brought agah-st them ) , but his hnmsne efforts ' _proved fruitless—the men were murdered .

      On the fair-day of Ballymore _iTth of June ? a poor -m _^ n of irreproachable character , named _Keenan , after Belling his cow , had his hand extended to receive the price of her , when this valiant soldier struck him _with his sword on the shoulder , and almost severed the arm from his body . A young man named Hynes _, a mason , passing throngh ths fair , on his way home , was attacked by this ferocious savage , and in the act of begging his life upon his knees , was cut down by the Lieutenants own bands , and left lying for dead . A clergyman , ut the imminent risk of his life , lew to the victim to administer the last consolation of religion , wben three of tha militia were ordered b _: _rt , and to make use of a vulgar phrase , made a ricdie of his body ; the clergyman , _however , escaped _enhrt-t . The Lientenant , however , ? _:-- > t EC-niewh . it ashamed cf this business ; and , by way of _apology far his conduct , alleged that some stones were throw . _thcujh it is a notorious fact that : to snch ihin _.,

      Latpened . The clerk of Mr- Dillon , of BaI . yn . ahon , bein ; in the fair transacting his employer ' s business , was so ir . _n-. _oied by this valiant soldier and his party that hia life _wj _despsired cf . Sixteen persons ( _whoao names 1 have carefully entered : were so cnt , maimed , and _ubused , that many of them are rendered miserable objects for the remainder of their lives- So much _far keeping the peace of the country . To create inhabitants for the hospital or tbe grave seems to be the favourite mea sure oftraranillizinz a nation .

      A village called Moyvore was almos * at the dead hour of tbe night Eet on fire , nnder the direction of Captain O and the humane lieutenant , _acd hurt td Vj the ground , except _& _ix houses . Captain O , _pottsssmg a _liitle mote humanity- seemed to _fttl lor the unparalleled distress thereby _occasioned ; white _tki-t modern . Sero only laughed at the progress of tbe destructive element , and ealled bis brother < ffi _^ r a chicken-hearted fellow for his seeming compassion—for leehns a pang at the miseries he _fcimself _crc-aitA , s < . _eiti ; cumbers of his fellow-creatures _petrified with horror at viewing their little properties consnmed , and afraid to make the leas : complaint , seeing that military CXfieution was their _ii-fcVHaWIe fate -should thev make the least _mnrmnr . Good God i is this the -way ts make _iVir > Constitution revered or the Government _respected ? Hari Lord North still lived and had ihe _cor-jid / _niCf r his May-sty , he would never recommend the practice of _& _Ose _measures to save Irduxdwhich lost America .

      2 _si _» w gentlemen of the jury , if these and _Hich like are the meritorions actiens , which have rendered ths _cent _' _-e-Eien of the Wicklow Militia so amiable in your eyes—1 blush for the country which gave me birth ; and must declare tbat bis Majesty has not greater enemies than the men who would commit , or the men who abet and encourage such crimes What do you teach the _great _masi -jf tht peop . e to believe by sneh conduct but that the roe-clou uf a _forie _^ n enemy would be mercy compared to' _« the g- _naious efforts t beyond the law" -as they axe called-, ot cur own -military .

      Bnt , gentlemen , let me ask you , would it not have been more decent and even complimentary io the objects © I your _esteem bad you made a collection amongst yourselves for this service of plate , than to attempt to saddle upon an injured county & tax tor the remuneration of murder , conflagration and calamity 1 Shall the owners of near 500 houses destroyed by tire , and the relations of those victims sacrificed by those sanguinary iiastruments of oppression , be obliged to pay for enormities which will cast an indelible stain upon a county which could produce a Grand Jury capable of becoming accessories to such unheard of _cruelties . But , gentlemen , though you have voted tbe tax , it is not yet raised , but will , J hope , Joe traversed with effect —you may thereby have the satisfaction of purchasing out of your own pockets , and affixing a motto suitable to the occasion , "Written in blood and cemented by fire , The wrath of heaven and the scours * of men .

      As you dont aeem to be well acquainted with the early character of tbe objects of your regard , I shall take leave to _insert aa address very different from yr . nrs to those gentlemen—Copied from the Dublin Ever . _inj Post , and dated 2 & th May , 1705 : — To such of the OFFICERS of his Majesty ' s WICKLOW Regimes ! cf MILITIA , as authorized the _^ insertion of the following chef D _' _auvB-E of wit and decency in the Strabane Journal , of 20 th of April , 1795 : — " Wanted for the service of the officers who compose the mess of Ms Majesty ' s Wicklow _Regiment of Militia ,

      TWELVE BEAUTIFUL GIRLS , who have not inhabited the town of _Strabaae , since the 5 th of April , 1791 . As wage is hy no means the object , it is expected tbat none will apply who do not produce a certificate , signed by eight respectable matrons , of their having their VIRTUE , PCBEsnd u > scllied . No girl will answer above the age of 18 or under that of 14 . —Application te be made to the regimental matron , Mrs . Catherine Smyth , Bowling Green , Strabane . —N . B . —Growing girls of the age of 13 , if approved of , and highly recommended may possibly be taken . "

      Away . ' no woman could descend so low . _< A skipping , dancing , worthless tribe yon are ; Fit only for youraelvee—you herd together ; And when the circling glass warms your vain hearts , You talk of beauties that you never saw , And fancy raptures that yen never knew . Ton blast the fair with lies , because they scorn you , Hate you like aire , like ugliness , and impotence . ' Rather than make you blest , they would die Virgins , And stop the propagation of mankind . Polite and Gallant Gentlemen , —As a native of the town of Strabane , I shall make no apology for thus _oflihi-ing to your notice a few strictures on the above Wanton and unprecedented outrage to the feelings of a

      respectable community . And this I mean to do , with all the honest fee--lorn of a mind indignant at the brutality of men—who could bo far forget the dignity of their nature , aa to wing a dastardly shaft at tbat noaonx , whkfc it abouM be their chief pride to defend —to aim a cowardly Wow at the happiness of that sex , to protect whom from insult , they should , were it necessary , form a rampart of their bodies . Pray , ye _tnisty guardians of eur venerated constitution and ¦ acred _region , which of the heroes or the Grecian or Soman Commonwealths , do ye propose to yourselves as models ? In what page of the history of those celebrated nations , bave you discovered that it is meritorious to blight the characters of " Gud _' a taireM .

      creation ?" I will explain to you the motives of your conduct : motives , which even your baseness wHl _frnsh at , and meanness disown . It was from a principle cf sordid and unmanly revenge , for not _btingiimted to the tables . of the _diixens of Strabane , that you _endeavoured , by scandalous insinuations , to sully the virtue of their wives and daughters , virtue , ever which , neither your personal nor your intellectual charms , enabled you to triumph . Imagine not that a red coat can _mttamorphcBe a down into a _Mcpsenas , a _Therates into an _Adonis-gNo ; tike gorgeous trappings upen an ass , ii

      To The Grand Jtry Of The Coitnty Of West...

      selves but to render elemental meanness still more contemptible . Well indeed has it been mid , " that the age of chivalry is gone . " Scarcely does it admit of belief , that at the close of the eighteenth century , men bearing hia _ilajesty's Commission , should have substituted tbe obscene manners of the stews for the gentlemanly conduct which ever characterises the true soldier . I here take my leave ef you—trusting that I have infixed on you such a frontJet of infamy , as cannot fail to insure you a cordial reception from the inhabitants of the next town that shall experience the blessing of your protection . I have the honour to be , Gentlemen , Tour most obedient , humble servant , TlIOMAS SINCLAIR , _2-SLh May , 1795 , Nc . 8 , Trinity-place , Dublin .

      I shall now take leave of yon for the present , trusting tbat you are or will become ashamed of your conduct . The avenging hand of God has struck one of the principal springs which heretofore set yon in motion , he was called like tbe tyrant of Russia before tbat tribunal where no ascendancy will prevail , but that of virtue , truth , and justice . A Freeholder of Westmeath .

      Ar00402

      REPEAL OF THE UNION . As the agitation upon this subject progresses every new feature as it presents itself opens fresh _ground for conjecture . It ever has been , and so it ever wni be , that questions of philosophy , of policy , or of morality , will have their supporters and opponents ; the one urging on to success , and the other breathing resistance and hostility . The larger and the more embracing the subject , the greater will be the variety of opinions on the respective sides . The magnitude then

      of the _question of Repeal will naturally lead to the _conclusion that amongst its supporters aro to be found classes , communities , and even individuals , who , though united in action , are by no means induced to take part from the same causes , nor do tbey look for a similar result from the suooess of their undertaking . Before , then , wo discuss the subject on its own merits , we are bound to consider in how far the question now at issue between the two countries is relieved of that political embarrassment in general so fatal to the accomplishment of any great national object . The reader will see the

      great , tho almost insurmountable difficulties by which we are surrounded in thus being called upon to c-iution and advise , to encourage and reason _apon bo large and all-important a subject almost in a breath . The rolling murmurs of a nation's voice following in rapid _succession after the flash of a nation's mind are pealing , and each new shock would be well calculated to shake the nerve , or turn from hia purpose , the commentator who was unaccustomed to , or unacquainted with , the portions of which the

      jarring elements are composed . In the thunder we recognise the nation's voice , in the lightning which precedes it we recognise the nation ' s _wih ; and , from this idea , we may gather the nation ' s strength . Of what avail however is strength , if ill directed It is then to the direction of that strength , and to a _consideiation of whs its united efforts , if virtuously used , may accomplish , tbat we shall direct the reader's attention . _Wf-re we to allow ourselves to argue upon the problematical desires , motives , or intentions by which ; he Repealers ( or the several

      sections comprising the main force ) are actuated , we sbon'd be doing the _yerj thing which the disturbers , ihe political dissenters , the troublesome , the dissatisfied , and unquiet , desire , and such a course would be pre-eminently calculated to produce a result diametrically opposite to that which , by union , the real advocates of the measure earnestly desire to bring about . While , therefore , we shall contrast the condition of Ireland immediately antecedent to the act of Union with her present condition while struggling for a Repeal of that measure , and although

      in the contrast , much cause for caution may be foui . d , none for alarm need exist . It will be seen that at the former period the leaders in the cause of Irish liberty were strongly linked , and amicably _bound with the Kn _^ lish opposition , or tbo Fox party , and it may reasonably be inferred that that policy which was practised by the Whigs from 1796 to 1 G 00 , with a Tiew to their restoration to power , may be again resorted to by the same party for a similar purpose . Here , then , we have in a sentence , boldly stated the one , the only , ghost which can haunt the mind of the timid , tho only argument

      that can be used t > v the _anful and the wily . We have shown it but to _des . roy it . Tbere are several reasons , therefore , which render the parallel as to the respective times incoaip . ete . From 1796 to 1800 Ireland had a Parliament , ai . d from 1782 to that period , when the French Revolution affrighted " the great . statesman now no more , " Ireland had progressed in domestic improvements , and great national undertakings , as no country ever advanced before ; hence all the capabilities for achieving national greatness were developed , and Ireland gav _« a practical proof to the world in those days , a .

      Belgium has in later times , that as a nation sh < may be rich and powerful , while as a province _sh « must be weak and _mpoverished . In those year " preceding the Act of I _' nion the English _oppositiot were sincere in their advocacy of Ireland ' s rights they sought no Union at the expense of Iris ! _interests , and , above all , did they deprecati the means resorted to for the accomplishmen of the object . At that time alto tbe Iri .-h peopli were degraded serfs , tillers of their own estate un < 3 cr alien landlords , looked upon by the jaundice * eye of the State as unchristian dogs . They were un

      enfranchised , or rather tantalized with the poi privilege of voting for the choice of their cnemie for though the slaves had votes , yet those of the own religious and political creed were ineligible to s in the Commons' House of Parliament . Under i these circumstances , then , it was not unlikely tb a powerful Irish party , backed by the _Eiigli : opposition , should have considered the differen between a Whig Ministry pledged to Catho ] emancipation , and a Tory Ministry bent upon l siBting it , a motive sufficiently strong to arouse great national feeling in favour of the Fox ai

      Fitzwilliam party . At the period of which \ write Ireland might be said to be wholly destitute any national mind . Her councils were directed 1 those who sought objects which were represented the people as likely to be beneficial ; but behii those great advantages , which were placed in t foreground , it was easy to Tecognise the real obj < of the promoters o f dissatisfaction ; and , althou Catholio Emancipation may have been used as t rallying standard fer discontent , and although t full length portrait of Irish liberty was alwa placed foremost in the grouping , yet was it impos ble to conceal from view the bust of a Fox

      Chaelemont representing some private interest , party anticipation , Now , how different the state of the respect : parties ; Ireland had full four years of tortu persecution , cruelty , and murder , before the Uni < while , since that event , she has had _forty-thi years of unremitting and unmitigated suffer ! and sorrow . She is now a nation of sob minded Irishmen , who can no longer be jngg ] by the fascinations or promises of the English < position , who have registered their determination vows as strong and deadly aa are those of the Toi to preserve the contract even to the death . It is t .

      that an antidote was promised with the pois > and was administered in four years after in 1 shape of an " ArmB Bill , " which , if not as degradi to blacksmiths , was equally calculated and as mi intended to deprive the Irish people of the me : of defence as tbe one now before Parliamei and yet this Bill was brought in by the p sent opposition , and not complained of by Irish people . We throw this out , not as a taunt the leaders of the Irish , but to exhibit it as < instance of the incapacity of sections , part : or individuals , to make the Repeal quest NOW a means of restoring the Whigs

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      power . Indeed the English Chartists who have suffered grievously at the hands of tbat annihilated faction have not been more lavish in their abuso of them than Mr . O'Connell has recently been . How then , we _atk , can any man give him credit for 8 hrewdness , sagacity , and foresight , and , at the same time charge him with making the repeal agitation subservient for Whig purposes 1 But for a moment supposing such intention to be even possible , what

      would be the result of the experiment ! Why naturally the first step in that direction would be his last move on the political stage . The sober mind of Ireland can see more clearly than in her intoxication _^ e was wont to do . In her calm reflecti on she can ponder upon her wretchedness , while her sober mind imbibes those stinging truths so continuously instilled by her leaders and whereby she learns that to be free her sons must bo united ; and to be great she must be independent .

      Englishmen , though often deceived , have so fond an affection for Ireland and their Irish brethren , that they have already spoken , without recollection of the past;—and are they to form no section in this great imperial movement ? Is any politician so blind as not to see , eo senseless as not to understand , that without the cooperation of tho English working classes the English Minister would be able to crush the Repeal agitation at will ; while , with their assistance , no power at the disposal of the strong Government can

      successfully resist the onward march of freedom in Ireland ? It is true that the mere Whigs of the present day would direct the Irish mind to those paltry pursuits to which , from 1796 to 1800 , the same party but too successfully directed it before . Upen the recall of Eurl Fuzwilliam and the appointment of his successor Earl Camden , the Irish mind was roused to a state of frenzy not unjustified by the cruel and bloody deeds and exterminating policy of tho latter viceroy . But now how unfortunate , instead of being able to boast of a system of good national policy , tho Whigs , while in opposition , can but point attention to the manner in which tho

      favoured few were promoted and aggrandized at the expense of the injured many . But upon the other hand if a Tory attempt is made to degrade the Irish people to the rank of slaves by depriving them of those arms which by the Bill of Rights they are entitled to possess , Whig opposition is silenced or rendered puerile and captious by being reminded of their own Bill of 1838 , framed with a similar intent . Must not then the Irish people have learned that lesson which the English Chartists have long since learned—that if their work is to be done , it must be done by themselves , for themselves .

      We do not stop to answer , or even to comment upon , the hair-splitting philosophy of the Times upon the Repeal of the Union . We leave that immaculate print in full possession of all tbat consolation which it can derive from the registered determination of Archbishop Murray to flounder on the top of the Saxon muddle , rather than join in the restoration of his country ' s rights , by just remarking that " one swallow does not make a summer , " neither does one Archbishop make a nation . In answer to those who would urge even

      the possibility of a halt for Whig purposes , we would say look to the broad sheet of Irish mind , which we lay before you . Think of tho wrongs that that gallant country has endured . Reflect upon the little hope which the leaders hold out from the restoration of Whiggery , and from tbe great advanr ta _^ es which are described as likely to follow the acquisition of her independence . Look again to the monies subscribed , to the vows registered , to the plans propounded , to the feelings enlisted , to the different sections invited for the accomplishment of

      this great national object , and , then let any man ask himself where can it stop short , even by an inch , of the promised goal ? Will Ireland again relapse into stupor ! Will she again recognise her lull measure of justice in the religion of a placeman , a policeman , or a judge ? Will her people crawl iu their sea-bound dungeon in manacles , that a chosen few may beard the oppressor with hard words ! No ! the days of Irish folly have passed away and the light of Irish reason tellB tho Irish oppressor that the days of his greatness are numbered . It is for

      these reasons that we look upon the progress as a more than mere Irish question , more than an imperial question , a universal question . What can so humble the crest of the haughty English Oligarchy as the fact of its "bridle arm" being cut off ? what can so humiliate the Protestant Church as the fact of its being deprived of its " whip hand ! " Will the querelous politician point out to es _atiy one means by which the power of the people could be more clearly developed and more profitably brought into action , than by the accomplisment of the present object of the Repealers

      Will any man say , or for a moment suppose , that the Irish people ( in the event of the Union being Repealed by the English Parliament ) would allow an Irish Parliament to be called together upon any other principle than that of Universal Suffrage ? The man who thinks bo must have but a poor opinion of what the present popular mind , in the hour of triumph , would demand as a complete measure of justice , and as a means of preserving it . We are awaro —perfectly aware—of the great and mighty influences , both foreign and domestic , which will be forced into operation for the suppression of this national movement . Tho mind will be fretted and

      irritated by surm . se , calculations , and reports . The union of all opposing influences to hope for even a suspension or delay , must be as complete as the union of the Irish people appears to be for the accomplishment of the measuro . Let us see then whether or no we have any right to expect that such a union can be formed out of the conflicting elements of opposition . The Queen being nothing , we naturally leave her out of the question . In the Lords is

      embodied the Oligarchy in its united character of Church and State , where the rents and privileges of the Lords Temporal are protected by the Lords Spiritual , upon the understanding tha' the Lords Temporal shall protect the first fruits and the tenth fruits for their Spiritual brethren , so that at all times they may enjoy them . In the Prime Minister we find the most perfect embodiment of administration apart , from the Oligarchy , and to this point under ordinary circumstances we should look as the mirror in which

      would be reflected the Tria juncta in Uno , the i Oligarchy , the Church , and the State . In the pre' . sent agitation , however , we discover much to cause , ! dissension and disunion amongst those heretofore united parties . We speak of men as machines , and i without fear . And while we deprecate the policy of i a party , we shall enter without bias into an impari ; tial consideration as to how far individual character would be likely to operate upon the general councils of the body .

      L pon Sir Robert Peel , then , as Prime Minister , | the issue of the present struggle must much depend ; , j we shall therefore consider what are likely to be t ! those influences which would operato upon him to j resist or concede . The motives which might lead to ! i resistance , would be a dread of outraging the j | domestic faction in Ireland , who we verily believe . j look for another blood-letting , to bo followed by [! another extermination of the Catholics and another . < partition of the soil . i '¦ Upon the other hand , the motives for concession 3 1 will be these . Firstly , the chances if not the

      eerie ) tainty ef defeat , and , secondly , we do not consider i , j Sir Robert Peel to be a cruel man , far from it . He le | is ambitious of fame , and in his calculations for its ig j achieve ment he would make the existing state of the ih j human mind his denominator , and from that he would is _: learn tbat the time has arrived when the triumph ; . of a statesman must consist in the subjugation b- I of his passions and in a timeiy yielding to the public le _ywill of such changes as can only be resisted by brute to ; force . If the _struggle is _ailowaJ to progress peacele ! ably , who - or a moment can doubt the result I while fi , | upon the ether hand , who but . most shudder at the > n ! eff-: et wbb : h an _onslau-a ;' i ' . - lpon the Irish people to ¦ would have upon the English _miua , heightened and

      Ar00404

      exaggerated as those accounts would most probably be to the indignation of those hundreds of thousands of enthusiastic Irishmen now abiding amongst us , and whose every aspiration for the suocess of their countrymen at home would find a quick response from every English working man ' s breast . In truth it is time that Ireland should be a nation governed by Irish Laws , made by Irishmen , chosen by Irishmen , and for the benefit of the Irish peoplo ; and in this holy struggle , God forbid that the country should be threatened with a recurrence of those scenes , an account of whioh now lies before us , and which make our English cheeks blush while we peruse them , and of which will be found a specimen in a letter published in our fourth page , from " A Freeholder of Westmeath , to the Grand Jury of that county . "

      We ask the English reader carefully to read and calmly to reflect upon that letter . From that he will learn the manner in which the Union was forced upon the Irish people , and from it he will gather tho importance whioh the same faction attaches to a continuance of this unholy bond , by which Irishmen are made _slavea , and Foreigners their task-masters . From that ho will learn the manner in which a love for the English Constitution has been stamped by the English law upon the Irishman's back , and branded upon the Irishman ' s cheek ; and how their offspring , who- witnessed the tender mercies of this protective system , must have imbibed in childhood that love and regard so

      manifest m their present demand to be relieved from its further operation . From that he will learn , that in the dead of night the innocent , the unoffending , and unsuspeoting peasant , being first disarmed , was dragged from his bed , huug at his own door , without even the formality or semblance of a mock trial , while his cottago was sot in flames , lest the darkness of night should spare the widowed mother and her frenzied orphans tho torture of witnessing tho sad spectacle . We ask , then , whether Irishmen can ever have forgotten these things ? and nature and reason answer never ; for , though there is no trace of the humble cot , and though the victim has ceased to

      breathe" Yet the blackness of ashes still marks whore it stood , While the wild mother _scteam'd o'er ber famishing brood . " If , then , our English mind , after such a perusal , forbids our English hand , under our present feelings , to etch tho portrait farther , what must bo the feelings of Irishmen , against whose fathers , whose mothers , and whose country such acts were committed \ When we pause , it is high time that they should reflect . We cannot trust ourselves to say more than that precisely the same course which was pursued by Casti . ereagh and his myrmidoms , for the purpose of effecting the U nion , appears to be that which his successors are determined to follow . Then , as nOW , A DISARMING BILL WAS rilE FIRST BLOW .

      Ar00405

      scarcely avoid the conclusion , either that the Government is , in . every respect , worse served than private persons are , or that there is some complicity . If these blunders are as the law now stands inevitable , —if it is a stark impossibility to state , in the form of an indictment , with sufficient precision to satisfy the judicial understandings of the judges , any accusation against a political _offender , by all means , in mercy to the community , let them be freed at once from tbe legal cobwebs in which they are enveloped : let a law at once be enacted so simple that blunders will be impossible ; or , if that is hopeless , give the Judges , under sufficient checks , the power of correcting mere technical errors .

      If the fault rests , as we presume to be the . case , with some of the minor officials , let the blunderers be trusted no longer . But whatever be done , let the Government and their legal advisers , in case the present indictment should be quashed for informality , take care to place themselves beyond the reach of suspicion as to their motives , by having fresh and ( for once ) correctly drawn indictments preferred the instant tbat the decision of the Judges shall be made known . By this alone will they be able to atone to the country for tbe , defaults of those whom they have trusted , and to prove tbat those defaults were neither directly uor indirectly sanctioned by themselves . "

      Who will dare , after this , to hazard the displeasure of Goody Grandam Tempus , by not imprisoning Chartists where the wishes it ? I Seriously , if it was worth any body ' s while to be serious with the Times , we have never seen a more impudent attempt to bully the judges than is here made : nor have we often seen an attack in which mendacity - or what " plain people" call lying , is more boldly brazened out . Nobody knows better than this hired hack of the real instigators of the strike , that " Feargus O'Connor and his associates '' did no such thing a 3 " encourage 'divers evil disposed

      persons' to assemble together and commit various acts of violence , for the immediate purpose of putting a stop to work in the manufacturing districts , and with the ulterior object of carrying their Charter . " We presume that the Times would in all probability class us with " the associates of Feargus O'Connor "; we hav « reason to know that a copy of this paper is received by the Times every week ; the Times is therefore perfectly aware of tbe part taken in the matter of the strike both by Feargus O'Connor and " . his associates "; the Times knew therefore that in writing this paragraph , he wrote a deliberate

      and wilful lie . He knew perfectly that the facts were directly in the teeth of his statement ; that so far from " encouraging" those " evil-disposed persons" to " assemble and commit various acts of violence , " we discouraged , openly and boldly , not only the " various acts of violence , " but also , under the circumstances , the " assemblies" in question , irrespective of all reference to violenGe ; that so far from connecting with the strike " the ulterior object of carrying the Charter" , we from first to last denounced the strike as a treacherous display of impotence , got up by the enemies of the Charter . The

      Times knows perfectly that from the beginning " Feargus O'Connor and his associates" told the Chartists that the strike was a trap for them , and that none but fools or kuaves would lead them into it ; he knows that we have throughout maintained the same doctrine ; that we maintain it still , and , if we needed confirmation of it , we have that confirmation , sufficient and abundant , in the ravings of the Times at the probability of our escaping from the trap after having been not led into it , but flung into it , by the combined power of folly , treachery , and cowardice . To get the "law upon Feargus

      O'Connor and his associates was a matter of some moment to the vile money-faction of which the Times is an organ and representative ; it was an object they had long , vainly but earnestly sought to compass ; and , to compass that object , THEY planned the Btrike ; THEY carried out the strike ; THEY hired myrmidons and emissaries to entrap the people , in tho hope of so coming at" Feargus O'Connor and his associates , " and their emissaries—their mouthing myrmidons —did so far succeed in dragging the suffering people into their meshes , as " that Government found it necessary to employ troops for putting down the _distuibances , aad to send a special commission iu

      order that the offenders might be brought to justice , " and " that many scores of the poor dupes are now expiating their offences by undergoing the penalties of the law . " These are all " facts so notorious that no one can entertain the remotest shadow of a doubt upon them ; " and the unblushing Times , knowing these facts to be so , is most virtuously indignant ; with the judges , the lawyers , and the Government , that they do not at once , like the Corn Law Repealing magistrates , who first " had them in tow , " handle the pretext impudently , and without further regard to law or ceremony , stick " Fearc u 3 O'Connor and his associates" into gaol !

      Tho " free" booting scamps , for whom the Times acts as " Drab" and " Squaller , " are absolutely wild at seeing their precious project likely , after all , to fail , because lawyers have some regard for the law , and judges some deference for justice . Let the Times " bide a wee " : we are not to be dragged into any premature developements : likelier customers than the Times have tried to bring us there and failed : we furnish no handle for enemies , whether the Times , the Times' masters , or the Times' tools : the argument U not yet over ; when it is , we may , perhaps , have our say upon that same " stopping of work in the manufacturing districts , " and on the " villany" by which the Times and his masters have been enabled to connect with it the names of " Feargus O'Connor and his associates . "

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      mischiefs which the indictment alleges to have been done ; but that , afterwards" The said Feargus O'Connor , & c , together witi , divers other evil disposed persons to the jurors afar said as yet unknown , did unlawfully , and in tk county aforesaid , aid , abet , assist , comfort , _eupD _ort and encourage the said evil disposed persons i ' this count first mentioned , to continue and persist i the said unlawful assemblings , threats , intimidation and violence . ' * _^ while , at the same time the indictment does not Bhew that these proceedings were persisted in at all i We are thus therefore clearly charged with aidinp and abetting an offence which is not shewn to hat been committed .

      Mr . Justice Patteson made the Attorney General feel the " fix" that he was in , when ha said : — " The count charges that the defendants aided and assisted the evil-disposed persons first mentioned to continue and persist in the said unlawful _assembling threats , intimidations and violence , but it does not aver that they did continue and persist therein Could you say , in an indictment for murder , that the prisoner aided and assisted A . B . in commuting murder , without alleging that murder was com . mitted 1 " And the only answer the Attorney-General could give to this was that : —

      " He apprehended that if one man were charged with aiding and assisting another to do a particular vt _\ it must be presumed that the act itself had been done . " And with all deference to the Attorney-General ' s logic we must pronounce this presumption' of his to be a monstrous assumption . If , when one man is charged with aiding and assisting another to do a particular act , it must be always presumed that the

      act itself has been done , it must follow that it ia not necessary to enquire whether the act itself has been done or not ; and , then , it is quite clear that circumstantial evidence without any perjury or intentional injustice might very easily lead to the conviction and punishment of parties for a supposed aiding and abetting of that which had never been done at all and even against the authority of the _Attobset-General we venture to " presume" that the law does not contemplate any such monstrosity .

      The Solicitor-General was a little more dexterous and disingenuous , but not a whit more successful , in his dealing with the same subject . He said : — " The indictment did not , it was true , allege that these parties did persist and continue to do what they had done , but it was unnecessary to make snch an averment . The offence committed by the defendants would have been the same whether those parties persisted or not . "

      Now , no one knew better than the _Solicitob-General that " the offence committed by the defendants" had nothing to do with the matter . The question before the Court was not " the offence committed by the defendants " , but the validity of the indictment ; and the matter to be talked of , therefore was , not " the offence committed by the defendants " , but the offence charged in _the'tedictment . The offence charged in the indictment was that of aiding and assisting these other parties to continue

      and persist in the conduct described . Now , if these parties did not " continue and persist" in this conduct , it is clear that ' no one could aid and assist them in doing so ; and it is clear , therefore , that the indictment ought to shew that they did " continue and persist" when it charges others with aiding and assisting them to do so . The indictment does Mi show this ; and we think it will require better logic than any the Crown has yet exhibited to satisfy the Judges that that objection has been answered .

      In the matter of the fifth count , which is destitute of venue , the Attorney-General tried to make out that tho venue in tbe margin was sufficient . But there was a stunner in the precedent of Minter Hart , cited by Mr . Dundas for the defendants in moving for the rule , and in which case : — " The indictment had the words * London to wit ' in the margin , and the offence was charged to have been committed in the parish of St . Marylebow , without at all stating that the offence was committed in London . It was held that this indictment was bad , and that the omission was not cured by the statute 7 th George IV . cap . 64 , sec . 20 . " . This the Attorney-General met bf _esyisg that : —

      " There , however , the objection was taken before verdict , and while the trial was going on . It wm clear , therefore , that the facts did not apply to tk present case . " A piece of " law" which is effectually " settled" bj Mr . Justice Patteson _' s reply : — " The objection was taken after plea , and ho * can a prisoner take an objection to the indictment after pleading over , unless he moves in _armt of the

      _jadgment ! When issue has once beeu joined , trial must go on to verdict . " And , as a strengthener of this rejoinder of the Learned Judge , we find , in the Times of Monday , a report of the proceedings of the Queen ' s Bench in the matter of the Qoees v . Nott , a Devonshire magistrate , who had been convicted at Exeter of administering an illegal oath , and whose objection to the indictment came , not only after verdict , but after sentence , and was yet admitted , and the judgment set aside on the objection that the indictment did not sufficiently set forth tha offence charged .

      The argument of the Solicitor-General uP ° a this point was a mere repetition of that of the Attorney-General . We apprehend that th « Counsel for defence , when they come to reply , _™ have little difficulty in showing that for all purposes of this count , a venue in the margin is no _venna at all . When the argument will ba resumed we know not , as we have not , at the time of writing thi ? , _recced any further intelligence than that which ° ur refjf will find in the report . But we think it _proW work

      that , if the Counsol for defence do their well as we expect from them , both counts wiU broken down . Meantime the people must _rememW that this further postponement will be a new < _J"S on the funds . Counsel will have to be feed over again , and all expences begun de novo . Theyo not suffer the thing to -be lost . They must P _^ up . " We truly hope that this is the last _dissr _** *' " mess" of this kind they will suffer themselves w be dragged into ; but this they are " in for , _» they must drag through it . Send up the money

      John Cleave . _^ Since writing the above , we have learn ' Saturday ( this day ) is fixed by the _Judge s ton the " reply" to the Crown ' s " ar gument . " TRADES' UNIONS . THE STRIKE 1 > SCOTLAND . _,, As democrats , we honour principle aboTe things ; and next the devotees of principle . if we dissent from the principle , seeing it con- * tiously held , we admire the consistency and ness whioh adheres to it " through thick and We wish to see every man in possess of he _^ riffhts : and . which holden without preju _^

      others' rights , we commend every man the the more tenaciously he maintains and defend * while , surely , as democrats , we rejoice in , struggle for the maintainence of popular _rw the repelling of the power of aggression . So . are these principles fo us , that _notk 1 D _* _\*« p appertains or relates to them ; no V roce l carried on in their name can fail & _^ our interest . Hence , though we bave , ¦ _< said not a word upon the subject , we have no * unobservant of the struggle which has for » _^ of time agitated , * od _Jjas at last rent as under National Church of Scotland ; rending m 0 Te _^ 400 of its Ministers aud Dignitaries at once its communion . Such an event is snre l °

      great interest in the public mind ; the _n _^ * cially when it appears , as in the present tf >» to be induced and pervaded by tho _infliX 1 herence of a large body of learned and ib _^ mea , not merely to the high standard of pr _^ but to the pure one of _democratic princip . e > _^ it seems to be a hold withstanding of m _«»« privilege in defence of universal rig ht .

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      THE _JfORTHERW STAR SATURDAY , JUNE 3 , 1843 .

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      RAVINGS OF DISAPPOINTMENT . THE TIMES v . " FEARGUS O'CONNOR AND HIS ASSOCIATES . " Faction is ever impatient of authority , and reckless of legal _tramtnela , when they impede the fulfilment of its purposes . Its contempt of justice rises , the moment its will is thwarted , and is manifested , more or less plainly or covertly , as circumstances dictate . Sometimes , indeed , it shows

      itself but slightly ;—good ' policy obtaining the advance of disappointment and impatience , and shewing the necessity of at least a shew of decent respect for the laws of its own creation—while , sometimes , on the other hand , fretfulness overcomes prudence , —the flimsy garment of adherence to the constituted order of things is rent , and the " cloven foot" dashed through , with a vehemence suited to its origin and consanguinity .

      Tho factious and scandalously unfair , as well as wretchedly contemptible , proceedings now pending in the Court of Queen ' s Bench , —by which we , personally , and the Chartist public generally , have been robbed of a large amount of money , and subjected to much indignity , and inconvenience—have afforded opportunity for a most impudent display of its impatience under the restraints of law , and its anxiety for unbridled license , to tho most profligate of all the organs and representatives of faction , The Times newspaper , which is absolutely furiousfoaming at the mouth—with rage , because the Judges of Queen ' s Bench pay less attention to the anticipation of its wishes than to their oaths , In his last Monday ' s " explosion" the " Thunderer C ! j thus fulminates : —

      " That Feargus O'Connor and his associates in Lancashire did , between the 1 st of August and the 1 st of October , last year , encourage ' divers evil disposed persons' to assemble and commit various acta of violence for the immediate purpose of putting a stop to work In the manufacturing districts , and with the ulterior object of carrying their Charter ;—that their encouragement had considerable effect , so far as that immediate purpose was concerned ;—that Government found it necessary to employ troops for putting down tho disturbances , and to send a special commission in order tbat the offenders might be brought to justice ;—that many scores of the poor dupes are now expiating their offences by undergoing the penalties of the law for their crimes , —are , we presume , facts so notorious , that no

      one can entertain the remotest shadow of a doubt upon them , unless be happens to bo one of the Justices of her Majesty ' s Court of Queen ' s Bench . Those Learned Judges , who , according to a solemn legal decision , ace ' bound totnke judicial notice that a rump and dcaen means a good dinner and plenty of port , ' are it seems puzzling their brains to ascertain whether or not they are obliged { judicially that is , and iu accordance with their oaths of office , not individually as sensible men ) to be in such a state of interminable doubt whether the riots took place in Lancashire or in Franca , or some other country quite out of their jurisdiction , as that , after the minor fry have been convicted , and imprisoned or transported under sentences delivered by themselves , they must let the principal offenders off _scot free . "

      " After all tho loss of property and life which has been sustained through the _vilhiny of the Chartist tenders ; after the months of suffering entailed on the turnouts through having followed their advice ; after the parade of a special commission , with its thousands of pounds lavished on the law i fficers of the Crown , in order to _insnre the conviction of the _offisudars , the melancholy spectacle is presented of a law as powerless to punish the rich guilty , as it was severe upon the inferior tools who could not purchase legal assistance—of the course of justice being stopped where it _was most of all important that it should have free way ; and this merely through some trumpery slip of the pen which would bave disgraced an attorney's clerk . "

      " ' Technical niceties' is the gentle pbraso applied to these outrages on common sense by a recent Act of Parliament . For our own parts , we are at a loss for an expression sufficiently strong to _characterize their wickedness . " Run , Bsrrr _, run ! and bring water , and an easy chair ; that your Mistress may faint comfortably ! If any one can bring us a finer sample of a city termagant raving herself hoarse , because the husband wont " stand treat" to Whitechapel , or " stump the BrownB" for Greenwich fair , wo promise to endow him with all the honours of " the Thunderer " . i

      • D _.-i r _>„„ j __ it mu i _>> _ _i . i _iir _' iL . But Goody "Thunderer" stops not here . With true woman-like comprehensiveness of anger , her explosion reaches all parties who can hear" the splash . " The understrappers of the Government law offices , the Judges , ttie Government , and the Legislature are all as bad as we are , to permit this contumacy ; and they are _enjoined most noisily forthwith to make such arrangements as may oblige Donald to " Come up and be hanged , and no anger the laird" . Sho thus continues her hodge-podge objurgation of remonstrance , threatening and command : —

      " Surely no pains ought to have been spared—no expense was—to insure the duo execution of the law upon Feargus O'Connor and his associates ; and yet , to judge from what toek place in the Queen ' s Bench on Friday , the indictment against them is about to be placed in the same category with those which were preferred against the Monmouth Chartists , Lord Cardigan , the St . Alban _' s bribers , and many others who bave within the last few years enjoyed an immunity which nothing

      but official supiueness , or worse , could have procured them . With the remembrance of the immense bills of costs which were paid on the last special _commission , it is haid for those out of whose pockets the money came to understand how _8 \ ws could be introduced into , or _buifj _^ _yed to remain iu the indictments . What Uo ths law oflictrs of the Crown , jaA those who iustiuct them , consider t be their duty ? Plain people , r . _neuamoured of 'tochuic . il uicetus , nud _reuteinberiuu to their cost _uutdvy events of ttw last few years , cau

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      \ _T _>** _-r _' _J-S- * _-S J- _S-S-r _^ _rj _, _*^^^^^^ _- _* THE ARGUMENT . From the ravings of the Times , we turn to the " pleadings" of the Attorney and the Solicitor-General ,. And though there is , certainly , less of virulence and mendacity , we discover little more of " argument" in the one than in the other . The Learned Lawyers were very evidently " bother'd " with their case . We havo seldom seen a more lame attempt at reasoning thanithatexhibited by the Crown

      Lawyers ; and yet we confess that we know not how it could have been mended ; ' lis not an easy business to prove black to be white , or to shew the connection of a non sequitur . The Attorney-General laboured long and hard ; but to our _unsophisticated mind his labour seemed vastly like that of a man who should run after a hare—the more he laboured and the more clearly he seemed to be in the wrong . He first set forth the averment of the fourth count , that : —

      On tho 1 st day of Aug ., in the year aforesaid , and on divers other days and times between that day and the 1 st day of October , in the year aforesaid , and at divers places , divers evil-disposed pertons unlawfully and tumultuously assembled together and by violence , threats , and intimidations to divers other persons being then peaceable subjects of this realm , forced the said last-mentioned subjeots to leave their occupations and employments , and thereby impeded and stopped the labour employed in the lawful and peaceable carrying on , by divers large numbers of the subjects of this realm , of certain trades , manufactures , and businesses , and thereby caused great confusion , terror , and alarm in the minds of the peaceable subjects of this realm . "

      Now this averment no one denies or disputes ; although for all that appears upon tho face of it the matters talked of might have happened in Canada or in the East Indies . But the facts are undisputed . There is no question that divers parties did go about at divers times , to divers _places _. and stop tho mills , — the only : question is , whether "Feargus O'Connor and his associates" had any hand ia this . The Attorney General does not contend that they had any direct hand in it ; he does not Bay that they were present at , or took any part in , any one of these " unlawful and tumultuous assemblies "; he does not attempt to show that they took any active

      part in the " violence , threats , and intimidations , " and in "tho impeding and stopping of labour" spoken of ; but he tries to make out that -they were concerned ip it indirectly ; that they aided and abetted —assisted and encouraged—these other parties . Well , what did they aid , and abet , _, and assist , and encourage ihein to do 1—the matters and things here charged against thtm . Not a bi . of it : there is no such thing _charged on us in the indictment . We are charged in the indictment—not with having aided and abetted those " evil disponed persons" in the

  • Citation
    • Northern Star (1837-1852), June 3, 1843, page 4, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/ns/issues/ns4_03061843/page/4/