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«« And I will war, at least in werds, (A...
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THE CAUSE OF POLAND AND THE EDITOR OF TH...
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LITERARY ASSOCIATION OF THE FRIENDS OP P...
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the Horse Shoes, Buckle-street, Whitecha...
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INDIA AND CHINA IMPORTANT NEWS PROM LAHO...
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Tuesday, whilst lying under the sheers t...
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TEN HOURS' BILL ^.Atageneral meeting of ...
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KILBARCHAN. Oo-oPEftATiON.—This village ...
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. ( BANKRUPTS. Josep h Miller, Whittlebu...
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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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«« And I Will War, At Least In Werds, (A...
«« And I will war , at least in werds , ( And—shonld my chan te so happen—deeds , ) Witb . aU . who war with Thought !" ?* I think I hear a little bird , who sings The people by and by will be the stronger . "—Bines . EASTERN EUROPE AND THE EMPEROR SICHOLAS *
so . n . The first volume of this work treats of slavery in the Russian dominions—the Russian rale in Poland—and the Polish emigration . The author answers an objection by those opposed to his inquiries ; these objectors urge that , "Either Russia is dangerous to ier neighbours on account of the strength , which p laces her beyond the reach of western interference , or that she ia weak , and not to be dreaded . " These objectors thence infer that whichever of these positions an author takes up , must considerably diminish the practical importance of his subject , whilst any attempt to prove bath , must involve self-refutation . Jim , what says the author of this work ?
THE RUSSIAN _GOVEBKHEST IS AT OXCE BOTH WEAK ASD B 4 KCER 0 _CS . That is to say that rath inherent weakness it derives _jt real and fonnidable strength from the very terror which exaggerated notion * of its power insp ire . * * * * Fear , far more than corruption , is the instrument bv which the Russian Cabinet spreads its influence abroad . The weak and the timid in the immediate neighbourhood of its empire , crouch to its will ; aud the prudent in more powerful states , so long as it shows some moderation iu its amb ; tion , forbear from all interference , fearful of
provoking a struggle which in reality the Russian government dreads much more than thtmserres . It is on this account , at least as important to point out , and to popularise the weakness of this demoralizing power , as to shew the dangers whieh exist of its extension ; or to detail the sufferings of those actually beneath its rule . So sensible is the _Kossian Cabinet itself of the urgency of heepiug up tbe exaggerated _v idea of its strength which it lias succeeded in . < _lis «* _girmiating , thai _uuv revelations ou _tbls subject are far mor _« dreaded than the disclosure of such acts of tyranny and violence as tend to draw on it the attention of civilized Europe .
In opposition to _those who believe that Nicholas is a mere creature of the Russian nobility , or at least that he maintains his position in spite of their power ; the _author of this work contends and proves that _Nicholas is in every sense of the word an autocrat , governing for himself ; and following in this respect in the footsteps of Peter the Great , and hi s grandmother _Cathekisb . The struggle for mastery over _thenobleseommencedbyPRiEn was consummated by _Nicholas on the 12 th of December , 1825 , when the nobles were crushed by their conqueror . "The _pewer of the nobility , in whieh so many people obstinately persist in believing , has become as _eompleiely matter of history as that of the Janissaries or of the Mamelukes . " The church has become
converted into a powerful instrument of domination , at the head of whieh is the autocrat . Thus politically and religiously _^ Nicholas alon e reigns and rules ; he , therefore , is responsible for the acts of his government . All Englishmen , when speaking of the Russian em pire , are of course aware that that empire comprises the people of several distinct nations ; but , we believe , but few are awar « s ofthe distinction betwetn the Muscovite and the liuthenian , commonly called
Little-Russian population , to which the Oossack tribes belong . But , although possessing a common religion , and almost common language , tho two races widely differ . The Muscovites number about thirty-six millions , the Ruthenians ten niiliio ; s _> these latter , however , form the military strength o the empire . "From the Ruthenians sprang ali those numerous hordes of Oossack , rather encamped than settled at hundreds of miles of interval irom the Don , across the whole width of Northern Asia , —the conquerors of Siberia , —the tamers of the Tartar . "
the _auTnEKixss Though distinct in character and idiom from both the Poles and the Muscovites , hare far more analogy to the former than to the latter . Scarcely two centuries have elapsed since the separation of this propie from Poland and its incorporation with the Russian eniphv . Orig inall y driven by the hatred which civil and religious wars engender to setk the protection of the _Muscovi-e , the virulent antipathy of the Kutbemans towards ihv Toles has iu the course of time subsided , and is being fist succeeded by aU the _sjinpathies to which analogy of character andideuti ty of interests can give rise .
The devotion of this race to the Tsars , under certain _circnmsiances . is daily becoming more _problematical . The Hussion despotism has failed to digest this antithetic _alitneat . The efforts of a ceniury have not sufficed to blend the Muscovite and Little-Russian . * * * Should the growing sympathies ofthe Kutheuiansfor the x < = _siot tbeir Slavonic brethren be kindled at any critical juncture , _acousuming fire will thus he lighted in the very vitals of the state ; and on He probabilities of sum an accident , we shall elsewhere dwellat greater length .
THE HCSCOV 1 ZES . With many redeeming qualities , there exists no race more fitted to become the blind and submissive tool of despotism . In this respect it differs even from the most servile branches ofthe _vitt and varied Slavonic family . Though any sincere devotion to the Tsars may be confined to the serfs , the proportion which this class beats amongst the Muscovites to the free population , is very far greater than for the whole empire . Tne collective _population is reckoned at sixty-three millions , ana of these thirty-six are Muscovites . The Uaves amount to forty-five millions , and of these nearly _b _, _irtv-five are Muscovites—the ' conquering aud absorbing race thus _aSbrding the unprecedented spectacle of remaining in a
thraldom more complete than those absorbed and conquered . * * * * These blindly obedient millions would no doubt themselves furnish a Russian sovereign with unprecedented elements of power , Were it not , as the author has striven to show elsewhere , for the utter corruption so hopelessly _ingrafted on all ranks of the people , as to deprive the government of any means oi _effecting the organization of this material . "What avail _hundreds of thonsands , of which only tens can ever reach die scene of action , on account of tbat con . snmmate Tcnaliry which has become a . second nature to the ltussian , aud which renders it so Impossible to move these formidable masses , that a Russian regiment suffers more before it ieachcS its own frontier , than an English _, corps ef ier » ears ef service in India ?
Bat there is another equally important feature to be _foondin the character and temper of this Muscovite people , * wh ; ch tends to diminish very much the value of its submissive fidelity to its _ruUir ; viz ., its pacific disposition and its absolute want of national ambition and pride . There exist other races even less warlike , —there are others whose degraded condition is lower than even tbat Of the _Muscovite , but there is no people in the world which exceeds him in apathy for the national glory or advancement . Most of those who have noticed this peculiarity —which all who have any intimate acquaintance with the Jtasyans never fail to observe , —are apt to attribute it wholly to the profound servitude in which he is plunged . But though servitude and oppression may go far towards _extinguishing in the _individual that pride and interest in the welfare of the state , which can enly find its f oil developementin the breast « f a freeman , stUl the past history ofthe world , and the present condition of some of its races ,
proves incoutestibly , that patriotic pride , or at least national ambition , is notincompatible with a state of bondage . The thirst for conquest has been in all ages the most successful means which despots _havejempluyed to reduce their subjects to this condition . An ambitious people , regarding absolute submission as a means , has been prone to look forward only to the end , which excused in its own eyesthe humiliation of the joke which it endured . The Polish serf , sunk in a state of servitude as _degrading as the Muscovite ' s , was yet always keenly alive to the feeling of which thelavter has always been insensible . Beneath the rule of Islamisra , the hope of conquest and extension has made wholenatioss bendiu contented slavery _, for mis lore held out by the prophet , the Arab sold his birthright , abandoning the freedom cherished for tens of centuries in his deserts , to prostrate himself at the footstool of the despotism which promised him the subjugation of the world .
Without entering into the question of how far a race may in the long run be affected by the condition in which it is foicedly placed , it is evident that this feature in the Muscovite character is not wholly to be attributed to hia servile state , but arises in some measure from an inherent tendency . The Muscovite , in fact , is in temper an Armenian . Where left to Ids own free agency , he sets no -value upon power or glory . He does not wish to rule ; lie seeks not for precedence ; he only aspires to be allowed to trade , and to be let to live in peace .
This irresistible propensity to traffic , and to intervene betwixt the producer and consumer , is one of which the gratification has of _course become nationally impossible , by the very extent to which his people has multiplied . There is no room in the world for thiity-six mUlious of Muscovites to play the part of the Hebrew and the Armenian . But though his strong instinct leads him to trade and brokerage , he is well fitted for agricultural pursuits , —and the nature of the country he inhabits would allow him , in following this avocation , so well in accordance irith his pacific genius , to attain that wealth which he seems alone to prize . Something , however , of this apathy and indifference , no doubt is owing to the severity with which the Russian Tsars have beat and broken the national spirit to their will ; but by a strange _inconsistency , after using every imaginable effort to reduce their people
«« And I Will War, At Least In Werds, (A...
_11 the condition of automatons , they imagine that they ca n breathe at pleasure into them the life of animation for a given purpose . Nicholas , who has been more unremitting than any of his predecessors in extinguishing the faintest semblance of independence or opinion , has sought most arduously to insp ire the nation with a thirst for war and for extension and appears surprised to find that it should remain mute and unmoved by this appeal . "Again , " says'the author of this work , "there is no Russian village , of which the serf population would not sooner Bee the independence ofthe Poles re-established , and all tho old Polish provinces
restored to independent Poland , than send two additional recruits , chained hand and foot—as they arc alivays seat —to the imperial armies . So indifferent are they to every political question , even with regard to Poland , that there is not a landlord who would give one per cent of his serfs to prevent a similar result , even in the few instances in which a positive satisfaction would not be felt by him at anything which thwarted the imperial government . What , therefore , can be more unjust than to excuse the violence and cruelty of Nicholas towards the Poles , by attributing it , as wc see frequently done by his apologists , to a necessity entailed upon him by the prejudice and hatred of the Russian nation ?"
In onr next number we shall investigate the state of the slave population of the Russian empire ; in the meantime we request the attention of our readers to the communication given below from our respected friend , Captain Sxo ' _lzuas .
The Cause Of Poland And The Editor Of Th...
THE CAUSE OF POLAND AND THE EDITOR OF THE LIYERPOOL MERCURY . TO THE EDITOR OF THE X 0 RTHEBN STAR . Sin , —The editor of the Liverpool Mercury inserted in hia number of April 17 th , the following article headed " Poland " : — The unhappy fatherland of Sobieshi and Kosciusko , whose partition bad almost blotted it out of political space in the map of memory , has once more loomed into the clear horizon ofthe actual , and as rapidly and suddenly again become a dissolving -view , _Thefactl _* , that the Polish insurrections ' do not mean risings of the people to recover their liberty , for that they never had but ententes of tbe nobility , aristocratic rebellions , to recover the social consequence which the partition had destroyed . The masses of Poland have , by its conquest , been , indeed , protected by their foreign rulers from the cruelty and neglect of their domestic governors , and their only appearance in the tragic drama on which the curtain has
just fallen , has been in the character of voluntary partisans of Austria and Prussia arrayed against their own masters , and Sviziag the opportunity -which anarchy gave t o pay back the wrongs they had sa long suffered at the hands of their own nobility . If the Polish nobb _-i long to be free , let them first strike the manacles from their own slaves and fellow-countrymen . If they desire again to have a country , let them make it a _countij worth living iu , and struggling for , by elevating tbe character of its people . If lhey would roll back those waters of bitterness in which a foreign yoke has _submerged them , let them remember that Mrs . Partington's broom will not drive back that political . Atlantic—that they must have help , and that the only efficient help is that , not of slave ga i rgs , but Spartan hands of freemen . They must create a TEoeUE before they can ever again be a nation , and they neither can . n » r deserve to he free , until they have redeemed tbeir fellow-countrymen from slavery , ignorance ,
physical misery , and moral degradation . Finding this _^ article ouite contradictory to truth and reality , I found myself bound to send to the editor the following letter : — " Sir , —In your valuable paper ofthe 17 th instant , in an article headed '" Poland , " I found assertions which are in flagrant contradiction to reality aud lacts well known to the world ; 1 therefore beg leave to answer them through the medium of your own columns . " In the above-mentioned article you s & y ' the fact is , that Polish insurrections do not mean risings ef the people to recover their liberty , for that they never had , but emeutes of the nobility , aristocratic rebellions , to recover the social consequence which the partiti n had destroued . '
" Do tou call the repiiblican confederation of Bar , which for six years , from 1763 to 1773 , _Istruggled for the independence of Poland against the Russian invader * , an emeute , an aristocratic rebellion ? "Doyon call also as emeute of the nobility , fflC , the revolution ef 1794 , made under the guidance of our immortal Koseiuszko ? But this revolution took place in order to deliver the country from the Russian and Prussian invaders , and to recover the ancient limits of Poland , of which she was deprived by the two partitions of 1773 and 1703 . But Xosciuszko proclaimed then the emancipation of the peasantry without anv restriction , and as a symbol of the
movement being undertaken in behalf of the peop le , dressed himself in a peasant ' s frock , . . . and it was under his dictatorship that several aristocrats , both of the high clergy and of the high nobility , were condemned and executed at Warsaw , as traitors to the whole nation , and not to the priviled » ed classes , of which the executed were members ! It was precisely at the same time that _Kilinski . a shoemaker of Warsaw ( who afterwards , though a proletarian , became colonel and commander of the 20 th regiment ) at the head ofthe Warsavian working men , rose against the Russian forces , and killed about S , 000 of the in a couple of days 5
enemy " Is the insurrection of 1830 and ' 31 , and our struggle , which then lasted nearly tea months against the whole force of the Russian Colossus , whose power even now induces your Cabinet to pursue towards it a diplomatic conduct which is not altogether , i suspect , in accordance with the feelings and wishes of the majority of the British people , — is this insurrection , I repeat , and the whole campaign of 1831 , with its numerous battles , nothing more in your understand ing than an emeute of the nobility , < fec . f But the manifesto issued by the Polish Diet of that epoch ,
and published by the _whole press of the world , tells yon quite the reverse . " Is finally , the last outbreak at Cracow and Gallicia , which still continues , in your eyes also a mere emeute of the nobility , & c .. even in spite of the manifesto of the 22 nd of February hut , of which nobody can be ignorant ? A manifesto showing clearly the intention of not only emancipatingthe peasantry , but also of providing them with means enabling them to enjoy the liberty , and not to die by starvation , as very often happens under our own eyes , in certain free countries !
"If so , if all the insurrections I have quoted , besides the risings of 1807 and 1809 , and the nume rous battles foog ht as well as the thousands of victims ueloneing- to all classes ofthe nation , who during the last 14 years , since 1833 ao to the present hour , have perished on the scaffold , or have been sent to Siberia , for having conspired against the foreign yoke , are not risings and _endeavourings of the people to recover their liberty , but only emeutes ofthe nobility , and aristocratic rebellions , to recover the social consequence which the partition had destroyed , then , sir , one of us must necessarily be wrong , and must not have a clear idea of the meaning of either the words insurrection or emeute .
" But in the above passage yon assert also , tbat the partitions have' destroyed the social condition , ' which _vas favorable to the nobility and detrimental to the lower classes of Polish society . How was it ? Where was it _performed ? It was done by the Poli _> h government of the Grand Duchy of Warsaw in 1808 ; but as to the partitioning powers , except Prussia , who did it not long ago , the two others have , until now , strictly maintained the serfdom ofthe peasantry , and whenever the Polish proprietors manifested : hcir sincere desire of emancipating their peasants , the Russian and Austrian governments immediately interfered and put their veto upon it , as was the case for example in 1818 , when the nobility of Lithuania , by the organ of their Dietines , presented to the then
reigning emperar Alexander 1 ., a petition praying him to grant them leave to emancipate their peasants , and which petition was answered by this monarch , not only by a refusal but a severe reprimand . This was done by Russia ; and Austria did the same , for , when in 18 M the Gallieian Diet moved the same proposition , they met also with a refusal , and a reT primand from the ' paternal' Austrian government . " Are those facts not a sufficient proof that the Polish noblemen intended really'to strike the manacles from their fellow-countrymen , ' and can we say that the partitions have destroyed the social condition of both , the nobility and the peasantry ? Evidently not . because Austria , fer example , instead of destroying this abject condition , maintained the serfdom iu vigour , and moreover forced the proprietors to be the official fulfillers , not only of the consequences ef this state , but also of other vexatious governmental measures ; and after the very detailed statement of this fact given lately by M .
Montalembert , in the Chamber of Peers , and M . Castellane , in the Chamber of Deputies , in Paris , nobody is reasonably allowed to be ignorant of it . But one may ask , why did Austria this ? Because it was her _Machiavelian policy to divide and to keep the peasantry in a constant state of hostility against tlie nobility especially as she saw that they intended to emancipate the peasants , and that they were good patriots . And she succeeded wonderfully , as the last events show;—bnt in order to obtain" this result , sb . 3 was obliged to recur to base means , by disguising , as peasants , exciting agents , and b y promising a price for tho heads of the proprietors ' " means which , no doubt , would produce similar results even among the lower class of Western Europe , if used on a similar occasion : and individuals gained bv such infernal means to perpetuate such diabolical deeds , vou do not hesitate to call ' voluntary partisans o f Austria /
"Tou conclude , Sir , your article with the following words directed to the Polish noblemen : — * They must create a people before they can ever again be a nation , and they never can nor deserve to be free , until they have redeemed their fellow-coifntrymen frem slavery , ignorance , physical misery and m oral
The Cause Of Poland And The Editor Of Th...
degradation . Well , Sir , but tell me how they can possibly do all these , beautiful and necessary thingswhen , as I have already shown , the spoliators under whose yoke my fatherland groans , do their utmost to prevent the creation of a real people , and to keep the lower classes in ignorance and d egradation , even by forbidding the formation of temperance societies ? It must not be forgotten that Poland presents in the middle of the 19 th century , and to the shame of the civilized world , nothing more than a vast prison , of which the tince spoliators with their innumerable tools , backed by the friendly alliance of the governments of free countries , are the most barbarous jailors ! Can you . Sir , indicate tlie means of creating a people in a jail ? Can slaves themselves redeem their brothers from slavery .
" Ah ! sir , if Poland were as England , surrounded bj seas instead of unhealth y bogs , formed by a triple enemy not only to her but to all mankind , she long ago would have enjoyed the blessings of a real freedom , and she never would have been involved in a situation such as the present , which furnishes many foreign politicians with the opportunity of calling the extraordinary and continual efforts of our nation , mere " emeutes of nobility , & c , " "As it happens that 1 am { not a member of the nobility , I trust , sir , you will not accuse me of being a partial defender of them , but a lover both of truth and my fatherland .
I am , Sir , Your most obedient Servant , Charles Stoizman . Captain of Artillery of tho last Polish Army , and Delegate in England of the United Polish Emigration . " 17 , Norton Street , Portland Place , London , April 22 nd , 1840 . The Editor of the Liverpool Mercury not only refused to Insert the above letter , but in his number of May 1 st , gave , amongst others to his correspondents , the following reply : —
Poland . —On the subject of our few parting words to the Polish nobility , we have received two very long letters . Whatever may be the conclusions to which _theadmissions in them are calculated to lead , respect for the courage , and patriotism , and sympathy with the misfortunes of the Polish refugees , induced us to abstain from re-opening a subject which no friend of rational liberty , and no enemy to the despotism of tlie three partitioning powers can approach without regret . We are not insensible to the advantage of having in Poland a mine to spring on the autocratic Governments of the continent of Europe . We believe that in partitioning Poland tbey " Did but teach bloody instructions , Which being taught , return to plague the inventor . "
We are aware that too much obscurity hanging over the later events of Polish history , aud too much mere assertion and party colouring of facts , to enable the impartial spectator , as yet , to jud ge with clear intelligence , of the conduct of either party . But enough is known of the state of society in _IVlaad to bear out the statement of Mr . J . S . Stephens , in his incidents of travel , that " Society consists altogether of two distinct and distant orders—the nobles and the peasantry—without any intermediate degrees . The peasantry are in the lowest state of mental degradation . The nobles , who are more numerous than in any other country in Europe , have always , in the eyes ofthe public , formed the people of Poland . " Now the
peasantry , the most numerous class , are the people of Poland ; and their conduct in Gallicia sufficiently proves what sympathy they had with the recent movement for Polish independence . But we have no wish to pursue this topic further . To those who do , we would refer to the article Poland , in Maculloch's Geographical Dictionary _, and the authorities therein referred to , for an account o the treatment ofthe people , that is , the peasantry of Poland , by the partitioning powers , as contrasted with tlie way in which they were used by the nobility when Poland was an independent kingdom . Mr . Cob . den ' s England and ltussia may also be advantageousl y consnlted .
Whether such a proceeding on the part of the Editor is a fair and a justifiable one , I leave it to you , sir , and to the _English public to decide . Believe me , Sir , jour ' s faithfully , Charles _Koizmak . _May 4 th , 1816 .
Literary Association Of The Friends Op P...
LITERARY ASSOCIATION OF THE FRIENDS OP _POLAKD . ( From Oic Morning Advertiser . _^ The annual meeting of this association , designed to keep before the public mind the claims and the struggles of Poland , took place on Tuesday afternoon , at the rooms of the Association , Duke Street , St . James ' s . Lord Dudley Stuart , the Vice President ol the Society , took the * Chair , as usual ; and among the gentlemen present we observed—the Earl of Zetland , Viscount' _Sambm , M . P ., Lord Beaumont , Lord Foley , Lord Charles Fitzioy , M . P ., W . J . _Dennison , Esq ., M . P ., John Abel Smith , Esq ., M . P ., Mr . Williams , M P ., Captain Townsend , R . N ., Rev . Dr . Worthington , Edward Romilly , Esq .,
Frederick Pigou , Esq ., Edmund Beales , Esq ., W . Lloyd Birkhock , Esq ., J . S . _Buckingham . Esq ; ., W . Pritchard , Esq ., Lamie Murray , Esq ., G . Wilbraham , Esq ., John Pickford , Esq ., II . Edlin , Esq ., & c . The proceedings commenced by the honorary secretary , Mr . Birkbeck , reading the annual report , which upon the -whole was of a satisfactory character . The Earl of Zi : tlaxd shortly moved the first resolution in favour of the adoption of the report , which was seconded by Mr . Johxstone , in an able speech , in which he remarked upon the grasping and ambitious designs ofRussia in all quarters of the globe , and during all ages of history .
A series of resolutions were then moved , one of which , expressive of the necessity ofthe re-establishment of the independence of Poland to the general tranquillity of Europe , was proposed by Lord Bkaumost . — His Lordship stated that lie discharged this duty not influenced so much by any fee ings of partiality to Poland , as impressed with the conviction that that country bad not been dealt with upon thosft great principles of advancing conciliation and international policy which ought to influence the great European family , and pledging himself to use any constitutional means in his power to _asuert the claims and advocate the rights of Poland . After eloquent addresses from Mr . Beales , Captain Townsend , Lord Foley , Mr . Edward Beaumont , and Mr . W . Adam Smith ,
Lord Dudley Coutts Stuart addrersed the meeting at great length , lie went over the reasons which had induced the association to discourage the project of a public demonstration with reference to the late events in Poland—a demonstration which Prince Czartoryski , aware as he was of the state of public sentiment in England , had expressed a strong feeling against . Although , however , no public demonstration had taken place , an address , drawn up by himself and the honorary secretary , Mr . Birkbeck , had been issued in order to make known the opinion of the association with regard to the outbreak . In reference to that event , his Lordship proceeded at great length to detail the cruelties and oppression of the Austrian Government , who had fomented the insurrection by every means in their power , and , as it was proved by
undoubted evidence , had encouraged it , and rewarded the Galician peasantry for the murder of the nobles of the district . The retirement of the Austrian forces from Cracow was but a feint to induce the belief that a formidable resistance had been offered to them , which , in fact , was not the case . It was difficult to believe the atrocities connected with Russian and Austrian rule in Poland , but the late horrors were quite in keeping with the whole course of cruel policy which had been so long persevered in- towards that oppressed country . With reference to the nuns of Minsk he had strong reasons to believe in the truth of that terrible narrative , lie was from time to time receiving fresh information upon the subject , and he plcdtcd himself never to let . the matter drop , whatever difficulties he might have to contend with ,
until he had arrived at the exact and literal truth . ( Hear . ) The noble lord went on to remark on the continued highly exemplary conduct of the Polish refugees in this country—on their patience , industry , and perseverance " under the most trying circumstances , and concluded his speech by expressing in fervent terms his conviction , _although it was possible none of tbem might lire to see the day , that the wrongs of Poland would be avenged , and that that cruelly oppressed country would be at length restored to her former high and rightful place among the nations . ( Loud Cheers . ) After addresses in conformity with the spirit of the Association from Lord Sanson and Mr . John Abel Smith , thanks were voted to the noble Chairman , and the meeting separated .
The Horse Shoes, Buckle-Street, Whitecha...
the Horse Shoes , Buckle-street , Whitechapel , on the body of Caroline Julia Hurst , aged three years . The deceased was the daughter of a watchmaker residing in Buckle-street , and for several weeks past she had been ill with hooping cough . About a week since , the mother hearing ofthe efficacy ofa patent medicine prepared by a chemist in Whitechapel . called " Brodie ' _s Hooping-cough Drops , " she procured a bottle , which she administered according to the directions around tho bottle , but the deceased got gradually worse , and on Saturday afternoon last , Mr . Liddell , a surgeon was sent for , who found the child in a dying state , and she expired in a few hours afterwards , from effusion on the main , which may have resulted from disease , or from the effect ofthe drops , The jury returned a verdict of " Mural death . "
The Attempted _Mhuder i \ Drurt-lane . —Since the examination of Graham at _Bow-street on Saturday , the unfortunate man Blewctt has become gradually worse , and on inquiry at King ' s College Hospital on Monday , it was staled that he had a very restless night , and is unable to converse with any person . It , may be recollected that Mr . Drummond , who was a few years ago shot by Macnaughton at Chariug-cross , rallied for a few days , and some hopes were entertained of his recovery , but he died a very few days after the relapse took place .
India And China Important News Prom Laho...
INDIA AND CHINA IMPORTANT NEWS PROM LAHORE . Despatches in anticipation of the Bombay mail of the lst of April , received on Monday , bring the gratifying intelligence of India being at present in _completetranquillity . The late rapid campaign on the Sutlej has terminated in the complete subjugation of the ' Sikhs . ' _Si ' . e-Delhi Gazette Extraordinary of the 23 rd March , contains several most important documents connected with the treaties which were signed for the pacification of the Punjab ; The first is a notification published by the Gorernor-Genera ) , and contains a note of tho conference held on the 8 th of March between the British Diplomatist , Mr . Currie , and the Minister and Chiefs of the Lahore Durbar , and also translations of two applications on behalf of the young Maharajah Dhuleep Singh , praying for the protection of the British troops .
The second document gives an account of the proceedings attendant on the treaty . The third is a memorandum ofthe proceedings of the Durbar ( public levee ) held at Lahore on the 9 th of March , in the state tent of the Governor-General , during which he delivered an address , which was interpreted sentence by sentence to the Lahore Chiefs and Minister , by Mr . Currie . The address explains the policy of the British Government , and the stipulations which are required from the Sikh Government .
The fourth document is the treaty of peace between the British Government and Dhuleep Singh . It is comprised in 16 articles , and cedes all the territory south of the Sutlej , and also the hill country which lies between the Beas and the Indus , including the provinces of Cashmere and Husarah . The Maharajah is to pay 50 lacs ( half a million sterling ) on the ratification , and _engages to disband all the mutinous troops of Lahore , and to keep 20 , 000 infantry and 12 , 000 cavalry , and no more . The British armies are to be allowed to pas * through the Lahore territories , and all the guns pointed against the British are to be surrendered , as in fact they have been .
The coKtroul of the rivers Boas and Sutlej to the Indus is vested in the British . No European or American is to be employed by the Lahore iGo ' vernraent without the _sanc'ion of the British . Rajah Ghoolab Singh is to become an independent Sovereign in the territeries which the British may cede to him . ' All changes in the frontiers ofthe Lahore State arc prohibited , and all its disputes are to be referred to the British authorities , who are not to interfere in its internal administration . This treaty is also remarkable in not using the title Punjab or Five Rivers . The dominions of Dhuleep are confined to the Lahore State .
The fifth document is the memorandum of a State visit paid by the Governor General to the Maharajah Dhuleep Singh , at which the Lahore Minister , Dewan Deed a Nath , pronounced an address of thanks tothe British leader for his generosity . The sixth is a note of the proceedings ofthe Minister and the Chiefs of Lahore , assembled together on the 11 th of March in Durbar , during which articles of agreement were signed for the occupation of tho city of Lahore during 10 months , in order to protect the Maharajah while organizing his army . The sGventb is a copy of a treaty entered into by the GoYenor General with the ( now ) Maharajah Ghoolab Singh , to whom the British give over , in independent possession , all the hilly or mountainous
country lying between the Ravee and the Indus , including of course the valley of Cashmere and the province of Husarah and Cdumba , but excluding Lahool . Ghoolab Singh is to pay half a million on the ratification of the treaty , and a quarter in October next , and is not to employ any foreigners . The British undertake to protect him against all foreign enemies ; while he and all his forces are to be ready when called on to aid the British . In acknowledgment of British supremacy he engages every year to present a horse , twelve shawl goats , and three pair of Cashmere shawls . Thus the Jamoo Chief , who contrived to obtain possession of the greatest
part of the treasures of old Runjeet , has been able to raise himself into the rank of an independent Maharajah . While he was Wuzcer of Lahore he in February last promised to pay . £ 1 , 500 , 000 to the British ; but when the day of payment arrived , in March , tho money was not forthcoming , and new treaties became necessary , by which the Lahore Government was deprived of the Ivohistan ( hill country ) , and Ghoolab or Gholab _, ( for his name is written both ways , ) having undertaken to pay half a million down and another sum of a quarter of a million seven months afterwards , was declared an independent Rajah ( or rather Maharajah—Great king ) , with the far-famed valley of Cashmere as his dependence .
There is a remarkable omission in the Lahore treaty , to which it maybe useful to awaken attention —viz .. that no mention is made of the province of Moultan , which is known to have been always independent of Lahore until the reign of Runjeet Singh . The non-mention of this important commercial _entrepdt leads to the belief that some further military movements for the occupation efthat province may be expected after the rai ' Dy season shall have passed over—that is , about October next . The Scinde army , which had reached Bhawulpore , was ordered to be broken up on the 10 th of March , and most of the regiments returned to Sukkurf <& c , in order to be stationed in Scinde , while the Bengal
troops proceeded towards Ferozepore . Sir Charles Napier , who by a most rapid march had reached the Governor General at Lahore on the 3 d of March , and where ho was received with every distinction , was to return to Scinde as Governor . General Sir J . Littler , at the head of 10 , 000 men , is to occupy Lahore for the remaining months of 1816 ; the Lahore Government has to defray the expense ofthe British troops there . The Governor General was expected to quit the Lahore State on the 20 th of March , and to proceed into tho newly-acquired provinces to the east of the Beas in company with Sir Charles Napier , where they will have to regulate the cantonments . It appears to be expected that the Governor General will pass the hot and rainy months at Simla .
No mention is made in the Lahore treaty of the province of _Peshawur , of which the Affghans , under Akhbar Khan , are anxious to repossess themselves . The Nizam ' s finances arc still in the utmost disorder , and must speedily require , the application of a strong remedy by the government of India ; The hot months had begun in India , and great complaints were heard ofthe wants of water , in consequence of the scanty fall during the last monsoon . A famine was feared in various districts during the two months which had to elapse before the rains set in . The news from China is only to the 27 th of February , which we received by the last mail .
Tuesday, Whilst Lying Under The Sheers T...
Tuesday , whilst lying under the sheers to be dismasted . The ship _waa _nnricged , and the rope-men were employed getting off the top . It had been unbolted , and one side had been sent down . By some oversight , from want of lashing , the port side ofthe top canted , and fell on deck , carrying one man . second captain of the top , Richard Blake , along with it ; and fell on Stephen Gray , the first captain of the top , killing the latter instantaneously , and dreadfully injuring the former . Another seaman , Richards by name , had nearly half his foot cut off by the top rim . Blake and Richards were taken to Haslar Hospital . The former is dreadfully hurt , but some hopes are entertained that his life will be saved .
Ten Hours' Bill ^.Atageneral Meeting Of ...
TEN HOURS' BILL _^ . Atageneral meeting of the Central Short Time Committee ofthe West Riding of Yorkshire , held at Bradford , on Monday last , May 4 ,-Mr . Isaac Bottomley in the chair , the following resolutions were unanimously adopted : — Resolved , ... 1 st , That this meeting is more and more fully convinced ofthe desirableness and necessity of a leg islative enactment to protect young person- from being worked in factories jmore than ten hours per day , believing as they do that ten hours of actual labour per day is the proper period to which the daily labour of all minors ought to be by law restricted , and therefore this meeting pledges itself to use every legitimate means in its power to promote the passing of the factory Bill now before tha House of Commons .
2 nd , Tbat our Secretary be requested to proceed to London forthwith , in order to represent to the government and to members of Parliament the real wishes and feelings of the factory operatives , as well as many of their masters , on this important measure . 3 rd , That this meeting cannot separate without expressing their disapprobation at the course pursued by Air . Joseph Hume in tho House of Commons last Wednesday on the debate for the second reading of the Factory Bill , and therefore resolve that a vote of censure be conveyed to him for bis . opposition not only to the Ten flours' Bill , but to any diminution in the present long hours of labour of young persons and females employed in factories , _although it has been abundantly proved both by experience aud medical testimony that such protracted toil is injurious both _to-the development of their physical strength and their moral eulture .
Kilbarchan. Oo-Opeftation.—This Village ...
KILBARCHAN . _Oo-oPEftATiON . —This village not being lighted with gas , a considerable portion of the inhabitants , princi pall y weavers , have been in the habit of co operating annually , and in the summer season purchasing , " when oil waB sit the cheapest , " as great a quantity as their individual circumstances would permit tliem to do of this indispensable article against the coming winter . At a meeting held in the summer of 1845 for the abovenamed object , the subject of conversation , as might naturally be supposed , was of an enlightening character , it was there stated , that by a combined and proper direction of the co-operative principle , the _working men of this village had all the necessary elements within their grasp of establishing a gas work , if it was the opinion of the inhabitants that such an institution would be of general benefit . A public meeting was accordingly held in the Chartist Church , Mr . J . Wilkie , a highly intelligent working man
_iti the chair , who , in a clear and concise manner , stated tlie objects of toe meeting . A number of statements were given by different individuals regarding the profits realised by gas companies in Paisley and other places . It was unanimously agreed that we should have tlie new light , it the necessary funds could bo had . A person in the meeting ' then - ' stated that he _ivns authorised to state from one individual that he would sink . £ 500 in this speculation _, from this and other statements made to the _meeting , it was evident that plenty of money could be got , if we were willing to allow the profits to be monopo-Used by a few . The chairman then stated , that when he came to this meeting he was convinced of the propriety of making the gas , and realising tne profits , if any , for ourselves ; if anything was wanting to strengthen tbat conviction , the statements given this evening had , to a certainty , produced that result . He then proposed a plan , which was in effect as follows : _—Tlisra are a number of Sick Benefit Societies , and a Mutual Protec *
tion Society against Fire , in the village . These societ ' _ea had as much money in the bank , at a small per eentage , and otherwise lent out , as would do the whole business . The meeting broke up ; but the chairman ' s suggestion was not lost sight of . Meetings were held ofthe various societies , necessary monies were voted , and n board of directors chosen to conduct the business , to be elected annually , proportioriably from each society , by Universa ! ' Suffrage . A proper site was next solccted , and the work immediately commenced . Friday , the 1 st . of May , was appointed for laying the foundation 6 tone , it was arranged that there should be a procession , and that the ceremony should be performed _, with masonic honours . There were prasent the Kilbarchan and Johnstone lodges , and the members of the different societies . The instrumental music was of the
most enlivening character , and altogether the procession was such an imposing spectacle as has not _bssn seen here since Mr . Pcargus O'Connor ' s visit in 1839 . On the procession arriving at the appointed p lace , Mr . Wm . Greene held up a bottle , and said , this bottle is to be deposited in the foundation stone of this work ; it con . tains a variety of current coins of the present reign , and as there oan be no haim in letting future ages know the _conflicting opinions that are prevalent in the middle of the nineteenth century , there is in this bottle a few ofthe lending journals of the day—the Post cwcJ Reformer , the Renfrewshire Advertiser , The Northern Star , and _Tlte Times . lie then put the bottle with its contents into a hole cut in the stone for the purpose . The grand ' master of the masons being unwell , his deputy , Mr . Mattiew Houston , then laid the foundation stone , when the . procession moved off through the different streets , af t er which a
dinner was held at Miss Margaret Galbraith _' s . Mr . Wm . Greene , chairman ; Mr . P . Craig , jun ,, croup ier , ' After dinner a number of toasts , were given— "Prosperity to the Gas _Tvoiks _, " b y the chairman ; " 'Prosperity to the Public Library , " , by Mr . Craig , croupier ; "Richard Cobden , " by , Mr . W , Love ; " The speedy enfranchisement of the producing _clashes , of 21 years of age , " by Mr . J , Davie ; _'FeargusO'Conitcj , the uiifliching advocate of the _peopled charter , " by Mr . J , Hill ; "Mr ., Montgomery , the architect , whose valuable services have been g ' witx gratis to this work . " The above , with a number _. more sentiments , were responded to with the utmost enthusiasm . A number of appropriate songs were sung in fine style . The band played a few airs , and the meeting was conducted with the best order till about twelve o ' clock , _ivhen they separated highly pleased with the proceedings .
. ( Bankrupts. Josep H Miller, Whittlebu...
. ( BANKRUPTS . Josep h Miller , Whittlebury street , Hampstead-road ' painter—Jules Valle , Manchester , silk printer—John William _Pilsch , Sackville-street , Piccadilly , tailor—John Dailey and Alfred lnskipp , Long-lane , Bermondsey , leaflier manufacturers— John George Vfi ' ord , Holloway , common brewer—Joseph Willis , Bueklersbury , eating _, house keeper—J tunes Weston , Bishopsg . _ite-streat Within , hatter—William Thompson , Minories , ship chandler—Henry Walters , Bristol , licensed victualler —William Brook , Manchester , stuff merchant—John Taylor , Huddersfield _, commission apeub—Edward Joseph ' Staples , Bristol , surgeon—Samuel Mosley Wade , Liverpool , cotton merchant—Joseph Taylor , Liverpool , merchant .
DIVIDENDS . May 28 . E . and T . Rolpi ) , Upper Brook-street , _Grosvenor-square , builders , at half-past one , at the Court of Bankruptcy , London-May 'id , W , Parsons , Bristol , brewer , at eleven , ' at the Court of Bankruptcy , Bristol-May 2 A \ W . Jones , lisle , Monmouthshire , _linendraper , at eleven , at the Court of Bankruptcy , Bristol—May - 'G . A . Mathe and S . Moore , Liverpool , merchants , at twelve , at the Court of Bankruptcy , Liverpool—May _'JG . J . Webster and J . Harrison , Liverpool , merchants , at twelve , at the Court of Bankruptcy , Liverpool—Mny 20 , _o _, f . Fair _, dough , Liverpool , bunker , ut eleven , at the Court ot Bankruptcy , Liverpool—May 26 . J . H . Pemberton , Liver _, pool , merchants , at half-past eleven , at the Court of Bankruptcy , Liverpool—May 26 . J . Threlfull , Liverpool , bunker , at twelve , at the Court of Bankruptcy , Liverpool—May 27 . J , Roberts , Plasyn Derwcn , Denbighshire , miller , at one , at tlie Court of Bankruptcy , Liverpool—May 28 . J . Sill and W . Watson , Liverpool , merchants , at one , at the Court of Bankruptcy , Liverpool—May 27 . IV . II . Bell , _Kingston-upon-HuII , seed crusher , at twelve , at the Court f Bankruptcy , Kiiigstoii-upon-Hull .
CERTIFICATES . May 29 , T . Dowglaas , _Vigo-street , cloth manufacturer , at half-past eleven , at the Court of Bankruptcy , London-May 27 . R . C . Turner , _Houudsditcii , buildor , nt half-past eleven , at the Court of Bankruptcy , London—May 27 , R . Childs , Queen Ann-street ,. Cavendish-street , ' tailor , ' at twelve , at the Court of Bankruptcy , London—May 28 , II , Ward , Burford , Oxfordshire , paper manufacturer , at one , at the Court of Bankruptcy , London—May 28 , R . G . _Spedding , _Queen-street ; Cheapside , zinc manufacturer , at eleven , at the Court of Bankruptcy , London . —May 2 G _, W . Urlwin , _Wa-ford , fellmonger , at one , at tlie Court of Bankruptcy , London—May 26 , J . Roberts , Plasyn Derwin , Denbighshire , ' farmer , at eleven , at . the Court of Bank _, ruptcy , Liverpool—May 29 , S . Littler , Liverpool , draper , at eleven , at the Court of Ba . ikruptcy _, Liverpool .
_rAKTNEJtSniVB DISSOLVED . S . Qlendinning and A . _Glendinning , Huddersfield , York _, shire , woollen cloth merchants—I . Reading and R . Hill , Brown ' s ' _-court , Edgeware-road , St . _Maryleboue , conch buUders—G . Pile / and G . Mead , White Mart-court , Bishops _, gate-street , wine merchants—J . Heppeustall and II . Hills , Sheffield , Yorkshire , stock-brokers—W . Spilimm and G , Hunter , Lincolnshire , curriers—J . Scarnell , and W . Naish , Moorgate-street , City , boot and shoe manufacturers—W , Blackwell , and C . C . B . Williams , Old Montague-street , Whitochapel , lucifer manufacturers—J . Burgess andT . Loach , Manchester , joiners—G . Hartley and J . Heath , Yorkshire , attorneys—T . Hibblethwtiite and G . Hibblethwaite , Yorkshire , maltsters—J . J . Page and W . A . Calrow , Nottingham , lace manufacturers—T . Fothergill aud J . Wall , Manchester , wholesale grocers—W . Marshall and W . Marshall the younger , Nottingham , painters—F . St . John and Co ., Worcester , Encaustic tile manufacturers—R . Parker and F . Hebden , Yorkshire , tick manufacturers
—II . A . Johnson and W . Pearson , Lincolnshire , druggists —A . Oldham and Co ., _Kiuerston-upon-Hull , millwri g hts —J . Hutchinson and Co ., Liverpool , glass bottle manufacturers , as far as regards the said J . Hutchinson—J . Scholes and Co ., Dog-hill , near Oldham , coal proprietors —J- Scholes , and J . Gartside , Sholveriuoor , near Oldham , coal merchants—M . Phillippo and W . B . Francis , Norwich , surgeons—J . Hill and Co ., Exeter , drugg ists , as far as regards J . Hill—J . B . _Bltiekaller and W . Short . Liverpool , sail makers—S . A . Butt and S . Satchell _, Cambridge , mil . liners—A . F . Eden and E . W . Hollis , Feitchurch-build . ings , City , opticians—M . Hichardson and J . Richardson _^ Liverpool , _coopars—J . Sott ' e and P . Stride , Elms-mill , Southampton , millers—R . Anderson and If . Anderson _^ Unendrapers—J . Solomon and J . Solomon , Kxetor , tailors -G . Sykes and Co ., Almondbury , Yorkshire , fancy cloth manufacturers , as fur as regards L . Jaggcr—T . Butterworth and Co ., Shaw Clough _, Lancashire , wool carders—J . Wnites and F _, Holroyd _, Wakefield , twine mantfacturem G . Holt and Co ., Liverpool , common carriers .
SCOTCH 8 EO . OX 8 TBATION 8 . George Brown Edinburgh , writer-Andrew Ruthcrglen , Glasgow , bookseller-John RichardFraser . Edinburgh , China merchant-William Macintosh and Co ., Glasgow , ship brokers—J . and W . Stevenson and Co ., Knows Renfrewshire , power loom mauufaeturers .
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thepast year , The associationists and the Communist * , two powerful hosts of radical reformers , now recognize unanimously the right of man to the soil , and almost unanimously adopt the National Reform plan of restoring tbat right . The _Anti-Renters , too , organized at first to _resist oppression , have discovered that they stand on much stronger ground than they at first supposed , and are now neurly all National Reformers . Pence men are beginning to see that there can be no peace until human rights _ars somewhere acknowledged , and that a government acknowledging and securing equal right to the soil wouM have the moral force to establish peaco gradually over all surrounding nations . Temperance men , and all other moral reformers , are becoming acquainted with the fact that intemperance , vice , and crime keep pace with inequality of condition , and that inequality of
condition keeps exact pace with the monopoly of the soil The native party , in all probability , would not have had an existence , had . the National Reform movement commenced two years curlier , so completely would our sueccss remove the circumstances which gave tbat party strength . The abolitionists , a party of discordant elements , some irnnting cheap labour , or , in other words , to transform the chattel slave into a wages slave , and thus render still mora intolerable the slavery of nages , and some actuated by truly benevolent designs ; this party , tbe latter branch , . of it , which comprises the great majority , is fast rallying under the National Reform banner ; but whether the friends of cheap labour will tee their own selfishness
is a matter of doubt . Lastl y , even tho Whigs and Demol crate , who are not at all to be classed as Reformers , though continuall y stirring to reform each other , but are mere creatures of education , like Hindoos and Mahometans ( whose relig ion mi ght have been changed b y a transfer of cradles ;) even these are _beginning to understand that to deny the right to the soil is rank Toryism ; and there is no doubt that when called upon to declare for or against , the grea ; bodies of both those parties will declare for a Free Soil ; after which ; there will be but two parties , the great Republican party of Progress , and the little Tory Party of Holdbacks , which latter perhaps mny then be _uBtful by way of contrast .
Reflect , then , Reformers . _Onco more we call your at . ttntton to the subject of a Free Soil , by which we mean an Inalienable _Ilomstead for every family . Consider this proposition in its moral , social , and political bearings . By uniting upon it you may carry it at once ; by delay , you mny allow a war to interfere and postpone it an age . Carry it , and every other reform would be much easier accomplished afterwards . Lst there be a union of Reformers to secure land for a home for every family of the Republic ; and then let us proceed with the reform next in order .
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_jftaftpi- ' - _ilofcnnntts
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AMERICAN" WORKING-MEiYS MOVEMENT . EMANCIPATION OF LABOUR AND THE LAND . The following able and most excellent article is from the pen of Mr . G ; II . Evans , editor of Young America , This article unveils an appalling picture of the state of New York , and powerfully describes tho dangers that threaten the Republic . It is certain that unless the measures of the National Reformers are speedily adopted the American
Commonwealth is doomed . All the social evils that afflict European communities already exist in the United States , and are dail y becoming more and more formidable ; and , unless they are speedily rooted out , political tyranny will be added . The state of American society , as pictured in the following article , should teach us that even universal suffrage will be comparatively valueless unless the people are prepared to insist upon such social reforms as will save the community from the evil of riches and tyranny on the one hand , and poverty and serfdom on the other . As the first of these reforms the Land must be restored to the people .
NATIONAL _m-FOUM-THE _rlKST OF _mSEOKMS-lTSPRESENT position and buiobt _raoepEcTs . Reformers , even the most radical , have a great truth yet to learn , which is this : that fragmentary reforms which might be proper as parts of a whole system , may be mischievous out of their proper order . Two or three illustrations will suffice to show my meaning . The chattel slave has a right to be free ; but he has a rig ht also to land upon which to _enjey and maintain his freedom ; to the property ho has accumulated above his
consumption ; and , in addition , if it were possible , to compensation for hia oppression . Now , it might be good policy to liberate tbe slave without the right of property and compensation ; but it would not be policy to liberate him without his ri ght to land , because he would . then come in competition with the wages slave , and both might be worse off tuan they were before . The proper policy , therefore , would be to put the chattel slave in pos . session of his land and _personal liberty at ence , either with or without his other rights , as might be most practicable . ' '
Again : The wages slave , robbed of a home , and coerced to toil for others , has a right to his land , where he was bom it practicable ; ' * and if not , on the nearest uncultivated land he may choose ; and he has a right . to the proceeds of his labour above his consumption , if he has laboured , and whether be has laboured or not , to compensation for the privations he has suffered in consequence ofthe denial of his right . He has also the right to _exchange the products of bis labour with the products of labour in any foreign country without government interference . But what folly it would be for the landless man to spend half his lifetime contending for free trade , instead of exerting all his _energies to acquire his fundamental right to the soil . It mi ght be policy to eonipromise his rights of property , compensation , and choice of location , the' sooner to obtain his rbjht to the soil somewhere ; but , as free trade without free labour would merely send a few factory slaves to still ( to them ) harder servitude on board of ships . it would be bad policy to contend lor free trade _feefore free land and free labour .
One more example ; the peoplo have a right to choose their own officers . The whole of this right is , that every family shall be on their own inalienable freeholds with nearly equal means , leisure , and capacity to choose from among themselves such few _agents as may be necessary to regulate their local affairs . But in New York , where eig ht y thousand families are crowded into a space that ought to be occupied by one or two thousand ; where , in consequence , not one in a hundred are freeholders ; where one in seven are paupers or dependent on public relief , and can thmk of nothing but how to get their daily bread ; where a large portion are either voluntarily or through necessity without any thought or desire of making it a permanent residence , ( though most" of them get disappointed , ) and therefore feel no interest about city affairs ; where a large portion of them are gamblers , swindlers , and thieves , and tVerefore have interests of their own in the choice of public officers ; where a
considerable portion live on the labour of others by moneyusury or land-usury , and have also separate interests ; where the officers , in consequence of this state of things , are very numerous , and the office seekers , in cunsequenee ofthe _struggle for leave to toil , much more so ; and where the labouring classes , thus in fierce competition , merely live from band to mouth by incessant toil _; where this state of things exists , to talk of the people ' s ri g ht to choose their own officers is , to use the mildest expression , nonsensical ; and for two lawyers to amuse a parcel of them a whole evening , as they did a few days ago at Tammany Hall , on the question whether heads of de . p : _irtmtnts ( who choose hundreds of officers ) should be chosen b y the people direct or by the Mayor and common council , was an exhibition , it seeined to me , not merely bordering on the ludicrous , but going rig ht into it , and I have no doubt they heartily enjoyed the joke at their oyster supper after the extravaganza was over .
Dwell for a moment longer on the funny idea of a New York lacklander choosing his own public officers . He is born in the cellar or garret of somebody else ' s house , for which his father or mother , as the case may be , pays a dollar or two a week , lodging now and then on the sidewalk when they cannot raise the rent , lie arrives , somehow or other , at the age of nini ? , after seeing one or two younger brothers and sisters buried in ground , for thcusa of which the last cent in the family exchequer was paid , and having learned the wi > y to the nearest thoroughfare , he is no w employ ed to sell matches or pocket combs , or to beg . Perhaps , by some strange chance , he sees the inside of Astor House or a Public School , both of which are open to him . At nineteen , liavingacquired his
education , he is promoted to the sale of a brothel ' directory or obscene books ornamented with cuts in the travellers * rooms ofthe Hotels , ! and attaches himselfto some engine company as a volunteer . At twenty-one having for several years been a regular attendant at the cheap theatres , and thus seen a little of all kinds of civilised life , he is persuaded or bribed by Mr . Spokeshave , a custom house officer ( not chosen by tbe people ) , to toufor Lawyer lookahcad for member of Congress , and having learned the party doggerel and joined in the party procession he is now firm in his _political faith , whatever that may be , and of course ii well qualified , and hat plenty of leisure , to select and to vote for about five thousand officers , from street sweepers up , to be chosen to administer tbe city , state , and general governments' .
If one man can own a whole county and make thousands pay tribute to him year after year for the right to use tbe earth ; if another can inherit land in ID out of 50 counties ofa State ; if another can monopolize laud , buildings , and propert y enoug h , to enable him , while tottering on the brink of the grave , to rake into his stores the product of a million of days' labour annually ; while thousands upon thousands are born without the rig ht to walk the earth except by sufferance ; if our best agricultural counties can be covered over with mortgages and the farmers driven off or subject to a perpetual bondage , and
their sons driven into the cities ; if our city populations can be rapidly accumulating with all the evils of monarchical populations ill full proportion ; if our Hues of communications can gradually puss into the possession of chartered companies , subjecting the people to a perpetual rent for these also as well as for the lands aud houses ; if the rich can get richer and the poor poorer ; if wages can lower and runts rise in proportion as improvements are made by labour , skill , and industry ; if all this can go on , just as in a Monarchy , how are we better off than a monarchy , except in the somewhat reduced pay of our public officers ?
It is plain enough that all is not rig ht , and equally plain to many that we arc going from bad to worse . It requires but half an eyo to see that our trifold system of government is becoming far too complicated ; that the apex is becoming too large fur the base ; in short , that the tendency ofthe present system is to a monarchy . We must simplify and economise , if we would preserve the Republic . V 7 e must cutoff numerous offices and reduce the pay of the rest ; ire _muft " abt > _li ? h the Custom House entirely and collect the revenue by direct tax , abolish the Army and Navy , confine tho general ' government to absolute necessary poweis , and shorten the sessions of Congress . In the States wc mustgetrid of all our lawyerB aud threefourths of our laws by abolishing laws for the collection of debts ; put an end to all chartered privileges , and _invita tke city _populations to the country instead of driving more people to the cities ; take away from the legislature
all power of special , local , or class legislation , ' and thus diminish their sessions two-thirds at least ; and secure to every _citiaten a home on the soil sufficient for the rxeriseof bin industry , independent of every man ' s will and pleasure . In the « lties , then , wages would rise , rents would lower , population would become less and less dense , houses would become tolerable residences by having gardens around thera _, and all the present anti-republican tendencies would be reversed . But , first and foremost in this plan of reform , two measures are necessary : the one is , to make the public lands free to actual settlers ; and the other , to limit the quantity of bind that any individual ° r corporation may hereafter acquire in the States ; and nothin g short of this can b y any possibility preserve the Republic , because nothing short of these will secure to each citizen a right to the soil , and there can be no such thing as freedom or « qual rights without the right to the soil .
The several reforms now advocated , and by many called radical reforms , are evidence that we are going wrong ; and it would not be far out of the way to say that the numerous bands of reformers are now the chief obstacles in the way of reform . There must be , if not a Parent-Evil , a "Giant Wrong , " one greater than all the rest ; aud tbey have not taken sufficient pains to find out which it was . The National Reform rs are the last band of political reformers in the field : they ought , therefore , ill due course and without any particular-merit of their own , to be the wisest , having the experience and knowledge of all the others . All other true-hearted reformers , therefore , ought to listen to them : if they have _fcxpluincd or elucidated a truth not before understood , it is useless to persist in the advocacy of any plan of reform which runs counter to that truth or is defective for want of it .
That the National Reformers are not following a phantom , may bo inferred from the accession to their ranks of two other bunds of reformers , almost in a body , within
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_Sattkrupte _, & t *
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* It would not be exactly practicable for all on the island of Now York to have a sufficient Homestead or , it ; but those born on tho Patroon Manors might and should have Homes there _, t These things are now of regular occurrence .
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* "Eastern Europe and the Emperor Nicholas . By Hie _Antl-sir < . f " Revelations of Russia . " London : T . C . _Sewb y _, 72 , Mortimer Street , Cavendish Square .
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Supposed Death _pnou Patent Medicine . — On Tuesday afternoon , Mr . W . Baker held an inquest at
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Fatal Accident at Por . TSMOuTn . —A melancholy accident happened on board the Winchester , 50 , on
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Citation
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Northern Star (1837-1852), May 9, 1846, page 7, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/ns/issues/nss_09051846/page/7/
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