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Northern Star (1837-1852), 23rd February 1839, Edition 1 of 1, Page 6, A SERMON

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      BY THE REV . . J . R . STEPHENS , DELIVERED AT HYDE , ON SUNDAY EVEKIKG LAST ,

      FEBRUARY 17 . ( By our cum Reporter ^ ^ _ On Sunday evening last , Mr . Stephen * delivered * * Sermon , in a lasge stone ^ capel * "t nyde . The baUding , which « notyetfei * w % * iH held upwards xti a thousand people , and m filled to Buffocaben , -with attentive hearers . After the introductory service * were- « ai * hed—Mr-STEPRBSs proceeded to say—WhenGo 4 speaks it is for man to hear aod to obey , God only knows from the begnmiaf what is good and right , and -what , on the whole , up to the end of time , is best for aft mavkind . He ef his wisdom tell * the ¦ w orld what the w » rld is to do ; and whatever he bids , it is oar * , at once , to take at his word ,

      and to ** rry oat , ¦ whatever be the risk , whatever be the loss , the suffering , the pains , or the penalties ,, which are attached to the performance or the accomplwhineat of his righteous word , and hi * almighty and sovereign will . We must , my brethren , have * ome standard to whiehallthe thongnts , and way * , * nd works of men nre to be reduced . We must have some teat by which to try them ; some touchstone by which to determine whether in themselves they are serad aad true * and whether in their working they be for our own food and the food of eur fellow men . "Unless there be an ultimate point for the reference of all things , we are , as it were * at sea : we &r » cast upon the wide waters of uncertainty , amid the perplexities of conflicting interests : every man has the same right as his neighbours to insist opon the excellence and superiority of his own opinion ; every man has the same right to declare the pre-eminence of hi * own preperitions : everv

      man has the ome right to attempt to carry into execution his owa projects a * his neighbonr has ; we in that case shall be left without any government , without any authority and any law to contronl , regulate , and administer the affairs ef men . Hence it ii that the necessity arises for mankind to be agreed open the ultimate test by which to try , judge , and determine the goodness or the badness , the worth or the worthlessness , the soundness or the ¦ un suandnesj of all those . things which , from time to time are , by tome mea ^ gprftponnded and offered to others . _ It b in this spirit , and with reference to this ultimate standard , that one of the sacred writers exclaims— Let Ged be tree , and every man a . liar . " The more you think of tile sentiment contained in that expression , the more you will be convinced of the absohite necessity , as well as the advantage o 1 adhering to the principle which it teaches . We must hare a rule . I hold that this rule is laid 'down

      in the Word of God , —that there is but one onginsl and ultimate , but one independent , almighty , and everlasting Lawgiver . 1 hold that before ever the earth was made , thai before ever the mountains and the * fll « were formed and fashioned , that from everlasting to everlasting he , Jehovah , was God : and that so soen as he hid made man , and set him upon tie-earth , he gave him these laws by which his « ntire life was to be regulated : and erdained that ebedience to those laws shonld be followed by happiness , ' and shonld produce every fair , lovely , and delightful consequence ; and that , on the other hand , so soon as those laws were broken , disobedience to the law shotud be followed by perseaal condemnation , by individual misery , and , to far as the influence * f that one act could " extend , by

      universal wretchedness to the human race that became subject to the consequences of that transgressien . If this vrew of the case he correct , we are bonnd , as fearers of God , as followers of Christ , * nd as disciples of oar divine Lerd and Master , t » say to him as was said by one of old , Lord , what wouldst thon have me to do r" In the situation is which 1 am placed , as a Christian minister , if the office I hold have any duties attached to it , thon duties most be defined in the warrant or patent , by -rirtue of which I exercise thednnes of that office . . Now , where am I to go for the definition of the orBceitself , or the Hat , catalogue , and enumeration of the duties which are connected with that office ? I may say with a disciple , * Lord , to whom shonld 1 go but Tin to thee- ? "' The office I hold does not come to me from

      any human institution whatever . There may be a human institution associated or connected with the calling : there may be earthly arrangements adapted to the original institution ; but the office itself aad the institution itself , and the calling and appointing to that institution and office , are not from man but from God ; they are not from earth , but from heaven I am bound , and my brethrea is the ministry are bound , to say that they are inwardiy moved by the fiolj Ghost , to take upon themselves the office of the Christian ministry . Now , in what way does the Holy Ghost make known his mind—the mind of the £ teraal God—to man ? I have always understood , that this Book ( the Bible ) contains the Word of God to man ; that herein is unfolded tkat will ,

      frem the beginning to the end of time , to be adapted and applied to all the purposes of life—to all the relations in which we stand to each other—to all the duties which we have to discharge , as wt stand ride by side together as brethren , jis neighbour ? , as fellow-men , as fellow-countrymen , as fellow-worshippers and brother followers of Him who is enr great Head , the Captain of oar miration , aad whom we xre boand to follow through evil report and ¦ through good report—through strife and warfare , from conquering to conquer , till at last he brings- us off " more thaa conqueror ? , even through Him that loved us and gave himself for ¦ as . Now , thi * being settled and understood—and we ought to tremble to our inmost soul when we so settle and understand

      itthisbeing settled and undexstood , if we are oaly before you the' mouth-piece of another who speaks from behind , how ought we to stand ? How ought we to leek one another in the face ? How-ought we to think ene of the other ? If Jon want me to danb with tmtempered mortar , it w at my peril to please you . - If yet want me to sew pillows under your arm pits * if yon wish me to say " peace , peace , peace , " when I know there is no peace ; if yon wish me to play before you tipon * n instrument so-aie # oft « d pleasing melody , to bewilder and enchant you , whUeysa rtsnd , u it were , upon the edge of a precipice , your bleed is then upoa my head . If I know y © or way ? and works to be sinful ; if 1 know that ycrax practices and habits either in nrivate life

      individually , or in pnblklife collectively , as a neighl » urbood ,-as acoBunonwealthjor as a part of the bodv politic—if I know your ways and works are evil ii the oght of God , woe is me if I keep back any part of the counsel of God ; or shun to declare the Whole council of God to you . I am bound to speak , whether y « u will hear or whether you will forbear . It is tree that in doing this I may haw to run a risk ; aad we may take this as a maxim in xaoral teaching as well as in the spiritual duties of the office which l-aastaia—that no n > in ever spoke the truth without running a risk ; it is true that evil and Ticked men love darkness rather than light because their deeds are evil ; H is true that when « n ha * made itself * troflgit love * not to be dislodged

      use , when detected , to be denounced—for « n , wherever it hag fotten iteelf to any stronghold , -always dees its utmost to "keep that hold , and refuses to relioquish that held which it has gotten upon the people , or npon the happiness of the people in those tnstrtadons which it-has wrested "from thear purposes , and perverted to an end for which they were never originally designed : ; % nt what or that ? It becomes the duty «« f » Christian Minister to be bolder than « non , though he . maybe nannies * at a 'dote . R become * bin to « Und ia his own peaon , and fa hi * own ministrations and coaoQCtrlike the beaten anviL to the stroke , and to refawHBF ^ mceal or to keep back —or to aBow others to eoseeal or keep Back—anr

      part-of tteword of fte L * rd . He is to throw hab-• elf among the people ; he is to stand npon the hfll top , * nd in the hearing of 4 be thousands , or the teas oftheusands who maj be fathered arorad him , —ie » tow Th « morth of tie Lord haft spoken it ; kear , oh hearens , and give ear , oh earth V This has been the way in which erery g » od man of old has ¦ waTked from the beginning ; aad I cannot rest until it please God to send dewn the mantle of oar EBjax » p » u thejwiBf Elsharof 4 h * "jrweat age . When God wishes " to inspire e » with-confidence ia his pronuses , and to lead us to trust in his providence , he always says , "I * m the Goief JlbrahanH of Isaac , ¦? * . ** , ?* 4 " ke al »* y »« ay « ' * I « m not theG « d of the dead but tie living God of the livine . " Whv

      ioesOod » jti « theis not theCodof the dead but 5 f ^ »« W - ' TT * J does he teU ju that he is the God of Abraham , of lsaac , ' and » f Jacob ? It i * that we may read what Abraham , » sdl «« ac , and Jacob did , « nd go and da Kkewwe . H « ace it is that the Apastle PanL in that memorable , that transcendently eloqaentbut Arffling chapter to the Hebrews , when ™ ^ f ^™ * ¦«* ** V * *' A& * « f « "Time would ail me totell of them" - and then he gives us a rapidsketch of some of the . principal prophets of old . What he says inrefeience to tiiem , he says by way of animating us to walk in their footsteps . Doh he tell us fhatfhey dweft'in malace * , tb * t they were followed with the ferowr of the & * & * && tkfprotection of the powerful ? Doe * he tell us that they had thousands of gold aad of nher peared into their lap as the price oftheir preaching the gospel of Christ ? i unai in

      > oj uicj wsamrea soeepr suns , xna in goats' skms" ; they hid themselves in deos and caves of the earth . " They were slain with the sword ; they were srwn asunder with . % nw ; and if you look over the catalogue of those worthies , of whom he says the world was net worthy , " there was not a man among them who did Bot go with hi * life in his hand when he did the bidding of the Lord , and scarcely one of them who did not lay down that Hfe as a testimonT of the truth of the gospel which he had proclaimed . These things , then , are written for oarencearagement . God always tells us what we are to look for ; and we are to loek for sueh thugs as these ; we are to be prepared for them ; ire are to say , " Lord , what wcnldst thou have me to do r" And if doing the word of God lead as to -a dungeon sr a scaffold ; if oar freedom or our life be taken away , we are to give up that freedom aad that life to God ; we are to » y « "Lord , here am I , send

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      me } ' «• «* «* n « eye fixed open the nark « f . the fttKiJt « w high calling of ( . © din Christ Jrttu . " wo thu andAhis only that will oJbta ^ n the «* r * of the world , it . i * thu and th »» only that will breathe upon the valley of dry nones « n 4 cause them to lire . It m thw aad ttiu only—this manly , fearles * , devoted , aad divine uurrender ^ -for God only can enable xi * to , taake th . e ; j surrender , and therefore I call it a- divine ene—it ig this divine surrender , this giving np of all we have to Godibr the sake of his chmrch aad people ; it is this , and only this , that will

      arouse a slumbering nation * that , will arouse a dead enapireto life again , aad put you , whoare lying in the dust , ence again upon your feet , feeling alter God if happily you may find him , and saying as your eyes are opened , It i * the Lord's dning , and it is marvellous in . out eyes . " Oh , give yourselves to prayer to God Almighty , that he weuld « end down his light and truth into this part of his heavenly Kingdom . You have more need to pray lor thu than for anything else . I knew it has been the custom to bid yen look to Parliament and- to leave to Parliament thosv matters which you know to be of vital interest to the nation . I know t has be « i the custom to bid you look to men—to individual men . u Put not thy trust in Princes . " Trust

      sot in man whose breath is in his nostrils . If you hopefor w . ab . or , long after the health of this your fattier and if you earnestly yearn after the good old times spoken of in thu book , times in which every man dwelt uader his own vise aad under his own fig tree , none making him afraid , times when every man ' s sweat bronght bie&d enough and to spare for his wife and his household , times when the wedded wife was the pride of the devoted husband , and the husband was the glory of an attached and affectionate wife , when children , the more the better , the more , the greater the giouad of thankfulness to God—when children were looked upon as a blessing from God , a gift frem heaven , the richest &ud the choicest , the

      dearest , the sweetest , and the most iuvoluable earthly gift which God could bestow upon man—if you want these times , times of the cwt : age—timss of the church—times in which father and mother , and children , and men with men as neighbours together , times in which tke . rich and the poor bended the knee together before the altar of God and acknowleged hw to be the makerof them all ; if yon want these gospel , these Bible days ever to conw back to England again ; sr if you think that they sever appeared in England , bat know that th . ey ought to appear because they are foretold and promised in the Word of-God ; oh , my brethren , look neither to this man nor to that man , but pray to God Almighty to raise up amoajr you prophets like unto Moses and

      Joshua and Hesekia aadEzekiel and Malsichiah and Amos and Jonah : pray to God to raise « p apostles like Peter and Paul ^ nd J ohn j pray God to raise up men filled with his favour ; men whose hearts are ftilrd with love to their brethren j prayGod tosendsuch men out , with their lives in . tkeirhands , to launch his thunderbolts at tha head of the oppressor , and to shed his blessing upon . the heads of those who in obedience , reverential , chiki-like obedience , love to follow in the . way of hw commandments . You will never have freedom er happiness in England ; this lfrndwillnevet be werth living in—it in not worth living in now if it were aot for the hope in God that it may be better ; if there be a hell opon earth comparatively with other nations ef the world , it is

      £ ngland : if the devil has say seat of authority—any kingdom where he ra let more infernally than in any ocker part of the world , iv is England at this moment . Look where you will ; cast jour eyes abroad from the political head to the political foot , there is no soundness in us ; there is nothing " but wounds , and bruises , an 4 putrifying sores ; and the only balm of Gilead , the only good physician is yonder good physictan—he who laid down his life for the world . Pray , then , for the spirit of God to be poured o « t ; pray for the spirit of God to come down ; pray for the spirit of determined and decided men once more to beimpacled ; pray for the opening of the blind eyes , for xke unstopping ef the deaf ears , for the breaking up of rocky hearts : nrav that

      God would strike with the hammer of his word , and break this national heart of stone ; pray that God would fill you with his trpth , that he weufd raise you up and carry yon far beyond the fear of man ; and when your own 3 oul is let loose ; whea your own mind is free ; when your own heart is " big and swollen , and entirely filled with the fear of God , you will never be afraid of what man can * ay or do unto yeu ; yon will say , "He that is for me m greater than sill that Are against me ; " and you will goon in the name , and in the strength of God , and you w ill be a Christian Reformer . We want in England Christian Reformers . There has already been too much of what is called political Reform , the juggling of the places from one to anotherthe passing

      , of the pea from one cup to another cup to amuse and deceive , and ultimately to destroy the people ; aud every step you . take i * a step nearer to helL All the laws in England could not make Hyde one bit the better unless the people were a changed people . An Act of Parliameut cannot change tne hearts of the tyrants Ashtou and Hdward . These men have made themselves rich by making you poor . They are swollen with wealth by plundering you . Now , all the laws in England could not change the hearts of those wicked men ; and unless their hearts were changed , and your hearts were changed , what could the law do ? There would be a thousand vrajj of breaking through it ; a thousand ways ef avoiding it , and of screening those

      who were" detected , even after they had broken the law . It could do n « good . Yoor mind * rant be made up . Yon , husbands notes * yonr miads be made up that your wne » ougbtniot aad shaUiiot work ; that rather than kill your wiv *« by allowing them to work , yon will allotv ' God to take their lires away by gradual starvation , —and that is what 1 WHulddo ; for before I woold -allow , my wife tQ go to a mill and be worked there , that wife xhomld vtay at home , and should die in her chair or on the floor , and the verdict should be " Died by the visitation ol God "—she should not die by the visitation of the factory demon . It is only a few day * ago that a medical man told me in this very place , that he had been called te a woman who had suffered aa injary

      in a factory . He imagined it to be the breaking of some limb by the machinery , and he earned with him his case of instruments , in order to be prepared to amputate the limb if nece-jary . When he drew near tke factory he saw a track of blood ; he had no need of any guide to the honse > where the woman was . There was a stream of blood all the way from the factory door across a considerable piece of ground to the cottage where the weman lived . There was no limb braken ; the machinery had not torn her . It was the most awfal sight that an EngiLth father , or an English husband can imagine . It was the lawfully wedded wife of a hard-working -English husband who had been standing in that mill

      fifteen hour * in the day ( including xaeal times ) ia tbe Jast stage ef pregnancy , till nature could endure no longer , and hud burst tbe overcharged vessels of her iwer-worked frame . ; and there the woman was -bleeding to death in consequence . ( Great emotion . ) I have known a woman to be earned out of a mill in that state , and to be traced ia the same way by a stream of blood to tie house , aad there , in fifteen minutes , to die , and tie unborn babe in her womb to be buried along with her in the same grave ( Great emotion . ) Now , nntil you , as husbands , say to yeurselve * , " I will work willingly , I will sweat freely , I won ' t spare my own bod y , I will apply myself diligentl y and induetrioudy to labour , but by the God that said ' for this cause shall a man leave

      his father and mother , and cleave unto his wife , ' by that-God , and by that dear woman whom he gave to be my crown and mystery , by that God and by thatworaan , aay wife shall aeverwork at all , "—oatjl you do thi * , and refuse t « sell the bodies of yonr wives aad childrea to the millowner , allth-s act * of Parliament that ever could be passed weald net ptevent it . Mr . Stephens liven referred to the present factory Act , and regretted it was not ia operation , observing , that if Lori John Russell were . as anxious to enforce it as he was to enforce aaother abominable law , he wonld-ctill be unable to de so , even with the aid of all the police ami military force in the' country , if the people were determined their wives and children should not w « rk . He then said—If you were u much alive t * natOK and jeligioa as joa ought to be , ' you would act raprire a Ten Hours'FactoryBill , but yon would be « f one mind , and ef oae heart . If the xaastero were willing to buy , yon would not be willing to sell you

      children . This is exactly what I mean . I am told taxttbis principle is prevailing a ere . I am glad U > hear , that there are many husbands , and many fathers who in this resj ^ ect have said *** Let God be true , and every man a liar . " I know fathers and mothers who will not allow their children to be destroyed . I do thank God that there is a most extraordinary spirit of heroism xnd divine energy beginning to parade the people . I was very much struck with an instance of this yesterday ; I will give it yoq at an illustration of what I mean , became it came spontaneously from a man whom I have sever seen in my nfe , and to whan I never ottered a word in reference to such matters ! This man came to me vesterday to know what he must da . He said there were seven of them in faTnilv . and nnlr ono . hp « Mp

      himself , abl « to work ; and now it had pleased God to take away one of them by death—a little boy . He said "Mr . Stephens I hare been some time in this neighbourhood ( he came from the South ) , and , as God is my witness , I have never bought a fj ° j a i e smc « I came into the neighonrhood . " He « id , "I want it , and I think I ought to have it ; but when I l ^ t ^ or twopence &nd then look at my children , I think they luwe more need of the bread than I have of the beer , and I dare not buy any , and I never do buy any . " Bot hesaid , * After I have drawn the fortnight ' s wages , it is sometimes as much as ever we can do to make it reach over the week we drew it in ; and till the next week , we are obliged to take my clothes , the wife ' s Slothes , and the children ' s c ' . othej , one after the

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      g ^ , » >^ »! & « S « y tojgeU . ^ money , to help m fc > get ffie week ofer * . And now , yougee my tHXSAW ^ a ^«» . c ] othe * Lh ATe Jeft ,. an 4 that eniiCf cannit > ory . I ion * t like tujge to the overseer * , because I know ^ they ^ are a b , ard-i . e . arted set ef men . They will begin to tell me about the idleness and drunkennessofjthe working classes ^; and that they oaght to lay up soaieihingagaitist a rain y day . Some of my friends have been recommending me to have a nabscription , and g » Tound in the factory ; but I don ' t like to do that , because those who might give . anything are almost as much in aeedof Has myself . " He raid , " I'll tell yon what I ' ve been thinking of doing , and I have come to ask you whether you think it " would be right or not .

      i nave been imnnngot getting a little bit of wood , or a piece tarpaulin , and making a eotoethidgeither a box or 8 bag , aad putting my dear boy ' s body into it , and carrying it upon my own shoulders , in my rags as I am , through the streets , and leaving it at the church door , and- knerliag down in the church , and praying God Almighty to take him and all of us in . his own good time , where the wicked eewe from troubling , and the weary « r « at rest . " ( Great emotion . ) I -aaked him what had put that into his bead ? "Mr . Stephen * , " he said , ?* it . is time us working men did something , ltin time we began to set an example , aad to let the world- see < that w « » reu « teshamed of what we . are compelled to do , aad that w « are determined to do nothisji but what

      u right . If , whea my poor boy is dead * -ire are to have netbing from the town , and if we can get nothing fairly and honestly in any « ther way , I nm not going into debt . If 1 go into debt , I mortgage mj latnily for perhaps six , nine , or twelve month *; and I think it is nigh tune the labouring claxse * began to set an example , and refuse to havu their children christened , except by shedding over thwn an unfortunate father ' s tears , and ptayi » g God to bless the babe ; ta refuse to have their children buried , except in the way I have mentioned ; and if 1 thought it wa * aot against the law . I would have a flag stone dug up , and would bury it underneath ray own floor , and over the tomb of my dear boy , pray God night aad morning to deliver us . " ( Great

      emotion . ) 1 told the man 1 coulJ not advise him ; 1 said I never liked to advise people in such a case ; but if the case wer * mine , I thought I would do bo . But God Almighty is moving the working classes in the country , and therefore I exhort you to give yourselves to prayer . Pray Ged to sound thp alarm from one end of the hind to the ether ; and then , in the spirit of self-denial , and self-sacnHc « , and devotion , be united as the heart of one man , aad an one united and indissoluble phalanx , God leading you by a pillar of lire by night , and by a pillar of a " cloud b y day wend your way , and force your passage through the wilderness to ure promised land—tbe land that flows with milk and honey . Lt . ia high time that there was some mighty movement . The other nkht

      ^ good woman , named Mm . Jane Brown , who lives in Stockperc , near the workhouse , had occasion to be sitting up for some of her family till about twelve o ' clock . On opening the door , the light which was thrown opposite , showed her something whick she thought looked like u human being . Sne went up to it , and then , went and told a neighbour woman who was sitting up with her that she thought there was somebody under the wall . She took the light , aud saw middled up , like a little hedge-heg , under the wall , a little bey , apparently about twelve years of age fast , asleep , though it was a cold bitter trosty night . She shook him and having wakened him , asked him what he wan doing there . He asked if the workhouse was not

      somewhere there , for he had heard that he might sleep iB the workhou . « e , but he had fallen asleep ther * beside ' the wall . Mrs . Brown said to hint that by his loaks he had been in a workhouse already . He on had a kind of uniform that the woman took to be a Workhouse dress . He snid he had been at Huntingdon workhouse , and formerly in the Stowmarket workhouse , and had made his escape' from the latter place because they bchared to cruelly to them . He said there were sevca of them—father , mother , and children , and they were beaten and flogged for any little fault in the most barbarous and inhuman manner . He said he bad a sister , about fourteen or fifteen year of age , and he "had not seen ber-for a length of time .

      One day he heBrd her voice , * he was crying , and he climbea up the wall or partition that divided them , and taw her fastened ina kind of stocks , which they fasten ^ their heads in . They were cutting her hair off , and they were flogging ner because tkv , ori ^ d to have her hair cat off . He told his ,-bratfy « . | n J jcuu away and fetch their aunt , and try , if $ h ^ epfm not get cbeir sister out . His brother got oatJUjdjuevw came back ngain ; and he himself re * plvpa tamake hi * escape if lie could , and he did escape . But he also told this woman at Stock port that their meat wa * the naitieft that could pcssibly be conceived , and that in th « skilly he detected " lump * af re « n which had been boiled in it . The woman asked him what it was for ? aad he said the skilly ran

      through them like water through a pipe , and they put the resin into it to make it , stick in their belly . He , Mr . Stephens , had sincu enquired aboutresin in that towa , and he found that it was very common with pig merchants to give their pigs , when about to sell them , a feed of meat with resiu in it , which stops the body up , and gives them a plump appearance , by which the purchaser is deceived . So it seemed , in order ta keep this devils' dirt in the stomachs of the poor wretche * , resin was to be mixed with it , for the purpose of obstructing the various fnnctions of the body , that : tbey .,, . iajg&t not die of cholera morbus , put of , sonje disease , l ^ r which , they had aoj yetfouod . a . namei- ; \>; t » en . thiaj > qy , escaped from Stowmarket workhouse } he ana another boy , who-had also escaped with him , travelled a&ont 30 miles , and rot to . the town of Huntingdon . There theywert both arretted by the poJice . and wer «

      carriftdto the wwkhevse . The Board of G « ardinns wtote to tke . Stowmaiket Guardians , to know what cr who . they were . ; but they wrote back again to the Huntingdon Gaardians , telling them to get rid of them , —to ghtt 4 hern something and send them away ; and , with' 7 s . 6 d , each , they were turned adrift in the world , to come down here to the North of Eugland . Mr . Stephens then read the following discharge : — HU . NTI . NGPON Un'IOJJ . Day of Meeting , Satnrday , Clerk ' s Name , Charles Margate , 26 th day of November , 1838 . The bearers hereof , Jolm Draper , agea la , and Daniel Simong j aged 12 , were this day discharged from the Huntingdon Workhouse , by the requestor the Board of Guardians of Stow Market Union , from the Workhouse of which , they absconded on Vi edaesday the 14 th Instant .

      They have on Clothing belonging . to the Stow Market Union ; aud had given to them when they were discharged , a 4 fc loaf , i a tb of Cheese and ys . 6 d . each in money to enable them to proceed to Liverpool , where they have a prospect of employment . Thev were discharged from the Huntingdon Union Workhouse at a Quarter pant 11 o'Clock oa Monday Morning , 26 th November . Joan Richmosd , Workhouse-Master . Now- if these boya had committed any crime , iB addition to the act of theft with which they were charged—for they were stated in that document te have upon them , not their own clothes , bat the clothe * of the Stowmarket Board of Guardians , for bavinr on which thev were liable at

      anr- moment io be arrested , ana committed to prison for an indefinite period ; if they had comaitted any < Jrime , why wew they not sent back to tbe Stowmarket Unien , and broug ht before some legal tribnatl either there or in the neighbourhood ? Under what Jaw , of by what authority dared th » JSoard of Guardians at Huntington , to turn these poor little children adrift with 7 « . 6 d . ? This little boy wag foend at Stockport ; and but for the humanity of that female , that boy might have perished , end in all probability would have perished that very night . ( Great emotion . ) He would read a letter which w « s written to the boy by his grandmother aad another to Mrs . Jane Brown , of Stockport . December 25 th . Shirauline .

      " Dear Child , I am happy to say that T received your letter , and tbe reason that I did not write to you before , was becanse Daniel was got out of the Workheone , and we could not hear where ha was until bow ; we had a letter from Stockport to » ay that he was taken up by a friend almost starved ; for poor boy , he had been to Colton , thinking to find , von but could not , •«© if providence had not raised him ap a friend , he must hase perished . But God has promised to be a father to the fatherless . Your poor mother has had the small pox but has got quite well , but has been very unhappy about the poor boy to know where he wae ; she knew he was bent to come to you , but what nre yo » to do for to keeD him ?

      \ on mnt try to get him w » rk , for he says he will not come back inia the Workhouse any more , and that is a bad place 4 e be in for thw poor little girl ; and the ether two poer little boys have not seen their mother since they l » ve been in nouse , the girl ha * been very ill , but in better ; Da rid has got work at Mr . Nuna ' s . Charlotte is at serv ice at Mr . Baker ' s . Sanaa i « gone to live at Mr . Stew . ud ' s . 1 hope they will stop , and I' hope your mothi » r will once more have the pleasure of seeing her dear children all together again , if please Ged to sp ; u-e her ; and then pray do not neglect writing to u « a * i soon an yon hear any thing about your brother , for tl ie lime will seem long until we hear from you agai n , so no more at this time from your affectionate Gra ndmother .

      Symowds . P . S . Your brother is at Mrs . Jane Brown ' s , at John Charlesworth ' s Eaten Lane , Stockport , near Manchester .

      TO MRS . BROWN . Dear Friend , ai I may sincerely ca ! 5 you . although a stranger to me , I truly and kindly thank you for protecting the poor , I may gay friend less , child , for he has a mother , but it L < not in her 'power to be a iriend to him , bat thank God , that L e has sent him a friend on this earth . Friend , it is no tinmypowel to return yon anything for your kiudnt * s to him , but I hope God will reward you lor all . j I hope he will be a good boy and try to go to his bro flier j he will

      Untitled Article

      imd h >« brott |« r , a $ Jajaeal Ajtkinwa ' * , Biddulph . aear Con | kton . Cbe * hlre . . ' Pray direct thi * letter to Alexander Symouds as aeon a » you can . ¦ ' : ' , ; . ¦ ,: / ,. . - ¦ ^ ' ^ Sunday EveBin ( r , Jan . 27 * Reverend Sik , —The papers that accompanies this letter were put into ay hind , on last . Thjiriiday nighVby a Mrs . Jane Bro ^ p , who live * at Daw . bank , opposite the Stockport Workhouse , and requested of me that I would . embtidy the particular * of the circuiastaiice by which she came into posses ,-» ion of them £ on'hearing . thaV yon Were t (> be in this , town on . to-worrow , the expjressed a wish that they miuht . ba haudecl to you , ana to make whatever u * e you might think proper of them . Six weeks

      last Saturday night , Mrs . Brown had occasida to g <» to the door , about the hour of twelve or half-past , and on doing sb ' , she observed a ' childcrouched down clo « e to tlie walj of 11 » eWorkhon » . . Tke night was cold aud frostj ; shecra ^ ed overinordet to » we what was the matter , and found a little . boy , about twelve year * old , dressed in a workhouse dress , with yellow stocking * aud cap . She asked him why he was there ? and he aaswered that apme people , had tcild him tha ^ he wppld get in there : to sleep . She aikefl him if he should hk « to be in a , VVorkhouse , and he answered uo . But you have been in one ? He answered , yes , I had been iu Stow Market Union WBrkhouxe , but had overrun it She ask him if he had a mother ?; He answered yeaand that ne and

      , threemore brothers . and tbree sisters were in the above-jaoraed W orkWuse , but that he would aot go back as he would be whipt , and that haying a brother , as he nad heard , iomewhere down in the n # rth , he baa come in tfearchof him . Having asked a 1 * . whsre he would sleep that naghi , he Haid that he did not kno ' w , but he should Tie starved if he would have , to be out all night . On being asked where he had ulept the . lar t night , he answered iu h brick-kilu , and ^ rey iuup nights in Shippon ' s fields , and otker outhotiseK . Mrs . Brown took the child home and got him to bed . Subsequently got him work , and the third week got three-and-sixpeace . He had then got a suit of clothes , having got from several working-people small trifles which , in the

      wnoie , amounted to seven shillings , this being collected at different times , as soon as she possibly could she wrote to the child ' * mother , in care of his grandmother , as if directed to'his mother . A considerable time would elapse before she might get it , the answer by the grandmother you have before you—the horrors of a workhouse is pictured out by this child in the clearest manner , and through the management of this woman the child is now with the brother he first camu in search of . Tke child , Draper , that is mentioned in the discharge , was taken poorly twelve miles the other side of Macclesheld , and although Heveral enquiries have been made , and several people spoken to , there ceuld not ba any other trace made out , only that from a

      descnptioa of his dress , he had been takwa by some woman to Marsland ' s paint shop , but had not get any work . In the foregoing part it is stated that these children overruu the workhouse in Stowmarket , from the cruelty practiced there—the horrid wav they are fed—the sort and quantity of the wretche ' d fooa that is g ^ iven to tbe paupers , beggar ? all description . Snfhce it to say that all your experieace , I would venture to think you i > . ight add this ' to it : Amongst tin' rest of the humanity practised in the bastile , there is rosin put into the water that is te make the gruel , and on this being detected by the doctor , aud other things he had seen , he left for fear ot the consequences , for he had detected the rosin in the water , and it w » u with difficulty that he

      could get to the boiler to examine tlai * affair ; and to thw way they use the aged men ; they are placed in one of the large rooms , and the little boys has a strap . of leather , and by the command of the master of tlie workhouse , the boys aieto strike the old men as they are marchea piwt them . It would fill a volume what this child has told . They might tell him if they liked that these were all lies ; but there was the discharge , was that a lie ? There it wag , partly in print and pnrtly in writing , with the signature of an officer . I hey might tell him that children were never flogged —ttmt no resin was ever put into their gruel . They might . tell him . that those b « yn were bad boys ; but . tlter he had heard all they had to say , bis objection

      was as strong as ever ; by what law , and under what authority had they anghtto take any mother ' s son , or any man ' s daughter , to separate them , and to keep them from e * ch other , to keep their practices concealed , and to refuse to admit them to see each other at all proper hour . *; and especially by what divine right did they take upon themselves to establish a law like that in the way they had notoriously attempted to establish it ? Let the best be made of that law they can make of it ; and the . sooner every Bastile is pulled down or burnt down the better it will be for England . Now it is against these works ot the Devil that I am called to preach . ( A voice , ' Aye ; preach on . ") Myfrieud says " preach on ; " and by the bleisini ? ot God I

      will preach on ; until this tongue is sileut in death , 1 w ill preach on ; for the abomination of desolation is standing in the holy places , and it becomes me , as a minister of the Gospel , to stand forward and declare the will of God . I will read you the way in which God commissions his servants to preach his truth ; it is in the Book of Amos— "Behold the L , ord stood upon a wall / 1 It is not for me to say how Amos beheld him : it is sufficient that be did behold the Lord . And should Amos behold the imis . blt * God upon the wall , and in , there no tokan of the Lord with us ? Is there no mark or evidence of GoJ upen the factory wall or upon the workhouse wall ? Are all these to be figures and parables ' : No , I take the Word of God as I find it

      "Behold the Lord stood upon a wall made by a plumblme , and with a piumbline in his hand And the Lord said uuto me , Amos , what seest thou ? And I said , —A plurabline . Then Haid the Lord , — Behold , I will set a piumbline in th « midst of my people Israel : I will uot again pass by them uny more . " If C f . od be every where present , is he not every where / aMe-revery where the same ? I » be less prejientin Englani than he was in Judea , andj Caaldea , and Assyria , those kingdoms of old that are now destroyed , because they disobeyed him ? Ia he 1 « ks powerful to punish and reward than he was two or three thousand years ago ? Is he less righteous to mark our deeds , or less merciful to . be mindful of the misfortunes and

      miseries of his children ? Ne . The God who heard thts cry of the . children et Israel an their groans came up before him , and brought him down to the destruction of Pharaoh , will also bend to the cries and groans of the people of England . The God who made himself known to Amos , is the same everpresent , righteous , hely , and great and imperishable God ; and he says tb England through Amois ?• Now what seest thou upon yonder factory wall ? Whatseest thou upon yonder bastile wall ? What » fest thou upon the wall of yonder , Parliament House—upon the wall of yonder palaces ? God has a controversy with us . God says "I will lay the piumbline to England ; 1 will not pass by it any more . "Aad the high places of Isauc shall be desolate , and the sanctuaries of Israel shall be laid waste ; and I will

      rise against the bouee of Jeroboam with the sword . " Now mark ! What shall be desolate ? Does God speak of the deserted hearths and the desolate habitation of the poor ? No they are truly df « olate already . They have been made utterly desolate by the oppression of the great : and now God says to the great •• y * ur time is come , your hour is at hand . " The high places of Isaac xhall be desolate , and the sanctuaries of Israel—the temples , the churches , and the cathedral * , which instead of being made houses of prayer , have been made into dens of thieves—( " Yes , yen , " )—the sanctuaries of England , from St . Paul '*) , and Westminster Abbey downwards , in which archbishops , bishops , and dignitaries of die church officiatedown to the

      , lowest of our chapels among the multitudinous sects m this our Christian Babel . God will lav the sanctuaries waste : the priest and the temple shall be destroyed together , " unless the priest employ the temple for the purposes for which it was originally designed . " I will rise up agaiast the houue of Jeroboam , " not against the people . Here are no bayonets , no bullets , no gagging bills ; no Coercion Acts , no New Poor Law Aeta , for the destruction of the people . God says "I will ri « e up against the house of Jeroboam "—aprineelyhonse , a royal house . Ged sayt , "I win rise up against that hoose and against that throne . " Wh y ? " For . its wjckedaesX because it has not admttiistered my laws juatly and impartially , and in mercy , aceoroine to niv command .

      ment , to the people / ' And how will God rise up in jadgment against thu house of Jeroboam ? Witk the sword i God hasxiften wieldiid the sword , and in my belief , looking to the appearances of things , God is preparing hisi glittering sword , and w abontto make hiu power and hi « righteousness conspicuous in the world , by visiting the greatest nation o « the face of the earth with the most temtte and awful of his judgments . If Jeroboam deserved to be destroyed by the sword , the high place * and principaUtiies and powers of England deserve a thousand times heavier blow , a thousand times

      more awful vengeance ; for We have been lifted up to Heaven by privileges , and « od will cast * w down to Hell with hw judgments . The rev genuthea proceeded in a most eloquent and interesting nnanner to comment on the 7 th chapter of Amos , which he e « d was hi « text , applying it in many places to our own condition . ' He concluded his sermon by oaeof those eloquent appals for which his addresses are so remarkable , after having spoken nearly two houw . It was a sight exefeedingj * pleasing to see th » . children surround Mr . S . as he was leaving the chapel , all vieiBg with each other in theu- anxiety to show him how ranch they loved

      Untitled Article

      New Poor laws . -The Commissioners have written to the Guardians of the Boston Union , refusing to grant out-door relief to a man named Clark , who cannot earn sufficient , by sixteen hours ' labour , to support himseLf , his wife , and eight . ckil-Wi » A Guara > an » Solved to give r elief in bread to the poor famil y , and to again urge their claims en tbe CommiM ioner > .-iww /» Chronicle .

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      a nfrK «? r ?^^ Mi P # » b ¦ ° *» » D 8 » e ? erelyiff « tf one ! of w lead i * P « octl having' fallen iiiW tklk w ! » * " 8 eTere » weli » g and win of H ^ iar ^^ ^ llprsas jested by the CommiBsioaeri . r ^ i « cofe , Chro-J » Dg namea Lansdell , of £ 240 in gold lad notes The prosector had been selling pigs and cattle ™ i after receiving the money went to a sale of horses in the town , where be w . w robbed of his Bur » e : TTnnn

      the woman the purue and a £ 10 note were found ; 0 ji ^ l BU 8 Accideht . —Between nine and ten o clock on Friday morning , a boy named Morris , about fourteen years of age , whose parents live in Back Church-lane , Commercial-road , East , was knocked , down in Aldgate High-street , by one of the Mile-end ominibuse ? , and one of the wheels passed over his right thigh , causing a compound fracture of a most gerious description . '

      AS 3 AULT . —On Wednesday week , John Gill , 75 years of age , wa « charged at Worship-street with having violently assaulted a woman named Jane MasrhaU , one of whose fingers he had broken by a blqw with his Htick . He was convicted , and fined 60 s ., or avorresponding term of imprisonment ; bat as the . magistrates felt reluctant to « end bo aged a man to prison , they agreed to remit the penalty on his paying 30 » . to the injured woman . His wife , a decrepit octogenarian , whom he married onlv a

      fortnight ago , rained the money and proeured his liberation in the course of the evening ; but his spirits seemed in a state of dreadful depression , and he . told her that his heart was broken . On reaching home she persuaded him to lie down and endeavour to compose himself , which he did ; but shortly afterwards , on being asked if he felt better , no answer was returned , and it was found that he was a corpse . Had he lived a day longer , he would have come into possession of between £ 300 and £ 400 , the marriage portion of his venerable bride .

      The Labder of Love . —A young lady about 12 , allied to some of the most respectable families of Alencon , eloped a few nights since from the convent of Adoration in that town , where ske was a parlour-boarder ^ with a notary ' s clerk , not more than 20 years of age . The adventurous heroine descended from a window of the secoHd story in the Street , with the aid of two or three ladders clumsily attached together . The lover was assisted in the elopement by three or four hairbrained comrades , who had a cabriolet waiting at a short distance , in which the enamoured pair whisked off , but in what in direction has not been traced .

      ¦ Escapb from a Union House . —On Thursday , three lads , named StoUery , Osborne , and Warren , were brought before the Magistrates , at the Town Hall , charged with escaping from the Ipswich Union House , and taking with them a Quantity of wearing apparel , to wit , one serge jackft , a waistcoat , and a pair of trowsere . They were innocent depredators upon the property of the Union , as they escaped with the intention of obtaining work . Tbe Guardians being determined to prosecute , the poor boys were committed for three month * .

      Fall of an Avalanche . —An avalanche fell on the first instant from tbe mountain situated to the north of the village of Aydicea , in the Pyrenees , and destroyed or damaged several houses and a number ot cattle . One house , inhabited by aa old m&b and a numerous family , was cleft in the centre . The inmates were fortunately for the moment in the r ortion of the building that remained , but a great part of their crop was destroyed . Two other bouses were cleft in two . A fourth house was

      earned completely away by the snow ; it was inhabited b y four persons , a husband and wife , " the wife ' s sister , and a boy . Some sheep , goats , and ahorse were also buried in theBnow . Notwithstanding an active search , only the corpses of the two females had been discovered , a few paces from the house . One of them was horribly mutilated . The other two are supposed tn be enveloped in the avalanche , and conveyed to a great distance , where ita course terminated , forming a mountain of snow .

      A Hint to the Poor Law Commissioners . —It has been asserted by many writers on New Zealand , that the natives are very partial to h « mau flesh ; and W . known tunt "N iho efforts , of the Church Missionary and other Societies have failed in converting a great many of tho cannibals . A short time ago , the captain of an English ship touching at one ot the islands , asked a new Zealand chief whom he knew to be a bit of an epicure , at what age the n « man body was most relished by the natives . Tbe chief replied , that old people were always preferred ; his countrymen liked them when they beeame greyheaded ; and that the young and middle-aged were insipid . The captain then a * ke < i the chief , if the

      bodies of all the aged poor were exported from England , would they meet with * good sale in the island *? The chief smacked his lipa , and said the English could not export any tlriiigWiter , andhewas quite sure plenty of customers would be fdnnd for the delicious food . The captain , on his arrival here , was determined to make the fact known , and as their High Mightinesses , the Poor Law Conuni « sionera , are bent upon expelling poverty Iran the land in whi&i the Scriptures say it shall always dwell , we have no doubt that , in accordance with their great zeal for lowering the paor-rate * , and confining the Door in

      biwUles , from which the light of heaven is excluded , they will take into their serious consideration the advantage * whioh must accrue by the exportation of the bodies of alt the aged poor to New Zealand . It will be a very easy way ot getting rid ef them , save the expense ot black deal coffins ( tae tolling of the funeral bell for paupers having been already dispensed with ) , the parson ' s tee , and the previous trouble and cost of supplying medical attendance to ttfeuoor ; for the faster they die off , the better for the New Zealauders and tue benefit of the PuorLaw Commissioners .

      Libels . —In the Court of Queen ' s Beach on Thursday week , the proprietor of the Satirist newtpaper was found guilty ef a libel on Mrs . Hogg , the wife of tbe member for Beverley . A rule ior a criminal information had been obtained and made absolute against the defendant . Mrs . Hogg was stigmafi » ed in , the libel as the u wife of two husbands , " and charged with having led a dissolute life with a friend of Lord Byron previously to her marriage with Mr . Hogg . There wu not the sli ghtest foundation for the calumny . Mr . Hogg went himsfclf into the witness-box , ' and swere that he believed the libel referred to Mrs . Hogg . He

      was not cross-examined . —On the same day the Court was occupied with the trial of an action brought by John Alexander Wilmot , against the proprietor * of the Dispatch , for a libel . Ia a " notice to corre » poadeuts , " the plaintiff was charged with bigamy . The defendant pleaded a justification ; but as , he failed to prove one of the marriages , the verdict was given against him . The evidence on the trial , however , respecting the plaintiff ' s course of life , was of such a . description that Lord Denmaa directed the jury to give ouly a farthing damages , and said he should " certify" to deprive the plaintiff of his costs .

      Riotous pBocEEDiNas . —An infamona and lawless proceeding took place ia Brooklyn on Monday , at mid-day . About a hundred journeymen ropemakers paraded through the streets with a persoa named Dalton , also a repemaker , who had come to Brooklyn to introduce machinery iu the manufacture of ropes , and after tarring and feathering and otherwise ill-treating him , they let him ro . —American paper . ' 5 | f ^ : 7 ' 'Thursday morninjr / betweensevea and eight o ' clock , the family of Captain Mendon , residing in MiUom-place , St . John ' s-wood , were thrown into the utmost cansternatiea and alarm by the report of fire-arms , which proceeded from hi * bed-room . On his valet hastening to the room , be discoveredI him lying on the bed , bleeding profoaely from ^ is right ear and mouth , the effects ' of * bdltet which he had discharged from a pistol iutohis mouth , aurglcal aisistbnce > prtiimred with all nnMiKlu

      mspatch , and on examination of the wounds it was taSl' Th t ? ¦ i ** - H > t y « s dreadfully frac tured . The ball passed m ah oblique direction , and came out by the side of the ear . The wouads are of so senoua a nature that the unfortunate gentleman ue « in a most precarious situation . The cause as-S ° t for ? eco 1 In u mitt ? ofth . ack . i » , that the captain ; tom been kbeuring for many months under S of miad ' at 1 Dtervala cau 8 ed an a 1 ? be ^ br ^ J ?^ 7 *^ MoDd W last » a fellow was

      sessions at Ludlqw , charged with having wounded m a desperate manner a po » r woman living on-tbe J-lee-nuU , The monster went into the womanV house and attacked her with a spade , with the sharp edge of which he cut the flesh from her head and , lCei \ l wmtttredher . 8 kull .: The surgeon stated mat tbe sufferer could not survive , and tbe prisoner waa committed to gaol . The prisoner behaved berore the magistrates in the inogt violent manner , and threatened the life of one of them . —Hereford Journal , J

      A Sermon

      A SERMON

      Untitled Article

      A SPIRITED BEBtFKJfi ^ Tb ^ ip ^ xLEg ^ The follawing » tbe oorre ^ oadence Aa *^ ia » passed between the Hotnfc'Ofice ^ nd Mr . F * e « ti 4 * Magistrate-for the Borough » f Newport 4 » « ii » Delegate to the General Ceaveatian of Hat'im ^ trien . Classes . We need hardly bfespeait forit'St attention of oar readers . We scarcely khp ^ wnich tojidmiremost—klfliough we regard them Wttb Verr different feelings—the spirited rebuke wbjeti Mr Frost adminiiitered to Lord John Ruwell . or the sneaking and spmtles .. reply ef tae Home Seeretarr .

      vve are not surprised that Lord John Bsssell shodla demur to tbe production of the correspondenoe . The vote of the CoBveatiou for iu prodaction , has forestalled his decision ; v ' /' _; . * v Whitehall , January 16 th ^ 1839 . Sir ,-I am direetei by Lord John'RusBell , to request that you will inform his Lordship , whether » £ !{ . he NaUonalCoavjntiou-and whether of toe 1 st instant , yoa attended a meeting at Ponty . and ' infl ^ r ° ? Cr ¦ - * & ** , «¦»««* 5 fit John 1- ™ $ tory language has ' been ; used , Lerd Jona RuweU wishes to know the correctness et ChL 2 \ E ? £ h > ? tl > reco »» end to the Lori ^ nanoellor the erasion of your name from tk » bSSTTi ° A ?** ' * £ ¦**• ^ V ^ Men ! mouth . I have the honour to be , Sir , ^ f ° obedient servant , J . Froat , Esq ., Newport . * ' i / LKXJhK ' ? ° ^^^^ ¥ ^ ¦» 1833

      M . ^ * - , . My Lord ^ -jn your Lord shi p ' s ^ of ' the ^ th there is amistake . I am not a Magistrate for the county of Monmouth , but for the Borough of New ? o ii L tb £ coaaty of Monmouth . Ia the spring of 1836 , the Council of the Borough recommended me as a proper person to be a Justice of the Peace I wasappomted ; and ! believe that the inhabitants will bear honourable testimony as to the manner in which I have performed the duties of the office Whether your Lordshi p will retain my name on tht Commission of the Peace , or cause it ' to be erased is to me a matter of perfect indifference f for I set no value en an office dependent on its continuance not on the . mods in which ite duties are performedbut of the will of a Secretary of State .

      For . what does your Lordship think it incumbent to get nay name erased from the Commission of the i ' eace ? For attending a meeting at Pontypool on the 1 st of January P If the public papers cxa be credited , your Lordship declared that such meetings , were not only legal , but corrimeadable . But " vio-Jeat and innaminatory language was used at that meeting . " By whom ? Not by me ' 1 I deny that violent and inflammatory l anguage was used , and I call on yeur Lordshi p to prove the truth of the charge . I will go farther and say , that at no meeting at which I was present was violent and inflammatory language used . There was a time wh « n the-Whig Ministry were not so fastidious as to violent

      and inflammatory language uttered at public meeting * . By what authority does your Lordship assume a power over conduqt ef mine , unconnected with-my office ? By what authority does your Lordship assign any action of mine , as a private individual , as a justification for erasing my name from the Coinm ! 88 ion of the Peace ? Am 1 to hbla no opinion of my own id-respect tp public matters ? Am I to be prohibited expressing that opinion , if it be displeasing to LordJohn , Russell ? If , in expressing that opiuion , I act in strict wonformity to the law , can it be an ofience ? If I transgress , is not the law sufficiently stringent to punish me ? It annears from

      the letter of your Lordshi p , that I , if present at a public meeting , should be answerable fof language uttered by others ! If these are the conditions on which her Majesty ' s Commission of thePeace is ta be holden , take it back again ; for surel y none but tke most servile of men would hold it on such ¦

      terms . .. ' ... Is it an offence to be appointed a delegate , to convey tu the constituted authorities the petitions of the people ? Why , my Lord , have we not had for many years delegates sitting in London during the { sessions of Parliament , to superintend the presentation of petition ? , to eHact , to alter , or te repeal laws ?" tan it be a crime for a person to be appointed at a public meeting , to get laid before the House of

      Commons a petition , praying that the Legislature will restore the ancient Constitution of the country ? praying to restore the ancient usages for the protection of person and property ? I know of ne body " calling itself a Convention . " Your Lordship isaware that a Convention existed at one time in this country 11 Your Lordship is aware what that Coav < jHtion did , aud that its acts are called glorious . ¦¦ - ¦¦

      I was appointed a Justice of the Peaee , to administer the laws within the borough of Newport : was the appointment made that the ' inbabitanta might benefit fromcthe proper increase of the authority intrusted to me ? Or was it made to be recalled at the will of your Lordship , although the inhabitantsmight be perfectly satisfied with the performance of the duty ? Your Lordshi p receives a very large sum of money for holding the office of Secretary of State , paid , in part , out of taxes raised on the inhabitants of the borough . Does your Lordship owe them n » duty ? - For what is your Lordship invested with authority ? To be exercised merely at ta « caprico of your Lordship , regardless of the effects which may follow ? Lhaye . served the inhabitants for nearlr

      tfiree years , zealously aad gratuitousJy , and the opinions which I have formed a * to the exercise of public authority , teach me that they ,, and not your Lordship , flUght to-d ecide whether I ought to be struck off the Commission of the Peace . Filling a humble siiuitioh in life , I will yield neither to your Lordship nor , td any of your Lordship s order in a desire to see my country powerful and prosperous . Twenty years' reading and reflection have convinced me that the only method to produce and to secure such a state of things is , a restoration ef the ancient constitution . Deeply impressed with this conviction , I have laboured to obtain the end , and by means recognized by the laws of my county-petition ; and for this your Lordship thinks taat I ought to be stricken oflf the Commission of th ^ Peaee ! Violent and

      iaflammatory language , indeed 1 I am convinced that in my own neighhabrhbod my attending public meetings has tendtd to restrain violent language . Does your Lordshi p wish that the peace should be preserved ? I have always boen a preserver of the peac « , and of this your Lordshi p may be convinced by appl ying to the Duke t ) f Beaufort and Lord iTreoville Somerset . Probably your Lordship is unaccustomed to language of this description ; that , my Lord , is a misfortune . Much of tbe evils of lite proceeds from the wftt of sincerity in those who hold converse with men iir authority . Wise men encourage the- language of truth : simple one * like those best who " prophesy smoeth things . " ' I remain your Lordshi p ' s obedient servant , J . Frost .

      -, T ¦ " ' . . Whitehall , Jan . . 24 , 1839 . hir , —I am directed hj Lord John Russell to acknowledge the receipt of your letter « f the 19 th inrt , in repl y to ray letter of the 16 th inst . You appear entirel y to have mistaken the import ot . Lord John KusseU ' s communication when you attribute it - to , an objection to your individual opinions With them , whatever ; they may be , he has no . deare te ; interfere , but 1 » does cdasider it to te Un dqty , as responsible for the peace of the country , to see tint , no maa carries his opinions into practice > the danger of that peace , aud with the risk of spreading alarm throughout the community . It he ielt it hi * duty so to act towards an individual uaiayested with any official responsibility , now muchmore ^ iihecaUled nnon tn TTnriP * »»/ w

      F ° woe | fa ; a ;' Magistrate?—and it was under this « npres ^ o % ttatt my letter was , by his direction , audressed td ybu . By your answer , you disclaim all i nteationjo expite the people , by inflammatory latt-9 " 8 ir ' ¦ W ¦ violent and dangerous courses . You suould have d 0 aemore ; In Lord John Russell ' s opinion , it was Jfour duly to have discharged , to tke utmost of your n « Wer , its use , by . others ; but he trusts that , - by your example , you will act up to your asaertioui'y tbriie feold « that not less benefit » conferred upon the people by a wholesome example on the part of the Magistrates , than b y their strict and impartial ''dispensation of justice ; for . if thev .

      whose duty it i » to administer the law , are amongst the nr 8 tto trench upon its limits , they cease ts enjoy the confidence of the peaceful , and afford encouragement to the evil-dfsposea portion of the community . Witb such opinions , Lord John Ruwell considered himself bound to call Upon you for an explanation of your attendance on the various meetings to-whion * he alluded , and likewise as to the fact of your being a delegate to a body eafling itself * the National Convention ? of whicft he is gladto hear the existence denied , except as a committee to watch over the fate ef certain petitions intended to be jresented to the Legfelature . ' - Iu these circumstauceg , no-immediate steps will betaken ivith retDeot to vanr luuitinn .. . w . » ic .

      trate ; and Lord " / ohn Kussell trusts that you will abstain from counteniPMing any revolution of law , anov assisting at meetings , When othws awenible for « ucfa disorderl y purposeg ; ' I have-the honour to be , Sir , T c A t- Your obedient servant , J . * rost , Esq ., Newport . F . MA . TJ 1 B ,

  • Citation
    • Northern Star (1837-1852), Feb. 23, 1839, page 6, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/ns/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1046/page/6/