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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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THE CHARTISTS' ADDRESS TO IRELA ^ BT TM . S . TILLIEES SA . VKET , K . A . ^ " A"sray "with this pouting and Badness . " Away with this doubt and suspicion , Sweet Erin , and heir -what we say ; We "wish to improve your condition , And trust tis the readiest way . Believe not the folks vrho -would tell you That Chartists but aim to destroy ; Oh . ' bo— "Us the fellows who sell you . 4 lone could such pleasure enjoy . The rich and the noble are seeking yOr justice to Ireland , tis trne ; 3 at their justice , for all their fine speaking , Will yield but small justice to you . Twill leave you to eat your potato With sal ^ in your wretched mud cot , TThile they , with their fine sauce Tomato , Will scare * gite a sigh for your lot .
Oh ' think not that we would disseTer Tts li&k * that unite to the Priest ; " We know that his wish has been eTer To liihten your sorrows , at least . Then let us j ^ in hands for the Charter , > F * Christian—twill raise up the POOR , a "d * ret rid of the fellows that barter ^" 7 our rights , ihtir own gain to Becure-F .-t the BALLOT , alont , never heed it , Except tfcer wiil give yvu the voU ; r . t a button , you know , you don't need it , Vnless you have jirsl g-t a coat . Then hurrah for the Charter , if granted , 1-wo hundred 'twill give you and o ' er , To T * te for REPEAL when tis wanted ; Or if you w-isb—anything more .
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away to the Duke ' s—knocked at the door—delivered ( my credential—and , in a trice , received for answer : — ' The Duke of Wellington desires his compliment * to you , and will be happy to see you to-m » rrow at eleven o'clock . * " The morrow seemed a long time in coming . I slept little that night—I sleep much sounder here . I re-Tered the character of the Duke I believed that he j was at the head of 'the order , ' which I had , all my I life-time honoured , and for which I had suffered so J much- I thought that he was the most powerful man in tha country : and I hoped—it was that hope which j most excited my reverence : I beg you always to remember that , Sir—I hoped that , through him , I could obtain amelioration for my poor wretched factory children and their miserable parents ; and that when 1 had told
j him the tree state of the working classes of tho North , ! he would stretch out his powerful arm to save them ! from a state of wretchedness to which philosophy alone I could have reduced them . " Full of these fondly cherished hopes , I arrived , five minutes before eleven , on the morrow , at Apsley j House . I had often pleaded before the people for the ! envancipation of my poor infant slaves : now I was about to tell the Great Duke himself how they were tormented . "J was shown into a waiting room which looked ¦ into the Park . The splendid china service , emblamatical of the Duke's military achievements , adorns that room . I amused myself by looking at the pictures ; but my mind was fully engaged in framiDg a sort of
introductory address . " I fancied that there would be much form in the approach to so great a man ; for , although 1 had pre-} vionsly companied with nobles , be seemed , in my esti-! motion , to cast a dimness on all their coronets . 1 was i very wishful not to disgrace you or myself , and thus I mar tay obj * ct on the threshold of our acquaintance ! I might have saved myself all that trouble : 1 found ! that Wellington was as easy of access as a Fixby i neighbour . The clock had not finished striking before : a door opened behind me , and a very pleasant , but ' rather faint and shrillish , voice said , ' Good morning , i Mr .-Oastler , will you walk this way ? ' 1 did not know ! who it was that spoke . I turned and lsoked . The ¦ Bound came from behind a door which was open . I ' moved onward . I needed no introduction . The Duke
i stood before me in his dressing coat I knew the well-. defined features . What could 1 do or sjy ? I was in ! his presence ere 1 was aware . No introduction , no I speech , no anything was needful . He smiled , and i said , ' Walk forward , Sir . " I did ask him to ' allow : me to shut the doors . ' ' Oh no , Sir ; walk forward , I will fclese the doors , ' was his reply . ' * 'I did just as he bade me ; and then stood in the I middle of that three-windowed room where the Duke : transacts business , still facing the Park , feeling , for all the world , ' as queer as Dick's bat-band , ' not knowing . either what to say or do . I was in the Duke of Wellington ' s presence , however , about to render service to
I the aristocracy and the poor , as 1 thought , and that was enough for me . There was , in the middle of the : room ,, a long table , loaded with books and papers , piled 1 and -arranged with scrupulous order and neatness . The ; sofa , toD , excepting at the end , next an easy chair , by 1 the fire-place , was carefully Slleii with what seemed to i be Parliamentary papers . When Wellington had : closed both doors tlittle did I think of prison doors ; then , though his Grace was as careful to secure those ¦ doors as our well behaved and gentlemanly turnkeys ! are to fasten these ) , he walked towards me and said , ; pointing to the vasa . nt space on the sofa , * Be seated , 1 Sir . " ¦
; " Again I was obedient Bat how can I describe nay : feelings when I found myself squatted on the sofa , and ' England ' s Duke standing before me , and in Apsley . House > too ? I really felt ashamed , Sir . I felt out of I my plsc- * , and quite uncomfortable ; but could not at : first tell the Duke so . He asked me , ' Well , Mr . Oastler , what is it yon wish to say to me ? ' And then I told hini that I could not sit in his presence , and in i Apsley House , whilst he was standing . ' ' Oh , ' said he , ' if it will please you better 1 will sit' Xo sooner said than done . He was seated on my left hand , in the arm chair , in a second , and then he said , ' Well , ilr . Oastler , proceed . " I still felt very so-so-ish—under restraint , and all that sort of thing . I told the Duke so : he smiled and answered . ' You must fancy you are talking with one of your neighbours at Fixby , and then we shall get on . '
" The name of Fixby , spoken so pleasantly by Wellington , acted like a charm upon me . All uneasiness , reserve , and hesitation was instantly removed . I felt as much at borne , tele-a-te ! e with bis G-rrce of Wellington , as if J had been in my own arm-chair , chattering with your nailer-steward , Chadwick . ' 1 told him ' I songht for neither place nor pension ; that my only wish was to serve my country , by explaining to him what I knew was the real condition of the inhabitants of my own neighbourhood . 'That , said the Duke , ' is a very good hearing—go on . ' ' Well , my Lord Duke , " I continued , ' there two very great mistakes , which 1 wish , if possible , to rectify . ' 'What are they ? ' asked his Grace . ' Your Lordship and y « U ' Lordship ' s order , the aristocracy , think , that the working classes wish for the plu \ der of your estates , and to deprive yon of your honours . "— ' Aye , " said
Wellington , ' it looks very like it '—My Lord Duke , it is only their enemies who say so , the great manufacturing miUiosnaires , who have an interest in keeping the working classes and the aristocracy at variance , that they may the more easily fleece both ; it is they who thus traduce the operatives . " His Grace seemed struck with this remark , and listened with great attention for my proofs and arguments . I told the Duke of the cruelties ecdured by the poor Factory Children in the north—of the weight of their oppressions , » nd of the parties who were deriving profits , and making immense fortunes by the hateful Factory System—and how they were pushing the old country gentlemen out of their estates , making the people believe that the aristocracy ind clergy were their only tyrants , and that these mercenary men , weTe endeavouring to constitute themselves an aristocracy , and to plunder the Church .
"I assured him that the only way the aristocracy and clergy could regain the affections of the people , and save themselves from ruin , was , that they should use their powerful influence , to rescue the working classes from the thraldom and delusion in which the money -and steam powers held them , in a word , to exemplify Christianity in their conduct towards them . I ur ^ ed him to support Mr . Sadler " s Ten Hours' Factory BilL He promised to give the subject his most serious attention . " When we had closed that part ot the subject , I said , ' There is another error , my Lord , which is producing much mischief , and -which the enemies of the people , who , unhappily for England , are now so ^ posed to be their friends ( this was in the summer r i 1 S 32 ) , are perpetually ringing in their ears , nun ij , ' tkat the Duke of Wellington is a tyrant—the enemy of the working classes , and that be wishes to govern them arsd feed them by swords , bullets , and bayonets . Now ,
my Lord Duke , I have come to bead quarters to ask , —is it so ?—in order that , if such be not the case , I way be able to remove that false impression from the minds of the people . " The Duke smiled , but ipoke earnestly , when he replied , — Those who say so of me , cannot know me . What can 1 gain more than I have gained , by the sword V We bad a good deal of conversation on this and other subjects . I explained my views , fully to him . He seemed impressed by my observations , —said I had opened a new field of contemplation to him—wished me to call upon him when Icame aj ? ain to London , and to write freely tohjm , on any subject which I wished to communicate . He particularly wished that I would call the next day , before I left London . When my hand and the Duke's hand were joined , at parting , I did feel proud . Sir I A few minutes before twelve the Duke rose , and very kindly told me that he was engaged with otl . er persons , and before I left the room , they were announced by his valet
" >* ext day I called with my dear friend , my most faithful friend , the Rev . G . 5 . Bull , at Apsley Home , when we had a very nice bit of talk with the Duke ; and before we left , I assured his Grace , —' That I would strive to remove the prejudices which bis enemies were implanting in the minds of the working clashes . " Ton remember , Sir , when I returned to Berkleysquare , how pleased you were , when J told you all this , and much more . How , tell me , Air . Thomhill , was it likely that I should then predict , that you Were only alluring me towards this net ?"
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THE PEOPLE'S MAGAZINE . No . I . This is a new periodical , edited bj the Rev . J . R . Stephen * , who takes this mode of making his voice heard from the prison-house . Mr . Stephens' style and maJiner are too well known to our readers , to need any comment from us ; and as by far the greater portion of the magazine geems to be original , and from his own pen , it is needless to describe its character , as being likely to be not the most palatable to the proud oppressors of the poor , however di .-guised or situate . We give the following passages from the first article , which is entitled " Thoughts on the Times" : — " Were this wretchedness of the working classes o * Great Britain and Ireland owing to their own idleness , unthrift , folly and crime—as some say it is—it would make n * great odds , in so iar as it is an evil whieh affects and threatens every other portion of society . It exists . Here it is in the midst of us , and we mast grapple with it , and put an end to it , or it "will grapple with us , and break society up . If we cannot drive it out from amongst us , all that we have hitherto looked up to , and trusted in , and boasted of , will very sooa go under , and no longer be . We claim it as om right , to lead , and guide , and have the mastery ovei these millions ; and we say that it is their place to . walk in the way we stake out for them—to keep tb * laws we make for them , and to yield themselves * p to oui management and rule . Well , be it stx They bavt looked up to us until hope , again tvnd again put off , hai made their heart sick and faint-, they have followed us and bleated after us , like -Bheep crying on theii shepherd to find pasture for tfjem ; and lo ! a wilder ness , barren and without ? ater-springs . We hav < neither fed them , nor tended them , dot folded them nor -watched ovtr th . e »; ao & they follow us no ltngerthey bleat after us no n * ore , If God and the ixw , ev « gave us these millioj j in charge , we have not ful filled our trust , or have- shewn ouraelTes unequal to it In either ease , unless ' aow in the eleventh boor mrm I
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remedy be at hand , we must leave them to other governors , and bear the consequences of our acknowledged wickedness , 01 weakness , or both . " Bui the present condition of the labourers of these kingdoms is not of their own bringing on . They are not idle . Nowhere else in this wide world ia a race of men to be found that works so long , and bo hard , and so steadily , as they do . Why it would not be too much to say that , leaving ail tho men entirely out of the question , the wives and children of our fellow-country-Men raise and make more of all kinds of stuff that is eaten , worn , and used , for the wants and enjoyments of life , than an equal number of full-grown men in any oiher part of the earth . ' The liko ot what is done by weak women and very babes , in these islands of ours , was never heard of since the world began ! Is it not right—is it not high time the wrath of a holy God was poured out upon us , for the awful sin of ever having suffered such a monstrous violation of nature to become
a common household thing with us ? Yea , and indeed it is ; and God only knows whether the day ef grace be not already gone down , and the night of his fierce anger even now darkening upon us ! " It were quite enough for the wisest and mightiest of statesmen , had they nothing else to deal with than this living heap of uneasiness and fiery restlessness , which hunger , and thirst , and nakedness , and want have made in the Jand . This , of itself , one would think , were something to look at and sorrow over—to make every-day rulers , and all others who could not help seeing it , cast about in their minds , and take counsel one of another as to the best and speediest way , not merely of helping all such as for the time were suffering need , but of so settling things as to put it in their power to fend for themselves and their own , without asking or wanting help from any body for the time to come . This is not so very silly—so \ eiy frivolous a business , but that our wise men , and great men , and
good men might Well undertake it without danger of losing either their reputation or their labour , were they but for once in earnest , and set about it as if they nieam to do , and would do , something . But the ' something" they would hav « to do is not talking , or speech-making , or any imaginable species of political tLimbleriggery . That will wot -do in England now . What millions of our countrymen want , ask for , and must and will have , is bread—bread for themselves and for their children . They aro famishing for lack of food . Fair shows will not still the gnawings of hunger ; juggler ' s tricks will aot fill their empty bellies ; books give them no warmth against the cold , and they are as forlorn and comfortless as ever , after the stoutest argument , or the most orthodox sermon in the world . You may talk down the north wind when it rages at its height , or coax the tossing , tumbling sea to sleep , like a peevish child ; but this storm you cannot hush—these waves you cannot stay , save but by one means , for hunger will have bread .
" The causfs ? Aye , that is the sorest and saddest thing of all ; for who can bear the probe to search the angry wound ?—who will allow that thesin , the blame , and the bate are on his own head ? and yet are we all verily guilty a 3 concerning our brother . Our feeble voice has not been unheard on this pressing—this perilous subject , but it has been unheeded ; and unheeded , too , we greatly fear , will b * s the warnings , few and far between , that have been given by those whose rank and office ought to cause them to be attended to . They are but as the vain alarm the lone watcher
gives , who wakes too late to rouse tbe sleepers from their heavy pillow . The fire is loose--it burns—it spreads , and in its strong anus encircles the careless city and its deniiens . When we fiud such men as Archdeacon Wilberforce—to name as one of the last of the good men whose lips the Lord has touched—step forth to prophesy against the land , we could weep to think that such aid should come , but come too late- At least we fear so . We hope it m . iy be otherwise . Hear him , then , ye who will not hear us . He has spoken almost our very words : —
' Is it not true that there is a great and widening separation in this land , between the various classes of society , and even bttwten man and man ? Thus the bonds , whieh of olil heW the high and low of English society together , aro inciting aw . iy . Where , forinstmce , among our vast manufacturing population , are the oUl buDds of mutual affection acd respect . '—of national care on the one hand , and generous trust upon the other , by which the peasantry and gtn ' ry were united ? And this poison cannot be anywhero pruseiit in the circuliition of the body politic , without reaching more or less to every p ;* rt It creeps on to the trading classes—to the shupkeeping clashes , and thereon , oven to the rural districts . This change is passing upon the very conditions of sodal life in England ; nnd , at the tame moment , and from lhn action of the samo causes , the straiter bonds of family lifu and subjection are wearing out—children are becoming more independent , and brethren , thertfore , more disunited . '
" We shall have more to say on some of these sad things at another time ; but bow , we may meanwhile ask , can all this , and worse , be otherwise than it is , since God's right and wholesome "way bas been forsaken , and tiur own wicked way £ fo flowed in the stead ? God made man to be the life-upholder of his household , and thereby laid deep within us the strong foundations of Jove and law . Home is the stat ol all true happinessthe school of a ! l true virtue , order , Jojalty , and national security . Men who have good homes will make good laws , and die rather than suffer the safeguards of their homesteads to be broken in upon . But what of men who have no home ? And can he bo said to have a home whose wife , whose children—those who still bear that name , but are far from being what that name
should signify—aro torn from his bosom , and snatched from bis knee , toiling I , ere and there , day und night , for the husks—the draff of the bodily life , and not even enough of that ? For ages we have been bearing dewn the yeoKen and husbandmen , and handicraftsmen of our country—grinding them absolutely , and without a figure , into dust ; and now behold the fruits ! The end , we fear , is drawing nigh . Our accursed selfishaass—our luve of gold , as the means of fulfilling the sinful anil waked lusts of life , has dene it all . So that it is well with ourselves , we heed not , ask not , how it stands with our poorer brother ; ' reasonable man , " says the Rood Archdeacon , ' can doubt that the idolatry of prope / ty is at this time one of our prime national sins . And has not G' > d so ordered things , that rich and miohty nations , when they do become
entangled in this idol-worship , shall become also h \ 8 avengers on themselves ?—that the careless , selfish rich shall bectnie the prey of the untrained , violent needy ? —that the feebleness of all human institutions , when they rest not upon God's Woid , shall sooner or more late be proclaimed by all the agonies and horrors which wait on civil strife V Yes , ' violent , " because * needy ;• nature ' s first law—self-preservation , will set itself right with us at last Put down , kept : it bay , and baffled it may be for a time ; but like Samson , when shorn of his strength as it was thought , and brought out to be a sport for the Philistines , it will gather all its inward , hidden might for one last heave ; and in the deaththroes of despair , will bring tower and temple toppling down—a heap of hideous ruin and ghastly desolation . "
" The Monk , ' a brigand story , from tho Swedish , is a stirring legend . " The New Poor Law ' gets " a terrible whopping" in & rattling ballad umler that title , the only fault of which is its unqualified praise of the Tories . There 13 also a " Crumb Basket , " apparently made up of contributions , from which we give the following awfuliy true description of " The present state of the People'' : — " Prese . nt State of the People : From ( he notes of a Truveller . —Ks the result of the whole tour , allow me to make one or two observations . I speak , not only in my own name , but in that also of my illustrious and clear-sighted camcradt , who has been over a part of the same ground , I think , about five or six years ago .
" 1 st There is much more misery , real , abject suffering , poverty , and rags in the streets now than formerly . 1 don't knew when I have been so overwhelmed with the conviction that this is , indeed , the country of the rich and the poor—the millionaire and the mannikin . I assure yon , that not only ' many a time and oft , ' but almost always , 1 have been filled with a holy horror at being clad in garments , not ot the lowest kind , when I saw so many hungry and naked wretches , shivering , and cowering , and flitting past me in the face of the broad-eyed day , and by the glare of our luxurious nigbtilluminators . Once in particular , I never shall forget tLe tear-dimmed countenance of Baron *?••• # , when he came home late , and related to me how he had emptied his pockets of all his shillings , to give te the poor , abandoned pawres honttusts , who had crossed his path home : ' I could not bear it , ' he exclaimed , ' it went too far . '
" 2 nd . Of all the hells of vice , starvation , and infamy I have ever heard of , Glasgow is decidedly the worst . Crowded by the tramping of&cum of used-up millworkers , Irish immigrant * , and Highland bog-hut men , it exhibits a crawling nia » s , such as I Lope will never cross my eyes again , in any country , whether worshipping God or devil . " 3 rd . There appe-ws V » be a great increase of Bilent misery amongst tie peepla I mean that the faces of the lower orders in general exhibit decided murks of homeless , cheerless , cwnfortless existence ; though their gantral bearing and clothing do not , as yet , announce the shocking paujtr . " 4 th . ' Wealth * aad ' improvement appear to be progressing ; new houses and new warehouses , new palaces and new pagodas , meet the eye at every step . So far , so good ; if it is only not taken from the many and given to the few . O law , law J O man , man , how weak thou art
" 5 th . Presbyterian Scotland , appears to be a-head of Pant * n England in the good new system of stopping up private reads , pretty paths , long drawn lanes , and public walks , and in enclosing every foot of common , and otherwise improving the ' garden of the earth . " "Sth . On the other band , we are decidedly below Scotland , in our attachment to local liberties , and country sports . Hundreds of places in Scotland , especially along the borders , have Tery well organised societies and clubs for running , leaping , shooting ' baDplaylng , bag-pipe music , ' putting the stane , ' and various other old popular games and amuitements , as distinguished from the artetocratical amusements of oar note favoured land . "
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Owenism has its due modicum of attention , ia the following quiet wipe-down : — « ' OWBNistt . —However powerful some kind of folly may be for mischief , I do believe that this one particular sort is beneficial in the way of burlesque . Of all the incomprehensible philosophy that mad imagination ever invented , nothing , I believe , ever equalled this I What think you of man having acted contrary to his nature from the beginning of the world ; and having done so , because all circumstances Uhat is , every thing ) , have been contrary to nature also ; which unnatural circumstances have bad an
absolute power over the destinies of men : and yet Robert Owen can change alt men and all things ; or , in other words , can make all things as God meant them to be , but could not make them ! Now , do you believe that any serious harm can come of thfs ? For oiy patt , I think it a vory good satire on modern philosophy and folly . No danger from them , you may depend on it ; but I admit that the fact of such notions spreadinff at all , at this time , is an alarming fact . It shows that large quantities of people are convinced of the necessity of a great change , without the remotest notion of what that change ought to be . " 1 ^ fc
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REPUBLICAN APHORISMS . BV ARGUS . Republican Government is the least complicated in system , and the most easily rectified where au error from unforeseen circumstances may have crept into its policy , and deranged the state machinery . If our readers will tax their memories with the past , for some eight , or ten weeks , they will find in a " case" of punishment for ¦ * ' libel" ( that is daring conscientiously to " tell the truth , " " nothing but the truth , " but something lesa than " the whole truth ;") a patriotic individual unjustly imprisoned , was forced by the authorities to perform a task , that even to a felon , who had set all moral and social laws at defiance , would have been properly considered an unwarrantable , bestialand revolting duty ;
, yet , tliid man , bred in the " upper" ranks—according to established phraseology—was accustomed in his private circle to practice and to be treated with decency and well-merited respect ; — a person of acknowWged talent and education 1 yet , because he had leagued himself with right against mightbecause he asserted that poverty is no crime—because he claimed equal rights , and equal laws , to the honest poor man , as well as to the wealth-privileged aristocrat—because he claimed by right of birth—of country—and of character and justice , a voice in the fratuiug of the l&ws thit were ostensibly devoted to the government of all ranks and all classed ; this man labouring under physical debility , was confined in a . cold damp cell , without a . seat to
rest upon—without food , and restricted in clothing —obliged to associate with felons—rudely treated by hi 3 keepers—denied the indulgence of a look at a newspaper—forced to submit to telon disciplineto wash his cell , and to empty chamber-pots amid the ribald jests of thieves and vagabonds . What a position ! What a punishment ! When this illegal , ( except under a Monarchy , ) unprecedented , and tyranuic punishment was publicly condemned , the worth ) e 39 iniiictors privately and publicly arraigned before the tribunal of public opinion—when that tribunal decided in favour of the injured man , and dc-cided that justice should be done to the sufferer ; and when the voice of Europe demanded the punishment of the royal blackguards who had thus openly
trampled on all law , human and divine : it is a fact , history will bear testimony to its truth , that th « beastly perpetrators of the villany—could never be discovered I The foul deed was hrst traced to the Magistracy , who received their " orders" from an understrapper to the " Home Secretary : " this fellow obtained his orders from the Cabinet Council ; the Cabinet Council obtained its authority from the Crown ; aud the Crown derived the Royal prerogative from tho silly attachment of dark ages to a knavish leader , skilled in the art of cajoling the strong , and intimidating the weak , and versed in the " noblo" science of Vive le Hnl -umph , hump , phura !! Vwe la Bagatelle ' . !! The Crown , when taxed with the crime , referred to the " Ministry : " the Cabinet Council know not of its existence , and pointed to the "Home Secretary , " lie to his
understrapper—the understrapper to the Magistracy , and the " Magi .-terial Board" vice vena . Thus the performance of a moral duty was piiKished ; and thus tho commission of a flagrant act of injustice , ot tyranny , and fiendish malignity was rewarded with royal favours at the National expence . Heavens . ' " What a piece of work is man" (?) In thus particularising this royal " act , " we do not point to it as a glaring " case'' in the mal-administration of public justice ; not because it stands prominent amongst the thouraud-and-ono" decisions of & liko kind , but , because , occurring lately , and exciting universal interest , us details must be known to all our rea / lera . Wo disclaim all intention of individualising , having nothing to do with men—but principled ; it is our aim to grapple with a " system" of legislation ruinous alike t # nations , and to individuals . —Chartist Circular .
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TOTAL ABSTINENCE CHARTISM : THE NEW YEARS ADDRESS OF THE SCOTTISH LEADERS .
TO THE WORKING MEN OF GREAT BRITAIN . ( From the Chartist Circular . ) Fellow-Countrtmun , —You have rea-J , we presume , the deeply interesting aud philanthropic address of Henry Vincent , William Hill , John Cleave , and Henry Hetherington , to the working men of this country ; aud , as we have uniformly placed a high estimate on your intelligence and sensibility , we trust that you have not perused it in vaiu . It depicts in glowing language the evils of intemperance , exhibits this hydra-headed monster as the enemy of our liberty , our moral dignity , our national strength , our health , happiness , and comfort , and it appeals to us , as we wish for better days , to abandon tor ever that mainstay of tyranny , aud that voluntary agent of our own weakness aud political degradation .
There are few , we will venture to assert , who have disinterestedly , and with judicious discrimination , investigated the cause , nature , and extent of the privations which prevail among ihe working classes , but have perceived the pernicious effects of the use of inebriating drinks on thoir physical , moral , and political well-being . It is , however , but a circumscribed amount of the evils which the intoxicating cup produces that comes under our individual observation , and , therefore , we have felt the more indifferent at its ravages on society ; but , could we bring vividly before us the ruin it has wrought in our
deluded and unhappy country—could we calculate the power that it has given to our oppressors—the imbecility that it has communicated to the peoplethe mental energies , the virtue , usefulness , and talent that it has withered or annihilated ;—the thousands and tens of thousands that it bas beggared , and the hospitals and gaols that it has peopled with th « victims of disease and crime , we would contemplate with intense feelings of horror and vexation its blightening influence , and never rest until we had banished from our own ranks , this deadly enemy of our liberty and happiness .
To men contending a 8 myriads of you are , for the blessings of independence , for the saored rights of political equality , uo subject ought to be more interesting , nor be taken up with more unremitting zeal and indefatigable energy , than the reformation of those baneful habits which produce such miserable consequences . Think , Fellow-ceuutrjmen ! on the vast number of your thoughtless and dissolute brethren , who mignt have been swelling the ranks of freedom , but who have been rendered wretched and useless ; nay , worse than useless , by their love of the drunkards'beverage . Think on their heart broken wives , who mign + have been inspiring their husbands with the noble desire of independence : but who , familiarised with vice , have become strangers to such
virtuous emotions . Think on their ill-fated children : they inhale from their birth the noxious atmosphere of vicious example , uneducated and ignorant ; their minds are prepared for p hysical slavery aud degradation ; while , had they been surrounded by circumstances congenial to the dignity of human nature , they would nave acquired a knowledge of the duties and the rights which they oughi , to perform and maintain ; aud instead of growing up to be the crouching vassals of the oppressor , they might have glowed with the enthusiasm of the patriot , and gloried in the liberty of their country . Reflect , then , on these momentous considerations , aud say if the reformation of such destructive practices is not a question of high moral and political importance . It
is grievous , indeed , to see man—man , the child of reason , tha image of his Creator , thus sacrificing his best interests to the gnawings of a vitiated appetite ; thus sinking himself below the level of the brutal creation , and degrading the character of humanity . Humiliating , however , as it is to see his intellectual and moral faculties * whioh were given him for nobler ends , laid prostrate by intemperance , the drunkard aggravates the evils of his conduct by forging chains not only , for himself , but for all the labouring men and women of the country . It is intoxicating drinks that in general supply tyranny with its armed mercenaries . Few sober , welleducated young men enlist . Those who embrace an occupation bo ignoble are commonly either under tbe influence of drink , or the victims of misfortunes
which originated in it . Nevertheless we have an army of upwards of one hundred and twenty thousand , who are employed for the purpose of supporting injustice , and enslaving their friends at home , or of murdering at the trill or caprice of their superiors , the unoffending inhabitants of foreign lands . Nor is this the only service which the consumption of these " maddening liquids , " performs to the Government , it not only raises the army , but it draws from the tippler ' s social board and the drunkard ' s revelry upwards of sixteen millions m year to pay , and provide implements of de&tne&oa for , ibe army , the nary , and the State constabulary , eo > that the people may be deterred from asserting , their heaven-bestowed rights . Neither are its resources exhausted by this munificence ; , itawajffe ejwmous pensiona
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to ? the Aristocracy for directing the operations ot these " forces , " and for their ingenuity in plundering the people through the instrumentality of iniquitous laws . Henco the reason why our unprincipled legislators encourage the progress of intemperance , for the more the people drink , as Lord Buxley said , when Chancellor of the Exchequer , the richer will be the revenue . But there is another reason besides their attachment to the treasury which makes the aristocracy rejoico over the dominion of drunkenness ; it is the same reason that induces them to oppose a repeal of the inhuman bread tax , and that is their unrelaxing determination to keep , by all meanB , natural or artificial , their agricultural produce at the
highest possible price . Were the Corn Laws abrogated , there would always be the most abundant supply of grain in the market which the corn-growing countries of Europe or America could afford ; consequently , its price would be regulated here by its standard abroad . It would be cheap when the supply was greater than the demand . Calculating , therefore , on the value of scarcity , the lords of the soil , —and they are those who make our laws , —profit largely by the prodigality of intemperance , as well as by their restrictions on the importation of corn ; for , were total abstinence one of the ascendant virtues of the nation—did it exercise its heavenly supremacy over the inmates of every dwelling in our land , the whole of that enormous amount of grain ,
which is utterly destroyed by the fifty thoueaud brewers and distillers who are licensed by our Christian legislators to demoralize and murder society , woald be convortcd into bread for tho nutritious sustenance of our existence ; then would our markets be superabundantly filled with our homegrown produce ; then would the criminally-misdirected selfishness of the proud magnates of our country be disappointed by the transcendaut virtues of the people . Food would be cheap , because it would be plentiful , and the starvation tax of our luxurious lordlings might continue to disfigure the statute book , but it would be like a huge serpent which , though still retaining its venom , had happily lost jts sting . Oh ! deluded and infatuated people
that wo are ! Our home is a sea-girt island ; law prohibits us from availing ourselves of the rich crops which grow on the fertile fields of the wide continent ; we must live on the produce of our own hills and vales , or if that is not sufficient to save U 3 from famine , we must pay an enormous duty on the quantity we may bo allowed to bring from foreign lauds . Under such circumstances , were we wise , we would husbaud well the fruits of every rood . But hear this , ye farmers of Poland , Prussia , Franco ' , Germany , Switzerland , and Holland ; attend to what we say , ye agricultural labourers of the transatlantic republic;—although wo dare not buy your barley , wfieat , and oats ; although your soil is of no service to us , —so far from economising
our own , we waste , in our breweries and distilleries , forty millions two hundred and twenty thousand bushels every year , of the grain which wo raisa ourselve 9 and devote to its production and its necessary quantity of hops , one million one hundred and fortyeight thousand acres of our arable land . Alas ! alas ! fellow-countrymen , is this not a frightful evidence of national insanity 1 that grain , which we impiously destroy—which we convert into a poison that maddens the brain , engendering disease , and crime , and sorrow , and presenting daily to its victims a yawning , an unhonoured grave;—that grain would furnish to the six hundred thousand families of Scotland more than six pounds of bread every day in the year . That land , which we ungratefully abuse by
the prostitution of its fruits , would make three millions of our working people happy ; can we reflect on these truths , and not feel appalled at the magnitude of our folly 1 We have voluntarily transformed the magnificent bounties of our Creator into a deleterious drug : and dare we , in vindication of our conduct , suppose that it was for this he endowed us with reason to appreciate his goodness , and to apply it to our necessities ;—that it was for this he promised us seed-time and harvest , and faithfully sends in due time the cheerful spring , to re-aniinate the vegetable world ;—tho invigorating summer , with its sunshine and shower , to nurture its chaste and tender fruits : and the ripening autumn to furnish for us , and for air" that lives , his hospitable table
were we only to contemplate , as we ought , the beneficence of the author of our Being , we would be inspired with a feeling so pure and elevated , that it would effectually prevent , us henceforward , from perverting , as we have done , His inestimable goodness ; and were we while in that exalted tone of mind , to reflect on the direful consequences which have emanated from the mis-appropriation of that goodness , on the moral wreck and physical wretchediiesa that it has made , on the fetters that it has rivetted on our country , we would be so thoroughly impressed with the principles of warm philanthropy and intellectual patriotism that wo would , from that moment , unite in heart and in soul to redeem our country and our country ' s liberty from the deadly power of the spell-binding demon of intemperance .
Do any of you ask , fellow-countrymen , how such a glorious reformation is to bo effected \ Would to heaven that we could as easily emancipate ourselves from the bondage of political tyranny , as we may accomplish this moral revoluiion . ' We have only to abandon the use of all intoxicating drinks , and our victory 13 gained—* ained ovur ourselves , and ultimately over our oppressors . Let us then begin our conquests at home ; a firm and conscientious adhereni ; e to total abstinence on our part , will not
only deprive the enemies of freedom and justice of the means which they have insidiously used to enslave us and protect themselves ; but it will draw us together in the bond of enlightened union , which will give us new and resplendent virtues , as a nation , to persevere in advancing our glorious cause—more time and more means to promote it , and it will give us an invincible strength and unconquerable vigour to storm the strong and gloomy citaola of corruption , and to rear on their ruins the magnificent temple of liberty .
It is one of our political axioms , " that half justice is no justice ; '' and therefore it is that , throughout the waole of our momentous movement , we have contended for the full Charter of our rights , and nothiug less : therefore it is that we have held up the delusive theory of " moderate justice" as the source of alj our national evils—the parent of injustice . May * we not characterise " moderate drinking" as a kindred deception J It is unquestionably the progenitor of drunkenness , and probably consumes , in its noiseless orgies , as large a libation of the intoxicating poison . We should tako in morals ,
as we do in politics , a decided position . " Moderate drinking" is a dangerous icjyiis fatuus , which has allured millions into the depths of dissipation , where it has left them to perish in misery and disgrace : but tofal abstinence leads to virtue , peace , and safety ; it is the only infallible specific against the vices of intemperance . Let us embrace it , then , as the angel of our deliverance . And if we array against the use of intoxicating drinks the worth and intelligence of the unfrauchised , drunkenness , if it be not expelled from the country , will , at least , be confined to the dens of its irreclaimable outcasts , or to the halls of its rich and irresponsible patron ? .
Fellow-countrymen , in the name of injured humanity , we appeal to you—in the name of liberty , we call upon you to dedicate this year to total abstinence . It will then , iudeed , be the year of our redemption : our character as working men will be redeemed from the infamy which the enemies of justice endeavour to attach to it ; our habits will be redeemed from the baneful customs entailed upon us by tho votaries of sensuality , and with these advantages tho influence of our concentrated power will at last redes-m our country from the thraldom of tyranny . Your ill-requited labour bids you respond to this appeal ; your innumerable wrongs demand it ; misery implores you to write it on the tablets of your heart , and nature and Christianity invoke your acquiescence , because it is allied to virtue and to heaven .
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TOWN HALL , BRIGHTON . Serving out a Witness in Style . —An athletic countryman , who bears a very bad character , was charged before the bench of Magistrates , with violently assaulting a young woman named Mary Ann Paul . The complainant , whose face was much disfigured by the violence of the prisoner , stated that on the evening of boxing-day Bhe was in the Helmet public-house , when the prisoner and two other men went in , and the prisoner , without speaking a word , struck her several times in the face , and knocked her down . The Magistrate asked whether she could account , in any manner , for the attack whioh the prisoner bad made on her ?
The complainant Baid that she had given evidence against the prisoner , in September last , fo * a gross assault on a young female , and he then said he would u serve her out , " and he . had done it "in style "—( laughter ) . Prisoner—Please your honours , look at my nose ; it ' s quite spoilt from a whack she gave me with a quart pot . # . The complainant denied this , and said his nose ( which was badly cut ) must have been hurt in a scuffle with some men who took her part . Henry Butler stated he was present , and seized the prisoner , to prevent his continuing his assault on the complainant , vshen the defendant knocked her down . Chairman—Did he give you that bJaek eye 1 Witness—Yes , 6 ir . Prisoner—Will you swear I gave you the eyei—No , not the eye , but the colouring . Ah 1 you mean 1 spoilt its beauty 1—( laughter)—but look at my nose !
The MUeisTBATBS said it was a very serious offence to interfere with any person giving evidence in support of those laws without whioh society could not exist , and the present case was more aggravated , as it was a cowardly attack on a woman . The prisoner was ordered to pay a fine or 4 Ua ., and , in default , was committed for a month to Lewes Gaol .
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My Aunt ' s last Tooth . —M . Michard and hfs wife , a fine portly dame , of mher beyond a certain age , appeared a day or tv . o since at the bar of the Correctional Police , accompanied by a hopeful nephew of . theirs , against whom they had to make ft charge of the most serious nature , he , the said nephew , having , in defiance of all the laws of nepotic affection , inflicted on his venerable aunt a blow by which the latt of her masticators was removed from the situation it had occupied for so many years . The following colloquy took place among the dramatis persona of the affair . Pbesident—What offence have you to complain off
M . Michard—Sjmplice is my nephew , that I must allow , but the crime of which he has been guilty haa broken every tie of blood that was between us . Simplice , you are no longer my nephew . Simplice—That is folly . Will you deny that I am still the son of your brother ? M . Michafd" -Physically , it cannot be otherwise ; but morally I discard you . Simplice—Oh , uncle , what a blockhead you are Instead of heaping blessings upon me for what I have done , you have brought me before the Tribunal of Correctional Police , as if I were a Turk . M . Michard ^ You have conducted yoursel f towards your aunt like a tavage . Simplice—And you—you are a henpecked buaband , to say nothing more . Madame Michard here tried to be hysterical , had recourse to her smelling-bottle , and exclaimed , " Oh , Heavens I" "
M . Michard ( supporting her)—Oh , Emeline ! my lovo 1—( To Simplice )—Wretch ! you wish to be her death—you wish to be guilty of aunt-icide . Simplice—In that case you allow that 1 am still your nephew . M . Michard—rHold your tongue , scapegrace , and let me state what I have to charge you with . Simplice^—With all my heart ; but ycu had better not , for you will expose yoarselves the most by it . M . Michard—Heartless wretch ! ( Bowing to the judges ) Gentlemen , I have in the provinces a brother , who has had . the misfortune to give birth to this serpent here . Six months ago he was sent to me on a visit , and to seo what I could make of him . I have treated him with every kindness as if he were my own son . Simptice—Thai is true ; and that is why I am so much attached to you .
M . Michard—But , would you believe it , gentlemen , one day last week , when we had a large company to dinner , he gave his aunt a slap in tho face ! Simplice—I know I did , and knocked out her last tooth . I tell you what , uncle—you are deceived by her . But jt is in vain for you to persecute me , for I shall never cease to love you all the same . Madame Michard ( with a faint voice ) —Merciful Heaven ! . . Simplice—Your wife is a good-for-nothing prude , uncle , and , deceives you along with M . Lerocne , that old dandy , " whose smell of musk makes bis approach known , when he ' s * more than a mile off . M . Michard—Hold your tongue , you calumniating scoundrel . .
Simplice—Ah ! that s the way you take it , is it ! I was behind a curtain , and heard them talking like real friends , not to say lovers . I , who love you , seeing that , could not restrain my indignation , and so I gave aunt a slap in the mouth . If you are offended , I can give iou satisfaction . Here Madame Michard raised a languishing pair of eyes towards her husband , and faintly said " Ah I Michard . " M . Michard—Never mind , Emeline . I don't believe a word of all these horrors . I know you to be Virtue personified . Simplice—Ah , you are the best of husbands . Simpliee was sentenced to a week ' s imprisonment .
" Hwat tub djtil are you after being after , " roared Pat Lardner , catching his foot-boy thrashing a " Gloster" with a whip ; " Hwat ' s all this pillalu , you thafe 0 ' the world V " Why , yer rivrence , " replied the bogtrotter , " I ' m jist after whacking the chaz <* , to make it confess what's become uv the fat , sure . " Election Bill . —The following i 3 a copy of a curious election bill , actually delivered in to an Irish member of parliament , by a publican , after a late general election : — £ s . d . To eating 16 freeholders above stairs for Sir John , at 3 > h 6 d a-head 1 12 0 To eating 11 more celar stairs aud two
Clergymen after supper 1 15 9 To six beds in one room and four in another at two Guineas every bed three or four in a bed every night 22 15 0 To 23 horses in the yard all night at 13 d every one of them and for a man watching them all night 15 5 To Breakfast and Tea next day for every one of'them and as many as they brought with them as near as 1 Can Guess 4 12 0 To Beer porter aud punch for the first Day aud night I am not sure But I think for the three first days aud a half of the Elect on as little as I Can Guess and be very exact is in all or there about 3 .. ... » 79 15 5 To shaving Dressing and Cropping the heads of 12 freeholders for Sir John at 13 d for every one of them 2 5 6
£ 114 1 7 In place of Jemmy Carr Bryan Geragherty . Praters . ^ —In Flacourt ' s History of Madagascar , is the following sublime prayer , said to be used by the people we call savagos . O Eternal ! have mercy upon me : because I am passing away . 0 Infinite ! because I am weak . O Sovereign of Life ! because I draw nigh to the grave . O Omniscient ! because I a-n in darkness . O All Bounteous ! because i am poor . O Allrsufficient ! because I am nothing .
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The Hon . Captain Plunkett was last week sentenced at the Lancaster Sessions " to be imprisoned for two mouths in the Kirkdale House of Correction . " His crime was assaulting a man named Atkinson , one of the monitors of the Lancaster Oiol , where the Captain was a prisoner for his share iu . he disturbances at Wigan . He pleaded guilty . Rights of ovr Forefathers . —During the existence of the British Constitution , as originally constituted , every freeman was entitled to take his seat as a member of the Legislature . In those times freemen and freeholder were synonymous terms . A , distinction existed between the freemen , who were all proprietors of land , however minute the quantity
held by some , and the freedmen who were of foreign extraction , and manumitted by their masters ; but these were expressly excluded from the high privilege enjoyed by the freemen , of having a share in the administration of the commonwealth , unless they became proprietors of land . But there was another right inseparable from the right to sit in Parliament —namely , that by the fundamental principles of the Constitution , every freeman had a right to elect his own procurator , or attorney , to represent him in Parliament ; and that system was in fall operation , till it was subverted by the Act of 1 st Henry V . c . 1 , whieh disfranchised all but residents ; and this disfranchisement was extended to all but forty shilling freeholders-by the 8 th Henry VI . c . 7 .
Fatai . Railway Accident . —A fatal accident occurred on the Midland Counties Railway , about three o ' clock , on Friday morning , in last week . A down luggage train left Rugby for Deiby , at twenty minutes past nine o ' clock on Thursday night ; but , owing to the severity of the weather between Leicester and Derby , the engine pipes were frozen up , and the train , consequently , nuaWe to proceed . The mail-train from London started from Rugby to Derby , ( the point at which it leaves the Birmingham Hne , Yat one o ' clock , p . m ., being then three
hoars and forty minutes behind the goods train . The distance between Rugby and Derby is between forty and fifty miles . Notwithstanding the advance of the luggage train , and the precaution said to have been taken of holding out a signal light , when within a , few . miles of Derby the mail down train ran in upon the . luggage carriages , and the consequence was , that the engine of the mail train was thrown off the trams , and the eagine driver and stoker precipitated on to the lin « , and both killed on the spot .
Liability of Parishes as to Exposed Children and Dead Bodies . —At an inquisition held before Mr . Wakley , M . P ., Coroner for the Western Division of Middlesex , on the body of a male child about twelve months old , which had been found exposed at the gate of the Iwuae , No . U , Maida-bAU WesV Paddington , and who died in a few hours after its removal to the workhouse of the Kensington Union , a question arose as to the power of the parish officers of the Board of Guardians to issue advertisements offering a reward for the discovery of the inhuman parents , which haa drawn from the Poor Law Cbmniisaioners an opinion that " As parish officers have no power to wear any expences for the prosecution of vagrants , and have no duty tn nrnvide , far the burial of a corpse foand in the
parish , the Commissioners consider that there is no authorityfortheirincurringexpenee in advertising for the discovery of tbe person who exposed sucn child or such corpse . If , indeed , upon any such advertisement the party were discovered , a prosecution might be instituted , bnt the Commissioners do not know how any reimbursement of the expenee could b # obtained from such party . " The result of the correspondence , from which the above is an extract , appears to be . that there are no funds whatever applicable to the payment of expences incurred in the prosecution of persons deserting and exposing their children , even Bhould the offenee amount to murder , as in the above ca « e , nor to advertising a description of the child . < fcc , or offering a reward for the apprehension of toe delinquent ! .
-Boetro.
-Boetro .
Iubiribs,
iUbiriBS ,
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THE FLEET PAPERS , No . 2 . Tae seeoad of Mr . Oastler ' s missives has been wacbed at the head of his oppressor . We Deed say nothing of the style or matter ; it is Oastler ^ s : our *» dera ail know it , and , of course , will buy it . We Perceive M 3 wrapper w be filled with closely printed extracts from various publications , giving favourable ^ oucts of the former number . We cannot deny jfcrsfclves the pleasHre of giving the following rela-« on of his interview with the Dnke of WelliDgtttn" Oh' . I ni a proud tuct that day ! I bad pleased Cry master , and had tbtained , as my reward , from hi » kuida , an honour which I valued more , and do so at ttd * hour , th * " if he had given me the one half of his Tery krfe estates—as introduction to the Duie of Wellington ! I »>» n never forget that day . I hnnied
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TilT'S MAGAZINE FOR JANUARY , 1841 . Tan goes on in his old way , fully sustaining the jbarw . tr he has so long m&huained . His political jrucle iais monih is a capital shew up of the PaljB £ . - ?; on policy . We extract the following passages : — " War , « sy the pecple of this country—in the name c £ tie common sense , "vre ask for what are we to go to TO ? Syria : Turkey ! the integrity of the Ottoman ff npire . ' * Whs : are these things to as ? Can a iy arn nreineat of the affaire of the barbarian , Mehemet A ^ ' and these of the still greater barbarian , the Sultan , i * trsazht -with mischief to tis and the ¦ woiM equal ^ to vhst -srould follow if war were to breai out bttwetn ts sad France ? CertainJy cot , is the answer of every ijtjosal man- How ihss . is it pos » ible that on such a
pesex ! -srar can arise ? Satisfied , as each man is , of the & -snrdity of such a reason for disturbing tbe peace of Enrope , all pursue their ordinary avocations : comior&nz themselves with the notion that our neighbours pe as excitable people , much given to fierce gtsticalatioi on trifling occasions ; but on the whole far too jeaslble to forget their real interests in maintaining peace , and stir np a war with England on account -of ixne ' idle -oninteliigiWe disputes about Syria , Egypt , Cid Turkey . The Minister for Foreign Affairs is , therefore , allowed to do as he pleases ; and that he pleases - fc > create a disturbance in Europe , ia b ^ t too manifest to ill ¦ who will take the pains carefnUv to -sratch his eoadnct throughout the -whole of the proceedings relat-} &r to That is called the Eastern question . "
After a ft : w remarks upon the state of parties in Fr&Ece , the writer proceeds thus : — " One of the greatest calamities that could at this Honest happen to the civilized -srorid , would be a war between France and England ; and any one who deliberately risks the inuneuiale bringing about of this dire ^ reat , onehi , if he wish to escape the execration of his fellow men , be able to show thit he was driven by an CTgrwhElming necessity to run so dangerous a hazvd . But , in the present ca < e , no such excuse can Ve offered ; J ^ nora nrc 0 : the probable con * quence cannot be pleaded ; Ldn Paimerston -wrll knew , as did eTery one at all ac-¦ gnsiEted with France , tLat if he porensd his proposed icieme -with rtsptct to Syria , it might he utterly impossible to prevent aa immediate declaration of war by would
tie French people . VThrth ^ r peace or war - result was as uncertain a contingency , as the nuiribtir that wcul-i appear up .-n the thru" ^ isg of a > 'ie . F . > r-what ihen has this risk b-= n encountered ? \ That interest of England was &t stake . ' What wise purpose is songht to ii attained t Wherefore , "we reiterate , are we , at ^ this m . aai . shedding bl »> l , squandering treasure , and risking the terrible calamity of a ten ^ ra ! war ? What is the answer hitherto given to this q-ae&tion ! It is iznpovibleio discover any that a rational man can firs moaeLt listen to . The ictrijrity of the Turkish Empire ? In the nrst plac ; , we ask fearlessly h jw docs this supposed integrity concern us ? and , in the second place , this integrity h ^ s bee n long since destroyed , and was . "bf the rerv propjsa ; to make Mehemet Ali sovereign < jL
Egypt , utterly srt a ; nought Bat Mehemet All , it p « r mitied , wuuld have become undisturbed master of Syria . TT-11 , siid whit then ? He 111-treated the Syrians Is this a rtassn for i :. trrfering in the affiirs of another people ? Ask the irUh Catholics if England ill-treats them . Ask tbe inhar . itants of Ix > wer Canada if Eng-Iscd has been a merciful master . Lrt rbe thousands of her pe-. ple shin by ' . he sword , by famine , by frost , and Eisery answer : The prttsmce is riJicalous . Mehemet Ah" iil-trtattd the Syrians ; therefore -we have spread war and dtso ' . ation over th-lr land , aud levelled their titles with the earii . If ours be 3 merciful consideration of their misery , this is a strange way of showing it ! Bu : it was necessary to counteract Russia . We confess we cannot understand hyw this was to be
efectei by destroying the only power in the East that w&s steadily pursuing a system of improvement and crllizition . ilehemet Ali powerful , might have been a useful illy—checitd in his plans , ruined abroad , crushed at home , he is useless as 3 friend , while he ray be a vengeful and annoying enemy . We pretend ts d-iire the improvement of the Eisi—we say that we wish : o see European ciTiiizatian spreading . ever Africa C i Aiii ; and , in or . ler to fo .-wa . rd its advance , "we destroy the oniy po-sr ^ r wh : cb has hi ther ! : > successfully 53 en : psed to bring the jutiTe * of those regions even XL ' . j tne path which It ads to this desired goal ! * * * "R " ii oiCc declared in Europe , that spirit will be up and coins , oT-= r every part uf the Continent- And who Tills--T that h-re in Britain and in Ireland all will be
P = ice : 2 i . ' Is there sj discontent among our people ?—is it perfect quiet ia Ireland ? Let us not hide the trcth from otirselves . Ttrjughout England and Scot laai , —ore especially in the manufacturing districts , the working classes are bitterly hostile to tbos ^ institutions by which they are excluded from political rights . Ie s ; nie parts of the country they have , in a time of fr-jfj ^ zi pea * e , risen in open insurrection , and are only kep : down in ruLen obc'lience , because they have isa ^ s-id that violence is useless . This desire to resist i » n-.-t confined to a few—the feeling of discontent is ; Tiaeir spread ; asJ this fetlisg will not be soothed or j * il-7-e-: by inereasir . g the reisery which gave it birth . Be : war will Inevitably do this—millions will be again throtn : away—our burthens , already far too heavy ,
* iu tjecoae insupportable ; discontent will , all over fc : htj , brsik cut in open violence ; and an armed effort -rill be zau-it to attain tbos * ends , which , if Peace continue , the people hope to attain by the gra-&sl adTsnee of truth , and the increase of knowledge * a :-2 g aa ranks . This would be , even for those who fepe , in irar , a meats of staving off the evil day of rrfur a . 3 far worse result than peaceful change ; lot wita this violent tumbling down cf old institutions , rcia will come far and wide . The debt which hangs ttzzi oar necis , a va * t 2 nd almost overwhelming burtlren , -vriu be shaken off , without regard to the direful teSeKog which must follow . AU improvement must ,
hi tn = time cease . The millions which , even now , j cad a scanty subsistence , -wiil then be all too many for ' CO narrow limits ; the most terrible convulsion * will WSW ; zzi , if succeeding generations may be destined I wsee ^ happfer times , wc at least snail be miserable .. * £ Ireland con t usion is yet more likely to happen . At ; « & present time the leaders of the Tory party are ! Js ^ bI of accepting \ over , because they dread insur-: H ^ a and civil -war in that ill-governed land . Will . ¦ ae chance of eTi ] be lessened by the miseries of war ? ; Site powerful hand of England be occe withdrawn / or ' . !" r * - sk 0 DC € successfully resist our dominion , a j CT war will follow that will very much resemble tbe '
^ ar extermination between the whites and the blacks ' r of HaytL The Cith-.-lic and the Pi oUslant have boj ^ b ? Wen opposed to each other , such a ftarful spirit ' ° ? hate and reveeffe has been aroused , that an interne- ! a wir wonld be tbe inevitable consequence of any j * Ppeal to furcc—cne party or other would be rooted cut : ™ sver . This is no exaggeration . We are on the ; teak of this prerip-ce . * * * * * '• ^* warlike propensities of Lord Paimerston appear ; * ° ns fraught with the most terrible calamities to this eoiE -ry . What go ^ d he may be seeking for himself , { * fc know net : he his , indeed , figured in every ministry , j ** « pt one , since 1 S 12 . He may wiih to spend his last ; ** ys in i _ -f £ ce , sni to that end may be seeking to con- ! * j £ ate those who must soon succeed the Whigs . " Wax j * itc France may be a means of reconciliation . Of all 1 * & * * t know nothing ; bnt of danger to the country ( ^* r = can be no doubt ; and we cannot think this j ** £ § = ! wisely incurred , even though it should insure to j 81 the continuance of Lord Palmewton ' a serricM as * telfcnnan . " i
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Citation
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Northern Star (1837-1852), Jan. 16, 1841, page 3, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/ns/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1092/page/3/
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