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Northern Star (1837-1852), 15th April 1843, Edition 1 of 5, Page 4, Untitled Article

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    • TO MY SCOTTISH FRIENDS IN LEITH, GLASGOW, GREENOCK, fto.
    • THE NORTHERN STAR. SATURDAY, APRIL 15, 1843.
    • Co 3£Uati£r£ aittr (SorregaoiftKntd
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      Untitled Article

      SUBSCRIPTIONS -RT-fTEITBD BY MR . GLEATiL POLITICAL TICTDB' DEFEKCB AXD SCTPOBT FCKD . £ a . d . Previously acknowledged S 7 « U JOf An Old Radical , Hull J ° 2 Putney 0 6 6 Mt . "Riches and Friends , BrighUingeea , Essex ... ~ Olo 0 Mr . G . WebV&a ^ ley - . MrRhodes and Friends C&mberwell ... i I »

      . , Jity , Division of City Cordvraineis « ° Corcwainere , Star , Golden-lane ... 1 1 o Balance of < 2 ty Lottery j > f ° A few inmates of ihe Workhouse * - 0 1 4 i Bl&skbnm ... ... o 3 6 0 Clock House , Leicester Square X r £ J . C . J ., Xfttlsboro' , 0 1 0 Mr . MnrJess , Birmingham 0 4 0 7 &x . Carter , ditto « 3 A Mr . Smith , ditto ... ... ... 0 2 6 Mr . Xewhonse , ditto 0 2 6 A few TailorsDanford ... 0 o U

      , Mr . R . Blight , juu 0 10 Steam Factory , Loughboro ... ~ 0 1 3 j Pxiend 3 , ditto ~ . 0 0 9 3 ir . Stevenson , ditto 6 11 $ Mr . Eveleigh , ditto 0 10 Mr . GhamberEn , ditto ... 0 O 6 A Friend , dino ... ~ 0 0 6 HawT of Tyranny ... 0 1 0 Sntton-in-Ashfield 2 0 0 Mr . Daugherty and Friends ,

      Winterboum ... ... ... 0 13 Mr . Bartls and Frienfe , Kingswood ... 0 3 0 Aberdeen ... . „ ... ... ... 2 0 0 Falkirk 0 11 6 Reddhch - — 0 18 0 Mr . Baxter and Friends - 0 2 5 Mr . Aloocke-.. _ 0 10 Mr . Ryan , Seiner ' s Town ... ... ... 0 14 Mr . Hodgkmson 0 10 Mr . Rhodes and Friends , CamberwelL :. 17 0 Mr . Brown „ . ... ... 0 10 Mr . Win . Randell , Bethnall Gre * n ... 0 7 1 J . H . ~ ... ... 0 0 6 Cap ef Liberty , Brighton 10 0 Heller , Derbyshire ... 0 13 2 Sowerby , Circulars ... ... ... 0 18 2 i Soyl&nd ' Tovm Q 2 9 ^ lsh&m 0 2 0 Sale of Crow and Tyrrell's Powder , by

      Mr . Rhodes 9 10 Bur ? . Circulars ... „ 0 10 2 Bury St . Edmonds 0 10 0 3 do 3 slev ,: nesT Manchester »~ ... 4 0 0 "WolTerh&mplon 0 5 6 Coalbrook Dale 0 3 0 Proceeds of meeting at City Hall ... 5 6 0 Females , Tower Hamlets ... 0 7 0 Mr . Walker , and Friends , Watford ... 0 5 0 Mr . SkeTxngiOn — — - - --. 0 10 Smiths and Engineers , East District , London , 14 th subscription ... ... 13 6 "Wadsworth-row near Halifax 1 19 0 Butterlev .. . 0 5 0 Ssmefs Town 10 0 Bath _ ' -. o 12 o Strsthaven ... ... ... ~ ... 0 8 0 Rounds and Sisgsiesd 0 0 0 £ A few Brassfonndero ( = hopmates )

      Northampton 0 . 7 6 Edinburgh „ . 0 8 0 Burnley ( 400 Charlisl Circulars ) ... 0 10 4 Rochdale , third Subscription ... ... 0 19 5 " WhirsraTth ~ 0 10 7 Maecla&fLld 0 5 2 £ 317 5 3 i * The name of the place was in the list , as we received it ; but we omit it , that no opportunity ibsj be ^ iren to the ** authorities" to make it a protex ? for oppression . — £ p . + The sum from this place is not stated in the Jnannsmpt sent to us . —Er > . N . & Br istol . —I have mislaid the letter which accompanied a Post Office Order for a sm&Q sum from this place . The party Bending , will , therefore , please re-state name and particulars . Co : sbeh > gx . —Enquiry shall be made .

      Ipswich . —I hare received a set of bag-pipes from Mr . M'Pherson . They will be disposed of by tie London friends , and proceeds presented to this JFnnd . One pound received from Stokesley "was omitted in the published list of previous week , although included in the ** sam totaL "

      TOB KKS . ELL 3 S . Previously acknowledged 10 1 0 St . Psncras Harmonic Meeting 10 0 CzrBsie ... ... 0 5 0 Mt . J . B . Snmh 0 5 0 Silkweavers , lettering 0 2 6 Leeds ™ 0 11 1 "R . Hainea ,-Esq ., Oundle 5 0 0 Old Locality , ^ Lettering 10 0 Mr . Rhoddis , ( sale of breakfast powder ) 0 16 Irienda , per Mr . Lonsd&le , Manchester 5 0 o Blackburn . ~ . Chartist School , Grimshaw-Park .. * 0 9 9

      Marylebone 0 3 0 Linwood ... ... 0 7 0 Oldhwa Female Chartists 0 10 0 A Friend ... .- 0 0 6 J . S _ Oldhsm ... ... 0 1 0 A Friend , Butterley ... ... ... 0 10

      £ 25 0 4 By Oldhaa , Post order , &c 0 0 4 . £ 25 0 0 TOB M D 0 UALL . PreTJously ^ cknowledged ... ... 26 5 4 ^ Marylebone 0 ' l 0 Mr . Bowes and a Friend , Macclesfield ... 0 0 6 £ 26 12 10 i POB F-KTKK PODEl . Si Paueras HannoBic MeefciDg 0 10 0

      Untitled Article

      Shockiss TsExntE 5 T op x Collies Boy . —At ii . e Quarter Seasons for the "West- Hiding of- this County held last week , at Pontefract , a man n&med Joseph Whiteley , a collier , from Elland , near "Hpltfa ^ , -wag tried before Mr . C . Wood , M . P chairman , and other magistrates , for caring Ill-used Jamea Whiteley , feis apprentice ; and the details of his crnelty excited the horror of ihe whole Court . The eridence tras deemed by the Jury quite eondnffl ^ e against Whiteley , &nd they accordingly found him guilty . The Chairman , in passing sentence , Raid the prisoner had been found guilty of one of the most atrocious offences erer brought , before a Court of justice . He had ill-treated in a

      most cruel and b&rbarons manner an orphan relation of bis own , who had nobody else but Wm to look np to for protection . There could be so doubt of we fact , that without any reason wh&teTer he had ill-treated him in a way that no person in court could hare heard , and that no one could read of , without horror . H « ( the Chairman ) -was sorry that the law did not allow the court to infiiei a severer punishment than that which thej had power to do ; bnt certainly _ to the extent of that power they would go . The sentence of th « Court was that he be imprisoned is the House of Correction for two years . He was sorry that the ; could not sentence him to hard labour , nor inflict any seTerer punishment .

      At Detox - Assizes , Win . Kesn , 20 , was found guilty of a rape , at Bnrliicombe , on the 4 th of January last , . on the person of a married woman . The prosecutrix stated that she was the wife of a blacksmith who had been living in Gloucestershire , when he deserted her j she receired information that her husband was working on the railway at the White Ball Tunnel , and by the kindness of a gentleman farmer -was enabled to traTel down to Wellington , ID search ef him j at a public-house , where she enquired for her husband , the prisoner and another man Tolunteered to direct her to him , and thus deeoyed ker to an house where the prisoner committed the JBenee . The case was clearly proved . The judge , in pasting sentence on the prisoner , observed that he nad been contacted most justly of one of the most daring cases of this description ; he should , therefore , take : meanres that he should be sent te the worst

      descriptions of ihe penal settlements , there to work in chains for the rest of his life . Loss of a Sieixke . —On Friday merning last , the following remarkable occurrence , in which a steamer was stolen and afterwards wrecked , attended with loss ol life , took place at Tynemouth , Jiear North Shields . JA daybreak , ifoe pilotB on the Jook-OUt , at lh § entrant © of the xirei , discovered a veBsel amongst fiie rockB called the Black Middens , nnderneatb Tynemouth lighthouse and the ruined abbey , which proved to be a steamer . The alarm was instantly raised , and the life-boat was manned and put off to her assistance ; but upon arriving alongside the vessel , much surprise was evinced at finding only one man on board , -who was safely taken out of the wreck and eenreyed ashore . Immediately he not bis foot on land , he attempted to soawav .

      without giving account as to Ihe manner in which the steamer was wrecked ; but the custom-house officer detained him , and after being kept in custody for sometime , he admitted having , with another man , stolen the steamer from her moorings in that ' river ( the Tyne ) , and added th&i , in making for sea , she drove on the rooks . The other man , he said , jumped overboard upon the vessel breaking up , to swim to the rocks , tot he suspected he met with a watery grave , for he had seen nothing more of him since . It has been ascertained that the steamer was called the Charles William , belonging to Messrs EicKaxdson and Co ., and x 3 i » t tlie man who is supposed to be drowned was a discarded son of the owner . The vessel was used for towing Tessels in and ont of the harbour . She has gone completely to pieces , and but very little of her materials have been saved .

      Untitled Article

      NATIONAL EDUCATION AND THE GOVERNMENT FACTORY BILL . The measure of Government for giving Education to the most helpless , and , not unfrequently , most ignorant portion of our labouring population has brought the whole subject of National Education under review , and has formed a prominent topic of discnssioD among public prints and party gatherings ever since its introduction . We have been watching the " war of words" with considerable interest and

      anxiety ; and we have observed few things to exhibit more clearly the utver recklessnes of public interests —the exclusive selfishness of faction tinder every form . The zealots of all shades and grades have shown off such antics upon this measure , as we suppose few others could have drawn from them . The fanaticism of ** Church" on the one hand , and of "Dissent" on the other , has boxed the lugs of Government on both sides , until , were it not pretty confident of the support of rational and moderate men of all parties , it might be well enough anticipated that the Bill would be thrown aside in disguBt , and that Government would swear never to attempt a good thing again . We trust , however , that this will not be the case ; that this Bill , which , in its

      jyrinciple , 1 b really good , which , in detail , is easily capable of such improvement as shall make it unobjectionable to any but the merely factious , and which is certainly as much called foi by the necessities of the people as any remedial measure that we can think of , will be allowed to come unimpaired into active operation . And if it do so , we shall hope to see much good resulting from it . We have not yet arrived at the transcendental pitch of Dissenting " liberalism" which wonld inducens , with the Nonconformist to cry out that rather than have our children taught to read and write in the intervals of labour provided by Government for the purpose , and in schools which may be under clerical -control as to the religious portion of their exercises , we would

      sayu No ! Rather let the people of this conntry , as they have done , scramble about in the midst of toil and privation , and labour , after such ideas as they can pick up in converse one with another—in dame , and Sunday , and British Bchools , OR AT NO SCHOOL AT ALL . if we must have the one or the otber , let * s have thesavageism of ancient Britain . " Thi 3 may be very congenial with the spirit of Dissent as embodied in the Nonconformist and his elder brother " Young fteddv " but we opine that it will find little response among the people , whose eyes have recently become in some degree open , despite the influence of fanaticism , to their real interests .

      They know , if Mr . Noncon . does not , that the ignorance of the people ifl the tyrant ' s safeguard ; and that general intelligence is incompatible with factious domination . The Noncon . affects to sneer at calling by the name of Education the amount of learning which the children are likely to acquire in these Schools . He says : — "If education mean nothing more than ability to read and write , we may pay too dtarly for the whistle ; if it mean more than this , we must inquire what that

      more . " Competency te read and write ia unquestionably to be desired . A knowledge of letters constitutes the key to that immense depository of information stored np in books . It by no means follows , however , that access to all this information Is necessarily snjoyed by him who has the key . A man may be able to open the garden gate at Hampton court , and may be at liberty to recreate himself -within the enclosure , to whom , on account of his residing in Northumberland , the privilege is praetkally of Teryinconsiderable value . Factoryhandsmay be taught by government to read and write—bat whilst heavy taxes are imposed npoa all the means of knowledge , and the -whole system of legislation tends by Inevitable steps to throw npon our manufacturing poor

      the necessity of devoting , yearly , more and more time , and energy , and health , honestly to acquire the bare pittance required for a scanty subsistence , vre cannot rely very confidently upon such instruction to moralise the masses . The alphabet will not work miracles . The aptest reader will profit but little of letters , except aa he is able by means of them to get at useful information—and whilst , on the one hand , his energies are exhausted by too , increased both in amount and in severity by all kinds of monopoly , we hold it to be a mere delusion to imagine that the power to read and write will considerably mend the condition of the millions . To those who have neither books , nor time , nor physical strength , of what great practical advantage will the mere knowledge of letters prove ?"

      Falsehood is ever foolish ; and we have not often seen a piece of more foolish and paltry false reasoning than this . The key of Hampton Court may certainly be of less use to "brother Noncon" 's Northumbrian in the locality which he has chosen for him than in London ; but let him remove to London and have no key—of what use will Hampton Court be to him 1 1 b the Noncon . bo great an ass as not to know that in that ¦* scrambling about in the midst of toil and privation" which he seems to long for , the labourer might at least have no disadvantage in the possession of that knowledge which he admits to be the key to Boienoe and intelligence on all general subjects 1

      How utterly contemptible does this shallow-pated Dissenter look when his views on this important subject are contrased with those of a writer of sense and observation . In the Morning Chronicle , some years ago , appeared several letters under the signature " O . P . Q ,. " in which we find thes « observations , which we " pit" against the argum « nt

      Allen , Henry Brougham , the Duke of Su » ex , Lord Holland , and other enlightened benefactors of their species , took in hand , some years ago , the glorious and heavenly t&sk of snligktening the ignorantbringing up in virtue the children of poor parents—teaching little orphans and mendicants to read , to write , to cast accounts , and think , I doubt very much whether they felt all the force of their own work , and whether they themselves understood the results which must arise from their labours .

      M They forgot the « mTn » . i portion of man in their attention to his intellectual destinies—and they continued to encourage the Poor Laws—to patronize workhouses— 'to rear almshouses—and to establish hospitals and dispensaries , quite satisfied in their own minds that man could be educated , and yet remain as dependant on the charities of the rich for Ihe supply of his neeessiti&s and his wants , his luxuries and his comforts , as if he remained wholly

      unmstructed . This was a capital error . Before they made up their minds to teach little boys to read and to write , they should have calculated—1 . That the little boys and girlB would become young men and young women j 2 . That in their turn they would become husbands and wives , and fathers and mothers—and servants and artizansand that the reading and the writing would make them well-informed men and well-informed women ;

      Untitled Article

      3 . Tnat being well-informed men and women , they would know something more than merely to eat , drink , and sleep , dance , and" get drunk , as they wonld have done before they were inBtruotedbeing satisfied with the smile ot Lord A . or the condescending bow of Lady B . ; 4 . That being so well-informed , they would read something more than the Prayer Book and the Bible , religious tracts , or Sunday magazines , whion Bible * , and Tract , and S&bbr . th Societies would put into their hands—and that they would read history , biography , newspapers , political pamphlets , and dissertations on the present and past conditions of human

      society ; 5 . That these well-raformed men and women would find out that there was no absolute virtue in wealth—no necessity for abjeot povertyno necessary connection between slavery and the honest daily toil of a labouring man—that talent should always be recompensed—that money waa no more capital than industry—that the workman is worthy of his hire—that his hire should be adequate for all his wants—that Miss Martineau'a system of keeping a man without a helpmate bec&nse he was sot rich , was immoral and favourable to licentiousness , fornication , and adulterythat the labourer has a right to marry—has a

      right to have children—has a right to expect to maintain them out of the gains of his active industry and patient toil—and that the enormous fortunes of some and the utter beggary and destitution of others , is not a natural but an artificial , not a healthy and thriving bnt a sickly and deplorable state of society ; and there is no moral and intellectual reason , none in the sight of Ged , and none in the sight of rational and educated mea , why the mass of human society should be so wretchedly poor , and the exceptions of human society so preposterously and iniquitously wealthy ; and ff . I think the great and the good men who set about teaching in all countries ( " British and

      Foreign School Society" ) little boys and little girls to read , to write , and to cast accounts , should also have calculated that when those little boys and girls should become well-informed men and women , and should have learnt from history , from observation , from journals , and newspapers , and tracts , all I have just described—that they would not rest satisfied with this knowledge ; that as they had congregated together in Lanoasterian and in Bell ' s schools to be taught to read and to write , so , in after life , they would congregate together to improve their physical condit ^ n as animals , as well as their moral and political condition as citizens , and as immortal beings . "

      • ' it was impossible that an educated workman , labouring hard , working early and late—a sober , honest , prudent , and worthy citizen , would long continue to eat bread and drink water in exchange for his sweat , his knowledge , his arms , and his head ; an ignorant man might go on at thiB rate , but an instructed man—never ! And if not one , then how much more , millions of instructed workmen . " ThiB is something rational in the political view of the Education question ; and to every man who thinks thus rationally , it most , therefore , be a matter of high moment to seize every opportunity of extending to the masses the possession of a key to that intellectual improvement which can scarcely fail to be the vestibule or hall of entrance to the

      fane of freedom ; wkile , in the moral view of the matter , we accord entirely with the excellent remarks of Mr . Sergeant Atcherley , who , lately addressing the Grand Jury of Dorsetshire , is reported to have said : — " On looking to the calendar , it is impossible not to see that probably a great number of minor offences have arisen in some instances from distress , and in others from -want of education . In addressing gentlemen of your station , I need hardly say it is undoubtedly our best policy to administer to the wants and comforts of our poorei neighbours . If « e wamt to make the labourer honest , we must afford him the means of being so ; if we wish him to be peaceable , we must attract him to aa , not by the terms of a bard contract , but by those

      means which find the -way to his heart , by oonvlncing him that those who are above him are anxious for his welfare . If we wish to fortify his moral principles , we most remember tnat the best way of doing so is by holding out opportunities of acquiring knowledge of every kind , but by ail means of a religious character . I will only say , in conclusion , that it is by the force of good will and mutual service that we shall best maintain peace , protect property , and in particular cement society in a state of tranquillity , which no subtlety of legal enactment will provide , no terror of the law secure ; that we shall best administer to our own gratification , that purest , most lasting , that best of all gratifications , the gratification of seeking to do good , by advancing ai far aa we can the happiness of our fellow men . "

      These are sentiments which do honour to a man ; and which Dissenting bigots would do well to study and appropriate , instead of raising the howl of superstition and fanaticism against almost a solitary good measure issuing from the Government . The Dissenters are not alone , however , in their opposition . The fanatics of the Church are quite as furious ; fortunately fanaticism is not quite so rampant in the . Church , notwithstanding its much greater numbers ; but what it can it does , even there , to thwart any matter from which the people might derive benefit . While the Dissenters howl about the " prostration ot their interests , " the English Churchman and the Nottingham Journal thus gabble at the Minister for his subservience to dissent : —

      " We do not hesitate to say that this bill must be regarded by religious men , both in and out of Parliament , as tile first of a probable series of attempts to lower the Church of England to the rank of a State Establishment . Whether either the religious or irreligioua of our countrymen are Inclined to put up with any such thing , & very short time will prove . " Sir James Graham , first of all , in forming the sew schools of the factory districts , offers to the clergyman of evary parish the doubtful compliment of being ta qfido , ' one of the trustees : ' rather , be does not offai it at all ; be orders ti so to be . if ' churchwardens ' decline the honour , there is a provision ia the bill to

      meet that case ; but the clergyman is dearly regarded aa already the ' state-officer ; ' &nd Sir James Graham already feels himself ' Tne Minister of the Religious Department of the Public Service . ' The clergyman ' s co-trustees may by the act be anybody , ' Jew , Turk , or Infidel , ' who may have ' granted a site for a Bchool . " [ sect 53 , ] or have been appointed by a neighbouring justice of the peace ! The clergyman is kindly informed that he may catechise and instruot bis young parishioners in these schools , provided the parents of the children do not object , in which case he is to desist t This is the extant to which our unmitred Baronet has at present ' charged his Clergy . '

      " , into all the minute details of a bill which thus , at the very outset , seta at deflanoe all the feelings of Churchmen , and all the existing provisions of the parochial system of our Church , we hold it to be superfluous to enter ; but , were it necessary , we should not shrink from saying , we recoil , as Churchmen ( and as Christians , believing truth to be one , and not manifold or various , )—recoil from its whole spirit—recoil from its eTeiy position . Why t we ask , are we to be burthened as a nation with this new and unwieldy machinery ? Are there not in all our parishes schools

      both of ancient and modern endowment , without establishing in this invidious and revolting way factory schools ? Have we not yet enough of separation and alienation of class from class in this country , but it must be carried farther , and made moio painfully palpable yet ? And must the clergyman be made tke state tool for carrying oat this mo&t hateful measure ? If this be the Conservative way to educate and bless the people , and elevate ' the depressed Guurch , ' may God , in his goodness , preserve us therefrom!—English Churchman . —I Amen . —Nottingham Journal . } "

      This iB sufficiently faroical no doubt ; but noli a whit more so than the ravings of "the Neddies , " the Noncon ., the Patriot , and their pious "brethren , " of " the tub . " Every malicious ingenuity that could be practised for the distortion and misrepresentation of the Bill has been industriously brought into play by every ultra-piouB scribbler and tub-thumper of them all . And not a little deliberate and atrocious falsehood has been lugged in to eke out the argument . " Young Neddy" has edified Lord Wha . rnci . ifpb

      by a long objurgatory lecture on the duties of his official situation in reference to this motion ; but finding the Noble Lord very unbending to his patronage he has turned in a huff to the parents of Sunday School children , whom in his last number he cos . de-Boends to '" talk to" in a manner so affable and" kindly , as must—if they be not quite insensate—oxciie their gratitude for his attentions and make them exclaim to each other " Lawk ! what a nice man that young * Mr . Baijjes is . Did you ever see ! Why he tal& 3

      Untitled Article

      " to us poor folks aa if w s was eyer such gentle-H folks ! " H Njspdt" very politely informs these poor people that a Bill has been brought into Parliament by , one of the Queen ' s Ministers , to provide in a new way for educating the children of the working classes ; and he then proceeds to describe its provisions , in whioh he labours most disgracefully to produce the impression that the necessary effeot of this Bill must be the utter rain of all Dissenting Sunday Schools and Day Sohools . Now we apprehend that these " working people , " whom Neddy

      thus condescends to patronize , will be apt to think it a little strange that he should , while good enough to tell them what is in the Bill , not lay the Bill itself before them that they might see what it actually does say . Neddy had a capital reason for not doing this ; ho knows that the Bill has no one provision whioh can , by any possiblity operate to the injury of any Sunday School now existing ; and he knew ; , therefore , that if he should let this fact appear , the parents of Sunday Scholars would " Smoke his gammon . "

      The Leeds Dissenters have again mastered their forces—lay and clerical . Great were the efforts made to " produce an effeot" last Tuesday . Every " tub" in the oonventioles was beaten to the tune of ** No Church , " on the previous Sunday ; Neddy puffed and blew at his penny trumpet ; the meeting was—as all manufacturing dissent meetings arecunningly contrived for Tuesday , at noon—just when

      all the " brethren" from Pudsey , Stanniogley , Yeadon , Horsforth , Bradford , Dewsbury , Batley , Heokmondwike , Huddersfield , and all the clothing districts , might be calculated on ; when , in fact , in name of aLeeds meeting , they might have a meeting of all the flower of Dissent and " Liberalism" in the West Riding . And yet , with all the puffing , all the " tub-thumping , " and all the maneuvering that could be used , the meeting was a failure !

      The people " Would not come when they did call . " Something like one thousand five hundred , or eighteen hundred , persons mustered at the sound of the Dissenting whistle ; most of them parties who had no oonoern whatever with the town , the very elite of countrified dissent—the clothiers and small millowners of the various Adjoining districts—and who gaped at their proceedings without understanding them—merely knowing that " ther wor a meetin' i ' t Cloath Hoi Yird summat abaht t' parsons and t'Skopils ; and ther wor Hamm ' leton and BAiNEsand some moro on ' m theero , they did tawk feaful wheel !"

      At this meeting similar resolutions were adopted to those of the meeting held some time since in the Commercial Buildings . No attempt was made to suggest any remedy for the alleged faults of the Bill ; but the ungracious and unmanly position was again assumed of praying simply that the Bill " may not pass" —that it may be withdrawn and society left in the state in which it now is , so far as Educational provision is concerned . We presume that not one of the parties influential in getting up the disgraceful opposition to this Bill is unaware of the condition of the Factory Districts as to Education—if so we will ask them to read the extracts we lately gave them from the Inspectors' Reports—and if that be insufficient , as having reference only to one or two districts ; 1 st them then read the following : —

      EXTRACTS PROM THE CONCLUSIONS OF THE SECOND REPORT OP THE COMMISSIONERS FOR INQUIRING INTO TUB EMPLOYMENT AND CONDITION OF CHILDREN IN MINES AND MANUFACTORIES . " That in many of these trades and manufactures , and especially in pin-making , nail-inaking , lace-maklng , the hosiery trades , calico-printing , the earthenware trades , and tobacco-making , the children have not good and sufficient food , nor warm and decent clothing ; great numbers of them , when questioned , stating that they have seldom or never enough to eat , and many of them being ' clothed in rags ; and it is a general complaint that they are prevented , by want of proper clothing , from going to the Sunday-school , or to a place of public worship .

      " Thttt there are few classes of these children and young persons ' working together in numbers , ' of whom a large portion are not ia a lamentably low moral condition " That this low moral condition is evinced by t general ignorance of moral duties and sanctions , and by an absence of moral and religious restraint , shown among Borne classes chiefly by coarseness of manners , and the use of profane but indecent language ; but in other classes by the practice of gross immorality , which is prevalent to a great extent In both sexes at very early ag <* I

      " That thia absence of restraint Ib the result of a general want of moral and religious training ; comparatively few of these classes having the advantage of moral and religious parents to instruct and guide them ; their low moral condition , on the contrary , often having its very origin in the degradation ot the parents , who , themselves , brought up without virtuous habits , can set no good example to their children , nor have any bentflcial control ovsr their conduct" That , in the majority of instances , the young people , while in their places of work , are under the care and control solely of the adult workmen , by whom they are generally Lired and paid , and whose servant * they are ; and after their work is over , they are subjected to no kind of superintendence , but their time is entirely at their own disposal .

      * ' That although placed under such highly unfavourable and dangerous circumstances , some of these children and young persons escape any permanent moral deterioration , and become in after-life as respectable and well-conducted as any persons in their station ; but this is not the common result , the more natural consequences of the possession of unrestrained liberty at an age when few are capable of self-government being witnessed in great numbers of these children and young persons , who acquire , in childhood and youth , habits which utterly destroy their future health , usefulness , and happiness .

      " That the evils resulting from vicious courses , commenced thus early , and often pursued to the end of life , do not always stop with the ruin of the individuals , their example being smnotimes contagious ; and instances are reoorded in wbion youths nave leagued together for the commission of crimes and outrages of no ordinary description . " That the means of secular and religious instruction , on ihe efficiency of which depends the counteraction of all these evil tendencies , are so grievously defective , that , in aU districts great numbers of children and young persons are growing up xtiithout any religious moral , or intellectual training ; nothing being done to form them to habits of order , sobriety , honesty , and forethought , or even to restrain them from vice and crime .

      ' ¦ That there is not a single district in which the means of instruction are adequate to the wants of the people ; while in some districts the deflcency is bo great that clergymen and other witnesses , state that the schools actually ia existence are insufficient for the education of one-third ot the population . " That , iu aU districts , many children and young persons , whether employed ia the mines of coal and iron , or in trades and manufactures , never go to any school , and some never have been at any school . " That in general the children who never go to any school seldom go to any place of worship .

      " That great numbers of those children who hart been In regular attendance on Sunday-schools for a period of from five to sine years were found , on examination , to be incapable of reading an easy book or of spelling the commonest words ; and they were not only altogether ignorant of Christian principles , doctrines , and precepts , but they knew nothing whatever of any of the events of Scripture history , nor anything even of the names most commonly occurring in the Scriptures . " That , is almost nil the districts , much anxiety is expressed by the best-informed witnesses , that any legislative enactment to shorten the present hours of work for children should be accompanied by full and efficient means of educating the great numbers who would thus have time afforded them to attend school .

      " That from the whole body of evidence it appears , however , that there are at present in existence no means adequate to effect any material and general improvement in the physical and moral condition of the children aud young persons employed in labour . "' Now with this picture of our labouring population before onr eyes—and knowing it to be too true—we envy not ihe minds of those who can say , " sooner than give ns education in sohools of whioh « clergyman shall be trustee , give no education at all ; if we most have one or the other , give : aa eavageiam . " We Bay with the

      Sun" Sooner than not have the Education Bill pass , we would infinitely prefer having it pass precisely as it stands , so persuaded are we of the pressing necessity for such » measure , and snch little importance do we attaoh to the complaints of High-Churoh on the one hand , and of Dissent on the other , when weighed against the great , comprehensive principle of national instruction . The first consideration with us is , the instilling into the minds of the working olasses right notions of religion and morality ; and we care not whether these notions are implanted in them by Church-

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      men or Dissenters ; We wisb ! to see them—and this as speedily as possible—pat into such a course of moral training , as may qualify them to play the parts of good fathers—good friends—good citizens—and cause them to be loved ! and respected in the social relations of life . We wish to see them raised from the filthy stye of ignorance in which thousands of them are now contentedly wallowing ; to see fallen humanity uplifted in their natures ; and their minds

      taught to appreciate all that is good and great in character , instead of turning away from the contemplation of moral excellenceras a thing which they cannot understand . We boast of being the richest nation in the world ; henceforth let it be onr endeavour to show that we are also the most intelligent . Here , indeed , will ! be a legitimate theme for national exultation , and God forbid that the doctrinal disputes of { Churchmen and Dissenters should ever

      interfere to prevent our realising so creditable—so noble a vaunt ! We say , therefore , by all means let the Education Bill pass . " " What are mere theological dogmas compared with the great , comprehensive , and beneficent principle involved in the Education Bill ? What matters it in what sect a child ia educated , provided his education be a moral and a Christian one ? Considering the pressing emergency of the casebearing in mind the alarming disclosures made by Lord Ashley as to the state of demoralization and ignorance in { which thousands of the labouring olasses are now plunged—we do think that a perilous responsibility will attach to that party through whose means a scheme for remedying the evil shall be defeated ! What I is it a time to cavil on doctrinal points

      and matters of discipline—to fall to loggerheads on nice , subtle questions of orthodoxy and heterodoxywhen vast masses of the community are in such a brutal , benighted state , that the national tranquillity cannot be calculated on from one year to another We do most earnestly entreat both Churchmen and Dissenters—on this momentous question at least —to lay aside their distrust of each other , to meet each other half way ia a temperate and conciliating spirit , and endeavour to come to something like a mutual good understanding . Surely the v « ry grandeur and comprehensiveness of the subject which they are called on to consider , should of itself be sufficient to exert a benignant influence on their minds , elevate their tone of sentiment , and render them superior to all petty , sectarian , one-sided considerations . "

      Doubtless there jare points in whioh the Bill needs improvement ; and if those improvements can be effected , so much the better . Let us in God ' s name mend it if we can , but not throw it away , even if we cannot . From the tone which has been taken on the matter in the House of Commons there is every reason to believe that if improvements be proposed jn a proper spirit they will be appropriately met . Lord John Russell has given notice of 80 me resolutions in the House , calculated partially to effect what must be the object of all well-disposed and honest Dissenters . There art other points to which attention might be well { directed , and which we shall yet take occasion to notice , when the blaze of Dissenting fury and Church bigotry shall give us opportunity Meantime here are Lord John ' s resolutions—good as far as they go : —

      " 1 . That in any bill for the promotion of education in &reat Britain , by which a board shall be authorised to levy , or cause tolbe levied , parochial rates for the el ection and maintenance of schools , provision ought to be made for an adequate representation of the ratepayers of the parish ; in such board . " 2 . That the chairman of such board should be elected by the board itself . " That the boly j Scriptures , In the authorised version , shall be taught in all schools established by any such board . \ " i . That special ! provision should be made for oases in which Roman Catholic parents may object to the Instruction of their children in the holy Scriptures in BQch schools . '

      " 5 . That so other books of religioue instruction should be used in such schools , unless with the sanction of the Archbishops j of Canterbury and York , and the concurrence ef the Committee of Privy Council on Education . j " 6 . That , in order to prevent the disqualification of competent schoolmasters on religious gronnds , the books of religious instruction , other than the Holy Bible , introduced into the schools , should be taught apart by the clergyman of the parish , or some person appointed by him , to the children of Protestauts wh « belong to the Established Church , and who may be desirous that their children should be so instructed .

      " f hat all children taught in such Bchools should have free liberty to resort to any Sunday-school , or any place of religious worship , which their parents may approve . : " 8 . That any school connected with the National School Society , the British and Foreign School Society , any Protestant Dissenters' School , or any Roman Catholic School , which shall be found on inspection to be efficiently conducted , shall be entitled by license from the Privy Council . to grant certificates of school attendance for the purpose of employment in factories of children and young persons .

      " 9 . Tnat , in the opinion of this House , the Committee of Privy Council on education ought to be fmrnlshed with the means to enable them to establish and maintain a sufficient number of training and model schools in Great Britain . " 10 . That the said Committee ought likewise to be enabled to grant gratuities to deserving schoolmasters , and to afford such aid to schools established by voluntary contributions as may tend to the more complete instruction of the people in religious and secular knowledge , while at the Bame time the rights uf conscience may be respected . ' Sir James Graham in reply said that : —

      " Since the second reading of the Bill he had had the opp : rtunity of hearing the opinions of many deputations and of receiving various suggestions as to its provisions , and it jwould be the duty , as it was the inclination of himself and his colleagues , to give to those suggestions the moat calm and dispassionate consideration . He was J not prepared at that moment , nor would the House expect him , to enter into any statements as to what might be the modification which be should have to propose in the details of the Bill ; but , from what hod already taken place , and from the tone in which the subject had been already discussed , be had a confident expectation of being enabled to propose many material alterations in it "

      Now we do think that this , so far as language can be understood , indicates a spirit and purpose of fairplay sufficient to satisfy any reasonable man . Let those who feel that the measure , in its present form , would press hardly on . tbem , —shew how it would do so—and suggest their measures of amendment ; but let them not forget that Governmtnt having the whole community to look to , ought so to shape their measures as to secure the good of all without consulting the prejudices of a seotion—and that a small section too Again , we borrow the language of the Sun and say— i

      " No great public measure was ever yet carried , but some party or other mode a sacrifice to it ; and shall men , who call themselves religious , hesitate to do so , when the scheme in consideration is one for the educatian of the people ? If , however , the zealots of High Church and Dissent will not be prevailed on to abandon their opposition , we do most earnestly hope and trust that aU the moderate and intelligent men in the community will make a point of coming to the assistance of Government on \ this occasion , for they may xeiy on it , things have come , to that pass with us , that if we have not national education , we must have national convulsion . "

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      THE TRIALS AT LANCASTER . A half number ; of the above important trial was published last week , in consequence of the impossibility of one person writing out a full number in a week . This will not be wondered at when it is borne in mind that each number contains , of solid matter , about aB much as sixty columns of a newspaper , which would be ten columns a day for one man to write . ' This week , however , a full number of sixty-four pages will appear , and which we are informed will

      bring the proceedings down to the end of the , fifth day , including the speocb . es of Mr . Dundas , Q ,. C . ; Mr . Baines , Q . C . ; and Mr . Serjeant Morpht . The next number , will contain , verbatim reports of the speeches of the working men , and will more than supply their omission in that meagre state in which they must have necessarily appeared in a newspaper . When these trials are completed , the work will contain as much las could be got into six hundred columns of a newspaper , and , therefore , the absolute

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      impossibility [ of any journal giving anything like a full report will at once pr « sent itself . In answer to applications 88 te whether suboribera for the last number only will be entitled to the portrait of Baron Rolfs , we should say , certainly not . It is requested that agents will give timely orders to Hetwood , of Manchester ; Hobson , of Leeds ; and Cleave , of London . The work is all stereotyped , and numbers 1 and 2 are now going through a second edition . Some few errors are observable , but they will be corrected in a list of " errata . "

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      SOMETHING FOR PRACTICE

      HOW TO GET THE LA . ND . Most earnestly do we call the attention of every individual into whose hands thia paper may fall , to the letter of Mr . O ' Connor , outlining forth a plan for the concentration of the people ' s energies to obtain possession of a portion of LAND , wheron to commence a practical exposition of the principles

      now so universally received amongst all classes . The public mind is fully ripe for the taking of such a step . Indeed , were the working people longer to delay the necessary steps requisite to give to the world a practical development of what they mean by saying that * THE LAND is the only possible means of salvation" they would very shortly find that they were far behind public opinion .

      The indications manifested throughout the popular ranks , that the time has arrived when some such step as that outlined by Mr . O'Connor must be taken , are both too numerous and too strong to be mistaken . There is a yearning desire on every hand for the elaboration , promulgation , and adoption of a plan having for its end and aim the uniting of practice with theory . At the time we write we have on the table a letter from another firm friend of the people , pointing out the imperative necessity of the step ; and also outlining a plan mainly similar to Mr . O'Connor ' s , differing only in one or two particulars . Most likely we shall give publication to that letter next week .

      With the determination expressed at the end of Mr . O'Connok ' s letter not to press the question of his Amended Organization for some time we cordially concur . The question he has now mooted of combining " social economy " with " political agitation" will call for much consideration on the part of the people ; and the means by which the ends sought are to be accomplished , will require much attention , and much forethought . It is absolutely necessary that something of the kind should be prominent in any plan which the people now adopt . It was our conviotion of this that dictated the allusion which in ouz

      few remarks on Mr . O'Connor ' s plan of organize tion , was made to the want of something whioh the plan in the shape it then bore did not provide . It could not be expected that the necessary attention can be properly bestowed on so important an affair if there should be any undue and unnecessary hurrying on of the matter . The respective plans that may be propounded must be firstly canvassed over by the people in their several localities ; ' and then , when judgments have been formed , a national delecation should be holden for the purpose of maturing and sanctioning a uniform and consistent plan out of the whole .

      We shall anxiously wait for and watch the development of the respective schemes that may be propounded . This is a question of mighty importi and of deep interest . As such we ahall view it and treat it . The best attention we can bestow shall be willingly applied ; and we shall endeavour to guida public opinion to what we consider to be the legitimate courses of action in connection with it . A popular organization more powerful and more useful than any ever yet existing in this kingdom , may be formed on this basis , if only the proper means be taken to secure the protection of the law . That security may be had . It shall be a portion of our duty to point oat the way .

      To My Scottish Friends In Leith, Glasgow, Greenock, Fto.

      TO MY SCOTTISH FRIENDS IN LEITH , GLASGOW , GREENOCK , fto .

      My Friends , —If it may please God , I will endea vour , when I visit Scotland , bo to manage matters ia to have the gratification of seeing all of you . But I must say , in answer to the parties who request that my visit may be hastened , that it cannot be . I would have been most happy to be in Glasgow OH the 2 lst of May , as my kind friends request ; but I dare not travel northward till the warm weather have set in . I must have a little time to com

      round . I am totally unfit for hard work now About the middle of June is as soon as I dare reckon on . I shall then come to Edinburgh and stay two or three days , after which I will try to visit other places to whioh I have been invited in such order of time and circumstance as may be most convenient ; not to prolong my stay beyond three weeks . I am in hopes thereby not only to derive much gratification from communion with my cool-headed , warm-hearted , friends , but also to do something for the improvement , if not re-establish ' ment of my lost health . God save yon all and speed the Charter , William Hill .

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      Con Murray , Glasgow . —The report he mentions ** a private letter had not come to hand when ths first edition of the Star was obliged to go I *

      press . Sundbrxand . —All persons wishing to correspond with the Council of the Whole-hog Chartist Brigade are requested to direct , for the julun ^ to Mr . George Charlton , sail-maker , 2 , Fitters row . Defence Fon » . —The sovereign placed in Mr-O'Connor ' s hands at Lancaster was given nimby Mr . J . T . Lund , and included 10 s . from Utverston , and 10 s . from the sals of Nicholson ' s Break fast Beverage . In ihe Star of the 1 & 7 A ult . * 1 is acknowledged from John Prttchard of RwU Hill , near Chester : it should have been /«« John Pritchard , of Ruley Hill , near Fdrnafo Cheshire . T . B . Simnitt , Newark . —Certainly net .- yo * «•" be in great danger if you d » .

      A Constant Reader and Sobscribeb ., Htjddkbs * field . — We do not know a good printed book w » Short Hand : the best that we have yet seen is M Sams , of Bath . There are also some capital g thoughts in Pitmen ' s Phonograph ;/ . J . M ., Leicesteb . —Thanks . % Oldham Chartists . —We fear that if ihe P «« ° 2 I whom they style " John Norbury ^ alias Taylor , and respecting whom they speak of information g which has been communicated to them from tM g Chartists of Newcastle-upon-Tyne , Rochdale , % Heymood , Wigan , Siockport , andltossley , i ^ J get any petty fogging attorney to take up his «** he might have a good action against us for I * 1 * 1 . g if we should insert their paragraph * ' § Wk . Peplow . —His letter to the subscribers to tie

      Defence Fund next week . John Colqbhodn wishes the address of Mrs . E ^ that he may remit to her £ 1 from the Glafpf Chartist Association ; 3 s . from Mr . Smith , UW street ; and Is . from Mr . Niel Muir .

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      FOR THE NATIONAL DEFENCE FUND . . * a & From A . R ., and a few friends , E liaburgh 0 9 FOR MR- COCK . B 0 RN , OP NEWCASTLK . From B . Jones , Bristol ... ... ... ° 1

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      TO THE EDITOR OI THE TiOHTllEKN STAB . Sin , —I doubt not it will be in the remembrance of your readers , that in September last I was arrested and held to bail , myself in one hundred pounds and four friends in twenty-five pounds each , for sedition , upon the isolated evidence of a rural Police Serjeant , No . 52 , of the ftloncestei County , ) named Jasper Fowler ; this said roan Bwearing that 1 said " it was a great shame the Qaeen did not maintain her own mother . " Now , Sir , if it be a shame or no , I shall not say , neither did I say ; 1 have eight respectable witnesses to prove the

      words Hworn to were never uttered by me . It took the ¦ wisdom of six Solons , or Bogtsrries , to commit me far the said monstrous treason , or sedition .: In my poor opinion the names of these wiseacres of the county of Gloucester -would receive too great honour if handed down in your psges to posterity—bast to pass them by as tee idle wind , for which we care net Suffice it to say , 1 attended the said assizes with the accoutrements of war , namely , the armour of virtue , the shield of truth , and sword of justice . The dastardly foe , armed with tyranny and might , dare not enter the arena .

      This very day ( Tuesday ) , at four o ' clock , -will tho men and ¦ women of the Forest of Dean assemble in their hundreds to hear , -without the cloak o ! priestcraft , hypocrisy , or cant , the truth and justice of onr principles . Knowing the value of jour space , I conclude , thanking all friendB who have assisted me in this contest ; to mighty talkers , who have proved themselves fnll of mail a&d froth , none are required . Truly yours , Rtjfft Bidlet . April 11 th , IS 43 .

      The Northern Star. Saturday, April 15, 1843.

      THE NORTHERN STAR . SATURDAY , APRIL 15 , 1843 .

      Co 3£Uati£R£ Aittr (Sorregaoiftkntd

      Co 3 £ Uati £ r £ aittr ( SorregaoiftKntd

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      ? THE following sums from Wingate Grange were not ^ a few weeks ago , as being from Wingate "f ^ S : for various funds , according to letter received . « have received another letter , rtating that the w >» were intended to go to the Defence Fond . £ t- ^ 1 Thornley Colliery , per Q . B . ... 0 2 « 5 Newgate Colliery 8 12 0 Do . by 0 5 ' Cradle by < J . Brown ... „ ... 3 1 8 i Ma . Sinclair , Newcastle . — The mistake Qod& ? ° . be rectified when bis letter came to band : we ° ^ not one paper in the office .

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      4 T H E NORTH E B N STAR .

  • Citation
    • Northern Star (1837-1852), April 15, 1843, page 4, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/ns/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1208/page/4/