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Northern Star (1837-1852), 17th August 1844, Edition 1 of 1, Page 4, ^vtie px JbtftTlitxtnce.

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    • ^vtie px JbtftTlitxtnce.
    • THE ISOETHEEN STAR SATURDAY, AUGUST 27, 1844.
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      Untitled Article

      TJ 2 ttTED STATES . Liverpool , Tcesdat , A _ Vg . 13 . —The British and 2 ? orth American B-djjA mail steam-ship Hibernia , Captain Ryrie . vfmchlefi Boston on Che 1 st , and Halifax on the 3 rd instant , armed here at seven o ' clock this nrorning , after a passage from the latter port of littlp . jnore than nine and half days . The « xr 5 tement produced by the Philadelphia liots had ceased ; nearly all the military had left the eity . „ . ..., The Moesoxs . —The Boston Times pnblishes ac

      © Scral statement frpm the president of the branch of the Mormonitesin that city , from which it appeals tfot Samuel H . Smith , the oldest member of tiie femDy now living , and a brother of the murdered prophet , -mil ta&e the office of his brother Hirao , as " patriarch in the church , according to the aaseient cnstom of God ' s people . Governor Ford , otTlKnois , has mads a requisition on the United States 'Government for 5 P 0 troop 3 , to be stationed in the neighbourhood of 2 ? &uvoo , to prevent asy bloodshed by the Anti-Mormons or the Mormons . A ^ reatdeal « f exasperated feeling exists in that

      neighbourhood . A Tyler Demonstration" had taken ; ph « e at New York , -which ended is a row , and the defeat of the object of the meeting . The papers still say that rnnch tpathy conijnnea to prevail respecting the -comisg presidential election . The papers contain an account of a destructive conflagration at Brooklyn , opposite the city of New York , by which twenty-ax houses * od much valuable property were destroyed . The accounts of the crops are most favourable , and the harvest will be abundant . The estimates of the loss of cotton by the over-Sowing of the Hissis 3 Jpi vary from 100 , 000 to 400 , 000 bales .

      Bbtush Steaxeb Tat Sats . —Captain Ward , of the bark Rapid , from Havanna , informs ns that the BritL'h steamer Tay , which had been ashore on the Colorados , and was supposed would bB lost , arrived at Havanna as the Rapid came out . She had lost her anchors and cables . A Spanish steamer and schooner-of-war went to her assistance two days previons . —Journal of Corraasrce . Melaschol . t Deato . —Christian Fordyce , a printer , employed on the WUliamsburgh Democrat , was drowned on Sunday evening , while bathing at the foot of South Second-street * in that village . He had been attempting to swim ^ got ont of his depth , and bo perished . His body remained abont half an hour in the water before it was recovered , and all endea-Tonrs to restore animation proved unsuccessful . He ¦ was a single man , from Newcastle-upon-Tyne , in the Ifonh of England , and bad been in this country abont fifteen months .

      Dsxts as a Hevolctionaht Beeo . —We find a notice in the Cleveland Herald , of ihe death of Kenben Beach , at Tallmadge , Summit county , Ohio , on the 4 th of July , aged 57 years . He entered the 3 rd Connecticut regiment in March 1777 , and received his discharge from the army June 9 th , 1783 , with a badge of merit , for " six years faithful ser-¦ rice . " He was in the battles of Long Island , Germantown and Yorktowa , and was with Wayne in storming Stony Point . For a at O 5 B bibth . —The wife of- Mr . Carrey , residingin Poplar-lane , Northern Liberties , was yesterday delivered of foar children , three fine healthy boys and one girL The mother and children we are iappy to state are doing as well as can be expected . —_ PA& Gazette . — [ One of the boy 3 has since diad . 3 Fj-om the Correspondent of ihe Morning Chronicle .

      —Political affairs are very dull jnst now , ihe pnbiio journals bang chiefly occupied witi comments on the rumoured interference of European powers to prevent any annexation of Texas to the United States without the consent of Mexico , The popular sentiment is decidedly opposed to any action of any European nation or nations in the politics of the Korth American Continent , President Monroe ' s declaration to that effect being adopted as a maxim . People consider that any foreign influence in the matter would be a dangerous precedent to the best interests and independence of the United Statesthat nhat is once made precedent msy soon become doctrine , and that , therefore , it would be resisted by all political parties . Meanwhile Santa Anna is preparing to invade Texas -with a large force ; but it is right to add that many politicians deem his menace to be a mere brutum fulmen .

      Mr . Robert Tyler , son of the President , has recommended William Lyon Mackenzie to a public office in 2 iew York ! You will remember that Macietzie was a leader in the Canada troubles . Two Mormons have been shot—one at Warsaw , and one at Moscow , Illinois . The Governor of IHiiioi 3 has applied to the President for 500 United States troops to restrain further outbreak . I hope no more Mormon madmen will come out from England . An attempt has been made in Mexico to asassinate Gen . Wall , commander of the northern army , near Texas ; but it failed . The latest accounts from Mexico abonnd in indignation against this country , for the lecent attempt to annex Texas . Heanwhile the Texan papers and letters . express indifference upon the subject , and seem to prefer national and iseparate independence . Several

      skirmishes have taken place between Texians and 3 rexican 3 on the frontier , and particularly with the Indians , most ef whom are reported to be in league ¦ with . Mexico . The news of the rejection of the Bill for annexing Texas io the United States has been received with joy at Yera Cruz . Thirty seven more prisoners of Sentamanat ' s expedition had been shot at Tobasco . They were all foreigners to Mexico , save one 1 Tie British and American consuls interfered to save their lives , if possible , but the Mexican authorities replied , " that the Americans had better have interfered to prevent the expedition from saillag from New Orleans against a friendly republic , ¦ with which they were at peace . ' The fact of the Mexican Congress having granted Santa Ann * SO . OOO men and 4 . 000 , 000 dollars for the invasion of Texas , in confirmed .

      My note-book of small thing 3 is filled with an unusual number of casualties by storm and fire , suicides , fatal recontres , &c At Chambersburg an . extensive paper-miil has been destroyed by a tornado . Rear Richmond , Indiana , fifteen houses have been blown down , and a Miss Morton killed by lightning . At York , Livingston , several barns have been destroyed by lightning , and at Harrlsonville , Missouri , a large number of cattle and borse 3 have been destroyed , and a Mrs . Elliott killed by the electric finid . A duel was fonght a few days since , at < 3 rand Galf , between Captain and H . W . Allen and Dr . 2 daeateHer , inwhicnboth were dangerously wonnded . Within the last week , Mr . J . 1 L Parsons , of Saring-Beld ; air . Moses Wright , of Nashua ; Mr . James

      Rogers , cf Isorriston ; and MiS 3 Barbara Roher , of Haggerstone , have committed suicide . Several diamonds have been found in the gold mines near Habersham , Georgia . At Clinton , Mr . Lewis was shot in a quarrel by Mr . Thorn , on the 2 O . h . At Marion , Missouri , a father and son have been ar-Tested for the mnrder of the daughter of the former . At HntherfoTd , Tennesse , Mr . Mitchell was killed by a pi-id shot on the 23 rd , by Mr . Whuesides ; and at Washington , Alabamia , Monsieur Jourdon by ilx . SiUivan—both were cases of quarrel fr m old grudges . Tne body of Mr . Martin , of Columbia , Kew York , was found murdered a few days since

      and in Aew lork , on Saturday , a youth na . med C E . Gags , was killed by a pistol shot fired by some unknown person in the street . Dapont's powder mill blew up last Thursday , and killed Mr . M'Dewart and Mr . Russell . About a fortnight since , the schooner Herald , of Boston , toot a boy frcm the hold of the British brig Sir Lionel Smith , of Jamaica , lie had been in that perilous situation for nine days , ihe ae . Jt having abandoned the vessel ss unsea-¦ wo rihy , not being aWe at the time to Snd the boy . The erew were picked np in an open boat a few days before , and their wants humanely attended to by the captain of another American resstl .

      CANADA . Both Montreal and Qiebec have recently suffered much from ligktniDg and Etorm . Houses and barns havebe ^ n destroyed , and several lives lo = t . The furniinre of the Parliament Hoase has all been removed from Kingston to Montreal . Mrs . Wallace , of England , was accidentally drowned near Qufcbf c Ai Toronto and Montreal , there have been several outrages committed between Catholics and Orange-men . Ai Peiiie Nation , ihe Loose of Mr . Alanson Cooke accidentally caught fire a i&w days Fjnce , and his daughter and two servant girls perishedintheflunes . The Governor-General hss given £ 20 to tie . Mercantile Lkerary Association o ' Montreal . The crops in ail tne British provinces are a full average .

      liOTA SCOTIA . Capitax Tkial of Pibates at Halifax . —The piratical crew of the ship Saladin , recently arrested at Halifax , were put on trial in that city , before the Supreme Court , on the 18 : h inst . Poor of them—Anderson , Travasgnrs , alias Johnson , George Jones , and William Bazelton—were first put on trial on the charge of piracy , One of them pleaded guilty . Tne jury brought in , after fifieen minutes consulta tion , a verdict of gnOtj , On the next day the prisoners all pleaded guilty to the charge of the mnrder of Captain M'Ketzle . Carrand Galloway were then tried for the murder of Captain Fielding . The Court charged the jury thai the crimes of Yielding , who must have been p P dacer to t ^ original piracy , were no palliation of the guilt of his murderers . The jury , however , bronght in verdict of Jfot Guilty .

      A similar verdict was returned after the trial of the E&me men for the mnrder of Pieldinft ' s eon . ¦ Wetate the following account of the execution from the Halifax papers of the 3 rd inst . : — Jones , Hszalton , Anderson , and Trevaskiss , -were executed on the Common on Tuesday morning last , in the presence of a large eon course of people , the gallows liaving been erected on a hill in the rear « l the Catholic Cemetry . A company of the 52 d regiment were early onibe ground , and formed a circle round the / scaffold , keeping the spcct&tors afc a proper stance . "

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      At about ten o clock , A . H ., the prisoners arrived at the spot from whence they were to take their last look upon the world , and end their mortal career in ignominy . They were conveyed in two close carriages from the Penitentiary , preceded by the Sberffin agifj , and strongly guarded by a body of the First Royals , with fixed bayonets . They appeared nw . ch . more debilitated than when we last saw thein ; but their countenances wore a more placid expression . They ascended the Bteps of the scaSold , and took their stand npon the fatal drop , with great firmness . For some time after they as-¦ eended the scaffold , and with the ropes about their necks , they were engaged in prayer , the different clergymen appearing uaremittine in their attention

      to these unfortunate beings in the last moments of their existence . The Swede alone seemed at all indifferent to his awful situation . He stood perfectly ereot , and gaxed around on the vast assemblage , on the green fields , the bine sky , and the ocean before him—far , far beyond which dwelt those who were dear to him , whom he should never more see , and whose cheeks would mantle with shame for the degradation of their lost son . It is hard to tell whai may have { been the secret thought of that doomed boy , while standing on tha veTge of his own grave , with his coffin beneath his feet . His aged parents

      with their silvered locks—his brothers and sinters , who bnt a little while since shared bis youthful joys and Borrows , may hate risen np before his imagination at the moment , and rendered him regardless of his real state , or , it may be , that his apparent indifference was the result of education—of the difficulty under which he laboured to understand the language of consolation addressed to him—of national pride , which promptea him to die as it became a Swede ; yet his rigidity of countenance may have been a token of resignation—of reliance on the atoning blood of the Saviour for . salvation . We believe he was really penitent .

      It was a melancholy , sight * o sea four young fellows , the oldest not over twenty-three years , dose their mortal career just as they were entering manhood , on the scaffold . Circumstances alone made them pirates and murderers . We have authority fot believing that they were not habitually vicioas . It is quite possible , had they not embarked on board the Saladin—or had never met Fielding—or knew of the existence of ihe wealth in that vessel , they might have escaped so ignominious an end . Before . the executioner adjusted the ropes through the rings of the scaffold , and prepared them for the drop , the prisoners shoek hands , and bade each other farewell ; Jones kissing his comrades affectionately on the cheek . Before the caps were pat on them , Jones addressed a few words to the spectators , stating that he was an Irishman , -and from Clare . He expressed bis deep . Borrow for the deed he had committed , and coped for pardon from God .

      Hazelton and Jones handed papers to the Rev . Mr . O'Brien , containing confessions of their guilt—but alleging that they were innocent of the death of Fielding and bis son . The caps were then pulled over the features of the prisoners , and the clergymen on the scaffold took leave of them . The Rev . Messrs . O'Brien , Connolly , and Quinan , knelt in prayer , when the bar which supported the drop was removed , and the unfortunate men \ rero launched into eternity . Trevaskiss alone struggled a moment , and not violently . The bodies , after having been suspended for three-quarters of an hour , were cut down . Those of Haz ^ ton and Jones were conveyed to the Catholio Cemetery , preceded by the clergy in attendance , and followed by a large number of people , and deposited in the little chapel , where prayers were offered up . Those of Anderson and Trevaskiss were taken to the poor-house burial ground , and , we believe , interred . Thus ended this melancholy and terrible tragedy .

      MEXICO . The AVtr Orleans Builttin states that a law for raising 4 , 100 , 000 dollars for the campaign against Texas has already passed ; that General Canalize has been appointed commander-in-chief , and General Wall second in command of the army , which is to consist of 30 , 000 men ; that a large amount of the munitions of war , Sec , ordered from the United States and England , had been received at Vera Cruz ; and it was believed that as soon aa it could be forwarded and distributed at the proper points , the whole army would be put under marching orders .

      HATTI . There had been another insurrection in St . Domingo , and a black man , Santa Anna ( not he of Mexico ) had been elected president .

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      THE PAST SESSION . Werb we to review the proceedings of the Parliamentary Session just closed as things substantive , things requiring the embodyment of a new mind as a means of giving effect to the new requirements of society , our task would be overshadowed with i gloomy forebodings , and our most sanguine hope would look in vain for one single point whereon ; to rest . In the midst of the surrounding gloom , ; however , wt are buoyed up and sustained by the \ cheering conviction , that notwithstanding the lack of substantial reformation , we recognise in the ' acts obstructed , the measures discussed , the Ian- ; gauge spoken , and the feelings expressed , the fore- i ¦

      shadowing of coming events . We admit the very , ' existence of a Government &Bprima Jada proof of ' its title to rule : a power , however , which can only be sustained by the principle that it emanates ; from the free and uncontrolled will of the majority , i and not from the partly nattered , partly deluded , and partly coerced mind of the minority . j If we could hold to the principle of reducing the . conflicting elements which constitute the popular , mind , or the popular passions and prejudices if yon ' will , to an essence of electoral discretion and fit- j ness , we should say , that the principal object of Sir '; Robert Peel during the last six months has been ' to unite and promote a collision of the raging ele- '

      ment 3 of faction , to the end that be might be en- ' a-bled " to ride on tne whirlwind , and direct the storm . " Instead of supporting the character of Prime Minister of a great and wealthy nation— I instead of being the director of the improved and still improving genius of the country , to the accomplishment of great national objects and acknowledged requirements , he has played the part of a petulant but dexterous Borough candidate on the hustings , by recommending himself to both partieB , not as the person calculated to do either the most ' good , but as the person likely to inflict upon each the least possible amount of evil . We admit that this negative policy m&y for a season reconcile him '

      to the great monied interest of the country ; but we ' much doubt that his satisfactory direction and I management of their affairs will be recognised by the great body of the people as the only , or even the greatest , qualification for England ' s Prime Minister . Were we to contrast the sessional performances of Sir Robert Peel since his restoration to power with the last acts of the Whig Administration , we shonld Bay , that if the Whigs were bold in the march of retrogression , Sir Robert Pjeel has ' not only beea timid in the march of progression ;' bnt , like a spaniel roading birds , or like a drunken < man , he has taken a circuitous route in order to ; attain even the "half-way house , " at which he hoped to arrive .

      t Seeing little , perhaps less than ever , to congra- ' tulate the country on , as regards the effect of the national will upon the House of Commons , we naturally turn to the consideration of those several elements out of doors engendered by hope , maddened by disappointment , and encouraged by a knowledge of their growing strength ; and if in Sir j Robert's present weak policy we recognize his ;

      / uture course , to the union of adverse feelings we ; muit look for the nation ' s triumph . The Wbig 3 ; defied public opinion and courted the very prejudioes of their opponents as the mainstay of their support . Sir Robert , on the other hand , —( and , we individualize him because he has effectually unnerved , emasculated , and subdued his adherents to his own will and pleasure)—would hold power and uphold authority by the simple taunt of " WHERE WILL TOU GET A BETTER i "

      Having thus explained the several elements now raging , and which erelong must be arrayed in hostile antagonism , we proceed to consider what has beea the real cause of that defection so manifest in the Conservative ranks , and whiob , more than the union of all the hostile powers arrayed against the Prime Minister , has discovered his present weakness and promises his future defeat . Having ever acknowledged the great power of the Press , and having ourselves kad no small share in the creation , the organization , and direction of the popular mind of this country , we are willing to concede to others of the same vocation all the honour of the teaching of the higher and middle classes t of society . If we

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      were to weigh our thanks to the Times newspaper by the amount of individual favour we owe that journal , they would ba . poor , scanty , and meagre , — nay , scarce worth t ' ne acceptance ; while , we are ready io admit its title to the highest national commendation for the inroads that it has made on aristocratic prejudice ; tha disclosures that it has brought to light , not only of the sufferings of the poor , but of the parties by whom those sufferings are inflicted ; the fearless denunciation of the wrong-doer , whether he be of high or low degree ; the revelations ef abuses that stain the church ; the confession of those

      which contaminate and weaken the landlords ; the repudiation of those anomalies by which the laws of the state are made to press most severely upon those whose protection should be ( heir especial care ; the manly tracing of popular violence and crime to aristocratic lust , middle class injustice , and legal partially ; the scathing exposure of magisterial iniquities ; the searching , enquiries into existing ills ; and the bold means proposed as remedies : these things pourtrayed in trite and astounding eloquence , have made the perpetrators tremble before their own truly finished portraits , and shudder as guilty men at the recollection of their own iniquities .

      'Tis true that there is a wide distinction between oub remedies , and those proposed by the Times . We demand self-government as the remedy ; and the Times hope 3 to arouse the convictions ef the rich , to the necessity of accomplishing by justice what we would achieve by law . To these causes then , even more than to our own marshalling of public indignation , we freely , frankly , and unreservedly asoribe the weakness of Sir Robert Peel ; as well as the most unaccountable change wrought , as if by magic , in the minds of parties whose motto some twelve months since was " resistance" and

      whose present policy is " concession . On the other hand we find the liberal press stoutly upholding every single abuse of which the working classes complain , and prescribing as a rsmedy for all their wrongs , the substitution of the Whig leech for the Tory physician . Intending our comment as a biography of man , snd an analysis of parties , rather than as a critical contrast of their respective merits , we abstain from casvassing their acts more

      minutely under the present bead ; but conclude with an expression of thankfulness that for the next six months our readers will be spared the infliction of Tory twaddle , and Whig Malthusian insolence . We shall now have more space to devote to the improvement of that national mind on which we rolyfor the achievement of all that man is entitled to , and without which , the sons of labour will continue dissatisfied , and the possessors of wealth will remain unprotected and insecure .

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      TO jTHE RESCUE 1 STAND FAST—STAND FIRM . The Coal Kings are giving way They have but one hope left . If baffled in that , they fall , and Labour will be triumphant [ That one hope is in their being able to obtain from districts , such ; as Wales , and Cornwall , where the strike is bat liifcle known , and less under stood , such a complement ¦ of men as will enable them to work their pits in time for the immense demand

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      which must necessarily soon set in , in anticipation of the wants of the coming winter . Hitherto they have been foiled . A little energy on the part of the Miners' leaders , a little exercise of virtue on the park of the workmen of Wales and Cornwall , and these Coal Devils will be completely and irretrievably vanquished . The Times newspaper , which affects to be par excellence the champion of the poor , has shown itself throughout this struggle singularly inconsistent with its pretensions to that title . On the occasion of the Parliamentary debates on the Factory question , any one reading the Times would have

      imagined that that paper was the devoted opponent of every oppression ; the dauntless champion of all who were oppressed . Again , in its scathing exposure of Poor Law atrocities , and the condition of the agricultaral labourers , it must be admitted that the Times has done good service to the cause of humanity . But why Us silence on the struggle , which fob nineteen weeks has now continued on the banks of the Tyne and Wear 1 Why , when acts of oppression , and a state of things rivalling all that has been exhibited in the manufacturing and agricultural districts is known to exist in Northumberland and Durham ; why has the "leading journaP' not one word

      of sympathy for the sufferers ? not one word op rebuke for theib tormentobs ? Surely there is some powerful agency at work to gaq the men , who know and feel better things , and yet who so grossly misuse the mighty power with which they are armed . No one is surprised at the part played byjthe Northumberland and Durham press , from the New castle Journal and Durham Chronicle , down to that Anti-Corn-Law-and-Complete-Suffrage-rag the Calveshead Observer . All the fellows that comprise that basejPress-gang , are , as every one know ?

      as regularly bought and sold to the Coal-Kings to wield the pen of prostitution and villainy , as were ever Venetian bravos fee'd by the still greater ruffians who employed them to bary their stilettos in the hearts of their victims . No surprise is felt at the conduct of these moral assassins ; but the pzrt performed by the writers of the Times has excited our astonishment , and convinced us of the painful truth that even such , man ; men gifted with the noblest talents , are at the mercy of wealth , and powerless to resist the intimidation of the monied

      oppressor . But while the writers of the Times have been silent , their columns have been opened to the vilest reports against the Pitmen , and in favour of the Masters : and day by day has its great circulation been employed in spreading reports intended to dishearten and destroy the men , and enable the Coal Kings to come out of the struggle they had provoked , viotors . In the Times of Wednesday we find the following paragraph , forming portion of a report from Newcastle , and dated Monday . We insert it here , that the Miners of the South , may be oa their guard against this move of the Coal Kings : —

      " , There have been various reports in circulation as to the intention of the pitmen to resume work , especially since the assizes , where several persons were convicted of riot and disturbances connected with the strike , and received the sentence of the Court ; bnt if the resolutions of the public meetings of the pitmen are to be relied on , the men seem as determined as ever to hold out The coalowners have already carried out the ejecting process to a considerable extent , but that seems to have failed

      in bringing the men to terms ; and in consequence a general meeting of the owners was held at the Coal Trade-office in this town on Saturday last , when it was determined that if the men did not resume work on or before Friday next , August 16 tb , agents would be sent into the South of England and elsewhere , where it bad been ascertained that an abundance of miners could be obtained , to engage a sufficient number to supply the whole of the collieries .

      The men seem as determined as ever to hold out . " Mark that , men of the South 1 Mark too , that " the ejecting process" has "failed ia bringing the men to terms . " Therefore a general attempt is to be made after Friday , the 16 th , to overwhelm the heroic men of the North by an army of dupes and slaves from the South . Shall this be ? Let the men of the South answer ! By the time this number of the Star is in the bands of our readers , the Northern Moloobs will have commenced operations . It appears theexpence of this villainous attempt to enslave a population of upwards of sixty thousand of human beings is to be defrayed out of a " general fund . " The attempt , it is therefore evident , is to be made on a grand scale . Equally bold must be the effort made to defeat it .

      We advise the Executive Council of the Miners to immediately summon all the lecturers and agents of the Association to be in readiness at a moment ' s notice , to start for Wales , North and South Cornwall , Shropshire , Derbyshire , and other parts where the agents of these tyrants are likely to show themselves en their nefarious mission . Lancashire ] Yorkshire , and other parts where the' Union is strong , may be left to the management of the local leaders , who will , no doubt , be found sufficiently powerful to defeat any attempt which may

      be made on those counties . Lying and bribery will be had recourse to by wholesale . The simple men of Wales and Cornwall will be told all sorts of falsehoods , and only know the reality of their miserable position when retreat will be cut off . The lecturers then should bo immediately withdrawn from those parts where their services are not much wanted to the districts we have named , where their services are indispensable . The lecturers who are at present in Wales and Cornwall are nobly doing their duty ; but they are too few for the great work they have to perform .

      We have said that Lancashire and Yorkshire may be left to themselves ; that the spirit of union ] founded upon an enlightenment of the public mind , aided by a knowledge of the causes which led to the Strike , and the brutal acts of the Coal Kings since its commencement , will be all-sufficient to protect these two counties from the damnable designs of the Northern tyrants . In proof of this , we here insert a communication received from a correspondent , whose veracity may be fully depended on ; one who has never yet led us astray in any one iota of the important information which from time to time we have received from him , relative to the Miners and their grievances : —

      The Yorkshiremes Outwitted , or the BlTEKS Bit . —The readers of the Northern Star are aware tbat for some time there has been a strike amongBtttu miners of Yorkshire , to secure in return for hard labour such a remuneration as- would provide those comforts the men areso justly entitled to ; and at the same time be enabled to follow out the apostolic injunction , " Pay every man his dua . " This , however , the coalkings are determined shall not be the case . That is ; if ther can prevent it . la order that they may carry oat their designs against their poor slaves , they spare neither pains nor expense . They have sent their emissaries through the length and breadth of the country ,

      to allure from their homes , by false representations , miners to snpersede their old servants ; and by this means they hope to be enabled to starve their slaves into compliance . On such a mission the agents of Messrs . Smithson and Co ., of Haigfa Moor Colliery , near Wakefleld , arrived ia St . Helen ' s last week ; and after some little macce lvering and baatiog about , they fell in with customers as wide awake as themselvesfifteen io number . This was a fine haul for th- York * shire agents ; or , at least , judging from what followed , we are led to believe they thought so : for the drinK went round merrily until the " shot" amonnted to £ 5 15 « . This they paid with a smileand left

      , the odd five shillings for another " sup more . " Next morning came , and with it a diminution in the number of their recruits , the fifteen having dwindled down to nine . But this did not daunt the agents . There was plenty of cash , at " Haigh Moor Colliery . " They paid ^ fil 13 s . to the St . Helen ' s Railway Company to convey their promising cargo to Manchester ; and then being in exstacies at their wonderful success , and afraid of injuring the precieus carcasses of their nine " pets , " they took places for them in the flrst-clasa carriages from Manchester to Wakefield , where having arrived , they were taken to Smithson ' s Staith , and

      shown . It having been proved beyond a doubt that they were men of the right sort , real Miners , sound both in wind and limb , the masters and agents chuckled and rubbed their hands , and said ^ " What will the Union men do now ? Mora meat , more drink , good lodgings , &o : with the fare , and one thing and another , £ 6 more w . ts gone . But all this was nothing ; here were nine able-bodied Miners , and they were worth a few " sovereigns "; for if the employers could only " break np the damnable Uaion , taey would soon get the money back . " Next morning came , and the nine St . Helen ' s Miners were to go and try their hands in the coal pita at Baigh Moor . Sj thought

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      The Isoetheen Star Saturday, August 27, 1844.

      THE ISOETHEEN STAR SATURDAY , AUGUST 27 , 1844 .

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      PROGRESS OF LABOUR'S CAUSE . LIGHT BREAKING IN ON OUR RULERS . Though the Session of Parliament just now closed , will ever be remembered as one wherein the most abject servility and mean prostration of judgment at the shrine of faction was exhibited , —standing in these particulars , in bold relief , even out of the many Sessions of corruption that have bequeathed their curses on a tax-ridden people , —

      yet , this same last Session will also be long remembered as the one wherein more just ideas of man and his social relations were first propounded by parties high in standing and influence ; wherein sentiments were first broaohedby the leaders of onegreat political party ; which , if acted on—if " carried out" to their legitimate extent , would place Labour in its rightful position , and prevent the awful devastations made on it by rampant , unrestrained , unregulated Capital .

      Thiswas particularly the case during the memorable debatos on the Factory Question : debates , memorable—not only for the truculent subserviency exhibited by the high-souled independent representatives of the people in rescinding their vote at the biding of the minister , but also for the renouncement , by Lords RusseIl , Howiok , and Palmebston , with Sir John Easthope and Mr . Charles Buller , of the horrible atrocities of the Malthusian creed , and for the assertion of the opposite principle Of PROTECTION TO LABOUR .

      Nothing so clearly indicates the growing and the pressing importance of the Labour question , than the fact just narrated ; that statesmen of influence , leaders of parties , feel themselves compelled to tHrn attention to it , and to championise those , who , on all former occasions , and in all the battles of parties , have either been left to shift for themselves , or their ? ' cause" taken iu hand , on a mere clap-trap , for the sake of the power that could be wielded to party purposes . But the condition and prospects of the labouring classes has become a question of such . difficulty and importance , that it can

      Be no longer shirked , or staved off . It is the question which becomes daily more absorbing . As the Chronicle truly remarks , " it is a question which is slowly but steadily rising and spreading over the field of practical politics , displacing or over 3 hadomng smaller matters of dispute , and menacing the existence of old party relations . The growing EPIR 1 T OF THE AGE IS A SPIRIT OF SYMPATHY WITH the great mass of the people—of real concern in the physical and moral , the social and political circumstances under which they live . This spirit has broken the strong associations of ancient Toryism , and , by allying itself with certain picturesque recollections of past times , has produced , in all its

      amiability and feebleness , the party of " Young England . " The same spirit is at work in the more robust and dangerous organization of the Chartists ; and between these extremes there is no form of political opinion which is not , either professedly or in reality , more coNNEcrED xow than FORMERLY toUh a regard for what Bentham called ' . ' the greatest happiness of the greatest number . Bui it is a circumstance indicative of an accelerated advanoe in this direotion , when the leader of one of the tvro great parties who have hitherto carried on the government of this country , takes up the question respecting the condition of the majority , with a full perception of its transcendant importance , presses it upon the attenti m oi those in power , and gives , atjthe same time , a

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      OUR FUTURE HOPE . Ouh several comments on the proceedings of the past Session during their progress through the House , render very minute references to any single measvue unnecessary ; while a panoramic view of the whole may not be considered altogether uninteresting . We have never mixed ourselves up with , or taken any part in , the mere personal squabbles on the result of which Whigs and TorieB respectively take Btock of their strength , on a balance of profit and Iosb . The only struggles to which we attach importance are those iu which unrepresented influence is brought to bear against electoral power Indeed , the position of Sir Robert Peel differs so

      entirely from that of any Prime Minister who has preceded him , that we cannot apply to it the maxim of " like case , like rule . " Sir Robert Peel has made the two great characteristics of Government , "Jorce and fraud , " so apparently palpable , that his own adherents would fain persuade themselves that they are following the bundle of carrots rather than obeying the lask of their driver ; while the Liberal section are taught to owe the absence of Mr . O'Connell and his son , together with the absence of a large number of the Irish members , as a necessary atonement to the ordinary laws of the country , than to that fraud , or rather accumulation of frauds , by which his conviction , and the absence of his party was procured . i

      Passing over , then , all those questions of mere party irritation , whether produced by the removal of Lord Ellenborough or the coercion of Queen Pomarb ; by the condition of our naval force , or the efficiency of our rural police ; equally indifferent as to tho fate of the Bishop of St . Asaph , and the Ecclesiastical brothels constituting a portion of the wealth of the Dean and Chapter of Westminster ; quite indifferent whether Mr . Peitchard was punished according to the law of nations , or according to . the caprice of a diplomatic

      experimentalist ; not caring much whether Nelson ' s monument be perfected with £ 500 extracted from English slaves or Russian serfs ; caring but little whether that Ac-woman , Lady Sale , or that sheman , Habribt Martjneau , shall receive an annuity of £ 500 a year for the destruction of the human species , and to be paid by the working classes passing over these several questions of mere party importance , we turn to the consideration of those measures from the disensssion of which we may trace the increasing strength of the unrepresented influence of the country .

      The debate and the several divisions on the Ten Hours' Bill , together with a knowledge of the growing spirit of popular power evinced in the speeches of Lord Howick , Mr . Charles Buller , and others of their class , —who have been dull in learning and slow in admitting the progress made by the popular mind ; the rejection of the Masters ' and Servants' Bill—and , though last not least , the assumed placidity and good temper of Sir James Gbaham , while compelled to pluck the master quill from the wing of the atrocious Poor Law Amendment Act : when it is borne in mind that these three

      measures , moulded to the will of the Minister , would have constituted the very basis of the constitution of this country ; and when it is remembered that one and all have been so impaired or destroyed as to leave what does remain an easy prey to a second and more vigorous assault , we may , without the charge of being thankful for small favours , congratulate the working classes on that influence which they now exercise over a House adverse to their interests , because not responsible to them . And hew the good work so well commenced is to be prosecuted to a successful issue should now be the all-absorbingconsideration .

      It is quite evident that the old system of party warfare is wholly and entirely destroyed . It is clear that the Whig party is , as was tha intention of the Chartists at the last general election , wholly annihilated ; and that , as we predicted , the battle must be henceforth between the " rich oppressor " and tha " poor oppressed " : between Capitalists , who would * ' grind the face of the poor , " and the poor themselves , whose capital is their labour . In proportion as the tenure of Toryism runs to its close , in the same , or perhaps in a greater ratio , will all the powers of the unrepresented , or the dissatisfied , be brought to bear against its sway . Our policy

      ! has been to ripen the public mind , and to prepare the public will , for the next great national contest . In furtherance of that policy , we had the option whether practical Whiggery , or the theory upon which the Whigs succeeded to power in 1832 , should b ? in the ascendant . Had we allowed ourselves to be a ' eluded by the pob' cy of " keep the Tories out , " we si'ould have for ever remained as the shuttle cook to be bandied between the two enemies , with battledores in their hands—our " friends " generally hitting us harden t to remind us of the knowledge they had of our pov > er , and the means at their disposal for our destruction , if we endeavoured to use that power againsv . their ascendancy .

      From the Whigs the people have learned to distrust ; from Pee . ^ they have learned to truBt only in themselves ; and o . * ur present objeot is to shew how the unrepresented influence of the country may be brought ^ suceessfully \ o bear against the centralized power of the ministers While we cannot approve

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      of the humiliating manner in which the landed aristocracy of the country have sunk every feeling of pride , honour , and consistency , and handed themselves over , bound neck and heels , to be disposed of by their chief as a barrier between the demands of manufacturers and their possessions , whether of property or privilege and of use , nevertheless we can draw a precedent from the practice which may be used profitably and without self-abasement ; we and mean , the combination of all the popular powers virtues , and the centralization of popular strength , in one leader , who would be thus rendered capable of contending against the centralized power of the aristocracy , centred in Sir Robert PeeI .

      In looking round for such an individual we can discover none more capable of filling the office and discharging the duties of popular leader , than Mr . Dvncohbb . For this choice we have not only the undivided approval and sanction of the opinion of the working classes of the country , but we have the further guarantee of one from whom of all living men Mr . Dumcombk would have the least reason to expect a compliment , or even justicewe meaa the Editor of the Morning Herald . From a recent number of which paper we extract the following tribute paid , though reluctantly , to the talent , the consistency , the eloquence , and the ability of the Honourable Member for Finsbury . The artiole *• which eve allude is under the head

      i " WHO 13 T ^ E LEADER V and after contrasting the pretensions of Mr . Duncombe with several others who have aspired to the post of leader , the writer proceeds thus : — " Whatever may nave been our provocation , we by no means would do Mr . Dancombe injustice . He has been beyond controversy tbe leader of toe sessioa . Quite as eloquent as any , io consistency be eclipses most of them . Take a few of the measures . The Com Law Repeal : he voted for it at first and voted for it at last ,

      not denouncing it at one time and proposing it at another . The Reform Principle : he did not invert the very meaning of the term and call advance " finality . " The Factory Question : he did not stultify himself by unfettering trade and shackling labour . The Irish Trials : true enough , be denounced them as unfairbut then , he did not shirk the dinner . No , no , we will not do him an injustice ; so far as the Whigs are concerned , " Finsbury ' s pet" is , without a competitor , Fox ' s successor . "

      So far , then , we have high authority on such matters in favour of the selection we havo made ; while we see the practical resnlt in the strength achieved by Sir Robert Peel although devoted to a very different purpose . Under these circumstances , then , it should be the every day thought aad every day work of the unrepresented people to place themselves in such a situation as to preclude the

      possibility of Whig hope , or Whig and Tory coalition . It is true that a very large majority is required to uphold a ministry repugnant to public opinion ; while it does not require a majority in the House of Commons , or even a large minority , to balance the apparent disparity between a " strong Government " and a united people . Thirty members standing together on principle , and so recommending themselves to the working classes as to ensure national

      cooperation in support of necessary measures , would be a power which no minister could by possibility resist . We freely admit that thirty vaunting , bouncing , nondescript heroes may make a great noise and do but little work ; but then they are not of the right sort ; whereas we fearlessly contend that thirty representatives , ia whom the working classes had entire confidence , could at any given moment bring a sufficient amount of national power to bear against Ministerial strength and party eubservienoy .

      It should be further borne in mind that the popular party thus elected , would , independently of its own numbers , serve as a standard under which an equal number of independent members , not similarly elected , would rally . For all these reasons then , because the povv ^ r of the ' aristocracy is centred in Sir Robert Peel ; because that power has been acquired in tho Registration Courts ; because a leader is necessary ; and because the machinery for achieving popular ascendancy is at our disposal , let

      us set about to explore the Reform mine for the people ' s share of popular ore . The Whigs and Tories have registered all their available strength ; let tho people go and do likewise . And if they cannot hope for ascendancy , lot them in the first instance achieve the balance of power , a « d ensure an equality rather than continue satisfied with a toleration to exist , while others fare sumptuously upon tbeir labour . Let our watchword be , register ! REGISTER !! REGISTER ! !! DlINCOMBE ! OUR LEADER ,

      AND THE FRUITS OF OUR LABOUR UNFETTERED , UN SHACKLED , AND UMDIMINISHED OUR EEWARD .

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      pledge tbat if they ^ neglect it , he himself will take it up at an early period . Dissatisfaction with the social and industrial progress of tbe last hundred years , on the ground that it has done so little for the working class , has been often felt and expressed before now byi philosophers and speculative writers ; but their complaints have been generally unheard or unheeded by those who have the power of acting upon legislation , and who reap the peculiar enjoyments resulting from advanced oivilization . But the attention of the wealthier portion of the community , including both the aristocracy and the middle classes , will be arrested by a speech from a man like Lord John Russell , containing such a passage as that which has called forth our remarks . We repeat it here , ] in the hope that those who have read it before will give it a second and more

      deliberate perusal" :-j" There is another topic upon which I wish to say a few words , because I think it must force itself upon our attention in some shape or other before a very long period elapses—I mean the condition of the people of England—^ hear , ihear ) . You cannot help , from day to day , and from time to time , observing the state of the people of this country—the inadequate means which the labouring people have to supply their families" with the comforts of life—( hear , hear )—with the extreme labour which in the manufacturing districts is undergone , aud with the discontent which , both in our agricultural counties and in our manufacturing districts .

      is at short intervals excited ; and I think , if we take a general view of this subject , it is impossible not to see , whether it be the fault of our Legislature or not , that the labouring classes have not advanced in comfort and welfare in proportion to the other orders of the community . If we compare the condition of this country with what it was a century ago , with what it was in lT 4 d , for instance , it ia impossible not to see that while the higher classes have advanced in luxury beyond measure—while the means available for the diffusion of comfort and tbe enjoyment of life have pro digiously increased— -that while , if we look again at the middle classes and their means of procuring comfort , of

      travelling from one place to another , the quickness with which intelligence Is conveyed , and the increase in the consumption of foreign articles of luxury , that these classes have also made a very great advance . If we look to the labouring classes—if we look to the men who either till the soil or labour in the factories—if we look to the quantity of necessaries which their wages would buy in the middle of the last century , and tbat which they can buy now—if we go into the details with which I shall not now trouble the House , but which have been exhibited in tbe Reports of tbe Commissioners sent forth , some by tbe late Government , and some by the present—I think we must be

      convinced that they have not participated in an equal degree in the advantages which civilization and improved bnowledgei have conferred upon us —( hear , hear ) . Neither , sir , can I say that they have advanced in the means of education , or in tbe general communii cation of religieus ( knowledge throughout all parts of this country . It is a subject so vast and so extensive , tbat it will require ! to bo divided into many parts , and which will necessitate a comparison of all the various counties , in order to give anything like an adequate view of this great subject . But unless tbe Government next year shall be prepared with some means of a ; comprehensive nature , by which

      I will not Bay tbat the condition of the people con at once be altered for tbe better , but by which many restrictions which are now imposed upon tbeir well being shall be removed ; I shall think it my duty to ask the House either to consent to some measure which I shall propose , or to go into Committee of tbe whole House on the state of the country —( hear , bear ) . Sir , I may say generally that I conceive there is no likelihood f improvement in : that which I see is put forth by many as if it would be an improvement of tbe condition of the labouring classes , in either alteration or a repeal of tbe existing Poor Laws . My own opinion is , that if you were to break down all the workhouses and

      give nothing but out-door relief , and give it in as much abundance as those who desire it would wish , that yon would but be increasing the difficulty—you would but be increasing the number of poor , and augmenting ihe miseries of the labouring classes —( hear , h « ar );—arid that , in fine , it is not to giving alms—it is not to state charity that we ought to look for the support of the people of England-f ( cheers)—but it is to enabling them to obtain by honest labour that which some of themselves declare to be their object , and there can be no more just objtct , d : fair day ' s wages for a fair day ' s work —( load cheers ) . During the next nession it will be necessary to revise the whole question which was raised by the Right Hon . Gentleman ( Sir R . Peel ) two years ago , as to import duties . The Bight Hon .

      Gentleman ( Sir R . Peel ) has in the present year proposed a plan as to the currency , which tends to bring back the currency to right principles , to what it was before the last war . It is right that we should now ascertain what then were the duties on articles of food and other great staple articles of consump ^ kn . I thinfr , with an improved and stable currency , those great articles of consumption should be admitted with as Bmall a duty as can well be laid upon them j and , in regard io what is due to the mitigation of burdens imposed upon the consumers of this country . I think we should likewise consider what is due to the agricultural interest of this country . I think fe should consider , with respect to many subjects , whether that unequal taxation , which now presses upon us , cannot be remedied . "

      There is food for tnought ! The truth is , at last , breaking in on the rulers of the people . The false glare ; the tinsel covering with which the sufferings of the poor have hitherto been hid from view , is being removed—torn away ; and our statesmen are invited , say forced ; to see thingu as they really are ! Who could have thought that Lord John Russell would have been the man to remove the film—to dissipate the mist , tbat prevented the " condition of the people" from being seen and known ; especially when he was oue of a ministry that sedulously denied even the existence of distresss or suffering , -and swamped all and ! every means proposed for their

      alleviation or removal ? Yet so it is . We now find this same Noble Lord engaged in the holy work of directing attention to the great want of the present i time . And it is not a narrow or contracted view of that question that the Noble Lord takes . He fearlessly points to the grossly unequal distribution of the vast amount of wealth , comfort , add luxury , created by the industry of the workers ; he boldly proclaims that the PRODUCERS DO NOT ; GET THEIR FAIR SHARE J and

      that it is the duty of the law-giver to see if means cannot be devised to secure for them " more " than present arrangements leave . Rare sentiments these , for an ex-Minister , and for one who will be Premier at the neit change I Their ennunciation in such a quarter , under such circumstances , speaks volumes as to the progress of the opinions respecting " Labour ' s wrongs and Labour's Remedies" which we have ever promulgated and enforced . They also shew that tho question itself is one that must soon be made matter of practioal solution .

      To the concluding words of this portion of Lord John Russell ' s speech , we would beg all earnest attention . " The ; currency , " saya he , " is to be restored , according to the principles that obtained prior to the war of 1793 . It is just , as this is the case , that we also j see what were the duties on Imports that then obtained . " It is so , my Lord ; and not only the duties on Imports , but all other duties and TAXEsiwiiATEVER ! Do this , my Lord ; asiimilate the ta # es to the currency , and you will have taken jthe FIRST STEP towards the practioal solution of that question of unequal distribution whose misery-and-danger-epreading effects you so justly and ; feelingly deplore ! Go on , my Lord Russell ! You havo got in at the right end . Assimilate " duties" and txxes to the restored

      currency ; and you will very soon see your way to a due regulation of all the other questions that arise out of unequal distribution ; and you will also soon produce a state of society wherein the worker shall have his share of tho increased amount of wealth he produces , with all ) due security for its enjoyment . Could the session of 1844 have ended more appropriately than by tho ennunciation of such sentiments , as those we have here put on record ! The time was well chosen by the Noble Lord . He has sent the thinkers home , with something to think on : and he will have set the mind out of the House at work , to prepare the wayjfor those measures of equitable adjustment of taxation with currency , sad of just distribution of the ' products of labour , which he has announced his intention to mature and propose .

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      - ^ - ~ ~~ -. -- - YH ¥ 1 T 0 ^ TH * 1 KN STAR . ; August 17 , 1844 .

  • Citation
    • Northern Star (1837-1852), Aug. 17, 1844, page 4, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/ns/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1276/page/4/