On this page

• Text (5)

  Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.

  • 

    Untitled Article

  • 

    Untitled Article

  • 

    Untitled Article

  • 

    Untitled Article

  • 

    Untitled Article

• Transcript

  • Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.

    Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.

    Untitled Article

    • < 9 ====-=-- ——— = — -= ^ = O'BRIEN , ASHTON , MOSELEY , AND HILL . A QC 1 BTCTIE IS A SORRY TUXE . The following is the correspondence referred to ia Mr . O'Connor ' s letter , and which appeared in Mr . Spottiswoode ' s paper , the National Reformer ; edited by Mr . O'Brien : — James Mosley , Leeds , writes to say , lie has had the northern Star ' s " fiendish charges , " about his being a Government spy , and having received £ 72 for instigating the people to riot , and then informing against them , brought before the Leeds Town Council , by letter , which was read to the council in the presence of Mr . Hobson , one of his traducers , and one of the councillors then sitting , and that the subject is to come before them again in May . Meanwhile his character having grievously suffered in

    the estimation of many who Know him not , as also his Insiness , and having no funds to prosecute his traducers , being a poor man , he writes to request that we will publish the annexed letter from Mr . Win . Ashton , of Barnsley , that the public may know the teal character of his principal accuser , and may be thereby induced to suspend their judgment , till O'Connor has given him the opportunity he has hitherto , in vain , demanded , to vindicate his character . O'Connor ' s character is dear to many because he is a great man and an aristocrat Moslems character is dear to us , because he is our friend , and because , though poor , he is , what his traducers are not , an honest man and a true Chartist . Had Mosley not been a friend of ours , Ms malignant traducers would not have drawn npon their invention . But thev shall not crush

    Km , because he is poor and honest . Dr . John Taylor ¦ was sent to a premature grave . Deegan never raised his head after his character was assassinated . The best of the good—the most amiable and upright of mortalspoor John Duncan iras ' driven to madness and a torturing death . Watldus was nearly starved and brought to the brink of eternity . Macartney had an almost miraculous escape from the rmu of himself and entire family . After unheard-of sufferings , the writer of this saw his house broken up , his family dispersed , and his beloved wife driven into a consumption , by the same murderous system of calumny and persecution which destroyed the others . But , come weal , come woe , Mosley shall not be added to the list of victimSjOecause he is guilty of independence , and of being our friend . At all events , he shall not be out

    of the means of defence and retaliation while we can give it to him . Talk not to us of the interests of the Xational Reformer in a case like this . Perish 500 , 5 , 000 , 5 , 000 , 000 Reformers , if they must perish , because a deceived people will have their best , their truest friends immolated to appease a ruthless idol who traffics in the miseries lie creates . Yes , we will publish Ashton ' s letter , and let O'Connor answer it if he will . lie , at all events , cannot consistently complain of the publication . In the two following letters he has the names of the men who accuse him , and he knows where they are to be found . And when he lately published an anonymous private letter , impeaching M'Douall , did he not lay it down that it was for M'Koualis interest that the anonymous thing should be made public , in order that -M'Douall might know all

    about it , and have the opportunity to defend himself ? "Well , if publicity was good for M'Uouull , it must be good for 0 '« V . mior . ISut , unlike O'Connor , we require accusers to jiu ; their names to their accusations before we suffer them to apjiear in print . Let the man who would d—n Mosley on the strength of the Star's accusations remember , that the victim has dared the accusers to the proof , and that they have not met than . And let them read Ashton ' s letter , and remembering that the subject of it is the same man who , in August , lSi 2 , pledged himself , with his colleagues , to extend the strike with all his means , instead of redeeming his pledge , did instantly , after his dupes were committed , wheel round and denounce as traitors and tools of the Anti-Corn Law Leaguethe men

    , with whom he had pledged himself , by a resolution of the Conference , to head his constituents in extending the strike—thus placing them between the fury of the people and of the authorities , at the same time—just calling this tominu , let them then ask themselves whether Mosley ' s character and means of living should suffer by the unproved accusations of such a man . But , enough . Never again shall we mention the man ' s name , unless he gives ns fresh cause to vindicate our own or our friends' reputation . It would be an act of mercy to take the Trades' Unionists oat of his hands before he has dished the cause , as he has done that of Chartism . With a view to that end , as much as to vindicate poor Moslev , do we publish the annexed letters .

    " Barnsley , March 30 , 1845 . " Deab Moslet , —I have been waiting with very great anxiety for yesterday's Star , expecting , of course , that O'Connor and Co . would completely annihilate you- But , behold ! not a word in fulfilment of their promised dreadful revelations . What can this be owing to ? Have they not yet raked up sufficient lies and calumny to suit their malignant disposition * or have their base souls recoiled at then- own villany ? and , therefore , will they make amends for the wrong they have already done you ? I think not ; for I solemnl y believe that O'Conuor would , without pity or remorse , sacrifice thousands of our best men , rather than be stopped in his career of dictatorship and vanity . Look at the We of this man ; see the scores that he has already ruined . Still , his insatiable soul is not glutted ; he yet pants for fresh victims , —witness his attempts npon poor O'Brien and yourself ! To this man ,

    Mosley , I attribute the death of Holberry and Clayton , and the banishment of Frost and his companions , with the death of Shell , and the rest at Newport I will , in as few words as possible , give you my reasons for the above . "In 1839 , just before the breaking np of the Convention , 1 was in London . I then became acquainted with the contemplated rising in England and Wales . The Convention broke np on the Friday , and that night F , B , T -, B -, 4 c , pledged themselves to make an attempt to alter afiairs , by a rising in arms of the people . The main feature in this agreement was , that should they not be able to get the people out , they were to call a prieate meeting of each other , in London . In the event of no such meeting being required , at the expiration of four weeks , by any one of the partisans , it was then to be deemed as finally settled that the rising should take place on the 3 rd of November .

    "I left London with Bussy , and , before I parted with him , in Leeds , I learned , from his propositions to me , that he had not the soul to cany out his engagements with his confederates , and I became convinced that they would be sold . I was , at that time , afraid of being apprehended for what I afterwards suffered two years' imprisonment ; and a few days after I parted with Bussy , and went with my wife to France . The then Editor of the Star , Mr . Hill , accompanied me to Hull , during which time I communicated to him the whole affair ; at the same time I Strongly urged him to inform O'Connor of my suspicions , in order that he migbtapprise Frost of his danger . This he promised to do . On my return from France the Newport affair had occurred , and the whole of my suspicions ¦ were confirmed . I instantly waited upon O'Connor , at his residence , at Hammersmith . I asked him why he had not attempted to save Frost , npon the information he had received from Mr . HilL He denjed having heard abont the affair until it had occurred . I was not then in

    a position to say to the contrary , as I had not had any cemmunication with Mr . Hill on the subject However , on my arrival in Leeds , in February following , I waited npon Mr . Uu % at his house in Bedford-street , when he solemnly assured me , that he had communicated the whole aflair to O'Connor , four or five days after parting with me at Hull , at the Bull and Mouth Inn , in Leeds . George White went with me afterwards to Mr . Hill , npon this subject , when he again repeated Ms former solemn assurance , and added , that Mr . O'Connor started for Ireland soon afterwards , where he remained until the Sewportanairwasover . NowMosley , isitnotevident . from the above plain narration offects , that O'Connor wished Frost to be sold ! Wh y would he wish such ? you may ask . Because Frost was his rival in popularity ;

    thereiore he went to Ireland to be out of harm ' s way , whUst some of the best of men " w >« C-Old-bloodQy sacrificed . Then witness the effrontery of this modern Juggernaut , in pretending tobepoorFrosfsfrieud iSeehis boasting alwut his sacrifices and friendship for the man he bad quietly allowed to be sold , and others slaughtered . This dark deed of villany was a fiendish stroke of policy . His rival was removed , and by Ms unbounded sympathy for him , he thought he would become the demigod of popularity . Ah ! Mosley , poor Frost is well aware of O'Connor ' s villany in this afiair , hence he never acknowled ges him with aline from that land of wretchedness and woe . I can

    scarcely restrain my feelings when I come to think of this afiair—even this moment I am nearly blind with tears ; let me indulge in them . It is no shame to weep for tlje fal \ ana sufferings of such men , as Frost and his companion ^ . What would I not risk to restore them to the blessings of freedom and the happiness of domestic blissl : 1-have ; once or twice , endangered libertv , if not BfeHim-itnejr . account I would again ; but , enough of thisjletto rttarn to O'Connor . Whilst he was in London } : prenons . to the Monmouth trials , a second Conventionjassembjedi -The object of these men was to devise , if possible ; some means of saving the lives of Frost and the other brave men , in the event of their conviction . I

    was in London at the time , and regularly attended their sittings—aye , their sittings ! both at the Arundel Coffeehouse , and over in the borough of Southwark . O'Connor was elected a member of this Convention , but never once attended to his duty . The reason of this was , thosemen were sent on a hazardous enterprise . However , a deputation waited upon him , at the Tavistock Hotel , from this Convention , to receive his advice . Mr . Geach , Frost ' s son-in-law , was with him at the time . He told the deputation that , should Frost and the others be convicted , and their lives endangered , he would place himself at the head of the peopleofEngland , andhaveab y r n tosave them . Geach said that he would head the people ofWales ; and added , that he had twelve men out in Wales who could speak the Welsh language and prepare the people for the event Both of them impressed upon the deputation the necessity of the people being prepared . The deputation gave in then : report to the C invention , at their secret meeting in Southwark . I was present

    ' At this time there was assembled , in Dewsbury , a large delegate meeting , for the North of England , for the same purpose as the Convention . A messenger was despatched , per railway , from this delegate meeting to ascertain the determination of the Convention and O'Conn «~ — is messenger was sent back with word that the n were determined to have a rising to save the tuns , and thatO'Connor had solemnly pledged ead them , ana Geach the "Welsh people . In e same messenger returned , with theinfor-• e delegate meeting had come to the same and had fixed npon the 12 th January , at * night , « the time . If the Convention . ^?* fcwediatel y to return to the « d O'Connor was to be requested **

    Untitled Article

    J . -M-M . u A ! V It A J . J was all surmise . 1 had no positive knowledge of the things until the riots actually took place ; and every one who then read the Star knows the tone that was instantly taken on it . I did not know who were the agents in the plot ; ( I certainly did not then think that O'Connor had anything to do with it ; for he declared to me that he knew nothing in the world about it ;) but I knew that be they whom they might , they were villains , or madmen , or both—for it was a work of consummate folly or viU lany—and , as such , I denounced both it and them ; ond I have O'Connor's letters now by me , thanking me for the articles 1 then wrote in the Star , and entreating that I would not slacken in my vigilance .

    Sir , I have thoughtit due to my own character to make this statement . I wish it to be known that I had neither act nor part in that infamous affair ; that , as soon as I suspected it , I made my suspicions known ; and , as soon as I knew it , I denounced it . If my denunciation was Hitimed—if it came too late—the fault was not mine ; it came as soon as I had power to make it . Upon the heads of those who concocted the rile plot he all the blood and all the blame ; I wash my hands of it , for I am clear ! That poor Frost was betrayed aud sold , I verily believe , and have no more doubt than I have of my own existence . I say not by whom ; for I don't know ; and I will assert nothing of which I am not sure . Of this I am sure , that if the people have not had enough of such " leaders" as they have heretofore trusted in , I have no hope of their salvation . I am , dear sir , yours faithfully , April 21 , 1845 . Wilham Hill .

    Untitled Article

    THE DESTROYER OF FROST DISCOVERED . "A plain tale is best being plainly told . " To the Chartists of the Empire , and especially to those op Glasgow , who bid sot wait for assistance FROM ME TO MEET AND REFUTE THE Calumnies op my Traducers . My Friends , —It is not right that a public man , whose character is public property , should think solely of himself ; nor should he leave to others the performance of a task which properly belongs to himself—the defence of his character . Nomancanactupon the presumption that lie is above suspicion : because the moment that he is assailed he is suspected ; and no matter by whom or bv how few . he owes the duty

    to the public of wiping of the stigma from a character that is dear to them , I shall now presume that my twelve years' service in the democratic cause has established a love and respect for me amongst those who bdievejne sincere , honest , devoted , faithful , and trustworthy : and th . it the party to which I belong must suffer damage if I am guilty of dishonourable or treacherous practices . In Mr . O'Brien ' s paper of the 19 th of April , he publishes a letter from William Ashton , of Bamsley , to James Mosley , of Leeds ; and also a letter from the same James Mosley to O'Brien . He does more ; he fathers the contents of the said letters . I do not complain of the publication of these letters , but I do complain of the repeated necessity imposed upon me of doing the same thing

    over nndgOver again . I shall not only answer Ashton and Mosley ' s letters , but I shall also answer the comments of Mr . O'Brien himself : and when my work , —which shall now be complete , —upon this subject shall bo in the possession of the Chartist readers of the Northern Star , I trust they will preserve it—never part with it—but treasure it up as a proof of the dangers from which I have preserved them : as a faithful representation of the character of men with whom I have been compelled to act ; and as a caution as to whom they should trust in future . "When my narrative of the transactions referred to in this correspondence is placed before a discerning public , the one , the only , the unanimous feeling to which it will give rise will

    be one of unmixed astonishment , that I am alive and honoured . The reader will see that while defending myself from mere guesses and speculative charges for many years past , that I have dealt most delicately with the characters of men whom I knew to be traitors , lest the knowledge of their treachery should create injurious distrust in our ranks ; while , at the same time , I have hazarded liberty , and life itself , as well as the suspicion ofjealousy and ambition , to remove them from a position in which they might have entailed greater dangers upon our cause . I shall not only answer the letters of Ashton and Mosley , and | the remarks of O'Brien ; but [ shall also answer the letter of the Rev . TV . Hill , which appeared in the last week ' s number of the National

    Reformer . And my reply to that gentleman ' s epistle , although brief , will at once convict him of " malicious , wilful , and corrupt perjury . " In opening this business a-freah for you , I must especially direct your attention to dates , to which my revilers have unfortunately for themselves attached but slight importance . The Newport affair presents two distinct questions—the one the organisation of that physical outbreak of which it was the result ; and the other , the subsequent agreement on the means to be resorted to for saving Frost ' s life , in the event of an order for his execution being issued . I shall dispose of the question of organisation for rising in the first instance . In the 3 rd page you will find all that has come from O'Brien , AshtonMosley

    , , and Hill , on the two subjects ; and by reading the letters of Ashton and Hill you will see the foolish , and insane , but hellish attempt of the parson to apply Ashton's revelations about " secret meetings " in December , to the organisation of the outbreak which must have been decided upon in October ! New let me keep your minds directed to the first point : I mean the organisation for the rising . From Ashton ' s [ letter you will learn thaf'F , B , T , and B- — decided , after the Convention had broken up , that if no further communication took place between them within one month , that a rising should then take place on the 3 rd of November . " That there may be no mistake here , I give the paragraph from Ashton ' s letter . He says : — " In

    1 &J 9 , just before the breaking up of the Convention , I was in London . I then became acquainted with the contemplated rising in England and Wales . The Convention broke up on the Friday ; and that night F , B , T , B , Ac ., pledged themselves to make an attempt to alter affairs , by a rising in arms of the people . The main feature in this agreement was , that they were to call a private meeting of each other , in London . In the event of no such meeting being required , at the expiration of four weeks , by any one of the partisans , it was then to be deemed as finally settled that the rising should take place on the 3 rd of November . " From the time the Convention broke up , late in September until after the riots took place , I never

    saw , I never heard from " F , B , T , or B , " to whom this affair appears to have been entrusted . "B . " means Bussey ; "T . " means Taylor , and the other " B . " means Burns . Bussey returned to Yorkshire , and soon began to funk . Ashton was cognizant of his cowardice , and rested satisfied with communicating his suspicions to Mr . Hill in order that Mr . Hill might communicate to Frost the danger in which he stood ; and this done , the valiant Ashton , like a good soldier , starts with his wife for Franco , instead of communicating with Frost himself ' . thusmakingsELFpcrfcctly secure , and taking but little precaution to malce the friends for whom he felt equally secure . Hill , by his own confession , was in possession , not only of the plot , but of the danger

    sure to arise to the parties concerned , through the cowardice of one of their body : and yet this tenderhearted man who takes credit to himself for having prevented the Dewsbury rising , viaitedfor my return to Leeds to \ communicate tfte / act to mm / and now tells us thathe had no " positive proof o f the intention of the parties until after the rising took place . " Mr . Hill must just follow me a bit , with the Northern Star newspaper in his hand . In the Northern Star of the 5 th of October , 1839 , the first notice to correspondents runs thus : "Notice . —AUcommuni cations addressed personally to Mr . O ' Connor must remain unanswered , as he % vas required instantly to proceed to London , to enter into bail to receive judgment next month in the Queen ' s Bench , for thelibel for

    which he was convicted at the York assizes . Three days notice of bail is required , and the recognisance taienbefore a judge in chamber . " Keep that " notice" and its date before you ; and bear in mind hat , to appear in the Star of the 5 th , it must have ) een written , at the latest , on Thursday the 3 rd . There is also a letter from me in the Star of the 5 th , addressed from London , and bearing date Wednesday the 2 nd , tlvc latest hour at which I could have written xom thence for insertion in that week ' s Star In that letter I state my intention of going to Ireland . ? eT . Sm ? l } ° ^ J- Ster of . Previous week ( Sept . 28 th ) , to the leading articles , every one of which I wrote ; and as soon as I had written them , I started for London on Thursday morning , the 26 th of to bail

    September , give for my appearance to receive judgment in the November term . Mind , I left Leeds on the 26 th of September ; and 1 never saw nor heard from William Hill from that day until my return from Ireland on the 6 th of Novembtr AFTER THE WELSH OUTBREAK « Stfc £ ? prehension of Frost ! When I arrived in Leeds the news of the outbreak and arrest was in the office ; and in the conversation which I th en immediately had with Mr . Hill , he told me that Ashton had communicated certain matters to him . The asswtion of Mr . Hill is correct , that he mentioned to me that Ashton had desired that Frost should be put on his guard against seme of his associates , " the first timehe saw m e" after such matter had been entrusted to uim by Ashton : though he has not th « manlineas

    to say when he did so " sue" me . His manner of putting it leaves it to be inferred , that he had communicated the information in time for me to have warned Frost : while he knows , and his very manner of stating the fact proves that HE KNOWS that he never " saw" me from the 2 Gth of October to tne 6 tn ot . November , between which periods the plot was entered into , atid the explosion in Wales effected This is to me an important point ; and I will show ! by facts and dates , the utter impassibility of Mr Hill ' s having communicated Ashton ' s information to me until after the whole occurrence had taken place . Ashton says that the vmnz in arms was to take place on the 3 rd of November if no arrangement was made for a meetinc between th <> parties within a month before thaftime ? I left Leeds on the 26 th of September , orfortnight

    Untitled Article

    ¦ gsggfeg ' ' . ¦¦ ' ¦ ¦ ' '¦ '¦ . *"*! y **^ y before the plan was even concocted , and consequently before Ashton could have communicated it to Mr . Hill , or Mr . Hill to me . The Convention did not break up , I think , until Friday , the 20 th of September : indeed Ashton says the Convention broke up on the Friday ; and I left Leeds on the following Thursday . Ashton remained in London for a considerable time after the Convention broke up . I left London for Ireland , —having madethe necessary arrangements in the Court of Queen ' s Bench , —on the 4 th day of October ; and went direct from Liverpool to Dublin , where I arrived on the 6 th day of October . I returned from thence on the 2 nd of November , and arrived in Leeds on the 6 th of November , pained enough at the news of the outbreak and consequences

    at Newport . I thtn saw Hill , and trom him learned as above . Ashton could not , I repeat , by possibility , have communicated the circumstances to Hill until 1 was in Ireland ; but he did communicate in sufficient time to have enabled Hill to have warned Frost of the imminent danger in tvhich he ivas placed- ! Did he do this ? Did he take any step ? And , if he had communicated it to me , and if I took no step to save Frost , was not HE bound in honour—was not HE bound in common honesty—to have gone to Wales to have seen Frost , and to have cautioned him against the treachery of his confederates ? The immaculate parson leaves as much as he can

    to doubt as to the period at which he communicated Ashton ' s revelations to me . He says " that he did comnrumcate them the very first time he saw me . " Aye , but the " smooth man" does not tell you that he did not , and could not , communicate them to me until the thing was over ! But in the ruthless attempt to support a false witness , he does , even admitting that lie told me in time to stop it , and that I took no steps to do so ; he does , I say , without possibility of palliation , convict himself in relation to Frost , Williams , and Jones . Here ' s his conviction , written by himself , not by me . He says : " what ASHTON DID COMMUNICATE TO ME ( NOT ON THE WAY TO

    HULL , BUT AT LEEDS , IN THE OFFICE AND AT MY OWN HOUSE , BEFORE GOING TO HUU ) WAS THIS : —THAT FROST WAS , TO HIS CERTAIN KNOWLEDGE , ENGAGED UPON A DANGEROUS ENTERPRISE , AND THAT HE HAD GOOD MEANS OF KNOWING THAT HE WAS IN DANGER OF BEING SOLD BY SOME OF THOSE WITH WHOM HE WAS ASSOCIATED . " Here we have the admission of certain knowledge that " Frost was engaged in a dangerous enterprise , " and that " he was in danger of being sold by some of those with whom he was associated . " And that knowledge was possessed by a man who impudently tells us in the same letter , that if Ac had been assured that I was acting a part that would bring the people into danger , he would have exposed me in one Star it ' he never wrote in another ! During the whole month

    that I was in Ireland lie had " uncontrolledpower " over the Star . Did he give o . ne word of . notice ? Did he sound a single note of alarm ? Must he not have conjectured that if I had had previous knowledge of the occurrence I must have ( led to Ireland for the same reason that Ashton fled to In-ancc-to protect myself from danger . The field was open to him , therefore : he could have given what alarm he pleased . He might , at least , have written to Frost , or communicated personally with him . But no : his breast was cither the sole depository of a conspiracy against Frost ' s life , ov he was co-partner in the secret with me ; and , after a lapse of nearly six years , he has the folly to convict himself as the destroyer of Frostfor the mere purpose of aiding

    , Ashton in his endeavour to injure my character ! Having now disposed of the Reverend " perjurer , " I shall proceed to consider the letter of William Ashton . Ashton says , that he communicated the affair to Mr . Hill ; and , that on his "return from France after the Newport affair had occurred , and when the whole of his suspicions were confirmed ;" mind " after the affair had occurred— " and when there was the same reason for remaining away that induced him to go , he then called on me at Hammersmith ; and " 1 denied having heard about the affair till it had occurred . " After a good deal of speculative writing , Ashton tells us that at the moment of his writing he was nearly blind with tears ; and he adds , it is " no shame to weep for the fall and

    sufferings ot such men as Frost and his companions . " No , in truth ; it is anything but a shame . But , it was a great shame to have been cognizant of facts that would have saved the sufferings of Frost and his companions , if they had been communicated in time ; and a crying sin to have fled to France without having communicated one panicle of the valuable information to the parties who ivere most interested in possessing it . ' Before I dispose of this branch of my subject , I may be permitted to ask for the date of Ashton ' s departure for France . I am not so much defending myself—that I have done too frequently before—as I am convicting Hill and Ashton of lying and treason . Now to generalise a little . On my return from Ireland I was made acquainted with the whole

    machinery , both general and local , by which the affair was to have been managed . I learned that a pack of the most reckless , cowardly , and blood-thirsty scoundrels that ever lived , constituted the " Central Board , " who had so far assumed to themselves all power and control over Frost ' s person as to send a delegate post-haste from London to Bury , where he was to have attended a public dinner , to order him to proceed forthwith to Wales ; and that upon his return to London , and before his starting for Wales , he said , "I am a doomed man . " Frost consequently could not have been aware of the doings of the board of management , every one of whom , with one honourable exception , has turned traitor to our cause . As to the local management , it was entirely under the direction of Mr . Peter Bussey , as far as Yorkshire was con cerned . Mr . Bussey , and the whole Convention were in full possession of mv ouinions on the

    subject of physical outbreak . In several speeches in the Convention / denounced it . In addressing the people I cautioned them against it . Mr . Bussey , on his return to Yorkshire , found it necessary to call delegate meetings throughout the county ; and at those delegate meetings the principal injunction ivas that Feargw O ' Connor should not hear a word of what was passing ! A very wise precaution ! for if I had , I should most assuredly have cautioned the people of the dangers into which their treacherous leaders were driving them . So much at present for the concocted outbreak at Newport ; merely adding upon that subject , that I iJiEVER heard , directly or indirectly , by word , LETTER , OR SURMISE , THAT SUCK A THING WAS ABOUT to take place ; and assuring the people that if it had come to my knowledge I would have used my best and most strenuous exertions to have saved Frost and his fellow-sufferers from the treason of bad men , and the people the sore infliction of so much damage to their cause , as well as the loss of their friends .

    I now beg to refer the reader to the notice to corcorrespondents in the Star of the oth of October : and I think , considering that I had some property in Ireland ; that I had not visited that property since 1836 ; that I was about to receive judgment in the Court of Queen ' s Bench early in November ; that I owed the Messrs . Wrigley a bill , which was due on the 1 st or 2 nd of November ; that I could not make provision lor that bill , except from my property : I think that all this , added to the fact , that at about the latter end of September , Mr . O'Connell , in his

    speech at a dinner given to him at Macroom , asserted that " I dare not go back to Ireland , " and added to the further fact , that the franchise I had conferred by my own labour and expense on the constituency of the couni _ Cork had expired , and had to be renewed : I say , Tthink , that under all these circumstances , — without any possible knowledge of the Newport affair , —that my visit to my native country was neither as untimod nor as susincious as Mr . Ashton ' s trip to France , who went away with a perfect knowledge of what was to occur ! and with a clear understanding of the danger arising from secrm . '

    I shall now direct the reader ' s attention to the second branch , of my subjeot-namely , the assembling of the second Convention in London , —the object of which , Mr . Ashton says , was to devise , if possible , some means of saving the lives of Frost and his companions in the event of their conviction . To the doings of that body as a Convention , and as a secret association sitting at Southwark —( of which I never heard one single sentence in my life—that is , of the secret meetings—until I read Mr . Ashton ' s letter ) , Mr . Hill would apply the information that he received from Ashton while I was in Ireland in October , although the sittings did not taKe place until December ! It is quite true that I never did attend a

    meeting of that Convention , for two reasons : firstly , because / kneiv that many of the men who composed it had deserted Frost in the hour of need < and , secondly , because my whole time during the sittings of that Convention was taken up in attending Mr . Geach , and in begging and borrowing money wherever I could get it , to insure a fair trial for the victims . It is true that a deputation from that Convention waited upon me at the Tavistock Hotel . And it is true that I said to that deputation , that I woiUd rather risk my life than allow Frost to be hungbut it is not true that I said that " I would place myself at the head of the people of England , and have a b y r n to save them ; " but I think I mav

    now say , tiiatwniie l would not trust either the deputation or the Convention with any risk that 1 might have been prepared to run to save Frost ' s life that I would have ventured my own with greater cheerfulness than any single one of my revilers There a one fact however , which appears to have escaped the notice of the sympathisers altogethcrthe fact that Frost was W ot A ^ -aml the further fact that Sir Frederick Pollock and Mr . Kelly who were his counsel , had assured me that the points reserved in his favour must be favourabl y decided won by the judges . Mr . Ashton has not thnn-iMSS

    to sWBtte ^ J ^ offliedeputattaffiS ^ tod upon me at the Tavistock . As he has failed to do S S * ? * f n Vf 2 " The business of that deputation was threefold : first , to request money ™ u i 5 ^ " ^ Agates home ? to which tfff . ^; the second was to knew why , SLhWf * wr dele S ate > 1 had not atattended the sittings of the Convention ; the thira was to induce me to be a party to waylaying and murdering three inoffensive , unoffending P T"H ! H was the business of the deputation ; ana no doubt the delegates communicated mv reply to the Convention , which was : " Good God f what ! Commit murder ! No ! I would willingly sacrifice

    Untitled Article

    my life rather than allow Frost to be hung ; but never shall my hands be stained with the blood of three innocent men !" I must now treat this matter more generally . The efforts that I mode to save Frost , after my traducers had betrayed him and deserted him , brought me into contact with Mr . Geach , the attorney of Newport . At first I was pleased with the connection . The great interest that Mr . Geach evinced in the fate of his relative , Mr . Frost ; the . ability that he displayed , and his extreme readiness to do all that a lawyer could do in such an emergency , won en my confidence ; and I spoke of him as I thought . But I was soon most bitterly undeceived . I soon found Geach to be a man ef the very worst character , a Tory of the highest order , and a person against whom there were the most serious charges of fraud , for which he was afterwards transported for life . I soon found that he

    was despised , distrusted , and abhorred by every man in Wales who knewlum : and yet , rather than injure Frost , I was compelled to associate with him . The following was the source from whence I received some of my information : —I called in at Mr . Hetherington ' s shop Jate one night to ask him where I could borrow money , stating that though I had given Geach £ 700 already , he required £ 1200 more to begin . Hetherington said , "I am glad I have seen you . Here ' s a letter from Morgan Williams , of Wales , in which he describes Geach as the biggest thief and swindler that ever walked ; and regrets that you should have anything to do with him , or that he should have the management of Frost's affairs . " And yet this was the man with whom 1 was to associate and plot to have a " b y r n !! " How likely ! Me trust myself into such hands ! What a fool the'Barnsley "brave one" must think me !

    Mr . Geach had to leave London for Monmouth on the morning after the deputation called ; and Mr . Kelly ' s clerk had appointed that evening for me to attend at his chambers to pay the remaining half of Mi =. Kelly ' s fee , wh , ich I think was 200 guineas , he having received a cheque from Mr . Geach on the Old Brecon Bank for the other half . When I arrived , to my astonishment the clerk informed me that he had taken the precaution to forward the cheque to the bank , . and the answer was , that " they knew no such person "—that " he had no account there ; " and it was subsequently to this transaction that the

    deputation waited upon me in presence of Mr . Geach ! And is it likely , after such an exposure , that 1 should have trusted him , or his twelve men in buckram either ? I remained up the greater part of that night , endeavouring to borrow money for Mr . Kelly ' s fee , and did not succeed in procuring it until the next morning , when my good friend , Mr . Rogers , cashed a bill for me , I think for £ 200 ; and another friend cashed another for £ 100 . Now , that was the way that my timo was employed on behalf of the victim of those rascals who , not satisfied with betraying Frost , would have made me a murderer , if possible .

    I now come to the delegate who was despatched to me at Monmouth . It was Henry Ross ; and the reader shall have not only the substance , but , as nearly as possible , the words in which his commission was delivered , lie tohl me that he rejoiced that I had no connection tvitli what was < join < j on inthe North ; that Dr . Taylor and others had been actually selling commissions ; that Major Bcniowslti was to be appointed the conuuaiuler-iii-cliicf , as he was a good officer ; aiid as soon as the battle was fought and won , that then Bcniwoski , as he was a dangerous and ambitious man was to be shot . I cannot exactly say how I felt on receiving this intelligence ; but I know that I curtcd the whole gang . Before I take final leave

    of this Convention , consisting of eight individuals , of which number my well-known enemy , Mr . Lowrey , was one , I may state , upon the authority of one of their body , that during their whole sittings they never took a pen in hand , or committed a sentence to paper , in the way of minute or resolution ; that they were appointed for the mere purpose of watching the proceedings of Frost ' s trial ; that they unanimously denounced and opposed every proposition made to them to sanction an outbreak ; and their communications with Sheffield and the north , one and all went to expose the danger to which sucli proceedings Avould expose Frost and liis friends : and , in justice to them , I must state , that they received the intelligence of Dr . Taylor ' s intentions with disgust .

    Now here let the reader understand , that chiefly owing to my exertions , and the exertions of Mr . Pitkethly , the lives of Frost , Williams , and Jones were spared—that I had the assurance of the two ablest counsel in England , not only that their lives must be spared , but further , that the verdict must be altogether reversed , and their liberty granted : and , possessed as I was of this knowledge , what a service I should haye rendered them and the working classes interested in their fate had I lent my sanction to proceedings which must have ensured their destruction ! When the verdict against Frost was delivered , I had still great reliance upon the word of Sir Frederick

    Pollock and Mr . Kelly , added to the fact of two of the three judges being with us on the points reserved , lhis gave me great hopes : hopes that I was not prepared to blast by any act of rashness . But I will state what I did say to some honest Welshmen , working men , after the verdict of Guilty was delivered . I said— " Preconcerted plans always fail . While there ' s life , there ' s hope ; and before Frost shall die on the scaffold , I'll risk my own life at all events , and rely upon his countrymen that I shall not fall alone , if we fail . " And I now feel disposed to believe , —that is , if I know myself at all , —that I should have made the attempt rather than bear such an infliction as the murder of three innocent

    men . The reader must always bear in mind how Ashton states my pledge to the deputation . He says that " I told the deputation , that should Frost and the others be convicted , AND THEIR LIVES ENDANGERED , I would place myself at the head of the people of England , and have a b—— -y r-y-n ( which I presume means a bloody revolution ) to save them . " Now , admitting this to be true , —which 1 utterly deny , —what was the revolution to be for ? Was it to be for fun ; or was it to save their lives ? And why not say— " Let us have the revolution at all events ? " It would appear as if the salvation of the men was but a secondary consideration , and that the revolution was the primary object . The thing altogether is so truly farcical , that I can only compare it to the grievance of

    those gentlemen who were sold to the Government at Lancaster , at the price of their acquittal and perfect impunity . Suppose I had been foolish enough to commit myself to persons of whom I showed some distrust by not attending one of their sittings , what pledge was violated ? Ashton says , that in the event of conviction , and their lives being endangered , I resolved upon an outbreak : but , their lives being spared without the outbreak , was I still to be held to the b y r n ? Now , should I not have been in excellent company , and should I not have well deserved the confidence of the working classes , if I had preferred the sympathy for martyrdom to the preservation of thousands and tens of thousands ? Every man in England knows that I haye through life denounced secret meetings ? I never did attend a secret meeting , and I never will attend a secret meeting .

    I shall now make a passing allusion to one sentence in the comment of O'Brien . In speakin <* of Mosley and Ashton , he says : — "Inthe two following letters he has the name of the men who accuse him , and he knows where they are to be found . " I do ; and in Leeds and Barnsley , where they are both known , the mention of their names would be sufficient to render any reply from me unnecessary . I have been no party to the recent denunciation of Mosley : but I believe him to be a traitor to the cause of Chartism . / knoiv Mm to have endeavoured to entrap me and the people of Ashton-under-Lync . I know HIM TO HAVE BEEN CONCERNED IN PLOTS THAT HE SHRUNK FROM THE EXECUTION OF , while others bore the danger . As to Ashton , I know that he has been

    drummed out of the Chartist ranks at Barnsley . I know , for I heard him charged with it at a public meeting before his face , that he was paid by the Tories of Barnsley for denouncing and villifying me . I know that I went to Barnsley at his express desire to meet him before a public meeting of his townsmen , to hear any charge that he mi ght prefer against me . I know that the Town Hall was crammed to suffocation . I know that I told him I would stop there till morning , or as long as he had- a complaint to advance ; and I know that his townsmen--hissed him , hooted him , and groaned him , whenhesauZ that his complaints m « against Mr . Hill , and not against me ; and when , instead of accusing me he attempted to shuttle out of his own delinquencies . O ' but "my enemy has written : " and here it follows . _

    a voice rnoii wakefield hell . House of Correction , Wakeflelu , 15 th April , 1841 . Dear Sir , —Being permitted only once a month to have any communication with my friends , I am , as may be expected , nearly ignorant of passing events . However , I am informed that that curse of Chartism , disunion , exists to a deplorable extent . This is precisely as the enemy could desire . They know that union is strength and therefore will exult in our disunion . I have long lamented this evil , and would-most willingly sacrifice my own feelings on particular points , to obtain union in our ranks . Of this the enemy in Barusley ave perfectly aware , having dragged me out of my own house there in 1829 , under a charge of sedition , for having at a public meeting recommended union as the only means of destroying tyranny , and having at the same time proved

    the necessity of such union , and referred to history for glorious examples of Us uprooting despotism and oppression . Admiring as I do your unparalleled exertions to ameliorate the condition of the working classes , and feel-1 ing convinced that those exertions emanate from the purest and best of motives , I deeply regret that the bit-1 terness of your confinement should be augmented by the j insidious conduct of pretended friends . I must confess ' that I have not agreed with every action of your political conduct ; but I have never for one moment doubted the purity of your intentions ; and the greatest fault that I have been able to defect , has been what I then , and at this present moment consider , a too extreme debibe to conciliate men , wfto have on oK occasions evinced any . thing hut a friendly feeling towards you . I watched with painful feelings the conduct of Lovett , and the Working Men ' s Association , during the late agitation , every action

    Untitled Article

    if which exhibited a SECRET , hut persevering and { Suable enmity towards you . Whether you observed thii jr not I am unable to say . However , it made a deep im aression upon my mind ; and when I visited London ' tvlnlst the first Convention was sitting , I embraced every opportunity of satisfying myself why such feeling d 5 J ixist . I shall not refer to the many convincing p roofs [ received of their malignity towards you , and will onl > add , that after remaining in London altogether about three months , and associating during that time with a great number of as good Chartists as there arc in En . land , I was extremely g lad to find that this ungencron , and unjustifiable feeling was confined to Mr . Lovett and a few ot his immediate friends .

    The above remarks apply in part to Mr . Collins also as the whole tenor of his conduct , after the Birmingham rupture , was anything but generous or friendl y . uCj n extremely desirous , Sir , for union , I rejoiced exceedim-h in your noble and disinterested conduct on their behalf when they were committed to Warwick Castle , conclu ding in my own mind , that the exertions you made on tnat occasion would obliterate from , their minds any peH feeling of jealousy that might have biassed their bett J judgment . But , Sir , judge of my surprise , on learning through the medium of my friends that these two indi duals , backed by a few others , have most treacherous ?" concocted a plan for the ostensible purpose of Unowled ' Chartism , but for the secret purpose of removing you }] of the way of Judas O'Connell . ut

    I have been nearly ten years a prisoner under tU » an my former conviction , during which time I have sufferM every privation and hardship that the refined cruelty of man can devise : yet I solemnly declare , that with the ception of what I have felt on account of my famil y and relations , that I have experienced more regret on thi base attempt , than I have on any circumstance that ha occurred during the whole period , excepting also of course , the unfortunate Welsh affair . Peeling confident that the ingratitude of such conduct must wound , to a certain extent , feelings already harassed and oppressed by dreary confinement , ( and I know that no man lj v n can be more sensitive than yourself , on questions of honour , consistency , and independence of character , ) and having witnessed your extreme desire , by indefati gable perseverance in the most disinterested actions , to keep thttn above suspicion;—I know , Sir , that you must have frit intensely on the subject .

    I do not , Sir , write to natter . It is a mean and grovel . Hug disposition unworthy of a man ; but 1 think that it is equally mean and grovelling to withhold the sentiments of one ' s mind , because in giving utterance to them no are compelled to speak in praise . Neither do I write to have my opinions published . My only motive in writing is to express my indignation at the base conspiracy , and to assure you , Sir , that it is my firm belief few men in l ' iiigland could be found to possess such unworthy motives as Lovett and Collins appear to he actuated by . I regret such disunion occurring , not ueenuse I thinlj they possess any interest to injure you , but from a con .

    vu'tum that such divisions retard the cause \ vv nil profess to admire and advocate . The real intentions of tlio > so individuals must be manifest to all , since the old i-rotehet of moral and physical force lias been so very properl y buried in obliviou . Hence they are eompullt ' il . tor the vllccting of their sinister designs , to intrudmv sonm new subject of contention . That their princi pal object is to ruin if possible your hard-ennied reputation , awl universal popularity , I cannot for one moment doubt , neither can I imagine that they will succeed . The base attempt will recoilon their own lieiuls , or 1 am much deceived in my opinion of the Chartists of EiiL'la . i '; .

    1 rusting that what I have said will he sufficient to draw your attention to the subject , and that you will triumph over all your enemies , and live to see all your benevolent intentions towards the working classes car . vied into effect , I remain , Sir , Your uncompromising and sincere Friend aud Admirer . Wm . Ashton , To Feavgus O'Connor , Esq ., York Castle . My reply , printed in the same paper , I also publish ,

    1 have read the above letter with great pain and pleasure—pleasure , in deserving the confidence of ray old friends ; and pain for the keen aud cutting censure which it conveys . Yes , it is keen , and for this reason . The very day before poor Ashton ' s trial , he made a tenth attempt to put me on my guard against several parties who have since tried to injure me ; and , instead of thanking him , I rebuked him most severely , when he turned and said , " Well , Sir , you may live to repent . '" I have lived to repent ; but it is of my injustice to poor Ashton , to whom I cheerfully tender my contrition . —Feabgus O'Cosxoe .

    IS ow then , that letter was printed in the Northern Star of the 29 th day of May , 1841 , and addressed to me , at a time when Ashton had had a year ' s reflection after his conviction ; at a time when no new light could have reached his mind upon the subjects therein discussed : and just let the reader contrast that letter , written in April , 1841 , with the following passage in the last paragraph of his letter to Mosley , where , in speaking of his trial at York , in March , 1810 , the year previous , he writes thus : — " Could O'Connor nave heavd our bitter curses when assembled after our sentences in York Castle , he would then have learned who was the causeof our misfortunes . " Now , is it not strange that men will be such silly fools as thus to commit themselves ? Think of a man

    bitterly cursing in 1840 , and with the same knowledge of all the circumstances that led to that embittered feeling representing me , in the following year , as the victim OF INGRATITUDE , AS THE CHAMPION OF LIBERTY , AND THE HMO OF DEMOCRACY ! Having so far disposed of the livinsr , I shall say a word of the dead . In speaking of the " departed , Mr . O'Brien says— "Dr . John Taylor was sent to a premature grave ; Degan never raised his head after his character was assassinated ; the best of the good , the most amiable and upright of mortals , poor John Duncan , was driven to madness and a torturing deatli ; Watkins was nearly starved , and brought to the brink of eternity ; Macartney had almost a miraculous escape from the ruin of himself and entire family .

    After unheard-of persecutions , the writer of this saw his house broken up , his fanuly dispersed , and his beloved wile driven into a consumption by the same murderous system of calumny and persecution which destroyed the others . But come weal , come woe , Mosley shall not be added to the list of victims because he is guilty of independence . ' To this obituary Ashton adds 11011 ) 6117 , Clayton , and Shell . Now 1 am . charged with , the Munmmoi all these : let us inquire into the process by which I destroyed them . From the time I n ' rst saw Dr . Taylor , in 1836 , to the day of his death , I never ceased confernng kindnesses upon him , as is known to every man in Scotland . I sustained him against the indignation of a very moral people , infuriated against the liberties which he took with his constitution . What

    man could do to save that constitution , I did : but it was irrevocably gone . Continuous disregard of health was manifest in his every act . About the time of the Bradford rising , Dr . Taylor came to me at Leeds , and told me that Frost had been sold by Bussey ; that it was decided in Yorkshire , before the outbreak at Newport , that the affair should be postponed until Christmas eve . " This of course was to gain some little time for the Yorkshire hero of the fight , lie told me also , " that the answer was , that the Welsh people would not wait ; and that he knew d- —d well it would be a failure . That he was now going to do the whole thing himself . He was going to Newcastle first ; " and he asked me " ifl thought he could sufficiently trust Lowery to put him in possession

    of the town aud barracks . Ue was then going to Carlisle to put James Arthur in possession of that town and barracks . He would get Arthur to recommend him a man to put in possession of Durham Castle ; and he would put John Duncan in command of the town and castle of Edinburgh . " lie also told me " that he had purchased a ship at Ayr , the Black Joke , ' andselected a crew of men , who had been with him in Greece , and who belonged to a Republican Association ; and that he should put to sea , intercept the vessel in which Frost was to be transported , and bring him into Ayr . " Well , I tliought that that was pretty good work for one man : and my answer was , "Taylor , 1 always thought you mad , but I ' m sure of it now ;" and it ended in his laughing most lustily , anil asking me for £ 10 to take him home , which £ 10 I gave him . Now observe , this was in January , 1840 . In

    the following month the Assizes of York were to commence ; and Dr . Taylor was brought to me to Yprk by Wylde of Hull , not being able to stand alone . He and Wylde came to my hotel . I was shocked when I saw him , and said , " Good God , Taylor , what ' s the matter ? " "Why , " saidhe , " my heart is 'broken . " " How , " I replied ; " have you been at your old tricks ? " " No , no—damn it—that would never kill me ; but that villain—[ who . does the readerthink)—hasTnwvderedme . " Who ? why , noother than William Ashton , of Barnsley ! Taylor took the Star of the 29 th of February from his pocket , and lying on the sofa with tears in his eyes , read the following extract from a letter of Mr . William Ashton observing , " I wouldn't care what the villain wrote or said of me , but to make poor Mary Ann —as innocent and virtuous a girl as ever lived—the victim of his malice was damnable . " . From that hour Dr . Taylor was never the same-man . Tlie following is the extract from Ashton ' s letter which Dr Taylor read : — U ¦ l . \ < . * . . " . ' .. - .

    Murder will out , but the tiny has hot yet come . ' I cannot , however , refrain from slightly alluding to ' q fje of those gentlemen who cut a conspic ' ubus ^ g ' uTe at the late Manchester delegate meeting , liy GSd '< Wv iSMkffl of this fellow surpasses anything I ' cpni ' d liave imagined-Does he suppose that there are n qne ^ i « Bn ^ ari ' a \ o b <» r witness against him , and his accomplices ? ' . Does . h « imagine that the memorial to her Majesty with . 20 ^ 000 signatures has been overlooked ? Does hd forget his promise , and his childish and criminal ( not carnal ) dalliance with Wary Ann for five weeks ? If he do , let him think of THE RESULT , and take this caution , and re tire from advocating a cause that has received much injury from his base treachery . If he take this advice he nmJ maintain his character ; if not , he shall hear from mp >" plainer terms .

    Sometime after that , Dr . Taylor made a tour in the north , and lived for three weeks or a month with James Arthur , of Carlisle : and while there he held meetings denouncing me , and telling the people that if he could get seven men to keep a secret he wouW ( Continued in our seventh page . )

    Untitled Article

    " O'Bbies , what infernal traitors ! I never knew what the cowardly swindler sneaked off to Ireland for , —Ashton explains it ; and this , also , he explains , why a certain tool of the arch-traitor ' s was ordered to hire post-chaises to stop a movement in the West Riding of Yorkshire , which he liimself declared , only the night before , to a secret Jiieethig , could be carried out successfully . , without any trouble and jvith little risk ; he also explains why Bussy , on oue occasion , forbade a number of delegates from informing O'Connor , or any of the . ?( ar-oflice crew , of anything which transpired at that meeting . "Yours sincerely , in the cause cf truth , justice , and liberty , " James Moslev . "

    Untitled Article

    fulfil his promise . He was at this time in Monmouth . He had , the same day , sent an order upon John Cleave for £ 25 , to assist the Convention in any measure the ; might adopt A member of the Convention , who lives in London , was immediately despatched for O'Connor . The leading men in London were apprised of the intended rising , with O'Connor ' s and ( reach ' s promise , and they were requested to adopt some means of occupying the attention of Government Hence the meeting at the TradssMmU , Bethnal-green , and the rush npon that meeting by the armed police force , and the apprehension of a number of then . At this time the members of tke Convention had returned to the country to bring the people out I had done the same , having received a request

    from the delegate meeting to that effect . In Sheffield , on my way to Barnsley , 1 attended the secret meeting there , at the house of poor D— . This was on the night of the Uth . Poor Holbeny gave me * * * * for the next night ' s work . They all spoke in high hope and confidence of the result , expecting a wonderful rising , on account of O'Connor ' s promise . It was expected that the Star would appear next day printed in letters of blood . But , lo , and behold ! it appeared with a denunciation of the whole plan ! This struck dismay into tens of thousands ; the whole affair was blown to atoms by thatcursed paper . The same night Holberry and the rest were apprehended ; and the nest week O'Connor himself appeared in the Star denouncing bis confiding dupes !

    "Now , Mosley , who do you thins was the principal cause of Holberry ' s imprisonment and death ? Was it not O'Connor . by stimulating aTiang . anapronnsing toheaditi Did not these men and myself place confidence in him ? and bad we not all cause to curse our credulity ? Did he not basely betray and denounce us ! Could O'Connor have heard our bitter curses , when assembled , after our sentences , in Tork Castle , be would then hare learned who was the cause of our misfortunes . But it's over . Some have sunk into their graves , others are still in earthly miseries , and O'Connor is deemed , by thousands of his dupes , apafriof . He has still the power of making fresh victims ; he thirsts for the destruction of O'Brien , because be has the means of unmasking this modern Juggernaut by his paper . Down O'Brien must come , or , like Othello , O'Connor ' s occupation is gone .

    " As to yourself , I tlunk both O'Connor and Hobson are in a fix . This is wonderful , for the devil himself cannot devise more base means than them to accomplish any infernal scheme they desire . "I am tired , at present , thinking about them , therefore 1 defer to another opportunity any further remarks . " I am , most sincerely yours , < fcc , " To ilr . James Jlosley . " Wm . Ashton . "

    Untitled Article

    THE REV . WILLIAM HILL'S LETTER . ASUTOS ' S HEVEDiTMSS . Sib , —Thanks be to God , I am again able to resume my pen . I have been " at death ' s door" since I last wrote you , and I am still very weak ; but Providence has removed apparent danger for the present and permitted me again to hope that I may perform some uses to society . I find , in your present week ' s Aotioiurt -Reformer , a letter from William Ashton , of Barnsley , to James Mosley , of Leeds , in which my name is so introduced as to make it iucumbent on me to follow it with a few observations .

    I have long and often , from a mistaken love of peace and fear of injuring "the cause , " permitted myself to be quietly made the scape-goat for other men ' s sins . I intend to pursue this policy no longer . So long as my name does come before the public at all , I shaR , whenever and wherever I see it necessary , give , or seek to give , such explanations as may cause the exact truth to be known , and leave " every tub to stand on its own bottom ? ' I seek no more credit than is due to me ; and I flunk I have suffered enough . I shall , in this matter , be as brief as possible , and confine myself solely to what is personal tome .

    The revelations contained in Ashton ' s letter about the secret meetings in London and the intended risings talked of and promised by the mouthers , do not surprise me . They are not new to me , in outline : but they are new to me in their details . I learn now , for the first time ^ the extent to which the plot had been apparently organised , and tbe particular part taken in it by the persons whom he names . With one exception—or rather with one matter of explanation—I can fully confirm Ashton's statement , so far as I am concerned in it . Ashton says that he communicated to me "the whole afiair . " Now , if by this he means all the details contained in this letter of his to Mosley , he mistakes . I was ignorant of those details till now .

    What Ashton did communicate to me ( not on the way to Hull , but at Leeds , in the office and at my own house , before going to Hull , ) was this : —that Frost was , to his certain knowledge , engaged npon a dangerous enterprise ; aud that be had good means of knowing that he was in danger of being sold by some of those with whom he was associated . He mentioned no name to me but that of Frost ; but he saia that O'Connor knew all about it , ana would perfectly understand it if I named it to him ; ana he implored me to urge upon O'Connor to see to Frost without loss of time and put him on his guard , for that , if this were not done , he was certainly a lost man . I promised to state to O'Connor aR that he said to me ; and I did so the very first time I saw him .

    You wiR see , sir , that this explanation detracts nothing from tbe value of Ashton ' s statement ; ( his statementso far as I have the means of knowing—is substantially true ) , but it precludes misunderstanding , as regards myself . I have always held the doctrine , and I hold it stiR , that tbe people have aright , when moral means fail , to oppose physical resistance to oppression . But I also hold that it should be regarded simply ana only as a dernier resort—and that it should never be had recourse to without due preparation and a reasonable prospect of success . The man , sir , who would bring an undisciplined , unarmed , and altogether unprepared , starving people into collision with the systematically trained and well armed forces of the Government—or who , for any personal gratification , whether of vanity , avarice , or any other passion ,

    would excite and encourage them , under such circumstances , to rush npon these forces of their own accord , is either a maniac or a viRain ; generaRy the latter : and , mostly , you wRl find Mm to be as great a coward as a villain ; taking care of his own carcase while the victims of bis treachery pay the penalty of his transgression . For such a man , sir , no epithet is too base ; no hatred too intense ; no loathing too cordial . He is a devil , fit for no society but that of HeR . And next to such a wretcbas this , would be the man " who , knowing that the people were being , by others , thus "led" to their destruction , should hesitate—the means being in his power—to warn them at once , and to denounce their "leaders . " Now , sir , I knew perfectly , in 1839 , that the people were not able to cany out a physical revolution ; I knew that the Government was amply prepared to put any attempt of

    that kind effectnaR y down ; and I should have despised myself for a wretch , if I could have Known that such a thing was actually brewing and not have told the people that they were going to destruction . I knew , sir , not one syllable about all these secret meetings , and aR this plotting among the then "leaders of the movement , " of which Ashton speaks . However far Mr . O'Connor may have been implicated in these matters , he was in any case , too wise to entrust me with , his dangerous secrets : be Knew me too welL To toe he always told a very different story ; H-otessing his entire conviction , not only that the people were utterly unprepared for any physical outbreak , but that no such thing was needed , as our object could be much better and more safely effected without it . Whatever professions of a contrary character Mr . O'Connor may or may not have nude to other parties and in other places , I know nothing of them . In the office and in his

    private communications with me , he always appeared cordially to accord with my opinion that the people ought to be instructed that they had a right to possess arms , that it ivas their duty to have them , and that they had & right , in case of extreme necessity , to use them in their own defence ; but that , in the condition they were then in , to incite them to aggressive violence would be to seal the destruction of the movement , and give a death-blow , for at least a long period , to every hope of good . Such was his doctrine to me ; what it might be elsewhere , amongst the people and the "leaders , " they who consorted -with him best can teH ; I know nothing of it . But I know this ; that if I bad been assured that he was then acting such a part as is described in Asbton's letter , I would have taken care that one number , at least , of the Northern Star thouldhave denounced bun as a viRain and as the people ' s worst enemy , though I might never have bad the chance of doing it in another .

    I know that I got , very undeservedly , much ill-wiR among the Chartists of Dewsbury and other places , about the time that Ashton speaks of : so much so , that my life was threatened by them more than once . And , if things were as Ashton states , I am not much surprised that the poor " lads , " knowing O'Connor to be cognisant of ( and , indeed , active in ) all these proceedings , and supposing me to be also cognisant of them , all through , should have been furious at the idea of my permitting tbe tiling to be wrought up to a fatal head without warning them , and then coming out with a sweeping denunciation of the

    whole matter , when my denunciation was too late to serve them . If this statement of Asbton ' s be true ( and I know some of it to be true ) , I can then account clearly to myself for many things which at that time seemed to me inexplicable , and which gaveme no little share of annoyance and vexation . God help the poor people , who have such "friends" and "leaders" as have figured prominently in tbe " movement" which has been cursed with the name of Chartism ! They have dragged "their party ! " through the mire and filth and muck at such a rate as was never before seen in this world ; until they have actually stifled it to death in its own stink .

    It is true , sir , that my own observation of passing circumstances sometimes raised suspicions in my mind that aR was not right ; that there was something brewing somewhere ; and I again and again named those suspicions in the ; Star : I again and again warned the people against secret meetings and against spies and traitors that I suspected were among them . I could only do this in general terms ; for I had no knovikdge on the matter ; it

    Untitled Article

    « THE NORTHERN STAR _ May ** 184 * -

• Citation
  • Northern Star (1837-1852), May 3, 1845, page 6, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/ns/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1313/page/6/