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Northern Star (1837-1852), 3rd February 1849, Edition 1 of 3, Page 3

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  • Departments (5)
    • fBoctrg.
    • i%t\Ht\ B9-
    • LIFE AND WRITINGS OF LOUIS BLANC.
    • Fartf tte*.
    • Efje^pattm
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      BEAUTIES OF BTROX . Secoxd Series . VThe following lines , thoug h not addressed to " Fum the Fourth , " were evidently intended to apply to that royal worthy : — " The last of the Fools and Oppressors called George '"

      BELSHAZZAIL Belshazzar ! from the banquet turn , Xor in thv sensnal fulness Ml ; Behold ! while yet before thee burn The graven words , the glowing wail . Manv a despot men miscall Crown'd and anointed from on high ; But thou , the weakest , worst of all—Is it not written , thou must die ! Go ! dash the roses from thy brow-Grey hairs but poorly wreathe with them ; Tooth ' s garlands misbecome thee now , "More than thy very diadem , "Where thou hast tarnished every gem : — Then throw the ¦ worthless bauble by , "Which , worn by thee , ev ' n slaves contemn ; And learn like better men to die !

      Oh ! early in the balance weigh'd , And ever light of word and worth , "Whose soul expired ere youth decay'd , And left thee but a mass of earth ! To see thee moves the scorner ' s mirth : But tears in Hope ' s averted eye Lament that even thou hadst birth—Unfit to govern , live , or die ! "We selected the above principally on account of its brevity , that we might have room to add the following tribute to the character and m otives of the Irish State rrisouers . The lines are extracted from the Dublin University Magazine .

      THE FALLEN . "We had hopes that rose as proudly As each sculptured marble shrine ; And our prophets spake as loudly As then * oracles aivine . Grand resolves of giant daring . Such as Titans Breathed of old , Brilliant aims their front uprearing , like a temple roofed -with . gold . Souls of fire , like columns pointing , Hame-like upwards to the skies ; Glorious hrows which God ' s anointing Consecrated altar wise . Stainless hearts , like temples olden , 2 fone but priests hath ever trod ; Hands as pure as were the golden Staves which bore the ark of God .

      Oh , they built up radiant visions , Like an iris after rain ; How all Paradise traditions Might be made to live again . Of humanity ' s sad story , How their hand should turn the page , And the ancient primal glory , Fling upon this Litter age . How with God-like aspirations , Up the souls of men would climb , Till the fall'n , enslaved nations Trod in rhythmic march sublime : Beaching heights the people knew not , Till their prophet Leaders led—Bathed in light that mortals view pot , "While the spirit life lies dead . How the pallid sons of labour ,

      They should toil and toil to raise , Till a glory , like to Tabor , Once again should meet earth's gaze How the poor , no longer keeping Count of life alone £ y groans , "With the strong cry of their weeping , Start the angels on their thrones . Ah , that vision ' s bright ideal , Must it fade and perish thus ? Must its fall alone be real , Are its ruins trod by us ?

      Ah , they dreani'd an Eldorado , Given not to mortal sight : Tet the souls that walk in shadow , Still bend forward to its light . Earnest dreamers , sooth we blame not If ye failed to reach the goal—If the glorious real came not At the stronsr prayer of your soul . By the path ye ' ve trod to duty , Blessuiffs yet to man may flow , Though the proud and stately beauty Of your structure lieth low .

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      THE COMMONWEALTH—A Monthly Iiecord of Democratic , Social , and Industrial Progress . No , I , February , London : 16 , Great Windmill-street . That the Labourer magazine has ceased to appear must by this time be generally known t <> the numerous circle of readers who were

      purchasers of that periodical . The incarcerati < ai of Mr . Ekxest Jo > "ES , and the multifarious and unceasing labours of Mr . O'CoxxoR , lctt tlie Labourer almost unedited , and at Irtigth caused its abandonment . Fortunately for the cause of Democratic Progress a succi-isor to the Labourer has started into existence , the first number of which we have the pleasure to introduce to our readers .

      The Commonwealth , in form and price , imitates its well-known predecessor , but has this advantage to recommend it , that it has some twelve pages more than the Labourer contained . ' From the publisher ' s " Address , " we loani that the " leading principles" of which ilio Commonwealth is intended to be the exponent , are : — " That Taxation without Rcj-nseutation , is Tyranny ; and therefore every adult , of sound mind and untainted by crime , ought to have a vote in the election of those "ivho impose taxes and make the laws . * * T );; it Labour is the Source of all Wealth ; and ih « se engaged in its production have the first right to share in the results of their toil . * * That the Land , Labour , SMIL and Capital of

      a country ought to be combined and applied in such a manner as to promote the well-being of ovory individual in the community . * * * 1 hat us jui essential pre-requisite to permanent h'flnc prosperity , the capabilities of our own soil ought to be fully developed . " From ibostf extracts it will be seen that democratic and social reformers , trades unionists , and the advocates generally of a fair day ' s wage for a iair day ' s work , will find this publication the monthl y representative of their views , and ad-V ' -oto of their measures . The first article in lilt- uumber before us is an elaborate and ablyvriiteu account of " The Gold Region of CaUi ' -rnia . " The subject will suffice to command tlie attention of most readers . " Pauperism and Poor Rates" is the first of an intended

      mH ^ s of articles on the " Condition of England Question . '' The valuable statistical matv . t , and the sound arguments based thereon , will give to this article a more than ordinary iau-rest in the eyes of political readers . Au . oher valuable article , entitled " Comparative Productiveness of Large and Small I " arms , " we may warmly commend to all who take an interest in Mr . O'Coxxoe's I-anjl Plan , or who look forward to the establishment of Home Colonies as one of the

      Yjvans of social redemption . A review of the involution of 1848 appropriately finds a place , ; " tile Slde ot an artic ) e on ^ 0 UIS BLAXC . / i the latter of these articles our readers may . r- « lgc for themselves , as we have extracted the Kiiieipal portion thereof into another column " * this page of the Star . From a brief but pointed article by "AConirilmtar" ( O . J . Holyoake ) , we give the fol-1 Mug extracts : —

      tjie spy axb rLornSG system . w I ^ ms for a time to destroy all hope , and to -uta man despair of political " improvement , when v ' ; . f'i fogrant iniquity flourish in high places , , vi-J ^ 'P use of thc public . But despair notp " -over is corrupt is mortal . Uirr i tcspytrials our Government came into ^ v- W V- ^ ' ^ 1110 aid of men > to obtain conlt ^ SJkdlrc ? dePed **** execrable . The go-| or ;^ f ^ ^ ^ "lrichitwouldbebou 1 id feo K ° fc ? Tv * - memb ° ° f the State L J \ i ° \ \ * W * « s handsin the blood of m tb ^ rSSS ? cant ? thc People-it did BbiKo Vs . " : 2 . ht « ome . But the ranfi will ™ +

      ^ . " -yetcame and never will come of it . P ^ t ^ Sr ^ towteTito ^ - ~~ , - » 'fwmed , oV the mL ^ i . * " ** the *«* , or . ^ —to ^ ficafjasa , !* . - ? : T ^ V "" - •" tS ^ -

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      withdraw the exciting cause—to volunteer instruction where error has to bo corrected-in fine , to prevent the evil with all possible alacrity , and by all possible means . If a state will not do this , or does not do it—it is no longer the parent of the people it is the incubus of the people , and ought to be thrown off with all convenient speed . If , on the contrary , the state shall initiate disorder—shall itself teach the lesson of rebellion in order to imbrue its hands in the blood of its children—language is inadequate to execrate it sufficiently , and the mind labours for greater ability of detesting it . Such a government dies by its own hand . The practice of employi ng spies has ever been reprehended by all who would make policy moral .

      Burke has described its revolting effects with an indignation ( which 1 am afraid he never felt after he was pensioned ) every right feeling man shares . " Under such a system , " says he , " the obnoxious people are slaves not only to the government , but they live at the mercy of every individual . They are at once the slaves of the wh * ole community , and Of every part of it , and the worst and most unmerciful men are those on whose goodness they most depend . In this situation men not only shrink from the frowns of a stern magistrate , but are obliged to fly from their very species . The seeds of destruction are sown in civil intercourse and in social habitudes . The blood of wholesome kindred is infected , the tables and beds are surrounded by snares ; all thc means given to nrnke life safe and comfortable are perverted into instruments of terror and torment . This species of universal subserviency , that make the very servant who -waits behind your chair the arbiter of your life and fortune , has such a

      tendency to degrade and debase mankind , and to deprive them of that assured and liberal state of mind which alone can make us what we ought to be , that I vow I would sooner bring myself to sentence a man to immediate death for opinions I disliked , and so get rid of the man and of his opinions at once , than to fret him with a feverish being tainted with the gaol distemper of a contagious servitude , and to keep him above ground an animated mass of putrefaction , corrupting himself and corrupting all around him . It is thus that upright men feel towards the spy system— what muse be their indignation of the plotting system , such as our government have lately identified themselves with ? How looks it in a court of law to see our judges , who vaunt the purity of their ermine , draw on the cap of condemnation with venal or blood-stained fingers . Tet it came , virtually to this when Powell , and others of his genus , were accepted as evidence for the Crown .

      When I was in Oldham , and other northern towns , in the summer , I found paragraphs creeping into the provincial press , which I foresaw were intended to be used in courts of law . I pointed out one in the Reasoner at the time , in which things were charged upon Mr . George "White , which I Believe he never said , and upon going to him and putting the case to him , I found his words had been entirely perverted . Our local magistrates , who have these things done through prejudice , should remember that nothing

      lowers the law so much as making it the handmaid of horrible malignity . Two persons were some tune ago walking on the platform of a railway station on the North Midland line waiting for the train ; one , a well-coated , selfimportant manufacturer , turned to the other , who appeared in the rougher coat of a respectable artizan , and said : " "What a truly wonderful contrivance is this electric telegraph . " " Yes , " answered Third Class , " very wonderful , but I don't exactly see its use . "

      " Xot see its use ! " replied First Ci-ass . " Why , see how it catches thieves . " " Ah ! " said Third Class , " its use is not quite perfected hi that respect yet . " " Think you so ? " inquired First Class . "In what respect could it be unproved ?" ' Why , " replied Third Class , " it cat « he 3 the thief who robs the rich- man—it would be doubly useful in mv opinion , did it enable us to catch the thief who robs the poor man . If the electric telegraph was universally employed , " added Third

      Class sarcastically , " we should find many a Manufacturer and Capitalist detected who now escapes . " First Class parted -from Third Class to meet again as Magistrate and Prisoner . Third ^ Class was our waggish friend George White , whose wit has many a . time endangered his liberty . In the provinces the Spy and Plotting System has often been sefc going , to revenge defeated pride on hungry wit . Poor Ellis , now enduring twenty-one years' transportation for an . offence -winch it seems lie never committed—can illustrate this melancholy

      truth . In Kirkdale gaol Iie 3 George White , separated from his family , who are left in necessitous circumstanees . Let Our friends who execrate the Spy and Plotting System remember George White , West , Leach , and * its other victims , who tire now White ' s prison companions . We consider the Commonwealth a very desirable publication , and we have much p leasure in recommending it to the readers of this journal , and the friends of Democratic and Social Progress generally .

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      The History of Ireland . By T . Weight . Part VI . London : J . and F . TALLIs , 100 , St . John-street . This Part contains tlie history of Ireland from the close of the reign of Henry V . to the end of the reign of Hexhy VII , embracing the reigns of the Sixth Hexry , the Fourth Edward , and the Third Riciiard . During the ( English ) " "Wars of the Roses , " Ireland appears to have been but little troubled by English interference . The English-Irish of " tlie pale , " were , generally , in favour of the House of York and , when

      defeated , the adherents to the " White Rose " usually took refuge in Dublin . In the reiga of Henri VLT ., Ireland was the focus of most of the intrigues directed against that Prince . Here the celebrated " pretenders" ( "impostors" they are commonly called ) Lambert Simxel and Perkin Warbeck , first made their appearance , and set up their claims to the sovereignty of the two countries . The facts worthy of notice throughout this period of Irish History ( nearly one hundred years ) , are exceedingly few . Of course , the Irish were , as usual , at war with each other . If ,

      for a moment , two or three tribes became united , for tlie purpose of executing gome foray at the expense of the English settlers , momentary success sufficed to set them tearing each other ' s throats , to determine which faction should monopohse the spoils of victory . In almost every page , the Historian records the lamentable fact , that English tyranny was maintained only by Irish dissension . It is impossible to feel much sympathy for a people who , instead of directing their -united strength

      against their oppressors , chose rather i . o be engaged in everlasting quarrels among themselves , accompanied by the most abominable atrocities . These pages contain almost one uninterrupted record of strife , pillage , and massacre , followed by their natural consequences—famine and pestilence . The English settlers contributed largely to these horrors , but it must be admitted that the Irish did their partin making their country a " Hell upon earth . "

      The last page of this part opens "Book III ., " in which will be written " The Age of the Reformation . " The illustration to this pail is a sp lendid steel engraving , of Henry n . presenting the Pope's Bull to the Archbishop of Cashel .

      The Plain Speaker . Edited by Thomas Cooper , Author of the " Purgatory of Suicides . " Xos . 1 and 2 . London : B . Steill , 20 , Paternoster-row . A new weekly publication , wr itten with the power and ability for which the well known editor is celebrated . Some of 3 Ir . Cooper ' s views we dissent from , but ^ xc have no inclination to be critical , when the work , as a whole , commands our good wishes , In the first number is a " Speech " which the Queen

      " ought" to have delivered at the opening of Parliament ; and a letter to Richard Cobden , M . P ., both worthy attentivg perusal . The second number contains a capital letter to " The Duke of Grafton , a descendant of one of the fifteen bastard children of King Charles the Second j" headed by the appropriate motto , " Soft words butter no parsnips . " We may state an interesting fact , that the Plain Speaker will , in future , number amongst its contributors 5 Ir . Jonathan Wooler , the talented editor of that once-popular publication , the Black Dwarf .

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      ( From the Commonwealth . ) Louis Blanc has lately occupied much of the public attention , m consequence of the part he acted as a memher of the late Provisional Government of France . The foreign correspondents of the English newspapers have zealously laboured to defame him in the eyes of the British people , and they hav « no doubt succeeded to some extent , particularly with those who imnlicitlv relv on the veracity of newspaper

      scnbblerg for their information relative to the principles and lives of public men . It is consolatory , however , to reflect that the influence of these men on society is becoming gradually more and more limited . Thc prejudices much they assume to suit the papers for which they write , being meant only for a temporary purpose , become in a short time transparent to their readers , and their self-contradictions are so flagrant and numerous , that all they say is taken with a largo reservation by such of their readers an possess the least controul over their own iudgments . Blanc

      It would be a mistake to suppose that Louis is an unpopular man even in this country , and in France he is venerated by all who wish to see a peaceable regeneration of society , whilBt he is hated with an intense hatred by the ignorant and grasping of the middle class , those who believe that the salvation of the world depends upon thc glitter of their shops and the . favourable state of their cash aecounts . In giving a sketch of the life and writings of Louis Blanc we shall endeavour to show as clearly as we can the character of his mind , and the mode in which it has impressed itself upon the age and country in which he laboured ; for not merely as a historian , or as a politician , is Louis Blanc to be viewed . He is also a profound statesman and philosopher , the whole of whose ideas are devoted to the

      emancipation of humanity , not only from the tyranny of kings , but also from the detestable thraldom of commercial competition , an insatiable tyranny which is hourly destroying its tens of thousands , body and soul , quietly , but surely and remorselessly . Those who have watched the march of events in Europe within the last twelve months must hare noticed the remarkable prominency of the working men as actors in the movements which have taken place : previous to the revolution of last February , kings , priests and soldiers were the performers , and family , or class interests , were the moving pauses . The people , chained to the car of some selfish dynasty , have been driven like dumb cattle in any direction indicated by kingly ambition , and their interests , their comfort andprosperity , were only studied as a means of giving ' stability to the thrones of kings or the tvrannic privileges of aristocracies .

      The February revolution of 1848 has , however , disclosed a new condition of things . In it the people not only manifested their power , but also made the influence of their ideas strongly felt in the political discussions that grew out of thc political changes then made . * # * The painful situation of the working people has been a subject of much consideration on the part of the benevolent , and many have sought to mitigate their sufferings by the establishment of hospitals and other institutions of a similar description ;

      experience has , however , proved , that , though these are good in their way , yet they do not meet thc evil with a view to subdue it . A few , however , mt \\ the same benevolent feelings , but with more practical wisdom , have examined into thecauses of this suffering with a view to its complete abolition , and they have discovered that this can only be done by a total , but gradual and peaceful , alteration of the whole constitution of society . This is , no doubt , ah extraordinary recommendation to hazard , and yet the circumstances of the case seem fully to warant their audacity .

      Amongst this last number is Louis Blane ; he is yet a young man , but the labour which he has bestowed on this subjeefc , proves that it has had the entire use of his tune and his faculties . Those who only know him through the newspapers know little of him ; those who write of him in the newspapers know less ; to know him he must be studied through every page of his writings , political and social ; it is there only it can be seen how completely he is devoted to the interests of the human family , and how wisely and powerfully lie has laboured to promote them . There is no falser opinion than that which holds Louis Blanc as a destructive , or a disturber of the peace and security of society . Ilis heart holds love for all ; its pity is for the people , and its indignation only for those who rely upon brute force for the conservation , not of

      order , but of a most insensate anarchy . His " Organisation of Labour" we look upon as the least important of his- works , considered by itself ; its great value lies in the powerful manner in which it exposes the evils of present . society ; its adaptation to the public mind by its size ; theclearness of its reasonings , and the force of its conclusions . ¦ ¦¦* ' * * Ilis " History of the First French Revolution , " is as yet an unfinished book ; but , as far as it has gone , its scope is much larger , and its aim higher , than any work as yet produced in relation to that extraordinary event . * * * His " History of Ten Yeave" is his great work . Great in its execution , and wonderful in the influence it has exercised on recent events . It is a complete key to the Revolution of February . It precipitated the event , and called out the actors .

      We need not inform the reader that the author is a Republican , nevertheless monarchy avid its supporters arc treated with great candour and fairness . Partisanship is kept in abeyance , and public men spoken of with re&rence only to their individual worth . At first view it may appear that the supporters of Republican ideas meet with undue favour , but when we reflect that they have always been the subjects of obloquy and reproach , an act of the commonest justice looks like an act of partiality ; whilst thc tools of kings have been so grossly nattered by the sycophants of courts , and so puffed out of all proportion to their real merit , that to speak of them in the language of truth and justice , carries with it the appearance of hostility .

      The character of Louis Philippe was , in this book , for the first time placed in its proper light . He is here viewed as a man totally without genius , but with wonderful capabilities for such government as depends on tact and cunning ; supremely avaricious , and capable of great powers of dissimulation . When this estimate of the royalty of the revolution made its appearance —' _ " Sec , " cried the king ' s flatterers , "how far party spite can carry a man . Here is the great man of his age—the Napoleon of Peace—treated as a greedy , cunning , clever trickster . " Fortunately for Louis Blanc , the events immediately preceding and following the late revolution , have proved the correctness of his estimate to the letter , and the world now pronounces for thc historian .

      The great object of the writer ' s hostility , however , is the hourgcoisic ; that is , those " citizens who , possessing implements of labour or capital , work with means of their own , and are not dependent on others , except to a certain extent . By the people he means the whole body of citizens who , not possessing capital , depend completely on others , and especially as regards the prime necessaries of life , lie shows how the capitalists have carried on a war with aristocratic power , destroying its privileges and immunities , subjecting all power to the influence and control of the chamber , and confining all electoral power to themselves , excluding the people , and contvollit i « tl \ e aristocracy , and thus , by the monopolisation of all political influence ,

      working out a policy which aims at nothing higher than a mean and selfish materialism . It would occupy more space than we can at present give , to present the history of this struggle . When we review the book in its social aspect , we shall allude more fully to this ; in the meantime we shall conclude by giving a few cabinet portraits of men who have acted ,, and are now acting , a prominent part in the politics of France , that the reader may judge , not only of the style and power of the writer , but also of his wonderful capability to correctly comprehend the character ot public men . M . GtizoT . — " Another member of this ministry was M . Guizot , a man of sour and haughty temper , steeped in pride , impassioned under an outward

      appearance of calmness . You could easily recognise the man by his noble but melancholy forehead , his drily cut lips , his cold disdainful smile , and a certain drooping of the body , the index of a troubled soul . We have since seen him in the Chambers , hisiJilious and worn features distinguishable far off from all around him . "When provoked by his adversaries he bent upon them a look of piercing scorn , and erected his head Upon his bent frame with an indescribable expression of anger and irony . His peremptory gestures , and his dogmatic tones ( he was a protestant and a professor ) gave him something of the air of one who was not to be put down ; but his firmness was all apparent ; in reality he possessed no activity of mind or vigour of will . Ine consistency even which was remarked mM . Guizot s the of

      writings had in it something of pertinacity the master who will not condescend to contradict himself before his pupils . Ho . was thought to be cruel ; perhaps he was so only in his speeches ; but promising himself , and whilst he ^^> 1 ^ ndJf 7 ™ rtlv lot his virtues be overlooked , he made a So of vces artificially put on . The versatility K poSd conduct was no secret to any one m S , and the recollection of the part he had played ^^ o f ^^ = ^ sa ^^ s ^^ s

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      his manners . Burked him out from the frivolous and greedy society m which ho moved . Add to this , that he had the art , like Casimir Perier , of ennobling mean designs , and of serving whilst appearing to reign . " ° ^ w i !?* ^ " Ko ono after all » was better calculated than ST . Thiers to lead the bouraeoitit ; his shrewd intellect ; his subtle , but good-humoured countenance ; his easy , unaffected manners ; his lively chattering , and the careless grace with which he made li ght ot his own importance when need was ; all these rendered his superiority light to be borne and all the better secured its empire . All this was of service to him amongst a class which likes loaders of easy access , and who do not stand too stifflv upon their personal merits . He had risen tvm \

      very low station , and this gave him a claim to the favour of the parucrius , who beheld in . him the legitimacy of their own fortunes . And , then , what a fecundity of expedients did he display ! What a vivacity of intellect ! What aptitude for comprehending , for explaining everything ! M . Thievs was a journalist , a man of letters , and a financier ; he would have made himself , had occasion offered , feneral of an army , and , even despite the direction is studies had taken , there was nothing lie so much envied as the career of a warrior . In the History of the French Revolution , he had affected a great knowledge of strategy ; and nothing would have so delighted him as to mount his charger , review troops , ana curry popularity amons ; the soldiers . Eloquent

      lie was not , and his small figure was strikingly to his disadvantage in the tribune ; but ho was so lucid in his exposition of affaivs ; he spoke with such a heartiness of his love for his country ; his pantomime was so expressive ; his shrill and feeble voice acquired such a plaintiveness from fatigue , that he obtained success by means of his verv defects ; by the absence of all noble appearance ' , by diffjiseness , excessive negligence , and commonplace demeanour and tone . No one better than he knew the art of assuming- mediocrity in an assembiy < His ideas vfcre manifestly turned towards the empire ; he would have the executive to be active and respected _ ; ho disdained it when scrupulous ; as for principles , he had a hair-brained ,

      and sometimes impertinent scorn for them ; for , in politics , he recognised no other divinity than force , and this he adored in its most opposite manifestations , provided always it showed no features of rigorism . He loved it equally well as a means of tyranny and as an instrument of revolt ; he had admired it in Bonaparte ; he had admired it in the impetuouB Danton ; and he -would have admired it even in Robespierre , if in Robespierre he had not found it united with austerity : for the rest , he had no consistency in liis conduct , little depth of sentiment , more restlessness than activity , more turbulence than audacity : he proved himself , at times , adequate to an emergency , and he would have ^ possessed elevation of mind , had lie

      been gifted with more elevation of heart . In many respects , M . Thiers was a Danton in miniature ; he had , nevertheless , much more probity than he was given credit for , and his enemies threw out unjust accusations against him in this respect ; but being a man of imagination , loving the arts with a childish passion , devoured by frivolous wants , capable of forgetting the affairs of state for the discovery of a bas-relief by Jean Goujon ; impetuous in his whims , eager to snatch the enjoyments of the present moment , he gave a ready handle to calumny . Though , individually , he had no rancour or malioe , as a minister he was much less averse than M . Guizot to violent measures ; it is true , that he did not , like M . Guizot , make a parade . of desjpotism ; he would gladly have terrified his enemies , without feeling . any desire to boast of their fears ; the essential thing for him being to put in operation the system of

      intimidation which M . Guziotlaid down in theory ; -forthe one panted to act , the other to appear . Sometimes , after resisting pernicjous designs in the council , M . Guuot stood up in thc tribune as their apologist , and uttered implacable words , words of that kind that stick fast in men ' s minds . It was not so with M . Thiers , who was an indefatigable comiptcr of the press , and skilful tampercr with public opinion , and the successful flatterer of that portion , of the bourgeoisie which piqued itself upon liberalism and national pride . At any rate , M . Thiers possessed neither love of humanity , nor an apprehension of its possible progress ; guessing at nothing beyond the horizon , he made little account of thc people ; he admired it only in the battle-field , where it rushes upon destruction , and thought it good for nothing , but as matter to be worked upon by those insolent speculators , > vho , under the usurped name of statesmen , parcel out amongst them the spoils of nations . "

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      'RICHARD COBDEN , THE AIODEL AGITATOR . ' Mr . Editor , — -The above heading is the thesis of an article which appeared in the Spirit of the Age newspaper of Saturday last , in which the writer assays to convince his readers that Mr Cobden is an agitator of such rare and extraordinary qualifications that the annals of popular movements cannot furnish his parallel . The writer not only quaffs his goblet of turbid laudation to the excellencies of his friend , but at the same time pours copiously the phial of his condemnation upon all agitators and agitations , save Cobden , and Corn Law Repeal '

      The one . is the model agitator , and the other is the bright oasis in the desert of political movements . That the partisans and friends of Mr . Cobden should express their admiration of that gentleman is perfectly natural and fair ; but in so doing they have no ri g ht to misrepresent the motives , deride the objects , or depreciate the means of other pioneers in the path of progress . The following extract from the letter of Ion' may be viewed as a fair sample of the wholesale condemnation heaped upon ail men and measures , not within the holy precincts of Anti-Corn Law Leaguism : —' The loud invective .-the untiring accusation—imputation which knew no justice , and mendacity which knew no truth ; and

      everlasting appeals to tVe passion ?) and a pandering to popular vanity , which made the people who tolerated it seem not worth the saving ; these were the constituent elements of old demagoguism . 1 { statements were made they were random ; if arguments were used , they were perverted , strained , or illogical—everything was sacrificed to houxicAtt ? , aud no victory was esteemed like that of a cheer . What wretched—what miserable , impotent propagandism was this ? Clap-trap was its staple , and delusion its end . And yet in too many quarters , even now , men delude themselves that this species of exhibition is patriotism , and can serve a useful end . ' Now , there is a specimen of modest diction , which

      would require some diligent searching to find its parallel . For my own part , I can saj that I have been an observer of the progress of several agitations in this country , and I think it may be affirmed of them , without at all incurring the charge of being hyperbolical , or in the slightest degree of derogating Mr . Cobden ' s real merits , that they have been as ably , as truthfully , and as disinterestedly conducted as any with which that gentleman has ever been allied . Indeed , it requires very little controversial tact or logical dexterity , to fasten upon the great champion , and the squires of the immaculate League , the greater number of the charges enume .

      rated in the above paragraph , and sought to be attached elsewhere . Talk of iovective , accusation , and denunciation ! Why every man in England knows that every epithet of opprobrium in our language has been brought into requisition by the League orators to designate tbe aristocracy of this country . Some of the choicest samples of respectable Billingsgate ever heard , have been fulminated from time to time by the satellites of ' Ion ' s' model agitator . And as regards ' random statements , ' ' perverted arguments / ' the bouncing , ' the ' clap-trap , ' and the 1 nELi / sioN , ' all the world knows that these were

      the weapons supplied from tbe League armoury , wherewith to fight its battles . Many are the starving stockingers in the Midland Counties ; many are the wretched weavers of the North , whose miserable wages were mulct on the Saturday night , toptomote that great and glorious change , that was to make England an El Dorado of peace and plenty , who , in the bitterness of their disappointment , execrate the whole tribe misnomered Free Traders , for tbe rank impositions and heartless delusions practised upon them . Notwithstanding the dogmatism , of ' Ion ' upon this point , there is a large portion of the thinking community exceedingly sceptical as to Mr . Cobden ' s consistency . His profession of Republican principles , and his repudiation in the House of Commons of the idea of man having natural rights ,

      is a paradox which I shall leave the admirers of his consistency to recencile . The people are just becoming cognizant of the fact that all the predictions of the great political oracle of the League have so far been rather reversed than fulfilled . There is yet no sign of England becoming a corn-exporting country ; there is yet no tendency to enhancement in the wages of labour ; neither is there any proof of that increased trade and cemraerce which were with such oracular confidence predicted as the consequences of triumphant Leagueism . Those who are not oblivious of these things will be rather inclined to regard Mr . Cobden ' s politic 3 l prescience as a somewhat questionable matter , as a thing the existence of which may witlt some show of reason be denied ,

      ' Ion' goes on to tell us that Mr . Cobden ' took no steps but upon the firmly paved ground facts . ' I must take exception to this assertion . That Mr . Cob-

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      den is i cautious , calculating politician no one fill deny ; nevertheless , it is obvious to those who cm take an impartial retrospect of hie public career , that even he has been sometimes wont to indulge in the vagaries of theory . Speeches ol Mr . Cobden are producible in abundance , in which he says that after the Repeal of the Corn Law ; , England would become the granary of the world , and be a corn-exporting country . How could this position be reconciled with the assertion that we should have increased commerce in the same ratio as we imported grain ? Mr . Cobden and bis omniscient co-agitators were in the habit of presenting Corn Law Repeal in three different mpecla , as circumstances required . In the first

      place , Repeal was sought in towns , where the audiences consisted of the shopkeeping and working classes , on the ground that it would increase wages and improve trade . Time has shown this to be claptrap of the firBt water . Then the light in which the cause wa « set before the agricultural clodpoles was , that it would enable the farmer to obtain better prices for his produce , and Baptist Noel argued that it would secure to the landlord a better rent . And the third position , which is significantly suggestive of the real motives of the misnomered Free-traders , was taken up in the legislature , which was that

      Re-> ea \ was requireato enable the British manufacturer by cheap production to maintain his position in the foreign markets of the world ! It always puzzled siTOple-roinded men to understand that if the high prices of our manufactures was an impediment to their disposal in the foreign market , how such impediment could be removed by enhancing the cost of production , or , in other words , by increasing the wages of labour . It requires no argument to « how that any one of these positions is contradictory ai the other two . So much for the C 0 n 8 i ? t ? nCY Of thfi 0 »» USMi »» i aoent .

      « Ion has fallen into another error when he claims moral heroism for the Leaguers . He would have us believe that the League missionaries were ever willing and anxious to engage their opponents in controversial warfare . Why there is no fact in the histoiy of political agitation more notorious than the habitual aversion of those gentlemen to discussion . It is well-known that doubts were entertained as to the value of Repeal ; and it is also well-known that whoever presumed at any of the League meetings to express his dissent from their orthodoxy , was met with contumely and reproach , and in a multitude of instances has had his temerity chastised by the Mud geons of the police , at the instigation of the oratois

      themselves . This may appear to « Ion' to be' quiet ' 1 refined' and ' polished agitation , but to the vulgar optics of common people it seems quite another thing . Before Mr . Cobden ' s time , we are as&uied that political agitation was an immense bulbte . Of course we are expected to infer that he made it a great blessing . But , soberly and seriously , what has Mr . Cobden done to warrant this whole , sale panegyric ? What boon has this neplus ultra of agitators conferred upon society ? We have yet to learn the answers . It is true that fce has , aided by a vast sum of money , much of which was risen in a somewhat questionable mode , been instrumental in effecting the repeal of the Corn Laws of 1815 !

      That he was ardent and persevering in the pursuit ot his purpose is conceded by all , but that purpose was wanting in the length , breadth , and depth , which would make it the enduring basis of an honourable and dignified political reputation . I must , with all respect for ' Ion ' s * judgment , demur to the assertion , that agitation anterior to the Cobden era was an immense bubble . The Charter and Socialist agitations have done much to arouse from torpor and inaction the national mind , and to concentrate It upon those great social and political problems which wisdom and justice must solve ere liberty or happiness can prevail . Catholic emancipation-Negro emancipation—municipal and parliamentary

      reform were so many recognitions of true principles —steps , though small , nevertheless as important in the path of progress as Corn Law Repeal or Financial Reform . And the agitations which won theBe con . cession ' , ttere characterised by leadership as sound , effort as persevering , talent as genuine , and genius as bright as the Anti-Corn Law League , in its palmiest days , could boast of . It seems rather inconsistent in the writer to denounce the loud invectives in which some agitators indulgp , while , at the same time , he is bitterly in . veighing against all agitators , save the model one . If invectives be reprehensible in others , by what immunity is it indulged in by 'Ion' ? He arrogates to Himself a censorship to which I , for one , am not

      disposed to recognise his claim . Had he adduced facts , instances , circumstances , and made them the groundwork of his conclusions , he would have acted fairly , but when he indulges his penchant for censure by a sweeping condemnation of the public conduct of all save his own protege , he does injustice to men to whose hearts the weal of humanity is near and . dear . Modes of agitation , like everything , are susceptible of reformation and improvement . Experience will show the inefficiency of some means and the necessity of devising and applying others . We must not , however , be surprised in a nation like this , writhing as it is under an accumulation of political and social wrongs , to hear occasionally the angry remonstrances of tbe bruised spirit—the bitter ebullitions of the seared heart . Such has been

      humanity in every age and clime , and such was designed to be by the inscrutable power that made the instinct to resist oppression an ineradicable portion of the nature of man . lam not tbe defender nor apologist of all that has taken place in the Chartist movement , for that is the agitation censured by implication , and I do not think that ' Ion' would like to be held accountable for all the sayings and doings of the Leaguers , notwithstanding the enthusiasm of his admiration of the model agitator . If evrors have been committed , bitter and

      indiscriminate censure will not correct them . Man may be reasoned out of his faults but cannot be bullied . The vain assumption , however , of the part of censor , and the haughty exercise of bis prerogatives , so far from tending to improve , only beget disgust . Let our wise men ,, therefore , when they deign to dispel our ignorance and give us the guidance of their experience , do so without the censorimsness of the cynic or the anogance of the pedant ; and the people will not he found wanting either in attention , respect , or reverence . London , Jan . 24 , 1849 . Junitjs .

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      SADLER'S WELLS . Shakspearc ' s King John—a . play altered as little as possible from the original text—was produced on Monday night , for the first time in London since it was brought out b y Mr . Macready at Drury-lane . Thero is great merit in Mr . Plielps's performance of King Joliii . The dialogue with Htibei-fc , in irhich he makes known that the life of Arthur ia an impediment in Jiis way , was given with much subtleness , and he was highly successful in rendering thc restless anxiety and infirmity of purpose wTiicli mark the latter part of John ' s career , Thc Constance of

      Miss Glyn was excellent ; her grief and her indignation have no lack of intensity , she seems tilled with a determination to give all her words and all her by-play their full expression , and some of her points are made with striking effect . The character of Hubert was well sustained by Mr . G . Bennett , and the celebrated scone with Prince Arthur ( very prettily acted by Miss Mnndlobort ) , received the accustomed applause . Mr . Marston ' s conception of IWconbndgewas very good . The decorations at this theatre have been executed with care , the most effective scene being the view of Swinstead Abbey . The house was crowded in every part .

      SURREY . A new drama , entitled The Bivouac of thc Hills , or the Bridal , was produced here last night . The plot is destitute of novelty . A miarrcl takes place between a private soldier and his commanding officer about the sweetheart of the former , resulting in the condemnation of the soldier , who is saved at thc moment of execution by the lady , whose heroism secures a husband and rids her country ( Switzerland ) of its French invaders by the same act . The piece which was respectably acted , especially the part filled by Mr . Emery , and well put upon the stage , was successful , and may possibly run for some weoks .

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      TO THOSB SKBKIXG EMPtOTMBXT . —The Albany fy » . t ' ? / ° | J owil $ advertisement : ¦ --" Wanted , an aWc-bouied Irishman to hold my wife ' s tongue—she and I both being unable to keen it quiet . " r IiiruDKXCE . —When hypocrisy has lost thc mask of shame she puts on painted pride , and she is then called impudence . — -flu / Ton . Queek Wonit . —Thc following curious extract is made from the Morpeth Register : — " 1711 , September 28 . —John Brown and Lather Burns , after three times calling , was married in the sraol by reason ho

      could not get liberty to come to church , and Susanna , their daughter was baptised that same ( day ) and the bride was churched that day also . " Military Wit . — A soldier one day entered a country shop , and seeing a small quantity of red herrings upon the counter , asked the shopkeeper , — " What is them ? " The shopkeeper replied , " Them ' s sodgers , sir . " " Well , " exclaimednfc son of Mars , " I shall take them up as deserters , for ther are here without leave of absence , " and with thai he walked off with the lot , to the no small surprise of the shopkeeper . TitUK !—There are many who decorate the tombs of those whom , when living , they persecuted with , envy . —Socrates .

      A Tender P . un . —A rustic recently offered lbf sale in Matlock Bath , two over-sized and corpulent ; geese , but had , contrary to usual custom , tied them fast by the necks , and seemed very anxious to sell them as a couple , and not singly . He found a purchaser on . his own terms ,-and the buyer was led to inquire the reason for the apparent " eccentricity of the vendor , when an explanation was rendered as follows : — " Whoi , sir , the poor things have been an affectionate couple on Tansley Common for the last twenty-five years , and 1 thought ' twould be a pity they sfiouid i > c separated at last /' A Good Law , and a Good IlEAaos FOR IT , —16 was one of the lavrs of Lycurgus , that no portions should be given with' young women in marriage . "When this great lawgiver was called upon to justify this enactment , he onserved , " That in the choice of

      a wife merit only should be considered ; and that the law was made to prevent young women being chosen for their riches or neglected for their poverty . " Jonathan Again . —A genuine Yankee adventurer , having heard that a new speck had been discovered on the sun ' s disc , asked it it was a " safe spec , " as he wanted to do a little trade in that quarter . A Lo . vo Shot ! - ^ A person shooting last winter on . Mount Lebanon , when near the summit , on the side of a deep declivity , put up a hare , which took * downward course , and which ho immediately shot ; but the impetus of running caused her to roll over several times . The snow stuck to the skin , and formed a ball , which increased every turn . Dragged down \> y its own weight , which kept augmenting , iC rolled to tUefoot of the mountain , and was so large and so hard , that the chasseur was obliged to call some peasants to " cut it open with their axos and spades to get puss out of her shroud . "—American l ' aver .

      Mournixo . Habits op Different Nations . —In Europe , black is generally used , because it represents darkness , which death is like unto , as it is a privation of life . China , white , becauso they hope the dead are in Heaven , thc place of purity . Egypt , yellow , representing the decaying of trees and flowers , which become , as they die away , yellow . Ethiopia , brown , denoting the colour of the earth , from whence we come , and to which we return . In , some parts of Turkey , blue , representing the sky , where they hope the dead the dead are gone ; but m other parts , purple or violet , because , being of a > mixture of black and blue , it represents , as ic were , sorrow on one side and hope on the other . Why is a blacksmith the most likely person in trado to be corrupted ? Because he is surrounded by vices and old files . THE WARRIOR , Mark ! where carnage and his conquests cease ;

      He makes a solitude and cam it—peace . ' —fr ron , War—Dr . Johnson laughed at Lord Kames" opinion that war was a good thing occasionally , as so much , valour and virtue were exhibited in it . " A fire , " said the Doctor , " might as well be considered a good thing . There arc the bravery and address of the firemen in extinguishing it—thero is much humanity exerted in saving thc lives and properties of the poor sufferers ; yet , after all this , who enn say that a fire is a good thing ? Womex of Sazaretii . —The women of Nazareth , are lovely ; I never saw so many beautiful women , and there is no aboniinablo veil over their faces . They wear their raven hair cut straight over their forehead , which , though it mars the intellectual beauty of the brow , yet gives a certain piquancy to the expression .

      Belling the Beixf . s . —The women of Poland have a watchful eye over their daughters , and make them , wear little bells on their persons , to denote whore they arc and what they are about . Female Temi'eb . —No trait of character is more valuable in a female than tlie possession of a sweet temper . Home can never be made happv wiriioub it . it is like flowers that spring up in our pathway , reviving and cheering us . Leu a man go home lit ; night , wearied and worn out with tlie toils of tho day , and how soothing is a word dictated by a good disposition . It is sunshine foiling upon his heart . He is happy , and the cares of life are forgotten .

      The SivottD and the Vex . —Th : tt was a beautiful tribute of Napoleon to the supremacy of mind oveir physical force in tho long trial . " Do you know ,. Fontanus , " lie said , " what I admire most in theworld ? it is thc powerlessness of force to found anything . There are only two _ powers in the world —the sabre and the pen—and , in the end , the former is always conquered by the latter . " Bath * . —Iu tlie year 1700 , subscription rooms were opened for prayers at the Abbey , and gaming at tho rooms . At the close of tho first day , the number of subscribers for piviyers was twelve , and for gaming sixty-seven . This circumstance occasioned tho following lines at the time : — " Thc " Church and Rooms the other dav

      Open'd their books for Prayer and Play : Tlie Priest got twelve , Hoyle ti . rtjf-tcvm ; How great the oilds for Hell ' gainst Heaven ?" Force of Hamt . —Lord Campbell , in his " Lives of the Chancellors , " says that Lord Tenter-dun , tlie celebrated judge , expired with these words on his lips— " Gentlemen of the Jury , you will now consider your verdict . " Tiik MisEH . —A Fable . — " What an unfortunate wretch am I , " complained a miser to his neighbour . ' Some one last ni tf ht lias taken away the treasure which I buried in the garden , and laid a cum-d stone in its place . " " And yet you have never used your treasure , " answered his neighbour . " Only bring yourself to believe that the stone is still your treasure , and you are none the poorer . " " If 1 am none the poorer , ' returned the miser , " is not some one else the richer ? So much tho richer . '—the thought is enough to drive mo mad . "—Lcssino . " 1 believe you . my Bov !"—" What woiild my

      poor mother think , if she knew I were here V said one officer to another , during one of the terrible charges at Waterloo . " Pool ) , man ! " said the other , " that ' s nothing to the funk my tailor would be in if he knew the chance he lias for his bill . " " What ' s tjik Pjhcb of Babies ? "— "Well , m ' m , and what are you axing for Little Johnny the day ?" asked an Irish mendicant in tho costume of a " Distressed . Mother . " '' Only sixpence , " answered tlie purveyor of sy mpathetic objects . " Och , g'Uing wid you !'' exclaimed the haggling widder , " Sura I'd get , a cripple forfourpenco . ' Tub Pooh Ma . v a . vd the Miser . — A poor man . once came to a miser , and said " I have a favour to ask , " " So have I , " said the miser ; " grant mine first , then will I comply with thine , " "Agreed . " " My request is , " said tho miser , " that you ask me for nothing . "

      Difficulties op AciiiORsnir . —There are three difficulties in authorship ; to write anything worth the publishing ; to ttnd honest men to publish it ; and to get sensible men to read it . Americas FjsastiXO . —A Kentuckian , on hearing praised tlie Rutland punch-bowl , which on the christening- of tUc young Marquis , was built so large that a small boat was actually set sailing on it , in which a boy sat down who ladled out the liquor , exclaimed — "I guess I ' ve seen a bowl that ' ud beat that to eternal smash ; for , at my brother ' s christening , thc bowl was so deep that when we young ' uns said it wavn ' t sweet enough , father sent a man down in a . diving bell to stir up the sugar at the bottom . " Ax Ixgexious Arab . —Mr . J . It . Gliddon relates in his lectures on Egyptian Archicology , reported in . the Archicoloyhal Journal of the past and present

      month , that "An Arab discovered tho northern airchannel of the Great Pyramid to be open from top to bottom , by placing a cat at the outer orifice , ana her kittens at tlie other , shutting them in with stones . The mother soon found her way down through the Pyramid , to her little family ; thus proving that this hitherto mysterious passage communicatcd with the outside . Previous to the clearing of these passages the air in the Pyramid was quite suffocating . '' Truth asd Kixdsess . —In the minds of the best of men there is , always has been , and always will be , some difference of opinion as to what is " true ; buti everybody knows and feels what is kind . " How old arc you , Sir ? " said a clerk of indictment to a convict at an assize . " I believe , sir , I ' m jwetty well as oW as I shall \> e , " lie replied . And m good truth , for he was hanged on the Monday

      fVllImumr / IOliOWlllg . Legal Humbco . —At tho late Staffordshire sessions it was formerly decided that a widow is nut a single woman , and a thief got off in consequence of such a inisdescription of the owner of stolon gooda . IIome . —How sweet a thing is love of homo . It 13 not acquired—it is a feeling that has its origin elsewhere . It is born with us , brought from another world to carry us on with joy in this . It attaches to -the humblest heart that over throbbed . —mr » mmtil ,

      Fboctrg.

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      Life And Writings Of Louis Blanc.

      LIFE AND WRITINGS OF LOUIS BLANC .

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      The Colombo Observer thus enumerates the advantages of Lord Torrington ' s rule in Ceylon : " Full dress levies , haughtiness and assumption ; the elephant kral and displays of temper ; rash and illadvised legislation , disturbances , rebellion , and bloodshed . ' ^^

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      Railway Slaughter . —Seven sheep , out of a flock which had strayed upon the Kcndal and \ Vindermere line on Thursday evening week , were killed by the mail-train from Birthwaite , or so mangled that it was found necessary to slaughter them , The accident arose from the inefficiency of the fencing . A little girl at Leebrook was choked last week by swallowing a screw . Pvom the Broker , Virginia mine , 2 , 842 pennyweights of gold have been taken out by twelve labourers in two months . The Californian Jkrald , printed on yellow paper , typical of the golden treasures in that peninsula , is announced for immediate publication .

      The New York Harbinger states that a Yankee in Boston has taken passage for California with a A ^ enture , consisting of Jive thousand bonnets ! There has been an enormous emigrant arrival in Few York during the year just brought to a close . The total number arrived is not for short of 300 , 000 . The great proportion of these have found their way to the far West .

      Fartf Tte*.

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      j February 3 , 1849 . THE NORTHERN STAR . 3

  • Citation
    • Northern Star (1837-1852), Feb. 3, 1849, page 3, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/ns/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1508/page/3/