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    ' ^ dressing the Emir , Bonaparte took care to comment on rf . fiitlilessness of the Orleans government , thus inviting attention t 0 his own magnanimity . He will hardl y succeed in imposing upoa the most credulous . He is too unfeeling , crafty , and calculating to have been induced to this act . by any sentiment of < rC iieros ° ity , or zealous regard for fee honour of Trance . In arriving 3 the conclusion to break the bonds of the captive , he , doubtless * tlie eciat on su ch _ ^ dressing the Emir , Bonaparte took care to comm

    had in ^ atten < Jant u P an act , and the popularity to be thereby acquired . But , knowing his character , it is neither unreasonable nor uncharitable to conclude that he may jjave been mainly guided by darker motives . Broussa in the £ tates of the Sultan , is indicated as the place of Abd-el-Kader ' s future abodi—so that his freedom is to be but of a very qualified order . Something like that of Kossuth at Kutayah . Of course Xiirkev will be held responsible for his safe keeping ; and should

    . ^ d-el-Kadeb . imitate—at a humble distance—the broken faith ffitli which the very name of Bonaparte has become synonymous , Turkey will be made to suffer . At least , such an event as the flight of Abd-el-Kader from Broussa to the haunts of his old renown would , doubtless , be seized upon , as a pretext to renew French aggression upon Jhe East . That might bring about a more important quarrel ; for England could not permit the transf ormation of the Mediterranean into a French lake or the

    establishment of a Franco-Syrian , or a Franco-Egyptian Empire . Any such design on the part of " the Emperor of the French "/ would mean war between him and England ; and then , if not before , tfould be made the attempt to . " efface Waterloo" by the sack of London . Some such ideas have in all probability , mainly influenced Bonaparte to release Abd-el-Kader from French custody . ¦

    Himself the very incarnation of perfidy , Bonaparte enacted an oath from Abd-el-Kader , that he would never attempt to trouble Trench rule in Africa . How can the great oath-breaker expect an oath to bind a Captive enemy ? It may be that the Arab chief will regard the cause of his country as hopeless , and , in accordance with the fatalism of his creed , will devote his declining years to religious resignation . It may be , on . the other hand , that his countrymen will summon him again to the field of combat , and that he will regard that summons as the manifestation of " the will

    of God , " thereby releasing him from his engagement . If the latter should come to pass , the world will again hear tell of the wondrous deeds of " the son of Mahiddi , " waving the banner of the Prophet at the head of his mounted warriors . Be his future what it may , mankind will not forget his past ; and generations yet unborn , will pay homage to the patriotism , heroism , [ and chivalric virtues o f glorious Abd-el-Kader !

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    IRELAND AND THE FRENCH EMPIRE . The part taken by the Catholic priesthood in France in the events that have succeded the coup d ' etat —their guilty complicity in the monstrous crimes of Louis Bonaparte , and their blasphemous laudation of that personification of unqualified rascality , is one that is little likely to elevate them or their creed in the eyes of Europe and of the future . But it would appear that there are those who think that the

    clerical supporters of the bandit Bonaparte are not only to be excused but worthy to be admired and imitated . The Tablet , the organ of Irish Catholicism , expresses great joy at the prospect of a speedy restoration of the hereditary Empire in the person of Louis Bonaparte , and says that the heart of every Irish peasant bounds when he hears of the coming Empire , and that his eye glistens at the mention of Louis Napoleon ' s name . " And when the Vicar of Christ—if this too , as it seems

    probable , is to happen—shall place the imperial crown upon the brow of the third Napoleon and give him the benediction of the Church , it will bring joy , and exultation , aud hope , to the downtrodden peasant of tins land . " Does this vile laudator of tyranny really expre&s the wishes and hopes of the Irish people , when he thus represents them to be such base and grovelling wretches that they are ready to acclaim the triumphant criminal , and live in joyful anticipation of the day when their country and

    themselves shall have an opportunity of becoming subject to his rule ? If so , there is bat small hope of the regeneration of Ireland , there is indeed but a poor prospect of the blood of her devoted patriots bearing fruit , and the gallant men who have sought to make Ireland republican and free , will have to pass their lives in exile—an exile rendered doublv bitter bv the conviction that the people for

    whom they have fought and suffered are utterly unworthy of their devotion . The spirit of freedom , which is the only guarantee of a nation ' s liberty , must be entirely wanting in a people which is prepared to greet with a shout of joy the triumph of the greatest criminal of modern times—to exult when a neighbouring nation is betrayed and subjected to the iron rod of the oppressor—even to triumph in the thought of themselves becoming the

    bandit ' s slaves ! And if such be the character of the Irish people , it is not the less shameful for the Roman Catholic clergy , who have constituted themselves their teachers , than for them . What has Louis Bosaiurte done to earn the gratitude of the Irish peasantry ? Can the enslavement of Italy and France , the wholesale slaughters

    that have been committed , and the sufferings of the thousands that have been cast into prison or driven into exile , constitute a sufficient title to such gratitude ? Assuredly no . A crime against one nation is a crime against all the nations , and the enslavement of France is but the riveting of Irishmen ' s chains . If Louis Bonaparte 13 popular with the Irish peasantry , it is not because his crimes endear him to Irish hearts , but because the Catholic

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    priesthood have understood the compac ^^~ 7 ^~ ~ [ orce and fraud-between the Elvsee and Rome-toml old each other upon the necks of the pros ,: , " ^ have laboured to , make their ignorant and degraded dupes pro-Bonapartist , so that they also may gain by th ^ fall of S > Rumours are afloat that the Irish priesthood have not onlv been crying up Bonaparte in their pulpits and their press , but that theii emisaries have even been plotting with the French government at Paris . The tone of their organs would amply justify the Zr S - \ beingthe CaSe ' ^ * " continually „ openly expressed their wishes and hopes that the comin * winter Bo ™/ 116 SackoftheBritis ^^ op oHs by the armies of ____

    Ifitbereally so ; lf there be truth in the assertion that the Homan Catholic priesthood is nothing more than a vast conspiracy against the freedom and intelligence of the human racea conspiracy whose members are destitute of faith and of conscience , and who never hesitate to sacrifice every sentiment of nationality and patriotism to the interests of their order aud the progress of their reason-crushing system / it is time that their mask

    were torn off , their entire bodv dennnnrvvi oo fi ___ _* _ . werer-om ott , their entire body denounced as the greatest of criminals -as the hateful and eternal enemies of humanity . Proof of the Irish priests' guilt may surel y be obtained if this Gathohc-Bonapartist conspiracy has as yet assumed a definite form . fit has , the traitors should at once be seized , their conspiracy broken aud *

    up , they themselves punished with a severity com , mensurate with the enormity of their crime . At the least , their own language has been such as to suffer none to doubt their mora I guilt , and consequentl y no idle taik about " religious liberty " should screen them from the punishment they merit . ! *

    The people of great Britain and the real thinking men of Irel and may do well to take no heed of the priestly cry about ' , religious intolerance" and " persecution . " For us , Religious Liberty means the right of all men to have free growth foritheir intelligence and freedom to worship their God as that intelligence shall dictate ¦

    But it does not mean the right of a body of men to exploit a whole people , to keep the masses in eternal degradation by excluding every ray of reason from their beni ghted miads , and to conspire to deliver the country into the hands of a foreign despot . No ; we would allow no such liberty t 6 the priests of any creed . We would rather endeavour to burst the mental bonds of

    their ignorant and brutalised dupes . This can alone be accomplished by a system of national education—free , or course , from the interference of sectarians of every denomination . Were our rulers a government inspired by a desire for ensurin g the welfare and advancement of the nation at large , such an educational system would be carried into effect forthwith . But they have no such desire . Like their Whig predecessors , the Tories fear any . extension of knowledge amongst the mass of the people . What hope then , have we of seeing the _ evil teaching of ambitious

    and immoral priestcraft counteracted' ^ efficient education , so long as the executive and legislative power shall remain in the hands of these factions ? None whatever . The evil m the neighbouring island will be suffered to grow until it shall result either in the destruction of our nationality or in the slaughter of numbers of the deluded Irish peasantry ., juch a catastrophe ca n only be avoided by the people-driving for ever from power the

    representatives of the factions , and replacing them by a national government that would take the necessary steps to ensure the education of the entire people . 7

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    THE TAXES ON KNOWLEDGE . Mr . Hume has addressed to Mr . Collett , the Secretary to the Society for the Repeal of the Taxes on Knowledge , a letter which contains an important admission , [ to the effect that the Whigs and the Tories are the " two great oppressing parties , " from whom no measure favourable to the advancement of the people is to be hoped . Joseph ' s eyes seem to be at last opened to the real character of Lord John Russell . ' He has discovered what

    everybod y knew long since , that the little leader of the Whig party is an unprincipled shuffler , whose only aim is to gain power and to keep it .: It is passing strange , however , that Mr . Hume should not till now have . discovered the fact that Russell , in effect promised to repeal the taxes on knowledge whenever it should be in his power to do so , and yet , with power in his hands , "pertinaciously refused to knock off any one liuk of the enslaving chain that prevents the spread of knowledge and the education of the

    nation . It is not the first time that Lord John has belied in office the professions he had made when out of power and in need of support . The hero of expediency , pwr excellance , acted in this matter only according to the rule that h as guided his whole public life , and least of all men should Joseph Hume have complained of this , seeing that he has , according to his own confession , long been the supporter of Lord John Russell from the

    very same cause—expediency . He has supported men whom he believed to be political tricksters , and who form one of the " two great oppressing parties , " simply because . he considered it to be expedient to keep them in power in preference to the other " great oppressing party , " whom , however , he has never proved to be more dishonest or oppressive than the men he supported . It mav be , that MivHume feels somewhat iealous of the "

    Democratic" speech of Lord John Russell at Perth , and is anxious , therefore , to prove his insincerity on the present- occasion , by bringing forward his former misdeeds . It would certainly be a most unkind thing in Lord John to install himself in the place of the " veteran Reformer . "' This might go far towards explaining Mr . Hume ' s anxiety that Mr , Collett should not "demean the Society"he represents by seekin ^ the co-operation of the Whig leader . ,

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    Be Mr . Hume ' s motives what they may , we can very well appreciate the truth of his objections . We can readily believe that little aid would be obtained from the political cheat , Russell that the agitation would be used as . Jmeans of carrying his Lordship into power , when it would be sacrificed to the most miserable ot compromises , or entirel y and contemptuousl y thrown over-board . Lord John RUSS 15 LL and the Whins have as little as any men a real desire for the extension of knowledge among the masses . They know full well that their pretended liberalism hVMMwu 1 1

    ¦ J j f , . " £ *•» . IUV 1 U 11 QU and regard for the country ' s Democracy would fail to blind the eyes of the people when a universal and efficient education had removed the absurd prejudices and easy credulity which still exist to , » tog . extent , in " enlightened and educated Britain . " The baser branch of the aristocracy , therefore , has little inducement to free the press from the shackles with which it still continues bound .

    As to the tory faction , the desire for the repression of the freedom of the press , and consequentl y , of the spread of knowledge , has never been concealed b y its adherents . They have an mstinetive hatred for an institution which has done so " much to destroy their greatly admired feudal system ; and they will never aid in the abolition of those imposts which hinder the propagation of the more advanced ideas of the time-ideas which they are well aware are so adverse to the system they uphold .

    The taxes on knowledge consist of , 1 . The duty on paper 2 . The duty on foreign books . 3 . The duty on advertisements . And , 4 . The penny stamp on newspapers . All the four are undeniably prejudicial to the material and moral welfare of the people . The duty on paper , it has been shown , has a most injurious effect upon the manufacture of that article . If it was taken off -t n _ . _ . __ 1 ______ 11 . 1 1 1 _ . J not onlwould t

    y here be a large increase in the home consumption of paper , but we should be enabled to manufacture lately for exportation . There would be a considerable increase in the demand for labour in consequence , and this consideration alone should be sufficient to cause the whole of the labouring classes to demand the immediate repeal of a tax so injurious to them . If we had a Parliament representinglabour . insteadofone representinglaboufs enemies this fact would of itself suffice to doom the obnoxious impost . But like its fellow taxes , its effects upon literary production , and consequently upon the spread of knowledge , are equally baneful . ,

    The duty upon foreign books produces so little that its retainment as a question of revenue can be but of little importance . But its evil effects in repressing the wide spread desire among the people for a better acquaintance with the works of the great thinkers and writers of other lands is very great , and since as a means of raising revenue , it is valueless , there can be no other cause for refusing its abolition than an indefensible desire to exclude as much as possible the writings of foreign authors .

    The advertisement duty is equally objectionable . , The anomalies it presents are such as to cast . ridicule upon the ' law-makers who were capable of causing such an . absurd enactment to be placed upon the statue-book , and the legislature that can suffer it to remain there . Why hinder the public from making known their various wants through the medium of the periodical press , while

    every other means of effecting the same object is unshackled b y taxation ? The injustice of the tax is even more apparent in the unequal manner in which it is levied . The domestic , who , in two or three lines , advertises for a " place , " has to pay the same amount of duty as the rich advertiser who can monopolise a page But the penny stamp on newspapers is , more than the fore

    going , a tax upon knowledge . B y raising the price of the public journals , it limits their circulation , and consequently their power of instructing . That this tax was devised to fetter the expression of opinion as much as a means of raising revenue is a fact too well known to be disputed ; and although those in power dare not publicly avow it , it is doubtless the same potent reason lhat causes them to so pertinaciously refuse to abandon it . It is true , there is the advantage of postal transmission , and this fact is made the

    most of ; but this postal transmission is not an equivalent for the penny stamp , inasmuch as vast numbers of stamped journals riever pass through the post at all . Let au ordinary postage stamp , as on letters , be affixed to every copy of the journals intended for transr aiseion by the post , and abolish the penny stamp . There would be something like justice in this . If this would be likely to impede the spread of knowledge , bv confinin *

    to one or two readers the journal that has hitherto passed into the hands of several ( and we confess that the necessity for paying postage would , in all probability , have such an effect ) , we see no sufficient cause why the newspaper stamp should not be taken off , and the transmission of newspapers by the post remain free nevertheless . As a national institution the post office should U for the benefit of the nation , and not merelv a . rood srluum * fa . lul l " »^ "t "i me uauuu , ana not merely a good scheme for

    raising money . The profits arising from the carriage of letters would be amply sufficient to cover the additional expense of newspaper carriage . And even were it not so , there are many pensions paid to aristocratic idlers , the origin of which is shameful to the receivers , and such that their continued payment is disgraceful to the nation-pensions , some of which are paid out of the post office revenue itself . Let the payment of these , be stopped and the money expended in the circulation of useful knowledge among the people .

    But there can be no hope of such a result so long as the people remain apathetic on the subject . The advice of Mr . Hume to put no faith in either Whigs or Tories should be taken . Both of these factions have an interest L in the maintenance of the Taxes on

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    J ! S __ L »_ ___»__ » BJ U !_ MIIE E B 01 . ^ TI ^^ — ==== ~ — „ .

• Citation
  • Northern Star (1837-1852), Oct. 23, 1852, page 9, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/ns/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1701/page/9/