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Northern Star (1837-1852), 29th May 1841, Edition 2 of 5, Page 7, (pntrinal Gtevvespommtt.

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    • NORMANBY AND THE PRISONERS' LIBE RATION CONVENTION.
    • (pntrinal Gtevvespommtt.
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      Untitled Article

      5 > o THOSE WHO LOVE FREEDOM AND HATE SLAVERY . j £ t Friends , —Allow me to repeat a sentence from ar speecfl upon opening my Radical eommisaioa at gtoekport , noW nearly six yean since . I then « Hy object is to make job all of one will , and oat j tb * t will to form the basis of your future eonstitn-Mta . The auction day will arrive , whea both parties , 31 bid for you according to your raise ; to increase —grains and to prepare you for the auction , « h * be gaca were my words « ix years ago , and now

      be-THB HOPB COMETH . yea , the day of auction is at band , and who will bid £ e full -raise for pnblic support ia now the question . I will bny in tbe first lot for another season , if the fci ^ best bidder offers a single doit less than " the xehole &arter ' I have never placed one single crotchet before the po ^ iic . I have sot allowed the public mind to be dis fcjcied fey sadden changes and convulsive throes . I jjjTe adhered , through years of stormy abase and opposition to the one , the single question , Universal gsfege . I hare told you that the figure which I was tpnapA . with others , in completing , could not be prugently exhibited until the sereral parts were ready for jeial put together . They are now " tried up , " and ^ dy for being " put together . "

      goglishmes . Irishmen , Scotchmen , and Welshmen , tbe eyes of the wwld are now npon you . The French pieah Ell now silent upon popular feeling in England , teems with remonstrances against resisting the popular T 2 L xhis is noTeL The press of France , as the press

      My friends , the crisis has arriTed , and may God grant tbai we prove ourselvn equal to the emergency ! If ve aw brave and determined , we c » nqner . If we jk cowardlj- and wavering , we falL Behold the stake— " LIBEBTT ! " The gift of God ; < $£ noblest possession which man can enjoy . Liberty to the people is death to the tyranny of -fcctioas . If , then , we resolTe to be free who can impede ui in our course . ' Thai we may be valued , let bi possess all that is most valuable in man . Let us be oosest , consistent and bran .

      When I reflect upon the great stake now to be played int , I shudder lest one false step should lessen our cfaance of winning . It is & noble thing—a holy sight , to see the " poor oppressed" fighting against the "/ ich oppressor " The balance of power is now in our hands —that is acknowledged . With us , then , the consideration iiioald be , how to use it for or * ows besefix , wholly regardless of both factions , and , abore all , of the individual interest of camp foUoaers , who will claim peculiar title to public * confidence , and ask us to make « eeptions to our general rule of action in their particuhz case . I say no exception . If our rule be good , let it be critically folio-wed : if bad , let it be altered .

      Behold , then , our position . The Whigs , the ¦ " Woodiest "factien that ever hell in its wrath sent « pon earth , are on their knees licking our feet , while the desolation which they bare caused rings through every creTice of this ses-boand dungeon . They hare become bankrupt , and would accept any amount of promise-fcc-be-paid , after convenience , well knowing fiat they had no intention ever to meet their engagevntm t * Let ae ask yon one question . Can you trust them -after nine years of sad and melancholy trial , when you reflect that their greatest assaults upon liberty were made in the days of their greatest strength ?

      Bet upon what question do they Tainly hope to arouse public sympathy ? Why , upon a set of problematical nssltSj which , should they terminate to the full extent ¦ Of their anticipation , would bnt injure every working zoo , while they would serve every man of fixed income—every placeman , pensioner , s t at e p aoper , and salaried official . Theirs is the battle of the confectioner , the grocer , the Cnta and Brazilian glare-owner , file fundholder , the architect , the ship-builder , the cabiaet-maker , the timber-merchant , and the corn-factor , against labour . Xo wonder that Joe Hume , a large fandholder , should think " brown bread good enough for the Spitalfields weaver , " while he would cheerfully perchase his own hot loaf for less monev , pboduced

      bt moee ljbous . What does he care where it comes bom , provided he has it ? Do not the " anti-monopoojU , " as they whimsicaUy : call themselves , know full well that if all the articles of life are made cheaper , . Jni ges , place m e n , pensioners , and persons with fixed incomes , will be so much the richer ; and d o they attempt either to re-iuce their Silaries to the " sliding scale , " er do they propose to lessen the general burdens ¦ of the country ? JCo , in faith ! but , curious enough , the loudly vaunted measures have sprung out ef State aecessity . It was not because the people wanted relief thither Majesty ' s popalar champions proposed their ww " tariff , " but because , without it , they could not fetwages ! and this is called patriotism , and the act " GREAT COMMERCIAL REFORM ! " And they

      propose " free trade" with nntaxed countries , that is , to make yon run a race with fetters on your legs , idle toot competitors are uushackled . ' But mark their real love of the principle . While the hireling press echoes " free trade , " there is a Bill passing through Parliament to rob 160 of the poor oppressed , fey depriving them of a common , to enrich trecty-f 7 e rich oppressors . Tes , " Whaddon Chase ' o bsa » stolen from 1 G 0 poor men , by twenty-five rich san , The 16 * poor men have beggared themselves to defeat ! their ri ght , but have failed ; and this , Joe Same ¦ vrould call " freed trade . "

      Let me pet a qnestion to you . Won ! d yon have csteied , for a moment , to a single speech made in His Hoase of Commons npon the subject , at a pa r ish Efceting , wkhout bestorriiig copious hisses upon the *^ p-txap speakers ? Xo , not to a single one . The question then is , are we , who fight for principle , and * ao have mSered so much in our struggle for princple , to be caught in the new Whig ministerial tap ?

      They say , they worLD set the captive free . I * M « a , let me rot in prison rather than my liberty , * iained by Whig clemency , should procure a vote for the ruffians who have trampled upon all liberty . I have not lived in solitary confinement ' fo thirteen months , without learning how to ' « mste the value of liberty ; neither have I * pent my time to so bad a purpose as to make my i liberty more precious than ray character . If I can only j obtain my freedom by an abandonment of my princpks , then may theloathsome dungeon be my dwelling-Place while life remains'

      I was shocked , and horror-struck , to hear the very ** stion of a compromise at liie meeting held last week j * th § Crown and Anchor , and my principal reason *» " » ritin » cow , is , to enter my protest , upon my own j * t , aciinEt such a course . And then , I am told that »• Tories will set me free . Good Heaven . ' my limbs , •™ £ h strong , would refuse their tffice when told «** ~ d tieir liberty to my country ' s greatest op-P 1668 ^ - Wiit : be allowed to walk abroad and say ,

      « owes his freedom to the Tamworth Baronet !—the *» whoss name stands second only to that of Cistle-*¦•* in the bloody book of Ireland's sad catalogue ol ^^ oppression ! Who has gone farther to set ^ aolie against Protestant , and Orangeman against Wive Irish , than Sir Robert Peel ? No one . And am . J * ^*^ abroad as a living monument of gratitude to *™^ & « the possesdon of that liberty of which he has **«> a my country ? No , ketzb , kzveb ! NEYEHi ¦™ t periBh O'Connor '

      ^ ° » compromise has sealed my doom for the re-™* te * of my dreary imprisonment ! For by theghost _**** * murdered Irishman , and by my country ' s J ^^ . I swear that if an order for my liberation come ¦*» ° »> w from a Tory government , I will not leave my " ¦ "Swa ! and they cannot eject me , as my committal ****» that I shall be held in custody until I enter into " ¦*? ban far my good conduct for two years . There"" * ¦» I proscribed by thii compromise , even by the ~ mention ef it . . ** ai all do me the justice to admit that , notwith-^ T ™* ^ e systematic abuse of Mr . CConneU and the J ™« d the Irish press , yet has not angry feeling , for T ™ 0166 ^ . allowed me to resent personal injury by " *** of my country . Wbo erer heard me abas *

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      Ireland , even in the midst of the intolerance of her paid patriots ? . Upon the whole , my friends , believe me , that neither Whig or Tory will allow me to roam at large one single hour before the 11 th of November next ; and t hen I will pay them twenty-five shillingg in the pound !!!!!! Now , my friends , let me explain what our course should be . Six years ago , I said I would prepare you for sale . Two years ago , I published a plan for your local organization , and , three months ago I republished that plan . I was well aware that only in the excitement of a contested election would either baad of robbers bid far the virtuous people ; that hour has now come , yet

      are you not prepared with your committees , sub-committees , treasurers , and secretaries of electioneering clubs which I recommended : but as 1 never fight with my own party , but always toy to make up for their larinesa by my own extra diligence , I tell yon mow to get yonr machinery ready . Let , every locality have its election elub . For Charter rcemberj there is no hope this election ; not the slightest ; but this election is the foundation of all hope . Upon Tou , the people , will depend the result , whether you furnish to the House of Commons a sufficient number of tools to be used by any Administration for your ruin , or whether you furnish such a House as must be dissolved in less * h «» six months from its formation .

      Now , mark me welL If you return as many as 300 Whigs , you will prepare improved machinery for fraud , persecution and tyranny . As our only struggle must be for the Charter , a sufficient number of leb- well-enough alone , or any-thing-rather-tkan-a-Radicil-House members will be found to join the Whigs to carry on with a Tory House without again tempting the sttrm ot popular wrath , of which they will get a taste upon the ensuing contest . If you return but a few Whigs they cannot form any coalition with the Tories and must constitute ourt and the Queen ' s minority .

      The greatest blessing which could happen to us would be the return of 65 S Tories ; but that is impossible . If we had a House full of Tories their position would very much resemble that of the Kerry man , who came all the way from Kerry to see London from the top of the monument ; but when he got there he was so dazzled that he got frightened and requested a friend to cover his eyes with his handkerchief , for God ' s sa k e , and lead him back again to Kerry . Now , if yon had 658 rampant Tory devils they would be frightened at the sound of their own voice , and would imploringly cry " 0 ! for an opposition . "

      It is Baid that no wife could survive a year if not once contradicted ; I tell you that no minister can survive the want of an opposition . The Tories being better tactitians * h * n the Whigs , actually led them to the altar , and then offered them up a sacrifice to an opposed lust . It was by not opposing the Whigs , in their aggression against popular rights , that the Tories brought Whiggery into disrepute . Let us therefore benefit by example ; and as the Whigs died of surfeit , let us kill the Tories by repletion . Let us gorge the House with them , and , inasmuch as the struggle , at last , must be between the nominees of a faction and the whole people , it must come to that ; and if we are not prepared , why t h en , let us at once give up .

      I say , that with a compact minority , too large for a faction , and too small for a party , at work inside , and the whole people at work outside , nothing can withstand us . As a matter of course , the ' bloodies" will now " pat yoti on the back , " and ask for your support ; but for what ? Would you , nine years ago , have entertained any one of the great " commercial reforms , " as they are called , or would you have considered them as any part of the great measure ? Assuredly not ; and , after nine years' drilling aid training ; after nine years' disappointment ; after nine years * sessions of unexampled tyranny , persecution , lewd sway and distress , are you now to entertain them as a whole ? Have nine years of teaxhing taught us no better than this ?

      My friends , nothing can be more laughable than the c omp laints and sore things of the Whigs , in their very , yery incompetent journals . They really imagine that we are still in leading strings , and that we should be thankful for correction . They still call themselves our natural allies , and the Tories our natural enemies ; and , forgetting that we dissolved partnership in September , 1835 , and set up business on our own account , the ignorant creatures have the folly to find fault with our tactics ! Well now , can anything be more absurd ? and , when well weighed , can any praise be stronger than this intended censure ? --

      What is our object . ' To destroy Whiggery , and establish Chartisn . Well , then , are Whigs likely to be much in love with any course which tends towards the accomplishment of that desirable end ? Do they ask us for advice , as to how their proceedings are to be conducted ? No , in faith-What would any one of you think , suppose you sat down to a game of cards , and that your adversary , after vain endeavours to win the game by fair play , said , " O , but you must shew me your hand , and play

      your cards as I direct you ? " What , I ask , would you think of such a proposal ? and yet it would not be ene whit more ridiculous than the appeal of our Whig opponents , to play our game as they direct us . My friends , so long as we did play this fast-acd-loose game , so long were we a laughing-s ' . ock ; but the moment we played one hand in Birmingham , in 1839 , according to our own judgment , thai moment did our adversaries say , " 0 , these fellows play the game too well , and we mud bludgeon them ; pack the cards , and run qf tcilh the stake !!!"

      Well , * p to that period , we were the ridicule of all parties , and despised by all ; but since then we have played eur own game , and now we have arrived to " the di < jnity of being haled . " We we no longer despised ; we are now hated , because we are dreaded ; and no political party can be great till it is hated . Thank God , then , we are all hated , a n d I t h e m ost I O , how I esjoy Whig and Tory katred ! It h balm : cordial . ' ! consolation ! : !

      But what his made you great ? The things that have made you hated , of coursa . What are they ? The pertinacious manner in which you have upset every clap-trap meeting ; the noble consistency you have evinced in standing by your friends and yeur Charter , through unparalleled persecution , insult , and distress ; your " useless displays" and manly expression of " ASGBf TEEL 15 G" have done the job ;

      and hence was it a principal object of Mr . Joseph Hume to lull you into quiet and calm , into " non-Tesistance and passive obedience" before the hour arrived foi treating Whigs on the hustings as they treated us in the House , fs it not self-evident that conduct -which would entitle yen to Whig praise , would subject you to popular suspicion and censure , and having wellearned a large stock of Whig hatred , we are justly entitled to a large share of popular approval .

      1 ; i For four months this dissolution has been in cogi' tation , and during that time the * ' leading Chartists " I have been " saturated" with letters to subdue Chartist ¦ " asigry feeling - at public meetings , and to set their faces against " useless displays . " Our duty tben is , for ! the present , to fill the Heuse with Tory poison ; yea , I to loacl it to the very muzzle , so that it may explode and blow them all up , and then will come our 1 turn !

      Now " , my friends , as I have never waited upon public opinion , but have always " come out" upon principle—at once , and ^ in the o u ts e t , I say , "down with the Whigs ;" and , in every instance where you have the power , return Tories in preference to Whigs . Do so for this reason—Because you will thereby beat one of your enemies . By returning Whigs you cannot , in the slightest degree , weaken Toryism ; inasmuch as Whigs in office are mere Tories . What have we to ejpect from the Whigs in the way of reform ? Have they not already ruined themselves in their endeavour to ruin you ? In depriving you of your wages have they not left an empty Exchequer , and themselves without their salaries , to insure which they must now ¦ play a eame at thimblerig ?

      In God ' s name , what have you to do with Sugar Duties , Corn Laws or Timber ? Will it be any consolation to you Vo know that you have cheapened bread , sugar , and timber , for traffickers and consumers with fixed incomes , while , to accomplish it , you have lessened the price of your own labour , and thereby deprived yourselves of the means of purchasing any po rt i o n of t he cheap sweets ? Tis humbng . and they know it ; and they can only hope to cram it down your throats by bribing your leaders ; aai just give me leave to ask , why these immense collections by the " Plague" just now ? Agitation costs them nothing . Beware , Beware , Beware of Ur . OM .

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      Let us jest see the principle upon which all the wealthier classes are now marshalled on the Government side , in support of the great" Commercial Reformers . " The foolish mill lords imagine that they can bay cheaper and sell dearer , and still preserve peace , regulate demand and supply , and stop gambling ; therefore they are bottle holders to the Whigs . The bankers know that their discounts will be increased by an increased demand for paper to gamble with—your labour and liberty being the stake . The Insurasoe Offices know that their business will be increased at your expence . The grocers and bakers , —poor silly fools ? —think : that they will be enabled to buy very much cheaper , and perhaps sell more I

      The judges , parsons , barristers , solicitors , placemen , pensioners , fund-holders ; ia short , all those with fixed incomes ; the whole swarm of lice on the beetle , imagine that they will be enabled to do twice as much with their fixed salaries , and yet that order and peace frill continue ! The poor fools of shopkeepers and tradesmen , imagine that they will be enabled to sell just as much and to live cheaper . Silly , silly men 1 They can only

      live cheaper by making labour cheaper , inasmuch as that ingredient torntM nlneteea-twentieths of every thing they consume ; while their whole means of consumption is famished by labour , and labour alone ; and when labour is reduced , they must be reduced . In fact they are all mad . The Whigs have literally persuaded them that poor John has yet something in him , which the " Great Commercial Reforms " is to extract ; bat they will all findrthemselvea mistaken , and that ere long !

      I have shown you how the Whigs have fought their battle , constantly changing their position and tactics without reference to us . I have shown you how the Tories have fought their battle with reference only to their own party purposes . And Daniel O'Connell , being another corporation , though a corporation sole , let as see how he proposes to fight his battle ( Ireland ' s battle ) , without reference to any earthly object but keeping himself in place and his hands in poor Paddy ' s pockets . I shall not lose much of my space in finishing QuiJpaUontimorouminos ( " self tormentor .

      Piay ! pray ! pray ! mark , learn , and inwardly digest , the mode by which this charlatan proposes to redeem all his pledges to unhappy Ireland . Firstly , observe , Repeal is the watch-word of Ireland , as the Charter is that of Britain . Secondly , bear in mind , that a Parliament elected favourable to Whig principles would have , at least , a six years' lease of office , as friends of the Queen ' s youth .

      Now , how , think yoa , the begging rascal proposes to snatch Repeal out of the fire of party , or even to make the god-send a stepping-stone to Repeal ? Why , he postpones it for tue pb . esent ! lest its introduction should injure " the base , brutal , and bloody Whigs "—the " West Britons , " the coercers , the police enactors , the arms ' -bill enactors , the appropriation concocters and abandoners , the rascally Whigs 1

      The World , upon the subject of Dan ' s last letter , has these few pithy lines : — "With much contained in it we coincide ; while from other parts we totally DrssENT . Mr . O'Connell we think perfectly right in not recommending that a Repeal candidate should be started , at this juncture , where bis chance of success would be doubtfui . " Aye , " tchere his chance of success would be doublful " —there ' s the rub ; and that one scorpion sentence will render the return of a Repealer doubtful in every part of Ireland ; and that is the sole , and only , object of the deceitful stuff

      But , suppose he bad said , " men of Ireland , now i s your time . Onward to Repeal . Every Repealer may be relied upon as an opponent to Toryism ; let us have men ef double force—first , anti-Tory , and then pro-Repeal , 1 hii 3 do ice effect a double purpose at one and the same lime . Kill the enemy and resuscitate our native land . " Suppose he had said that , what would have been the effect ? Why , just this ; that in many case ? , where the order will render the return of a Whig doubtful , the course which I recommend would have rendered the return of a Repeater ^ certain . But what ia the fact ? Why that those very Whigs , now to be returned , will be Ireland ' s bitterest enemies , and the very stanchest anti-repealers , and that's the secret , —that ' s what O'Connell wants , a stumbling BLOCK IX THE WAY OF THE MO > STERS OF HJS OWN

      CREATION . But then , a bit of religion , —the old seasoner of all dishes , —is brought in . By heaven . ' it is enough to make any man wild , and to s « t an Irishman mad to think of the barefaced villany of this old woman . Well , my friends , thus they all act , as they profess to think , beat for their interest , and without consulting us . Now , let us , without reference to any of them , do the best we can Jot out Charter . Let us , wherever we can give , give 20 , 30 , 40 , 50 , yea , a hundred of either devils for one Chartist O , how easily Glasgow could return my dear friend Moir , by giving them 20 Tories , or 20 Whi gs , for Scotland for this one honest Chartist That is , suppose Dundee , Dunfermline , and several other places , were to make common cause with Glasgow , and

      that the Chartists of those" places were to say " 20 Whigs , or 2 » Tories , " " whicJi you p ' ease , my dear ; choose your devil , and your devil ' s colour , and have him ia exchange for one Chartist angel . " Leicester , HnU , and Nottingham could do this . ' Leeds , Bradford , Hali f a x , Huddersfield , and York could do likewise . Rochdale has its out and outer—honest Sharmanglorious Sharman—amiable Sharman . Manchester , Stockport , Bolton , and Chorley could do likewise . Oldham has the two best men to be found—who will dare to oppose them , I should like to know ? Then you have a little knot of Chartists well able to speak upon the hustings . I fear I should be considered "despotic " if I was to particularize , bo you must judge for yoursel v es .

      2 iow , my friends , to the point . " Cresar ' s wife should not only be virtuous , bat should be above suspicion . " No man s ! . ail ever suspect me , and , therefore , although solicited by many constituencies to offer myself , free of expence , where my return may be considered certain , as all and every sacrifice would ba made in a whole county to insure it , I have como t « the settled resolution not to accept a seat in the next Parliament , if offered to me—not to allow myself to be put in nomination anywhere , and for this simple reason , that my recommendation may stand discharged of all sellishnasss .

      Our time for returning t he whole H ouse is at hand , believe me , or a bleody revolution ; one or the other is inevitable . I must keep my conscience clear , and my friends clear . I win not offer myself for any place . I will support a Chartist everywhere , at all haiards , and will join in returning a Tory iu preference te a Whig , where the contest lies between the Devils and the Devils in hell . I do this from my bitter and unconqnerable hatred to the Tories , from the hope that they will kill themselves .

      Now my friends , as to any compromise for my liberty , I will not owe it to Peel , even if offered ; but believe me , that on to-morrow night on Duncombe's motion , he will indignantly repel the assertion made at the Crown and Anchor . No , no ; Sir R . Peel is too cold-blooded a politician to bear wilh temper such a taunt , as being charged with an act of justice ! I will not come out of my cell at all upon a compromise . —I will break the contract—I have been no party to it .

      As to my getting out just now , yoa shall judge from the following trne " unvarnished tale , * * whether or not it would be justice to me to enlarge me at the present moment , when so much would be expected from me , and when I should not be able to take any part whatever in public affairs . When I came here first , I kept my voice by reading aloud about two hoars overy day . This I practised till the winter

      compelled me to have fires , and then my cell chimney smoked to such an extent , that , by degrees , I was obliged to give np not only reading aloud , but speaking above my lowest tone . I could net speak without pain . When spring returned , it brought no charms for me . I tried , when the smoke vanished , to read aloud again , but found that I always spit blood , when I made the attempt , before I got through many pages ; so I gave it up .

      Now , I ask yoa , would it not be certain death to place me upon a public hustings or in a public meeting ? Never was man treated as I have been ! not one single restriction has been taken off since June 1 st , 1 S 40 , to the present moment , bat several fresh ones

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      have been added . I pay for every thing I use , even my coal" ; and i pay £ io 8 s . a year * rent for one of the condemned cells I Every letter I receive is Tead ; every lettei I send through the post is read ; every visitor is accompanied , tor five minntes , by a turnkey , and every word we say is reported . I am in solitary confinement I and shall be in the fourteenth month on Tuesday week , a punishment unknown to the law 1 ! In one of my recent letters , I stated that it was such a punishment as no man bad ever endured for any erf me since England was discovered ; but some one altered it to had ever before endured for libel

      Now , again , I tell you that the law knows of no such punishment ; and the Judges dare not , say could not , sentence to such a punishment for any crime : and having borne thirteen months of it , unjustly , shall I say , " thank yon , " to the scoundrels who made me un « justly suffer , and , if guilty , wonld now UNJUSTLY liberate me for their own base ends ? No , —damn them !—never— "Wo surrender , " " The Charter , " and "down with the 'bloodies . Ever yours , Feargus 0 'Connob .

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      TO THE EDITOR OP TUB NORTHERN STAB . I Dear Sjr , —I hare to enclose the following resolution passed at © ur meeting of thiB day : —" That in consequence of the letter received this morning from the Executive at Manchester , a letter be sent to the said Executive , and to the editor of the Northern Star , requesting them immediately to transmit to Mr . John Cleave , Shoe-lane , London , our unanimously elected treasurer , all moneys which have been sent to them for the use of the Convention or committee . " , I am , &c , 55 , Old Bailey , TUOMA 8 Wall . 21 st May , 1841 .

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      HOW TO STOP THE BANK . TO THE EDITOR OF THE NORTHERN STAB . Sir , —In my letter to you of the 5 th instant , I ask , " whether yeu think , if it were notorious that the Chartists really had the power to stop tlie bank if they pleased , such notoriety would be likely to be of any service to them ia their efforts to obtain tbeir Charter ?" In your Star of the 15 th instant , in your notices to correspondents , you say , referring to my inquiry , " We certainly tbink that such notoriety would be likely to be of service : will he shew us the how ? " I will endeavour to do so , and thus I proceed . Let every Chartist who can save at least one penny per week begin to imitate my example , and let him never discontinue such imitation until either the bank be restrained from paying its notes in gold , or the People ' s Charter have become the law of the land . But before I proceed to state what I do myself , and wbat I want everybody else to do , I think it right first to state what I do not do .

      In the first place , then , I do not lend my little savings to the Government , by depositing them in any Savings ' or other Bank ; for , by so doing , although I might receive a paltry dab of interest for my money in the course of a year , I should only be enabling the Government to appropriate the principal , or , in other words , to expend my own money ia buying swords , and pistols , and bludgeons with , to cut , and shoot , and knock me about with . I , therefore , and for another reason , do not lend my money to the Government That other reason is , that if I were to lend my money to the Government , or to my employers , or to any private individual , it would remain in circulation ; whereas it is part of my scheme to withdraw it from circulation , and to have its place supplied by constant drains upon the coffers of the Bank of England . I , therefore , not only do not lend my money to the Government , but I do not lend it at all ; I keep it myself : I hoard it , and in gold and silver , and not in bank notes of any denomination .

      I will tell you how I manage . Every Saturday evening I drop into my " savings' box" ( of which I have constituted myself sole and exclusive governor , director , treasurer , and secretary ) as much out of my weekly earnings as I can possibly spare ; sometimes , it is more , and sometimes less than others ; but as it is not lent out at interest , nor spent , but hoarded , you must ( I tbink ) perceive that that money , however small in amount , is yet bo much money withdraira from circulation ; it being distinctly understood all the while that I hoard nothing but metallic coin , gold , silver , and copper , but NO paper money for if I were to hoard paper money , the place ef the identical notes which I bod so withdrawn from circulation would not be supplied by gold and silver from the coffers of the Bank of England , but by other notes , which the local bankers ( here al

      Leeds , where I am living ) would instantly and at no expense fabricate and put in circulation , whereas the place of the gold and silver which is hoarded must eventually come outof the coffers of the Bank of England , as I will presently demonstrate . I have now told you what I do not do and what I do do , and I hive stated my reasons for not doing the one and for doing the other , and having done so , I beg further to observe , that to wbat little money I have already hoarded up , it is ray intention to add weekly until the People ' s Charter becetnes the law of the land . The money so already hoarded up and to be added to , as I have before stated , I do , and always shall , consider to be a sacred fund and dedicated to the Chartist cause ; and it is my firm and unalterable determination not to touch it or any portion of it until the People's Charter be the law of the land .

      Such is my plan or scheme , and I do firmly believe that if the Chartists would ¦ individually begin now , each according to his respective means , to imitate my example , and would persevere in such imitation , the Bank of England would suspend cash payments before tbe last day of the year , ( and I think so for reasons which I will explain in my next , if you should agree with me in the opinions expressed in this , ) and whenever that event does take place , from no matter wbat cause , it will be attended by at least an immediate , and most extensive and sweeping Reform , of the Commons House of Parliament . I have already shown that

      the hoarding of paper money does no good , for it does not annoy the local bankers or the Governors and Directors of the Bank of England . But the hoarding of gold and silver to any considerable amount would not only annoy but would absolutely terrify as well the local bankers as the Governor and Company of the Bank of England , for it would cause a drain to be made upon the coffers of tbe Bank of England for a- sufficient amount of gold and silver to supply the place of the gold and silver so hoarded , and consequently withdrawn frem circulation , as I will now endeavour to

      show . Let us suppose that tbo average amount of gold and silver constantly in circulation here in Leeds is £ l 0 , * 00 or thereabouts . We will next suppose that in this town there are one hundred persens , eack of whom , upon reading this letter , is determined , according to his respective means , to adopt the principle here laid down fur his imitation . We will further suppose , that at the end of three months , each of those persons Las boarded up £ 5 in gold and Bilver which would otherwise have remained in circulation . In that ca&e theso one hundred persons would not only have withdrawn from the circulation £ 500 in gold and silver , but would be in possession of it themselves , which they would not otherwise liave been . In that case also , the £ •?• so

      hoarded up would be missed and felt , if its place were not supplied . There would evidently be a want of a sufficiency of small change for the daily purposes of life or business , its place therefore would be supplied ; but bow ? We shall soon see . A tradesman , a butcher for instance , finding that his customers did not pay him so much gold and silver as usual , but more £ 5 notes , leaving him to pay himself and give them the change , would every now and then send a package of £ 5 notes to tbe different bankers here , who bad issued them , and get them exchanged for gold and silver , for tbe accommodation of his customers . The baker and all other trades people would do the some , until by that process the place of the £ 500 so hoarded up would be supplied . But those bankers would then have in

      their tills £ 500 less in gold aud silver to honour tbeir notes with than they had before the hoarding commenced ; and they would th « n scrape together £ 500 in Bank of England notes , and send them up to their agents in London to get converted into gold and silver , and that gold and silver remitted back to them instead of the notes . Tbia the agents would very easily do , by simply going to tbe Bank in Threadneedle-atreet , in London , and there exchanging tbe notes for gold . There then is a drain upon the coffers of the Bank of England for £ 500 in specie !! But it must not be forgotten , that tbe hundred sturdy fellows in Leeds don't relax in their efforts or their principle , and in another three months they have got another £ 500 , whose place would be supplied ia precisely the same manner .

      Hern let me not bo misunderstood ; I have merely supposed a case for the proper illustration of my assertion , that if the Chartists were to hoard weekly as much money as they could , the place of the money so hoarded must eventually be supplied by drains upon the coffers of the Bank of England . Bat I do not mean to assert that there would b ^ 'exactly 100 or any other given number of persons who upon reading this letter either would or could hoard " weekly , any sum of money which in exactly three months , would amount to exactly £ i , or any other given sain , bat I do believe that there would ba some such persons here to bo found , who upon reading this letter , would board up weekly as much money as they possibly could , and therefore I farther believe that there would be some duch persons to be

      found in every toWB , city , parish , village , and hamlet in this country , whose united hoardings I do believe would in three or four months amount to such a sum of money as would make an evident diminution in the quantity of the gold and silver in the coffers of the Bank of England ; if so , it is evident that the Chartists alone , and unaided and poor as they are , can , if they please , cause such a constant and continuous drain npon the coffers of the Bonk of England for its gold and silver as if persevered in , must eventually end in the Btoppage of the bank . I fear that I have already trespassed npon your time too long , but 1 cannot conclude this letter without expressing my conscientious conviction that the mere knowledge by the middle and aristocraUcal classes of the power , which ! have con

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      tended that the Chartists possess , and' more etpecialty of their deierminatita to exercise it , woula be mote likely than any thing else to procure foi them . ( Sw speedy « oacession of all their political right * and privilege * . I remain , Sir , Your obedient servant , A Middle Class Chartist ; 22 nd May , 1841 .

      Normanby And The Prisoners' Libe Ration Convention.

      NORMANBY AND THE PRISONERS' LIBE RATION CONVENTION .

      TO THE EDITOR OF THE NORTHERN STAB . Sir , —As our interview with the Marquis of Normaaby , in regard to the presentation of the memorials for Bronterre O'Brien , has not been correctly stated in the papers , we beg to lay a plain statement of the same before the readers of the Star . At the time appointed by Messrs . Bailer and Hawes , that is twelve o'clock , we proceeded to the Home-office , bat found that the Marquis of Normanby would not be there before one o ' clock , and an appointment was made to meet them ( Messrs . Bailer and Hawes ) at foar , or something later . We went and found they were there before as , and were closeted with the Home-Secretary We waited a considerable time in the ante-room , and were joined by the two gentlemen . They informed as there would be no difficulty in getting the memorials to her Majesty , as they would , if we would chose , undertake their presentation ; but this , not suiting our

      wishes , was of coarse declined * They next told as that the Marquis would see as , bat that we were not to enter upon a discussion as to the contents of the memorials ; because that mightijlead to some language which would not be pleasant to either party . With this understanding ire were admitted to his Lordship's presence , and his Lordship told us that he could not see deputations in regard to criminals , as that wobM be inconsistent with his duties as a Minister of the Crown ; but that be would receive the memorials which we then had , and give them his serieus consideration , and that whatever opinions or arguments which we might have to adduce , he would thank tu to put in writing ; and , upon these groands , he would give onr wishes every consideration . In regard to Mr . O'Brien , he had caused enquiry to be made , and he found that his case was net so bad as it was represented to be . This was in substance , nay , indeed , everything which passed between as and his Lordship . We are , yours , l . pitkethly , Worg . Williams , $ 1 . CVLLES .

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      TO THE EDITOR OF TUB NORTHERN STAB . Dear Sir , —By inserting the following address in this week ' s publication , you will greatly oblige those friends to O'Connor whose names are attached thereto , and likewise your humble servant , Thomas Clarke . Temperance Yard , Hillgate , Stoekport , May 10 th , 1841 .

      TO FEARGUS O'CONNOR , ESQ . Honoured and Patriotic Sir , —We , your fellowcountrymen in exile , and members of the National Charter Association of Great Britain , seeing you surrounded on all sides by numerous and perfidious enemies , take this opportunity ef assuring you that we place the most unbounded confidence in you , having seen nothing to lead us to a contrary conclusion , after closely watching your every act , both in the legislature , and in your struggles amongst the people , ia endeavouring to obtain the universal , rights of man ; notwithstanding the call whieh nos recently been made by Daniel O'Connell to his countrymen in England , to form no connection with the English Chartists , and also his indirect way of persuading the people to " get rid of you , if possible , " who , we ore aware , have been a sore thorn in his side , and a stumbling-block to those whom he so strenuously supports .

      We , Sir , have been strict observers of your conduct since you first graced the Senate House of Great Britain with your presence and splendid talents , down to the present moment . . It is , therefore , with feelings of pride , that we Irishmen , in the face of God and our country , unbiassed and uncourted , voluntarily swear or follow you to the death , if required , so long as you persevere in tbe righteous cause in which you have embarked , ia the straightforward , manly , and upright manner you hitherto have done . We tender oar most grateful thanks for tbe post , believing tbat your exertions and integrity are unparalleled in the history

      of our eountry , for tbe furtherance of just principles , and the general welfare of mankind . We consider that we would be guilty of base ingratitude , were we to forget the many sacrifices which nut only you , but also your noble ancestors , have made for oar country's good . No , Sir , we do nut forget that your illustrious , patriotic , and virtuous father , Roger O'Connor , was sent to an untimely grave , for his devotion to bis country ' s cause . Nor , are we ignorant of the fact , that your revered uncle , the brave , venerated , Arthur O'Connor , was as cruelly banished from his home , bis family , his friends , and his country , for his honesty and fond attachment to our lovely Green Isle of the West

      We would , indeed , be unworthy the name of Irishmen , if we were to allow this favourable opportunity to pass unembraoed , without informing the " Rat Catchers" that though yon are bound hand and foot , body and mind , from your fellow-men , for committing no crime but that which your charitable feelings and good sense , and the misery of the people , and your sympathy for them , propelled you to do ; and , by-thebye , only a crime in the eyes of tyrants ; and while a contrary line of conduct , though not half so praiseworthy in the eyes ef the blistered bands and unshorn chins , would have caused you to have been lauded to

      the skies by tbe same wen who have resorted to the ami of the law to paralyse your designs , instead of removing those grievances of which you have complained , and for which you have so indefatigably laboured ; that there ore yet Irishmen whose hearts pant , and who wait with longing desire tc ^ ee , and whose very blood boils to avenge tbe wrongs of " their Chief . " And we are constrained to declare that , though you were deserted by all the world , we , though poor , simple , unlettered men , we , at least , are determined to stand or fall with you , aad the great and glorious principles which you advocate consistently , honourably , and determinedly .

      Yes , noble' O'Connor , you have justly earned , and truly deserve the respect and veneration of all honest men who really know yoa , and have witnessed your every act We admire tbe readiness with which you are wont to concede to suggestions in the public cause , although , perhaps , in opposition to your own ; that you are willing to acknowledge when corrected , and to give credit where credit is due , even if it may be to those who have not bad tbe chance of receiving that education which ia calculated to make them proficient in the most enterprising concerns of life . This , we conceive , is a sure indication that you are actuated by disinterested motives , and a desire for tho well-being of every man , woman , and child in the British dominions . The above is not the only token , by many ;

      there are hundreds cf generous actions—some private , which the world never hears or sees—besides public ones , which entitle you to tbe love and esteem of every true lover of his country . We cannot praise you too much for your exertions in dragging before the public , and exposing the atrocious doings of that notorious parson , Rider , alias the " Rathcormac B u tc h e r , " which exposure has been so nobly followed up by tbe Catholic representatives of " improved Ireland . " We have witnessed yout endeavouw for , and on behalf of the Dorchester Labourers , tbe Glasgow Cotton Spinners , the Welsh Martyrs , the Imprisoned Chartists , the defence of the Wbiteboys , —in short , the unjustly persecuted of every claaa , cli m e , or colenr , have found in you the philanthropist , the vindicator , the sympathiser , and a benefactor .

      Honoured Sir , —If you remain true to your professions , which we have not tbe slightest reason to doubt , having been ^ nany times so well tried in body and mind , and never known to flinch , nor ever yet found wanting , your name shall be handed down to posterity , aad oar children will be taught to lisp it with tbe same admiration and respect , as those of the martyrs and patriots who have gone before , but who are firmly engraven upon the tablets of oar memories , and though even dead , yet ever living . The immortal

      Enimett , Fitzgerald , O'Coigley , Marphy , Bagnall , Harney , Doyle , Roger and Arthur O'Connor , and the several other patriots , who fougbt and died for the rights , liberties , and independence of Ireland . Mot the independence evidently sought for by the Exchange patriots , who feed on the misery of our unhappy , ( and , we are sorry to say , in fearfully numerous instances , ) deluded fellow-countrymen—meawho , in your absence , and in an nn-Irisbmaulike and cowardly manner , take every opportunity to vilify and misrepresent yoa , the only man who stood by Ireland when it was

      " Treason to love her , and death to defend . " Accept , therefore , kind Sir , the sincere ( better felt than expressed ) and heartfelt thanks of youi affectionate aad devoted fellow-countrymen , Peter Welsh , Catholic , W . H . Owena , JProtestaat , Stephen Clark , jun ., CUtholic , Edward Cuddy , Catholic , Dennis Lenand , Catholic , William Cunningham , Catholic , Hugh EWins , Catholic , Peter Fifaimmons , Protestant , Thomas Webb , Catholic , Dennis Morgan , Catholic , Thomas Cullen , Catholic , James Fan-en , Catholic , Nicholas Murphy , Catholic , John M'Hindley , Protestant , Patrick M'Gainness , Catholic , Patrick Beswick , Catholic , James Holeran , Catholic , Peter Dunavan , Catholic , James M'Cawley , Protestant , Thomas Colbert , Protestant , James Stark ie , Owen Fygena , Thomas Clack , Catholic

      Untitled Article

      Worthy of Imitation . —We have received for publication a balance sheet of the proceeds of a valuable barometer , given to the National Charter Association by a friend to the working millions in the Metropolis , to be disposed of for the benefit of the Political Victims . It was disposed of by way of raffle , aud the total proceeds amounted to £ 13 14 j . 6 d . —leaving , after expenoes were deducted , more than 412 for the victims ! This is a most praiseworthy instance of patriotic feeling . Twelve hundred tickets for the raffle were printed , and distributed among Chartists cf the Metropolis for sale . They produced from the several localities the following amounts :- ~ £ s . d . City of London ... ... ... 2 11 6 City of Westminster ... ... 2 3 6 Borough of Marylebone ... 13 6 Kensington and Chelsea . ... 1 15 6 Globe Fields ... ... ... 0 6 6 Finsbury and St . Luke ' s ... 1 16 6 St . Pancras ... ... ... 0 3 6 Tower Hamletff ... ... ... ^ -AJ 4 ~ A # .- ,. * - Bloosnsbury ... ... ... WRW tHCt Walworth ... ... — <* 45 T 0 \ R Wandsworth ... ... * .. -0 ~ il > - -O- * ^ /^> Borough of Lambeth ... ... _^ j B ^ H ^ V §^! '' CK \ Bermoadsey ... ... "jj ?? ' T ^^^ -- \( JK

      (Pntrinal Gtevvespommtt.

      ( pntrinal Gtevvespommtt .

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      THE CORN-LAW QUESTION . ( Concluded from our last . ) "Do you not perceive , do you not feel in what * despicable visw you are considered T Were it In their power , tfaey would binder you from sharing even the light of the son . That you breathe , that yoa enjoy the faculty of speech , that yeu wear the human shape , aw subject ) of mortification to them . " —Lrv * . ; We want Agrarian Laws , not Corn Laws ; bat how lue we get them—how can we obtain any good—how can we remove any * vil until the People ' s Charter gives m the power f Our Gracchi are imprisoned and would have been msrdered if the nobility did not fear tbo people .

      O , say the owners of the waste lands , they are not worth cultivating—they would not repay the expence . WowAd they not r Many broken farmers , who are wiser than t » emigrate at your bidding , retire with the remains of their fortune , to some freehold moor , where they bay and enclose a lew acres . I know one near Pickering , who gave eighteen shillings per acre for about twelve acres , and by his own labour alone , so improved the soil , that in the course of tea years , be increased its value t » £ 30 per acre , besides maintaining himself the while upon its produce . The method

      is this—yoa pare the moor and have turf fuel which supplies you with ashes for manure ; you get stones out of the ground , with which you wall round your enclosed space , and set potatoes , or sow oats ; in pro * cess of time , cowslips will spring where nothing bat black heather was seen before , and you will make a garden in the midst ' 6 f the desert , where the rose will blossom and the thrush will sing . Nature will supply yoa with almost all things needful , ' and you will not be troubled with the tax-gatherer . There is the best herb-gale or moor-tea . In winter time , we make besoms .

      Now , if Government would colonize our English moors—if it would employ felons to drain bogs ia Ireland , instead of sending them off at an expence of £ 60 per head to Van Djtomea's Land—if the unemployed poor were set to work to kid the whins that now grow for fox covers , and to clear away underwood , each man might earn his own keep , besides increasing the national resources by improving tbe " capabilities of tbe soil . Who has not witnessed with pleasure the pride which a working man takes in cultivating apartion ot ground which he can . call bis own ? Though he may have been labouring all day in a stone-quarry , he goes at night cheerfully , as he went at morn , and trims bis own allotted land . Pity that industry should be lost or go unrewarded . " A time there was , ere England ' s wes began , ed

      When every rood of ground maintainits man . ** But ourlordB want the land for other purposes ; and so they make Cora Laws , Game Laws , and Poor Laws . They wish the poor to cease from off the land ; and , as they increase instead , we must have additional soldiers , additional police , and , of course , additional taxes . Injustice ia not maintained at a little cost . We have discontent at home , and the contempt of foreign nations . The people never complain without a cause ; they are too slow to complain ; oppression must madden before it will rouse ; they suffer insult without being provoked by it . The Roman populace could be excited by wrongs , and had spirit to revenge them ; but there is no hope for this nation , except in the infatuation of Its rulers , when drunk with impunity .

      We cannot blame oar present Ministers for thinking ill of mankind , because they know each other , nor for being indifferent to the sufferings of human beings , because tbey know , that though exempt from punishment themselves , they richly merit it ; but we do blame the middle ' classes for having so little consideration for the interests of truth and humanity as to support such a Government , and We blame the people for their apathy . If others neglect them , there is all the more reason why-they should attend to themselves . Tbe Government that turns men out of work , should find them food . The country in which one willing working man wonts food , aud clothing , and education , is badly governed . There are millions of such proofs , that our present Government is a bad one , aud that oar

      social system is even worse than the Government Our present Ministers seem to thiuk that the greatnessa of tbeir offices is an excuse for any littlenesses which they may commit in them . Their very method of obtaining office , shews them unworthy of retaining it , much more so their conduct in it . Tbey came into power under the banners , Reform ! Retrenchment ! Peace 1 Their reform was to make bad worse—tbeir retrenchment was to take from the poor and add to the stores of the rich ; and tbeir method . of maintaining peace was to provoke war all over the world by a most iniquitous breach of the law ef nature and nations . They keep office as basely as tbey obtained it meanly . Borne into power on the backs of the people , they formed a treacherous alliance with the very enemies whom they were sent t& conquer . But they could not thus have degenerated into tyrants , had not the people been sunk to slaves . They are

      supported by a system which makes merit a discommendation to its possessor—which gives that encouragement to vice that should be reserved for virtue only—which punishes the victim instead of tbe criminal , so that conscientious men have declared that were they to sit in a jury upon the life of a murderer of their own sons , they could not bring him in guilty , because crime is caused by the system , whose supporters should be made amenable for it' Among the foremost of these supporters are the clergy—yes , when we hear of any atrocious crime , we should thank the Bishops . The worst thieves and knaves justify themselves , and justly so , by the example of our Ministers , both of the law , and of the gospel . There is now n « crime in the people—their crimes are their misfortunes , as their misfortunes are made their crimes— " in a despotic state there is but one criminal—the tyrant "

      The people « ught to be proud of their present advocates—men who have sacrificed all and suffered all in their cause—men whose arguments are unanswerablewho have proved themselves morally and intellectually superior to the people ' s enemies—why do not the people render them physically so likewise ? Why do they suffer their power to be used against them ? Do the people think with their tyrants that each year should increase its tale of misery aud sin—of sighs and groans and tears , of heartbreaks , and failing intellects , and suicides ? " Many an old man's " sighand many a widow ' s And many an orphan ' s water-standing eye , Men for their sons , wives for their husband ' s fate . And orphans for tbeir parents' tuneless death-Have rued the hour that ever Whigs were bom . Let us not forget , while we at large enjoy this beautiful May weather , our dearest friends are pining in dungeons for our sates .

      Wbat then must the people do ? In vain you complain , in vain you petition , you threaten in vain . The avaricj and luxury , of the proud curse the humble with hardship and privation . No greater proof of your poverty of spirit as . well as of purse than that you do not rid yourselves of your present rulers—of the tyrants that increase your burdens and weaken yoa at tbe same time—that load you and gall you at once . Our Neroea enjoy their follies amid the very miseries which their crimes occasion—nay they taunt the people with being the authors of their own miseries—the people whose complaints they punish—whose redress they pervert . There would have been a mutiny on board of the ship Britannia , and the crew would have had the helm before now , if they had been men I

      England ! thy rose withers on thorns—Scotland thy thistle Is so closely grasped by tbe hard hand of tyranny that it cannot sting—Ireland . ' tby shamrock is a weed . They would have been tbe most contemptible of all creatures that have done this , if we bad not suffered it to be done . Britain

      " Hath made a sbamefal conquest of itself !" We must redeem the land before we can redeem ourselves . This task is set us to accomplish on earth , before we can hope for Heaven . Let us do it or die .

      " In great attempts , - 'tis glorious e ' en to fall >" Let us no longer be villains to ourselves—to our own flesh and blood—to our souls and bodies ; Let us swear by God himself that while he continues to shower his fatherly gifts from Heaven upon our own land , that his free bounty shall not be absorbed or engrossed and abused by riotera and revellers , who keep both our share and their own—let us swear that there shall be no more hunger , ner thirst , nor nakednesss , nor wandering about night and day to die on the stones in the streets—swear it and do . what we swear . Do it for the

      love that God bears us , who is true to us and calls on us to be true to ourselves . Do it that we may live and not dia Be killed or kill rather than forced from the land that is yours . Live in It , Englishmen—die in it , be buried ia it . Mix the ashes with the ashes of your sires , let us not constrain yov , in vaia . Do it or die . Liberty first—then all the blessings which liberty confers . Dteath to , hell-born tyrants , and may their curses go home with them t « roost Life and the land for ua c ¦ JOHN Watkins . London , May 24 th , 1 & 41 . - — . ^ ^ ^ a . a - - — — A *^^^^^^^^^^^ k ^^ tf ^ 0 ^ A ^^ tf ^ 0 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^*

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      ___ THE NORTHERN STAR . •/ ' - ¦ - " • " ;^ : \ - : -, ; 7

  • Citation
    • Northern Star (1837-1852), May 29, 1841, page 7, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/ns/issues/vm2-ncseproduct381/page/7/