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Northern Star (1837-1852), 11th June 1842, Edition 2 of 5, Page 4, Untitled Article

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    • THE i\ T 0ETHEEN STAK. SATURDAY, JUNE 11, 1842.
    • Co aseattft* tuto Cw^W« 5 *
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      Untitled Article

      IRELAND . ( From The World ' s Correspondents . } Bibb . Th&t zs&L for public good -which has ^ sfc -all times characterised yonr truly patriotic paper , -and your independence in exposing and denooncing ~ fraad and imposition , induce me to indulge a hope that 70 U irill condescend to notice the following commonioation in your next number . I do not exactly faiow what the duty required to be performed by tbe Inspector of weights and measures for this county ifl , bal I doinow this , that as far as regards ihia town , he has a complete sinecure of it , as his visits here are indeed extremely ¦• few and far between" ; not that there ifl no necessity for them , as frauds in weighing and measuring are of ev ; ry day occurrence , and practised irith impunity , to tuck an tXiBEt , as I am sore , would not be tolerated in

      any other town in Ireland , and as I presaae the public are pay-masters of this Inspector © r Sinecarat , it may be permitted to call s-ttention to hifl neglect in performing the ofices required of him for hia -well-paid salary . The tradesmen of this town bare for some time pact been under the necessity of employing a person at tkeir own expence to look "' after these fraudulent practices , and on one occasion this person prosecuted to conviction at Petty Sessions a man "who had sold twelve pounds of potatoes as = a stone . ; the man , however , was only fined in the cost of the summons , by the Magistrates who dispensed . justice on the occasion . In the course cf last week , this person detected three shopkeepers selling milk with illegal aad fraudulent measures , aad hvdng bought some of the milk , took ifc to Mr . Grome ,

      a Hiagistrate , before -whom he measured it "with a standard zneassre , when it was found that in one pint alone it Tranted nearly a n&ggin of the just measurej npov . which Mr . Grome with that promptitude which ¦ distinguishes him in his magisterial capacity , directed the police to summon the parties to the petty sessions on Saturday last , when he and Mr . "Wetberall we e oa the bench . Ine case being called on the latter said he ¦ was of opinion that in order to convict the parties it was necessary that their measures -which were alleged to bs fraudulent should be produced , and tauntingly asked the prosecutor if he expected any portion of the penalty , and said he got a pint of porter tae ' other day himself , and because it carried froih -was he to bummon the persoES selling the porter for fraudulent measure ? Air . Grome coold not see how the case could be more

      clearly established by having the measures present , tban by the coutsc pursued , and asked Mr . 'Wetherell how was that man to produce measures , not being author ' zsd to take them np ? 3 oth , of course , took that view of the ease which their jadgmtnt pointed out to tfcem , bat as opinion is apt to be influenced by circumstances , it might have been the case here , as Sir . Grcme was bating milk while Mr . Wetherell was Belling it . The parties were only need in the costs , being one shilling- Under these circumstances the evil complained of cannot be remedied ; snd as to the Inspector , it is all humbug , the time of his coming being so well known , which is on ] y on the eve of the as ? zfs , when be ifl to be paid , and his arrival is anncuDced from house to honse . And now , sir , is this state of things to be tolerated ?

      CaSTLEbxe . —Michael M'Tigne was fined for having in his possession an illegal weight at the last Petty Sessions . The inspecter stated that he entered the honse of mother M'Tigue to Hiake a seizure , but the mistress kicked np a rumpus , and would not allow tho fnnctionary to interfere . The magistrates directed thst she shcnld be summoned for the obstruction . Tais n . alt « r of using false weights is one of the mo&t shabby and vile crimes in the calendar , and should stamp with perpetual infamy any msn found guilty of it It is in addition a rebbery of the poor , who are at present suffering great hardships . — On Saturday last oatmeal suddenly rose to 16 s . per cwt , and potatoes to old and" 6 d per stona These prices will no doubt increase , and the distress must consequently be great ; for the scarcity of money ,

      and the depression in business of every kind was never more felt . On Friday week an inquest was held before Mr . Katleege , - coroner , and a jury , s . % Skruel , on the body of Mary Marphy , who had been found drowned . A Bister to deceased deposed that having gone out in search of her , she saw her sitting on the bank of the river , near her father's house ; that -ween the deceased saw her she told her at her peril not to speak , but to look and see if any person were , coming ; that when she tamed her head she heard deceased throw herself into the water ; and tiat she was taken np dead by her father and sister . It appeared that the deceased had only been one night , that before her death , in her father ' s house during the three months before . She had been at service . The Biother of

      deceased deposed that going op the 54 th instant to the tons * of a Mrs . Beddingion , in Headford , with whom her diughtei was at service , ahe told her that her daughter hadgtme home with her uncle , and desired her to bring her to the priest , as the did not appear to be steady in her Bind ; that she did bring her to the prk&i , -whso * be eosaplied with her religions duties ; th&ViJie then , biooravbei home , aad that on the next nionuBg she was f jund drowned in tiie river . D .-. O'&iUivaa ; deposed , tha * " from the gangtdiions tsmpeiarsetJ cl the deceased , fee was sure * hs labonred be 3 « tesp ^ rary incaahy when Ehe committed the

      tasn * cf ; Tin Jury found that tiis deceased had drowned herself while labouring under a fit of insanity —A tour special * essions on Pride y , it was resolved unanimoasly . that the salary of Mr . G . Hqgly , the tffident ana highly respectable Governor of the County Gaol , sheuM be raised as high as that of the Governor of the County Galway griion . The Chairman and all the gentlemen present joined ia their praise of the manner in which Mr . Gillogly has discharged the duties of his cfSce . The prison is a pattern cf order and cleanliness , and nnder the management of its present Gxveriior , has not only been the means of punishing vice , but -wkat is far bett ^ r ^ -refarming criminala .

      Fermoy . —It would appear , judging from the present nearly famine prices of provisions ia this ' place , that those dependent on their earnings for suppert , would have teen better off had there been no change of corn or cattle laws . Potatoes , the common necessary of i fe to the poor , have risen within the hst few days from -id . to Si per stone , ^ nd both fluur aad oatmeal have progressed to almost a proportionate extent I am not awara what the scale of doty oa foreign earn is at present , tut every poor man with r . family is daily scq ^ iintcd with toe fact , that bread and every other dp-scription of food were not so dear since the famine of 3 £ 22 , in this yaxt of the country . Eren the milk , which may be thought to keep something of a fixity in j-rice , has risen to nearly double the usual sum . If a reason is asksd for raising the price of ths last , th > 3

      faraiers attribute it to the vast quantities consumed in the poor houses ; thereby implying that the wretched inmatts had never before the luxury of soar milk : Bat wkat can cause the rise in' bread ? Surely ths late legislative measure respecting foreign - corn cannot but tend to cheapen this artie ' e ; and to me tLore appears very little reason to denbt but its high price is owing to ths u-feEling -monopoly of millers aii'i txiktrs . 7 ara wc-il aware that there are many' -who in this waj fi ' . ti . from tfce pr . or man to an exient as criminal in its E-iVcre r . 3 till of the highvayiDan who robs ihe ricl :, and is thereby . egai ' y strangled . Bat 5 u tLe present s * ate of things nothing -would do so well for 113 as th- . of s . 3 Lowest oppositionist who -s-ould sell at a fair ir > £ t . tad if fiuch srarted in Ferajoy hs wcu ^ ., ere iujg , £ . iid it a ptoStibls spec .

      DrN < .-AHvoN . —A man , James Birney , wss fl-. ed ten j X-ounas D > thr ; Msgislratts presiding at the Petty S ^ st-- > ii * 5 here , vii Sa ' . uiday last , for keeping unr £ -gi ! -U-re ! l ' ares , aad for glvisg a loaded pistol to a person ti' / . ed '< D 2 . TJ Power , who whiwt labouring unoer thj icilaance of intoxicating liquor threatened tu shc . t ^ ne of ids sisierj . Gii- "WAT . —Splendid weather is filling " our neigh-1 bouri >» d with * 2 : t--wa * er folks in pursuit cf health and i pleature . Ktariy all the bathing lodges have been i tiken , and the tenants spend the day in the usual salu- j tary ablutions fo'lowed by a Emart walk or a diive on j tb- ? shore , or make a pic-nic party to visit some choice ( laEiisCjpe m the vicinity , and the evening is devoted ' to the cultivation of the btst of gocd fellowship t-e- ; tween taa visiting ttraagirs and the aboriginal Gil- ¦ wegiaas .

      A Stb . a > -g _ i > Salt-watek Yisiter . —For the last two yesrs a hiaeoua aquatic monster , resembling in op- ; pearas . ee % horse , though * bont three times the szri . ha >> been rasgicg cur bay to the infinite terror of the fsLermrn , so . iie of wbo 3 e boats be bad the audacity to attack . In cor . seqaence cf haviug made thu 3 free with Piiot Eost No . 2 , I understand that war was proclaimed against him , and a p * ny consisting of several respbetable townsmen with eight men launched a vessel well provided with arms of all kinds , aud set out in pursuit of him . About half a milo from the town they found

      him q-aieily basking 03 a rock , esioyirig tberajs of z meridian sun , but a round of bullets dislodged him from Disposition , and the fellow sunk . Soon , however , he made his reappearance , and set sail for the boat , where he got a hot reception ; six spears were sunk in -him , ana bs much powder and shot blown into bib carcase as might fntnish 5 mag ; . sine ,. but it W 3 S all fun to him . Airtffcnts to secure him were fruitless , as he broke Bpesrs and ropes with as much ease as a child ¦ would snap a piece cf fliitn thread ia twain . His length is abaci thirty feet .

      LiHEBlCK . —The Bev . Mr . Mathew passed through here on Monday tr . rovie to Thomistown , after a most jsaccessfnhtcur among tee natives of Clare . He never sppeared in better health and spirits . Labour that would bew down almost any other man appears esly to give additional vigour to his frame and elasticity to his zr . iEd . He preached on Sunday at Miitown Malbay , wcere he contributed the Bum of £ 20 tewards the election cf the chapel in that secluded and by no meauB tfiieni : district Ee distributed large sums in other T ° --. mt--s . He left Thomastown for t ^ e county "VYicklow ,

      having arranged to adns ; uift ? r the p ! ed ^ 3 the ¦ wild and ehanniBg scenery of Glcndalough , -en Friday He has rereitiy raceiT&d a piessing icvitatiori from BriltiTsy . in Franco ,, " to conv = y the blesrlcgs cf the Teu ; perinc < cause into that country . He bo 3 also received a prtsrnginvitation f .-c ^ i 2 , 010 ladies in Ediabnr £ h to begin the mission ia the' capital cf Scotland ; bai ' if 4 ? £ bon % he cannot release hi : aself , even for a sb ^ rt ! i ms , f .-om the labours imposed u ) J ^ 3 him in Irel » nd , and tint he must decline these tru maay other invl ^ taons of a like nature , which he has been favoured triii frooi time to tiice .

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      Sligo . —A quarrel having taken place here on Saturday sight last between a few young lads , four of them , about four o ' clock on the Sunday morning , to avoid the police who were in pursuit of them , took a boat aad went up Loch GilL The vestal sunk , and melancholy to relate , three of them named Morrican , White , and Conolly , "were drowned . The remaining person , whose name ia O'Malley , and who , ifc fleema , waa the original cause of the disaster , escaped . The provision market ia Sligo , has greatly advanced . Meal , instead of 12 s . is 14 s . per 112 lbs ., and potatoes , which were selling at-3 d . a stone , are now 5 d . In the county Donegal , farmers and country gentlemen are buying oats for their horses , out of the corn mer

      chants' stores . There was some desperate rieting here , from ths determination of some ef the inhabitants to prevent potatoes being brought out of it , for sale to towns in the county Leitrim . Several Backs of meal and potatoes were ripped , tend the food put to loss . One man , the ringleader of the mob , who presented a pistol at the police , has been arrested , and is to be tried at the Quarter Sessions . Forestalling is at present indictable at common law , and any person found guilty of this offence is liable to fine and imprisonment . A forestaller is described to be one who buys , or causes to be bought any merchandise , victuals , or other things whatasever , coming by land or water towards any market or fair , to be sold in the same , &c

      Thubxes . —The store house of Mr . Hickey was broken open on Wednesday night by some ruffians and a quantity of potatoes stolen therefrom . By the by oar poor house is not open yet , although the several officers are appointed for the last three months Whether they are under pay or not , I don't know ; ¦ but what matter , Beeing that our Poor Law Commissioners can drive in their carriages to levees and drawing rooms , and our contractors turn bankers and foxhunters , while the poor are half-starving sans employment , with potatoes at sixpence a stone . There is a great rivalship here for the last -week between two millers aa to who will make the biggest loaf—among them be it—says the piper . [ " Who will Bell the cheapest , " would be a better study . }

      Untitled Article

      THE EDITOR OF THE "NORTHERN STAR TO HIS READERS . Mr Fkiknds , —I Btep , for once , out of the ordinary course of things—from behind the carfcaiu of Editorial seclusion—to speak familiarly and freely to yon , in my own proper person , npon subjects of vast import to your own interests , and those of our common country . I seek not to "dictate" nor to"denounce , " but , as one of yourselves , I claim the right of speech ou what may affect oar common interests ; as one whose peculiar position and circumstances have given him thebenefit of more experience and better opportunities for observation of the many subterfuges , the deep

      cunning , and the reckless wickedness of faction than most of you , I may advise npon the course of action which , in my judgment , given circumstances cause to be right and necessary , or wrong and inexpedient ; and I ask not for my opinions and advice thus tendered any greater amount of deference or respectful consideration than is due to them on their own merits . I seek not to earn a reputation , " but to be useful . I have spent in active exertions for our common good , according to the best knowledge I possess , nearly a full half of the whole term of my natural existence . I have been a public man , well known to many of you for many years before the rising of the Star ; I have siaee that time held the most serious and important station of any in our whole movement ; you have to some extent evinced your sense and judgment of the manner in which I have there acquitted myself by makingthe Northern Slar , coder my government , what a national organ of democracy should be , —a terror to enemies of right , whether avowed or concealed , and a rallying point of -onion for yourselves . For so much of your favourable estimation as I have thus received I feel gratefnl ; regarding it not aa a boon of grace and

      fiivour , but 83 the due appreciation of exertions which were seen to have been honest and consistent , however feeble or impotent they may have been . I ask only from you that my advice and counsel may have dispassionate and calm attention ; that you will read and weigh it carefully ; remembering tha : it comes from one whom you know to have served you faithfully and fearlessly , and whom the bitterest tongue of calumny has never yet charged with political delinquency .

      The matter to -which . I think it necessary to call your serious attention , in the first instance , is the condition of the country and the position of the Chartiet cause . The condition of the country is , at this present time such as it never was before ; at all events , in my time . The fearful fruits of the fell Upas Tree , Class Legislation , are being gathered in an awfal harvest . Ruin ranges over the entire surface of the land ; famine fellows in its foot-steps ; and death , the consequence of destitution , clears out many a cottage . Under guch circumstance it is not surprising that

      the wasting life should lose its patience , and that hungry bellies should incite angry speeches and threatenings of vengeance . I can readily conceive the mockery of preaching patience and forbearance to a starving man . I can readily conceive the loathing of contempt , if not of rage , with which the smirking , smooth , wait-a-while doctrines of the man -who 3 e " cake is buttered" must fall upon the ear of him who sees his children perishing before him and has no mean 3 of helping them . Yet even to these , in their worst state of excitement and distress , I would address the language of friendly remonstrance , of kindly entreaty

      and of brotherly affection . 1 would bid them to remember thai they know the cause whence all ' . heir sufferings flow—they know the means whereby aloae a remedy may be afforded ; and I would entreat them by the very sense of woe and suffering —by their love of life , of honour , of children and of country , and our cause , not to rush into the lion ' s mouih of despotism ; n ;> k to throw back for an indefinite period , the chance of that amelioration which the growing greatne 33 of our cause brings every day and after every prudent effort , nearer to us ; but which 0 fl £ fabe , fatal , step may do mnch to render unattainable for many years .

      I entreat , especially , the Chartist body to be careful , that while they preclnde the possibility of any desperate acts , to which starvation and oppression m 3 y drive men , in some localities , from being fixed , by the injurious casuistry of faction , npon them , they to this end be careful to repress the unwise rage for declamation , which is but too apt to amuse itself by raising a storm , before which those who have striven to produce it are usually the first to flinch and seek a hiding-place . I think it is especially necessary to give this cautun to you now ; because I learn that , in some portions of the country ,

      big talkers are abroad , and that in other parts , active marks of discontent are manifested ; not to be wondered at certainly , but much to be deplored . This is a state ot things the factions are delighted with ; they have striven hard to produce it ; they will try every meaus for " nursing" it , until it shall have served the purpose of more firmly rivetting the chains of slavery , which they thus make their victims to forge for themselves . The free traders , the Corn Law Repeal crew , the meroiful middle-class converts to half Chartism at half-past the eleventh hour , have been lone seeking so to

      work upon the passions of the suffering people as to cause them to forget their prudence and to risk collision with the trained bands of power . Their incendiary placards , pamphlets , and lecturers have been scattered through the country ; wherever suffering was most severe , the ** pedlars" have been busy with their knives ; every effort has been made to lacerate the feelings and to introduce the foul virus of physical resistance through the wounds . Hitherto they have failed ; you- have laughed alike at their hypocrisy and malice until now ; let them not now raise over vou the fiendish laugh of exultation !

      Let us for Heaven ' s sake have no more Newport , Sheffield , and Bradford exhibitions ; no more Shells , Fsosts , Claptons , and Pzdpies , to be victimized , without service to the cause . In last week ' s Northern Star , you had the report sent here by some person , of a camp meeting at Ciithero , heW on Sunday , at which la&guago had been holden sf a

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      character most dangerous to the cause and most discreditable-to the speakers , some of whom at least are men from whom better things might have been expected . See the use that is made of this meeting by the factious press . The following is the brief notice of it given by the Manchester Gfttardian . " Chakbisx Camp Meetings . —On Sunday last , there waa another very large meeting held on Enfield Moor , near Blackburn , to consider the next steps to be taken , in order to obtain the

      People s < Jbarter . Many persons present are said to have had fire-arms . A . person named Marsden , from Bolton , one named TattersaU , and others , addressed the people in extremely violent language . Marsden declared that they all meant to obtain arms , march up to Buckingham Palace , and demand the Charier . If the Queen granted it , well ; but if not , they would know how to use their arms ; and he HOPED EVERY MAN WOULD GET BKADF BY THEIR NEXT MEETING . TATTERSALL WAS EVEN

      MORE VIOLENT THAN THE ABOVE . Now , friendB , I do not quote this as taking the statements of the Guardian for gospel , but to show you the necessity of taking care that those who , at a juncture like the present , are admitted to the position of leaders and guides among you ; made publie speakers , and thus enabled , if unchecked , to compromise your whole body by their folly , should be men of prudence and discretion , as well as men who have a sincere attachment to our principles , and who are able to make a Bpeecb . As I last week counselled you , so I now implore you , cast from you the big talkers , or cause them to become sensible that you are not reckless fools , if they be . I do not know that this language was used by Mabsdeh , or that Tatxebsall was " even

      more violent than this ; " I know only that the Manchester Guardian says so , and that the honest Chartist who sent the report of the meeting to last week ' s Star , says also that much violent language was used , and that many speeches wore made and heard , whioh would have been much better repressed , and which he therefore very properly suppressed in his report . Let not , therefore , Messrs . Marsden and

      Tattebba ll , consider themselves "denounced" by these representations ; they best know whether the Guardian has belied them . I hope it has . But in any case I use the allegations of the Guardian , not as adopting them for the purpose of ' ¦ *• denouncing " these individual men , but in illustration and support of the general position that all such foolish and mischievous vagaries should be discountenanced and promptly put an end to by the people . As a further illustration of the mischief of such conduct , see the use the Guardian makes of it in its very next words : —

      " On the same day there was also a camp held near Failsworth ; about 1 , 500 persons attended . Leach , and another man from Manchester , with several persons from Oldham , addressed the audience ; but the language was mild compared with t > at of the speakers near Blackburn ; some of the speakers contended that they had as good a right to hold political camp meetings on a Sunday as other parties had to hold religious meetings . " Now , I know , and you all know enough of Leach to feel satisfied that wherever he was there would be

      no such folly ; yet the insinuation of the Guardian is that the language of this meeting , though not quite so violent aa the other was still most violent and unbearable . It was " mild compared with that of the speakers near Blackburn , " Thus are we all liable to be compromised , and our cause endangered by the freaks of of every mad fool whom the people permit to . amuse them with " thetale of an idiot , full of sound and fury , " instead of seeking to bend their sober , earnest , and unremitting efforts , to the establishment of our principles where they are not known , and the enforcement of them on the rational attention of all .

      From letters and rumours which have reached me , I have thought it necessary thus gravely and seriously to point to your attention the precipice , which , if you approach it , will inevitably destroy you . I am but one man . I have but one voice . But whilst I have power to lift that voice , or the means of at all communicating with my fellow-men , I never will see them sacrificed without warning . I will , so far as my admonitions may be heeded , guard them alike , to the best of my judgment , from the dangers which might arise from an excess of zeal , an excess of apathy , or an

      ill-directed movement on their own part , as well as from the open attacks of faction , or the more disguised and insidious ones of those among their own ranks , who seek personal distinction at the hazard of the public safety . Again , then , I implore you , do not sacrifice yourselves , and sell the cause , by any mad freak of violence or indiscreet use of language , such as that intimated to have been used near Blackburn . You will , of course , do as you please ; but let the issue be as it may be , I shall know that I have done my duty in thus faithfully admonishing and emphatically warning you .

      And now for a word on another subject . With the lessons of experience ,- and of the most ordinary common sense before you , it would be aa insult to attempt a demonstration that our objeot , the establishment of civil liberty and honest policy , can be effected by violence . Peacefulness and unanimity is that alone by which we can hope to succeed . By unanimity , I do not mean that we should all think perfectly alike on every subject , or indeed on any subject , for that is a moral impossibility ; but that we should be disposed heartily ind seriously to lend our united energies towards the great point of carrying the Charter ; that to this all other matters should

      be made subservient , and that for this purpose we should , in the excellent words of the address of the Executive , given in this day's Star , " cultivate the best feelings of democratic friendship . Our political Association should be a United Brotherhood , among whom , quarrels , dissensions , strife , or malice , should be unknown . In their conduct , the most strict sobriety should be observed , and it ought to be the most pleasing duty of Chartists to aid each other in distress , to rally round and protect each other from persecution and injury , and an insult or wrong inflicted on one , should be regarded as a deep injustice to all .

      M To their advocates , those who axe foremost in danger , and whose patriotic exertions are the mainstay of the movement ; the people should extend the best feeh ' ngs of favour and affection , and at all times Chartists should be slow to condemn men whose lives have been devoted to the cause , and who have given in many good and virtuous actions , patriotic and positive proofs of their political integrity . "

      I never read words with whioh I more heariily concurred than I do with every one of these . I lay before you the whole tenour of my publio life , more especially since I became Editor of the Northern Star ; and I challenge any of you to point out any instance in which this has not been my practice ; doing me the justice only to view things in whole and not to separate a single expression or transaction from the circumstances to which it immediately related , and with which it was of necessity connected . I seek only , without assumlDg any undue importance to myself , that the

      like conduct should be manifested towards me . The Executive truly state it to be the duty of the people to " protect all their advocates from persecution ., misrepresentation , and wrong . " I fully accede to the truth of this position ; and as it is laid down with the purpose of churning the protection of the people against me , I shall so far retort it as to presume upon my right to rank amongst those who have to the best of their judgment and ability , " advocated" the people ' s cause . I seek not protection against persecution , for I am able

      to protect myself ; and the only protection against misrepresentation and wrong , that I require is that the people will look at the whole facts of the case stated in complaint , and give upon these facts their honest judgment . That , as a public servant , I have a right to demand at their hands j and that I do demand . I demand that they should look at the whole circumstances of my position 5 that they should consider fairly the treatment I have received j and the spirit I have evinced , and theniell me honestly and like men whether they Lbinfe J iiave

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      done my duty , or havo deserved the abuse which has recently been heaped upon me . I ask them , 1 say , to look at the whole facts of the case . The Executivo complain and say that they •' allude with considerable pajn to the hostiUts ^ which the ^ Editor of the Northern Star has shown to ; one of their members . " Now this obliges me again , and for the last time , to adduoe the whole facts of this matter . That member of the Executive and Mr . O'Bbibn are the only two men who during a very long pablio life have succeeded in fastening upon me a public quarrel with men of like principles to my own . And how has this been done 1 I have a tight now to

      demand that the people should look at the whole case . The Executive admit that they are" fairly open to fair criticism "—that their " public documents , recommendations , and actions are fair game for : public approval , discussion , or condemnation ;" while at the same time they complain of the hostility which the Editor of the Northern Star has shewn to one of their members . Now when and where did this hostility begin ! and how has it been manifested 1 The Executive ought to" have stated this ; they do not state it ; and , therefore , I must . Up to the 12 th of last March , I had seen nothing in the publio documents , rec ^ mmenations , or actions of the

      Executive , either as a publio body , or in their separate and individual capacity , -which , in my judgment , waa likely to do anything for the damage or retarding of our cause . Whatever " criticism , " therefore , had been exercised by me , had been , up to that period , commendatory . I received , during that week , reports of the Bath conferenfiesj at which one member of the Executive h ^ d taken apopitionwhich I believed , and do still believe , to be an unwise position—a position calculated to do damage to the cause ; and

      believing this , I said so . I said it , not in such language as that member of the Executive has used towards me 1 ; but in mild and respectful terms , in terms whioh no man can say were not those of fair criticism . Surely it will not be contended that the conduct of the parties to the Bath conferences was not a fait ; subject for the expression of opinion ; j and surely it wilt not be contended , that what I said upon it was anything more than the expression of opinion , and that , too , in very modest terms . Here is every word which I did say : —

      " We refer with great pain to the prpceeo'ing 3 of the Conference at Bath , between the Sturge Declaration men and some leading Chartists of that city . We , respect Vincent for his seal , hia talent , ana his suffering in the cause , as highly as we regpeot anytnan ; we believe him to be thoroughly honest and well-intentioned , but we cannot but regret the position he has taken in this business . Still more do we regret ti ) see joined with him Mr . Philp , a member of the

      People ' s Executive . Doubtless these gentlemen give the new converts to Complete Suffrage credit for a large amount of honesty and sincerity . We cannot do so ; and we fear , if the people should be led into any general countenance of the steps taken by these gentlemen , that the error will not be found to be less fatal for haying been an amiable one . Oiioe more we tell the people they must keep right on , swerving neither to the right hand nor to the left , or they will be' used , 'left , and laughed at . "

      Here , in this little extract , is the whole root and foundation of all the raving that we have had ever since about "dictation" ! and ¦ . denunciation ? . ' ! The next week resolutions of the people strongly con * demning that member of the Executive , and calling upon him to resign his seat forthwith , were poured in from almost all quarters , I gave one of them as a sample , andkept out all the rest ; merely naming the places from which I had received them . I then , in returning toa consideration of the subject , made these remarks :

      " We repeat , as we said last week , that we respect these men for the : talent and the zeal they have hitherto manifested in the people ' s cause ; we respect some of them for the sufferings they have endured in the cause ; but we cannot in this case compliment their judgment . We doubt not that they err from the excess of their anxiety to seize every opportunity of making converts to the Charter , and from their readiness to estimate the motives of others by their own , and so to give the middle-class Sturge men full credit for sincerity in their profession of Universal Suffrage principles : they suppose them to be sincere in wishing for Universal Suffrage , and that , therefore , they can easily persuade them into the adoption of the other points of the Chartei . We

      think them much mistaken ; and we still opine that their error will not be found mnch . less fatal for being amiable . We feel some little difficulty in finding out the plane upon which the amiable principles of our friends operate . We are at a loss ' to know bow they discover , in this •• Declaration * any distinct and unequivocal recognition of the principle of Universal Suffrage ; and if that recognition were even palpable , we are astonished that they , some of whom have suffered so much from middle-class treachery to principle heretofore , can have so simple a dependency on their adherence to principle now . We find in Mr . Philp ' s speech , at the Conference , as reported by himself , the following sentiment : —•

      " But suppose the worst—that the middle-classes were not honest ;—that they signed this declaration as a false pretence ;—could they ever again Bit in jury boxes and convict us as traitors and conspirators tor contending for that principle which they themselves had declared in black and white to be the right of the people ?' " Now , surely , Mr ; Philp must have forgotten , in the jjoodnass of his heart , the experience of all the last fiye years . Who have been the most forward in the Jury boxes , and on the bench , to convict and sentence Chartists 1 Have they not been the very parties who have , over and over again , in the Reform Bill agitation , testified to , and contended for , the very same principle—the principle that representation should be co-extensive with taxation . "

      Now , I ask of every reader of the Northern Star , to read these two paragraphs , quoted from the Star of the 12 th and the 19 th of March , and say whether they contain anything more than fair criticismwhether they contain a single word at which any man ought to be offended- ^ whether there is anything in . them of " abuse "—any thing of "declamation "—anything of "dictatorship ' —anything of " assailing the characters of others to elevate " myself by their downfall" ! Yet these were the paragraphs which constituted my "hostility" ! to Mr . Philp , and to which that gentleman replied

      in his next Vindicator by a long tissue of declamation about the " dictatorship of the Editor of the Northern Star , " by declaring for * ' independence of thought and of action" 1 The whole paragraph was given in last week's Star , and may be referred to again . But I beg that , even now , my readers will read all that I said about this gentleman . I have given it every word above , and then read with ' -. 'It the following sentences from Mr . Phixp ' s reply , and say , if it was worth my while to complain , who should be the man to call out for "fair criticism . "

      " But there are some mixed up with Chartism , to its prejudice and injury , big in self-esteem ; who , having imperfectly learned the alphabet of politics , premme to speak its language . Such men are but drags upon the wheel of human progression ; their adoration is of mbn , not of principles ; their disoeurees ABUSE AND DECLAMATION * not A KG U MEN T . They seek to ® arn a reputation ; and not having the ability to Rain a People ' s esteem , for tnemselves , they assail the characters of others , that they may ba elevated by their downfall . * * " I labour zealously to advance the cause of Chartism , but I am not to be turned from my path by every mushroom thai starts up in tiny way . " * * * u Let tne not be viewed through the darkened medium of other men ' s thick heads and black hearts * ' {

      I have not even added to this the italics and capital letters ; they are all Mr ; Philp ' s own , just as he printed them in the Vindicator . This , and the article of last week , is all the editorial notice I have ever taken of this gentleman . To that article I . now refer my readers ; it is top long to be given over again , but I beg that , in justice to mej it may be read over again ; that along with it Mr . Philp ' s letter may be read , and see whether the letter does not justify the article , and whether after all these things are fairly looked at , the Executive have any right , admitting their own acts to be fit subjects for't fair critcism , " to find fault with my "hostility towards one of their body . "

      Now ibr the other matter of " denunciation" and "hostUity . " On the second of April , the . Birmingham Conference began , and on the following Saturday I announced my intention of waiting for the official report of its proeeadings upon which to found my commentary . 2 t&oeived that official

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      report the week following , and on it I founded an article , which stands in the Star of the 16 th of that month . I found from ; the report that Mr . O'Bbiew had been Bomewhat prominent in the Conferernce ; thing 8 weTe set down for him which I thought unwise and inc » nsi 8 tent in Mr . O'Brien . I was very careful in every place where I quoted any thing from the report abont Mr . O'Bhien , to give everytning about him-revery word Set dovm for him . In no case did I alter a word , in no cas did I leave out a word of any speech of Mr . 0 'Bribn ' s in that report upon which I commented . I did

      not in any one case take simply the words that I objected to , but in every instance gave the whole speech as it appeared ia the report . ( And after all the bluster about that report being an incorrect one , I have since seen a pamphlet containing the official report of ' - ' \ ; iliiai ^ : vCpnferene € ) f - and which report I have reason to know had been sent to Mr . O'Brien with a request that he would make any alterations or corrections he might deem necessary , in his own speeches . It was verbatim with the one upon which my article was founded !) The proceedings of this conference were

      most important to our cause . I had a strong opinion upon them , as I have upon the whole Stuboe movement . Haying that opinion , I should have been dishonest in the extreme to withhold it from you . I should have deserved your execration , if I had seen you led into what I believed tobe a trapdeliberately laid for you , without telling you my thoughts about it . I did bo ; and in doing it I found myself compelled to disagree with the opinions and % poiicy of Mr . O'Bbibk . I expressed that disagreement in the most guarded and respectfnl terms- —terms which I imagined could not be construed as offensive' by any man . Here is what I said on the

      matter :: — - : i- " -v- : ¦ - > - '¦>¦ ¦'• ¦ ¦ ' ¦¦ ' -: •' . ¦ . '¦ ' . ¦ : ¦'¦ * I'he Conference has been held ; and though Mr . O'Brien is represented as having expressed himself highly delighted with its proceedings , and as having said that " when he entered that Conference be expected to meet with men who would admit their principle in wholesale , and . fritter it away in detail ; but his suspicions had proved groundlessT- ( cheers ) . He had never been in any society—composed even exclusively of working men—in which he . had found the democratic spirit more thoroughly developed '—a

      careful reading of the whole report compels : us , notwnhstanding our deference to Mr . O'Brien ' s judgmeat , to adhere still to that Which we had previously formed of this whole movement ; and to regard the very circumstances to which we have , no donbt Mr . O'B . referred , as the ground of his satisfaction , as so much additional evidence that the whole thing is a device of the enemy , and that insincerity is stamped upon its every feature . We repeat that we are able to discover in the whole movement , of which this Conference is the most prominent and distinguishing feature / and in the conclusions and resolutions come to by the Conference itself , no purpose save one , —

      which is the exact converse of the one avowed ; no evidence but that of deeply-concealed 'hostility and Well-covered treachery , to the great cause of democratic rule ,: for the success of which so much appearance of anxiety is manifested . We of course intend not that these strictures shall apply personally to each , or any , member of the conference . That there were there those to whom they are most strictly applicable , and who will feel their truth , we verily believe ; and that there were there those who , like O'Brien and others recognised as Chartist leaders ,. * hoped all things" out of fervent , charity , and were therefore indisposed

      "To pry too nicely ' neath a specious seeming , " we can have no doubt . " I then proceeded to examine into the acts and sayings of the Conference , as given in the report before me , and concluded my survey of those acts and sayings with the following paragraph : —¦ - " What then is the conclusion forced upon the mind by all these proceedings taken as a whole ! The avowed object of these men is the uniting of the whole energies of the whole people ; and particularly

      the uniting of the middle and working classes ; and the ; prosecute this object by a means which can have no other effect than that of breaking up , as fax as it may be successful , the union oi the workingg classes already established ; This may be sufficient to prove to Mr . O'Brien that his suspicions of the Sturgeite ' s were groundless * ; we acknowledge , however much we may regret to dissent from his opinion , that upon our mind it has worked a conclusion exactly the reverse of this . "

      Here , then , yon have the whole sum , substance , and amount of my denunciation" of Messrs . Philp and O'Bbien , about which tnose two men haye been permitted , ever since , to keep the whole country in a ferment ; for which , from tVem and their friends , every epithet of opprobrium the language can afford has been unsparingly applied to me in all sorts of ways : — "liar , "" wilfulliar ^'" villain /'" assassin , " " hypocrite , " " slanderer , " " trickster , " and a string of such like epithets as long as would fill a column of this paper , might I believe be picked out of the ravings of these parties and their friends on account of the "denunciation" (!) contained m the Paragraphs which I have here laid fairly before you .

      And to crown all | the Executive now think it necessary , in their yalediotory address , to join the crusade against the "denunciations " and " unfair criticisms" of the Northern Star , and to claim the protection of the people for Mr . Philp as one of their body . It does not seem to occur to the Exeoutive that the " denunciation" of Mr . Philp , in the last week ' s S ( ar ± was a , necessary consequence of his own conduct ; they seem to think that Mr . Philp , or Mr . O'Bbien , or Mr . Everybody-else should have a right to use every sort of coarse indecency of language in reference to the Northern Star , and to heap upon its conductor every possible amount of indignity and falsehood , while he should do nothing but praise them in return' !

      The great card , however , of the Executive's complaint of ill-treatment aa a body is , the information contained in last week ' s $ tar , that I have frequently altered the phraseology of their official documents to prevent their liability to prosecution . The Executive are most virtuously and valorously indignant about this ; and demand the tight of correcting their own documents , and answering for their own ignorance and criminal omissions , to the people and not to me . I should certainly like it much better if they would take the trouble of reading the plan of organization , so that their

      documentsshould not need correction . As to their being answerable to the people for their incorrectness , they might perhaps get over that a little easier than the Proprietor of the Northern Star might chance to get over answering to the Government for making his paper the official organ of an illegal association . While the interests of the Northern , StarntQ in my hands , I shall consider them identical with those of the cause , and I shall not suffer them to he jeopardized by the ignorance or carelessness of any man or body of men whatever . ¦ - /¦ - ' ; ' , ' ¦ - ¦ .. - ¦ .. '¦¦

      A few words will , I think , set this sufficiently at rest , and show the people that the big talk of the Executive about my taking liberties with their documents , is very innocent big talk after all . I never made an alteration which could have the slightest effect upon the sense of any document from the Executive ; that they know very well . I never but once had occasion to dissent from the apparent sense or purport of any of their documents ; and I then did what they say is my duty to do . I printed it entire , with my own respectful suggestions concerning it . But it has frequently happened , as it does this week , that I receive from the Executive a long and important document by the last post before going to press ; there is no time to send it back for

      correction , and to point out the alterations necessary to be made . It is necessary for the publio cause that the document should be printed that week , and yet , upon examining it , I have found perhaps a word here and there which , if aoized upon by the Axtok " NEy-GKNEBAL , would bring both the Executive and the Northern Star within the operation of the Corresponding Societies' Act ; and : m these . castes I have made such - necessary verbal alterations as I knew would keep us safe . I shall alwaya do it , whatever Executive may bo in office . I -have done it this very week . In their address which appears in this paper , they style themselves in sever * 1 places of the copy which came here , the Exeoutive M Council" of the 1 National Charter Aesociation . There is no puch body aB

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      the Execntive "Council" in the National Char ter Association ; and I am amazed thaj Messrs . Leach and Campbell , who were members of the delegate meeting , to the e * pence of which the country yna put for the puj . pose of having the organization legalized , shoulj have forgotten the long discussion npon ' this Ver ? point , on which it was thought most difficult t « steer clear of the mieshes of the law . The plan cf organization , if they lad read it , must have shown them that the Executive is not »

      Council It is a Committee , selec ' ed froia , and appointed by , the General Council fo , transacting the exeoqtive business of the Assbciv tion . Now in the case of this address , then , I had no alternative but to " alter" this e * pression , or to omit its insertion . Which do th « Executive , and which do the people consider to be the preferable course !; And yet this is the whole matfer about whioh the Executive pro . test so very indignantly against my " presuniption ''! and appeal to the people whether they are to be res . ponsible to them or to me ! All I can say on the

      matter is , that I hope the next Executive will giTe me less trouble in this respect , by reading the plan of organisatiori , before they sit down U the duties of their office , and thus enabling them , selves to produce their documents in accordance with it . At all events , and in aiiy case , I cai assure the present , and every future Executive , that to whomsoever they may hold themselves to be responsible , I shall hold myself ^ responsible for tha legal accuracy of whatever appears in the Northern Star , so long as the estate and person of its pro . prietor are left without any other protection that my watchfulness .

      And now to bring this long letter to a close . It is my turn to demand , not protection , but an expreg sion of opinion from the people , it seems to have become the fashion to " to run-a-muok" against . the Northern Star . ¦' ;! desire to know whether this be in accordance with the people's wish . The Northern Star has been how under my management fm

      nearly five . years . During all that time th people know whether it has ever shrunk from its post ; whether it has ever shrunk from principle ; or veered a pin ' s point , from the first direction of its compass . I demand that the people shall look over the columns of the Northern Star , and tell me whether they approve of ih& bluster about the "dictation" and the " denut .

      ciation" of the Northern Slur t which is now so fashionable ? I desire them to look at ti « plain facts of the case ; to examine the specimens of " dictation" and of " denunciation" which I han given them in this letter ; ( and I defy any maa living to produce from the columns of the Northern Star an allusion to any Chartist leader leas respectful in its terms than those I have adduced ; unless it may have been in reply to some tissue of abuse ); to remember that these fair and kindly criticisms , instead of being received in the

      spirit so eloquently recommended by the Executive , " with the best feelings of democratic friendship , " have called forth hot , waspish replies ; full of rancour and misrepresentation ; and sometimes foil o ( offensive ribaldry ; that these replies have invariably represented me as an overbearing " dictator ; " « " a man with a thick head and a black heart ; " as " a mushroom springing ; np in the path" of the giants of Chartism , against whom my criticisms have been fulminated ; as " a liar f " an assassin ;" " a villain , * " " a ruffian j" a " cowardly hypocrite !" If I refuse insertion to these violent replies ,

      to fair criticism and friendly remark , I am then ? ' denounced " ' Vas ; . taking an unfair advantage of mj position to destroy men ' s characters , without giving them an pppporiunity for reply . If I inisert them , and point out , and prove , their falsehoods , and mis * representations , I am then accused of " denunciation , " the whole matter which called forth my reply for my . own defence is convenientij kept out of sight ; and at the next meeting to which an orator presents himself , you are told how shamefully the Northern Star has beea ¦ ' denouncing" the good men and true of the

      movement ! ; . - ; ; . {¦ ¦ y •; . - " - . ; ; . . - . ¦ . ; -. . ; . ; Now I have no opportunity of attending public mdetings in various places to make speeches to you , and work upon your passions . My time is fully becupied in attending to your interests here . I am told that an orator in Manchester , on Sunday , threatened , in the ardour of his zeal , that" if he were denounced , he would travel through the world and to the gates of hell , but he would drag the accuser forth . " I have no such fiery inclination ;

      and if I had , I have ho opportunity ol indulging it ; and that , the braggersabout public meetings know very well . I am anxious to do what service I can for the people ; and , in spite of til these little breezes , I always shall do so . I think I am in that position in which I can do it more effectually than I could in any other . So long as I continue to hold that position , I shall do my duty to the people , honestly , fearlessly , and consistentlj , as I always have done . I shall neither flatter their prejudices , nor allow them to be led into

      danger without raising an alarm . But , though like Mr . P hilp , I declare for " independence , " I should yet be glad to know , positively , and by then own statement , from the people , whether , in tlia almost five years that I have served them in my present National capacity , I have deserved to be made the butt of universal attack ; and of so much " misrepresentation and wrong" as has latterly fallen to mj share , I demand , as an act of justice andof right , thjl

      the whole of the Chartist body wherever the Northern Star lis known , shall register and transmit to me by resolution , their opinion , honestly and feirlj given , of its merits ; and that they shall stats distinctly whether they consider it and me wortlj of their confidence , and will support me in puttinj an end , now and for ever , to this Bystem of " denttaoiatioa and abuse . " With the same fervour of attachment to tfe cause of liberty and truth which has always act ? ' atedme , ' ; , ¦ ¦ ' ' ¦ /'¦ " ' : " : : ; : \ ¦ : . ¦ ' •¦•¦ ¦' ¦ ¦ . '¦¦ . . I ain » ¦ ¦ ' ' . ' ' . " ¦ - . '¦¦ ; - " '¦ ' . Friends , Yours faithfully , Willuh Hiu <

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      Wiluam Clark suggests that an explication m justification of Chartist policy at the last gew ? election , was a fit subject for the pen pj /»• O'Connor , of some other talented wntet . ' think the subject has been expatiated on r » sufficient for all parties to understand "L T ^ who are determined to misrepresent it , tew * whatever may be said . ^ to David Wbioht . —To his first question " >«* % „ *' answer , that scores of letters for Mr . U w » have been receivedhere andforwarded ! f / ufltt his may be among them or not we do mJ" fl ' To thesecond ' question wesay , that toe stWr * - ^ milidous and wicked Uei originate with wm » .

      mag . But Mr . &C . would certain /^' not . w . secute" the parties . His letter in comment wr a paragraphfrom an Aberdeen Corresponaen ^ our last , could do him nogopdifpnntea ^ merely repeats what the pardgrap ^ sl ^ mv ;¦ :- " have said at the meeting in question' we can therefore occupy space withfc-. f . _ a , A Pupii . Leeds , must read his ninth lesson , W r " BfteenLess < m » % o ; ;' : , J . ¦ ¦ y Eoctes Chabtists — We are at or loss to *« f » J theycan have read any arlwle m last w ¦ -

      Star , so as to construe it into an eu ^ . .. ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ : Executive , Certainly ' nothing *<* £ »™ J . n -... our intention than i * attack the ^™^ whom as a body we have always spokeii n ^ and we do not now need or purp ^ fJo ^^ one iota of the many commendations **» # thought it our duty to «^ ^ iT . «» nevJr do thus speak of any ^^^ Y % without knowing that it is weUV ^^ L ^ believe none but our Eccles fnendsw - ««^ us of having had : any pumseiejw , ^ Executive in the estimation of ^ & % ?\ U 0 " cancel their fitiiess for office ; f ^ . ^^ 1 quite sure that if they read the last *** . ^ ¦ ¦ & again , thty will see that **<» ^ ^ justice . : ¦ ¦ ' : '

      The I\ T 0etheen Stak. Saturday, June 11, 1842.

      THE i \ 0 ETHEEN STAK . SATURDAY , JUNE 11 , 1842 .

      Co Aseattft* Tuto Cw^W« 5 *

      Co aseattft * tuto Cw ^ W « *

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      ^ 4 ' -T HE ; VNp R : T-H : rB : N ; ^ •¦ , ¦ ¦¦ . ¦ :,, / v /• ¦ - /• ¦ : ¦ ' ,- ¦ ^ : ' ' . : ' . :-: __^_^__^^ ^ W .

  • Citation
    • Northern Star (1837-1852), June 11, 1842, page 4, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/ns/issues/vm2-ncseproduct434/page/4/