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Northern Star (1837-1852), 3rd June 1843, Edition 6 of 5, Page 4, Untitled Article

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    • THE NORTHERN STAR. SATURDAY, JUNE 3, 1843.
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      Untitled Article

      TO THE 6 RAKD JTRT OF THE COUNTY OF "flfES TMEATB . GEUTLEKES ,-Tbe page of history *^ woj rt ^ indicnatian a Iftte transaction of yonw . At Midsummer SS « m voted service of pUto to the < Am of the TOdOoTxaSE « or tfceir txatiom in prey ing the peacf of yo « r « w » tj . Before I animadvert on your i o ^ Br t , I A « B take a short review of aome of those S ^ oL ^ &ch recommended these gentlemen to '"S ^ - mS * - * e moment they entered ft . advice of the present Administration , ( I cant say tKvrf toir eocntry ) foresaw that the higb roa * to preferment , to to wade through Wood , to bum houses , S 5 te victim * , m matter whether guilty or innocent ) ,

      « toOTort the system of tenor , perhaps upon the false Jkiw ^ of the basest of assassins or miscreant * , called an n *> rmer , or perhaps their own suggestion , plunge the dagger into the breast of hoary and helpless age , and deprive , by . fire and sword , numerous wretched funnies of the means of existence , and like their prototypes , the bloody Gromwell and Robespierre , huat Eke wDd beasts ( or the maroons of Jamaica ) the objects of their Tengeance , whose greatest crate is perhaps their being Irishmen , and loving their « 8 cntry . Among the many cruelties practised by the'officers and -privates o £ this regiment , 1 shall tnentaan . tome few , which for enormity have not been exceeded by tfes most sanguinary savages that ever ilisgraeed humtn

      nature . A lieutenant well-known by the name rf the W&lking-gallpws , at the head of a party < & the legtssent , Biarehed to a place called -ftinderstewn , in your county ; they went to the house of an old man ( named Carroll , ) of seventy years and upwards , and asked for arms , and having promised protection and indemnity , the old maa delirered « p to this monster three guns , which he no -sooner received , than he -with his own heeds shot the old roan torongfe the heart , and then had his sons ( two yoong men ; fcntchered ; burned and destroyed their house , corn , hay , and in short every property they possessed . ^ Sie wife and child of one of ths sons were enclosed in the house when set fire to , and wonld hate been barnse had ant

      one of the soldiers begged their lives from the officer , bat on conditkm that if the Weft ( using bis own words ) made the least noise they should share the same fate as the rest of the family . This bloody transaction happened abo&t two o ' clock on Monday morning , the 19 th of June last He then pressed a car , on wBieh f the three dead bodies -were thrown ^ and from thence ' , vent to a village called Myrow , took into custody ; three mem . Banted Henry Smith ,-John Smith , and Mi- ' ffox » i Murray , voder pretence of their being United j Irishmen ; and having tied them to the ear on which . the mangled bodies of the Carrolls were placed , they were marched sboet three mites , passing in the blood of their mardsred neighbours , and at three o ' clock on

      the same day were shot on the-fair green of BaUymore ; and so universal was the panic that a man could not be procured to inter the sis dead bodies—the sad oSa . cc was ' obliged to be dene by women . The Lieutenant , on the , morning of this deliberate and sanguinary murder , in- ; Tiled several gentlemen to stay and see what he called partridge shooting . Ii may not be improper to remark , I tfeat Lord Qxmantown remonstrated with the officers on s the monstrous eroelty of putting these men to death , ; ¦ who might , if tried by the laws of their country , appear \ isnocent . He begged and intreated to have them sent to gaol , and prosecuted according to law - ( if any proof could be brought against them ) , but his hnnusie efforts sroved fniitleap—the men were murdered . !

      On the fair-day of BaHymore ( 7 th of Jane ) a poor man of irreproachable character , named Tteen&n , after selling his cow , had his band extended to receive the price of her , vrhes this valiant soldier struck him with his sword on the shoelder , and almoat severed the arm from his body . A young man mused Hynea , a mason , passing through the fair , on his way hoae , was attacked by this ferocious savage , and in the act of begging his life upon his knees , was cut down by the Lieutenant ' s own hands , and left lying for dead . A clergyman , at the imminent risk of his life , flaw to the victim to administer the last consolation of religion , -when three of the militia were ordered back , and to make use of a vulgar phrase , made a riddle of his body ; the clergyman , however , escaped unhurt- Tbe Lieatenant , however , got somewhat ashamed of this business ; and , by way of apology for Ids conduct , alleged that some stones were thrown , thonsh it in notorious fact that no such thing

      hap-The clerk of Mr . Dillon , cf Ballymahon , being in the fail trans&ctiHg his employer ' s business , was so maimed by this valiant soldier and his party that his life was despaired of . Sixteen persons ( whose names I have carefully entered ; were so cat , maimed , and abused , that many of them are rendered miserable objects for the remainder of their lives . So mcch f « r keeping the peace of tbe country . To create inhabitants fcr the hospital or tbe rrsTe seems to be the favourite measure of tranqoillir-iu ; & nation . A vfllsse called iloyvore was alsrait tX the detd hour of the night set on 5 re , under the direction of Captain O and the humsse Lieutenant , asd burned to the rround , except ax houses . Captain O ,

      possessing a liule mere humanity , seeined to ftcl for the unparalleled distress thereby occasioned ; while this modern TSao only laughed at the progress of the destructive element , and called his brother effiser a chicken-hearted fellow for his seeming compassion—for feehng a pang at the mieerits he himself created , seeing numbers of bis fello'sr-creatBres petrified with fiorlor at viewing their little properties consumed , and afraid to make the least complaint , seeing that military execution was their iievitaKe fate theuld they make tbe least murmur . Good God ! is this the way te make the Constitution revered or the Government respected ? Had Lord Soiih still Uved and had the carifdadx of his Majest y , he trou'd never recommend the practice of titose measures to satx inLnid irhiek lost America .

      New gentlemen of the jury , if these and such like are the meritorious actions , -which have rendered the gentlemen of the "Wlcklow Militia so amiable in your eyes—I blush for the country which gave me birth ; and must dedare that bis Majesty has not greater enemies than the men who would commit , oi the men who abet and encourage such crimes . What do you teach the great mass of the people to believe by such conduct but that tee coercion of a fonega enemy would be mercy compared to " the generous efforts ( beyond the law" ( as they are called ) of our own military .

      But , gentlemen , let me ask you , would it not have bees more decent and even complimentary to the objects of your esteem bad you made a collection amongst your--Belves for this service cf plate , than to attempt to saddle upon an injured county a tax for the remuneration of murder , eo&fUgr&tiou and calamity ? Shall the owners of near 500 houses destroyed by fire , and tke relations of those victims sacrificed by those sanguinary instruments of oppression , be obliged to pay for enormities which -will cast an indelible stain upon a county which could produce a Grand Jury capable of becoming accessories to rash unheard of cruelties . But , gentlemen , though you have voted the tax , it is not yet raised , but will , I hope , be traversed with effect —you may thereby have the satisfaction of purchasing oat of your own pockets , and afSfing B motto suitable to the occasion , Written in blood and cemented by fire , The wrath of heaven and the secures of men .

      As you dant seem to be well acquainted with the early character of the objects of your regard , I shall take leave to insert an address very differeiit-from yours to those gentlemen—Copied from the Dublin Eva . inj Post , aod dated 28 th May , 1795 : — To such of the OFFICERS of his Majesty's WICKLOW B £ GiH £ 3 T of MILITIA , as authorized the insertion of the following chef d "< ECtre of vrit and decency in the Slrabane Journal , of 20 th of AprQ , lT&o : — "Wanted for the service of the officers who-compose

      the mess of his Majesty * Wicklow Regiment of Militia , TWELTE BEAUTIFUL GIBLS , who have not inhabited the town of Strabace , since the 5 th of April , 1794 . As wage is by no means the object , it is expected that none will apply who do not produce a certificate , signed by ej £ ht respectable matrons , of their having their YIBTUE , pure and usscllied . No girl will answer above the age of 18 or under that of 14 . —Application te be made to the regimental matron , Mrs . Catherine Smyth , Bowling Green , Strabane . —N . B . —Growing girls of the age of 13 , if approved of , and highly recommended may possibly be taken . "

      Away ! so woman could descend so low . ' A skipping , dancing , worthless tribe you are ; Sit only for yourselves—you herd together ; - And when the circling glass warms your vain hearts , You talk of beauties that you never saw . And fancy raptures that you never knew . Ton blast the fair with lies , becaase tbey scorn you , Hate you like age , like ugliness , and impotence ! Bather than make yoa blest , they would die Virgins , Aad stop the propagation of luoldBd . Polite and Gallant Gentlemen , —As a native of the 3 > vn of Btrabaoe , I shaQ make so apology for thus &Boaf to your notice a few strictures on the above W »« and unprecedented outrage to the feelings of a

      • etpactabte community . And this I meaa to do , with an tw honest freedom of a mind isdignaat at thebra % Oi'iLZ !??~~* bo c 0 ldd *» *¦« *« 8 * ** ***^ •* XOetr , « uon , as to wing % dastardly ih « ft aX that tommr , which it shoald b * their chief pride fco-defend ' _ to ¦** * cowardly blow at tbe bappmea of that OB , > top « teet whoa from imtt , tbey should , mtit a——y , / om a zampstt of their frM ^ w Fraf , je - { naif / yncdiaBS of * nr - " wwrrttod pcn / r ' Ttn ' ' ^ ' aod 4 MNd nOgta , which of the heroes of the Ozsdas et jgninir CoMflnwealths , do ye propose to yoaaeNei jgtnrdrir * Jnjrhatpage of the history of those «!* Jmtad nation * , 2 » ve 70 a discovered that it is meritorku to Hfebt fte characters of Qod ' s fairest

      creatioa ?* I wifl aphis to yen ? - the motives of your conduct : Botives , which eves fow baseness will bluth at , and TnrnTmf diaewn . It w * 3 from a principle of sordid and unmanly wvaage , for V ** oeingiovited to the tables -of tbe dfc ' saaa of Strabane , that yon -endeavoured , by aandalooa hi » iTii '" tfo ""' , to l&Uj the virtue of their trfreB and dacghterB , virtno , erer whicb , neither your persoD ^ uor your intellectnal cbx ^ ms . epablea yen to triumph . Imagine not that a red cast csa mttamorpL-s = a daws iate a L 5 a ;? n : v i Thersr'M into sq Aaouli > - .-, Vfcv gcrreons fcsjpiBj ^ PJ ™ ^ at ? / ii

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      serves but to render elemental meanness still more ' contemptible . ' Well indeed has it been said , " that the age of e > « valry is gone . " Scarcely does it admit of belief , tf- ^ &i the close of the eighteenth century , men bear ^ ^ Majesty ' s Commission , should nave substitu ^ ^^ g ^_ scene manners of the stews for tbe gentlem ^ y conduct which ever cb » racteri » es the true soldi ^ , j ne re ^^ my leave » f you—trusting that I ha ' ^ / nfixed on you such a frontlet of Infamy , as canno \ fall to insure you a cordial reception from the inh abitant * of the next town that shall experience t > . e blearing of your protection . I have the hoar nr te be , Gentlemen , Tour rjj oat obedient , humble servant .

      Thosus Sinclair . SStfe May , i ? 95 , K 0 . 8 , Ttinity-ftece , Dublin . I shall now t&e leave of you for the present , trusting that yffu are or will become ashamed of your conduct . Tbe * vengingSkand of God has struck one of the principtl springs which heretofore Bet you in motion , be wis called like the tyrant of Russia before that tribunal « here no escendancy will prevail , but that of ¦ virtue , truth , an £ justice . A Freeholder of Westmeath .

      Untitled Article

      REPEAL OF THE UNION . As tbe agitation upon this subject progresses « very new feature as it presents itself -opens fresh ground for conjecture . It ever has been , and so it ever will be , that questions of philosophy , of policy , or of morality , will have their supporters and opponents ; the one urging on to success , and the other breathing resistance and hostility . The larger and the more embracing the subject , the

      greater will be the variety of opinions on the respective sides . The magnitude then of the question of Repeal will naturally lead to the conclusion that amongst its supporters are to be found classes , communities , and -even individuals , who , though united in action , are bj no means induced to take part from the same causes , nor do the ; look for a similar result from the success of their undertaking . Before , then , we discus 3 the subject on its own merits , we are bound to consider in how far the question now at issue between the two

      countries is relieved of that political embarrassment in general bo fatal to the accomplishment of any great national object . The reader will see the great , the almost insurmountable difficulties by which we are surrounded in thus being called upon to caution and advise , to encourage and reason upon so large and all-important a subject almost in a breath . The Tolling murmurs of a nation ' s voice following in rapid succession after the flash of a nation ' s mind are pealing , and each new shock wonld be well calculated to shake the nerve , or turn from his

      purpose , the commentator who was unaccustomed to , or unacquainted with , the portions of which the jarring elements are composed . In the thunder we recognise the nation ' s voice , in the lightning which precedes it we recognise tbe nation ' s wih ; and , from this idea , we may gather the nation ' s strength . Of what avail however is strength , if ill directed J It is then to the direction of that strength , and to a consideration of what its united efforts , if virtuously used , may accomp li sh , that we shall direct the reader ' s attention . Were we to allow ourselves to

      argue upon the problematical desires , motives , or intentions by which the Repealers ( or the several sections comprising the main force ) are actuated , we should be doing the very thing which the disturbers , the political dissenters , the troublesome , the dissatisfied , and unquiet , desire , and such a course would be pre-eminently calculated to produce a result diametrically opposite to that which , by onion , the real advocates of the measure earnestly desire to bring about . While , therefore , we shall contrast the condition of Ireland immediately antecedent to the act

      of Lnion with her present condition while struggling for a Repeal of that measure , and althou » b , in the contrast , much cause for caution may be found , none for alarm need exist . It will be seen that at the former period the leadera in the cause of Irish iiberty were strongly linked , and amicably bound with the English opposition , or tho Fox party , and it may reasonably be inferred that that policy which was practised by the Whigs from 1796 to 1800 , with a view to their restoration to power , may be again resorted to by the samp party

      for a similar purpose . Here , then , we have in a sentence , boldly stated the one , the only , ghost which can haunt the mind of the timid , the only argument that can be nsed by the artfal and the wily . We have shown it but to destroy it . There are several reasons , therefore , which render the parallel as to the respective times incomplete . From 1795 to 1800 Ireland had a Parliament , and from 178 * 2 to that period , when the French Revolution affrighted " the great statesman now no more , " Ireland had progressed in domestic improvements , and great

      national undertakings , as no country ever advanced before ; hence all the capabilities for achieving national greatness were developed , and Ireland gave a practical proof to the world in those days , as Belgium has in later times , that as a nation she may be rich and powerful , while as a province she must be weak and impoverished . In those years preceding the Act of Union the English opposition were sincere in their advocacy of Ireland ' s rights j they sought no Union at the expense of Irish interests , and , above all , did they deprecate

      the means resorted to for the accomplishmer of the object . At that time also tbe Irish peop were degraded Berfs , tillers of their own estate under alien landlords , looked upon by the jaundice eye of the State as unchristian dogs . They were m enfranchised , or rather tantalized with the pen privilege of voting for the choice of their enemiei for though the slaves had votes , yet those ot the own religioEsand political creed were ineligible to a in the Commons' House of Parliament . Under a these circumstances , then , it was not unlikely ths

      a powerful Irish party , backed by tbe Englit opposition , should have considered the differeni between a Whig Ministry pledged to Cathol emancipation , and a Tory Ministry bent upon r sisting it , a motive sufficiently strong to arouse great national feeling in favour of the Fox ar Fjtzwilliam party . At the period of whicb vi write Ireland might be said to be wholl y destitute 1 any national mind . Her councils were directed t

      those who sought objectB which were represented 1 the people as likely to be beneficial ; but behim those great advantages , which were placed in th foreground , it was easy to recognise tbe real objec of the promoters of dissatisfaction ; and , althong Catholic Emancipation may hare been used as th rallying standard far discontent , and although th full length portrait of Irish liberty was alway placed foremost in the grouping , yet was it impossi ble to conceal from view the bust of a Fox 0

      Chaslexokt representing some private interest , oj party anticipation . Now , bow different the state of the respeetivi parties ; Ireland had toll four yean of torture persecution , cruelty , and murder , before the Union while , since that event , she has had forty-thre < years of unremitting and unmitigated suffering and Borrow . Site is now a nation of sober

      minded Irishmen , who can no longer be juggl -by the fascinations or promises of the English Oj position , who have registered their determination i tows as strong and deadly as are those of the Tori to preserve the contract even to the death . Itiatn that an antidote was promised with the poisoi and was administered in four yean after in tl ahape rf an " Arms Bill , " which , if not as degndu to blacksmiths , was equally calculated and as mm

      intended to deprive the Irish people of tbe meant of defence as the one now before Parliament and yet this Bill was brought in by the pre-Bent opposition , and not complained of by the Irish people . We throw this out , not as a taunt to the leaders of the Irish , but to exhibit it as one instance of the incapacity of sections , partieBj or individuals , to make the Repeal question NOW a means of restoring the Whigs to

      Untitled Article

      > wer . Indeed the Eu ^ Vwh Chartists who have suffered grievously at the hands of that annihilated faction nave not been more lavish in their abuse of them than Mr . O'Connmj , has recently been . How then , we a&k , can . any man give him credit for shrewdness , 6 agacity , and foresight , and , at the same time charge him with making the repeal agitation subservient for . Whig purposes ? But for a moment supposing such intention to be even possible , what

      would be ' the result of the experiment \ Why naturally tke first step in that direction would be his last move < on the political stage . The sober mind of Ireland uan see more clearly than in her intoxication eh * was wont to do . In her calm reflection she era ponder upon her wretchedness , while her sober aaind imbibes those stinging truths bo continuously instilled by her leaders and whereby she learns that to be free her sons must be united ; and to be great she must be independent .

      Englishmen , though often deceived , have so ( ond an affection for Ireland and their Irish brethren , that they have already spoken , without recollection of the past;—and are they to form no seotion in this great imperial movement ! Is any politician so blind as not to see , eo senseless as not to understand , that without the cooperation of the English working classes the English Minister would be able to crush the Repeal agitation at will ; while , with their assistance , no power at the disposal of the strong Government can successfully resist the onward march of freedom in

      Ireland ! It is true that the mere Whigs of the present day would direot the Irish mind to those paltry pursuits to which , from 1796 to 1800 , the same party but too successfully directed it before . Upen the recall of Earl Fitzyvilluh and the appointment of his successor Earl Camden , the Irish mind was roused to a state of frenzy not unjustified by the cruel and bloody deeds and exterminating policy of the latter vioeroy . But now how unfortunate , instead of being able to boast of a system of good

      national policy , the Whigs , while in opposition , can but point attention to the manner in which the favoured few were promoted and aggrandized at the expense of the injured many . But upon the other hand if a Tory attempt is made to degrade the Irish people to the rank of slaves by depriving them of those arms which by the Bill of Rights they are entitled to possess , Whig opposition is silenced or rendered puerile and captious by being reminded of their own Bill of 1838 , framed with a similar intent . Must not then the Irish

      people have learned that lesson which the English Chartists have long since learned—that if their work is to be done , it must be done by themselves , for themselves . We do not stop to answer , or even to comment upon , the hair-splitting philosophy of the Times upon the Repeal of the Union . We leave that immaculate print in full possession of all that consolation which it can derive from the registered determination of Archbishop Murray to flounder ou the top of the Saxon muddle , rather than join in the restoration of his country ' s rights , by just

      remarking that " one swallow does not make a summer , " neither does one Archbishop make a nation . In answer to those who would urge even the possibility of a halt for Whig purposes , we would say look to the broad sheet of Irish mind , which we lay before you . Think of the wrongs that that gallant country has endured . Reflect upon the little hope which the leaders hold out from the restoration of WhiggeTy , and from the great advantages which are described as likely to follow the acquisition of her independence . Look again to the moaic 3 subscribed , to the vows registered , to the

      plans propounded , to the feelings enlisted , to the different sections invited for the accomplishment of this great national object , and , then let auy man ask himself where can it stop short , even by an inch , of the promised goal ] Will Ireland again relapse into stupor ! Will she again recognise her full measure of justice in the religion of a placeman , a policeman , or a judge ? Will her people crawl in their sea-bound dungeon in manacles , that a chosen few msy beard the oppressor with hard words ! No ! the days of Irish folly have passed away and the light of Irish reason tells the Irish oppressor that

      the days of his greatness are numbered . It is for these reasons that we look upon the progress as a more than mere Irish question , more than an imperial question , a universal question . What can so humble the crest of the haughty English Oligarchy as tbe fact of its "bridle arm" being cut off ? what can so humiliate the Protestant Church as the fact of its being deprived of its " whip hand ! " Will the querelous politician point out to ks any one means by which the power of tbe people could be more clearly developed and more profitably brought i nto action , than by the

      accomplisment of the present object of the Repealers t Will any man say , or for a moment suppose , that the Irish people ( in the event of the Union being Repealed by the English Parliament ) would allow an Irish Parliament to be called together upon any other principle than that of Universal Suffrage ? The man who thinks so must have but a poor opinion of what the preBent popular mind , in the hour of triumph , would demand as a complete measure of justice , and as a means of preserving it . We are aware —perfectly aware—of the great and mighty influences , both foreign and domestic , which will be

      forced into operation for the suppression of this national movement . The mind will be fretted and irritated by surmise , calculations , and reports . The union of all opposing influences to hope for even a suspension or delay , must be as complete as the union of the Irish people appears to be for the accomplishment of the measure . Let us see then whether or no we have any right to expect that such a union can be formed out of the conflicting elements of opposition . The Queen being nothing , we naturally leave her out of the question . In the Lords is f mbodied the Oligarchy in its united character of Church and State , where the rents and privileges of the Lords Temporal are protected by the Lords Spiritual , upon the understanding tha > the Lords

      Temporal shall protect the first fruits and the tenth fruits for their Spiritual brethren , so that at all times they may enjoy them . In the Prime Minister we find the most perfect embodiment of administration apart from the Oligarchy , and to this point under ordinary circumstances we should look as the mirror in which would be reflected the Tria juneta in Uno , the Oligarchy , tbe Church , and the Slate . In the present agitation , however , we discover much to cause dissension and disunion amongst those heretofore united parties . We speak of men as machines , and without fear . And while we deprecate the policy of a party , we shall enter without bias into an impartial consideration as to how far individual character would be likely to operate upon the general councils of the body .

      Upon Sir Robert Peel , then , as Prime Minister , the issue of the present struggle must much depend ; we shall therefore consider what are likely to be those influences which wonld operate upon him to resist or concede . The motives which might lead to resistance , would be a dread of outraging the domestic faction in Ireland , who we verily believe look for another blood-letting , to be followed by another extermination of the Catholics and another partition of the soil .

      Upon the other hand , the motives for concession will be thftse . "Firstly , the chances if not the oertainty ef defeat , and , secondly , we do not consider Sir Robbkt Pan . to be a ernel man , far from it . He is ambitious of fame , and in his calculations for its achievement he wonld make the existing state of the human mind his denominator , and from that he wonld learn that the time has arrived when the triumph of a statesman most consist in the subjugation of hiB passions and in a timely yielding to the public will of such changes as can only be resisted bj brute force . If the straggle is allowed to progress peaceably , who for a moment can doubt the result ! while upon the other hand , who but must shudder at the effect which an onslaught upoa tho Irish people would have upon , the Enp . liah lamd , hekbtened and

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      exaggerated as those acooun ^ would most probably be to the indignation of tb ; ,, ao hundreds of thousands of enthusiastic Irishmen . nOw abiding amongst us , and whose every aspiratj jm for the success of their countrymen at home >© uld find a quick response from every English *> orking man ' s breast . In truth it is time that Ireland should be a nation governed by Irish Lawa , made by Irishmen , chosen by Irishmen , and fox the benefit of the Irish people ; and in this holy struggle , Qod forbid that the country should be threatened with a recurrence of those scenes , an

      account of which now lies before us , and which make our English cheeks blush while we peruse them , and of which will be found a specimen in a letter published in our fourth page , from " A Freeholder of Westmeath , to the Grand Jury of that county . " We ask the English reader carefully to read and calmly to reflect upon that letter . From that he will learn the manner in which the Union was forced upon the Irish people , and from it he will gather the importance which the same faction attaches to a continuance of this unholy bond , by which Irishmen are made slaves , and Foreigners

      their task-masters . From that he will learn the manner in which a love for the English Constitution has been stamped by the English law upon the Irishman ' s back , and branded upon the Irishman ' s cheek ; and how their offspring , who witnessed the tender mercies of this protective system , must have imbibed in childhood that love and regard so manifest in their present demand to be relieved from its further operation . From that he will learn , that in the dead of night the innocent , the unoffending ,

      and unsuspecting peasant , being first disarmed , was dragged from his bed , hang at his own door , without even the formality or semblance of a mock trial , while his cottage was sot in flames , lest the darkness of night should spare the widowed mother and her frenzied orphans the torture of witnessing the sad spectacle . We ask , then , whether Irishmen oan ever have forgotten those things 1 and nature and reason answer never ; for , though there is no trace of the humble cot , and though the victim has ceased to

      breathe" Yet tbe blackness of ashes still marks where it stood , Willie the wild mother scream'd o ' er her famishing brood . " If , then , our English mind , after such a perusal , forbids our English hand , under our present feelings , to etch the portrait farther , what must be the feelings of Irishmen , against whose fathers , whose mothers , and whose country such acts were committed i When we pause , it is high time that they should reflect . We cannot trust ourselves to say more than that precisely the same course whioh was pursued by Castlbreauh and hia myrmidoms , for the purpose of effecting the Union , appears to be that whioh his successors are determined to follow . Then , as nOW , A DISARMING BILL WAS THE FIRST BLOW .

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      scarcely avoid & conclusion , either that the Govern , ment is , in every respect , worse served than private persotis are , ot that there is some complicity . If these Blunders ate as the law now stands inevitable , —if it is a stark impossibility to state , in the form of an indictment , with sufficient precision to satisfy the judicial understandings of the judges , any accusation against a political offender , by all means , in mercy to the community , let them be freed at once from the legal cobwebs in which they are enveloped : let a law at once be enacted so simple that blunders will be impossible j or , if that is hopeless , give the Judges , under sufficient checks , the power of correcting mere technical errors .

      If the fault rests , as we presume to be the case , with some of the minor officials , let the blunderers be trusted no longer . Bat whatever be done , let the Government and their legal advisers , in case the present indictment should be quashed for informality , take care . to place themselves beyond tbe reach of suspicion as to their motives , by having fresh and ( for enca ) correctly drawn indictments preferred the instant that tbe decision of the Judges shall be made known . By this alone will they be able to atone to the country for the defaults of those whom they have trusted , and to prove that those defaults were neither directly nor indirectly sanctioned by themselves . "

      Who will dare , after this , to hazard the displeasure of Goody Grandam Ternpus , by not imprisoning Chartists where the wishes it 11 . Seriously , if it was worth any body ' s while to be serious with the Times , we have never seen a more impudent attempt to bully the judges than is here made : nor have we often seen an attack in which mendacity , or what " plain people" call lying , is more boldly brazened out . Nobody knows better than this hired hack of the real instigators of the strike , that " Fjeargus O'Connor and his associates '* did no such thing as " encourage'divers evil disposed

      persons to assemble together and commit various acts of violence , for the immediate purpose of putting a stop to work in the manufacturing districts , and with the ulterior object of carrying their Charter . " We presume that the Times would in all probability class us with " the associates of Feargus O'Connob "; we havA reason to know that a copy of this paper is received by the Times every week ; the Times is therefore perfectly aware of the part taken in the matter of the strike both by Feargus O'Connob and " , his associates" ; the Times knew therefore that in writing this paragraph , he wrote a deliberate

      and wilful lie . He knew perfectly that the facts were directly in the teeth of his statement ; that eo far from " encouraging" those " evil-disposed persons" to " assemble and commit various acts of violence , " we discouraged , openly and boldly , not only the " various acts of violence , " but also , under the circumstances , the " assemblies" in question , irrespective of all reference to violeuee ; that so far from connecting with the strike " the ulterior object of carrying the Charter " , we from first to last denounced the strike aa a treacherous display of impotence , got up by the enemies of the Charter . The

      Times knows perfectly that from the beginning " Feargus O'Connor and his associates" told the Chartists that the strike was a trap for them , and that none but fools or knaves would lead them into it ; he knows that we hare throughout maintained the same doctrine ; that we maintain it still , and , if we needed confirmation of it , we have that confirmation , sufficient and abundant , in the ravings of the Times at the probability of our escaping from the trap after having been not led into it , but Jiang into it , by the combined power of folly , treachery , and cowardice . To get the "law upon Feargus

      O'Connor and his associates" was a matter of some moment to the vile money-faction of which the Times is an organ and representative ; it was an object they had long , vainly , but earnestly sought to compass ; and , to compass that object , THEY planned the strike ; THEY carried out the strike ; THE hired myrmidons and emissaries to entrap the people , in the hope of so coming at " Feargus O'Connor and his associates , " and their emissaries—their mouthing myrmidons —did so far succeed in dragging the suffering people into their meshes , as " that Government found it necessary to employ troops for putting down the distuibances , and to send a special commission in

      order that the offenders might be brought to justice , and " that many scores of the poor dupes are now expiating their offences by undergoing the penalties of the law . " These are all " facts so notorious that no one can entertain the remotest shadow of a doubt upon them ; " and the unblushing Times , knowing these facta to be so , is most virtuously indignant with the judges , the lawyers , and the Government , that they do not at once , like the Corn Law Repealing magistrates , who first "bad them in tow , " handle the pretext impudently , and without further regard to law or ceremony , stick " Fearguj O'Connor and his associates" into gaol !

      Tho " free " -6 oo <» n , 0 scamps , for whom the Times aota as " Drab" and "Squaller , " are absolutely wild at seeing their precious project likely , after all , to fail , because lawyers have some regard for the law , and judges some deference for justice . Let the Times " bide a wee " : we are not to be dragged into any premature developementa : likelier customers than the Times have tried to bring us there and failed : we furnish no handle for enemies , whether the Times , the Times' masters , or the Times tools-: the argument is not yet over ; when it is , we may , perhaps , have our say upon that same " stopping of work in the manufacturing districts , " and on the " villany" by which the Times and his masters have been enabled to connect with it the names of * Feargus O'Connor and his associates . "

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      mischiefs which the indictment alleges to have been dona ; but that , afterwards" The said Feargua O'Connor , &c . together with divers other evil disposed persons to the jurors afore , said as yet unknown , did unlawfully , and in that county aforesaid , aid , abet , assist , comfort , support and encourage the said evil disposed persons in this count first mentioned , to continue aad persist in the said unlawful assemblings , threats , intimidations and violence . " while , at the same time the indictment does not shew that these proceedings were persisted in at all > We are thus therefore clearly charged with aiding and abetting an offence which is not shewn to hare been committed .

      Mr . Justice Patteson made the , Attorney-General feel the * fix" that- he was in , whea h « said : — " The count charges that the defendants aided and assisted the evil-disposed persons first mentioned to continue and persist in the said unlawful assembling threats , intimidations and violence , but it does not aver that they did continue and persist therein . Could you say , in an indictment for murder , that the prisoner aided and assisted A . B . in committing murder , without alleging that murder was committed I " And the only answer the Attorney-General could give to this was that : —

      "He apprehended that if one man were charged with aiding and assisting another to do a particular act , it must be presumed that the act itself had been done . " And with all deference to the Attorney-General ' s logic we must pronounce this " presumption" of his to be a monstrous assumption . If , when one man is charged with aiding and assisting another to do a particular act , it must be always presumed that the

      act itself bas been done , it must follow that it ia not necessary to enquire whether the act itself has been done or not ; and , then , it is quite dear that circumstantial evidence without any perjury or intentional injustice might very easily lead to the conviction and punishment of parties for a supposed aiding and abetting of that which had never been done at all ; and even against the authority of the Attormt-General we venture to *• presume" that the law does not contemplate any such monstrosity .

      The Solicitor-General was a little more dexterous and disingenuous , but not a whit more successful in his dealing with the same subject . He said : — " Tbe indictment did not , it was true , allege that these parties did persist and continue to do what they had done , but it was unnecessary to make such an averment . Tho offence committed by the defendants would have been the same whether those parties persisted or not . "

      Now , no one knew better than the Solicitoh-Generax that " the offence committed by the defendants" had nothing to do with the matter . The question before the Court was not " the offence committed by the defendants " , but the validity of the indictment ; and the matter to be talked of , therefore was , not " the offence committed by the defendants " , but the offence charged in the indictment . The offence charged in the indictment was that of aiding and assisting these other parties to continue

      and persist in the conduct described . Now , if these parties did not " continue and persist" in this conduct , it is clear that no one could aid and assist them in doing so ; and it is clear , therefore , that the indictment ought to shew that they did " continue and persist" when it charges others with aiding and assisting them to do so . The indictment does not show this ; and we think it will require better logic than any the Crown has yet exhibited to satisfy the Judges that that objection has been answered .

      In the matter of the fifth count , which is destitute of venue , the Attornet-General tried to make out that the venue in the margin was sufficient . But there was a stunner in the precedent of Minteb Hart , cited by Mr . Dondas for the defendants in moving for the rule , and in which case : — " The indictment had the words * London to wit ' in the margin , and the offence was charged to hare been committed in the parish of St . Marylebow , without at all stating that the offence was committed in London . It was held that this indictment was bad , and that the omission was not cured by the statute 7 th George IV . cap . 64 , sec . 20 . " This the Attorney-General met by saying that : —

      " There , however , the objection was taken before verdict , and while tho trial was going on . It was clear , therefore , that the facts did not apply to the present case . " A piece of " law" which is effectually " settled" by Mr . Justice Patteson ' s reply : — * ' The objection was taken after plea , and how can a prisoner take an objection to the indictment after pleading over , unless he moves in arrest of judgment \ When issue has once been joined , the

      trial must go on to verdict . " And , as a strengthener of this rejoinder of the Learned Judge , we find , in the Times of Monday , a report of the proceedings of the Queen ' s Bench in the matter of the Qeteen v . Noir , a Devonshire magistrate , who had been convicted at Exeter of administering an illegal oath , and whose objection to the indictment eame , not only after verdict , but after sentence , and was yet admitted , and the judgment set aside on the objection that the indictment did not sufficiently set forth the

      offenc 9 charged . The argument of the Solicitor-General upon this point was a mere repetition of that of the Attorney-General . We apprehend that the Counsel for defence , when they come to reply , will have little difficulty in showing that for all purposes of this count , a venae in the margin is no renufl at all . When the argument will b 3 resumed we know not , as we have not , at the time of writing this , received any further intelligence than that which our readers will find in the report . But we think it probable

      that , if the Counsel for defence do their work as well as we expect from them , both counts will be broken down . Meantime the people must remember that this further postponement will be a new drag on the funds . Counsel will have to be feed orer again , and all expences begun de novo . They mis * not suffer the thing to be lost . They must " piU up . " We truly hope that this is the last disgraceful " mess" of this kind they will suffer themselves to be dragged into ; but this they are " in for , " and they must drag through it . Send up the money to John Cleave .

      Since writing the above , we have learnt that Saturday ( thi 3 day ) is fixed by the Judges to heat the reply" to the Crown ' s " argument . "

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      TRADES' UNIONS . THE STRIKE IN SCOTLAND . As democrats , we honour principle above all things ; and next the devotees of principle . Even if we dissent from the principle , seeing it conscientiously held , we admire the consistency and firm ness whicb adheres to it " through thick and thW We wish to see every man in possession of hia own rights ; and , which holden without prejudice to others' rights , we commend every man the more , the more tenaciously he maintains and defends them ;

      while , sarely , as democrats , we rejoice in every struggle for the maintainence of popular rights aad the repelling of the power of aggression . So dear are these principles to us , that nothing which appertains or relates to then ; no proceedings carried on . in their namt can fail to exeit * our interest . Hence , though we have , as y * W said not a word upbn the subject , we have not been unobservant of the struggle whioh has for a lengii of time agitated , and bas at last rent asunder , tbe National Church of Scotland ; rending more than 400 of its Ministers and Dignitaries at once fro " its communion . Such an event is sure to excita

      great interest in the public mind ; the more especially when it appears , as in the present instance , to be induced and pervaded by the inflexible adherence of a large body ef learned and influential men , not merely to the high standard of principal but to the pure one of democratic principle ; when it seems to be a bold withstanding of individual privilege in defence of universal right . Bat W 9

      The Northern Star. Saturday, June 3, 1843.

      THE NORTHERN STAR . SATURDAY , JUNE 3 , 1843 .

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      RAVINGS OF DISAPPOINTMENT . THE TIMES v . " FEARGUS O'CONNOR AND HIS ; ASSOCIATES . " Faction is ever impatient of authority , and reckless of legal trammel , when they impede the fulfilment of its purposes . Its contempt of justice rises , the moment its will is thwarted , and is manifested , more or less plainly or covertly , aa circumstances dictate . Sometimes , indeed , it shews

      itself but slightly ;—good policy obtaining the advance of disappointment and impatience , and shewing the necessity of at least a shew of decent respect for the laws of its own creation—while , sometimes , on the other hand , fretfulness overcomes prudence , —the flimsy garment of adherence to the constituted order of things is rent , aad the " cloven foot" dashed through , with a vehemence suited to its origin and consanguinity .

      The factious and scandalously unfair , as well as wretchedly contemptible , proceedings now pending in the Court of Queen ' s Bench , —by which we , personally , and the Chartist public generally , have been robbed of a large amount of money and subjected to much indignity and inconvenience—have afforded opportunity for a most impudent display of its impatience under the restraints of law , and its anxiety for unbridled license , to the most profligate of all the organs and representatives of faction , The Times newspaper , which is absolutely furiousfoaming at the mouth—with rage , because the Judges of Queen ' s Bench pay less attention to the anticipation of its wishes than to their oaths . In his last Monday ' s " explosion" the " Thunderer " (!) thus fulminates : —

      " That Feargus O'Connor and his associates in Lancashire did , between the 1 st of August and the 1 st of October , last year , encourage ' divers evil disposed persona' to assemble and commit various acts of violence for the immediate purpose of putting a stop to work in tbe manufacturing districts , and with the ulterior object of carrying their Charter;—that their encouragement bad considerable effect , so far as that immediate purpose waa concerned ;—that Government found it necessary to employ troops for putting down the disturbances , and to send a special commission in order that the offenders might be brought to justice j—that many scores of the poor dupes are now expiating their offences by undergoing the penalties of the law for their crimes , —are , we presume , facts so notorious , that no

      one can entertain the remotest shadow of a doubt upon them , unless he happens to be one of the Justices of her Majesty ' s Court of Queen's Bench . Those Learned Judges , who , according to ft solemn legal decision , are ' bound to take , judicial notice that a rump and dczen means a good din her and plenty of port / are it seems puzzling their brains to ascertain whether 01 not they are obliged ( judicially that is , and in accordance with their oaths of office , not individually as sensible men ) to be in such a state of interminable doubt whether the riots took place in Lancashire or in France , or some other conntry quite out of their jurisdiction , as that , after the minor try have been convicted , and imprisoned or transported under sentences delivered by themselves , they must let the principal offenders off scat free . "

      " After all the loss of property and life which has been sustained through the villany of the Chartist leaders ; after tbe months of suffering entailed on the turnouts through having followed their advice ; after the parade of special commission , with its thousands of pounds lavished on the law officers of the Crown , in order to insure the conviction of the offenders , the melancholy spectacle is presented of a law as powerless to punish the rich guilty , as it was severe upon the inferior tools who could not purchase legal assistance—of the conrse of justice being stopped where it was most of all important that it should have free way ; and this merely through some trumpery slip of the pen which would have disgraced an attorney ' s clerk . "

      "' Technical niceties' is the gentle phrase applied to these outrages on common sense by a recent Act of Parliament For our own parts , we are at a loss for an expression sufficiently strong to characterize their wickedness . " Bun , Betty , run ! and bring water , and an easy chair ; that your Mistress may faint comfortably ! If any one can bring us a finer sample of a city termagant raving herself hoarse , because tbe husband wont " stand treat" to Whitechapel , or" stump the Browns" to Greenwich fair , we promise to endow him with all the honours of " the Thunderer" .

      But Goody Thunderer" stops not here . With true woman-like comprehensiveness of anger , her explosion reaches all parties who oan hear "the splash . " The understrappers of the Government law officers , the Judges , the Government , and the Legislature are all as bad as we are , to permit this contumacy ; and they are enjoined most noisily forthwith to make such arrangements as may oblige Donald to " Come up and be hanged , and no anger the laird " . She thug continues her hodge-podge objurgation of remonstrance , threatening and command : —

      " Barely no pains ought to have be « n spared—no expense wai—to insure the doe execution of the law upon Featgoa O'Connor and his awociatea ; and yet , to judge from what toek place in the Qneen ' a Bench on Friday , the indictment against them ia about to be placed in ths some category with those which were preferred against the Monmouth Chartists , Lord Cardigan , the St . Alban ' a bribers , and many others who have within the last few years enjoyed an immunity which nothing

      bat official supineneea , or worse , could bare procured them . With the remembrance of the immense bills of costs which were paid on the last special commission , it is harUfor those out of whose pocket * the money wne to understand how fluwa could be introduced into , or suffered to remain ia the indictments . What do t ' law officers 0 / the Crown , and those who instruc t them , consider to be their duty ? Plain people , untnaui ^ urtsti of 'technical niceties , ' and remembering to ' their c . 'bt sundry evbats of the last few years , can

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      THE ARGUMENT . From the ravings of the Times , we turn to the " pleadings" of the Attokney and the Solicitor-General . And though there is , certainly , less of virulence and mendacity , we discover little more of " argument" in the one than in the other . The Learned Lawyers were very evidently '* bother'd " with their case . We have seldom seen a more lame attempt at reasoning thanithat exhibited by the Crown

      Lawyers ; and yet we confess that we know not how it could have been mended ; '; is not an easy business to prove black to be white , or to shew the connection of a non sequituri The Attorney-Genebal laboured long and hard ; but to our unsophisticated mind his labour seemed vastly like that of a man who should run after a hare ; the more he laboured and the more clearly he seemed to be in the wrong . He first set forth the averment of the fourth count , that : —

      On the 1 st day of Aug ., in the year aforesaid , and on divers other days and times between that day and the 1 st'day of October , in the year aforesaid , and at divers places , divers evil-disposed pertone unlawfully and tumultuously assembled together and by violence , threats , and intimidations to divers other persons being then peaceable subjects of this realm , forced the said last-mentioned subjects to leave their occupationsand employments , and thereby impeded and stopped the labour employed in the lawful and peaceable carrying on , by divers large numbers of the subjects of this realm , of certain tradeB , manufactures , and businesses , and thereby caused great confusion , terror , and alarm in the minds of the peaceable subjects of this realm . "

      Now this averment no one denies or disputes , although for all that appears upon the face of it the matters talked of might have happened in Canada or in the East Indies . But the faots are undisputed : there is no question that divers parties did go about at divers times , to divers places , and stop the mills , — the only question is , whether " Feahgo t O'Comos . and his associates" bad any hand in this . The Attoenet-Gemkbal does not contend that they had any direot hand in it ; he does not say that they were present at , or took any part in , any one of these " unlawful and tumultuous assemblies" ; he

      does not attempt to show thai they took any active part in the violence , threats , and intimidations , " and in "the impeding and stopping of labour" spoken of ; but he tries to make out that they were concerned in it indirectly ; that they aided and abetted —assisted and encouraged—these other parties . Well , what did they aid , and abet , and assist , and encourage them to do 1—the matters and things here charged against them ? Not a bit of it ; there is no such thing charged on us in the indictment . Wa are iharged in tho indictment—not" with having aided xjd abetted these . " evil disposed poraoaa" ia tbe

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      4 _ THE 1 VORTHERN STAR . ;__ " . __ .

  • Citation
    • Northern Star (1837-1852), June 3, 1843, page 4, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/ns/issues/vm2-ncseproduct484/page/4/