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Northern Star (1837-1852), 30th January 1841, Edition 3 of 5, Page 7

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      O-CO > " >* OR AND THE PRESS . THE FUSTIAN JACKETS , BLISTERED HA >' -DS , A > 'D FX 5 H 0 BN CHINS . JIT P ^ A ^ FBIE ^ DS , 1 h ^ te explained to yon , and I hope satisfactorily , the error to which prejudice gaTe rise , as to my eon-« edoi > with Ml - OConnell , wMch , in fact , was no Section at all . But it really appears , aa if this w iitieal impostor was , by eommon consent , to hare d to told , to himself and hi * heirs for ever , the excln-* right to abase , insult , and vilify eTery gentleman rts piesumei to differ from him , and , if attacked b tarn , a kind of exemption from responsibility is ^

      rijimed . ¦ R-fca t is there in this man , -or in any other man , dTe jjjm a license for attack , and snpercedeas safest retort ? Let it be your pride that your friend f jT ^ en th e first man -who successfully eombatted teampnantly OTercame , and successfully exposed , the deepest hypocrite that erer trod the political stage . j ^ f ^ jn to my defence npon another point Little Russell , and » set ° * licensed plunderers , and eTen hone * Edward Baines , ^ . ^^ W ^ - of saint and sinner and

      Tho ha * cried the bust , Whig Tor v , to eke out an honest penny , }—and , above all , the j ^ jEan himself-these hare all attributed my political position , and "what they call the Tiolence of fee ' stir , to the desire of a trafficking politician to jyie money of popular credulity . Poor fools ! Poor eafarmcate vetches . ' How easy , how Tery easy it is to -5 ts * soft name to vice , and a hard one to virtue . Boi ste how I meet them , ¦ n-iiat is the principle npon -which every newspaper

      ja the kingdom is started , 01 rather what are the jjjgis ? Either by an individual , with the hope of skiing money , or by a company of shareholders , •¦ lithe double inducement of adding political importance te their party , while they open a safe speculiSon for interest , upon portion of their surplus capitalfThit were the terms upon which I started the Sorihem giar ? Why , ripgrii"' enough , I haTe in my possession th e cal culation of profit and loss , upon the highest cirodsticm we eTer expected to attain , made before the payer was established , by Mr . Hobson and Jlr . Hill ; and that leaves the cheering prospect of a loss of only £ 10 a week , which I calculated , by saring double that « ua i s travelling , and other expencea incidental to

      jfitsiifln . would be to me a gain of i . 10 per week Thas , I show you the prospect at starting ; and rednce my offance to the heinousness of having produced a rival article in the political market ; and which , be it rsoesibered , was , from its extreme tone at starting , to fcyre liTed the short and merry life of one half year si Jmhest BccoDect that no Radical paper but the Star ever has jareeeded in England , and that friend and foe prophesied en ! to that paper . "Well , I haTe given to national purposes , and spent npon the natienal cause , every hUfpeimy that the Star has made since the commence-Ben ; 10 the present moment , together with other feS& This I solemnly aver ; while , since the Star

      tm established—nay , from the day I took my seat in ths House of Commons , in Feb ., 1 § 33 , 1 have not spent the ran of one pound upon amusement , luxury , ples ^ Ere , or dissipation—not a pound , on my word- I am i poorer m » n to-day than when I established the Hot . - and yet I am a trafficking politician , while little Bassell has his thousands a-year for lending himself to rational fraud ! Daniel ] bas nothing but the pliancy of his conscience to live npon ; and Baines and that das would starve , had it not been for the successful taSe in politics ; yet " they are all honourable men , " uA I am a trafficking politician , who might , in the ¦ Jfcree years and a quarter ; hsd I been avaricious ) , have amassed , from the profits of the Star alone , over £ 20 , 000 . '

      Again , observe that my course in Ireland was precisely the sarae as it has been in England . I invariably prosecuted stipendiary magistrate * , county magistrates , © hie ! cEcers of police , shooting parsons , and every oppressor of the poor , and defended every poor mas , and always at my own expence . I left my circuit at a moment ' 3 notice , and repaired to Bandon , and remained there for five days , to proseeate Captain Yigooles , a stipendiary magistrate , for an insult offered to poer men .

      I left my bed , and rode forty miles in wet , when Tery HI , to attend an inquest of a boy , whose body I had had disinterred , his parents having assured me that his death was e&used by a ssvere beating received from a Major Cocker , a magistrate . I appeared as prosecntor ; and , I assure you , to a gentleman living in the sam e county , and not quirrelBoine : thess are not enviable duties to perform . Taere ia something very bold and iwfcl , in having a major magistrate brought and held se s pr : >;> ner , while an inqueti ii being held upon the exhumated body of the deceased son of a poor Irish working mac I prosecuted some chief constables at my own

      ex-1 presented the Rev . Archdeacon Rider , Major Coaii , tad Captain Bagley , for the Rathcormac murder , a nsy own expence , for thirteen days , and got a verdict of wilful murder against them alL I attended at the Stszis to pr . secute them at my own expence , but the Gaud Jury threw out the bills . I lost my seat in the House for declaring that a cenain captain magistrate was a tyrant . He got np all the opposition , petitioned against me , and he boasted dh . I assisted at Grattan ' s election for Jfeath , in 1531 .

      I was counsel tor Ifcunt , at Mallow , in 1 S 32 . I assufcd CoL Stawell , at Kinsale , at the same time . _ I registered the West Riding of the county of Cork la person , and at my own expence . I hired a barrister to attend in the East Riding . I was counsel for a llr . Skully , at Ma llow , in 1835 . I "sis counsel for ilr . John O Connell , at Youghal , in liS 5 . I kft London for the purpose , and was counsel for Mr- Jsob , at Dungarran , in 1 S 34 ; and for those sre&I services , I never received , never asked for , and ^ ssld not accept , one penny piece . I got knocked coirs serenl times , and well licked , and my clothes tan off et back ; but that was aU I got Now , bear ta mad , mj maa was always returned . I was up nearly tight and day , because my heart was in the e&nsa .

      Semen-ber that , in Ireland , a good and popular conn-• a makes his bargain npon those occasions , and seldom « sii less than from £ 600 to £ 1 , 009 . I was always »* a the highest penny . Recollect that O'Connell »« £ isooo from a Tory candidate , and Dickey Shiel «** £ goo from a Tory candidate . Recollect that I fefeadal all the tithe prisoner , without fee , while vwmndl fobbed two hnndred gnineas special fees , and * & did not attend to all the eases ; but Barristera of Kaa ™ g never return fees . Recollect that this was «* a England , nor when I had a paper , nor in a rautry where a paper dare side against the rich and * ak the p , or .

      » much for my voluntary gerrices before yon knew »* > » a now for my unpaid exertions before I expe-Bso the comfort of eighteen month ' s impriaonment , *» > portion of the profit consequent upon a good poll-• al paper . ?« nn February , J 833 , to June , 1 S 35 , I was an Irish T *** ' 8 etlled fc the afiections of my constitoentB ; ^ during that period eT « a my eneaies must ailow «* my condnct in public , my n > eechea and Totes in

      « e House , were not directed by saj desire to court * " ° ar » itti an English constituency , while my every J * * " in faTour , not only of Iriah , but of aniTersal **« y- I did not , it mint be allowed , support the | •** of the Dorchestar Labooren , the Trades Unions , i ¦ a « U tbow desolate and oppressed , and oppose | « y act of a powerfal GoTemment , leating myself ( ^ oot party , az back , in order to secure the aupport ( _ 5 Ea « liah constituency , « to make a traffic of my

      ^ KmJune , 1 S 35 , tffl 2 foTember , 1837 , two year . ¦ a * half , ipaid my owniray , and bad not the mot * **>** Idea of establishing a newspaper ; nor ahonld I ^ Mtempted it , but for the profligacy , silence , con-¦ % « nd in justice of the whole pnw , -rithout » aingle w ^ J 10111 Febnuu 7 > ! 833 , tffl NoTemher , 1837 , 1 had P « per . I had no political trade for those four yean r ° »¦ lalf , except the trade of apending my life , my JO " , tod my money , in behalf of what I have erer 5 ? ? tLw > , ir ^ ^ > coMLita my r ?* - I established a papa wiii the proepect of " ¦»* , at least , £ io i > er week ¦ . hnt w *~? . ,, f *» . * ^

      , . fta mew article of tefa It concerned , It has be J « ^ ae most profitable provindaJ paper in the kingkk m 7 " to say , •¦ Ob , stop-don't read the Star ; - •¦ loae the £ i 0 a weekr No ; tat every £ 1 $

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      made , was spent in travelling , agitating , donations , subscriptions , and so forth , in support of the eause . If , then , in my case , there is crime , I have been but the passive instrument in the hands of a criminal community , who , by their support , have magnified offence into the blackest crime . Was any man ever charged before with the crime of having succeeded even in a speculation ? while I am charged with having my dark forebodings turned into bright reality .

      Well , I have now ottered other parties to vest £ 1 , 000 In the establishment of another paper , if I can be secured against any greater loss for the space of two years , still willing to risk £ 10 a week ia the establishment of a press , by which alone we can ever hope to frustrate the wicked , support tke righteous , and trinmph over the unjust . I shall now proceed to show the great danger to the individual , but the great strength to a cause , conseqaeat npon the success—mark , not the establishment , but the success , —of a dissent paper .

      The press is the first estate , the ruling power , the governing medium in England . No party can exist without it . Time is too precious to allow some to think for themselves—some kave not the brains to think for themselves—some "vrill not take the troublesome "would rather not , and henca we find a great Tariety 6 f minds , interests , and opinions , sacrificing themselves , body and soul , to the guardianship of the press .

      >" o party can haTe an acknowledged political existence in & state , no matter boweTer numerous , without the support of some portion of the press . In fact , the importance , power , and corruption of the British press is a fact so thoroughly admitted , that it needs not further comment , than , in passing , to observe , that if a newspaper was in the market to-morrow the sale would be regulated by the amount offered by the purchase * without » question as to the future politics of the article . This praceeda , principally , from the immense profit derived from advertisements , made numerous by fictitious trade , fictitious capital , and an unsound state of the trafficking community , occasioned by our artificial state of society .

      I said there was great danger to the man who attempts any innovation upon this legitimate branch of trade . In fact , he is looked upon as a smuggler . Had I abstained from interfering with the established rules of the press , I might have been the most popular man in England , both with the press and an ignorant community . Had I pandered to the prevailing local prrjudisea in each district , I might have ridden the district hobby-horse to death , while thapress would have kept up my local popularity Thug I mirht have vapoured about the ttniversilily of

      the Suffrage , and regretted ita impracticability , while I tickled the fancy of the all-powerful liberals with the necessity of the . Ballot , > he repeal of the Corn Laws , and denunciation of the Tories and the House of Lords ; I might have preserved enough of agreement with different section * of the movement to have rendered me acceptable to alL In Gbjgow I might have been a Glasgow Reformer , and in Leeds a Leeds Reformer ; and if any differences appeared between my speeches at the several placea , I had but to qualify , contradict , or , if the wojst went to the worst , to retract , and thus

      preserve a sectional or patchwork popularity , \ nthout any benefit being conferred upon the people . To this system , however , I preferred establishing a great national mirror , in which , not only myself , but every other public man should be rt fleeted , dress as he might , change as he would , or attempt to disguise himself as he may . 2 \ ow , my poor but honest friends , be assured that nothing has so far tended to your debasement , and

      your country ' s ruin , as the deceitful , dastardly , and dishonest practice of acquiring popularity upon the promise of applying it for one purpose , and then directing it to a diametrically opposite one . The man , then , who makeisuch an inroad upon the sum supposed to belong legitimately to the "Establishment , " as the immense circulation of the Star must make , insures for himself no very favourable treatment from the sufferers ; while the exposition of pnblic delinquents subjects him to the taunt and reproach of the detected cheat

      Arising from these circumstances , have you not constantly marvelled at the rale observed by the press , the lawyers , and the demagogues , towards me , as the proprietor of the first dissent paper ever established , and successfully upheld , in this country . If a violent doctrine ia propounded by the Timts , the Chronicle , or any other daily paper , you never hear the name of Mr . Walter , . Mr . Easthope , or the proprietor mentioned . Xo , not even as connected with the politics of the paper . So it is with all other journals , whether metropolitan or provincial But now observe the

      contrast . 1 am not only held responsible for every word . written by the Editor , ( which I avow myself per-¦ ¦ sonally , legally , and morally responsible for , ) bat I am held responsible for every letter , with the proper ' signature of the writer , which appears in the Star . I ' am held responsible for every word spoken by every person " reported in the Star ; and I am held responsible for eTery act committed by the people , even where those acts are in direct opposition to the advice given in . the Star . Ton never hear that " the Star said so and i so "— " the Editor recommends so and so ; " no , but , " O'Connor recommendi , and says eo and so . "

      Let me give you one most striking , ludicrous , and convincing instance . Sometime in the spring of 1839 , the Tyne Mercury , or Pilot , I know not which , gave a representation of a " cat" for the annoyance and destruction of horses , in the event of cavalry being brought against the people . This cut of a cat was accompanied by an anxious wish , upon the part of the Editor , that such a bed right be prepared / or Mr . O'Connor . The 3 ub-editer of the Star thought it worth the insertion , and gave it accordingly , with other news . Well , what was the result ? Why , every paper in England , even honest Mercury , had an article upon the base recommendation , not of the Slur , "but of the bloodthirsty O'Connor , who gave a

      description in his paper of that destructive instrument called a " cat , " and recommended his bloodthirsty followtrs -to be prepared with a sufficient quantity ; the fact being , that I never saw a drawing of a cat , or any other cat than a pussy cat , until I saw it in the Star , taken , as I have said , from this Tyne paper . Now , need I giTe yeu a more convincing proof of th « length to which trafficking politicians , who have nothing but the characters of others to live upon , will go ? This falsehood was actually urged against me by the Attorney-General , who is , beyond all comparison , the meat ingenious liar in England . Thus I shew you that there is great danger to the man who shall venture as a pirate upon the ocean of political strife .

      I > ow , then , let me ask you what has been the result ! to the cause ? Before you had the Star , —( for it has been i your organ—you have had the benefit , while I have ! had that reward which ever will ba awarded by the j powerful tyrant to the struggling patriot , )—well , before ; you had the Star , what were you , who -were you , and i who were your leaders . ' You were nothing : you were ; like tte distanced horse in the race—nowhere ; and your leaders weri your drivers . What are you now ? ! Everything , everywhere , and leading yourseltxs ! Such is your position , while I am here for having placed you there ; aad right glad I am that my crime has been s *> great , and my end so well accomplished .

      > ow , just observe , the man who makes personal aggrandisement his aim and end , must keep the people in ignorance ; while the man who wishes to see justice done to all , having only a man ' s share himself , will look to the light of knowledge as his polar sUr . ' When the Irish press refuses to lie , to slave , or to work on Sundays , for Mr . O'Connell ' s breeches pockets , what doea he say ? He says , " I'll get a paper ; I have been offered £ 3 , 006 to establish one . " Well , I tell him , he dare not I Veil him , if he establish * uch a paper as the Star to-morrow , and , along with it , established reading societies for the purpose of communicating its contents , that Universal Suftrage ,

      total abolition of Tithes , and repeal of the Union , w « old be carried ia twelve months , —but without that profit dow arising from the vapouring about them , and the consequent subscriptions paid by the wealthy absolutely and actually to suppress them . When O'Connell gets sub * cripUoas , the English people foolishly imagine that they come from those who desire the accomplishment of the measure agitated for ; but nothing is more erroneous . They' come from persons , who "know his temper , " aad who "know how to hoold him . " Those who give toe cash know foil well that they give it as the golden link -which binds Dan to property , and they also know that , that resource failing , he matt either be ahelyed is office , or thrown headlong into , tik *

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      arms of the people ; in the one case they are quite sure that their order could never again expect to procure the services of so successful a juggler , ¦ while in the other he would fight with all the " fervency of a renegade , " ' If O'ConneU established a paper to-morrow , the press which now praises him would maul him to death in a month , and make such an exhibition of tattered

      delinquency as was never before served up to the public . This newspaper , then , has given me a most destructive popularity—destructive , because it baa marked me as a prey for the vengeance of all who choose to oppress , with a certainty of being well backed by the " Establishment" Sat have I not , singlehanded , fought them all like a man 7 It has done this for me , while it has made you the most powerfal people of which history makes mention .

      Good God , how I glory in the rich and consoling reflection ; . not one drop of blood shed through five years and a half of unparalleled cruelty and persecution upon the one hand , and patient suffering upon tho other , —while I am victimised for the result Yes , that ' s my crime ; not that I libelled or defamed , but that I would not allow you , though bard pressed by tyranny , to pollute your bands with blood , or soil your cause by crime , thereby making you an easy prey to the poirerfuL

      When did you ever hear before , in the worst days of dark oppression , even under the hellish sway of a Sidmouth or a Castlereagh , of a gentleman being thus treated for libel ? I am in solitary confinement The only prisoner in the empire in solitary confinement The letters of my sisters , my friends , and relatives , are all perused by a gaoler , or his deputy ; and mine to them are as minutely scanned . My clerk dare not hand me an account of three figures , without first submitting it for inspection to my keeper and spy . I am obliged to find my own coals . I am locked up from morning till night in a stone cell , which was last

      occupied by a soldier , who was removed here from the felor . a' prison , as a further punishment , a greater one than the prison allowed . I am between two and three hundred yards from the place where I am told I am to exercise . I have not seen it yet , for , eince my yard was given up to convicts , I have not left my house . The prisoners have their day-room doors open , from seven in the morning till they go to bed—mine is never open . I am locked up in one cell all day aad all night , and when my keeper asks me what time I would wish to walk , should it rain at the appointed hour , then I am a prisoner for the day . If a friend conies

      to see me , our every word is heard by a spy , and reported . I pass by all the other wards in my way to my exercise ground ; and , then , I see from fifteen to twenty , having , at all events , the consolation of the society of their own order , a room to walk in and out of , as they thing proper , their coals paid for , their washing paid for ; and , what is still more galling , I see men who have committed forgeries , rapes , larcenies , assaults Vy stabbing , and all sorts of crimes , committed , on an average , for not more than nine months , whilst I have double the time to serve ; and this £ n a

      free country , and under a Reformed Government , who looked upon the use made by the Tories of the law of libel , as the most oppressive engine against the freedom of a people . Is this the worst ? No . But mark the worst If any other newspaper proprietor in England had been similarly treated , no matter what his politics were , the fraternity of pirates would haTe insisted , aye , insisted , upon hia being treated as libellers were wont to be in Tory times . Ye Go < is . ' what luxury in the tenth year of Retorm , to yeam after the good old times of Sidmeuth and Castlereazh !

      Well , how has the " Establishment treated me ? Why , in order to level all distinction , they speak of all others as political libellers , while I am the only one of that class in this kingdom in prison . Was ever such a fence ? If I was at large , could they keep Edward Baines in close , degrading , solitary confinement , as they have kept me , and for the same offence ?

      " No , no ; a million times NO . " I defy them . I would lose iny life , or have him , even him , or John Edward Taylor , out , or properly treated while they were in . You have heard of some of the abominations practised at Wakefield , and other hells and mad-houses ; but George White has not yet told you that , even upon the usual punishment , there is a refinement What is it ? Why , sentence to three days' solitary confinement . That is the state in which I am to be , have been in , for five hundred and four days ! two whole summers , and one whole winter !

      What think you of that , my friends ? Will any man say that my sentence , carried out , as it has been , and as it may be , to the end , for aught I care , is not worse than six years' ordinary imprisonment ? Just think of all my letters being handed open , after having been perused , and that in direct violation of the only prison rule upon the subject , and in compliance with the order of an upstart jackanapes of a Btate piuper , fit for no earthly occupation but that passive one of being practised upon by a barber ' s apprentice , to teach him how to

      shave men ; and such is your Home Secretary . "A pox" on such secretaries , say I . I am here , and I am thus treated , because I am the proprietor of the Star , and because the Star threatens the citadel of corruption with its downfall . The Star has made as many Generals as Napoleon ever made ; and many of these Generals , forgetting the cause of their promotion , bate me and the Star with a hatred even more implacable than the open and avowed foe . I assure you , I have more enemies to contend against than you are aware of . Never man was so watched .

      In recounting some of my poor services to Ireland , I forgot to mention that my very first act , as a barrister , was to volunteer my services for the defence of honest John Lawless , the honesteat public man that Ireland has seen for the last forty years . Yes , I defended him against one of the most tyrannical charges ever preferred against man , brought against him by Mr . O'ConneU , and submitted to a tribunal at the Corn Exchange , Mr . O'Connell appearing as prosecutor . After some days of gro 33 persecution , Lawless was acquitted , but no satisfaction was ever rendered to this much injured man . That was in 1831 , and was a circumstance not very likely to ingratiate me with the crown prosecntor .

      My friends , bear one thing in mind—that while I was spending thousands , I had to pay dearly for every word of mine which the seveDpenny " Establishment ' condescended to publish ; whereas , now I nave to pay dearly for the sentiments of others , not only for newa , but for the very means of distinguishing talent . Let me give you one striking instance . When I attended the great delegate meeting of Scotch representatives Bt Glasgow , in August , 1839 , and when the proceedings were over , I took advantage of the moment for procuring a good condensation of Chartist news from the several districts represented by sixty-four of the most

      efficient men I ever met I then stated that I would pay so much per column for news , mark news ; but that a half column must be the extent allowed to any one locality , in justice to all men . Immediately Mr . Abraham Duncam said , what will yon allow me for reports ? The same , I answered ; but mind , I bar speeches . Well , Messrs . Duncan and Lowrey made a a most efficient tour of agitation , and sent their own speeches at foil length , without a line of news , and frequently complained If presa of more important matter delayed their publication lor a week , and sent

      me in a bill of . £ 10 , which I paid . Thus , joa will see , that I was compelled to pay dearly for publication of garbled reports of my own speeches , while I was obliged to pay others for reports of their own speeches ; and I am sure , if those speeches had a benefioial effect , which I believe they bad , they were welcome to the money , while I merely relate the fact , to ahew how different were the means opea to me , from those which have opened for others . And also , in justice to Lowrey , I must say , that he thought he was writing according to contract

      These letter * hitherto hare been npon two subjects , which may be considered as personally relating to myastt Yoi three daya to come , I shall write about matters wholly appertaining to you and y « or cause . I shall place the question of the Corn Laws , the attempt to establish a hungry dissent church , instead ot * gorged state church , as the dominant religions state establishment , and many other questions clearly before yon ; while I do expect that my having occupied two letters in self-defence , upon the vital point of physical forcft and pettfcical traffic , will be pardoned , when you consider th * t 1 stand alone of my order , and that my cliaracter ia ot some value to my party . In eonclaslrjn , let me iimttX your attmtfon to the great value of -publication « Ctke naimalwiil . Yob ill find tha auxk effickot

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      j - i . - ¦ - / .. proof in the fact , that the " Establishment" does not publish Chartist practical , intelligence , as it publishes the humbug speeches of the tribe of praclical Rsformers . if it did ,-we should never hear of physical force ; in fact , ' we should be over strong in our moral strength . I am , my friends , Your true and faithful friend , Feargus O'Connor .

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      TO HER MOST GRACIOUS MAJESTY THE QUEEN . Madam , —In my last , I noticed the arrangements of society generally , which directly tend to the increase of that mats of crime which all must lament and deplore . Let us pursue the subject a little more fully , and notice a few of those arrangements in detail . Not to be tedious , I will only crave your attention to three , which are supposed to exist for , and to be most essentially connected with , the prosperity of the community . ' . ' ,. '; . ¦ ' Firsti / one arrangement of our present anti-social staite is , that large farms are more profitable than small ones , and that what are called waste lands shall be enclosed and brought under consideration .

      Now , Madam , let me ask what is the natural , 'the inevitable result » f all this ? is it net that the farmer with small capital must be driven out of the market , and that he who has expended his money in stocking his farm , ( held only for a short lease , ) becomes fearful of sustaining loss , and under the influence « f this fear , surrendera his manly independence , and becomes the crawling slave of his imperious landlord . Then , as to the inclosure of waste lands ; were not the lands , which bare been enclosed during the last eighty , years , the common right of the poor , and have they not been wrung from them by an unprincipled aristocracy , without even

      the pretence of giving an equivalent in return ? It is said that like begetteth its like , and the truth of the aphorism is clearly shewn in this instance . The system of large farms necessarily threw many persons oat of employment , and prevented the cultivation of much valuable land , leat the price ef agricultural produce should fall so low as not to enable the tenant to pay the rent agreed for ; and this is in itself a most grievous crime , since it puts a drag upou the exertions « f industry , and prevents a healthy developement of the powers of society . Nor was that system of legal robbery , perpetrated under the name of " Enclosure Bills , " one whit the less criminal .

      The lands were not waste ; they were the common right of the poor , in the places to which they were appendages , and nothing but the bold and daring effrontery of a class legislation , would have dared to place a finger on them . But they were taken , and many a family once rendered happy and comfortable by their means , ia , by their enclosure , reduced to misery , want , and wretchedness . And what has been the result of all this modern march of improvement . '—Poverty . Am I asked for proof , I refer at once to the evidence of those who have been foremost in the mischief . One of the reasons assigned by

      the aristocracy—that aristocracy who surround your throne , and prevent the accounts of distress trom approaching your royal ear—for the enactment of the New Poor Law , was , that the poor would eat up the land ; was ever such a fear entertained since the enactment of the 43 rd of Elizabeth , till small farms had been superseded by large ones , and tho Peers and Commons had been swallowed up by greedy and insatiable avarice ? If , then , this fear was well founded , out of their own mouths I convict them of having , to an alarming extent , pauperized the nation . The same parties declared the Bastardy Act to

      be necessary , because of the great immorality of the women of England . I know the accusation was a gross and scandalous libel , and they knew it too , but we can defy them to produce even a single decent pretence for such a charge , when the cottage was a peaceful and happy home , when our agricultural population remained located upon their native soil , and when low rents and happy couples were preferred to large receipts and abandoned misery . The pretext for the rural police , to which , Madam , you have been induced by the traitors who surround you , to give your assent , was the insecurity of life and property , in the agricultural districts . ( This was but a pretext ; the real motive for the embodiment bf this infamous and

      unconstitutional force was to put down Chartism , and to crush the rising spirit of the people . ) Still oar calendars and our county rates tell us that crime baa increased to a fearful extent , and it has done so in the rural districts progressively , aa the crimes ot legal robbery have become more bold and frequent , and as the means of obtaining an honest and respectable subsistence , have become circumscribed and precarious-Thus we behold the want of principle in the governing few , producing a vast amount of delinquency in this portion of the misgoverned many ; and we shall find , as we advance in our review of the arrangements of society , that the same sad effects flow in other directions , from the same prolific root of evil .

      The second arrangement of society to which I wish to direct your Majesty ' s notice , is the undue influence which all our laws and institutions , especially those of recent and liberal fabrication , give to what is called property . I say , to what ia called property ; because bo confused and obscure are all our notions on really important matters , that we fail to recognise the most valuable of all property—the skill and industry of the people , aa any kind of property whatever . What we call property or wealth ia money , bouses , lands , or anything which has acquired a nominal and fictitious value , and which constitutes a man " respectable , " in the conventional , the perverted use of the word . We lose sight ot the important fact that money is only the representative of things which are conducive to the

      necessaries , the comforts , and the conveniences of life , and is used merely as a convenient medium of exchange . So alter circumstances aa that it shall fetch nothing , and , beyond the mere intrinsio * alue of the metal , it would be only so much accumulated rubbish or useless lumber . Place a man without food or clothing beneath a burning sun , in the midst of the arid deserts of Arabia , and surround him with gold and silver bearing your royal image and superscription , in sufficient plenty to discbarge the National Debt , and he would give the whole for a cup of cold water , a morsel of bread , a rag to cover him , and the most inconvenient vehicle to transport him to the society of men , amongst whom be might obtain a subsistence , even by the veriest drudgery .

      What a misnomer , then , is it to call money , in the abstract , property . Property in houses or land is just the same : the house ia of no value to the owner , if he cannot find a tenant ; and the land is useless , unless made profitable by cultivation . It Ia , then , skill and industry , in all their multiplied and active forms , that give the real value to all these things , and to a thousand others , which their fond passions glory in as property , and because of which they claim a right to lord it over their fellow-men . And this is by the interested maintainers of things as they are , cried up as the perfection of human society , and the

      acquisition of this heterogeneous mass of lumber , which can neither ward off sickness , nor defy the approach of the king of terrors , is actually , according to our glorious Constitution , made the substitution for intelligence and honesty , in both the electors aad the members of the Senate . It can exalt a man , whose intellectual Uleuta would not recommend him to the situation of a common porter , to the magisterial bench , where , swelling with his fancied importance , be " plays hi » fantastio tricks , " and sends men , infinitely superior to himself , to the cell or the tread-wheel , for the high crime of poverty . And what , I ask , ia the

      consequence of this vicious domination of that which is miscalled property ? It ia not that the bonds which should bind man to man are loosened , that the laws which are made by sweh unworthy , legislators , and founded upon such unjust and partial principles , are despised , and , in many cases , openly defied ; and that acts el reckless oppression are perpetually perpetrated ? No wonder that , under bucu f t system , crime ahonld continually increase ; the real wondei ia , that things ace not a thousand times worse than wo at prevent find them . Thea&menof property are notoriouaJ-y the most grinding , oppressive , and unprincipled * wretohM , In aristewa . Ybeir aeUtahnen If unjmlle / ed : their love

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      of domination , insatiable . If a man in their employ ventures to think fo » himself in eeUties , be is kindly admonished ; by his condescending master , that he has nothing to do with state matters , and is sent for sound instruction , in his various duties , to Father Vatican , or Parson Episcopal , or the Reverend John Methodist , or , perchance , to the Reverend Timothy Dissent , the Reverend John Dip-him-well , or Obadiah Broadbrim , who , though ready to Bend each other to fire and faggot on almost every other subject , will cordially unite in directing their Various applicants to bow with obsequies devotion at the shrine of Mammon ; and to " ordet

      themselves lowly and reverently to all their betters . " And if all this pains and trouble fail to work conviction , and the toil-worn slave ia still resolved that his thoughts akall be free , the last effort to bring him to a better mind , is feelingly resorted to , and in the midst of winter , he is deprived of his employment , or driven from his cottage , with those he loves , his wife , pet ' hapa , far advanced in pregnancy , or with an infant at her breast , to die in a ditch , or be separated and poisoned in a Union Workhouse . Can you wonder , Madam , that , under such circumstances—and they are

      not of rare occurrence—the distracted father will steal , rather than voluntarily starve , or be legally subjected to a lingering dissolution ? No ; if you give the matter a moment's consideration , you cannot wonder . The poor outcast , the victim of the virtuous man of property , has been driven to desperation by his accumulated wrongs , and , in the bitterness of bis anguish , he poetically exclaims : — " Now men of death work out your will , For I can suffer and be still ; And come he slow or come he fast , It is but death that comes at last "

      There remains yet one arrangement of society to be considered , or rather a combination of several arrangements , which is of immense moment , which is pro . ductive of incalculablo mischief , and in which is involved some particulars , which ought especially to interest your Majesty , aa a woman and a mother ; I refer to the factory system , in connection with which must be taken into consideration , the increased application of machinery , wai the effects it has upon the mining population .

      It is a fact , which I must suppose to be well known to your Majesty , that a vast amount of capital has been of iate years invested in factories for the fabrication of silk , wocllen , and cotton goods ; immense quantities of which , especially cotton , have been exported to foreign markets , and immense quantities more would liave been exported , but for the operation of the English Corn Laws . By this system , large fortunes were realised by the fortunate speculators in a few years A tide of wealth rolled through the manufacturing , districts , aud tbia , no doubt , you have been taught to consider as an evidence of national prosperity . But

      this is a moat fatal aud mischievous conclusion . I admit that the Millowners and the Capitalists of Manchester , of Leeds , Bradford , Asbton-under-Lyne , Staley-Bridge , and all the manufacturing towns of the empire prospered exceedingly . I admit , too , that the shipping interest of London , Liverpool , Hull , and other ports , shared to a vast amount in the commercial advantages which arose out of the extensive exportation of British manufactured goods , but I deny that these parties were the nation . All this prosperity was only that of a class , or at the moat , of certain classes ; and I shall shew you immediately , that in thus securing class prosperity , we

      paid " too dear for our whistle ; " and that , in fact , the nation , the bulk of the people , were injured and not benefited by each partial prosperity . Nothing , I ap . prebend , can be fairly considered as conducive to national presperity , which baa a direct tendency to destroy the health , debase tbe mind , and shorten the lives of the working population . This being admitted , let us inquire how fur the factory system , aa at present conducted , is directly conducive to those fearful ends-The factory labour was , at its commencement , carried on by means of water power , on the banks of the various streams in Yorkshire and Lancashire , which

      having for ages rolled on in undisturbed repose , became agitated by the whisk and noise of water-milla , and their vicinities became peopled with a manufacturing population . This system was ene in which vast profits were realised , and in which human life was sacrificed to an immense , an unknown extent . Still avarice acted , and feelinglcsa capital , waa unsatisfied ; and upon the introduction of s' . eara power , that agent was eagerly seized upon , and the water wheel , which could not be kept perpetually in motion , was almost universally made to

      give place to tbe steam engine , which could be kept in constant activity , and which was in numerous cases so used as to run the mills from twelve o ' clock on Sunday night , to twelve o'clock on Saturday night , without intermission . By this means , two things were at once secured . First , the steam engine and power loom displaced a vast amount of human labour , and compelled thousands to seek employment in some other branch of industry , and .

      Second , the labour market being thus overstocked , the insatiable monster , avarice , which like the horse leach is ever crying , " give , give , " had the opportunity , which it failed not to lay hold of , of trampling down the price of labour , and of thus reducing tbe working classes into tbe condition of slaves and bondsmen . Besides this , the new factory aristocracy found out that much of the labour which must still be performed by human hands , could be done better , at all events cheaper , by children than by adults , and the labour market , as I observed before , being overstocked , it waa no hard matter to induce , ( to compel would be the more correct expression , ) tbe fathers and mothers of large families to aend their children to the mill , that , by their earnings they might aid in providing a scanty subsistence for those who gave them birth .

      This state of things went on fur many years , and not a voice was heard agaicst it Parliament cared as little aa it knew about the matter ; the revenue was increased by the duties on exported goods , and of course the Chancellor of the Exchequer was enabled to tell the country that things were in a prosperous condition . By and bye , some glimpses of truth gained an admission into the public mind ; inquiry was instituted , facts of the most appalling character came te light , and some shadtw of protection was , from time to time , afforded the helpless factory child . And what is the actual state of things at present ? Be it remembered that we

      are now enjoying tbe advantages of a reformed system , and that system leaves fathers unemployed , and little children , —little girls , Madam , as much entitled to tender care , and judicious training , as the Princess Royal , —confined for many hours in the heated and unwholesome engagements of factory labour . Without time or means for any kind of mental culture worth the name , and prevented from taking those invigoratingexercisea ao conducive to health , and so necessary to fit them to be the parents of a strong and healthful race . That reformed system also leaves , aa far as adults are concerned , the operations of machinery entirely unchecked ,

      and machinery itself untaxed , so that man who needs food , clothing , and sleep , is left by those who pretend to be hia representatives , to the feaiful odds of competing with that which requirea neither food , sleep , nor clothing . I will only notice one thing more connected with this arrangement of society , before I inquire into ita general results . The introduction of steam and ita application to the purposes of manufacture by machine !* , baa had , and must ¦ ecessarily have , a marked effeefc upon the mining [ population , especially in the departments of iron and coaL It baa been stated , and I fear with bni too much truth , that the classes engaged in these works are extiemely

      ignorant , and demoralised to an alarming degree . The quantities ef coal that have bee * required , since the applicatic * of steam U practical purposes , has been immen se * and must kave required a proportionate increase ) In the mining population . It has been stated that oaw-third of thoaa engaged in coal mines are FEUAIES , ( if the men of England bad tbe spirit of their ancestors , they would not allow this outrage on common decency to continue another month , ) young persona , in many balances , who are compelled to work hundreds of feet below the surface of the earth , in postures which must be injurious to the constitution , and sometimes almost in a state of nudity . These things . Madam , exist In a state of society ( aad must « dat Wl fee present amncenuoto we tbsofed

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      which you are taught to hail as one ot national pros perity and happiness . Now , I ask , ia not this stote of things one which has a direct tendency to destroy tbe health , debase the mind , and shorten the lives of tbe working classes , or a large proportion of them I Here we have children of a tender age , deprived of the means of health , and confined for many hours in an atmosphere of contagion , disease , and death . This must destroy health . We have large masses of untutored human beinga collected together in a state of almost savage wildneaa , treated aa beast of burden , and , by their rery situations , precluded frofit any efficient moral and social Improvement ; being wicked in order to relax the mind ; in ignorance of any more pure or refined source of recreation , and

      compelled almost to glory in their shame . Thus , then , the system debases and degrades the mind ; and that life ia shortened by it , no one at all acquainted with the subject will for a moment question . No wonder , then , that this , in common with the other arrangements of society , which I have named , sbonld be the prolific parent of crimes of almost every kind and description . That it ia so , the documents laid before Parliament bear ample testimony . Then , until those arrangements axe changed , it is in vain to leok for a better state of things . Let us proceed to inquire how this imports / A end nay be accomplished . - - I am , Madam , Your Majesty ' s faithful and obedient ' V subject and servant , London , January 18 th , 184 * . NUMA .

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      THE PROPOSED JUNCTION OF THE WORKING AND MIDDLE CLASSES . TO THE EDITOR OF THE NORTHERN STAR . Dear Sir , —An eventful week has slipped away , and Chartisnf has received good or harm , as the friends and admirers of the measure may hereafter determine . I have narrowly watched tbe movements of both parties—have heard and read much of their saying * and doings—and I am convinced , that unless many of your excellent readers mind what they are doing , and keep a sharp ' look out , the enemy wil entrap them in the meshes of a deep laid plot , which is to juggle tba > whole people out ef the Charter .

      Collins is a most respectable , eloquent , and honourable msn . Chartism owes him much ; but 1 am told , in a speech delivered in the presence of "Dan , " and the rest of hia compeers at the "Feed , " he assured them , that if the principles embodied in tbe Charter were brought forward by them , he could promise the co-operation of the Chartist body . And I find in the oddreVs , as published in your Third Edition , by * the Delegates , and signed by Ms . James Greaves and Mr . Samuel Healey , a leaning towards middle-class union ; a kind of currying for favour and support ; a sort of mawkish squeamishness and mincine of truth recommended—bints , I

      guess , for a gentle compromise of position , when wo ought rather" to have glorified in the divine power of Btrong truth , boldly spoken , as manifested in tbe proud and exalted attitude we now bold , as a respectable , powerful , and intellectual political body of working men ; in their onward career , able and willing to work out , in defiance of every obstacle , their own political redemption . Is this a time to show a white feather ? The time of victory unparalleled ! Be ateady , my brothers ! stick to the real" workie 8 " and you will regain the equilibrium : but , " evil communications corrupt good manners , " and this ia but a moment of forgetfulneas ..

      "A beneftoial union , " says the address , " maybe , piobably , ere long , accomplished between the workingclasses and tbe honest advocates of right of every other class . " Now , Sir , I query the words " beneficial union " and the " honest advocates . " Such unions have happened before , and when did they work well for the people ? Never ; and my opinion is , ( hey never will . Besidee , the union contemplated by them , is , that we should either allow our principles to receive anew embodi * meat , or join them for something leap . Can we do either , and do right ? The latter we cannot ; the former we ought not .

      Let it be remembered by whose unwearied and disinterested exertions we now exist , by whose virtues , honesty , courage , and sufferings we have a being-—who it is -has placed us in the most independent and dreaded position , the foos of England ever saw upon her bosom , and say , can we , ought we , to forsake thio inimitable position to which he elevated us , for the same principles in a n 6 w . form , ( supposing them to be tbe same , ) when this ia the ms >> Iicious act of our own aud beat friend's greatest enemy , done for no other purpose than that of crushing one of

      the sincereat and truest men that ever breathed , if nothing more ? The whole world would blush at our shame . But when , on the other band , by such a compromise , we must give up the leadership out of our own hands , into those of our former betrayers , ( who would glory to repeat the dose , no matter by What amount of cajolery , in tbe shape of " promise to pay , " the power ia obtained . ) we commit suicide upon our causey and doubly ruined are all our further efforts . C . in we make such overtures , without giving the direction of our affaire to " our auperiors ? " I answer , no I never , never !

      • ¦ ' Trustnot for freedom to the Franks , They have a King who bnys and sells ; In native minds and native ranks The only hope for freedom dwells . " Hitherto , have we not done our own work—done it well ; and are we not progressing gloriously ? What , then , may hinder us from proceeding ? We increase numerically ,- and more abundantly in real knowledge and mental . capability . Look at our union , sobriety , the anointed but unsophisticated eloquence of our speakers ! What body of politicians , or of anything els } , can get up and conduct meetings , write and pass resolutions , in such business-like order and ability , as the Chartists ? None ; no , not even Members of Parliamsnt themselves , taken as a whole .

      And why , then , ' atay now to " soften our speech and smooth our tongue ? " Ia it less necessary to speak the truth—to call , things by their right names , thaa formerly ? Nay , I' should think we have greater license to be plainer and bolder than ever—not to be intoxicated with success , but more assured of the rectitude and truth of our position . I know our opponents have long writhed in agony at our sayings and doings ; but now their moral and physical opposition are both of no avail—our heresy increasing the more—they come to treat us with their wheedlidg twaddle—half cenaurehalf rub-down flattery . " Nay you are too bad , we own your principles in the main to be right , but you are too harsh—rtoo severe in your

      censure—unreasonable in your demands—take a little at once—you make enemies where you might make friends—be milder , and join the middle classes—denounce the Tories as much aa you like , only , don't call us , " and ao on , &c &c . Now , if the Chartists apeak untruths , whether in smooth language or gross , it is wrong ; but if the strong language be nothing more than a real and just description—be truth—in the name of God let us go on ; this mode of conduct never was known to be wrong in the long run ; and never will;—while mincing the description of crying evils , by which , for » time , we gain a few fair weather proselytes , has always been baneful in the end ; tbe evils complained of remaining the aame .

      Thia union with the middle classes is a subject which ought to be fairly canvas led , and , I trust , the Chartiats as a body will look to it . Let me ask those middle-class men when the Chartists ever refused a legitimate and healthy union with any class of men ? Did they ever refuse to receive into their asaociation any who havtf offered to become member * , unlesa they hav © been criminal characters ? No , never . Their arm * have always been , and are now , thrown wide open to receive all who are willing to aid in the righteous struggle ; and , therefore , if the middle classes have not united , the cause is with themselves . It ia evident

      they are not williDg to join on equal terms . Having wormed themselves , at the expence of working men , into an aristocratic niche in society , they think to carry their obnoxioms nonaenae of " auperiority" along with them , remain apart , or bring us over to the notion that we ought still to do their bidding , and remain slaves . But our position is a truly godlike and primitive one ; obtained , too , by dint of much painful labour and cost : intellect and virtue alone can rule among us ; and we are better able , nay , almighty , to conquer without the middle-class men ; and ere long , if wo maintain the advantage we now possess , necessity alone will compel these to come—to beg to come on our own terms .

      To tbia We cheerfully exhort them . We say , " come with us , and we will do you good . " There is no obstacle on our part , but our determinatioB ia as immoveable as our cause is just ; and I trust we Bhall go on in the same straight-forward course—courteous to real friends , and a" tenor to evil doers , **— conquering and to conquest , until the top st * ne ef oar superstructure be brought on , with shouting , by the sovereign and united people . While I advocate an unflinching decision , let me be understood to discountenance the least approach to vulgarity , much less , brutality , in the advocacy of our cause ; and that I am aware many of our friends have have not at all times manifested aa much discretion aa became them ; yet what of tbia ? We are to improve , and not ma into the other extreme , which has ever proved worse of the two . The time has come , when I will have all or none—all we ask , or something more * rather than something leas . Let the

      expediency-mongers dab me mad , if they choose , for refusing their " gradual" reforms ; I judge of what I ought to do , and every one else ought to do in this matter , by the past , the present , and the future ; by the signs of the times , the © onstrtwtion of society , the misery of the millions , their wants and Weight of oppression , the safety , honour , and wefare of my country ; and if I am mad , there shall be method in my madness—method that shall defy tbe . political trickists , and murderous jugglers- of the age , whose itinerating rounds are taken to coil round new victims , and leave a slime sa they crawl to poison the very tAt we breathe , spreadlngnew confusion , fresh doubts , confounding truth , Simple honest truth , with treacherous sophistry ; and / if ' possible , doing their wont to widen the breach * jico « gaxi ising , instead of healing and cementing in one bond ot onion and affection , the lover * of justice and falrp ^ a j . In truth and soberness , . '" . : ¦ * ¦ :- I am , dear Sir , "; . : ;• , / . ' Tosn mpeetfoOy , ' WoiUliffiCX ,

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      ¦ ___ THE NORTHERN ST AR . 7

  • Citation
    • Northern Star (1837-1852), Jan. 30, 1841, page 7, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/ns/issues/vm2-ncseproduct534/page/7/