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Northern Star (1837-1852), 11th March 1843, Edition 3 of 5, Page 4, Untitled Article

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    • THE NOBTHEKff STAE SATURDAY, MARCH 11, 1843.
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      Untitled Article

      Oh Mohdxt itext , the 13 th instant , Mr . Roberts , Solicitor to the Chartists , will address the people of Manchester , in the Carpenter ' s HaU , at eight o'clock , when he wiH give an account of the proceedings at Lancaster connected with the Chariist trials . Admission One Penny , to go to the Defence Fond .

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      THE TRIAL . Wscan but call attention to the continuation of jOoi report of this most important proceeding . "We lave given all respecting it we coold procure up to the latest moment of going to press . It is impossible to particularize remarkable ineidents 5 n connection with this trial at present The state of our columns alone forbids it . There is mnci , however , to be said upon the whole matter , both generally and particularly . To say

      this , occasions must be embraced as they present themselves . A xssson , kkvxb-to-be-tobgottbh , jtusT 3 B nxss paoM it . It is ihe last proceeding of ihe sort thai we must have in connection teith the Chartist csuse ! Whatever may bo the result of She Jury ' s finding , we must endeavour in future so to conduct our exertions for the attainment of right , as to preclude the possibility of the leaders of the people having again to stand at the bar , to answer such charges as circumstances have this time enabled ¦ the Axtobket-Gkkeeai to frame against them .

      TMs can be done . This must be done . It is truly lamentable to see the exertions , and time , and money , of the poor workies employed in aid of such purposes , as we sometimes have seen them put to . "We must have no more of it 1 Theinowledge we hare gained by the past will enable us so to direct our efforts in the future , as to produce to us manifest proof of their utility . 2 ? o more outbreaks ! No more secret plottings ! No more serxkes ! No more putting

      ourselves between the fangs of the Attorney-General ! Ho more indictments > But plenty more of peaoeM and firm agitation 2 Plenty more of operating on public opinion ! Plenty more ofttn&nythe working people in a strong and firm union to resist the onward progress of oppression and introduce the reign of right . Plenty more of efforts to obtain some portion of the ulnd , to show ihe world what we can do with political power when we procure it ! Plenty more of these things ;

      but all icithin the late ! In the accomplishment of these objects , we can have the direct PBorBcno * op law , if we choose to BvaQ ourselves of it . The time has come when this sen bet tend must he Jloae . We li ? e in a world of progression j and the juxd that has been evolved by the previous applications of our energies- will guide oar steps to & far advanced position .

      THE VHBDXCT . Psidat Mobsisg , 11 o'clock- — "Westop the Press to announce iJie RESULT of the TriaL The Reporter has just reached the office , with the news . The Court opened yesterday at nine o ' clock in the morning ; and the Judge immediately commenced lus summing-up . His addres 3 to the Jury TOenpied -till four o ' clock in the afternoon j and we hare the authority of Mr . O'Cosbob for saying that a more able and impartial summing up nererfellfrom the lips of a Judge . His Lordship then detailed the evidence as it affected

      Jive of ihe defendants ; he stating it as his purpose -to take the opinion of ihe Jury respecting the defendants in latches of fire . The Jury berenpon retired ; and after being absent an hour they returned into court , with a request that his lordship would detail the evidence as it applied to each and dU of the defendants , as they , had already taken such notes -as would guide them to a decision . Their request was -complied wivh ; xnd after again retiring , and being absent ten minutes , they returned into Court , just at seven o ' clock , with the following TBTdirt : —

      QUIUF 7 on ihe Pitch Cocjrr ojtly . —Fesrgua O'Connor , WUlixm Hill , 6 eorge Julian Harney . John SayJa r Jbin ^ Jbmaa , ^ frntuair"Se&aej ' Samuel Pukes , Thomas Rallton , Kobert Ramsden , John Arran , Jama TSkevington , William Aitkin , Sand ; Challenger , and Win . Woodrnfie . GUILTY OH THE FOTJBTH A 2 TD FIFTH C 0 O 5 TS- — " Peter Murray M'Djuall , Jama Leach , Christopher Doyle , John Campl ^ D , Jonathan Bairstow , Bernard H'CartBey ; James Aranrt , Thome ? Cooper , Rolsrt JBrookfi , James Mooney , John Leach , -TJavia Morrison , George Csnaelet , John Durham , JameB Fenton , snd Frederick Auenrtas Taylor .

      2 JTOT GUILTY—Ja * . Scholefield , Win . Scholefield , Divid Boas , Junes CarHedge , { Queens Eridenca ) James Taylor , Joseph Clarke , John Mrctsy , John Yl& * ± et , Thomas "Brawn . Smith , Thomas Futar , John Allinso n , James Grasby , James Chippsndale , Tbomrs JttaHon , John Irfmax , Ttisbwa PflEug , " WiHim 8 ' > phsOTon , John Cnmley , Alber t "Woolfenden , Rot at Ires , John Lewis , Patrick Murphy Brqphy , George -Johaxm , Thomri Storah , John Wilde , and Thomas Pitt . The Tovsxb . Covht of the Indictment charge 3 the defendants with * aiding , assisting , and abetting , dicers evU-iisposed persons , who -were tumuliuously assembling , and by violence , threats , and intimida £ ioni , tobcikg peaceable subjects to leave their employment and occupa&BnP

      Thb Fifth Cotjkt charges for that they did unlawfully endeavour to * persuade and encourage the taid subjects to leave their respective employments , and to produce a cessation of labour , in order to bring about a change in the laics and constitution of the realm /* AH ihe weightier counts of the Indictment rre thus given to the winds $ the charges upon which a verdict of Guilty is retained being very minor ones indeed . None of the defendants were in Court when the Terdict was returned , Judgment will not be passed till next term ; which will be in May next .

      In relation to ibis matter we give the following ¦ short letter from Mr . O'Cosbob , : —

      TO THE IMPERIAL CHARTISTS . Mt Belotsd Fbikkds , —I have fought a battle with my gallant band : a battle of eight long days We have had lair play in every respect . A Jndge whoknow 3 the law , and was governed by the lawj making no distinction in its application because the defendants were poor . There never was such a Judge—bo patient , bo inquiative , so amiable , A Jury , though chosen bj the Crown , resolved upon doing justice , according io the evidence . A prosecntor , mild , compared with those to whom I have bon

      accustomed . The only party thai I find fault with are those who were engaged by the Crown to procure evidence . The evidence was of the lowest and most profligate description . Our defence was msDly and convincing . O I what a credit to be associated with such men ! They electrified m&and every body . "We have been honourably found GUILTY of nothing J We will fight tbiB battle yet . I go now to prepare for another fight in the Queen ' s Bench , —for never will I give up . I say nothing of my own poor services : but our friends are satisfied * and eo am I .

      "We never were bo Btrong . I never was in better spirits . I promise you that the verdiot shaH not tea triumph ! Hurrah for the Charter ! I am , your ever-faithfnl Friend , Lancaster , Fb ^ egub CPCokhob . Thursday Night .

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      FACTORY LABOUR . In ii& Northern Star of last week was given an pitome of a debate in " the House / ' consequent on { be introduction of a motion by Lord Asbxxt for « , an hnmble > ddres 3 to her Majesty praying that J * er 3 i * jesiy will be graciously pleased to sake into Instant and serious consideration the best means of diffusing ihe benefits and blessings of a . moral and

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      religious education amongst the working classes of her people f whioh motion was passed unanimously , it being acquiesced in by Sir Jakes Gbaham and Sir Robert P ^ EL on the part of the Government , and supported by Lord John . Rcsskll and other member ' s of her Majesty ' s O » osmoR . " This motion was mainly founded on the Sectnd Report of the Children ' s Ewloyjibkt Commission" just presented to Parliament : which is a

      valuableandimperishable record of theiojosticedone to the working classes , and the fearful state of physical and moral destitution prevailing amongst the children of the poor . The revelations made in this Report , as to their condition in both these respects , are horribly appalling , and almost incredible . Thb&b , however , the record stands ; and U seals the fate of the present system ! It is impossible that it can much longer be sustained .

      From time to time we shall give copious extracts from this Report , accompanied by such observations as we may deem needful to make the matter of it familiar to the minds of the class for whom we care . It is a powerful lever placed within their reach ; and it can and muBt be used to the overthrowing , the toppling over , of that course of selfish oppres-EioB and wicked misrule which has produced the awful state of sin and suffering so truly and so fully described .

      During the course of the debate on Lord Ashlkt ' s motion , Sir Jakes Gsaham detaibd , at some length , a scheme which the Government have matured , for edne&trng ihe children of the poor ; and , amongst other things , he announced that A . New Bill for the Regulation of the Employment of Children and Young Persons in Factories , " would shortly be

      introduced . On Tuesday night last , the Home Secretary moved for leave to bring in such Bill ; and as he then detailed the main of the alterations Government intend to make in the present Act , we give , in this place , what occurred on the occasion , feeling that the subject is one which intimately concerns the working people in the manufacturing districts . It will be seen that several of the projected alteratiots are vastly important to the workers in factories ;

      and that they will tend to the preservation of life and limb . The contemplated power , to cause the dangerous portions of the machinery to be boxed oS , and to prohibit the cleaning of machinery while it is running , will be a valuable protection to the sentient beings required to watch the operations of the master ' s" machinery , should it be obtained ; while the regulations respecting meal-times and making up of lost time , will , if only made efficient , prevent the practising of much imposition a » d much oppression .

      It is also contemplated , as will be seen , to further reduce the hours of labour for the children in mills , from eight hours to six-and-a-half . This is 5 great step ; especially when ooupled with the proviso that such children must attend a properly conducted school during the other portion of the day , to qualify them to enter the factory at alL The children will thus have some chanca of obtaining , the rudiments of common knowledge at least , ; and not be subjected , as they have hitherto' been , to the eternal din , and nobe , and stench of the factory , without intermission or respite

      It is true that the present Factory Act protects " children" from being worked more than eight hours a-day ; and that it directs that ihey shall attend school : but its provisioBS have not been efficient for the purpose . They have be > en continually broken or evaded . The " school" has , in many instances , been the "fire-hole , " and the " schoolmaster" the" firernp" ! This has been fonnd to be the ease , and reported to be so by the Factory Inspectors themselves In the very last Report made by Mr . Sawkdebs , bearing d * te January 25 th , 1848 , we find the following description of ihe son of" education" provided by the *• FoBTr TarBTxs of Pudsey" for the children

      employed in creating wealth . And this is % sample of what h& 3 occurred in by far too many places . Let the fact be made known for the benefit of the Pudstjf " partnera" in guilt , who could not taoil ten shillings for school cooks for the use of those who were making tbom . itundxeda of pounds I Here is the account as reported by Dr . Bakbr , the Superintendent of Factories , to his Inspector , Mr . Satjkders ; and by Mr . Satjndebs reported to Sir Jakes Grahak , the Home Secretabt ; and by us reported to the working people , for the benefit of the poor in general , and for the benefit of the Fobtt Thikves of Pudsey" in particular . Here it is : —

      " In Pddsey , which ib a woollen district , great numbers of very joung children are employed ; the inhabitants are poor , and education is at a very low ebb . I may give you an instance of this . At the Priestley mill , where there are about forty partners , forty-fiye children are employed who come under the education clauses . On one of my recent visits , I found the book-keeper was the schoolmaster , and the books , pieces of an old newspaper torn ad libitum into sections of about thre 3 inches in diameter . On remonstrating with this man on thiB improper and falsely called education , he said , * that he had no power to amend what his masters ordered f and my offer to procure for this company a B « t of elementary books for the small snm of 10 s . has been as completely disregarded . *'

      The shortening of the hoars of labour by the present act , added to the wages of the children employed . The shortening of the hours of labour by the contemplated act will have another similar effect . Another alteration announced we cannot commend . We mean the proposal to lower the age at which children may enter the factory from nine to eight . This is to be regretted . It would have been much better to have entirely prohibited the employment of children and females altogether ; not allowing eyen a male to enter a factory until he was fourteen . This would have necessaril y called into play a great amount of unemployed idle male labour , which has been superseded by the cheaper labour of children and females , if society was , what it ought to be , it would take care that none of its

      membera shonldbe pnt to work , antil their physical capabilities were fully developed ; for society is deeply interested in preventing the deterioration of the species , which must be the consequence if txnf armed beings are set to perform operations for which they are not physically fitted . All tka ttork that a child or youth should perform before the age of fourteen , Bhould be only such as is needful for educational purposes ; the males taught the arts of agriculture and horticulture , by easy exercises daring school hours ; and the females the use of the needle and the scissors , with proper instruction , under the mother's eye , in all the domestio cares and

      duties of a household . This is what every child born amongst us ha ? a right to expect at the hands of society possessing such means of producing wealth as we possess j and when we have learned how to devise common sense arrangements to equitably distribute the wealth we can so profusely create , this , and much more , will be the portion of every child . Is it not monstrous , that one of the effects of an increase in our means to produce the good things of life , should have been the infiiotion of addition ^ toil and labour upon mere children , while the father is forced to walk the streets idle , for want of employment 11

      What follows is the Report of the proceedings in " the House , " when Sir James Gbahak moved for leave to bring in his New Factory Bill . It will be seen that several other important alterations , beside those we have enumerated , are in contemplation ; particularly the extending of the provisions of ( he new measure to the children and young persona employed in the manufacture of lace , and in print works , as well as in silk factories . This of itself is highly important . Here is the report : —

      " Sir J . Graham said , that after what had taken place the other evening , he thought it would be best that he should introduce the Bill of which he had given notice , for regulating the employment of children and young persons in factories , and for the better education of children in factory distriots . The measure he proposed rested mainly on the report of the commitee which sat in 1840 , for the investigation oftfcisEnbject . TheTeport stated the defeota and omissions ot the existing law j and his object was to supply the defects and omissions in the lav which the report detailed . The age of children employed in factories was , at present , limited from nine to

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      thirteen , and the hours of labour were limited to eight per day . He proposed to reduce the number of hours from eight tosix and a half and he also proposed that the six and-a half hours labour must take place either in the forenoon or in the aftet-i noon , ; and not partly ; in the one and partly to the others He was disposed to believe that the lowest age of children might be safely reduced from nine to eight , bo that a child from eight to thirteen might work from six and a half to eight hoars eitherin the forenoon or in the afternoon wholly and not in bothJ The committee ( bad recommended that the martmum age for femalea Bhould be altered from eighteen to twenty-one . Young persona were not now permitted to work more than twelve hours

      a day ; He proposed to alter the age of females ; ia the case of males coming under the denomination of ** young persons" he did not propose to make any alteration . There were Beveral miqute provisions with respect to mealtimes . The regulationsfor dinner contemplated at the leasta Bpace of one hour . With respect to Saturday , he proposed that the hours of work should be limited to nine , bo that young persons would be worked twelv # hours bri other days and nine hours on Saturdays , From the report of the committee it appeared that objections were made to the mode in which lost time was made up . He proposed to limit those modes of making up lost time to those factories where water labour is used . He proposed to give the insDeotora nower

      to select qualified surgeons to attend the several mills in each district , and to report upon their condition at stated times . Then as to accidents arising from machinery , he intended to provide against them by making it compulsory on the owners to guard every dangerous portion of the machinery in their possession from the possibility of doing injury to auy of the persons in their employment ; and be also intended to prohibit the oleaning of machinery while it was in motion ; for these-various purposes clauses would be oontained in the Bill making it campulsory apon millovraers to act in conformity with itB regulations . Such a Bill muBt , of course , contain several penalties ; besides , it was intended to introduce as many as possible of the

      alterations recommended by the Committee . He Bhould not now enter at large into the education clauses , for it would be unnecessary for him to restate what he had said upon former occasions , but he hoped that on the whole the measure would give general satisfaction ' Thus , much , however , he should say with respect to the education clauses , that he trusted the effect of the measure would greatly increase the number of children receiving the benefits of education . The Bill would iaclude within the scope of its operation all children employed in silk factories , and he hoped still further by a separate bill brought in with the sanction of her Majesty's Government to include the lace factories and the children engaged in printing , thus

      comprehending all the children employed in all the great branches of our manufactures . There was one omission in his statement which he bagged to supply ; it was that in all the manufacturing districts the children of any parents , whether those children were employed in factories or not should have the benefits of education at an expencenot exceeding 5 d . per week . The education being to some extent compulsory it would go far to establish a national scheme of in- ; Btruction upon a large scale . It was not neoessary for him to detain the House with any further observations . He hoped they would allow hi < a to bring in the bill , andheaesnred Hon . Membera that he should not prematurely press for the second reading .

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      THE LAW OF STARVATION . Assaults upon the " Starvation Act" continue to be made with increased vigour . Not much rest is given to the Starvers . Blow after blow is being btruck ; and hitherto they have been right well planted , and have produced a telling effect . : It is now announced that a " Bill to AMEND the 1 Poor Law Amendment Act , '" will shortly be in- ' troduced to the notice of Parliament by the present

      Government . So 1 the opposition to the starving-todeath law has not been without its use ! The nature and extent of the Government" Amendments" have not yet transpired : but the fact that the Starvers are driven to the acknowledgement that "Amend ments" are needed is a proof that the storm of indignation raised by the recent exposure of the deliberate plan laid to starve the poor , as evidenoed in the SECRET RECOMMENDATIONS of the Poor Law Commission , is too strong to be successfully withstood .

      The death-blow to the whole system has been struck i The revealmenta made before the people , as te the object of the concoctera and upholders of the " Malthusian code , " has sealed its fate . Government will find themselTes compelled not only to admit the necessity of " amendments , " but the abrogation of the starvation law altogether , and a return to that simple embodiment of justice and charity , the PoorXawof Elisabeth , whioh directed the employment of the unemployed poor in their own occupations , at their own homes , and at r ight and proper wages .

      We revert to this question again , in order to place before the reader a report of a slashing onslaught by Mr . Walter , on Sir James Graham , the Ministerial defender of the Starving-law . The recent ewposure by Mr . Walter of the SECRET RECOMMENDATIONS by the Poor Law Commission , will be fresh in the recollection of all : and the manner in which Mr . Walter ' s successive efforts wore met by Sit Jakes Graham will not db Boon forgotten . First , Mr . Walter asked the question : " Did the Home Secretary know ef the existence of a certain Report , containing certain words ; on whioh document the New Poor Law had been founded . " The answer was ; " He did not know whether such % document existed . " Then he acknowledged that

      M he had a faint recollection that some such ' Report' had been confidentially made to Earl Gret ' s Government by the Poor Law Commission . " And when this evasion and equivocation was promptly answered by Mr . Walter declaring that he had a copy of the " Secret Document" in his possession , the wily turn-coat tried to fix upon him a charge of ** breach of confidence" in making the public acquainted with its infamous contents . This charge Mr . Walter repelled at the time ; and on Monday night last he returned to the question , dealing out blows to the whole crew of starvers in general , and to the Whig-Tory Home Secretart in particular . The following is a report of his speech on the occasion .

      " Me . Walter Bald , he rose to mvve for the production of a return of whioh he had given notice . He observed , that having on a recent occasion come dowj to the House in order to discharge a duty and engagement , when , from the state of indisposition under -which he laboured , and wj , indeed , still labouring , he almost sank under the task , he felt , nevertheless , bound to take one more opportunity of pressing upon the attention of the House some remarks iu corroboratlon of what was the undoubted fact , —that the dark document which he first laid before it was the foundation of the subsequent Poor Law , and of all the miseries with which the population of England had been since

      afflicted . ( Hear . ) He Bald , there were various degrees of certainty in the human mind—one kind being called moral certainty—another , mathematical certainty , —and so on . He did not know , however , that he ever read of a variable cortalnty ; yet , it was possible , and an instance might be addoc 9 d , in which he , for example , might be told by an Hon . Member , that he did not know whether a certain document , for which he asked , now existed . Then , that Hon . Member might have a faint recollection of it Then , this fault recollection might expand into certainty . At lr . it , he might know all about it—that it had baen given in a confidential way to a gentleman with whom he ( Mr . Walter ) once

      was connected , but who was sow dead t and that , therefore , he was guilty of a breach of confidence ia bringing it before the House . He would , however , take this statement , only giving a cautira against the introduction of other people ' s names , lest he should 13 forced to follow the example . Once more , he declared , that he d'd not know whence he had it , and that it must have Iain by him several years ; nor was be , indeed , aware that he had it till just t of ore the session commenced . So far from any blame being iinputable to him for exposing it he should but have participated in the guilt of those who planned and penned it if he had concealed it—( bear ) . Why , Sir ,

      ( said Mr . Walter , ) what do men mean by confidence in an affair of this kind T Confidence is an honourable feeling ; both in him who entertains it , and in i him towards whom it is entertained ; but if the object of the confidence be , like this report , infamous , mischie vous , cruel , who but dishonourable men can be bound by it I Detection and exposure are every man ' s duty . 1 say tins , on the supposition that the detestable production in question was ever confided to me , but to that insinuation 1 have before replied . 1 neither know , nor remember , nor believe any such confidence . The

      report lay by me for years , and was only discovered , taken up , and perused , all accidentally '—( cheers ) . Then it had been said that the law was not founded upon this secret report of the commission of eight . The respective contents proved this to be false . They were as like as the instructions for a malignant will , by which the rightfnl heirs of an estate are to be dispossessed , are to the will itself . To prove ibis f » ct a few examples would aofflce : — ' After this bes been accomplished ( says the secret report , ) orders may fee sent forth directing that after such a date all out-door relief should be given partly ia kind ; after another period it

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      should ^ wholly kind ; after another such period it should be gradually diminished intuantily , until that mode of relief was extinguished . From the first the relief Bhould be altered in ftw /« y , coarse brown bread being Bubstltuted for fine white ; and concurrently with these measures as to the out-door poor , a gradual reduction should be made in the diet of the in-door poor . ' And again— ' The power' of the Commissioners should be to reduce allowances , and not to enlarge them . ' And now he w « uld show the cautious manner In which these base suggestions were carried out In the avowed report : — ' The CommiBsionera should be empowered to fix a aaainw * of the consumption per bead within the workbooses , leaving to the local officers the liberty of

      reducing it below the maximum if they can safely do so . ' Whence , again he asked , sprang the cruel injunction that no relief should be given to the unemployed , ablebodied labourers out of the workhouse 1 ' All new applicants for relief ( says the secret report ) ' should be at once taken into the vorkhouue . ' And again— ' The Board of Controul shall have power , by an order , with such exceptions as shall be thought necessary , to disallow the continuance of relief to the indigent , the aged , and the impotent , in any other mode than in a workhouse . The avowed report was full of passages to the same effect This was the very essence of the existing law . Could this be the Work of two independent powers of evil f No . Here was its origin in that dark code of instruction on which , in defiance of fact

      and common sense , it was asserted that the present law was not founded . It occurred again and again in the dark report , that ne relief was to be given out of the workhouses , and' with equal frequency was the same atrocious practice enjoined in the derivative law . But , further , could anything equal the harsh and unfeeling manner in which the English poor were spoken of in the avowed report t They were described as inferior to savages , and to be amended only by fines , distress ¦ warrants , and imprisonment . Was he not justified , then , in stating , that all these Commissioners came with their minds as fully bent against the poer as St . Paul was in his unconverted days , when he was described as breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the slandered and humble concerts to

      Christianity r But Btill they were told that Lord Grey ' s Government did not adopt this document , though its spirit , as he had shows , was Infused into every succeeding one . Why , people who could believe this denial must be Nature ' s fools , and not the dupes of the Poor Law—( cheers . ) He had three proof * exhibiting the character of similar fraud and deception ; each succeeding document indicating its parentage and descent from the first , and yet endeavouring to mitigate or cloak its knavery . First , he had a garbled general order with respect to pauper funerals . Next , he had a diet table , which , though it was signed by all the Commissioners , was now disavowed , when they found the cruelty it disclosed had awakened public attention ; but their preparation of it , and their intent

      to carry it into execution , were as notorious as any fact conld be . Then be had the evidence taken before the Committee on which he himself sat , which evidence was suppressed for no other reason than that , if duly investigated , it would be found to make against the Committee itself , to falsify its report , and to disprove the assertions of the Poor L % w functionaries . And , after all these proofs , both from fact and analogy , they were told to believe that the secret report was rejected by Lord Grey ' s Government 1 Really the amateurs of the New Poor Law arrogated to themselves the privilege of publishing or suppressing—of leaving untouched or changing—whatever they presented to the Parliament of the country . And these were the people who were now taking on them

      the fabricating a plan of education which was to Instil into the rising race the principles of integrity , honesty , fair dealing , and truth J—( hear , hear ) . With respect to the charge brought against him of traducing the immortal Duke , every one knew how respectfully be ( Mr . Walter ) had spoken of that illustrious man . But , with all bis admiration of him , it would be the excess of sycophancy in him or say one to awert that his Grace came too near to omniscience to be liable to imposition . If , indeed , he had turcd expressions like the following , as applied not only to the Duke of Wellington , but also to the Right Hon . Baronet who was now at the head of the Government—that ' he bad no confidence In them ; that it Vfts impossible to compose a Ministry of worse materials ; that their whole lives had been devoted to oppose good government and to uphold

      bad ;'—if , he said , he had used these expressions , and had afterwards taken office under those persons whom be had so severely stigmatised , then he should indeed have rendered himself justly liable to the reproach and derision , not only of that House , but of all the country , and every honest man in it But that any one who had really used those expressions should venture to reproach another with traducing the Duke , did appear to him to transcend tfae usual bounds of human confidence , er at least te indicate such a want of memory and consistency as must disqualify the man himself from the discharge of any public functions—( hear , hear ) . He concluded with moving for an account of the sums expended in ent-door relief to the poor during the years 1841 and 1842 , and of the work performed for such expenditure . "

      Sir James did not venture to reply to , or repel the heavy ho » k throats here made ! He basely contented himself with acceding to the motion , as far as materials existed to enable the returns required to be made out . On Tuesday night the Lords were engaged in a debate respecting the iniquity of the Starvation Law . It was began by Lord Tetnham , who moved" 1 st . That it is the opinion of this House , that the separation of man and wife , of parents and children , which takes place in the Union Workhouses , is an exceeding evil and the cause of evils . " 2 nd . That ita abolition ought therefore to be forthwith sought . " srd . Tbat by a judicious administration of outdoor relief , the use of the workhouse for married paupers , except for casual poor and cases of exigency , might and ought to be ab « Ushed . "

      These resolutions were enfored npon the attention of the House by a Bpeech full of correct feeling , and characterised by considerable ability . From it we give the following . It will best speak for itself : — " The first resolution declared that the separation of man and wife was an exceeding evil , and the cause of evils . A large and helpless portion of the community found themselTes treated contrary to those principles which they saw guided every day life . On that bead he would lay before their Lordships several thoughts upon the matter . In the first place , every one acknowledged that the principles which regulated the law and practice of divorce were wise and just ; the result was , that the number of divorces was very few .

      Perhaps they ought to be more numerous , as was shown by their proceedings last night in the caae of the son of a Noble Marquis . In that case the question of divorce did not turn , as it ought to have done , upon the conduct of the husband to the wife or the wife to the husband , but simply and improperly upon the state of feeling between a eon and bis father . The law of England recognised only two kinds of divorces , the divorce a mensa et thoro , and the divorce a vinculo matrtmonii . To the former of these the poor were subjected . On entering the workhouse they were ipso facto divorced . There was no shame attaching to that divorce , but there was more pain attendant on it than if the divorce bad been consequent upon the conduct of either party . The pain which they endnred

      was a thousandfold augmented by the fact , that there exiatud n » cause for their being divorced . If their Lordships only looked at the number who entered the workhouse never to return , —if they looked to the number who aotually died in the workhouse in a state of aotual divorce , they could but feel that the law was most cruel and unjust in its operation . The law said , that there should be enly two kinds of divorces , but the authority of those who bad the care of the poor decreed that there should be many difidrent kinds of divorces . If tbe one portion of our law were just and equitable , tbe modern legislation , which gave authority to tbe Commissioners at Somerset House , must clearly be most cruel , unjoflt , and oppressive . In granting divorces it was most wise that their Lorsbips should ,

      in every possible case , see that there was no connivance between the parties , no pretence , but dear manifest adultery , before they would say ' content' to any divorce bill . If any man came into the workhouse and said , ' 1 am poor ; i have no means of subsistence ; 1 wish to be admitted ; ' then the answer to tbe man must be , ' Ton cannot be admitted unless you submit to be practically divorced from your wife . * The system of practical divorce went on day by day , and every day ; and when a poor man was thus debarred from the society of his wife , how could it be expected that be should regard that as a paternal Government which so treated him ? Again , the House well knew that there should be no divorce granted to a man who had himself been guilty « f cruelty or adultery . In such

      cases the Courts would not interfere ; but the workhouse authorities attended to no such nice distinctions ; men and their wives might live together upon tbe beBt possible terms ; there might be endearment , there might be purity i but instead of their being kept together by a kind law , they were torn from each other ' s bosoms ; what was the character of that law which separated man and wife for other crime than poverty f Cases front time to time came before the courts of law in which persons were found acting net according to nature ; children suffered from cruelty or from neglect , and courts always treated the unnatural act as a crime ;

      btft here the Legislature interfered to produce the commisBioa of unnatural acts— -they not only divorced husband and wife , but they separated parents from children . It was no uncommon : thing tor women to be imprisoned for neglecting their children ; but here people were imprisoned , because they wished to take care of their offspring—how could those two laws stand together ? A bill was a tew days ago laid on tee table of their Lordships' House , -which was objected to on the ground that it went to introduce a new crime ; but the Poor Law sever seemed to have been objected to on that ground , although unquestionably it treated as crimes acts which in all previous time had been regarded as

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      praiseworthy . There were acts which imposed as penalties three ! months' imprisonment , or three years , or transportation for life ; and the wisdom of the Judge was often shown by the manner in which he apportioned the punishment , and the result of that wisdom was , that there of ten appeared a wide interval between the actual sentence and the ma * imwm of punishment ; but in the workhouse there was nothing of that sort —no limit to the punishment inflicted on the poor . A man and his wife presented themselves at the door » f the workhoase and requested relief ; he was immediately taken in and subjected to a punishment—there was no descending scale' —nothing left to the wisdom

      and clemency of ft judge . How contrary was all that to the received maxims of English law I In the ordinary courts of justice a man or woman was brought up and sentenced according to tbe nature of the offence , and according to the character which they might have previously borne . If that character were good , the witnesses recommended them to mercy , the jury recom mended them to mercy , and the judge listened to that recommendation , and the amount of punishment was awarded accordingly ; but in the workhouse the honest man and the thief met upon terms of equality . The poor man , for no crime ef bis own but poverty , was imprisoned like a ruflan , and kept in confinement all

      his life In an ordinary prison , if an offender were sentenced ho any given duration of confinement , or a convict were sent to the hulks , some attention waB paid to his conduct It he complied with the rules of the ( house and evinced submission to authority , a report in his favour was made , and some portion of his punishment remitted : but not so with the inmates of the workhouse . The convict sentenced to ten years might get five off , but men who had committed no crime must go into a workhouse and expect no mercy . In a well-regulated community tee state of the law ought to be such as to meet every emergency that could come within the scope of legislative enactments ; but

      there existed no power wbereby the evils of which he had been complaining could be remedied .. Suppose a man , his [ wife , ad their children presented themselves at the door of the workhouse . They said they bad no food , no money , no employment , and they asked the master of the house to give them food and employment His reply would be , ' You shall have it if you will come into the house . ' What would they , rejoin ? They would ! naturally say , ' We are lawfully married ; our children have been born in wedlock ; we love each other , and we love our children ; will you give us employment and bread without separating us ? " He answers ' No . ' Then they reply , "We cannot accept

      relief on your terras . ' They retire ; but hard neces sity soon compels them to return , and again they are repulsed . Then one dies of want —( hear , hear ) . Surely the officer—the le ^ al officer—the man acting under the law , who has refused them relief , —has not that man committed a crime , and ought be not to be punished f Time wouldjsoon show that the Poor Law was not a piece of legislation which could be acted up to . He questioned very much whether it was wise that any law should iso assume the form of a tempter as this

      Poor Law did . Was it right that any portion of the law of the land' should be so framed aa that it should offer a temptation for the destruction of all domestic ties , and that the bribe which it gave should be a loaf of bread ? A single man might bear the brunt of bad times ; he might accept the remedy offered to him or he might reject it ; but the case was { different with a man ( and his wife . What a painful case of conscience it would be for then to consider , after they had gone into the workhouse , what amount of torture they ought to have endured before they accepted relief

      The Ibon Duke opposed the resolution . He did so on the ground that the Government were about to introduce a Bill to amend the " Amendment Act , " and that if their Lordships were not satisfied with the new measure , they could suggest and move other amendments . He also attempted to get rid of \ the effect produced by the forcible reasoning of the Mover of the resolutions on the subject of Separation in the Bastiles . Here is the Duke ' s answer ; and right worthy of him it is !

      " For instance , tbat what has been called a ' divorce , " and anraed upon as in fact a divorce , is , in truth , no separationaiall , except so far as regards sexes ; the parties reside under the same roof ; they see each other at all hours of the day ; it is only as semes they are separated . The Noble Lord had appealed to their Lordships , and asked what would be their Lordships' course of conduct , { supposing such a proposition were made to one of their Lordships . Why , my Lords , 1 apprehend that your Lordships are—1 know some axe—liable to have that proposition made to you—( hear , hear ); such of you as are members of the naval and military professions—( bear , hear )—are liable to suffer that very privation . " j

      A " separation is no separation at all ! Putting the husband in one place , sometimes in one workhouse , and the wife in another , and the children in a third , and studiously preventing all communication , even the ordinary one of seeing each other ; all this " is in truth , no separation at all" I What wonder is there tbat we should have such laws as the Starvation Ltaw , o . nd orxoh yraottacs tmnw ; ilfcj ' d exporionoo makes us acquainted with , when our leading legislators shut their eyes to the common and well-known facts of a notorious case , and lie with such a bold and unblushing grace" ? The Earl of Stanhope replied to the fanciful analogy set up by the Ison Ddkb to justify the no separation at all . " He said : —

      " The forcible separation of man and wife was a direct violation of the holy Scriptures , and could not be justified , as bis Noble Friend ( tbe Duke of Wellington ) supposed , by any supposed analogy with tke military and naval services . Officers in those services were not obliged to enter them . " The Duke of Wellington—What do you say to impressed seamen t Come , there I have you ( ' ¦ The Earl of Stanhope—Impressment was an evil justified by state necessity ; but no person was legally lisble to impressment unless he was a seafaring man , and , being iso , he was as much separated from his family on board a merchant vessel as in the Royal Navy . " I Lord Stanhope also spoke of the SECRET DOCUMENT . He avered that : —

      " The object of the present Poor Law was to prepare the country for having no Poor Law at all .. This was the ulterior object of the law , as described in a document which had happened now to see the light , though studiously and carefully concealed ' from public observation , for the non-production cf which shuffling excuses were made , and which , when dragged from its obscurity , did appear the most flagitious and execrable paper that bad ever been exhibited before a public assembly he would not even except the Natloal Convention of the French Republic It was proved by this paper , and avowed by the authors and supporters of the law , that their object was to do away with Poor Laws altogether . "

      This allusion to the " Execrable Paper" brought " Tub Ddkb" upon his legs again ; and he made the following extraordinary statement : — " The Noble Earl has referred to a document which has been represented as having formed the basis of the Poor Law BUI . Knowing , as 1 do , my Lords , that no such paper ever emisted , 1 will venture , in this House , to deny the assertion altogether . 1 again repeat that NO SUCH DOCUMENT EVER EXISTED . " | Verily , the " sayings and doings" of our senators are most contradictory ! Sir Jakes Graham had some " / ain / j recollection of such a document having been made confidentially to tbe members of Eabl

      Grey ' s Government , when Mr . Walter stood before him ] in "the House , " with a copy of the " execrable papkb" in his hand ; and when hard pushed , he could tell how many copies had been printed , and ! where they had been distributed . " Thb Duke , " a { colleague of this same Sir Jakes Graham , avera , in spite of the "faint recollection " of the Home Secretary , and in the teeth of his circumstantial account of the existence and disposal of the number of copies printed ; " the Duke" in the teeth of all ( this , boldly asserts that the document never was in existence at all t ! 1 Which of them

      are we to believe ? We cannot imagine that both have told the truth . This is impossible . One , or other , mast have fibbed ! Which is it the most likely to be ! Sir James Graham , who , with every inducement to deny the existence of the " Execrable Paper , ' reluctantly admits that he has " a faint recollection '* of it ; or" tiie Duke , " who boldly denies its existence ' altogether 1 Which of these members of the same Government are we to believe t The one gives the ub to the other most fully and flatly . Which is most worthy of credence ! And whicH of their respective statements is in accordance with fact !

      We fancyj that it will be the business , of Mr . Walteh to spur ap Sir James Graham to set these queries at rest . Mr . Walter has a copy of the " . EjrecraMsDocument" in his own keeping ; how came he to tie in possession of it , if" it never existed at all f" Sir James Graham says it was sent to the Times Editor by Earl Gret ' s Government " the Duke" says it never was in existence . A bold assertion will sometimes get folks out Of a difficulty i it sometimesj nay oftimes , happens that a bold assertion will involve them . more completely . Perhaps his Iron-ship will learn that a still-tongue , this time , would have been a friend .

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      LANCASTER ASSIZES . ( Continued from our first page . ) of the yeomanry—no swearing in of special con Btablesr-no reading of the riot act , in short thev preserved peace throughout the whole period of tha disturbances elsewhere , and yet I am charged with having conspired to effect * by forceand tuinult ¦ ohange in theconstUutiohi And upon whose evideroa gentlemen ! First , Griffin , who has been for man * years a professing Chartist ; he has filled responsiM and popular situations in the Chartist movement- hi has long been known as a reporter for ChartiS newspapers ; he was the first person who suggested the calling of the Conference , yet he has appeared in th * witness-b 9 x against those £ ? who he was tha principal instrument of bringing ¦ jtogether ; he hag appeared before you in the character of a betrayer

      or his tormer associates . The evidence of such a man should be received with caution ; he has disra . garded all the obligations of friendship , and treacherously violated the trust and confidence reposed in him—may not such a man deceive you ! In the ad dress which I have quoted , this Griffin talks of tb virtue and glory of a public man consisting in remain ing faithful to his principles till death ; and now see him doing his utmost to destroy the men whore , main faithful to the principles he has betrayed . In the conclusion of his address , he hypocritically an ! peals to the Ruler of the Creation , to stamp with tba seal of his divine approbation the exertions of my self and brother defendants for the obtainment of the Charter . What a base hypocrite must this man

      be . He calls upon us to do our duty as he pledees himself to do his . Behold the fulfilment oflS E ledge ! He has appeared in the witness-box against im upon whose * funds he so long subsisted , anj against men who relieved him in his need , andeayed him from the pangs and horrors of starvation , —thus SDake-Jike stinging the hand that fed , and fixing ^ envenomed fangs into those who nourished him Upon the evidence of thief man I was arrestei dragged from home , and insulted by the grossly ufc gal annoyance to which 1 was subjected ; when , no * content with arresting my person , the officer who arrested me searched my home , and took away let . ters , books , &o . ; and all this in violation of the law The other witness , Cartledge , was a delegate . e % n

      his support to the resolution passed by the Coafej . ence , ( I believe seconded the address adopted by the delegates ) , and was ia violent supporter of the strike Surely , Gentlemen , you will not convict me upoa the evidence of men so base as these . But if the verdict should be ' * Guflty , ?> though the cold prison cellthough my consignment to the living tomb of crime and misery should be the consequence , y et believe me , Gentlemen , 1 speak not the language of idle rant or bombastic folly , when 1 declare to yon , that 1 would not change my present situation fot that of my accusers to escape all that torture could inflict upon me . Though my march from this court was to the scaffold , there to exchange the embraces of love for the cold grasp of the executionBrtred .

      reetong hand , thereto yield op life with its heart correcting sorrows * its hopes and joys alas , too fe * , for that unfathomable futurity beyond the grave , —1 would not ^ l speak the language of calmrenection exchange my lot for that of my accusers . Let then shrink from the light of day , let them fly from the haunts of their speciea , and alone—cut offfrom thesym * pathies of their fellow-creatnres and the love of their kind , feast oa the reward of their treachery and not on the gains of their fiendish falsehood ; let them not forget their broken pledges and violated vows , vows of adherence to a cause they have so infamous ly betrayed—the remembrance of these will adds relish to their enjoyments and a zest to theii pleasures . But , gentlemen , there will cornea day when they will have their reward , when reflections '

      sting shall poison all , when the worm of memory shall gnaw at their hearts , and like the Promethean vulture feast upon their vitals , until the conscience-stricken wretches shall wither beneath the tortures of coasoious guilt , and , dying , shall go down to the grave without ths love of wife or child , countryman or friend , to shed a tear to their memories—remembered ouly to be execrated , and thought of only with feelings of tha utmost loathing and disgust . Gentlemen , I feel that it is as a Chartist , not as a Conspirator , thai I am arraigned here . I am a Chartist , and I glory in the name . I not only believe Chartism to to founded in truth , but that the legal establishment of Chartist principles is absolutely indispensible to

      raise the working classes from their present wretched and degraded state . Witnesses hara appeared before you who have gravely assured this Court that they were not cognisant of any distress in their localities . I know , gentlemen i that , at any rate , there is deep distress in Sheffield . [ Mr . Haraey here drew a striking picture of tha distressed state of that town , which we are com * pelled to omit . ] And in Sheffield things have not been so bad as in many other towns . The distress is not confined to one part of the country , it extends throughout England , Scotland , and Ireland . I will not dwell upon the distress endured at tie present moment b y the proud-hearted and independent people of Scotland , and' as to Ireland , tbe name is

      sufficient to remind you of its two millions and a half of mendicants and its lumper-fed poawuts nor will 1 take up your time in commenting aponthe general state of England—enough that 1 remind you of things in this very county ( of Lancaster ) calculated to make us blush for tamely allowing such a state of things to be ;— it is enough that I remind you , gentlemen , of tales , alas , too true , told of the sufferings of tfae people in this very county . That English * men , aye , free-born Britons , gentlemen , their wives and little ones—soliciting , yes , aotually begging the carrion flesh ofjfdisease , destroyed animals , that thev might stifle the gnawings of hunger with food which the wolf might refuse to tear and the vulture disdain to gorge . And why is this state of things t Beoause ,

      as a Chartist , I believe that the people are not re presented , and their interests are not eared for in the Legislature . Because , to quote the language of Sir George Sinclair , one of the best men who ever sat in the Honse of Commons , because , as he told the House in his speech , delivered in May , 1840 , because the members of tbat House are " admirablerepresentatives ~ of th <* opulent and the prosperous , but very sorry legislators for the industrious and tha distressed , eager to make ample provision for tho luxury and extravagance of the Court—unwilling to take the slightest notice of the interests or necesa tiea of the poor . " There , gentlemen suoh is the description of the House of Commons , not by a Chartist demazoene . but bv a Conservative

      Legislator . Chartism has been denounced on all sides , but could even the Chartists have brought the country into a worse Btate than it ist Does not the present atatelof things proclaim , trumpet-tongued j that the privileged classes of society have abuses the powers they have exercised j that tney are neither fit to govern the nation » large , nor themselves as a class ; for « working the misery of the millions , they are most certainly conspiring their own ruin . The d f ™?*? progress of England must be arrested , or au that mi been predicted by Lord Howick and others as the natural consequences of the present state of vasfPt will certainly come to pass . I have laboured throughout mv Dublin life to Drevent such a condu '

      sion , and for so labouring during the late strike I an dragged before this tribunal . Theremedy for wo present evils 1 believe will be found in investingJM people with their rights . 1 presume to be a Charon is not to be a criminal . The Attorney-General naa said , on the trial of Frost , that the Chartists had as clear a right to agitate for the Charter as the wtogs of 1832 had to agitate for the Reform Bill , adding that if ever the day shall come , that on the aid&oi the Charter shall be arrayed the strength and sinews , the numbers and intelligence of the country , tbat undoubtedly it will become law , and mere weaita will struggle against it in vain . This is all we ask ; leave us to enlist public opinion on our side , if we can . and we vriU » bi ««

      the issue . But loose not the bloodhounds of persecution upon us , nor seek by gaols and scaffoUB » stem the onward progress of mind , for Iwam tnow who would have recourse to such means to T » w down Chartism that they wilj miserably fail . *» dominant sects and privileged classes of all countries in all ages have tried by persecution to preserw their power , and they have ever failed . So sw ? ~ the despised , trampled upon , persecuted Christians triumphed over their enemies and oppressors , Dewing down by the force of opinion the power ot ioo pagan hierarchy until the imperial purple was worn by a convert , and the followers of the cross beoanw the acknowledged masters of the Roman . world jso Bute will the now persecuted Chartists , haww

      truth for their guide , and justice for their m % tr iumph over present and future opposition , ana . oy the force of reason and the march of mind ooiig " monarchs to acknowledge the justice ef their principles , and compel the privileged classes to yieia w the rights of man—rights based upon the P ^ 'r * w Do unto thy brother as thou wonldst thy brother should do anto thee . " Gentlemen , that principle . !" altogether violated under the present system oflegi ^ lation . A state of Blavery exists in this country , as real as that which exists in Carolina or Constan ^ nople ; the difference between the slavery in Tuwey and America and that which exists here , is that ^ m those countries the slave's body is sold in the mart " labour

      place , and in this country you sell his m W house of legislature . Against suoh a state of tom I protest , againsi it 1 wiU coatend . If to . hott the principles I conscientiously entertain w w be a seditioiiiafc , I am content to be P 1 " ^ as such ; and , assured as I am that in tnesf principles alone will be found the V ° }^} eu salvation of nations , and the rescuing of the millions from their present state of physical suffering ano social degradation , 1 am content to be wgaraeu through life as a seditionist , and go down to «» grave with the title of seditionist inscribed upon mj tomb . Gentlemen , if the plain and honest exposition of facts 1 hare laid before you has been sufficient ¦» convince vou of my innocence , you will acquit ffle _»

      bat 1 ' will-not seek to purchase such a verdiot n any abandonment of my principles . Ym n * l incarcerate my body and torture me in yo ™ prisons , but you cannot enchain tnoag ^ nor prevent with your laws and jails u »

      The Nobthekff Stae Saturday, March 11, 1843.

      THE NOBTHEKff STAE SATURDAY , MARCH 11 , 1843 .

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      In a Third Edition we shall give the remainder oi Mr . O'CosaoB . ' s speech in defence , the Attorney General ' s reply , and the summing up of the Judge .

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      4 THE NORTHERN STAR .

  • Citation
    • Northern Star (1837-1852), March 11, 1843, page 4, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/ns/issues/vm2-ncseproduct641/page/4/