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    O"CO > * NOS AND THB PRESS . THE FITSTIAN JACKETS , BLISTERED i HANDS , AND UNSHORN CHIXS . i VT 5 FbieM > S , j I sate explained to yon , and I hope satisfactorily , tv . error to which prejudice gare we , as to my con-: L rtion with Mr . CVConnell , which , in fact , was no ; S ection at all . Bnt it really appears , as if this j « BiJcal impostor -was , by ommon consent , to have : | ad to bold , tohimself and his heirs for eTer . the exclude riebt to abuse , insult , and vilify eTery gentleman * p « snmes to differ from him , ana , if attacked fcjrn , a kind of exemption from responsibility is chimed-

    .. What is there in this man , or in any other man , to rive him a license for attack , and supercedeas loLs * retort ! Let it be your pride that your friend ^ teen the first man -wh o successfully combatted , triumphal overcame , and successfully exposed , the d e ^ peBt hyP ^ rta that eTer trod the political stage . T no * turn to my defence upon another point . Little r-v = U » nii » Ki cf lice 11 *^ plunderers , and eTen honest Edward Barnes , and Gtsorge Henry

    Ward;ftrho bis tried the bust of saint and sinner , Whig and Tory to eke out an honest penny , )—and , above all , the 3 eg ^ n himself— these have all attributed my political p otion , and what they call the violence of the Star , t ° desire of a trafficking politician to wt fe ' iaoney of popular credulity . Poor fools ! Poor nnfort unate wretches ! How easy , how Tery easy it is to . a gjf name to Tice , and a hard one to virtue . Bnt see how I meet them .

    yra » i is the principle upon which every newspaper . jjjg kingdom is started , or rather what are the ^—jjjj j Either by an individual , with the hope of jarring money , or by a company of shareholders , Tith the doable inducement of adding political importance te their party , while they open a safe speculation for interest , upon portion of their surplus capital . VOiii wee the terms upon -which I started the Northern Siar' : Why , singular enough , I haTe in mj possession the calculation of profit aod loss , upon the highest

    circulation "we eTer expected to attain , made before tie psper **» established , by Mr . Hobson and Mr . Hill ; mi thai JesTW the cheering prospect of a loss of only £ 10 » week , which I calculated , by Baring double that 05 U 3 in travelling , and other expenees incidental to tgitatiw , would be to me a gain of £ 10 per week Tfcni , 1 s h ° ' * ^ prospect at starting ; and reduce ibt offence to the heinousness of having produced a rival article in the political market ; and which ., be it janasbered , -was , from its extreme tone at starting , to hsTe lived the short and merry life of one half year

    it farthest BecoHect that no Radical paper but the Star ever has succeeded in England , and that friend and foe propheiJM eril to that paper . Well , I hare given to national purposes , and spent upon the national taase , erery halfpenny that the Star has made since the commencejnfn ; to the present moment , together with other fund * . This I solemnly aver ; while , since the Star tm established—nay , from the day I took my seat in the House of Commons , in Feb ., 1 S 33 , 1 hare not spent the ram of one pound upon amusement , luxury ,

    pleajere , or dissipation—noj a pound , on my word- I am t poorer T ' to-day than when I established the Star ; and yet I am a trafnckiTigpolitician , while litfle Busseli has his thousands a-year for lending himself to national fraud I Daniel has nothing but the pliancy of Mi conscience to Jive upon ; and Baines and that f ) n « would st&rre , had it not been for the successful feaSf in politics ; yet " they are all honourable men , " asJ . I am a trafficking politician , who might , in the three years and a quarter shad I been avaricjons ) , have amassed , from the profits of the Star alone , OTer £ 20 , 000 !

    Again , obKTTe that my course in Ireland was precisely the same as it has been in England . I inTariably prosecuted stipendiary magistrates , county magistrates , chief officers of police , shooting parsons , and every ppressor of the poor , and defended every poor man , and always at my own expence . 1 left my circuit at a moment ' s notice , and repaired to B&ndon , and remained there for five days , to prosecute Captain Vignoles , a stipendiary magistrate , for an insnlt offered to poer men .

    I left my bed , and nxJe forty miles in wet , when very HI , t-o attend an inquest of a boy , whose body I had had disinterred , Ms parents having assured me that his death was caused bra s-jere beating received from a Major Cocker , a magistrate . I appeared ss prosecntor ; and , I assure you , to a gentleman living in the sam e Bounty , and not quirrelsjma : thesa are not enviable duties to perform . There is something very bold and iwfnl , in baring a -major magistrate brought and held U & prisoner , while an inquest is being held upon the exnuai&ted body of the deceased son of a poor Irish Yorking Tn ^ Tt . I prosecuted some chief constables at my own

    ex-I prosecuted the Rev . Archdeacon Eider , Major CaHis , and Captain Bagtey , for the Rathcormac murder , ai nry own expence , for thirteen days , and got a verdict f wilful murder against them alL I attended at the Mazes to prosecute them at my own expence , but the toad Jury threw out the bills . I lost my seat in the Bonse tor declaring that a tertsia espuin magistrate was a tyrant He got up all the opposition , petitioned against me , and he boasted of it . 1 assisted at Grattan ' s election for Meath , in lssi .

    I wai counsel for Daunt , at Mallow , in 1832 . I oistcd CoL Stawell , at Kinsale , at the same time . _ I registered the West Riding of the county of Cork ia person , and at my own expenee . I hired a barrister to itteod in the East Billing . 1 -was coonsel for a Mr . Skully , at Mallow , in 1335 . I * a 3 counsel for Hx . John O'Connell , at Youghal , ia 1535 . 1 left London for the purpose , and was counsel for Mr . Jaeob , at Duagarran , in lS 3 i ; and for those KTeral EerTicca , I never received , nerer asked for , and " * DBld not accept , one penny piece , I got knocked fo * a several times , and well licked , and my clothes ten of say back ; hut that was all I got . Now , bear a iniad , my man was always returned- I was up nearly tight and day , because my heart was in the cause .

    Sememocrthat , in Ireland , a good and popnlar conn-** nukes Ms bargain upon those occasions , and seldom fsti less than from £ 600 to £ 1 , 009 . I was always » Mtt the highest penny . Recollect that O'Connell to < 4 ^ 1 , 000 from a Tory candidate , and Dickey Sbiel *** £ Gbi > from a Tory candidate . Recollect that 1 fended , all the tithe prisoners without fee , while 0 Cocueii fobbed two hundred guineas special fees , and a did not attend to all the cases ; but Barristers of "wading never return ftes . Recollect that this was ** * England , nor when I had a paper , nor ia a w ^ by where a paper dare side against the rich and * &h the poor .

    & much for my voluntary services before you knew ^ sad now for my unpaid exertions before I expeasat * d the comfort of eighteen month ' s imprisonment , " * portion of the profit consequent upon a gaod poli-** Paper . From Febru&ry , 1 S 33 , to June , 1 S 35 , I was an Irish member , settled in the affections of my constituents ; * £ l during that period even my enemies must allow ~** ny conduct in public , my speeches and rotes in

    7 Bouse , were not directed by any desire to court ; 00 " » ith an English constituency , while my every , ^* JM in favour , not only of Irish , but of universal Wart 7- 1 did not , it must be allowed , support the : *• of the Dorchester Labourers , the Trades' Unions , i * " all those desolate and oppressed , and oppoee j " ^ 7 act of a powerful Gorernment , learing myself V ^ t party , or back , in order to secure the support ; *» English coasUtueacy , or to make a traffic of my !

    ^ ^ wi Jttne , 1835 , tin T S- orember , 1837 , two years " *>• balf , I paid my own way , and had not the most !* " * e idea of asUblishing a newspaper ; nor should 11 ~« » a « nptad it , bat for the profligacy , rikace , con- j * P ^ a nd injustice of tlie-rhole press , without a tingle j ^ ifcsi , from February , 18 S 3 , till NoTember , 1887 , 1 had i Piper . I had no poUtical trade for thc » e four yean i J *» baU , except the trade of spending my life , my j jj *« & . and my money , ia behalf of what I hare ever i JJJjat right and just In what , then , eonsiBta my JJ ~« - I e sUblished & paper wiUi the prospeet of 7 ^* . w least , £ io p er week : bnt . iaitm ) nf «>** ™

    « tte mere ^^^ ^ trade ^ C 0 Meraed > u ^ ^ ^ Me most profitable prorineial paper in the king . tet a . i ' aj > " Ob > «* 0 P-d ° at read the Star l 08 e tte « io a week ! " No ; but erery £ i »

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    made , was spent in traTelling , 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 rapport , bare magnified offence into the blackest crime . Wu any man ever -charged before with the crime of haying succeeded eren in a speculation ? "while I am charged with having my dark forebodings turned into bright reality . Weil , I hare now offered other parties to Test £ l , » 00 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 in the establishment of a press , by which alone we can erer hope to frustrate the wicked , support tke righteous , and triumph orer the -unjust

    I shall now proceed to show the great danger to the individual , but the great strength to a cause , consequent upon tiie 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 wcist without it Time is too precious to allow some to think for themBelves—some bare not the brains to think for themselves—some will not take the troublesome -would rather not , and hence we find a great variety of minds , interests , and opinions , sacrificing themselves , body and soul , to the guardianship of the press .

    No party can hare an acknowledged political existence in a state , no matter however nnmerous , withont the support of some portion of the press , lu 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 m&rkttt to-morrow the sale would be regulated by the amount offered by thi ; purchaser without a question u to the future politics of the article . This . proceeds , 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 ol 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 pres « - and an ignorant community . Had I pandered to the prevailing local prejudJees in each district , 1 might have ridden the district hobby-horse to death , while tho press would hare kept up my local popularity Thu * I might have vapoured about the universality of the Suffrage , and regretted its impracticability , while I tickled the fancy of the all-powerful liberals with the necessity of the Ballot , the repeal of the Corn Laws ,

    and denunciation of the Tone * and the House of Lords , I might have preserved enough of agreement with different sections of the movement to hare rendered me acceptable to alL In Glasgow I might have been a Glasgow Reformer , and in Leeds a Leeds Reformer ; and if any differences appeared between my speeches at the several places , I hid but to qualify , contradict , or , if the worst went to the worst , to retract , and thus preserve a sectional or patchwork popularity , without any benefit being coaferred upoa the people . To this system , however , I preferred establishing a grtal national mirror , in which , not only myself , but erery other public man ihonld be reflected , dress at he might , change as he would , or attempt to disguise himself as he may .

    Now , roy poor but honest friends , be assured that notling 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 applyi ng it for one purpose , and then directing it to a diametrically opposite one . The man , then , -who makes such 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 rerj favourable treatment from the sufferers ; while the exposition of public delinquents subjects him to the taunt and reproach of the detected cheat .

    Arising from these circumstances , have you not constantly marvelled at the rule observed by the press , the lawyers , and the demagogues , towards me , as the proprietor of the first dissent paper ever established , aud successfully upheld , in this country . If a violent doctrine is propounded by the Timtt , the Chronicle , or any other daily paper , you never hear the name of Mr . Walter , . Mr . Easthope , or the proprietor mentioned . No , 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 I am not only held responsible for erery word

    written by the Editor , ( which I arow myself personally , legally , and morally responsible for , ) but I am held responsible for erery 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 . every act committed by the people , eren where those acts are in direct opposition to the advice giren in the Star . You nerer hear that " the Star said so arid so "— " the Editor recommends so and * o ,- " no , but " O'Connor recommend * , and says so and so . "

    Let me gire you one mest striking , ludicrous , and conrincing instance . Sometime in the spring of 1 S 39 , the Tyne Mercury , or Pilol , I know not which , gare a representation of a " cat" for the annoyance and destruction of horses , in the eTent of caralry beifig 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 for Mr . OConrar . The snb-editer of the Star thought it worth the insertion , and gare it accordingly with other news . Well , what was the result ? Why , every paper in England , even honest ilercury , had an article upon the base recommendation , not of the Star , but of the bloodthirsty O'Connor , who gave a

    description in his paper of that destructive instrument called a " cat , " and recommended his bloodthirsty fellowtrs to be prepared -with a sufficient quantity ; the fact being , that I nerer saw a drawing of a cat . or any other cat than a pussy cat , until I saw it in the Star , taken , as I hare said , from this Tynt paper . Now , need I giTe yeu a more conrincing proof of the length to which trafficking politicians , wbo hare 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 mast 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 . Now , then , let me ask yon what has been the resnli tolhecause ? Before j on had the Star , —( forithubeen your organ—yon hare had the benefit , while I have had that reward which erer will be awarded by the powerful tyrant to the struggling patriot , )—well , before you bad the Star , what were you , who were yon , and who were your leaders ? You were nothing : you were like tie distanced horse in the race—no-where ; and your leaders wer « your drirers . What are you now ? Ererything , ererywhere , and leading yourselves . ' Such is your position , while £ am here for having placed you there ; and right glad I am that my crime has been se great , and my end so well accomplished .

    Now , just observe , the man who makes personal aggrandisement his aim and end , must keep the people in ignorance ; while the nun who wishes to see jnstice done to all , having only a man ' s share himself , will look to the light of knowledge as his polar star . When the Irish press Tefuses to lie , to slave , or to work on Sundays , for Mr . O'Connell ' * breeches pockets , what does he say ? He siys , " I'll get a paper ; I have been offered £ Z , OQt to establish one . " Well , I tell him , he dare not I tell him , if he establish such a paper as the Slur to-morrow , and , along with it , established reading societies for the purpose of communicatine its contents , that Universal Suffrage ,

    t « t * I abolition of Tithes , and repeal at the Union , would be carried in twelTe month i , —but without thatprafit sow arisiig frgm tbe Tapourinf , about them , and the consequent soiacriptiocs paid by the wealthy absolutely and actually to reppress them . When O'Connell gets subscriptions , the English people foolishly imfLginfl that they come bom those who desire the " aceomplifibjnent of the measure agitated for ; bnt nothing i » --more ' erroneona . They come from peraons , who " knoW' bis temper , " and who " know how to hould him . " ~ Those who giTe the cash know toll well that they gire it * s the golden link whkh binds Din to property , and they also know that , that resource failing , be most either be shelved is office , » r thrown headlong into the

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    arms of the people ; in the one case they are quite sure that their order could nerer 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'Connell established a paper to-morrow , the press which now praises him would maul him to death in a month , and make snch an exhibition of tattered

    delinquency &s was neTer before served np to the public This newspaper , then , has given me a most destructive popularity—destructive , because it has marked me aa a prey for the vengeance of all who choose to oppress , with a certainty of being well backed by the " Establishment" But have I not , singlehanded , fought them all like a man T It has done this for me , while it has made yon the most powerful people of which history makes mention .

    Good God , how I glory in the rich and consoling reflection ; not one drop of blood shed through fire years and a half of unparalleled cruelty and persecution upon the one hand , and patient suffering upon the 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 hard pressed by tyranny , to pollnte yonr hands with Wood , or soil your cause by crime , thereby making you an easy prey to the powerful .

    When did you ever hear before , in the worst days of dark oppression , even under the hellish sway of a Sidmouth er 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 aperused 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 fiist 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 felocs' 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 , since my yard was given up to convicts , I have not left my house The prisoners hare their day-roojn Aoora open , from seven in the morning till they go to bed—mine is nerer open . I am locked up in one cell all day and 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 c » mea

    to see ine , our erery 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 , haring , at all erents , the consolation of the society of their own order , a room to walk in and ouk of , as they thing proper , their coals paid for , their washing paid for ; and , what is still more galling , I see men who hare committed forgeries , rapes , larcenies , assaults by stabbing , and all sorts of crimes , committed , on an average , for not more than nine months , whilst I hare double the time to serve ; and this in a

    free country , and under a Reformed Government , wbo looked upon the nse 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 have insisted , aye , insisted , upon his being treated as libellers were wont to be in Tory times . Ye Gods ! what luxury In the tenth year of Reform , to yearn after the good old times of Sidmeulh and Castlereach !

    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 ia 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 ?

    " Xo , no ; a million times NO . " I defy them . I would lose my life , or hare him , eren him , or John Edward Taylor , out , or properly treated while they were in . You bare beard of son . e of the abominations practised at Wakefield , and other hells and mad-houses ; but George White has not yet told you that , eren upon the usual punishment , there is a refinement What ia it f IVby , sentence to three days' solitart confine mem , 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 ? Jnst 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 state 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 38 Napoleon erer made ; and many of th « se Gen « rals , forgetting the cause of their promotion , hate 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 hones test 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 tmin , brought ' against him by Mr . O'Connell , and submitted to a tribunal at the Corn Exchange , Mr . O'Connell appearing as prosecutor . After some days of gross persecution , Lawltss 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 prosecutor .

    My friends , bear one thing in mind—that while I was spending thousands , I hid to pay dearly for erery word of mine which the serenpenny " Establishment " ' condescended to publish ; -whereas , now I bare to pay dearly for the sentiments of others , not only for news , 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 at 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 tbe most

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

    me in a bill of £ 10 , which I paid . Thus , you 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 beneficial effect , which I believe they bad , they ' were welcome to the money , while I merely relate the fact , to shew how different were Vhe means open to me , from those which I have opened for others . And also , in justice V , jLowrey , I must say , that he thought h « was writing according to contract

    These letters hitherto have been upon two subjects , which may be considered u personally relating-to myself . For three days to eome , I snail write about matters wholly appertaining to you and y « ur cause , 1 shall place the question of the Corn Laws , the attempt to establish a hungry dissent church , instead of a . gorged state church , as the dominant religions state establishment , and many other questions dearly before you ; while I do expect thatjny having occupied two letters in self-defence , upon the vital point ot physical force and political traffic , will be pardoned , when yon consider thM I stand alone of my order , and that my character is of some value to my party . Ia conclusion , let me direct your attention , to the great value of publication of the national will . Yon III find the most efficient

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    proof in the fact , that the " Establishment" does cot publish Chartist practical intelligence , as it publishes the humbug speeches oi the tribe of practical Reformers , if it did , we should never hear of physical forc «; in fact , we should be over strong In our moral strength . I am , my friends , . Yonr trne 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 thai mass 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 ot the community . First , one arrangement of our present anti-social state 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 thi 3 ? 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 , Ibeld only for a short lease , ) becomes fearful of sustaining loss , and under the influence » f this fear , surrenders his manly independence , and becomes the crawling slave of his imperious landlord . Then , as to the inclosura of waste lands ; were not the lands , which have been enclosed during the last eighty years , the common right of the poor , and hare 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 out of employment , and prevented the cultivation of much valuable land , lest the price ef agricultural produce should fall so low as net to enable the tenant to pay the rent agreed for ; and this is in itself a moat grievous crime , since it puts a drag upon the exertions « f industry , and prevents a healthy developeraent of the powers of society . Nor was that system of legal robbery , perpetrated under the name of

    " Enclosure Bills , " one whit tho less criminal . The lands were not waste -, the ; 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 , is , 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 from 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 T It , 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 wbo surround you , to give your assent , was the insecurity of life and property , in thu agricultural districts . ( This was but a pretext ; the real

    motive for the embodiment of this infamous and unconstitutional force was to put down Chartism , and to crush the rising spirit of the people . ) Still our calendars and our county rates tell us that crime has increased te a fearful extent , and it has done so in the rural districts progressively , as the crimes of legal robbery have become more bold and frequent , and aa 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 law * and institutions , especially those of recent and liberal fabrication , give to what ia called property . I say , to what is called property ; because so confused and obscure are all our notions on really important matters , that we fail to recognise tbe most valuable of all property—tho skill and industry of the people , as any kind of property whatever . What we call property or wualth is 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 of the important fact that money ia only the representative of things which are conducive to the necessities , the comforts , and the conveniences of life , and is used merely as a convenient medium of exchange . So alter circumstances as that it shall fetch nothing , and , beyond the mere intrinsic value 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 , iu 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 discharge the National Dabt , aad ae 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 he might obtain a subsistence , even by the veriest drudgery .

    What a misnomer , then , Is it to call money , in tbe abstract , property . Property in houses or land is just the same : the house is of no value to the owner , if he cannot find a tenant ; and the land is useless , unless made profitable by cultivation . It is , then , skill and industry , in all thoir multiplied and active forms , that give the < real value to all these things , and to a thousand others , which their foud 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 tha approach of the king of terrors , is actually , according to onr glorious Constitution , made the substitution for intelligence and honesty , in both the electors and the members of the Senate . It can exalt a man , whose intellectual talents would not recommend , him to the situation of a common porter , to the magisterial bench , where , swelling with his fancied importance , he " plays his fantastic tricts , " and sends nun , infinitely superior to himself , to the cell or the tread-wheel , for the high crime of poverty ., And what , I ask , id the consequence o ( this vicious d « minatioa of that which

    1 * miscalled property f It Is not that the bonds which should bind man to man are loosened , that the laws which are made by such unworthy legislators , and founded , upon such nnjuat and partial principles , are despised , and , in many cases , openly defied ; and that acts of reoktepe oppression are perpetually perpetrated ? No wonder that , under such a system , crime should continually increase » the real wonder is , that things arena * a thousand times worse ' than we at present find them . These men of property are Notoriously the'inost grinding , oppressive , and unprincipled wretches , In ? xUtenoe . Their selfishness It unparalleled ; tbeklove

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    of domination , insatiable . If a man in their employ ventures to think for himself in palitics , he 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 send 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 " order

    themselves lowly and reverently to all their bettors . " And if all this pains and trouble fail to work conviction , and the toil-worn slave Is still regolred that his thoughts staali 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 , per ' haps , 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 his 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 incalculable mischief , and in which is involved some particulars , which ought especially to interest your Majesty , as 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 , ant 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 late years invested in factories for the fabrication of silk , woallen , and cotton goods ; immense quantities of which , especially cotton , hare been exported to foreign markets , and immense quantities more would have been exported , but for the operation of the English Corn Laws . By this system , large fortunes were realised by tbe fortunate speculators in a few years A tide of wealth rolled through the manufacturing , districts , and this , no doubt , you have been taught to consider as an evidence of national prosperity . But

    this is a most fatal and mischievous conclusion . I admit that the Millowners and the Capitalists of Manchester , of Leeds , Bradford , Ashton-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 most , 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 such partial prosperity . Nothing , I ap . prehend , can be fairly considered as conducive to national prosperity , which has a direct tendency to destroy the health , debase the mind , and shorten the lives of the working population . This being admitted , let us inquire how far 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 Iancashire , which

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

    gire place to the 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 thing 3 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 iudustry , 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 the working classes into the condition of glares and bondsmen . Besides this , the new factory aristocracy found out that much of the labour which must still be performed by human , bands , could be done better , at all events cheaper , by children than by adults , and the labour market , as I observed before , being overatooked , it was no hard matter to induce , ( to compel would be the more correct expression , ) tbe fathers and mothers of large families to send 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 for many years , and not a voice was heard against it Parliament cared as little as 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 t « light , and some shadow of protection was , from time to time , afforded tbe helpless factory child . And what is the actual state of things at present ? Be it remembered that we

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

    and machinery itself untaxed , bo that man who needs food , clothing , and sleep , is left by those who pretend to be his representatives , to the feaiful odds of competing with that which requires neither food , sleep , nor clothing . I will only notice one thing more connected with this arrangement of society , before I inquire into its general results . The introduction of steam and its application to the purposes « f manufacture by machinery , has had , and must necessarily have , a marked effect , upon the mining population , . especi ally in the departments of iron aad coaL It has been stated ' , and I fear with but too ranch tenth , that the classes engaged in these works are extremely ignorant , and demoralised to an alarming degree . The

    quantities « f coal that hare been required , since the application of steam W practical purposes , has been immense ,- and must have . required a proportionate increase in tbe mining population . It has been stated that one-third ; qf thc * e engaged ia coal mines are females , ( if the men -of' England had the spirit of their ancestors , ' they wonld not allow this outrage on common decency to continue another month , ) young persons , in many instances , who are ompellea to work hundreds of feet below ihe surfme * ot ^ the . earth , In postures which must be'injurious t ? the constitution , and sometimes almost in a state of nudity . These things , Madam , exist fata state « f society ( and most exist Mil the present arrangements are ehanged

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    which you arei taught to hail as one of national pros perity and happiness . Now , I ask , is not this state ' of things one which has a direct tendency to destroy the health , debase the mind , and shorten the lives of the 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 * mutt destroy health . We have largp masses of untutored human beings collected together in a state of almost savage wildness , treated as bessta of burden , and , by their very situations , precluded from 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 i * 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 L have named , should be the prolific parent of crimes of almost every kind and description . That it is so , the documents laid before Parliament bear ample testimony . Then , nntil those arrangements at * changed ,. it is in vain to laok for a better state of things . Let us proceed to inquire how this important end nay be accomplished . I am , Madsm , Tour Majesty ' s faithful and obedient subject and servant , London , January 18 th , 184 * . SUM A ,

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    rHE PROPOSED JUNCTION OF THE WORKING AND MIDDLE CLASSES . TO TBB EDITOR OF THE NORTHERN STAR . Dear Sik , —An eventful week has slipped away , and Chartism has received good or harm , as the friends anil admirers of the measure may hereafter determine . I hare narrowly , watched the movements ot both parties—have heard and read much of their sayings and doings—and I am convinced , that unless many ot your excellent readers mind wbat they are doin « , and keep a sharp look out , the enemy wil entrap them in the meshes of a deep laid plot , which is to juggle tb « whole people out of the Charter .

    Collins is a most respectable , eloquent , and honourable man . Chartism owes him much ; but I am told , in a speech delivered in the presence of "Dan , . " and the rest of Ms compeers at the " Feed , " he assured them , that if the principles embodied in the Charier were brought forward by them , he could promise th « co-operatlou of the Chartist body . And I find in the addres * , as published in your Third Edition , by the Delegates , and signed by Mr . 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 mincing of truth recommemied—liints , I

    guess , fora gentle compromise of position , when we ought rather 'to have glorified in thu divine power of strong truth , boldly spoken , aa manifested in the proud and exalted attitude we now hold , 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 steady , my brothers ! stick to the real" workieu' and you will regain the equilibrium : but , " evil communications corrupt good manners , " and this is biu a niouumt of forgetfulness .

    " A beneficial union , " says the address , " may be , probably , ere long , accompliihed between the working classes and the honest advocates of right of every other class . " Now , Sir , I query the words " beneficial union " and tbe " honest advocates . " Such unions have happened before , -and when did they work well for the people ? Never ; and ray opinion is , they never will . Btgcies , tbe union contemplated by them , is , that we should either allow our principles to rtcoive anew embodiment , or join them for something less . Can wu do either , and do right ? The latter we cannot ; th . « former we ought not

    Let it be remembered by whose unwearied and disinterested exertions we now exist , by whose vimies , honesty , courage , and sufferings we have a being —who it is has placed us in the most independent and dreaded position , the toes ot England ever saw upon her bosom , and say , can we , ought we , to forsake this inimitable position to which he elevated us , for the same principles in a new form , ( supposing"them to be tbe same , ) when this is tbe malicious act of our own and best friend ' s greatest enemy , done for no other purpose than that ef crushiug one of

    the smcerest and truest men that ever breathod , if nothing more ? The whole world would blush at our shame . But when , on the other hand , by such a compromise , we must give up tbe leadership out of our own hands , into those of our former betrayers , twho -would'glory to repeat the dose , no matter by what amount of cajolery , in tbe shape of "promise to pay , " the power is obtained . ) we commit suicide upon our cause , and doubly ruined are all our further efforts . Can we make such overtures , without giving the direction of onr affairs to " our superiors ? " I answer , no 1

    never , never I " Trust not for freedom to the Franks , They have a King who buys and sells ; In native minds and native rants The only hops 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 T We increase numerically , and more abundantly in real knowledge and mental capability . Look at our union , sobriety , the anointed- but unsophisticated eloquence ot our speakers ! What body of politicians , or of anything else , 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 Parliam « nt themselves , taken as a whole .

    And why , then , stay now to " soften our speech and smooth our tongue ? " Is it less necessary to speak the truth—to call things by their right names , thaa formerly T Nay , I Bhould 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 . oar position . I know our opponents have long writhed in agony at our sayings and doings ; hut now their moral and physical opposition are both of no avail—our heresy increasing tho more—they come to treat us with their wheedlidg twaddle—half censurehalf rub-down flattery . " Nay you are too bad , we own your principles in the main to be right , but you are tou harsh—too 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 as you like , only , don't call us , " and so on , &c &c . Now , if the Chartists speak 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 goon : this mode of conduct never was known to be wrong in the lung run ; ami never will;—while mincing the ddscription of crying evils , by which , for a tiaie , we gain rs few fair weather proselytes , has always been baneful in the end ; the evils complained of remaining the same .

    This union with the middle classes is a subject which ought to be fairly canvassed , and , I trust , the Chartists aa a body will look to it Let me ask those middle-cla « j men when the Chartists ever refused a kgitijnate and healthy union with any class of men ? Did they ever refuse to receive into their association any who have offered to become members , unless they have been criminal character * » . 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 hare not uniUd , the cause ' is with themselves . It is evident

    they are not wilting 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 obnoxious nansense of " superiority * along with them , remain apart . or bring us over to the notion that we ought still to do their bidding , and remain slavus . But our position is a truly godlike and primitive one ; obtained , too , by dini of much painful labour and cost : intellect and virtue alone can rule among as ; and we are better able , cay , almighty , to conquer without th * middle-class mep ; 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 this we cheerfully exhort them . We say , " come with us , and we will do you good . " There is no obstacle on our party but our determination is as immoveable as . our causa is just ; and I trust we shall go on lit the same straight-forward course—courteous to real friends , and a V terror to evil doers , ' *—conquering and to conquest , until the top atone ef our superstructure be bro ' ugkt on , with snouting , by the sovereign and united people . While I advocate ( an unflinching decision , let me be understood to "dyicouptijnance the least approach to vulgarity , much less , " brntalily , in the advocacy of our cause "; and that I am ! aware many of , our friends haw have not ^ t all tiin « manifested , as , much discretion a » became them ; yet what of tiiis ? We are to improve ,

    and sot ru « into , the , other extreme , which has ever proved wor » e of tbe two .. < Tiie time has come , whenl wiD have all brnoWr ^ aljl . we ; ask , or something more , rather than something less . . £ et ,-the expediency-mongers dub me mad , If theyChoose , ^ qr Mousing thete " " gradual ijeforms ; ijfudge ' of . what I ought to do , and every one else ought to do In this matter , by the past , die present , and ^ he future ; by the sign * of the times , tfio construction of society , tbe . misery of the millions , their wants and weight j of oppre « aioa , the safety , honour , and wefare of , my country ; and if I am mad , there shall be method in , my macin « is—method that

    snail defy the political trickists , and murderous jugglers of the age , whose itinerating rounds are taken to coil reund new victims , and leave a slisne m they crawl to poison , the rexy air we breathe , spreading new confusion , fteah doubts , confounding truth , simple honest truth , with treacherous sophistry ; and , if possible , doing their worst to widen the breach , korgat ising , instead &f healing and cementing in one bond » f onion andafibction , the lovers at justice and falrplay . In truth and soberoesa , , I am , dear Sir , Toon respectfully , William Hic& »

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    THE NORTHERN STAR . ^^ 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-ncseproduct692/page/7/