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Northern Star (1837-1852), 24th July 1841, Edition 4 of 5, Page 1, Untitled Article

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    • TO THE LANDLORDS OF IRELAND. LETTER III.
    • €f)avti0t $ntellizcnce.
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      To The Landlords Of Ireland. Letter Iii.

      TO THE LANDLORDS OF IRELAND . LETTER III .

      Mi lords a > "i > Gbxtlemes , —As it ia my intention to deTote this letter exclusively to a consideration gf the labourers' ewe ; I feel myself compelled to refer to the aifumabi now in use , and reliid upon by ^ antagonist poiitiexl parties . la order as jjisch * s possible to sroid the introduction of polities , J fall merely tUte the professed object of tbe psrtiw , god tie success which , by their atcend&ncy , they hold out as the political thing to be contended for by the people .

      You &re both agreed tken upon tbe principle , ot rather npon the object , ¦ which is to better the condition ef the working classes ; the manufacturing class declaring that you are tlie impediments in tie way of social hjpp inesi ; while you charge your opponents with false pretences , a desire to plunder yon and to usurp political nova , without offering to tbe people as the mann-^ gt crers do , even a pleasing fiction , such as " cheap fo od , " to feed the imagination of the starring . Your postion being good , your cry is : "we we Tery well ; uj well enough alone . "

      > ' ow , my Lords and Gentlemen , it is my intention * ; M assessor , faithfully to discharge my duty between I j 8 U a * rivais for power . In the first place then , the J y « nafactarea hold eut something to the people , J altfcongh it is a delusion ; while you , sturdy and obstinate ; ja j-oar nfi-wly-ac < juired power hate not even yet in the ; ele venth hour , offered anything substantial as a set-off Ipinst the manufacturers' shadow . You hope to ward I off their encroachments by Parliamentary majorities , ! ¦ whSe tiiey expect to assail your granaries with a legion ! of starring besiegers , whose passions , by the stoppage j

      d their mills , they hope to inflame to an extent unas-1 oO able by the Toice of reason , nncontronlabl « by the j jefsenee of their leaders , and invincible , from their j Bumericalstrength and their masters' implied consent , to gee all law set at sought to a certain point , that point being tbe exact one where their own object shall ! hare been achieved . To these inducements for revenge ' add the hope of impunity and the heavy state of life cr death , and weigh them against your political majo- i tity , andyonr scale win iici the beam ! ;

      My Lards and Gentlemen , thus I prepare you for a ! stale of public mind over which reason argument and influence can have no control , even for a moment ; when judgement and common sense shall be overcome by ' necesity and want I tell you that your social abuses have led to the anticipation of such a moment . I look to firs : causes rather than to results , and inasmuch a 3 I woald altogether acquit a drunken mm of the crime of wGfal murder , who in the moiitat of intoxication h » d deprived his fellow man of lifejf while the act

      » t > ald nevertheless increase my aTersion toa vice tbeintoljenee in which had led to the result ; 80 with you ; Tine I sincerely deplore the shocking results to which the uncontrolled power of manufactures has led , nevertheless , I cannot banish from my mind the fact , that ywt monopoly has been the cause of those resnlts . Had jou given to natural labour wholesome labour and healthful labour , the full reward of its real -value , the BUlUlfiCtUrererS never Would have been able to drag &e niarketa of the world with the produce of cheap libonr , made cheap by expulsion from the land .

      Ivow , this is my position , ^ o labour the individual labourer is so beneficial as that which he can expend upon the land , and eo labour to the labourer is so rBrenuneratins as that oTer the produce of which he fc& 3 no eontroul , and of the value of which he tas not the entire , —aye , the entire . I ever have , and ever Till contend for the freeman ' s right to the untouched Thole of the produce of his lafeour . Of course , 1 idzdt that in th « sa instances where men of jess n > eealative , and more indolent tabit 3 than their neighbours are satisfied to wort for masters , that in sach

      oses , the capitalist is fully , justly , and honourably entitled to remuaeration for risi and speculation ; while ny object is to take care that the enumeration is not made too exorbitantly profitable by the destitution of the working man , who has but the alternative of Tacking at the existence point or of starving ; this I would regulate by the establishment of a wholesome labournisrt , where all who are willing might expend ; hcir Uiocr ai > d esjoy *** * * jroS .- ; a * * by that genera" ; to&tod , the labour ot those working for otcen would itobe

      regulated-Tke great question , indeed the only question , for tbe laboerer to consider then is , whether or not those who eSar " cheap braid" es a means of alleviating the distress of the people , are sincere ; and if sincere in their object , then to c&raitr whether in point of fact the priest , if saccessful , - wou ' . H operas as a permanent ropp ' . e to perKdial waau would esraUish a fixed ssd sstisfactory standard , would lessen the d = p = ndeccy of tte labourer , and would rtake his cL =: pr . de to consist in the modest comforts of Ms condinrn . " 1 ktve y > u cut cf the question , as vnu cf ~ r ej spologj for ycur mosopoly , and hold oct no remedy for its e-arrtetica . Sow , if I can prove that the totil abol ' t ' . cn cf all resrietions upon foreign corn , " uzdtr existing cirtzzsioEcts , ' would but creite a grcticr i . fpenden ; y of the labourer upon his employer , and rcnuve hiin , if pcss > Ie , a step further from aii ccr . ircl OTer ills JB 53 £ A »; and ii 1 car proTe ttat Our OWE CC '^ MJT r-OS- . saes Dore tiac ample means for efTecruaL ' T icd jpesdiiy accon-pli ^ hing that whicii the rnannf ^ iureii ad kndlorda both pre-fess vo be their ul-jtct , namc . y , to iaeease the comforts of the people ; I say if 1 can proT ? this , acd that you are the impeding r . ts to the atcomplishmcnt « f such a wholesome state o : things : I si ; if I can prore this , even to yoursciyes , will ycu sot , ifter Louce and perseverance , justly Eerii any paisLiasit which may result from an assault of : ht cisfiled pasnocs of the starving mnltituiit , to tvhos = saial patient conTincing and just appeals you have » 1-iEg TKaaiied deaf ?

      1 Os . Od . ; instead of £ 317 153 . Oil . My Lords and GentlemeE , is this rough draft of profit and loss , yon trill , Firstly , lo : > k to the fact that I get rid Of forty USeitsS hari-3 , and for them substitute only tvrenty-eight iaaividaals , the difference between the forty-two ' kept alive" upon the large farm and the seTecty kopt fat and well upon the small fanns _ SecocdJy , that instead of having by the small farms

      My lords and GsnUemen , with so mach of a prefacr to this my third letter , I sha ' . l now proci * xi to open the CIS cf my clients , azid my only fee or ruTrara sbali be Bk hope of seeing yon , and them , ana ail tiose who *» to * at Tariance , Uying as the members of the &silj ot o ^ e grtat Fathsr cf all , each diati ^ guisiied * ttarding to bis real Bitrit , and honoured according to MS CsScTtS .

      Alas ' . what & task I have undertakr . a , whsn in the Outset is great ciSculty of reconciling to my views tir tass-legislator wLo eoiploys two thousand pers . as , sid -a-ho makes £ 7 . . $ < . >> . per aT = rmun of cTerj tiireeoence . &i « i from its ! atoar cf each , stiris me in the fice . TThit ftars wcuM ha ^ nt m = if I 7 sa « a timid ma , » lsst I rtSect tpon the political jower of those part ' -ci Trk < 5 s nonopo ; y of man' . a rights I hope to destroy . "ftat must b = my fete when 1 feel convinced that that

      EK £ of things , at whici ; J have previously hiniei , mii . ke s = re so come , aad -srhtu , in tis bustle &ul t . Uniloil , J ^ tiui 2 hsTs done cr endeaToirei to do , will be = * le to appear to the aiarrng people , by their hard te conmiiajiing tasi-ma ^ tcrs , as the immediate cause of their pressing wants .

      ¦> - ? Lords asd Gentlemen , IamDOteitheruntaindfalof yK ? pow « , or of tbe n . annerin which it has ever been c ^ -. fr-mthe time of Tiberius Gracchus downtothepre-¦ att ^ e , to oppress and destroyali who would make your *^ =-5 aiailib ' . e to your own a :. d the nation ' s wants . b " -e : 7 Efernard is in the tetter state of public opinion —a the ticpliciry of ay project—in the facility of P ^ it into practical operation , and in the disinte ^ isa motives which I have in propounding it I do * s , DelieTe that yoa could now , as tbe Roaian Senate * ti of old , szi up a Draras , as a false landmark to *»« tbs people ' s attention from what is justly their ^ . by ofering them , mere than I do , and much more " •* = roar puppet would intend ycu to perform . You

      ^ s not the same interest in disposing of me that « £ oligarchy had in dispasing of the Gracchii ; and for « a r eason—they led a blind flock , while I am but ** rf many shepherds , with whose voice , whose prance , and whose every movement , a flock , ob-* " » t and themselves keenly upon the watch , are well ^ aated . The Gracchii were both brutall y mnr-^^ ttti their remain ! insul ted ; but yet were their T * * . in part , subsequently carried . And now , T ^ you di spose of me , I should but make room for ^^^ di of others -who , without a Hie tno-wledye of * ^ t i Would direct public opinion to the attain-^ of that which , after possession , the people ^~* P , and they \ roald consequently look for more

      . ^ y c » ject through life has feeen to make my readers sstaad every word I write , and see the feasibility of ' «» y proj = «; this I attrapt even at the hazard of ^ S . ;! T = " - ^ - I am uot a mere hL-ed irriter , ^ thB bad LuL . timan , iiyg the Msh-mettlsd pack

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      npoiulhe scent , and then allows them to run dQWB toe game according to their fancy ; 1 follow tbe pack , ride weD up to them , so as to make my hit before ft long check has destroyed the scent , and compelled me to run a-head upon a mere chance of recovering the game . I watch jour every doable and traverse , and go the whole ground after you , and thus make my followers acquainted with your every turn .

      My Lords and Gentlemen , I shall now consider what a hundred acres of ground subdivided into ten farms of ten acres each , is capable of deing : how many it would maintain , the description of maintainance , and the surplus , after having supplied the family , which it wouldjeave for traffic in the manufacturing and commercial market I shall , according to promise , take the rudest calculations ; and , firstly , as to the gross produce

      One and half acres of potatoes , half an acre of fallow , one acre of lay ( sward ) oats , two acres of wheat , h * if an acre of meadow , quarter of an acre of flax with clover , one rood of kitchen garden , one ditto of vetches , spring and summer ; and four acres of pasture . Produce for family ' s consumption , for one year ; ( family consisting of a man , his wife , and Ms children ); sixty stones of wheat ; fifty stones of oatmeal ; five hundred stones of potatoes ; twenty stones of bacon ; vegetables ; half the milk of a cow ; with poultry , eggs , and honey .

      Let ns now take it per week- More than a stone of wheat flour ; a stone of oatmeal ; ten stones of potatoes . For forty-five weeks deducting seven for Lent , ( a time when Catholics abstain from meat ) two pound of bacon en Sundays , Mondays and Tuesdays , every week in the year ; three quarts of new Biilk per day , twenty-one quarts per week , thns estimating a cow ' s milk at twelve quarts a day far the summer season , and allowing one quarter of her milk in summer and the other quarter to be used in butter during winter ; but I take all as milk . Value of produce after the above amount for consumption shall have been deducted : —

      £ s . d . June bags of wheat , at twenty stone the bag , at £ 1 os . the bag 11 5 0 Produce of a cow and half , valued at £ i per cow 12 0 o Five barrels of oats , at fourteen stone the barrel , at 10 s . the barrel , or less than 9 d . per stone 2 10 o Profit on ibnr bacon pies , fed frOHl May to . Marcb , and bought at liiue months old £ 2 .-103 . each 10 0 0 Proat on fouT sbeep , fatted after shearing , 103 . a head 2 0 0 Eggs , poultry , linen ( or spun flax . 5 0 0

      Tnose amounts , added , make ... £ 1 $ 15 0 From which deduct : — R ? nt and rates 11 0 0 Laid by for girls' portion and casualties peraunum 7 15 0 Total 23 15 0 which deducted from the £ 42 15 s . leaves £ 24 to be annually expended in the manufacturing and commercial market Let us now take the aggregate of wh 3 t ten farms , thus managed , can do as compared with the same ten firms in the occupation of one tenant

      By the subdivision , they support in afBasnce , comfort , and abundance , seventy persons . They produce for sale , after consumption , ninety bags of wheat ; one hundred hundred weight of bacon ; thirty hundred -weight of butter ; forty fat cheep ; fifty barrels of oats , at fourteen stones to the barrel ; eggs , poultry , flax , or lie en , £ 50 worth . Let us see what it does besides . It gives the family four & ~ eces , at fire pounds of wool per fleecetwenty pounds of wool ; and the produce of two roods of flax for winter employment and clothing .

      Xow take the one hundred acres held by one tenant and you have the ioliofnnq produce for sale , after the scanty existence ot forty-two persons : —Wheat fifty bags ; instead of ninety bags ; bntter sixteen hundred w-ight , instead of thirty hundred weight ; oals twenty barrels , instead of fifty barrels ; bacon twenty hundred ¦ Weight , instead of one hundred hundred weight ; flax , or linen , eggs , and poultry , nothing , instead of £ 50 worth ; steep r > cne , instead cf forty . Cash-saved and left for expenditure , after payment cf rent , rates , and essences of one hundred acres , £ 10

      seventy acres of bad grass land sacrificed to thirty acres cf bad tillage , there is a sacrifice of only forty acres ; thsre bein . g sixty , instead of thirty , in full producing tilt , by tu-i substitution of spade culture for the plough and this sacriics of forty acres is owing to a want of sufficient population to cultivate all to the highest state of perfectioD . Tou will require from me proof as to the capability of producing what I have stated from the ten acres . In the first place , then , let me jast tell you that I have strictly kept to plain digging ; that according to cul " tare I hare taken the very lowest average ,- wnlle according to prices , I have taken much below the

      average for every thing , according to any seven years of the last forty . I allow six bags of wheat to the acre . I allow 1 * 00 stones of potatoes to one and a half acres , or 1200 stones per acre , I allow four acres of grass , two roods of vetcheS j half an acre of meadow , half an acre after grass , with whit the house affords , for t sro cows and four sheep ; I allow bran , g&rdenstnfif , s-jme milk , and 1 , 300 stone Cf potatoes , for five pigs for nine months . I allow only what I am now receiving myself for dairy cows , £ 3 a-head , whiJs the labourer would rnaks much more of tham . I do not take too much out of the ground , but on the c . ntrary , I keep it in proper heart ; while the man , trithout mentioning any of his family who might be capable of h = Jp : n § him , -j ronld not be one half of Ms time employed in the task I have set him ; and yet I leave him £ 31 15 s . per annum , after the best of good living , CiOtbing , and lodging , instead of £ 3 , as at present , eut of which he must eke a subsistence ; and right lucky and well pleased is he if he can even get the chance . As to the mauura , which is the principal thing , I firstly bring his arms , which is the real essence of manure , —the oxygen , —into operation ; and , besides that , I leave him three acres of straw , half an acre of m&iiow , two cows , four sheep , five pigs , poultry , and gartlen-rabbish to manure ona and a half acres of potatoe ground , which you will surely think enough , having cheered ilr . Sharman Crawford -when he allotted to tWO unfortunate little pi ^ s the herculean taet of manuring an acre !

      As I do not write so much with the hope of convincing you , as for the purpose of convincing my own clients , I purpose in my next letter to take a more extensive view of this subject ; while , for the present , I shall answer some of the most recent absurdities of hired writers . I have read , and I assure you I forget just now in what paper , the assinine remarks © f some Bcetian , who laughs at the notion of all the wheat-producing land

      in the united empire , ) which he estimates at twenty millions , ) being capaWe of supplying twenty six millions with bread ; while I have shewn that ten millions of acres would support seven milliana in affluence , and leave a sufficiency of bread , bnttei , bason , oatmeal , poetry , tzgs , honey , fisx , with four millions of sheep annually , for more than twenty millions more fed at the same r ? te ; that is , more than a sufficiency of all these things for more than twenty-seven millions of seople .

      My Lords and Gentlemen , is it not now plain that tbe bad state of things is preserved by the political patronage which the usurpation of political power by she misapplication of land has given to you and your

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      order , and which has been acquiesced in by the new order of political economists , who , aa I hare shown , derive an income of nearly £ 4 , 000 a year from the employment of every 1 , 000 slaves ? and however you and the steam lords may affect a humane object , ( which , by the way , I repudiate , as I look for full and complete justice , and every particle of their just rights , for my clients ); but however you may attempt to convince the people that justice and their good it your object , and however you may shove the saddle from back to back , believe me that those who bear the burden now know , and know full well , that the object of each is to plunder as much as they can from the unrepresented . My Lords and Qentlemen , Ik Is a hard -word , but think of the provocation .

      My Lords and Gentlemen , while we find tbe three great parties is the state thus struggling aa deadly foes , just think of trying to lock up the treasures of Providence , in order that yon may preserve a mere artificial state of pre-eminence over your fellow man , and think of the foolish manufacturers , who have gambled so long in blood , now hoping to persuade a people made miserable by their recklessness , that their struggle is all for the said people ' s benefit

      But do we not observe the striking anomaly all through eur system , of never looking to home , while the eyes of all are eternally directed to other countries for what we could better , more freshly , more conveniently , more profitably , more abundantly , and more comfortably supply from under our own noseaf Hence , injyour House of clerks and "powder monkeys , " you have ministers of war , of colonies and of trade , but no minister of agriculture . You have a minister of allspice , nutmegs , mace , ginger , pepper , raisins , almonds ,

      dried currants , cinnamon , oranges and Naple biscuits ; but no minister of wheat and pork , and beef and butter ; and , in truth , I venture to say that Mr . Labouchere would turn up his nose most disdainfully if asked how many stall-fed beast * would make a sufficiency of manure for an acre of potatoe ground , or if asked how marjy men it would reqnire to cut the seed and plant and dig the potatoes ; bat , believe me , that a knowledge of these things is the knowledge which , ere long , will be most prized .

      My L « rds and Gentlemen , there is another anomaly which never strikes you . It is , that agriculture 1 Ireland should have for its governor , a general , a kind of military chjeflian—a kind of Don Quiswtte , with his squire Sancho Parza in the Cabinet , who knows nething about agriculture , the country , the people , their manners or their customs ,-who cares nothing about agriculture ; whose whole time is taken up in the adjustment of party squabbles , political disagreements , consideration of military , police , and magisterial affairs ; and changed too with each administration . He is a mere political tool ,

      and in nine cases out of ten , a most egregious fool ! either a military fop , flying about the country in peacock ' s feathers courting his party , or a quiet-going old gentleman , fearful of doing right lest he may be suspected of doing wrong ; and in his endeavour to please every body , pleasing no body , and losing his character into the bargain . Such is your political chieftain : while the greatest recommendation which your agents can have , is a steeled heart . That man only is flttjdfer the collection of rack-rents who can look upon the itgtS act of taking the bed from under the sick woman and the last cow from the little children , as divested of al moral turpitude .

      You will , no doubt , say that I am dealing -witti the exceptions . I say that I am not ; that on the contrary , good landlords are the exceptions , and they are comparatively few ; and when they are to be found , where is the man more honoured , beloved , and respected in the world ? Jly Lords and Gentlemen , being connected with , and sometimes managing large estates ; having farmed a large quantity of ground ; being a barrister , in very extensive practice , and much consulted by tenants , labourers , and landlords ; havingbeenaMeinberof

      Parliament for three years for the great county of Cork , and having , through life , given the most serious attention to the state of Ireland , I have no hesitation in stating , that the whole of Ireland ' s wrongs , her poverty , her degradation , the insecurity of property , the hatred of the aristocracy , and contempt for the laws , aTe consequences more of your misrule , than of any political or religious animosity which the people entertain towards Tories or Protestants . The Tories are Protestants , aud the landlords are , for the most part , Protestants , and therefore is all criine , and justly , charged upon Toryism and Protestantism .

      My Lords and Gentlemen , you may consider it a " great bore" to be compelled to make any such arrange , ments as will suit the present times , but the question is , whether you will put up with a choice of evilswhetheryou will undertake the " bore" of collecting more rent from a greater number , or be " bored"by geing without any rent . You complain that tbe people are dirty , while you deprive them of the means of being cleanly . You complain that they are ignorant , while you withhold from them the means of educating themselves . You complain that they are vicious , while you oblige them to have recourse to deception and invention to defend themselves against yeur oppression .

      j ly . Lords and Gentlemen , once more I caution yon against the foolish notion that an English political question cannot affect Irish property . I tell you that poverty , like water , will find its level ; and I also tell you that the most rising and pow erful political interest is that of the English manufacturers , whom you will find to your cost , to be excellent engineers , and which you will admit when they have reduced you , after payment of debts and mortgagees , to the very same condition that the hand-loom weavers are now io .

      My Lords and Gentlemen , I further caution you against the vain hope of preserving monopoly by your political majority ; that , believe me , will be your greatest weakness ; it will , I fear , but add to your difficulties , by emboldening you in your misrule . Pray don't split on that rock . ' for believe me , that the day is gone neTer more to return , when the minds of Englishmen , irishmen , and Scotchmen , can be held in subjection by Parliamentary majorities , standing armies , police , and a profligate press .

      I have done one man ' s share in producing the present state of things . I have accomplished two grand objects , which through life I have kept in view . I have taught the poor not to be afraid of the rich , and not to be ashamed of themselves . I have , in my own person , given to the whole of society a completely new turn ; so ranch so that I have accomplished that which I believe vanity , self-interest , and pride prevented all my predecessors from attempting . I have taught the people to do without me ; and in this I witness my great protection .

      My Lords and Gentlemen , it is not only necessary , but it is a duty to forwarn you of the present state of political feeling . You are in greater ignorance than the English hand-loom weavers . You read newspapers which pander to your prejudices , and live upon your gullibility . Don't rely upon them ; they are rotten to the core . Do not take it for granted , because the Tory prints assert it , that there ia any re-action in the public mind in favour of Toryism . Ita very resucitation from the

      grave has roused the slumbering hatred of all good men against it . It must hold power by the musket ; it must preserve your monopoly by the sword and the gibbet . If ire are allowed to meet by day , we can beat it in day-light ; and if we are driven to the Old altem&tiYB for meeting Whig oppression , why we must seed * have recourse , ones mor # , to torchlight meetings ; and I presume the Whig proclamation has died a natural death . However , be assured , that meet we will , and , if attacked , fight we will according to the very best , ot our abilities .

      My . Lords and Gentlemen , I bare now pointed out the social change which alone can effect that which you and your rivals profess to be your object , the bettering of the people ' s coadition ; bat io not

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      suppose that I am foolish enough to Imagine that either would Bartender their hold , the one of political patronage and the other » f labour-plunder , to aave the world from flames . No , you would not ! Ask yon , then , why I take so much trouble . I take it to open oat a question to the people of England , as regards Ireland , of which they are in utter and complete ignorance , and in which ignorance the press , as ignorant as themselves , would .

      from necessity , allow them to remain . I take it to prove that the interests of the Irish and the English peasant are inseparable and identical . I take it for the purpose of letting you understand that while I oppose a repeal of the Corn Baws , from a conviction that the change would greatly damage ray clients , that I do not do so , by any means , with an intention of allowing you to starve the people as landlords , or to shoot the labourers at pleasure as politicians .

      I feel assured that the press cannot answer me . Just allow me to put yon in possession of one fact I certainly understand more about Irish agriculture than all the Editors of English newspapers put together ; and yet will you not find one single extract taken from one of my letters , if I write a hundred ; while if some fool of a half-witted political economist began to write a series of letters to you upon free trade , geology , chemistry , hydrostatics , navigation , application of steam to hatching goose eggs , Ireland ' s capabilities of rivalling England in manufactures , if she would only allow Poland or Russia to send her her supper ,

      and make clothes for the foreigners ; oil these things would be noticed , and commented upon , and why ? Because they answer the political end of a political party , while my letters only answer the people ' s end , and are therefore sure not to answer your pur pose or the purpose of the manufacturer . The manufacturers want to get hold of your estates , in fact , to cut them off from production ; you want to preserve them , while you hope to resist the manufacturers politically ; and I want to step in between both , and raise the value of land , of produce , and of labour , at one and the same time .

      Now , then , I have shown you a very simple process by which you may accomplish all these objects . You must make tbe workman , to a certain extent , his own producer , consumer , and manufacturer . You thereby relieve tbe manufacturing market of a large portion of its surplus population , - while you create for the remainder an increased consuming community for the manufactnrer ' 8 goods . Why do you bake your own bread , kill your own beasts , aud brew your own beer ? Because , by so doing , you have it best and cheapest Why , then , not allow every poor man to do likewise ?

      I have shown you that so far from twenty million acres not producing wheat enough for twenty millions of people , that ten millions would produce wheat , and pork or bacon , butter , oatmeal , mutton , honey , eggs , and poultry enough for more than thirty millions of people ; and I am prepared to go further , and to prove that five millions of acres held by one million heads of families , at the rate ot five ac ? es each instead of ten , is capable of producing nearly as much aa the ten

      millions held by the same heads of families , Now , what does that prove ? Why , s ' imply the great value of labouT as compared tosurface , and the capabilities of the soil ; and that the less you allow to remain in grass the better . Just think that for four acres of grass , half an acre of meadow , and half an acre of vetches , I can allow but £ 12 a-year in the keep of two cows ; while for the remaining fiva acres , I allow the whole Support Of seven persons , and a surplus of £ 30 Ids . annually .

      This then is my position . I assert that five millions of acres of land is capable of maintaining one million families at the rate of seven to each -family ; and bear in mind , that I allow six millions oat of the seven to remain completely idle . I have not taken a day ' s work of any of the sons or daughters Into my calculation ; and I further assert that the process required -would not occupy each man one-half of the year , while at the lowest average the land would produce a sufficiency of bread , oatmeal , butter , bacon , egge , poultry , and

      several other things , for more than twenty-five millions of inhabitants . You know little or nothing of spade culture . I do ; I have tried it extensively , and I have shown its effects upon bad land to the Professor of Political Economy , Dr . Longfleld , and to many very excellent gentlemen farmers , and they were astounded at the produce . In speaking of Dr . Longfield , late Professor of Political Economy , and now Law Professor of Trinity College , I must say that he is the only one of the art I ever met ia my life who could apply wh » t may be beneficial of the theory to practice .

      My Lords and Gentlemen , having embarked in a subject which I find requires more space than I had imagined for doing it and myself and my clients justice , and being , therefore , compelled to leave much unexplained which might be beneficially communicated , I have come to the resolution of dedicating to you a book , in which shall be set forth the " Rights of the Agriculturist . " My Lords and Gentlemen , the more I consider this great , this mighty , and all-important subject , the more convinced am I of the value of the acquirement of a

      landed provision for the people . Now don't mistake me , as Mr . Justice Littledale . did , or affected to do , when he infamously , falsely , and illegally told the Grand Jury , at Warwick , that the Chartists desired to take the land from the present ( occupants and appropriate it to their own uses . Once for all , I tell you that I do not intend any such thing ; that the Chartists do not intend any such thing ; while , at the same time , I am free to confess , that a pertinacious resistance to a just claim not unfrequently terminates in a , demand for more than would have been graciously accepted , if granted courteously , wisely , and in time .

      I nave weighed my subject and looked cautiously into it , bef ore I introduced to public notice , for the people's serious consideration , one of tha gravest questions ever submitted to them . It is a subject upon which few , very few , are informed ; and upon which the manufACturers of news are ignorant as Bcetians . They make the same use of land that they make of churches , tithes , taxes , trade , commerce , and manufactures ; that is to say , they use it each for their respective party purposes , just as it politically suits them .

      I should have been mod had I laid this subject before a manufacturing and commercial people , while living in comfort upon forced trade and fictitious money , and before I had prepared their minds for its entertainment , I have , in this letter , informed yon of what , far many years , has been my object in giving up peace , happiness , fortune , and liberty , for turmoil , uneasiness , discomfort , loss , and a dungeon . My object is to obviate the dependance of the labourer upon his emptoyei ; and my meanB , indeed the only means of effecting that , is by establishing some certain market for labour , wherein the fall value may be ascertained ; for th © -working out of which , land is the only means , inasmuch as every man has for that trade both labour and capital in bis arms , which he has not for any other .

      Herein , then , lay my greatest difficulty . I was well aware that a housed , emaciated , worn-out people , accustomed to a heated atmosphere and a manufacturing life , and wholly ignorant of the land its blessings and its capabilities , could not be brought all at once to entertain a question which appeared uninteresting and foreign to their interest . I have now , however , &hewn to those who would still remain in the hell-holes , that although they never saw a green field , yet , that the landed market , if it were opened for those who would avail themselvesof it , would have the effect of

      establishing a standard whereby ererj labourer ' s wages would be regulated . For instance : suppose that A , an agricultural labourer , can support a wife and five children in comfort , by one-half of his own labour , and lay up £ 32 a-year , or spend it in the fancy market ; in such a case , the market being also open for B , ( who ma ; prefer remaining at bis own business , ) will prevent a master from being able to get his ( B . 's ) labour under the value established in the market : thus is B , the operative , who never sees a field , served equally as well as A who cultivates the fields .

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      My Lords and Gentlemen , believe me that no humas being has amore tkorongh contempt for a mere politician than I have , whether he be Whig , Tory , Radical , or Chartist , except he has some great social object in view . Lock up the land to-morrow , and I would not give you twopence for the Charter the next day , because you would have deprived it of its jewel . The Charter can never give the people any control over the land of those countries to which their attention is directed ; neither should it ; but it can give them control over it at home , so far as to relieve them from a hand-tomouth dependance upon all who make unjust profit by their labour .

      I have no doubt that in my progress I shall make many enemies ; but all who know ma are aware of the hopelessness of an attempt to turn me from any course that I once undertake . I may be before the public mind ; and if so , I shall Wait till it comes op to me : buta single backward step I will not take . I am moderate in my demand , because it lessees no man ' s store , while It gives plenty to all . I am sincere in my undertaking , and I am resolved to procure the greatest amount of happiness for all , or if needs be to perish nobly in the attempt

      My Lords and Gentlemen , I have now told yeu how to build a wall of hearts around your persons , and of bone around yeur estates . You must make the people part and parcel of the nation , or they will cease to have any Interest in the well-being of the country . And now , in order to show you the critical applicability of the state of Rome in the days of Tiherius Gracchus , to the present state of this country , arising out of precisely the same causes ( the monopoly of the land by a wealthy oligarchy ) , I shall conclude with the following extract from a speech of Tiberius Qraccuvs . Read it , my Lords and Gentlemen , and study it rather than the airy metaphysical nothings of Sir Robert Peel , as delivered to his constituents , and which are called clever by a political press . Tiberius

      said : " The -wild beasts of Italy have their caves to re * tire to ; but the brave men who spill their blood in her cause have nothing left but air and light . Without houses , without any settled habitation , they wander from place to placa with their wives and children ; and their Generals do but mock them , when , at the bead of their armies , they exhort them to fight for their sepulchres and domestic Gods ; for , among such numbers , perhaps there is not a Boman who has an altar that belonged to his ancestors , or a sepulchre in which their ashes rest . The private soldiers fight and die to advance the wealth and luxury of the great ; and they are called masters of the world , while they have cot a foot of ground in their possession . "

      Now , my Lords and Gentlemen , barring the " light and air " which the English slaves do not enjoy , do you not recognise the strict analogy between the Romans in tho days of Tiberius , and the English in the days of your misrule ? I am , my Lords and Gentlemen , Your obedient And very humble servant , Feargus O'Connor . July 20 th , 1841 .

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      BIIiSTON . —The Bilston Chartists held their usuaj meeting in the open air , at the Ball Court . Though tbe evening Was SUOWery and unfavourable , yet it -was numerously attended , and tbe greatest attention was paid to Mr . Candy ' s lecture , who , in a most able manner , expounded the principles ef democracy and the science of Government to the great satisfaction of his hearers . Our Association is now one hundred and twenty-seven in membership . DARIiASTON . —A Pubiic Meeting was held , on Monday evening , at tha Bull Stakes , Mr . Dudley in the chair , who , after a . few brief remarks , introduced Mr , H . Candy , Chartist lecturer for the mining districts . His address was upon monopolies , and their evils ;

      labour , aud its rights . He began by showing the evils that bad arisen in society through the effects of class legislation and an irresponsible Government ; , who had enacted laws beneficial to the few , but destructve to the many ; that the effects of monopoly , with all Us baneful influences , may be traced through all the departments of the Government , from the highest aristocrat in power to the lowest jack in office ; their aim , their study , and sole object was to plunder and rob the productive classes , and to coerce and keep them down by an overbearing power of soldiery , police , yeomanry , hired spies , the minions , and tools , and despicable agents of a treacherous and deceitful Government ,

      plundering aristocratic idlers , an over-gorged , hypocritical , avaricious , cormorant State Church , the trio of which was so united in their villany , whether Whig or Tory it was immaterial to the working man , him and his interests was cruciSed between the two , so that they may attain their unholy desires at the expence of the people's weal . He fully exposed their monopolies ; and then beautifully entered into the detail of labour , its Tights , and its legitimate reward . He was heard with great attention by a vast assemblage of some thousands . The immense area , right in the centre of the town , was literally crammed ; and no doubt the seeds sown by Mr . Candy will bring forth fruit an hundred fold to tho good cause .

      Mr . Candy is engaged for six weeks longer ; and we earnestly hope that all true Chartists will use every exertion to contribute , in the various localities of Wolverhamptuu , Bilston , Darlaston . and Wednesbury , to the Committee , and persons appointed to receive monies on behalf of tbe lecturers' fund . CITY OF IiONDON . —A special general meeting of the shareholders of the Scientific and Political Institute , 55 . Old Bailey , wa 3 held on Sunday morning last , July 18 th , when rules for their future guidance was agreed upon , and a managing committee for tbe succeeding quarter was elected . It was announced by the former committee that out of fifty shareholders twenty-four regularly took the Northern Star weekly , besides a good sale of the National Vindicator , and

      wtber invaluable vehicles of sound political principles , and tbe profits arising from which go towards defraying the general expences of the above Institute . The public can obtain them also from ten to twelve o ' clock every Sunday morniDg at the above place : and when free of expeuce the Hall will be opened to them for political information . In the evening of the same day , Mr . Watkins preached ( the above room being licensed for the same ) a very excellent Chartist sermon , -which gave general satisfaction to a most numerous and respectable congregation . Next Sunday evening , the 25 th inst , Mr . James Savage , another known Chartist , is expected to preach ; and 011 the Monday evening following , a social concert will take place to defray the expences of the London general election committee in the above Institute .

      DERBY . —Mr . Bairstow delivered two lectures in the Market Place on Sunday night . The lecturer occupied about three quarters of an hour in depicting the condition of the working millions , and the so-styled higher classes of society . He was listened to with the deepest attention , and at the conclusion stated that on the next evening he would point out the course the people ought to take now that the 'furies are in power . On Monday evening , Mr . Bairstow spoke lor two hours and a quarter , and his arguments were clear and convincing . At the conelusion , a vote of thanks was passed unanimously to the lecturer , and the meeting broke up , a great many persons declaring it was the best lecture ever delivered in the Market Place . The Whigs and sham-Radicals are going to hold a private meeting , for the purpose of forming a Society , having for its objects Household Suffrage and the Ballot . Let them beware ; the real Charti 3 ts of Derby are not to be duped with their olap-trap measures .

      CHESTERFIELD AND BBOOTPTON . —At the weakly meeting of the Chartists , held on Monday evening last , the following members were chosen to serve on the General Council f or the next three months : —Messrs . J . Kycroft , A . Beresford , W . Barkes , J . Wigley , R . M ' Lallan , E . Broomhead , J . Williams , sub-Treasurer , W . Martin , sub-Secretary . The resolution of Mr . O'Connor in his letter to Mr . Sinclair of Gateshead , was carried unanimously , after which the meeting separated . HECKMONDWIKE . At a meeting held on

      Monday last , a vote of thanka was proposed and carried to the electors for their prudence and decision in remaining at home with their wives aud families , and keeping away trom the polling booths of both Whig and Tory . A heart-stirving and animating artdress was given by one of <* . u ? own body . The Radicals -were much commended for their consistency ia going to the nomination unpa ' . d , and , in some cases , at tho risk of losing their employment , while the slaves of the factions went und- at the influence of their wasters f ot one shilling each ? . nd a wajjgon ride , to tiiei the chains of slavery .

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      (?^ io / wLMfe ^ s ^ , i L < / <^ cc ^^ ^ yiyfA / ^^^^^ /<^ DUBUN .-Tbe tTahraml Suffrage Association 1 T ^/^^

      treacherous Whig faction , who preached up liberality at the time they were prosecuting the producers of wealth ; and reform and retrenchment when they were forging new- fetterr for the people , and wasting in profligacy the public money on spies and policemen to stifle tbe voice of tbe people . Mr . Wood , in a very comprehensive speech , urged the necessity of onion among the working classes of Ireland ; he said th » words •* No Popery and Orangeism" ought to be bnried , and that the man who would endeavour to agitate these opinions was an enemy to the peace and prosperity of Ireland . Patrick O'Higgms , Es * f next addressed tbe meeting . " He said he would be glad , at all times , to have as opportunity of addresnDg toorderly a meeting as that before him , which was ft credit to those who conducted it . He drew a vivid picture of the manner in which tho people ot Ireiutd have been deceived by the paid and place-hwstin

      " patriots , " and showed the impracticability of th » present Bepeal scheme , which was a mere clap-trap ta answer the ends of i party . He declared himself to be a Chartist and Repealer , and pledged himself that the Chartists of England were more earnest in tb » Repeal cause than aay of the brawlers at the Corn Exchange . Be gave some very striking proofs of tbe perfidy of some of those would-be-thought " patrlote , " which called forth the disapprobation of a person present , but Mr . OHiggios told him that he was not now obliged to keep secrets , and that he could prove what he bad then assented . Mr . O'Higgins was muck applauded during his speech , and strong marks of astonishment were given by the meeting at the exposurehe gave the supporters of liberality . A vote of thank was given to the chairman , and the meeting separated , all highly dolighted with tbe proapeeta sow before them in Ireland .

      BEBFAST . —The Chartists of this place held thefr usual weekly meeting on the 13 th instant , when there was a good muster . A committee of five persons were appointed to look after a larger * oom , us the one thejr meet ia at present is too small . They intend , as soon as they can procure a large room , to admit the public , and invite discussion upon the principles of the Charter . Letters were read from several individuals in England and Scotland , which elicited tbe approbation of all present Several new members were enrolled . Chartism is making a steady advance in the North of Ireland , and the spare papers of English and Scotch friends are solicited .

      HAWPAX .-Mr . J . Watson , of Keigbley , delivered a very animated address in the Charter Institution of this place , on tbe evening of Monday last . Tbe room was crowded to excess , and the home truths which he delivered told well upon his audience , and caused many to respond to tbe truth of his statements . He was rapturously cheered throughout the whole of his discourse , at the conclusion of which several rounds of applause were given for the " caged lion , " the Northern Star , the other Chartist victims , and to the lecturer ; after which several persons came forward and enrolled themselves hi the association . A very spirited subscription has been entered into for a new banner to honour tllO liberation of our great champion , F . O'Connor , Esq ., on which a splendid whole length likeness of that gentleman will appear . The females are / ieing with and emulating tbe men in this patriotic undertaking .

      NEWCASTLE . —The Newcastle Chartists held their weekly meeting on . Monday night , Mr . Crothers in the chair . The Secretary read the minutes of last meeting which were adopted ; he likewise read several letters , including one which he received from Colonel Thompson , in which he states it to be the firm belief of an eminent Parliamentary council that Mr . Bronterre O'Brien was legally elected for Newcastle , && &c . The following resolutions were then carried unanimously : — Mr . Frascr moved and Mr . Bruce seconded , " That this committee return hearty thanks to Col . Thompson , Of Blackbeath , near LonU . , for bis kind offer to render us ass . stance in establishing the point of Mr . O'Brien ' s election , and that tbe Secretary be instructed to reply to Col . Thompson ' s letter . " Moved by Mr . Bruce , seconded by Mr . Fainlough , "That an address be

      issued by the friends of justice throughout the empire , through the Star , requesting their co-operation in raiaing the necessary funds for claiming that seat for Jame » Bionterre O'Brien , Esq ., in the Commons' House of Parliament , to which he was duly and truly elected by the suffrages of tbe borough of Newcastle-upon-Tyne , and that Messrs . John Mason and James Sinclair b * appointed to draw out that address . " Mr . Mofiatt moTed , and Mr . Fainlough Beconded , "That James Sinclair be appointed sub-treasurer for Mr . O'Brien ' * Petition Fund . " Mr . Bruce moved , and Mr . Hall seconded , " That a committee be appointed to audit the EU ction Fund accounts , previous to tbe balancesheet being made out , and that Messrs . Frazer and Bruce , with Maugham and , Sinclair , form that committee , and that the balance-sheet be sent to the Northern Star for insertion . "

      SUNDERLAND . —On Sunday afternoon , at the Life Boat House , Mr . Geo , Binns delivered an excellent address to a large audience . Lecture by Mr . Habney . —On Friday last , this indefatigable , honest , aud talented missionary in tke cause of freedom , visited Sunderiand , after aa absence of nearly two years . This long absence , together with the talent and manifest zeal of Mr . Harney , excited a strong and general desire to bare a lecture from him ; accordingly , the Arcade Room , the largest , in the town , was engaged for him , and ou Friday evening , by the hour appointed for the lecture , it was crammed from end to end . On the appearance of Mr . Harney He was greeted with moat

      enthusiastic cheering . He was accompanied by Mr . Williams , who briefly introduced Mr . H . to the meeting , when Mr . Harney rose , and was received by loud , and continued oheering , which having subsided , Mr . Harney appropriately thanked the meeting for the reception they had given him and complimented the Chartists of Sunderiand upon the noble position they had maintained at the late borough election . Mr . H . th . en dashed into the subject of his lecture , beginning by exhibiting a rapid , clear , slashing and destructive review of the career of the Whigs , since their acceptance of office in 1832 , to the period of their ignominious defeat in 1841 ; proving that they had been one of the most ,

      if not Ike most treacherous , profligate , and tyrannical administrations , that had ever affected this unfortunate country . He then aearchingly analysed tha pretences upon which they had dissolved Parliament and exposed the utter inefficiency of the ministerial scheme of Commercial Reform , to remove the evil * that now afflict us . With reference to the means by which the national expenditure might be brought down to the national income , or the tax receipts of the exchequer , be gqnar « d with the Ministerial expenditure , he gave some valuable instructions to Lord Morpeth and the Wfeigs . He asked how it was that , accepting office ' with a surplus revenue , they had left it with an annual aud increasing

      deficiency , and by continually increasing the debt ; and showed that it was by their system of foreign and domestic policy ; by their intermeddling and peddling interference in Spain , and Egypt , and Turkey ; by their tyranny and plunder in India p their robbory of the Canadian exchequer , and despotic rule iu Canada j arid , lastly , by their opiumwar in China ; while at home they squandered the public treasure , in establishing a town and rural poiice force ; in the erection of gaols , station-houses , and model prisons ; the employment of spies , traitors , and informers ; the prosecution , imprisonment , and * yranuou 3 treatment of their couutry ' a patriots , &c . Ho said , if they were honest , they would letrace their steps , and begin the work of retrenchment by reducing their own salaries to an

      extent corresponding with the reduction which the working men have had to sustain . Mr . H . then passed on to examine what the Tories , who declaimed these things , would do to remedy the evil , and proved , from the history of that bloody and brutal faction , that they were no better than the Whigs . He advised the people to take their affairs into their own hands , to stand by their own principles , and advance their own cause—encouraging them , by exhibiting the rapid progress which Chartism had made ; its present important position , and cheering prospects . He then concluded a long , interesting , and useful address , amidst great applauB © Mr . Binns briefly proposed the thanks of the meeting to Mr . Harney , which was carried by acclamation , and , Mr . H . having acknowledged the honour , the meeting concluded .

      Chartist Discussion Class . —On Saturday evening last , the members of the Chartist Discussion Class , meeting at Mr . Orwin ' s , New Hopper-street , Bishopwearmouth , discussed the following question — "Are the principles of the Charter based upon truth I" At the commencement of business , Mr Slater was unanimously called to the chair . He called upon Mr . Anderson , the proposer , to introduce the question , which Mr . A . did in a neat and appropriate speech . He was followed by Messrs . Dobbie , Taylor , and others , who , by tbe talent displayed * proved the utility of sach discussion . After an

      animated and instructive debate , the discussion -wa » closed by Mr , Anderson . Wewould most strongly recommend our brother Chartists living in that neighbourhood to avail themselves of the advantages of this class ; for not only is the system of discussing political subjects calculated to deepen their knowledge of them , but the general conduct of this class , the spirit of unity that has ever distinguished them , their liberal aid to the cause , and their untiring zsal , entitles the members of it to honourable notice . We say this without disparaging theservicee rendered bv other classes in the town .

      K 2 ZGH 1 EY . —On Monday evening , Mr . Jackson gave a lecture on the principles of Chartism , and another on Tuesday evening on the benefits of teetotalmn , both of which were numerously attended , and \ ver < j listened to with the greatest satisfaction .-

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      YOL . IT . NO . 193 . SATUEDAY / JULY 24 , 1841 . * \ £ = ? .. TST' " —— ¦ — - —_ ———— .. . -

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      AND LEEDS GENERAL ADVERTISER .

  • Citation
    • Northern Star (1837-1852), July 24, 1841, page 1, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/ns/issues/vm2-ncseproduct716/page/1/