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    • I I THE SOUTHERN STAR. I SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 17, 1842. i THE
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      PREPARATION OF THE FOOB MAN'S COMPANION , FOR 1843 . IN the Press , and will be Published in the latter end of October next , the POOR MAN'S COMjPANION , and POLITICAL ALMANACK , for j 1843 , by Joshca Hobson . I Particulars of content ? in future announcements .

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      THE COUNCIL OF THE NATIONAL COMPLETE SUFFRAGE UNION TO POLITICAL REFORMERS OF ALL SHADES OF OPINIONS . "JFa address yon , fellow countrymen , deeply impressed yr' \ h the moral obligations of men and citizens , wnsse df . ies 037-2 been imposed on us by an authority greater th'i princes or rulers , commanding us to " do wile all mei as rre vxntfd wish them to do unto us , " consequently rtc airing us ts lend that aid , which ourselves would dt ^ re , to extricate from their condition the millions of our brethren "who , by the oppression or neglect of rulers , ar plunged in the lowest depths of misery , groping in

      i * ranee , and daily sinking in crime . " Xkouzh we believe that that great Christian obligation ea : s upon all mtti to assist in freeing their brethren fr . a tha ix > wer of the oppressor , yet , at this crisis , -we a-: rsss ourselves especially to yoa , the Reformers of the V - ced Kingdom ; because it is far you—the active and in -iii ^ ect spirits of proges 3 ion—you , -who desire to Bee jn . T . ca established where justice is enthroned—it is fo ~ ou in your eaergy , union , and self-sicnaong resolu on to determine , whether our country shall rise in fr dc-m , knowledge , and happiness , or sink as a land of br- ;; . ' . red serfs , beneath the paralysing power of a cor » to-: and Soirlsh oligarchy .

      _ a thus addressing you , we desire not to arouse yocr p- - ' cais , we would only awaken the nobler feelings of jn- ice . humanity , and Christian duty , considering our c& -e too eacrea to be promoted fey violence , or benefit " ' by wrcng . Z j you we need not depict the wide sprpad misery of ou- countiy : most of you are familiar with it in all its sic ; ening frrms , and vast numbers of yon are already its vi . ims . But we asfr you , with all the sober earnest-Be i of men and Christians , whether yen wiil unite with us in one general bond cf brotherhood ? and by perseve-ing , peaceful , energetic means , resolve , at anyperso < \\ sacrifice , to stay the progress of onr national debasement—to check the ravages of starving poverty —to remove the drag chains of monopoly , the ovcrburde . iag : ressure of taxation , the progress of crime , the ra ; i-destroving enrse of war , and , under the blessing of be ~ en , free our country from the accumulating evils of cc-i rupt and selfiEh legislation T

      Fellow eoun ' vrymen , we are not desirous of interfering wi-Jh yocr present local arrangements , but we call upon yc to meet us in the spirit of truth and jusHce ; to ds - . rmine , with singleness of purpose what is best to be (? : to erred ihepolitical and social deliverance of our cc * niry , and having once dttermined to concentrate our ml : . ur energies to tha accomplishment of such a gloricaa cc- ; summation . This we think can b * done , without th amalgamation of societies between wh = tn differences of pinions and modes of action exist ; this can be done lefa'ly , constitutionally , and effectively ; all that is nee jssary for its accomplishment is union , energy , and sel . " sacrifice , cm ail points of agreement , and forbearante , tileration , and Christian charity , where differences of oinion to exist .

      isnt in the election of representatives to meet in such a Conference , all party spirit must be excluded , all eff : -ts for forcing individual views through the power of numbers must be avoided ; a victory obtained by fulU intolerant , overbearing policy , would be to defeat our object—that of-having a fairly oonstittdad Natknal Cosfebkxce , & body in whom all shades of R-. jrmers am ^ iu the middle and working classes may p ]*; : ? confidence , and nnder whose pescerul and legal prlance we may unitedly contend , till we have secured the bl& = sic ; r and fruits of rreeaoin .

      VTe are also desirous that the ensuing Conference Basil be the means of effecting a better understanding an closer union between the middle a ^ d working dv-sss , than has hitherto existed ; feeling convinced , tba-: so long as the enemies of the people can keep the _ n divided , so long will they both be victimised by a cor-upt and liberty-hating aristocracy . "We caU , toererori , upon the middle classes to ssnd their rtpreaentv tiv-.-s to confer with those of the working classes , to see ho- ?? far they ran remove the cause of animosity , apprehension , and disunion ; how far arrangements may

      be Tiade to secure our mutual objects speedily and pecceab ' y , and thus free ourselves from the grasping in . ' o ' . nee cf faction , guard against the storm of anarchy be ¦ ecure against military despotism , and unitedly raising up the intelligence and virtues « f the demoenzj on the basis of free institutions , hasten the con-Fnh 'cation of that happy period , when " our swords ah ;¦¦'! be beaten i :: to pionghshares , and aur sptars into pn _ w : nz hooks , " and when every man shsli sit down in -ace &ni security to enjoy the fruits of honest indttSTV .

      3 . . ving been appointed to make arrrangenients for the caliinr of a Conference to consider the details esseatia" ' or the crury ' ng out of the principles on which the TfEC ^ nal Complete Snfixafe Union is founded ; and as its r . irsTnonnt object is to eSect a union bi ' . tveen the micdle and trorkixg dosses , to secure the y ' . si u - . 'd rqual rep esentation of the whole people , ¦ we think it cur uuty to --it-aiit snch propositions for the consi 3 erition of j th ^ Conference as may be best projictive of that end . "Wi . herefere ETibmit the fullowing propc £ idon 5 for the-: cor ^ . deration of the Conference , which we call upon you , the Reformers of the "United Kingdom , to ele - .: — i

      1 . To determine on the eEsssntial details of an act of Parliament , necessary for securing thfc just Teprfesenlatiin of the whole adult male population ef the ITaited Kingdom of Qxe&t Britain and Ireland ; such act to eme- - * oe the principles and details of Complete Suffrage , eqrji ! electoral districts , vets by ballot , no property quiMication , payment of members , and annual parliar-. enta , as adopted by the first Compiite Suffrage CoTferense . 2 . T » determine what members cf parliament shall be . ppointed to ictroauce thesaid act ii-lo ihe House of Commons ; sad . in what mftT | "pr other rcsmbers of "the House ehall be called upon to enppert it . 2 . To endeavour to asctrtain how far the friends of nnr ^ soicted and absolute freedom cf trade will unite wi : h us to obtain such an act of pari-aK ^ Et , provided we resolve to use our ne ^ ly acquire-i franchise in favour of ? uch freedom cf trade , and to vote czlj for &uch as will pledge themselves in its favour .

      4 . To devise the best m&ans for maintaining competent parliamentary candidates pledged to our principles ; the most effectual means by "which assistance may be rendered to them in all elecK-ral contests ; Bnd also the ' - > est means for registering the electors and nonele-: U > rs throughout the kingdom who may be disposed to promote our obj&cts . 5- To consider she propriety of calling upon tke municipal electors to adopt immediate measures for secuf-1-n ? the election of such men only to represent them in thtir local governments , as are known to be favourable to "tie principles of complete suffrage .

      6 . To call upon cur fellow-countrymen seriously to coi . sider the great extent to which , in various ways , they willincly co-operate with their oppressors ; and ister . ain how far they may be disposed to pr ^ ve their devi ticn t » the cause of liberty , ! y ref'iaing to be -used for ifce purposes of war , cruelty , and injustice , End pt—jcTslirly by the di 3 use ef intoxicating aitMfcs , 7 . To express their opinion as to the propriety of the pe- 'ple giving their countenance and support to all tt -.-e who may suffer from espousing their cause . h To determine the best legal and constitniioE . i j me-ns for energetically and peaceably promoting the ab .-e otjscts ; for checking ali feinas of vjoietoe and co ; = n ; otion by which the enemy trinn > phs ; for the dis-& ? rr . ' . nation of sound political knowle . - , and for rereading the principles of sobriety , paace , and tniera-& ¦ -. tLroughout the country , and by evtry just and fii-ujus means preparing the , people fcr tae proper exerc = t ; of their political and sociil rich '

      9 . To dsvise means for raising a cation . " -: land for tb ^ purpose o : promoting the &bove olgsct ? , as ¦ vreil as t < prcisct aii persons who , in their p = actfal prosecution o thtm , shail become victiaia of unjuEt laws cr despotli orr"irances . la order to convince the middle classes that th < working popnUtion have ne nlterior object inimical t tht : general welfare of society , we advise that the ; ra * £ t in the forthcoming Conference on terins of perfec eq ility to discuss these important prepositions ; feel ing convinced that our principles need no other fii < th 2 .-. their own intrinsic excellence ; having truth fo thriT basis , and the happiness of the human family fo

      th-ir end , and affording the best guarantee for ti security of private property , which we regard as Eacre arj . l inviolable , equally in the poor man ' s labour ai th ; rich man ' s possession . V * e thtrefora advise th : put / uc meetings be called by advertisement or placaj of not less tfein four dsys in every town thrcugho ' tb ? kingdom , inviting tho inhabiUcts to elect repi sertatives to hold a National Conference at Birmin ha : a , on Tuesday , the 27 th of December , 1842 , for t ] purpose of deciding on an Act of Parliament for Becurij the joit representation of the whole people ; and i d ^ ^ crinining on Buch peaceful , legal , and constitution m- ins as may cause it to become the law of the

      re : . ma . Ihat t ^ ro representatives be sent from the smil ] to ^ ns and boroughs , having less than 5 . 000 inhal taiits , and four from the larger ones , excepting ti Ie nden , Edinburgh , Birmingham , Manchester , Ql : sow , and Liverpool may send six representatives ; but

      re . That one half of the representatives Ehall be i pointed by the electors , and half by the non-eiectc The meetings fo ; such purpose to be held separa nxiass th * t both classes can agree in having all t representatives chosen at one meeting , which ^ earnestly recommend j but where they do not so agri the two classes are not to interfere with each othe meetings , otherwise the election shall be declar Toid . That , shosld tbe « thoritie » interfere , or trespass this r ^ iTtJf c" ^""* tight of public meeting , so as prevent any meeting from being held , the leading m of tbe two el » sioi iball then cause nomination lists be « vift oat , recommending thur respective can dates , nch lists to be publicly noUfled , and left pnblie tituiitionj to reoeive the signatures of the inl bitants , those having the greater number of signatu to be declared duly elected .

      That tbe places sending representative ma arrangementa for defraying their expenses . That , as our Irish brethren are prohibited , by exc Brre ud oppressive laws , from sending repre * entati to snch a conference , W 3 especially invite , and v receive as visitors , all who approve of the ofejeet ear meet ing , and who share the confidence of the p pie of that euuntry . Should the police oi the authorities of any town , that dttire to ob'fie rmblfe opinion , wilfully intern

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      or unjustly interfere with the right of public mftetings , called for legal objects , we advise that the people in those places cause proper evidence ta be taken of such interruption , so that the question may be tried in our higher courts of law ; so that Englishmen may learn whether those richts of which they are proud to boast , the rights ofpvb' . idy assembling , and reasonably declaring their opinions , are sacred and inviolable , or whether they depend on the fiat of some local magistrate—on a portion of those who hate liberty—or & servant of Goverament armed with staff and sabre . Believing that the above objects are perfectly just and legal , being in conformity with our aneient constitutional usages , being the only rational and proper means for ascertaining the public opinion of the country npon any great question affecting the general welfare , we especially invite your co-operation and support

      We remain your friends and fellow citfzsns , the mem bers of the Complete Svffrage council . Signed on their behalf , Joseph stcrge . Birmingham 9 th Month , ( September ) 12 th , 1842 .

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      PROJECTED NATIONAL CONFERENCE . j Elsewhere we give the address of Mr . Sttjbge , and j the Council of the national complete sit-! track umo . n , to political Reformers of all shades | of opinion , in reference to this important subject . j The Conference is now fixed for Tuesday , Dec . 27 th . ! This arrangement is much more likely to be an effsc-. iual onestban the former hurried project of holdingthe i Conference on the 7 th instant . Nothing can be more important than that at this time the intelligence and the energy of the whole people should be brought

      together into one focus ; concentrated and directed toTTards one object—the establishment and maintainance of universal justice . To effect thi 3 it is necessary that the people shonld understand and know each other ; that their leaders should understand and know each other ; that . a 3 one mind and one spirit actuates all the honest friends of freedom , as to the end sought , so one purpose and opinion may pervade them also , as to the means by which to comp ass it . Hence vre hailed with delight and satisfaction the announcement of this National Conference in the first instance .

      Precipitate and ill-judged as vre thought it , in the matter of the time selected lor its session , we still pressed on the people the nece&ficy of rendering it as effective as might be , at that short notice , for its avowed purpose . We saw , however , very serious objections ( independent of the despotic terrorism which might interfere with the election of delegates ] to the holding of tho Conference without giving tc the country due time for the consideration and

      discussion of the maDy and important matters to be brought before it , It must of necessity , had it met at the former period , have been regarded rather as a Conference of individuals in whose talent and honesty the people had some confidence , than as a Conference of delegates duly instructed ; and acquainted with the wishes of the people . This must of necessity , hovrerei wise its determinations , have detracted much from their due share of weight and inflnence .

      We regard as an object of the first and highesi conseqnence the securing of nnity among tho people '; friends ; the breaMng down of those barriers of dis tinction so artfully erected by the enemy for tbf separating of the people into groups and companies ranged under different leaders , and acting without concert or agreement . The robber factions knov well the importance of keeping ap disagreement upon what Mr . Stubsh and his friends very pro perly denominate " shades of opinion "; and henci their villanous , and , but too successful , efforts t < draw wide the line between the people generally whom they style O'Conkobites , and such amongs ; them as , while agreeing with their fellows upon al main points of principle and policy , may have dis

      aented from them upon minor and more unimportan points , such as leaderships , and personal attach ment or dislike . It has always suited the purpoa of the enemy to magnify these " shades of opinion into Berions and important matters ] to land thos who stickle for them , as patriotic , wise , intelligent and peaceful politicians ; that they may th more successfully array them against th main body of the army of liberty , npoi whom they of course charge violence , physi cal force , and all sorts of frightfulness , with out the least regard to truth and honesty either i their laudations or their denunciations . Knowin this , we felt no surprise at the followisg spic matter , which we giro from the Mornin Chronicle : —

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      " The doctrine of Universal Suffrage has taken such a deep and general hold of the minds of the people , that it is the polict op thb govbtuwbnt TO LABOUR BATHKB . AT SEPARATING THB EN 0 BH 0 U 8 MASS OP ITS ADHERENTS INTO THBIB DIFFERENT shades of greater or less incompatibility with the present order of things , than at confounding them all in the same sweeping censure and reprehension . IT IS THB INTEREST OF THE GOVERNMENT ITSELF TO MAKE A WIDE DISTINCTION . • • ?

      " We have seen with gbbat pleasure the TENDENCY OF EVENTS TO WIDEN THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE TWO SECTIONS OF CHARTISTS—to diminish the numbers of the violent O'CONNOR section , and augment the force of those who hold with STURGE and LOYETT . " Of course it is the gamo of the Chronicle and its patrons to keep up division in the Chartist ranks ; while it should be the chief object of the people to put down divisions , to draw themselves into one firm indissoluble phalanx , and for that purpose to distinguish carefully betwoen such public characters as advocate measures likely to produce aud insure a union of thought and action among the friends of right , and such as , while they talk much of union , yet minister to the upholding of division .

      We think the first and chief business of aNational Conference to be the devising of means , whereby the whole body of Chartists may be banded together for one object ; seeking it by simultaneous and perfectly harmonious efforts . It was on this account , aud on this only , that we disagreed with the decisious of tho first Stpege Conference . We thought them to evince a desire rather to divide than to unite the people ; hence we suspected the sincerity of their professions . We could not understand why , having declared themselves Chartists , by the adoption of the Charter , they should seek to lead away the

      people from strict unity of action , by establishing a distinct National society for Chartist pnrposes , instead of aiding that already in existence ; the more especially as they assigned no reason why they considered the existing Chartist organization deficient or impolitic ; and as they always disclaimed any intention of interfering with it , or any wish that it should be given up in favour of their own . This appeared to us to be inconsistent with their avowed desire for union , aad we still think it so . Our opinion has undergone no change . Had the Complete Suffrage men obj ^ cted to the National Organization as ineffectual , or even as illegal , and had

      they , therefore , desired to supersede it by an organization which they supposed to be better suited for the accomplishment of the intended purpose and the effectual uniting of the people , we should have regarded that as a much greater evidence of sincerity , in their avowed desire for union among the people , than the course they did adopt . They did not attempt to supersede the National Organization . On the contrary , they have always said that they had no wish to do so ; that they desired to see the Chartists go on with their own organization ; while they established another scarcely differing from it at all , but yet serving to prevent the cordial co operation of its adherents with the great Chartist body .

      This very expression of a wish not to supersede , or interfere with , the existing Chartist organization , though paraded by the Complete Suffrage men and their apologist 3 as liberal and conciliatory , has always been , and still is , to us , a very dark-looking presumptive evidence of an intention , on the part of those who nrga it , only to divide the people into distinct sections , that faction might deal with them more easily . It has been urged , however , in justification , that this course was necessary , because some persons among the middle classes had expressed themselves favourable to the principles of the Charter

      but had not enough of patriotism to overoome per . sonal considerations ; that there might be some who would join a Complete Suffrage Union , and work with Joseph Stcrge , whom no consideration oould induce to join a Charter Association , and work with Feaegus O'Connor , ard other known leaders of the people . This argument seems plausible at first sight , but is deceptive , and furnishes an admirable answer to itself . The object of the National Charter Association and Feahgus O'Connor is well known ; it is to carry tho Charter ; the avowed object of Joseph Sturge and the Complete

      Suffrage Union is precisely the same thing . If then ' Joseph Sturge and the Complete Suffrage Uuion i > itend to carry the Charter , and if they be sincere in the expression of their opinion , that it cannot ba carried wilhoat union , and of their consequent desire to promote union , they must intend , however dissevered in name , to work in unison with FeargU 9 O'Connor and the National Charter Association ; th e more especially as they openly avow that they do not wish to see these set aside , but want to see them ^ o on And if Joseph Stcrge and the Complete Suffrage Union be seeking preoisely the same thing as

      Feabgus 0 Connor and the National Charter Association , and working in unison with them for its attainment , these fastidious sticklers must be arrant fools not to see that in working with Joseph Sturge and the Complete Suffrage Union , they are working with Feargus O'Connor and the National Charter Association . It comes then to one of two things , either the Complete Suffrage Uuion is intended to counteract the efforts of the Chartists , and so to prevent tho attainment of the Charter , under the guise of seeking it ; or the advantages of perfect unitv of action by tho people are sacrificed

      for the mere pleasing of a few fools who suppose a difference between sheep ' s flesh and mutton , and who thus prove themselves incapable of bringing to the movement any such stock of seuse or honesty as may be useful to it . On cither of these suppositions the existence of the two bodies is an evil . Nothing is of so n > uch moment and consequence as ODene 33 . Evt ; ry o : her consideration ou ^ ht to be unhesitatingly thrown overboard by the people until they hare that first of all r < quisites to a successful public stru ^ la , an agreement of opinion and operation , among their recognised leaders , and the jonseqaent concentration of their own powers .

      We believe that a really National Conference , chosen" freely and fairly" by the whole peoplo , would do much towards the effecting of this object ; and v ? e therefore rejoiced at the proposal of Mr . Sturge to summon such a conference . We are always willing and desirous to asocibe whatever we dissent from rather to imperfect judgment than to evil purpose ; and we regarded this stop of Mr . Stuege and the Council of tho Complete Suffrage Uaion as the first evidence we had yet seen of their sincerity in desiring to unite in oue virtuous phalanx the people and their frieuds .

      The time , originally fixed on was , as we have before said , ill-chosen for the honest carrying out of the avowed purpose ; it was calculated to engender a suspicion that the real purpose was to take advantage of the confusion which the League scoundrels had succeeded ia creating—of the temporary consternation among the people—and to ' widen the breach between the two sections of Chartists , ' as the Jforning Chronicle has it . We did not overlook thi 3 , but we never impute motives wrongfully ; and as we had no proof that this was the motive , we of course did not impute it . We implored

      the people only to take care that the Conference shouid be really National , and that its members should be men whom they could trust . That ground of suspicion i

      conveners of this Cenfeienoe was their real onject ; that they purposed , by a bringing together of the 11 people ' s friends , " " freely" chosen so as " fully and fairly" to represent the people , to decide upon and adhere to a " specific course of conduct ;" . that their purpose was to inquire into the causes of division , with a " ? iew to their removal , and to form the whole people into one compact body . We were delighted at the prospect , and prepared to help forward so desirable a project with our whole might . We feel a little disappointed , therefore , afc

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      perceiving , or thinking we perceive , in tho very . outset of the address now issued , some evid « toe that oar pleasing anti-cessations were unreal . We may misunderstand the following paragraph , though we are desirous not to do so : — M Fellow countrymen , we an not desirous of inter ' fering with your present local arrangements , but wo call upon you to meet in the spirit of truth and justioe , to determine , with singleness of purpose what is beat to bo done to effect the political aud social deliverance of our country , and having once determined to concentrate all our energies to the accomplishment of suoh a glorious consummation . This we think can be done , without the amalgamation of societies between whom differences of opinions and modes of action exist . '

      This seems to us to indicate , on the part of Mr . Sturge and the Complete Suffrage Council , a purpose to withstand any effort to obtain unity of operation by an amalgamation of the two societies . We thir k we have shown sufficiently , alreadyj that two National societies , having the same object , cannot co-exist without materially , weakening and injuring each other . We think , therefore , that whenever a National Conference of the people ' s friends may be holden , one of their most grave and serious matters of consideration will be , the best

      means of amalgamating the whole people into one body , which , animated by one soul , guided by one head , should prosecute one object , and that objeot the downfall of faotion and the establishment of right . It will be for those who think that separate societies may exist , and pursue tho Bame object unitedly , to show how this can be done ; and if it be made apparent that the people's cause can be better served without such an " amalgamation , " none will more earnestly , more heartily , and more cheerfully subserve purposes , and adopt recommendations so sustained , than we .

      The Council of the Complete Suffrage Union have very properly suggested several propositions , which they think ought to be discussed by such aNational Conference as should "freely , fully , and fairly " represent the whole people at this crisis of affairs . If we understand rightly the address , it is intended that the discussion of the nine propositions therein contained shall constitute the whole business of tho Conference ; and in truth they seem to us to be sufficiently

      comprehensive in charaotcr for all the legitimate purposes even of suoh a Conference . We request attention to these nine propositions . It is most important that the people should well understand them . There is room-for much discussion , and for a variety of opinions , on each of them , except , perhaps , the seventh and ninth , on which we fauoy there is not much room for discussion . The seventh runs thus : —

      To express their opinion as to the propriety of the people giving their eountenanoe and support to all those who may suffer from espousing their cause . " We presume that on this question there can be but one opinion among those who deserve the name of "friends of the people ; " and amongst these we desire certainly to rank Mr . Sturge and the council of the Complete Suffrage Union : but we can

      not permit that desire to induce us to conceal from the people our knowlege of the fact , that at a meeting of that Counoil , we believe the very same meeting at which these propositions and this address were agreed to , a copy of an address from the Committee for the defence of George White , presented by deputation to the Chairman , requesting the cooperation and assistance of the Council in raising fundB for his defence , was returned with the single word " NO i" written on a bit of paper !

      This fact is testified to us by one on whose veracity we can rely . We leave it to give to the people its own evidence of the anxiety of the Complete Suffrage Council to " countenance and support those who may suff-T from espousing the people ' s cause . " We caa entertain no doubt that the people and their friends , through the whole country , will gladly help the Council of the Complete Snffrage Union , in the words of their ninth proposition , " to devise means for raising a Natioual Fund for the purpose of promoting all the objects connected with the attainment of the Charter , as well as to protect all

      persons who , in their peaceful prosecution of them , shall become victims of unjust laws or despotic ordinances ; " but we scarcely think that this fund would be best raised , or those persons best protected , by the mode which the council thought fit to adopt in reference to George White . " NO , " will pay " no" fees to counsel ; will provide " no" sustenance for starving wives and children ; will give " no" enoouragement to others to fill up the gaps made in our ranks by tyranny ; will give " no" impetus to the desponding energies of patriotism whilst suffering in the people's cause ;

      will famish " no" motive , such as usually acts on human nature , to increased ardour or perseverance ; will give " no" check to the rude licence of authority ; offer " no" bar to the inroads of faction ; give " no'' furtherance to the cause of right . In fact , this " no" is just the most useless thing that can be , as a means for the effectuating of any good purpose ; though it is one that we can well recommend the people to make use of when their consent or co-operation to or with evil , however well disguised , may bo required . This act of the Complete Suffrage Counoil , in writing " NO" upon th « application of the

      Chartists for poor White , may form a useful precedent . We like short replies , and to the point . We hope that the people will take lessons in this school of bri « f oloquenco . We recommend them , when they are next asked to " countenance and support " those who are countenanced and supported by the Morning Chronicle , to write "NO " across the paper We advise them , when they are asked to " widen the breach between the two sections of Chartists , '' to reply " NO . " We advise them , if they are asked whether there are or can be " two sections of Chartists , " to reply " NO . " " He that gatheroth not with us seatceroth abroad . "

      Seriously , we regret much this act of the Complete Suffrage Council . It tells little for the sincerity of their much-vaunted liberal and charitable views and of their avowed desire to untie the people in one holy bond of brotherhood against tyranny in all its forms . We have said that the propositions o be brought before the Conference are important ; l hat they require and deserve the beBt attention of the people . We again recommend them to attention : especially the third : — " To endeavour to ascertain how far the friends of unrestricted and absolute freedom of trade will unite with us to obtain such an Act of Parliament , provided we resolve to use our newly-acquired franchise in favour of tuck freedom of trade , and to vote only for such as will pledge themselves in its favour . "

      The great point to which we have always sought to keep the attention of the people , in connexion with the Sturge men has been this : however anxious they may really be for the obtainment of the Charter , there is too much reason to suppose that it is not from any love of tho Charter , but because they regard it as a means whereby their Free-trade theories can be ' wrought out . We detest all subterfuge and trick . We- ^ tesire to see the people bind themselves to no course but that which they are prepared to follow ; and we desire to see them universally regard their pledge as binding . Hence we would caution them most seriously agaiust sending delegates to any Conference with instructions to pledge the people to use- the franchise .

      when they get it , only for " Extension" and * ' League" purposes , and to vote only for snch candidates as pledge themselves in favour of those purposes . The object of this proposition is , most clearly , supposing it could bo carried by the Conference , to deliver the whole movement and give the whole strength of the agitation to the Free Traders ! the very thing against which we warned the people as the pnrpose of the Sturge men on their firat coming oat . If anything could have inoreased our suspicion of the Sturge men , and confirmed our opinion of the insincerity of their whole movement , it i the wording of this proposition . And if any further confirmation had been wanting ; if we had wished for evidence

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      which God knows we did not , that this Conference was projected without any refereuoa to , or care for , the people's interests , but simply for the purpose of making them tools in the hands of faction , we have that evidence abundantly supplied in the conditions laid down in this address for the election of the representatives . Those conditions are : — " That one-half of the representatives shall be appointed by the electors , and half by the non-electors . The meetings for such purpose to be held separate , unless that both olasses can agree in having all the representatives chosen at one meeting , which we earnestly recommend ; but where they do not so agree , the two classes are not to interfere with each other ' s meetings , otherwise the election shall be declared void . "

      A more glaring exhibition of the real object and purpose of the gotters-up of this Conference , a more certain proof that it is an " extension" and "League" job , that it is a deliberately concocted plot , to sell the people into the hands of the freetrading crew of flesh-monger 3 , could not have been exhibited , than is here given . A more bare-faced evidence of hypocrisy it has seldom been our lot to see , than the proposition for thi 3 " National" (!) Conference furnishes . Mr . Sturge and his Council talk glibly , as if reading from a book , about a "fairly constituted National Conference ; " the

      italics and small capitals are their own . They say that" in the eleotion of representatives to meet in such a Conference , all party spirit must be excluded , all efforts for forcing individual views through the power of numbers must be avoided . " They state the object of the Conference to be" to secure the just and equal representation of the whole people , " and yet they insist that one-half of the representatives to this " National" Conference shall ba appointed by the electors , and the other half by the non-electors , and that , in any case of this rule being deviated from the eleotion shall be declared void !! And this is Mr . Sturge ' s

      way of securing a just and equal representation of the whole people !!! If the people need any further argument to convince them that Mr . Sturge and the whole party with whom he acts , seek only to use the people as tools for the serving of their own ends , they are much duller than we take them to be . Nothing can bo more important than that the people should know their friends ; that they should know who seek to promote their interests , and who seek merely to use them for the promotion of their own interests . We have all along suspected that these very democratic middle classes were not the men to trust .

      and we are now satisfied of it . We trust the people are so too , and that the Sturge men will have the glory of their Confer-, ence to themselves . The people want no " national" Conference , in which "individual" and 11 party" views shall be " forced through the power of numbers . " They know that the present House of Commons is appointed by the Electors ; they know how that house has treated all matters and things appertaining to the Charter ; they know how it received the National Petitions ; they know how it treated the Dorchester Labourers ; they know how it now treats Frost and his co-victims ; they know how it supported the Whig Government in its crusade

      against Chartism in 1839 ; they know how it now supports the Tory Government in a like crusade . ; they know how it has invariably , by every means and at all hazards , perpetuated class distinctions and class domination ; they know all this ; and they know that that House is appointed by the Electors ; and they know consequently that it needs no conjuror to find out that a National" Conference , with onehalf of its delegates appointed by the electors , and with friend Sturge and hia Counoil to make up the majority , would adopt no " specific course of conduct " that they did not think likely atill to perpetuate class distinction and domination . No , no , friend Sturbe ; we guess the people will write " NO" upon that document .

      Besides , what apiece of vile hypocrisy to cant about " full , fair , and free representation ; " to call this a " National" Conference ; and to talk of its " securing a just and equal representation of the whole people , " while the half of its delegates are appointed by a fraction of Ie 39 than half a million out of twenty-seven millions ! ! ! "Full , fair , and free , " eh , friend Sturge ! We guess , "NO . " The people have been at that shop too often .

      The Conference was chiefly valuable as it might afford an opportunity of testing the sincerity , and determining the oharaoter of those who affect to be leaders in the Sturge movement . It was chiefly valuable , a 3 it promised a settlement of differences , and a bringing together of the people ; who had been separated by the " new new-moving" projeot . This was the chief useful objeot which the Conference , had it been held , and had it been national , could have accomplished . Sturge and the Council have accomplished it already ! They have shown us plainly

      their object and their drift . We know them now . The simple and unsuspecting who have been entrapped by them into their ** new move" snuggery will speedily escape . The people will , if we mistake not greatly , do that effectually now which in our first article upon the last Conference at Birmingham , we told them was what they should do : they will leave them alone in their littleness ! They will point at them the finger of scorn , and Bay , " Ah ! Messrs , Full , Fair , and Free , you had baited your snare whh chaff ; but its no go ! The Chartists are old birds , and not to be thus caught !"

      We think , then , the question of the Stitrge Conference -is now-- ' settled . The people will not bo so " green" as to take the least notice of any thing said or done by such a "National Delegation , " even if the super-farce ; the bye-play , of hypocrisy and idiody , ehouid be enacted . We trust , however , that it will not ; or , at all events , that if the Sturge men are determined to have a " talk" of their own and call it a * ' National Conference , " they will recall the preseht proposition , and issue one in which there shall be less risk and more

      common sense . If in every other respect the calling of this Conference had been perfectly unexceptionable we should have implored the people on no account to permit a single delegate to be appointed to it without a revision of the terms in which it is called . Mr . Sturge and his Council " advise that public meetings be called by advertisement , or placard of not lesa than four days , in every town throughout the kingdom , inviting the inhabitants to eleot representatives to hold a National Conference at Birmingham , on Tuesday , the 27 ih of December , 1842 , FOR

      THE PURPOSE OF DECIDING ON AN ACT OF PARLIAMENT . " This is either rank folly or rank treachery . We presume not to say which ; though we hope and believe it to b 3 the former The Conference cannot decide upon an Act of Parliament . It may decide upon tho preparing of a Bill , and upon the asking of some M . P . to introduce that Bill into Parliament . This is all it can [ do ; and this is all U can legally meet to do . If the Conference meet to DECIDE ON AN ACT OF PARLIAMENT it commits Treason /// It usurps the functions , and sets aside the au rHORiTY of Parliament :

      making itself into a legislativebody . Weshould think Mr . STURGE and his Council need not to be instructed , how very neoessary it is , just now especially , in all popular movements , to be cautious ; to commit , neither by deed or word , an infraction of the law ; and to give no pretext to the tools of despotism to interrupt our operations . It surely is not necessary to remind those who write "NO " upon the applications made to them to support those who are suffering from alleged violations of law , that they should at all events be careful not to lead the people into violations of the law .

      We say nothing of ihe fact , that it might have been a fool plot to get together all the people's friends—all those in whom they have trust and confidence—all those upon whose talent , energy , and perseverance the movement hangs , and consign the whole batch at one swoop to Government . We say nothing of the fact , that this might have been the intention of the concoctors of this " national" affair ; we do not believe it was so ; we have no doubt that the matter which we hare just pointed out , and which will entail the legal crime of treason upon every man who may attend that Conference , is a mere blunder , a mistake ; and we can only say , God help the simpletons who trust to these blunderers as leaders ! The Complete Suffrage Council , in the whole matter of ( his Con-

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      fervnee have shown themselves to ? be as utterly Toid of all business capMity . ww * . © farjaU politic *! honesty . It ' ¦ 'ia ^ alwajav « itnosfc painful thing to U 3 to see snyj : man jit men ia * position iwhich of necessity writes" knatft 015 f-fool upon the torehead ; and we are doubly : aorrj ff ? he « it happens , JM in the present inaisam tQthaim 9 . fm reluctantly compelled to replace the or byi ? nrf . . ; So , it is , however ; we are sorry , for it , but canno ^ help it . The people nowkHOW the &ruae& men ; they hare written that own character in . words which can never be washed out . They have proved their whole movement to be now , and to have been from its beginning , a dishonest movement , and they haya proved themselves to be utterly incapable of sustaining with any degree of decent tact , the prominent position they have assumed in that movement . -

      We now repeat the opinion we expressed respect ing them at their debut . On the 15 th of April , in this year , the week after the close of their Conference at Birmingham , and when the Complete Suffrage Union was bui resolved to be established , we wrote thus : — " We shall probably be looked to for some opinion upon what course the people should pursue as to the future movements of this new self-constituted " National" Complete Suffrage Association . Here then is our opinion at once . The people should have nothing to do with them . They should leave them alone in their littleness , and langh at them . The people must not oppose them .

      for , they profess to be seeking the advancement of our principles ; let them , therefore , go on sheir own way ; andif they aredetermined togo alone —if they are determined to make a foot-road . for themselves alopgside the people ' s turnpike , in God ' s name , let them walk on in it until their ancles ache and they begin to feel their loneliness But support them against the factions in all their assertions of the great principles of liberty . If they shonld be weak enough to take the open field in defence of our principles reiving ; ou their own strength , rush to the rescue , * lest ' . the enemy shonld overcome them ; let them riot , by any means , be beaten by the open and avowed advocates lot class legislation . Oa every public occasion when the Complete Sufiragites muster for the assertion of our common priuciplee , there let the Chartists muster

      with them to a , man ; let there be no suoh division ia our ranks as the enemy ean take advantage of ; let them be well protected , and by our assistance made triumphant , in every publio assertion of our principles which they may attempt . But never leave them without letting them know to whom they are indebted ; never leave a moating without a resolution pledging the people to their old leaders , so long a ? thesd remain faithful ; to their tried friends , who have braved the battle and the breeze ; to their own national organization , which they know to be legal and efficient , and to the evidence of sincerity to the cause by enrolment in the National Charter Association . This is the advice we give the people ; we give it in all sincerity and earnestness ; and we tell them , that if it be not heeded , they are likely to have bitter and abundant reason for repentance . "

      We have not one word to add to , on alter in , this advice now . All that the people have to do with them is to do nothing with them—to let them alone .

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      THE LAST OF THE "STARVED VIPER " Mr . O'Connor ' s- letter will be found in our sixth page . We have just one word to add to it . Mr . O'Connor might have stated an important fact which he has omitted , for what reason we know not : we shall supply it as it affords a key to the whole conduct of the M viper" for some months back . While in Lancaster Castle ho told Martin that he saw no other way of getting through the world but by opposing O'Connor and the Star . Martin made this statement immediately after hi 3 liberation : and all succeeding Events hi 3 h Deration ; and all succeeding e " vent 3

      have served to verify it . The people have now the key to the whole mystery , r-It has been dragged from us very reluctantly , we had much rather have shrouded than exposed him ; but since nothing le&s would serve him , there it is . The peoplo now know "Jemmy 0 'Brienj " and we have great pleasure in shaking hands with eo disagreeble a subject . He may now be-foul hia own cess-pool at his leisure . He may rave as he pleases ; lie as he likes ; we have nothing more to say than farewell" Jemmy O'Brien" ! His name shall never again , if we ^ oan help it , be mentioned , even incidentally , in our columns .

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      THE IMPORTANCE OF DEFENDING OUR VICTIM-PRISONERS BY COUNSEL . ' We were about to write an article on the subject , when the following , in the Evening Star of Wednesday arrested our attention . According as it does exactly with our ideas on the matter , we transfer it entire : — "We beg to call the attention of our readers to the communication of our Leicester correspondent , by which it will be found that the Chartists of that town , with more prudence than some

      shortsighted and pugnacious politicians , have resolved upon employing counsel for Cooper's defence . We rejoice that their notice of the matter has called our' attention to the subject , inasmuch as we attach all importance to those trials which took place at York , and others which ore to follow Perhaps there was no one circumstance connected with the Chartist movement , that gave a greater impetus to the cause , than the manner in which counsel for the political prisoners , of 1839-40 exposed the oppressions to which the working classes were

      subjected , and also the manner in which the many brilliant and effective speeches of counsel were made to tell npon individuals , whose opinions , feelings , and sympathies were proof against popular eloquence and the unsophisticated language of reason and of truth telling its own unvarnished tale . Added to this , nothing more tended to evince the sympathy which existed in the minds of those who had a penny to spare , for those who were made victims of oppression . We know that the employment of the first men at the bar for the

      defence of any prisoner who wo . uld have counsel , struck terror into the Government , and taught our rulers that the time was come when tyranny should . not stalk unopposed , or unexposed , through the land . Had Frost , Williams , and Jones been left to their own resources , instead of now anticipating their return to their homes at some future period , the country would be mourning over their tombs . This , we think , was worth the exp 3 nce . Had it not been for tho firmly-expressed resolution to defend the Bradford and Sherfield men by the best

      talent at the bar , the Attorney-General would not have abandoned his charge of high treason , and have tried the ; 1 only for riot , sedition , and conspiracy ; and although poor Holberry has come to an untimely end , yet would it have been anticipated by his fate upon the scaffold had not counsel for the defence threatened tyranny with further exposure . Flaws in an indictment , and admissibility or inadmissibility of evidence ; are questions for men vewed in legal knowledge , and not for unlettered persons and many are the men who have escaped the law s

      vengeance by the discovery of a single flaw , or the rejection of inadmissible evidence ! Could a poor operative have elicited the damning fact 9 , wrung from the monster ruffian Harrison , as counsel did We may be told that his exposure served his viotifltf but little . True ; but it opened the eyes of man y , who were before strongly prejudiced . Again , baa it not been made subject of boast , that while publio opinion was smothered , every Chartist trial was a Chartist meeting , with a Judge in the chair i It is always well for the caviller and the dissatisfied to attempt distinctions between the esses of some who were acquitted , and who had not .. counsel

      to defend them , and thus attempt to leave * $ prisoners , however charged , to the single mercy « a jury , and to challenge legal men with "being »»' terested in damning our cause . We beg to : » ssura our reader that the love of praise , the gr » tiflcati < W of ambition , the hope thereby to gain notoriety . »• promotion , very much outweigh every in 3 ?<^ ment that the greatest legal profligate em * have to gratify his political bias at the expeof of hi 3 legal character ; and never was (* " * fact more foroibly evinoad , than in the 0 ° ^ stand made by Sir Fbbdsbick Pollock *^*~* £ Kelly at Monmouth , and subsequently by « & ** for the Bradford and Sheffield men ,, » t ,

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      4 THB NORTHERN STAR . ^

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      TO THE CHARTISTS OF SCOTLAND . Fellow Countrymen . —Our country iB now in that state that calls for the active exertions of every one that has its welfare at heart . Borne down by the bondage and injustice of class legislation , and its manifold ¦ wrongs , the convulsions that at present agitate it tell that the momemous crisis of its fate is at hand ; in which its native strength and energy will subdue and expel the disease that afflicts it , — or it will sink under it and be destroyed . If ever our principles were needed , no excuses but those drawn from imbecility or dishonesty can be offered ; therefore , we address you with the conviction that you are men who will not idiy survey the destruction of your country ' s happiness without an effort to avert it .

      Millions of our countrymen are starving , and while writhing under the fangs of hunger , feel also the mental torture of an enslaved , insulted , and degraded condition . They have asked for bread , and received bayonet stabs , musket shots , sabre wounds , and the bludgeon fractures of the most cowardly and vile , yet blood-thirsty ruffians . Sir James Graham ha 3 usurped the power of the legislature , and made the vagabond mercenaries of the land judges of the law—while the political partisans of the beech are labouring to subvert the constitution by declaring the Quten ' s proclamation to be law ; and thus laying prostrate the rights of the people at the feet of an unprincipled Home Secretary and corrupt magistracy . We are

      convinced that only by the establishment of our principles can we be relieved from this misgovernment . Our principles are widely spread through the land ; associations from them are numerous , but we have no common centre in which our powers can meet and be united ; each locality is left to its own individual exertions and knowledge ; thtr . the means of union ar- ; wanting , aud the efficiency of our agitation impa ' red , the proof of which may be seen in the late occurrences in Scotland , where , when the whole country was agitated with the question , "What shall we do" there was no authorised or known source through which the opinions of the various localities could be gathered , which led to much misundcrgtanding and injury to our cause , and to individuals .

      When the year commenced , your delegates met in Glasgow , and laid down the plan of an efficient organisation and communication . They elected a National Secretary , on whose office depended the proper working of the system . It can bo no misfortune to say that the office is vacant now , for it nev « r was filled . Whether from want of confidence of the people in the person appointed , or a want of desire in him to fill it , the country knows be 3 t ; but that it never was filled all will admit . If necessary when he was appointed , the National Secretary is more necessary now .

      In compliance with letters we have received fro i various places , and the desire that we know exists in others , we have taken it upon us to call a meeting of delegates , to be elected at public meetings , and to meet in Wnitechapel , Edinburgh , on Monday , the 3 rd of October , at two o ' clock , to take into consideration the be 3 t means to give efficiency to our agitation , and establish our principles . Among these considerations will be the organization , th « election of a NaiL-nal Secretary , with or without a council , his or their powers and duties , the best means to improve our present organization , aud to extend it ; what we should do as to the infringement of the rights of public mee ings , passive resistance , and tha way and means to carry on our agitation . We trust that all parts of the country will respond to this ca'l , and send representatives of honest intentions , sound judgment , and stern determination , Thos . Blackie , Secretary . Edinburgh , Sett 8 : h , 1842 .

      I I The Southern Star. I Saturday, September 17, 1842. I The

      I THE SOUTHERN STAR . I SATURDAY , SEPTEMBER 17 , 1842 . i THE

  • Citation
    • Northern Star (1837-1852), Sept. 17, 1842, page 4, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/ns/issues/vm2-ncseproduct771/page/4/