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Northern Star (1837-1852), 19th November 1842, Edition 4 of 5, Page 4, Untitled Article

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    • THE NORTHERN STAR SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 19, 1842.
    • TO THE READERS OF THE "NORTHERN STAR."
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      Untitled Article

      MB- COOPER OF LEICESTER , fO THE EDITOR OP THE "KORTHERK STAR . " MT DBlB HTLL , —I would hare tnitten yon yeaterflay , had I not found myself unable to write more , after ¦ cribbling & brief letter to the sew Star . You trill oblige me by copying tkat letter into your own Sfew- > - f or I am still so languid sad snfeebled as to feel writiag to be atask in lieu of a pleasure . Cheerful converav Uon and the free air , will , la the coarse of a few day * , I trust , render me strong at eTer , and able to open a ¦ rigorous campaign upon the grand enemy—to endow ontil the [ month of March places me , for a longer period , within bolts and bars . I think that the chief cause of my bodily feebleness has been the irksome night dmtles of the gaoL At this time of the year ,. we

      were marched to our sleeping cells fey a little after-four , « nd were kept locked up till near seven in the morning . After the first eight or ten days of my confinement I ceased to take off my clothes at night—for my flesh and bones were so sore witk lying on the hard-stuffed straw pallet , that I found it unendurable . I have , therefore , lor the last ten weeks , or nearly , slept in my clothessod only taken them off for about three minutes , at the Borad of the morning bell , when I used to throw myself on the bed , strip myself to the skin , and rub myself briskly , from neck to ancles , bo as to xenew the circulation Of the blood . I find , however , that this practice of mleepiag in my cltthes has injured my nerrous system , and I think I would not practice it again even if I were constrained to lie upon the cast iron bed-stead itself .

      My brave brigade hare eTinced towards me a degree of attachment during my separation from them , which really OTerpowers me ; and not the least important hare of their kindness was shewn in the truly sympathising manner in which each and all have striven to t&eer my dear little wife . And yet , what think yon , my dear Hill ? my brigade actually tell me that my little wife has all aleng shewn herself possessed of a stouter heart than any man ef them alii This is a fact of some value to one who looks for the renewal of his captivity , in four more months , with as much certainty as any ¦ Trent of life . Thank God , for such a fact ! If separation , under suffering , can be borne so bravely by iboae who are dearest to us , who can repine at the prospect uf haTing , perhaps , twenty or thirty more months imprisonment in the cause of human right , and for the contest for universal human happiness ?

      Aad then , my dear Hill , when the moral effect of our slight and temporary suffering is regarded , which of us can fail to stand at the bar a second time , without an increase of fortitude—aye , even , of joy ? Why , ¦ we are honoured—we are ennobled by this very process of being victimised , for truth is , by our uDjust and tyrannical seizure , made more prevalent a thousandfold , than H could possibly be by our mere advocacy of speech or writing . At our meeting in the Amphitheatre , on Monday night , resolutions were passed , with enthusiastic

      unanimity , expressive of gratitude towards all who have f > o generously helped me in my late peril : —to my wit-Besses , myfbafl , my committee for defence , &c , ic . Suffice it to say that my heart joins in this expression of gratitude more fervently thin words can tell . I must leave that to be told by the fidelity of my future life to the great cause of the poor's rights and the poor ' s tappinesa . One thing I cannot forbear saying , —that I regard the fact of being bailed by the venerable Mr . Hames , ef Oundle , —a beloved patriot and philanthropist of eighty years of age , whom I have never yet seen , as one of the greatest honours of my life .

      The gallant West , I learn , was equally honoured in that the beloved and venerated " good priest , " Humphrey Price becasae his surety . I enclose you a letterfrom the wertby clergyman , in answer to a vote ol thanks from my Shakspereana . Mr . Price gives permission for any public use to be made of this letter . I shall take care to pay my personal respects to Mr . Hames , as soon as possible ; but I mtut spend some little time with my brigade before I visit other quarters . Jfext Sunday I hope to deliver two addresses in the JBtabperesB Rooms .

      I have the happiness to forward you , herewith , a money order for one sovereign , collected by my Shakspereans for poor exiled ren ™ . Ah ! I have touched a string there which vibrates too keenly for me to touch it again bow . Till next week , my dear Hill , adieu . - Yours , most affectionately , THOMAS COOPBB . 11 , Chnrcfagate , Leicester , Wednesday , Nov . 16 . 18 i 2 .

      Untitled Article

      <« - TO THE READERS OF THE "ENGLISH CHARTIST CIRCULAR , " AJfD THE FRIENDS GENERALLY OP DEMOCRACY IN GREAT BRITAIN . In our " Opening Address , " after defining the object sought to be attained by , and the circumstances , that influenced us to venture upon , the establishment- ol the Circular , we thus expressed ourselves i" Brethren , shall we hold our hands to you in vain ? Do we rely too much upon the intelligence and spirit that animatfa you ? Our experiment , from the very lewpriot we have decided upon , is to us individually , & most hazardous one . Nothing short of a circulation far exceeding that . of any periodical in this country , will indemnify us against a loss . Bat 2 > ure are we that 'holding fast to that which is true , ' success will be ommensurate -with our most sanguine anticipation * . "

      Sow , we dare affirm that we have bo " held fast to ihat which is feus , " we have devoted the Circular " toldy amdoaiy to the advocacy of Chakiism , and BOt tt>— £ - ¦ - ' " Doctrinesfashioned to the varying hour . " But our once " sanguine anticipations" have not been realixed , ——The Circular haa hitherto been a failure . Under these , to us , depressing circumstances , we have bat to select one of two alternatives—i . e ., to increase the retail priee of the Circular from one haJ / penny to one penny , at at once to let it be " numbered wj ; h th « things that were . "

      Mr . Cleave ' s own anxiety to preserve the Circular , as well a » his belief that such an election would be most acceptable to the Chartist public , has induced him this week to adopt the former . It must , however , be explicitly understood , that this is but an experiment . A few weeks will suffice to give the plan " a fair trial ;" at the termination of which we shall eith » r be necessitated to bid our friends a Sid farewell , " or have the gratification to announce thBt at lenglh the Circular is established . Utterly apart from all pecuniary considerations , the proprietor , and all connected with this periodical , have a strong interest in its continuance . Nor these alone . Tie vihoU Chartut public , we feel we ein say , share with them in the advantages derivable from an orAn

      tH&Tti ? devoted to their political principles ; and with them must regret that one supporter in the press " should fail , particularly at a juncture ever becoming more imminent and apparent . At a time when the potcer , if not the justice , of the dominant faction has been exerted to as extent unparalleled in the world ' s n ^ aH , in order to cast odium even upon the very whisper of Chartism—to link it with crime and shame—to brand it -with infamy—and to visit it -with punishments worthy to have bten invented by fiends of tveU —» poor puny Secretary of State U said to hare affirmed , that he would " put doum Chartism altogether ; " and shall the Chartists ihsmse-res—strong in the consciousness of rectitude , and proud as the

      aaserters of the . God-like majesty of Mas—bend tamely to the behest of such a thing ? We have no made so certain of ascertaining and feeling our moral strengthno such mtani of testing the unity -which must accompany our efforts in obtaining political and social redemption—as through the medium of the press . The extinction even of our own feeble fires -would be hailed with delight by those who—like the foulest reptiles , gorging in flarkn pga —latteB upon corruption . A beacon of Liberty destroyed would give a proud and savage satisfaction io its ermined and richly-clad enemies . Something so inimical to "their » rder" would be watched by them only with pleasure during its expiring struggles .

      If we look to the condition of the public press at the present moment , we are struck by the melancholy fact that but very few are devoted to the peoples cause . All shades of political partisans , from tfce most rampant Tory to the most sneaking Whig , find apt representatives among the broad-sheets ; yet , with slight exceptions , there are no defenders of those who disiain mere party subterfuge , and seek to place the rights of mankind in general on toe firmest , ' the only just basis . With his "very life lied away" the Chartist is deemed worthy of only a passing effusion of malignity and obloquy . Chartism , the emanation of reason and morality—proceeding ia its veiy first

      assumptions on the admitted truths of natural justice and revealed religion—has as yet been permitted to receive , by the press of Great Britain , scarcely . one iota of the attention it merits—of the resptct it demands . We find the Whig and Tery newspapers drawn * p in " jbattle array , " afraid of venting the bitterness and vileness of political rancour upon each other , turning aside with one consent to discharge theL * malice on thos £ whom they are aware must cae day assume the sway . over the hearts and minds of men—the now despised Chartists ! And now let us ask—should the Circular be permitted to descend , without another effort , to oblivion t

      Our readers will perceive the necessity that has driven as io the alternative of raising the price of-this Circular . We feel they will , too , perceive the justice at yielding ao support towards future endeavours . Strength most become ours—growing strength , in the sywtwt ttnggle that ever ttll to the lot of humanityif oar brethren to the good caua extend a hand to-WBrds u at this poiai of oar career . Earnestly did we " gird up ouMfoM" on our first venturing forth in the Ci&culab to a * ert Chartism in the face of the world . Nut , wb * n w » know that oar services" may keconw far more valaabie , are they to be rejected ? One word again ^ -Cbabxlsts , bo ws advance toerr a ** ?

      Untitled Article

      BA . TH . —The following" resolution was passed at a meeting of th » General Couxwal •'— " That the thanks of this meeting are eminently dne to W . P . Roberts , Esq ., foe his assiduous aad patriotic conduct during the late special commisaioD , io conducting the defence of the po-J iHcai prisoners gratuitously . A tsa mitting will be field o « e , « j Xeadar , November 28 tfc .

      Untitled Article

      TO THE CHARTISTS OF THE EAST AND NORTH RIDING . Brother Chartists , —The East and North Riding Delegate Meeting will be held at Selby , on Sunday , Dec , 4 tb , when it is highly necessary there should be a good attendance of delegate * , as business of great importance will be brought forward . The time is approaching for the National Conference to meet im Birmingham , I would therefore respectfully suggest the propriety of each locality discussing well the necessity of sending a delegate to

      represent the Chartists of this district , and to give instructions to their delegates upon the subject—Those towns who do not send delegates to Selby , must forward their opinions by letter ; - Aiso stating the number of enrolled and payable members . It is highly necessary that those localities in the East and North Riding who cannot support a lecturer , shoofcl say so by letter , as it creates great confusion wben they withdraw their suppoit after a lecturer is appointed . The * district is nearly c ne pound ia debt occasioned by the temporary cessation of Howden , Beverley , and Holme .

      All communications for delegate meeting to be for warded to me before the 2 nd of December . Yours , faittr . tully , Edw . Burlbt , Sec . Dis . 19 , Bilton-street , Layertkoi . pe , York . Nov . 15 th , 1842 .

      Untitled Article

      COLLIERS' STRIKE—AYRSHIRE . —TRIAL OF

      THE RIOTERS . ( From the Ayr Advertiser ^ of Thursday . ) This morning considerable excitement was observed amongst the large body of turn-out colliers , assembled in front of the county buildings , awaiting the trial of the parties implicated in the late disturbances at Whitlette , which the yeomanry was called np last week to suppress . ^ The hour appointed by Mr . Sheriff Substitute Eaton was ten o'clock , previous to which time the gallery and area of the Court House were very much crowded , chiefly by the fellow-workmen of the panels , who , as the indictments were being read , and the evidence adduced , showed by assent or slight murmur the deep interest they took in the proceedings . They were , ho * ever , in no respect disorderly .

      The first case called was that implicating Alexander Tinsey , William Jackson , and El tibeth M'Clung or Frew , who had been in jail twelve days , charged under the Act 6 George IV ., c 129 , sees . 3 d , 7 th , and 11 th , with having , on the night of the 28 th of October last , entered the house of James Caddis , Garden-street Content , banksman in Mr . Gordon's employment , and threatened him at the peril of his life to continue to work during the strike , or to allow his sons to do so , otherwise that their lives would not be safe . Tinsey and M'Clung or Frew pleaded not guilty , and Jackson maintained that he was not even en the spot On the examination of the first witness , his alibi was elearly proven , be having been mistaken tcr j . man named Nelson or Melsom , and he was : i ? tiiissed . Tinsey is a lad of about eighteen years o £ age , and M Clun $ iB a mtwled Woman , with a child in her arms . Mr . A . M'Cubbin , writer , appeared for the other paneL

      After a lengthened trial , Tinsey was sentenced to three months'imprisonment M'Clung was liberated . There were other three trials of the same kind . Edward Neill and Robert Frew were sentenced to thirty daya * imprisonment ; and of the remaining panels four were acquitted from want of evidence , and six from an error in the indictment .

      The Northern Star Saturday, November 19, 1842.

      THE NORTHERN STAR SATURDAY , NOVEMBER 19 , 1842 .

      Untitled Article

      THE LAST SHIFT . There can scarcely be & greater mistake than the very common one of supposing that innocence forms any barrier to conviction , when Government have a mind to manufacture criminals . It is of small moment whether the alleged acts be Back as the law elearly recognises to be right , or whether the accused party may hare ever been a party to any of the acts of which be is accused . A prosecution being fixed on as a pretext for punishment , it goes on of course , and succeeds of course . With the means holden by the prosecutors , it

      would be strange if it did not : the power to bay evidence at any price ; to create treachery , and subora perjury to what extent they please ; te- hire hacks and prostitutes , who before trial may be occupied for months in prejudgment , and in driving oat of all those from whom the jurors are to be selected every disposition to regard the evidence at all , if it should be defective , by drilling and training them to a foregone conclusion . This is a favourite device . Whenever a victim is to be sacrificed , the blood-houndB are always let from the leash , and open in fall cry

      upon the quarry . Mr . O'Comnos and his co- conspirators" form no exception to the general rule and practice . We last week drew attention to the efforts of the press to take for granted in general terms the conclusion of the jury , and to place the thing upon a settled footing before ever the trials come on . The game speeds at a rail-road pace . The rogues actually improve ! They show , at all events , that there are no lengths to which they will not go to attain their purpose . All tho wotld knows that the head and front of the indictment has regard to the publication of the mad , mischievous document ,

      which has been ascribed to the Executive . Of that document our opinion has been expressed before . We never did and never shall defend it . Whoever was its author , we regard him as a most mischievous individual , and one whom the people , if they have heretofore trusted him , should trust no longer , but cast from them the moment he is discovered . There is yet no evidence of authorship , and it would be consequently premature and cruel to charge it upon any one . For any evidence that yet appears to the contrary , it may have been published by the anti-Corn Law League , or it may have been published by

      the Government ; either of whom , we believe , to be capable of any baseness—even of that—for the attainment of their ends . We say not that either of these bodies did publish it ; we charge no one With 60 foolish , or so criminal an act . Ia the absence of evidence to support it , nothing could be more base than to charge it upoa any one . Yet the whole press of both factions has concurred , until recently , in charging it upon the Executive . The fact that it was put forth in the name of the Executive has been basely assumed as proof that it was put forth by the Executive ; and the thing has

      been familiarly spok « n of as " the Executive ' s Address" from that day to this ; every one being carefnl not to seem to doHbt . We have before called attention to the infamy of this assumption by the press of the very thing to be proved . We hoped , if there was any spark of honourable feeling ia the " press-gang , " to shame them put of such a coarse ; bat this would hare been nnaccordant with the purpose of their masters . The Executive were to be convicted and sentenced upon that address , no maf . er who wrote it ; and therefore the jury class must be plied

      continually with , the assumed certainty thai it ivas their address . That point seera . 3 now to be considered settled . It is thought that the idea of the Exeecutive ' a authorship has become bo rivetted to that of the address itself , that no evidence can induce any jury to separate them- As far as the Executive are concerned , therefore , their faie is considered certain . The next move is to connect with i ; all the accused parties ; and to do this effectually it is now gravely and impudently affirmed , that O'Cox . foB with his own hand wrote that address and then persuaded the Executive to father it ! that .

      it was adopted by the delegate meeting at Manchester ! and that the minority tkere who opposed its adoption bound themselves , after its adoption , to abide by , and go with the majority 1 !! All thi 3 is as roundly and plainly stated as if it had been £ osnel-tnith ! It is spoken of in the most flippant and fwailiar manner ; as a thing not to be disputed ; a settled point about which there can be no question ! True ; there is no attempt Io give any proof of these statements ; not

      even an eSbrt to invent a proof : that would be an inconvenient and needless formality . True , the wretches who propagate these falsehoods know them to be falsehood * , solely manufactured and invented by themselves ; { rue , that the propagators of these statements know that there is already evidence ob oath—the evidence of the prosecution so far as it has gone—thai they are utterly false ; that even Gejffix has sworn positively that that address was not adopted at the delegate meeting at all , and that Mr . O'Cokvob opposed it from the moment of its

      Untitled Article

      introduction . True , that this evidence of Griffin's was perfectly well known to the parties who say that O'Connor wr . « te that address , and that it was adopted by the rmeeting I all this ia nothing : a point is to be carried ; the men are to be convicted ; and , therefore , the belief most be induced , whatever be the facts or ' , he evidence . We hare before time seen many samples of rich villany , bat never one to match this . We , believe , however , that the bolt has been

      shot too far , and that it will fail to be effective from the very care taken to make it so . The people may , however , learn from it to what desperate BhiftB , the devil factions will have recourse when "hard up" for the carrying of a point . And what hope they to accomplish when the point is carried ! Do they imagine that O'Connor , the Star , and the Chartist movement , are to be thus put down ! God help them ! poor fools !

      Untitled Article

      THE TACTICS OF OPPRESSION . A certain member of the late Government ia reported to have had the honour of being first to recommend in so many formal words the destruction of political opponents , by ' ruining them with expences . " Faction is an apf scholar , and apprehends readily the arts of villany . The Tories are not slow to profit by the example and the teachings of their Whig predecessors ; of whioh the late Special Commission and all the atrocities at and immediately before it , furnish abundant evidence . Faction is usually consistent : however the

      people may choose to forget their principles and interests , faction seldom does so . It looks out with a lynx-eye for all advantages , and makes the most of all its powers . Having the almost boundless resources of the richest nation under heaven at command—with power to draw ad libitum upon the publio parse—the coward vultures place themselves ia a position for a deadly struggle with poor men ; made and kept poor by the rascality of class-legislation . These poor men they place at every disadvantage , whioh the fearful odds of wealth , and power , and patronage afford them ; and then prate of justioe , and of the law ' s Majesty !

      During the early portion of this week , the Rev . Dr . Scholefield , and Messrs . Leach , Dotle , Railton , and divers others of the Chartist " conspirators " were served with some sort of nondescript writs , of whioh nobody could make head or tail ; but which commanded them to appear before her Majesty on the fifteenth inst . Where the appearance was io be , and what was the purport of the summons , nobody knew anything about . Magistrates , lawyers ,

      police , et hoc genus omne , were alike u taken aback " by thiB new "craft" ; of which none of them could " spell the rigging . " We have not been , at this present writing , ( Thnrsday a . m . ) as yet honoured with one of these special invitations to a royal tete-aMe , and therefore know nothing of the matter but from hearsay . It seems , however , that Mr . O'Connor has been thus dignified ; he has seen the thing , and as he is more conversant with lawyer craft than we are , we give the following from the Evening Star : —

      " Thoae who have informed themselves upon the proceedings at the late Special Commissions and the persecution generally of the Chartist body , will , doubtless , be prepared for any disclosure , infernal though it be . But let even the most sceptical penue the following narrative , and say , whether or no wonder has not been ont-wondered . It is in the recollection of the publio that Feargus O'Connor , and sixty-one other persons , against whom a true bill was found at the recent Special Commission , holden at Liverpool , traversed till next as 8 ! zes , and were obliged to enter into heavy bail , there to appear , and till then to keep the

      peacewhich , by the bye , was illegal . This preliminary step cost a large sum of mosey , but was met and paid . Within these few days the several travelers have been served with venires from the Court of Queen's Bench ; and upon eaoh venire of the sixty-two , the small sum of £ 5 8 a . is charged , and payable before the defendants can appear . We cannot say what the immediate object of the Crown is ; but one effect will be , to treat the defendants to a special jury . Now these fees amount to about £ 330 , which , with other expenses upon this stage alone , will amount to somewhat about £ 100 ; and add to this

      nearly £ 1 , 000 in fees , which must be paid before the prisoners can have the honour of trial ; and then add the expense of counsel and solicitors , witnesses and travelling expenses ; and then say who can that the law is partial , expensive , or unjust ! But this Is not the worst Tyranny does not stop here . While those under recognizances are thus mulcted in heavy pecuniary penalties , the necessary legal preliminaries for outlawing Dr . M'Douall and those against whom true bills have been found , and who have absconded , are now nearly completed ; and their banishment will be

      effected as securely as if tho Judge had sentenced them ; while , if the worst came to the worst , and if found guilty of the charge , imprisonment ia all the punishment they could be sentenced to . Now , if this is not punishing first , and trying after , we know not what is We state , however , that Mr . O'Connor has had all the required terms complied with , and has entered an appearance for the several travelers , which is all that was now reqaired , save sad except the PAYMENT OF THE PEES . Who wouldn't be an Englishman ? Will the heart of the Chronicle burst at this recital ?"

      Since writing the above we have received the Manchester Guardian , which has , in reference to the Bame subject , the following : — " Removal op the Indictment against the Chartists to the Court of Queens Bench—We understand tbat , on Monday last , &I 1 the sixty defendants indicted at the late special commission at Liverpool , and who then traversed to the next assizes , were served with summonses ef a merely formal nature , the terms of which , we understand , not a litt . e puzzled some of them ; as they were therein required ' to come

      before her Majesty , on the 15 th November instant , wheresoever her Majesty snouM be in England . ' As her Majesty is now at Waliner Castle , near Dover , the appearance of some of the defendants tbere would no doubt cause considerable surprise . We know that some of them seriously contemplated the necessity of surrendering in person , in London ; while others , we believe , have instructed a Loadon attorney to put in an appearance for them . The following is a copy of the document which has put the defendants here and elsewhere on the gui vine : —

      • To [ naming various sheriffs' officers . ]—Lancashire , to wit . Thomas Robert Wilson France , Esq ., sherifi of the county of Lancaster : By virtue of Ler Majesty ' s writ , to me directed , I command yon that you do not forbear by reason of any liberty to ray bailiwick , but that you cause to come before her Mnjesty , on the fifteenth of November instant , wheresoever her Majesty shall be in England , William Leach , of Manchester , in the county of Lancaster , labourer , &c . to ., to answer to her ilsjesty for certain conspiracies and misdemeanours whereof they with others are indicted . ' Given under the seal ef my office , tbla twelfth day of November , 1842 . " By order of the Court ,

      " DEALTfil . " Writ dated second day of November , 1842 . " Gregory and Sons , solicitors . " A similar form of summons bas been iBsued by the High Sheriff of Cheshire , and served on Buch of the defendants as reside in that county . We believe the legal effect of this is , merely to give the parties formal notice that the indictments against them have been removed by the Attorney-General from Lancashire and Cheshire into the Court of Queen ' s Bench . "

      The Guardian appears , however , to hare no grounds for his "belief " , and we imagine that he knows as little of the object of Government in this matter as ourselves . Thus much we have no doubt of , that their object is to perpetrate some petty , villanous , sneaking robbery , which they will call vindicating the law , and doing justice . It is clear that in some way or other the trials are intended to be rendered more expensive and moreonfair , than they

      would have been without this mummery . It all shows tho animus of government , and proves the correctness of our conclusion from preceding circumstances , tbat they attach more importance to the trial and conviction of these parties , than to any other business in which the Government have been concerned for a long time ; and it all shows the imperative duty and absolute necessity which lies upon the people to put forth their strength for the encounter , and to do it without loss of time .

      Untitled Article

      THE ENGLISH CHA . RTISr CIRCULAR . We give elsewhere an address from the conductors of this genuine gem of the Chartist press , to which we call particular attention . We do trust that at this time above all others the enemy will not be permitted to have the opportunity of taunting ua about the going-down of ihis spirited little organ . We have before said , and we now repeat , that the Circular ought to , be considered a KECB 6 SART upon every ChartistV table , or rather in his pocket for more ready use . We trust that the present appeal of its conductors will be the last of the like kind that they will ever need to make .

      We perceive that the first fifty-two nnmbers of the Circular are now published in a volume ; and a very handsome , and a very valuable volume it ia—a ¦ volume which no Chartist ought to bo without . : .

      Untitled Article

      HOW TO GET RID OF A "SURPLUS POPULATION . " Aristocbact and steamocraoy have long found their elbow-room incommoded by the labourer . And with the soddened selfishness of class craft , each has unhesitatingly exerted the powers it possessed to " clear out its corner , " and remove the vermin . Improvements in meohanical , and " extension" of legal , machinery have effected the business for them both ; but like Richard's spiders , — " The things still crawl , and do offend the sight "

      When driven out of the manufactorieB and off the estates ; when robbed of all their means of livelihood , they still " crawl ; " and crawling , they still seek the means to live . But the monster Class is a many-headed monster , and has in all its heads " jaw teeth like knives ,- " and hence the lawocracy soon finishes the business . Destitution , of necessity , induces what the law calls crime , and thus furnishes a pretext for that thinning of the population , which through the medium of the halter , the sabre , the bine bludgeon , or the transport ship , is always going on , that rampant riches may have

      room to " pull down its barns , and build greater . " Transportation , it is said , is now humanely sabstituted for capital punishments in a great many cases . What are the means adopted for carrying out this verj humane process \ Old , crazy , worn out vessels , found to be totally unfit for regular service , are repaired and fitted up , just made capable of skimming over the surface of an unruffled sea ; and then , if not with criminal intent to murder , with the most cold-blooded indifference ,

      hundreds of our fellow beings , all of whom have left agonized , heast-broken relatives behind them , are crammed into these" safes , " and sent on a voyage of thousands of miles . May-be they may reach the "destined port , " or way-be , as it often happens , they may go dowa together to the bottom of the " mighty deep . Read the following in illustration , taken from the South African Commercial Advertiser , a long article from which we give elsewhere , and commend to the attention of our

      readers : — The Waterloo , a ship of 414 tons , bound to Tan Diemen ' s Land , had on board , besides her crew , 219 male convicts , Dr . Helsell , in charge , Lieutenant Hext , Ensign Leigh , thirty men of her Majesty's 99 th Regiment , five women , and thirteen children . She took the ground between eleven and twelve o'clock in the forenoon , and in . fifteen er twenty minutes became a mass of rubbish . And now ensued a most piteous massacre . In about two hours and a half , amidst the crumbling heaps of their perfidious prison—of men , women , and children , 194 were crushed , disabled , and drowned .

      " There was no preparation for saving life made on board or on shore . No life-buoys , no coils of ropes lashed to casks , nor any apparatus for establishing a communication with the shore from the ship . On the shore there was no lifeboat , no apparatus for throwing ropes over stranded vessels , nor any thing , in short , to show that the Government or people here had ever heard of eucb a thing aa a shipwreck . We stood amongst thousands on the beach witbin 150 yards of the dissolving fabric , looking on the agonised faces of our fellow-creaturea , as they sank in dozens , battered , and braised , and suffocated—useless aa children , or idiots , or wild Caffres .

      " This ship , it appeara , was built twenty . seven years ago at Bristol . No longer fit to carry logs , she is patched up like other wbited sepulchres , stuffed with a living cargo by a contractor , and despatched to the ends of the earth—a voyage of more than 20 , 000 miles !" One hundred and ninety-four persons , precious in the sight of their Creator as the proud Aristocrat , or the wealthy capitalist , execdted in this cruel manner either from neglect or design 1!!—and which ever be the fact , hanging the millstone of deep guilt about the necks of the wrong-doers , and calling loudly alike for the out-pouring of the phials of the wrath of Vim , without whose notice not even a sparrow falls , and for the indignation of an insulted and outraged people .

      Englishmen , picture to yourselves the fact , that some df your highly eatceaied friends cad leaders--men held high in estimation for their virtues and patriotism , and whose hand * in all probability were never stained by crime—are about to be shipped off in like manner . Ellis and ' . frit , eompaniona , torn from their homes and victimised , . «© to be sent away either to find a watery grave , \ vsb it must be evident , when Buoh extreme oarelefe'snesg ia shewn in the transit of conviots , to endure 1 * 0 * lengthened terms , a worse than "living death . '' So these things are , and so they will remain , until xight prevail over might ; and the making and administration of the law be made dependant upon the will ' of the whole people . *

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      THE EXECUTIVE BALANCE SHEET . The explanation afforded by the Secretary of the matters objected to by the metropolitan delegates and others , will be read with some anxiety , and will , we fear , excite much diaatisfaction . We confess that we have seldom read a document with more regret , or one which we are compelled to consider as more decidedly lame . Nothing is mor « important than that the Executive should have the entire confidence of the whole country . This they never can have , unless they confine themselves rigourously to the operation and guidance of that organization , whioh the one duty of their office is to extend and carry out . No mistake could be more fatal to the interests of the cause , than that the

      Executive should suppose themselves invested with a power above that of the organisation . That they have done so , and that they have acted upon that supposition , is clear from this statement of Mr . Campbell ' s . The seventeenth article of the organization fixes the salary of the Executive at £ 2 per week for the Secretary , and XI 10 s weekly for eaoh other member when sitting . Here then is a dear guide , whioh , one would have thought , no responsible body could overlook , or would dare to violate ; and yet we find the Executive setting aside the authority of the organization , and " en their own responsibility , " appropriating public money to the payment of one of their own body , fully one-third more than he was entitled to !

      The excuse of Mr . Campbell for this flagrant violation of trust , that they , the Executive , thought the money earned , and all the talk of the talent , the honesty , (!) and the judgment , (!) of the party , by whom this money is appropriated , is entirely beyond the mark . The transaction is , to all intents and purposes , not only politically , but morally , dishonest and disgraceful to all the parties concerned in it . When Dr . M'Doball became a candidate for the office of Executive Committee man , he knew the amount of salary to which he would be entitled ; he knew that the Executive had no power to give

      him more , without robbing the Association ; and no honest man would have been a party to that robbery . We have no wish to depreciate the worth , or to underrate the services of Dr . M'Douall ; but we do say that he ought to have considered before he took the office , whether the stipend would content him ; and we say that , if upon trial , he found U too little , ho had but two honest courses for it ; either to resign at once , or to ask , not the Executive but the people , to advance his salary . But instead of this , the Doctor , and his coadjutors , dip their hands , without authority or

      leave , into the purse which contains the poor weavers' pence , and take out thence , at their own pleasure , as much as they think he ought to have . Let us put an exactly parallel case ; let us suppose that tho money with which these men were entrusted had belonged to some rioh merchant , in stead of to the poor half-famished people ; let us suppose them to have been the servants of this rich merchant , instead of the servants of the people ; that they had with him a definite and clearly understood

      written agreement , specifying their exact duties , and their exact wages ; that th « y had the run of his funds to pay themselves , with the condition of making up accounts quarterly , and that they had acted precisely aa they have now done . We « an tell Mr . Campbell that , insuohaease , this same piece of "honesty , " for which he expected the whole country to compliment him , would have rendered the whole batch of them liable to transportation for embezzlement and fraud .

      So much for the moral honesty of this transaction ; now for its political '' honesty " ! The Executive are par excellence , a ^ democratio body ; they are the appointed head of the Charter Association ; their sole business is to extend and ramify the association , for the purpose of bringing into operation Chartist principles . How do they do this t Why by themselves acting as pure despots I Assuming the right utterly to disregard the laws of the organisation , whioh they are appointed purposely to enforce ; and

      without any reference to the suffrages and opinions of the people to govern the association , as their own caprice , ( we beg Mr . Campbell's pardon , "judgment !") might dictate ; exhibiting thus , in the very heart and citadel of Chartism , one of the worst forms of Tory corruption and peculation . And yet , in reference to this transaction , Mr . Campbell tells us , that the Executive expected , that instead of objecting to it , the whole country would have hailed it with delight I '

      Like objections , of a mal-appropriation of funds and an utter disregard to the organization , lie very fairly against several other matters which Mr . Campbell professes to explain . The several and very heavy sums charged for travelling expenses , and for the " agitating expenses" of various members of the Executive are , in the absenoe of more explanation than Mr . Campbell has yet given , ( and he sajs he can give no more ) , ail liable to be classed under the same head of mal-appropriation of the funds of the Association in defiance of its rules .

      The organization distinctly provides that the wages of the Executive shall be paid only " during the period of their sittings" ; or in the event of their being employed ** to open new districts" j yet we find their wages regularly charged whether sitting or not ; and Mr . Campbell complaining bitterly that he has no funds now , whea they are not sitting , to pay wages to himself and them . We regret the lack of funds for the use of the Association , as much as Mr . Campbell ; and we regret more that that lack should be enhanced by the unauthorized application of them when they were tbere . But why does Mr . Campbell complain of not getting wages now , when the Executive is not sitting ! He knows that the organization gives them no right to wage 9 , only

      when they are sitting . Now , when they are minding their own businesses ; Mr . Campbell attending to his shop in London , Mr . Leach attending to his shop in Manchester , and Mr . Baiestow receiving wages as a lecturer in the North and East Aiding , why should the country be called upon to pay £ 2 weekly to the one and 30 s . to each of the others ! Is it not enough that , in accordance with the organization , they be paid by the Association when they are doing the work of the Association ; must they be also paid for doing their own work ? We do not believe that either Leach or Bairstow expect any such thing ; and we are only sorry th-t Mr . Cam ? - beli ., in this apologetical letter of his , has thought proper so to introduce their names as if they did .

      Nothing can be more clear nor more explicit than the words of the organization about the wages of the Executive . They are to have their wages during the period of their sittings out of the General Fund . Whenever they are not sitting , they may be employed as missionaries and lecturers , and must then have the same wages , as if .. they were sitting ; not Jrom the general funds , but from the local funds of the localities in which they labour . Over and above these wages , when so employed , they are to have , from the localities in

      which they labour , their coach hire and one half of their incidental expences ; the other half of their incidental expences being paid by themselves out of their wages . These provisions are as clear in the 17 th and 18 th articles of the organization as words can make them . And yet the country is charged by Mr . Campbell , according to his own explanation , for the lecturing expences of the members of the Executive in suoh localities aa Manchester and Lomdo » , aad for tkeir travelling to and from these localities .

      We happen to know that the Executive have been written to privately upon these BubjectB again and again ; we find it difficult , therefore , to think that they do not know the conditions of the organisation . In any case it seems clear that they either do not know the organization or are determined entirely to disregard it . We have seen many lamentable publio exhibitions ; but never any which , t * our mind , displayed a more perfect lack of business-like habits , or of any attention to any sort of system or rule , than the balance sheets of Mr , Campbell .

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      They are literally disgraoaful . And though we have long known them to be so , we have forborne from public comment , because *• hoped to see Bome good result from private rempnstranee ; being willing to give bjm and the other members of the Executive credit for Integrity of purpoeeV ^ Thig publio appeal of Mr . CAMPBfeLi renders it ;' impos » siblo for us to be longer * silent . '' 'Wei h »* e > hj no means commented upon all , or Nearly al ! ,-df tho objectionable matters in thiBbalsnce'sheet , or of the unsatisfactory matters , in Mr . ' Campbell ' s explanatory letter ; but we trust W have said enough

      to show the people that it is time they took up the matter in right earnest . These are the things that destroy us more than all the , power pt tho enemy . And we always find that it is those who thu 3 trample under their feet all regard for principle that are the first to cry out against "denunciation " if disagreement with , or disapprobation of , their proceedings be expressed . We have hitherto paid too much deference to this scare-crow ; and shall hereafter treat it very cavalierly . We shall speak

      oat our mind upon all public matters with a freedom from which our best friends must look for no exemption . We esteeem highly private friendships and regards , bat cannot allow them to-divert us from our duty ; nor shall we permit any personal services of Chartist leaders to exempt them from being tightly holden by the rein of principle . None can esteem more highly than we do the porsonal exertions of the respective members of the Executive as lecturers and missionaries for the cause of Chartism .

      They have done much ; but that does not set them above the practice of their own principles in the transactions of their own office .

      Untitled Article

      ELECTION OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL . Our readers are of conr 6 e aware that the Election of General Councillors through all the localities takes place on the 1 st of December . They should begin to look ont for good , clear headed , prudent men . The office is * most important one . We shall next week give some directions for what we think the best mode of conducting these elections .

      Untitled Article

      Star Office , 2 V »» . 17 , 1842 . My deab Friekds , —On the 17 th of Nov . ; 1837 , . five years ago , this very day , the first number ¦ of this paper issued from the press . Since that time , we have braved together many a breeze . Chartism was then a name unknown , and Radicalism was a sickly infant in its nurse's arms . The professors of the pure principles of truth were for the most part jumbled up and identified with Whiggcry , under the general titles of" Reformers" and "Liberals . " There was no real line of demarcation between

      honestyfand stealthy faction in a mask . The people were then , as now , honest , bat waiting just direction for their movements ; while the prominent politicians of the day were a motley crew of personal adventurers , floating with the tide of circumstances , and continually using the popular breath to blow up the bubbles of their own or parties' purposes . I saw the necessity of severing principle from faotion , aad individually laboured for it , aa many of you know , long before the Star existed . I saw the disadvantage under which the people laboured ;

      I felt , often and severely felt , that the sphere of democratic influence was limited—unnaturally contracted—because the people were no more represented by the press than by the legislature .. They were defrauded even of themselves ; their sentiments were distorted , their opinions misrepresented , their minds purposely misled , and their active proceedings twisted to the support of first one and then another factious party , while their own interests were lost sight of in the mist , because there was no mirror which wonld faithfully reflect them . I set myself , therefore , to

      see the people in possession of an organ which * trumpet-tongued , might speak their will , and utter their complaints . I laboured hard for it and expended much more time and money than I could afford ; but there was wanting either power or energy amongst the people . The work progressed slowly , and I was about retiring in despair from the attempt , when Providence brought me in contact with your indomitable champion , and true friend , O'Cojwob , who had seen and felt the same lack of means to make principle stand firmly on its own basis .

      and throw overboard adventuring experimentalism . Hi 3 dauntless spirit , in the face of s most uninviting prospect , resolved to remedy the grievance at all hazards ; and the Northern Star was hung up in the political hemisphere ] and has continued since , by your suffrages , to shine with increased brilliancy ; exhibiting ,. in the clear light of public opinion , the rocks and quicksands of political agitation , and the" rigging" of each pirate craft that might intrude itself upon the waters of democracy . I speak thus of the Star , because I have ever sought to make

      it rather a reflex of your minds than a medium through which to exhibit any supposed talent or intelligence of my own . This is precisely my conception of what a people ' s organ should be ; this was what I saw to be wanting before the -Star came into existence ; and what , since it has existed , I have ever sought to make it . How far I have succeeded in doing so , may be best evidenced by the position which it has holden since the fifth week of its publication , of the most extensively circulated provincial journal in the empire , and by the fact

      thatitsull holds and maintains that position notwithstanding the unparalleled distress which binds to the earth the whole body of its supportera ; notwithstanding the incessant fire of prosecution upon prosecution from the Government , to which it is the most galling of annoyances , and notwithstanding the unceasing efforts of the private malice , the choaking envy , and personal ambition of disguised friends , open foes , traitors , and enemies of all sort ? . There is not , at this present time , another thing whioh the factions so hate , and the Government

      so much fears as this newspaper . It ie the verj earn of their antipathies ; and they would hold cheap any sacrifice by which it might be destroyed . While I have your help and confidence I defy them . The wrong-doer shall wince beneath just caatigation ; the light of just principle shall shine upon the haggard face and ugly form of olass dominance , so long as it is your pleasure to uphold ^^ the Northern Star . I thank you , not more for the gratification it affords me personally , than on your own account , for the power you have hitherto given me in

      battling with your enemies . I receive your continued confidence and the constant indication of your approbation with the proud consciousness that I deserve it . I accord you now my thanks for having nobly done your duty in the years gone by . You have rallied round the standard of pure , constitutional Radicalism which has been ereoted in the Star ; and you have made the arms of liberty , thoagh bound yet terrible to the oppressor . I have done one man ' s part in the good work ; and my arm is now stronger and my aim steadier than it was five years ago , thanks to the supporting presence of your power . The recurrence of this anniversary brings ns once more

      to a sort of understanding with eaoh other ; to a kind of terms of covenant on which to base our future operations against tyranny . There shall be , on my part , a continuance of that Bam unceasing watchfulness with which I have heretofore endeavoured to point out the tricks and moves of faotion to your observance . With tb « broad flag of Chartism unfurled , and nailed fa our mast-head , I shall endeavour to take car * that no spurious colour , no matter how nearly resembling the original , ba stuck or stitched upon it by the enemy ; while I shall « lso be more ctat 0 than I have heretofore been to preserve ft from defilement by our own crew . Hitherto tt # extension of our principles has been the one thing to be looked at ; we ( must now look ( 0

      Untitled Article

      4 THE NORTHERN STAR . :

      Untitled Article

      THE STURGE CONFERENCE . Elsewherh we record , with unfeigned pleasure , the proceedings of ' a meeting at Birmingham for the election of delegates to the forthcoming Conference . The Birmingham " lads '' have done their work nobly ! In the very headquarters of Complete Suffragism , with Mr . Sturge in the chair , they have elected , out of six delegates , Feargus

      O ' Con nob , Geobse White , ajid two other good Chartists . This is as it should be . Let every other place go and do likewise , and this Conference may oomo to good : it may be made the means of greatly aiding and consolidating the Chartist movement ; of forming into one phalanx all the true friends of democratic principle ; and of forcing the hypocritic go-betweens ( if there be any such ) to find their own place . '

      We regard this Conference as a great card for the people if well played . Let them be careful then ; let Birmingham be followed up . Let every town send its own men— men of full-length principle , and of dear and cool heads . Let them , we again observe , in this election of the delegates , loek more to principle than talent ; ' tie not so much Bpeeoh-makers as men of sound sense and discriminating powers that

      are wanted . Let care be taken not to stultify and neutralize our own strength , by electing the same man for different localities . O'Cgnnor has been elected for Birmingham ; let him not be elected for any other place . He can only give one vote , and consequently every other place which he might represent would be virtually unrepresented . We have not a vote to spare ; and every locality may find plain honest men to speak its own

      mind . There is another thing to which attention should be drawn ; the rumoured winter commission of assize makes it doubtful whether we may not be all in durance when the Conference is holden . The people should be ready for this circumstance if it occur ; they should have reserved candidates in readiness to be elected in the place of every man who may be thus prevented from fulfilling the duties of his trust . There must be no time lost in calling

      public meetings for the election of such delegates , if necessary , immediately after the conclusion of the trials . Let there be no doubt or hesitation about this matter ; let all be ready ; all that is wanted in the candidates is clear-headed honesty , that will neither be hoodwinked nor yet brow-beaten from its point . There is enough of this quality in every town to supply every member of this Conference . Let then the people be alive , and do their duty , and then we have no fear that this Conforence will be a good thing .

      To The Readers Of The "Northern Star."

      TO THE READERS OF THE "NORTHERN STAR . "

  • Citation
    • Northern Star (1837-1852), Nov. 19, 1842, page 4, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/ns/issues/vm2-ncseproduct780/page/4/