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    rfQ-wib of mind : and so nn as the march 2 f man ' s intellect is omrani » nd , forward , 80 HUB ygSl & **> pa « 4 j > lw gotm , conquering and to conquer , jA in the language ol the martyred Hun , " It la a good cause ; it shaaTrttimafcely prevail : ; it shall finally fnompb . " —The conviction that tsheered that patriot ^ b the ere of banishment from his loved land , ia my ^ onsolAtien on the tfcrestboia of . a dungeon . Gentlejjjgn , 1 have dene ; 1-lea-re my-tase in your handa ; 1 hste » right to . expect at 70 m hands a Yerdict of ac quittal ; but if youi Terdictshould be the opposite of ibs * 1 hsTB a light to anticipate , 1 trust 1 ahall ^ jpet the coBsegnsBQBs of a Terdjct of Guilty with ^ hfti fortitude which will become me as a man , and jjjj , t unflinching consistency of conduct , and" unyielding devotion to ^ rindplB , "whkh-Bhould ever characterlza gje man who , as 1 . have done , deTotes his life to the gerritx of hJa fellow-men , and the promotion of the lup pinea and "welfare of the "whole human family .

    Saxuel Pxekes next addressed the Jury . The defendant commenced by a narrative of his life , from lis 1 youth japwards , Rowing the difficulties lie Juyi iafl to StrngglB ag&lnst , in consequence of poverty and oiher adverse circumstances , all of which ne Lad been utterly tm&ble to resist , natwj £ DStana'iBg that he had laboured with unwearied in dustry , andhad invariably conducted nimself with Bobrietyandintsgnly . ^ Finding himself enable to better Ms condition in life , he began to suspect that there mustbe something radically defecfive in the

    fOTerninj ; system , and , after a careful examination of facts , he arrived at the conclusion that the poverty of the people was caused by a vicious system of representation , which could only be cured by the so&age being made ^ -universaL The defendant j { i& proceeding in this strain , when IheJcD 6 & interposed , and said—I must call your attention to the charge against yon . The observagons : you have been making axe quite irrelevant . If every defendant is to give an account of Ms birth , parentage , and education , I am afraid I shall have to sit here till next week .

    A -Juryman—1 understood from an observation jnade by your Lordship , that we ihauld have laid before us the evidence asaffecting each defendant . J . -ffish to ask jonr Xordship whether it is necessary for us to sit There io listen to speeches such as have fecn delivered ts &e tteo lasl speakers , tehish have inching vshatevn lodoieilh ihe question ! lie Judge—BeaBy , Sir , I can give no answer to any such question as that . I ; is one altogether new tome . Mr . O'Connor—My Lord , I beg to make an application to jour Lordship , to have the question of the juror inserted upon your notes . The Judge—Certainly not : 1 can take no notice of it whatever . 1 never had such an application ijjadf to me in . my life .

    Mr . M'Oabray—Is appears to me , my Lord , that fhis question will / jo forth to the world . Tae Judge—I must interrupt yon . I can's hear yon on any such matter . The Defendant then resumed his observations , and was proceediog to Advocate the Charter , and recomneBding its adoption , when The ^ aageagaia interposed , saying , that the monies * you adopt sucu a line of argument as this I can ' t hear yon , because I should not be justified in listening to a discussion as to what would be the best means of relieTjng the present distress . Defendant—Then I abandon that . Ths Judge-pThereis every disposition to give the utmost attention to anything that has the remotest reference to the issne , bnt I cannot allow the public iune to be occupied with matter which is wholly irrelevant to this inquiry .

    Toe defendant resumed his address , and denied altogether the charge x > f conspiracy . Three parties ¦ wish whom he was aid to have conspired , he knew nothing about them , either personally or in any other way . Biehsrd O&ej next appeared . —He viewed " the evidence which had been « 2 ered in support of the prosecution as resembling a very beautiful flower , found on the banks ^ of the Dead Sea . It appeared very beautiful to lie eye , bni the moment it was

    lOUChed by the laisd il ^ rambled into pieces . So it ms with the Attorney General ' s evidence . It appeared to be very specious , but when it came to be tested by ihe application of truth and common sense it was found to be ef no effect . The defendant was ¦ about to read from a manuscript , which he had in iis possession , but on the suggestion of some friends who sat near'him , he was induced to forogo hi 3 iniention , and to content himself by disclaiming ever -having had the intention of conspiring with any portion of his fellow subjects .

    George Johnson was about io address the Court , when The Attobskt-Geceejj . intimated to his Lordship ihat he did sot think there was sufficient evidence against Johnson to induce him to proceed further with the charge . - ¦ - A verdict of acquittal was accordingly taken . Defendant—Then 1 have not an opportunity of raying anything more ? ( Great laughter , ) : Qsarles Storer , in his defence , said he had only lasommended a strike for wages , and he believed . fiesalezeason why he -sras-prosecuted was , that b . B hti been a . strenuous opponent of the Anti-Corn Lpr League . Ae a Chartist , he had a right to ~ « tfertain whatever political opinions bethought proper . He had advocated Chartism , and he should do ss again , notwithstanding that he might be incarcenfed in a dungeon . If the Jury did him justice , boweTer , they must acquit him , for he could most . conscientiously say , that he had done nothing

    " Hioag . : Barnard M * Cartney , in answer to fhe charge against him , appealed to the past actions of his life , a 51 of which , especially during the late disturbanoes , ^ jd been regulated by a regard / or the sacredness of | ffoj « ty , and inviohibility of person , and the incnlaiioD upon the minds of the political party with ^ jibobj he associated , to respect the opinions of those who might happen to differ with him . In allusion ^ 0 ihe evideaee wMch had been offered by the Attorney-General , the defendant then inquired wby the witnesses who had given evidence againsi % aJmiefoxe the magistrates had not been put into fhfthox to state to the jury -wast they knew Of Mm . If they had been produced , they would

    dis-Eiiedy and unhesitatingly have declared that at the BeeiiDgs he had attended , he recommended the people to protect every blade of grass , and every spare of glass in Uie country . "Wa 3 this con-Jjiirffyl He trusted they were not aboat to" be phced under & military despotism , but that the jsrj by their verdict of acquittal would confirm Jad seal some of those privilege ? , in the enjoyment tf-which xh-y were on all occasions priding themslfesa 3 being superior to all the other nations of & 8 world . If any attempt -was made to arrest the kgifcnate expression of public opnuqn , they would « are the people to desperate remedies , wMch hB fcssted vrould never be fosnd to be the result of -a faditt of a British jury , impsnnelled for the

    pur-Pose of pntting a legitimate construction upon what fiffistimied the liberty of the subject . The defedmt denied that any inference could be drawn £ wa ihe recent turn-out favourable to the suppoajbu that the people intended to conspire together sr the destruction of property , for no such thing oi taken place ; oa the contrary , it bad been ad-Sittfid that from ihe holding of the Conference up feihe present time , things had been tranqniliisnjg « ga to lheir former peaceiol character . Mr . tfCsrtaey then alluded to the witness Griffin , whom « denounced as a man who had banished all the Eper feelings of human nature from his breast , ¦ fto had violated every principle of honour and Ijfc&nde , for , after having visiied him _ ( iir . JspCartney ) in the prison , sympathised with him in es confinement , congratulated him on M 3 rtlease k Ha

    ^» warmly by the hand , on separat-% from eaeh other , and then this Tery ^ a turned round , and famished the inforfev ^ on , on the strength of wMch . he was ^ ia arrested . With regard to the charge , the « fadaat designated the evidence whjch hid been wimeed in snppori-of it , as iiaisy , irifling , and eon-^ Brable ^ and such as they ooxHA not found a verdict « 2 a % upon , Mr . M'Cartneyjustified Ma attendee at the meeting of delegates , which he msinjg > ea was perfectly legal , and with regard to his ** " » proceedings , he said he should feel it Ms duty g ?« severe inthe advocacy of ihe same principles , ggsssly and boldiy , though at the same time , r ^ aately , sad he hoped with that respect for the ^ & ® of others which all men c ^ Tn'Tijg freedom of ^ thaad thought , ought hoHesfly to accord . ^^ nAHnson , next proceeded to address the Jury , ^ he was relieved from the the necessity of doing % \ j

    j jke Attorney-General consenting to take a ver-?»« f J-cgvUlaL the evidence being insufficient to £ 55 sm the charga . ^ fr Beesley , in addressing the Jury , Baid he JvQ not occupy much time , as he was conscious S ; . " ay would already be feiigued and wearied ¦ ~ Mhe iaceseant attennon wMch this case had re-|^ w at their hands eo long a time . He would j * W aUnde to thoss circumstances of it which r ? fc ] aea himself , and-be trusted they would re-: ^ fiffla &e J nzy Hurt coBsi derafion wlach mi gh t ^ B &ea lo giTe an impartial Terdict . It was j ^ w difficult to see in what way the evidence bore ^^ thim at all j he Bhonld perhaps best have con-^ his interest by payin g nolhing , for he really ^ ° * ul int ftAnAaitA + v « . « - ? Vn ** -was en * onnonftfl jtt him had been

    ^;^ ast . Nothing bronght home - ?«» in connection wiih the case ; he had not go Jdenfe&ed ia or with it . Ko charge had even Z ^ PJefered against him , for he had never been C ^ jed on the « harge contained in this indiebnent , g . had-he eTer pleaded to it , Gmlty er : j > t fttii ^; never ^ having been required to do h nJr ? fr ^ ^^ i'een sworn by Cartledge that ! ea ^ t' ?* ^) " »» s ** ihe Conference , bnl no [ toSL * *? been made to bring home this evidence ¦ ¦ fcf ?* - « had . jiot been Bhewn that he was the ^^ ffieant . There were many Beesleys besides v ^« iahe- $ Fa 8 not bound to assist the Government j ^ StdnsisEMais in seeming his c onviction . But wLr ? " ** 5 awa * of tius , lie had no -wish to w ^ , ^ self of quirks or quibbles . He was not the ^ » ahelter himself under tha falBe mantle of eTa-

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    apnj he wonld assert the truth alwajs withoat fear of consequences . It had not been proved that he was-at the Conference ^ but he was not going to deny it ; he was at that Conference . He went ther © at the request and as the representative of the inhabitants of his own locality , and if another such Conference should be called , having like purposes in view , and if hisneighboursand friends should again elect Mm , he should again feel it his duty to attend . He had yet to Jeam , and he trusted that from their verdict he should not learn it , that tho bare fact of Ms attending that meeting could be construed as a crime ; for he was there , he took part in the proceedings ot the Conference , and the part he took was in opposition to the strike :

    not because he considered the strike to be unjustifiable or illegal , but because in Ms judgment it i » as impolitic to mix up the Chartist movement with it . He thought it calculated to retard that movement , which his heart held dearest of all things , and hence his opposition to the proceedings of those who » w no sqch danger , and who sougbi therefore to use it as a means of advancing that movement , if he had thought that the Chartist movement could be thereby accelerated , he would have upheld the strike , though he might for so doing have been called conspirator or branded with any other epithet wMch the Crown lawyers might have thought fit to apply to Mm . In his own district he had laboured to repress violence and to cause life and property to

    to be respected . He was too poor to bring -witnesses to speak to these facts , but he knew them to be within the knowledge of the Attorney- General , and he might appeal to Mm as Ms best witness . The Learned "Gentleman had sent out a commission to enquire into the state of his neighbourhood , and he knew that the commission had been informed that the preservation of peace had been mainly owing to his exertions . The Attorney-General knew this , and it would but have been candid in him to have told it to the Jury , and have saved him ( Beesley ) the trouble of -doing bo . The only other matter of evidence against him was that » f Superintendant M'Cabe , who deposed to having found in hb carpet bag , when taking him into custody upon a former charee ,

    s ^ TeraJ printed papers , purporting to be passed by the Conference . He had no recollection of these papers , he was not aware that they were in his carpet-bag at all , nor had any proof been offered to the Court ot Jury that these were the same papers that were alleged to have beea found in his carpet-bag . But , supposing them to be bo—and he had no disposition to be nice about the matter—what then 1 What was there in the possession of these documents to criminate any man ! He was sorry they had not left him an edd one , or he would have read it to them . ( A laugh . ) The Attorney-General procured one of the documents from off the Judge ' s bench , and handed it to the defendant .

    Mr . Beesley read it to the Jury , and then went on to say , that though he had opposed that resolution at the Conference , ho was prepared to defend it now . Be maintained that there was nothing in it to merit the character which had been endeavoured to be fastened on these proceedings by the prosecation . The Conference had been sufficiently demonstrated by the learned counsel , who [' preceded him , to be a legal meeting , and the resolution was one . wMch any legal meeting was competent to pass . Mr , Beesley then went on to some other matters , not perhaps quite revelant to the issue , and which we , thereferej omit . He concluded by reminding the Jnry that they had an important duty to perform , and that though some , or perhaps all of them , might entertain political opinions different from Ms own , they were not to permit those opinions to pervert

    judgment , and ta warp the cause of justice . He claimed at their hands such verdict as the circumstances and the evidence required against him , and he felt quite confident that that verdict would be"Not guilty"in any case . His principles would remain unaltered , and his determination to assert them equally bo j he was a Chartist : and whatever amount of persecution or imprisonment it might snbject him to , he should remain a Chartist . Their verditt might consign him to a dungeon for a season , but the time would pasB over ; and when the gates should be again unbarred to him , and he emerged into ihe free air of heaven , he would be the same man . Ten thousand prosecutions could neither hurt nor harm him , for he was determined , while life lasted , to s * und the tocsin of the Charter as the death-note of tyranny and faction

    Chbistopbeb Dotle , in addressing the Jury , denied that the Chartists were the authors of the late strike , and he referred to the meetings of the anti-Corn Lawpariy for the purpose of showing that the language used by those parties , was far more violent than that employed by the Chartists . He ( Mr . D /) had al way 3 stood np for his right 3 , but he had done so fairly , tonestly , and legally . On all occasions , he had recommended the people to obey the law , even though it was a bad one , so far as their interests -were concerned , and during the late strike , he had inculcated the same peaceful demeanour , and he Mmself prevented violence being offered to both person and property- With respect to the Charier , the-defendant sxid that some of its principles had been advocated by the Duke of Richmond , Charles James Pox , and the Marquis of Lansdowne ,

    and it was solely on account of prejudice that those principles were not generally acted upon now . Mr . Doyle maintained that it wi 3 owing to uDjust laws that the people were discontented , and he believed that bo long as a system continued which allowed one portion of the community to riot in unbounded luxury , wMle the other portion—the producers of all wealth —wctb in % state of destitution , and left to pine for the common necessaries of life , the people never would be contented , and order conld not be preserved in the country . With respect to the indictment , Mr . Doyle maintained the legality of the Delegate Meeting , and the resolution wMch had emanated from it , and concluded by saying that he should feel bound , in justice to his own convictions , to continue his advocacy of the Charter in future .

    JosATHiS Baibstow defended the legality of all his actions , with respect to the meeting of dek gates , Which he maintained was merely an assemblage 01 flteborn Englishmen , met together to discuss a great principle ^ Wixiulh WouEtDEs adopted a similar line of defence , and denied having attended the meeting at ilottr&m Moor . Jaxes Leach addressed the Jury at considerable length . He showed most incontestibly that the late strike was the result of deep-rooted discontent on the part of the working classes , occasioned by uninst laws and oppressive taxation , which sut-jected

    them to unceasing toil , to the lowest amount of remuneration for their labour , to great physical endurance , and to ail ike misery and privation which such a state of things was calculated to produce Mr . Leach justified his attendance at the delegate meeting ; and as to the charge of conspiracy , he cheerfully appealed to those parties by whom he was best known , to say whether he had not on all occa sions enforced obedience to . the law , and an abstinence from every thing approaching to outrage upon either person ot property . At the close of Mr . Leach ' s address ,

    Mr . O'Cotsob stated to his Lordship that he was the last defendant who had to address the jury , and , therefore , ae had to ask for an adjournment tail tne following morning . - The Learned Judge consented , and the Court rose at seven o'clock .

    WEDKESDAY—SE VENTH BAY . Mr Baron Roltb took his seat on the bench at nine o ' clock . Mr . O'Cossob then rose , and addressing his Lordship and the Jury , said , that before he entered into a consideration of this case he hoped he might be allowed in the first instance , to add his meed of praise to that which had already been bestowed upon the manner in wMch this trial had been conducted , from the beginning of it np to the present moment . The defendants had no right to complain—they had no fault to find , and therefore they did not complain . He did not look upon this prosecution as an act of kindness , or as an act of justice , or as an act of courtesy . He went further—he looked upon it , as

    regarded himself , as an act of grace . After the evidence they had heard , if their verdict upon it was one of guilty , it would not convey to the public mind of this country half the criminality wMoh before this trial attached to his character , When the occurrences which had been made the subject of investigation first commenced , the press of all parties teemed with the importance of the case , —that it was one little short of Mgh treason , and that he ( Mr . O'Connor ) was the prime mover in the various transactions connected with it . He was well aware that it wonld be impossible for him altogether to remove those prejnuice 3 wMch for years had been engendered in their minds . He did not Beek to perform any such Herculean task , but if they left that box with those

    prejudices aStefi $ his character less than when they entered ifcSlwwould he have achieved a greater triumph thaSpeatheirverdiot of&cqiiital could give Mm . They had heard several of the other defendants defentihemielves , and speak disrespectfully of their TerdicBtJie meant disregarding it , He ( Mr . O'Cennor ) only comparatively disregarded it . If he destroyed their prejudices , and if the law told them that they ought to find Mm guilty from the evidence , let it be so ; bnt , provided he destroyed their prejudices , again he would say that he should hail their verdict as a triumph . They were now to come back after tMs long and rambling investigation to something lie a consideration of the real

    quest ion , and int of themultiplioity of evidence which hadbeenthrown before the jury , alimixed = uptogether it would be his duty , although considerably relieved by the analysis of the evidence which his Lordehip had made , to bring their minds back to the consideration of the real charge , if any there existed , againBt himself and the other defendants . They nmst naturally suppose that in a prosecution of this kind the Attorney-General , on behalf of the Crown , would lay Ms whole case before them . They must naturally conclude that he would support this prosecution -by all the efiaence which he could posBibly produce . Be admitted that the opening speech of the Attornej-Geaeiil was what the opening speech of a

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    lawyer and a gentleman seeking justice ought to be . It was a very different speech from those which , under similar circumstances , he had been accustomed to hear % but taking it without any contrast at all it was the speech ef alawyerand a gentleman . He agreed with the Attorney General that investigation was not only necessary but indispensible . After the Btate which had been represented to them —after the state which had been proved to them that this county was in for a considerable time , the Attorney General would have been justly charged with a dereliotion of duty if he had not made this solemn enquiry in a Court of Justice . But another question rfollowed that , namely , whether the right parties were before them : aud

    that was a question which he should have to submit to them by-and-by . What ; was the nature of the crime with wMch ihe defendants were charged ? Did anybody understand it ) What was the reason that , in the course of these proceedings , the Jury had been compelled to confess that they were some-liat puzzled wi th the meaning of the indictment t W hat was the reason that Ma LordsMp had found it necessary to relieve , if possible , the mist which surrounded it , and to place it in a clearer and more simple manner before the defendants ! Why , it was because the Attorney-General had heaped together so many different charges as to make it impossible for any defendant to understand to what specific charge he was to apply himself . If this indictment had been

    brought before them in a legitimate form—if rioters had been indicted for a riot , if those who had caused tumultuous and illegal meetings had been indioted for that , if those vrho had been guilty of a conspiracy had been indicted for that , then his trouble would have been comparatively light , and the labour both of his LordsMp aud the Jury would have been much contracted . This , however , the Attorney-General had not done ; having ferretted throughout the country for evidence—having produced that evidence before the magistrates—aud having so far substantiated their case as to obtain a committal , and not a single witness by whom it was substantiated having appeared in that Court to reiterate his testimony , another perambulating tour was

    was made to rake up fresh evidence in order to substantiate these several charges . What did they want ? Conspiracy was a dtfinable thing . The moment that an agreement took place to do an illegal act by legal means , or to do a legal act by illegal means , that moment the crime was perfect ; it did not require two months to complete the crime , nor was it necessary to prove overt acts to substantiate the charge . In order to prove the charge of conspiracy , not only mu 3 t there b « a common design , but there must be a privity of knowledgeand that common design , and all the acts arising out of it , must go in furtherance of it , and onq conspirator must go to the extent that ihe others did . These were facts which would

    shortly be laid before them by his Lordship , and therefore it was the lees necessary for him to trouble them at any considerable length . But let them see by whom in the first instance , this case was proved . The Attorney-General , in the opening of bis case , stared that the charge against the defendants was that they had conspired together to force a change in the law , by tumult and ridt . There might have been some doubt as to the complexion which this prosecution bore up to the acquittal of Wild . There was a desire on the part of the crown to avoid evidence relative to the strike for labour . He had not for the life of him bees able to diBcorer why and wherefore it was that the Attorney-General sought to gloss over the case , and to put a new face upon it . But when he found the Attorney General consenting to a verdict of acquittal in favour of Wilde , because he did not stand to the Charter , then he discovered

    for the first time that tMs was a political proseoution . Then he came to the conclusion that the Attorney-General had determined , whatever the vidence might be , —nay not the Attorney-General , for let it not be supposed * that he laid this at bis door , —but those who had been engaged in getting up the evidence which was presented before the' magistrates , in the first instance , seemed determined to obtain a conviction , and they now proposed to do this by calling an entirely different class of witnesses , to prove a totally different case of conspiracy . That was an important fact , and one which he hoped the jury would bear in mind . The defendants were charged with a conspiracy on the 17 th of August . On this branch of the case , as he was more immediately connected with it than any other , he thought he might very briefly deal with it . He was charged individually with having excited the continuance of a strike then in existence . FactB

    were stubborn things , aud thanks to the Attorney-General , — thaaka to that ingenuousness which bad ever marked his character through life , he had acquitted him ( Mr * O'Connor ) of every charge in the indictment . Up to the time of the strike , not only bad the Attorney-General acquitted him of any cognizance of , or participation in it , but behadgoue further , and he had borne honourable testimony to the fact , that he had resisted it . But i 6 t them Bee what tnis conspiracy was ; let them see how it had been carried on , let them see what the documents referred to « by the Attorney-General in his opening speech , were ; let them see what the nature of them was ; whether they were justifiable or not , and whether they were legal or not .

    They had the evidence of tho two principal witnesses for the Crown—men from whom the poor defeudan 8 would not consent to receive a character , because they would have felt themselves degraded and lowered in their own estimation , if they had done so , —it was upon the evidence of these Siamese youths that tMs charge mainly depended . What had they got ofit of them ? Finding the state in which the country was , who ought to have been there to prove it 1 Ought it to have been left to policemen , —to the garbled reports of men who were sent out as spies , to take notes of all that was connected with these transactions t or should it be tb . 6 men who were interested in the preservation of the peace ! Above all , where were the authorities ! Where

    W 33 the Mayor of Manchester ? Whera was Sir Thomas Patter ! Where was Mr . Maude Wijsre was Colonel Weymss I Where was Sir Charles Shawl Where were all those who saw these transactions , and could have spoken to them ! Why , they were nowhere I The crown could have produced them . They had failed to do so . He ( Mr . O'Connor ) had done bo . The evidence which ought to have been brought to substantiate the case , he had brought to answer the case . Now what was the charge ? The defendants were charged with a crime , which , if it were true , he should bluBh to stand up and defend himself against . Tnere was something so appalling to the feelings of every honourable man . iu a charge of conspiracy , that the mind

    recoiled from it with horror . Conspiracy ! what was it ? It was the secret machinations of a bad man to destroy something belonging to a good man . It was the most abominable of all crimes . He never had been a conspirator , and he hoped to God he never should . But what had they proved by these Siamese youths J They had proved that the meeting of delegates was called two months before the strike took place . They had proved from the witness Cartledge that it was an open meeting . They had proved that reporters were admitted : not reporting for the Northern Star alone , but for other papers ; aid thay had proved that no interraption had

    been offered to the admission of any one . What did Cartledge say ? _ He admitted that the meeting of delegates was projected before the strike took place . Both he and Griflin admitted that the meeting was called to consider the reorganisation of the Chartist constitution . And they had a right to their constitution , if it was legal . He wonld not support it if it was illegal . Here , then , they had the character of the conspiracy . Here they had men who were known to differ , met to conspire . Here they had men differing among themselves met to conspire . But , then , they had combined . Yes , and

    " When bad men conspire , good men combine . ' It teas true that the great political party with wbioh he was connected , had combined . Combined ? ^ For what ! For the furtherance of their own principles . —Not to conspire . It had been truly said by a very Mgh authority , that never did good men meet for a good purpose , without being thoroughly well acquainted with each other ; and never was an instance known of bad men conspiring together for a bad purpose , without being well known to each other , and having entire confidence in each other . Here were men met for the purpose of healing their dissensions , and he had proved that a reporter who was dimissed from Ms Beryice , aiid who had , in consequence , some pique against him , was allowed to be

    present at the meeting , at his especial request . Did this show conspiracy 1 After the character of some of the evidence that had been adduoed;— -after the fact of the notes of policemen being preferred to their own recollections ; after the fact that those notes had been taken in running hand in a crowded meeting , —their elbowB jogged;—after all this he did hope that something more substantial would have been offered on the part of the prosecution . He had hoped that if the notes of a policeman were better than the recollection of a policeman , that the notes of a reporter , taken before he had consented to give evidence , if they had been produced , might have been purged of much that was waged against the defendants . But the reporter had not been asked for those notes . Where were they i In his

    depositions they were—here they were not . If the Attorney-General had been anxious to obtain the best evidence that the case would admit of , why were not these notes read 1 If there was anything in them proving the crime of conspiracy , —if there was anything proving a charge against the conspirators , why had they not been produced ? It was said that the speeches made at the meeting were to be suppressed . But the notes were not suppressed , and therefore , not having been produced , he was justified in concluding that there was nothing in them which could make against the defendants . Why what was the fact ? A deputation from jthe wades had requested admittance to the Conference , in ihat character ; but in consequence of his opposition , their application was refused , thongh at the same time they were told that either they or Jany other parlies

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    might enter the room and form part of the audience . What had they heard from Griffin 1 He said that he obtained two oopies of the address adopted by the delegates , one of which he sent to the British Statesman . Why did he not send his notes to the Statesman j Here they had the conspiracy developed , bo far as ha was concerned . The Attorney General had said { hat he ( Mr . O'Connor ) was opposed to the strike . The Jury had only to deal with him from the 13 ; h to the 17 th of August 1 hey mast be made perfectly aware of the manner in which a charge of conspiracy could be got at . It would be their duty to look at all the magic with which legal ingenuity bad surrounded this charge of conspiracy . Why , he had thought from the wnich

    pjoture had been drawn by the Attorney-General that he was one of an audience listening to some meio-drainatic performance . He looked for the properties , —he looked for the masks , —he looked f . j 0 / 8 ?? » --1 MJ looked for the blue fire , —he look&d tor the torches , the bayonets , and the pistols , by which this conspiracy'to upset the Government was to be carried out . Horrible conspirators 1 Why , it was absolutel y true that he bad travelled by night , in a train , with three hundred other persons . He then went in a cab by himself , because nobody happened to : be going his way—( laughter . ) He left at half-past five o ' clock in the morning , because that was the time . theitrain started ( laughter . ) He left his own house—he got to the

    Eustou-square station , and as he passed under the tunnels , he thought he heard amidst the rumbling of the wheels , the echo of the conspirators voice ringing in his ears —( A laugh . ) He arrived at the scene where the conspiracy was first to be hatched . He went to bed at six o ' clock in the morning , and he never awoke till three o'clock in the afternoon . On going to Noblett ' s house , ho so concealed himself in a cab that all the people came to see and flock round him —( Laughter . ) They knew from the appearance of the cab , and the smell of brimstone , that there was a very conspirator within it The wheels knocked blue fire out of the stones , and in the midst of the glare might be seen— 11 Peterloo—Hunt ' s

    Monumentstrike for wages—tumultuous meetings—riots—turnout the hands , and carry the Charter by tumult and violence ! " —( laughter ) . He passed down to the Sherwood Inn because he was sent for . Why ? to ascertain whether he would go to a tea-party , which was to be held in one of the most public parts of Manchester . A crowd gathered round . He requested them to disperse in order that it might not be said that he had done anything calculated to lead to a breach of the peace . Thus they would see that his first appearanoe produced a crowd . What did he do ? He drove to the house of Mr . Scholefield , . one of the defendants , whom he had known for eight year ? . Why did he go there 1 Because he had not heard that the meeting which

    was announoed to be holden that very day , had been put off , and when he reached the house , he found that Mr . Soholefield had completed the good work before him . He had not remained long , before Mr . Scholefield came from the printer ' s with a bill . He was now stripping this indictment of its technicalities . He was now showing them in what manner they were going to carry on a conspiracy . Mr . Scholefield showed him the bill . He grasped his hand and Baid , " thank God . " He told Mr . Scholefield that if he had known this , he need not have come at all . But after having been elected two months before for a specific purpose , he thought that if be had refused to attend , his motives migbt have been misconstrued , and , therefore , he was

    determined to appear , and throw his weight , such as it was , into the scale , and to use the best meaas he was capable of employing , to turn this from a disastrous strike into a peaceful strike for the Charter . Well ; then he was seen no more till the 17 th of August . In the meantime circumstances had arisen which called for their interference as a political party , bnt they were not to be found guilty ot that . If be had too much popularity , let them find him guilty of that . If the party to which he belonged , had no right to interfere , let thorn say so ; but let it be general , — that no other political party ia the state should interfere . The conspirators mut , and they remained in conclave for four hours , conspiring against the

    peace of the country . What did they do ! They passed an address , and they passed a resolntion . What was the character of that resolution ? Why , it pledged the delegates that they should continue the struggle until the Charter became the law of the land . Straggle ! said the Attorney-General . What did that mean ! Why , what did an eleotioii struggle mean ? What did any political struggle mean i What did they mean by a struggle on any question in the House of Commons ? Did it mean that parties should catch each other by the throat and strangle each other ! No . It meant that they were to unite and stand together . This all-important resolution , —this damning resolution , —this dark-lantern resolution , — what did it refer to ? To have the Charter then ?

    Not a word about it . What they meant was to continue the struggle for the Charter—not for the strike—until it beoamo the law of tho land . But then , said the Attorney-General—" Tumults and riot are not legal . You have a right to contend , if you contend peaceably , but not by tumultuous meetings . " There was no one in that Court more anxious to have a proper definition of the law on all matters connected with agitation , and with meetings , and with politics of every description , than he was himself . Nor did he think he could produce to the Jury a higher authority than the Learned Attorney-General himself as to what constituted a tumultuous meeting . He ( Mr . O'Connor ) did not ask them to take the law from

    him . He had attended more public meetings than any man living , or than any man that ever lived before him , and he was never yet charged witJi committing a single breach of the peace . On the contrary , he had often prevented it . Tho Jury should hear what was the opinion of the Attorney-General as to what constituted a tumultuous meeting . In addressing the court at Newport , in an important case , this was the opinion of the Attorney-General on that branch Of the law . The Learned Gentleman said " Gentlemen , tho law c&nnot be altered by the conduct of those who are called upon to obey it ; aud I make that admission to my Lords upoa the bench , because , in the few remarks that I am about to make upon this part of the cast ) , 1 do not mean to

    say that any change of the law has occurred by reason of the relaxed discipline of society that has prevailed for same time past . But 1 do mean to say this distinctly , that from what has actually taken place , from that which has been permitted ^ perhaps , Gentlemen , in some instances even sanctioned , a very different estimation is to be held of public meetings , ay , gentlemen , and even of armed meetings , from that which might have been formed some twenty or thirty years ago , and that the objeot aud the intention of the parties may justly receive at the close of the year J 839 , a construction far more favourable than , perhaps , could fairly have been conceded in earlier periods of the history of this country , that you aud 1 are familiar with :

    for 1 do not go back to very remote penodB . This was the opinion of the Attorney General , explicitly laid down as to what constituted a tumultuons meeting . Now , the Learned Attorney General was at that time engaged in a proceeding 'which he might well suppose would go through the length and breadth of the land , and as if to give time to public meetings and strengthen their character , the Learned Gentleman went through the details of a large public meeting of no fewer than 200 , 000 persons , in London , and then addressing the Jury in the case to which be ( Mr . O'Connor ) had referred , he said , "Gentlemen , under the name of " agitation , what has not been done almost in every town and in every

    " corner of this kingdom ? ' And if we pass—and , gentlemen , 1 shall do this lightly , because 1 do it reluctantly—if we pasa for one moment , and take a glance at the sister kingdom , there familiarly we hear talk of a petition from 500 , 000 fighting men . Gentlemen , 1 say no more upon this point , but 1 call Upon you to remember these transactions when you come to deliver your verdict on the guilt or the innocence of the prisoner . And let it be understood that so far as permission , if hot actual encouragement has been afforded to such proceedings , that it would be most unjust to use the same measure that was formerly in use as to the motives of parties . It would not be justice to weigh in the same scales as were . formerly used the

    transactions about which you are making inquiry to-day . " The Attorney-General told the Jury , at Monmouth , that the Reform Bill had altered the character ot the constitution . They had heard of a petition from 500 , 000 men in the Sister Kingdom ; but they were not to look upon that as a tumultuous meeting . True , it was , that the ponal code had beenrelaxed . but the political code had been contemporaneously made more stringent . The Attorney-General charged the defendants with attempting to upset the constitution and to change the law , by tumultuous meetings . Let them see whether ihis did not come late and with a bad grace . Let them see if , independently of what they learnt from the acquittal of Wild ; there was any thing more lurking at the bottom of thi 9 trial . Toe Jury had ! roefiiTea evidence insre , but there were other sources from which they had received it as ¦ well . They took the law from the legislature ;; Were they not bound in

    a transaction of this kind to defer with respect to such high authority as the Iiofdftand Commons 1 Let them see what was the opinion entertained there as to the origin of the late occurrences . He would give thea some of the best names , and the highest authority of this or any other country . He would give them the name of the most finished ; man , taking him all in all , of which England could now boast . He ( Mr . . O'Connor ) differed with him in politics , bat a man with each a mechanical head , with such combination and power of mind , as Lord Brougham , there was not ; another , fMr . O'Connor here alluded to a recent speech of the Noble and Learned Lord , in which his Lordship expressed an earnest hope that the proceedings ot the anti-Gorn League might be elicited at the now pending trials . ] Some persons had sought to make Lord Brougham appear a madman . Would that he ( Mr . O'Cdnnor ) were such an one . Now , let them see whether the House of Lords aud the House of Commons agreed

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    » n one thing . But before he did that , and io show what misrepresentations issued fr ; om the prv 9 s , he would just say that he had the unqualified contradiction of the Attorney-General to a statement wWcb had appeared in the newspapers , that he was coming down to Lancaster to prosecute the leading offender . The Learned Gentleman assured him that he had never used those words at all , and that he had been grossly misrepresented . Now as to the late disturbances , what did they find 1 Lord Stanhope congratulated the country on the little damage occasioned to property and life . Lord Brougham charged the League with being the cause of ihe disturbances . Mr . Walter charged the Poor Law with being the cause . Mr . Cobden charged the landlords with

    being the cause , Lord Francis Egerton charged the League with being the cause , and other persons had charged it Upon the Conservatives . Here , then , were six parties . The House of Lords and the House of Commons charged five parties ) with being the onginatorB of the disturbances , land nobody had charged it against the Chartists but the Attorney-General . But there was something extraordinary in this most extraordinary case . The gentleman who had got up this prosecution , reminded him of an old sporting friend . He had a very fine hunter , which required a saddle wide in the gullej , full in the seat , and comfortable to ride upon . The horse died ; aud he was so good that the hunting \ gentleman went down into the market with the saddle to find another

    horse ihat it would fit . So it was ivitk the gentleman who had got up this ( prosecution . He went down into the manufacturing districts , with his saddle to find who it would fit 1 He tried it upon the League ; but finding that the Chartists had the broadest shoulders , and that they were wide in the gullet , he placed the saddle jupon their backs and girthed it fast about them —( laughter ) . Now , this case had been before thu magistrates before the Crown Geutlemen undertook to bring it before a jury . The magistrates , who were most interested in the preservation of the peace , brought evidence to substantiate the case before themselves , What was the fact now ? Why , the Crow n Gentlemen had adopted the sliding scaleand : they had got an

    , entirely new batch of witnesses , save and except the Siamese youths . The conspirators were charged with having carried a resolution : It spoke of a 11 struggle . " What a struggle the Lbarned Attorney-General and his party must have had against the Whigs for the last ten years ; and , what a struggle they should have for the next ted years to come , if he ( Mr . O'Connor ) was blessed with health and strength to direct it . But , mark . jnot by violence . He was not a conspirator , and never had been ; and , what wa 8 moat extraordinary , after all the pillaging and ransacking , and breaking into houses without search-warrants , not a line hid been found which could , jfx the slightest degree affect the " great conspirator . " There was the red

    box of patches , picked up here and there , and which he would recommend the Crown to send to the Chinese exhibition . ( Laughter . ) Why had tney not found anything against him ? Because he never was a conspirator , and he nbver wrote a private political letter to auy man in all his life . What did the resolution do , about ! which they had beard so much ? It approved off those who were turned out of work remaining so till they got the wages that they had turned out for . i Then they came to speak of as address . The Attorney-General said that this resolution recognised the Executive address . What if it did ? They might recognise anything . Lord Chatham approved of the defection of America , and of the separation of America

    from the mother country . Was that conspiracy ? But it wa 3 said that they were accessories after the fact , in the riots . He wished that they had got some better definition of the law . He !( Mr . O'Connor ) did not understand what an accomplice after a tumult meant ? Did the Attorney-General mean to gay that if a man went to a riot or a fight , and that two days af ter the riot he told-another that he took part himself , or that he saw others do so , aid that make him an accessory ? It was no wonder that he should be a Conspirator if by that was meant an approval of what was right . He now came to an important fact—the trades' resolutions . They were passed in the face of the Magistrates . What part had the trades taken

    in this transaction 1 Wby , they were to come out and join in the struggle for the Charter . He believed that the Attorney General would not deny this fact , that every man in this conspiracy , as it was termed , must have contributed to the same extent . The Jury would remember that the Attorney-General bad examined Cartledge at some length—Griffin not at so great a . { length . Why ? Because Cartledg © was not sworn to one word contained in ^ his depositions . Tho lAUornoy-General was afraid of testing Griffin ' s memory too muoh . Tno very man who appeared before the magistrates to support the weight of the case , had left the witness box without proving anything at a ' l except what made { or the defendants . What

    did the evidence of these two men amount to ? It was all in favour of the defendants . The Crown could not get over it . If thoy took their evidence against him , they must also take it for him . What did Cartle'Jge Bay 1 He admitted that he had attended hundreds of meetings at which he ( Mr . O'Connor ) had epoken , and that ho novcr hoard him utter one word at variance with the duty of a good subject . Griffin declared the same thing . He would ask the Jury could Griffin's notes tell against him , when Griffin himself had told them that concerning him there was nothing against him . But it was said that he had been seen in company with Dr . M'Douall . A very natural consequence . They were delegated for the same purpose ; and in speaking of delegates , the

    Jury should bear in mind that Leach was no delegate at all . He merely formed one of the audience ; and Railton , who was one of those | who composed thetraces'deputationabd who wasrefusedadmittance in that character , was there as a defendant . He now came to speak of the Executive address , which they had declared to be a " bold and manly address . " In the year 1843 , was he to be convicted jof that ! Was it an offence ^ fit common law 1 Wa 3 he to be convicted for saying that this was a boldiaud manly address ? If he wished to go further ; might he net have adopted the address ? But the truth was , that he had nothing whatever to do with it . He was in no way connected with it . Now , let them see what had been done at the Conference beyond what had

    been given iu evidence . How were ] they to learn that ? By conjecture , and that only . Failing in getting at the truth from Griffin , he was compelled to do that which the Crovfn on ^ ht to have done , and to make patch work of it . They founji that he ( Mr . O'Conuor ) had done nothing , and , therefore , they had indicted him for a riot , and put him ia all descriptions of counts , as they called them , for the purpose of reaching him under some of them . Thoy oould not prove him to be a party to any riot , or tumult , or conspiracy . He defied them to do it with truth , j Now , the address of the Conference being founded upon the tradea' resolutions , the Jury would [ probably ask why thoy were not in Court . That y ? as a question which they must individnally ask themselves . They

    were not there . Now , they had it from all the witnesses , and let the Jury bear in mind that the crown could not get over it ; every witness for the four first days proved this vital faot , which the Attorney-General , or rather he would say the prosecution , did not see the drift of—namely , that v «; hfcn they weTe asked to the time when violence ceased , and when peace was restored , they swore , without distinction , that about the 20 th of August tranquillity was restored . The Northern Star of the 20 th of August , reported the meeting of Conference , and from that day , peace was restored , and the conspirators had done their work . That was something that the Attorney-General could not get over . What was conspiracy 1 It implied secrecy . What was the

    charge against the defendants ? Secrecy ! What was their proof 1 Publication . This ! was odd . If the Attorney-General meant to charge them with conspiracy , he might have put a thousand in the indictment . Suppose a man committed a very bad not , and suppose that he directed attention to it , and eaid io was a bold and manly act I What then . Suppose a man met another on the highway and knocked out his brains , should he be called an accessory because he f aid it was a bold and manly act I But apart from these technicalities , in what position did ho stand . He had been held up as a conspirator , but he had achieved the character of a peace maker , and the Attorney-General had given him credit for it . He had it so full and so plump ,

    that for the last day or two they could sot contradict it . The Crown finding what his motives were , and seeing what he had been driving at , ] Baid ; " This won ' c do . " The Attorney-General had borne testimony to bis character . Bat then it was eaid that the tumult lasted for four weeks afler the begining of August . What had been ] done ? They had brought a new batch of fifteen witnessess . Now let them see how the Attorney-General had proved this charge of conspiracy . The witness Hildyard saw him ( Mr . O'Connor ) at Mr . Scholefield ' s house , at nine o ' clock in the morning . He was ordered to go there , because he was told there j was to be a secret meeting . Secret meeting ! Why , the trades were routed—dispersed , and on the samo day , this policeman was sent to the spot where the conspirators were to have met . Did he , report this to the authorities ! He was sent to watch Mr . O'Cdnnor . Then

    he was able to report to the magistrates wbere he was . Had they any symptoms of the fact that he did report tofthe magistrates where the grand conspirator of all was , conspiring for the destruction of all the property of . the country ! Destruction of property ! What said men of all parties ? They eaid that it made them more rejoiced than ever in the name of Englishmen , to see that the people had so much power in their hands , and yet that they used it so mildly . What said the Lords and the Com moos , repeated , and reechoed through the press 1 Why , that there could have been no conspiracy on the part of the working olasses , because they seemed to have had so high a veneration for property and fox life . It waa on record that many parlies who were actually starving went among those whom , they thought were ttkeiy to commit a breaob of the peace , m order to prevent it . Why they bad this fact indisputably proved . This indictment was laid in cantmuendo . The de-

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    fendants had no power to justify—no power to prove an alibi . It was laid as never had indictment been laid before . ' If the defendants had been indicted each for some specific offence , tney might have established an a / ifo , and justified . But here they were all mixed up all together , in this all-embracing indictment . He would call their attention for a moment io the manner in which these disturbances commenced in Manchester . The men in Messrs , Bailey ' s mill turned out . They were told in point of fact that u they might go and play for a month . " They were seen at the head of every procession . They turned out others , and here was the commencement of all the outbreaks and revolutions which the learned Attorney-General had coDjuredapbefora

    them . The jury had heard Pilling '* address . He ( Mr . O'Connor ) wished ' ihat lie had not heard it . He wished that tho Court had not heard it . The picture which Pilling had drawn was the case of thousands and tens of thousands , who had themselves become conspirators , for the purpose of keeping up their own labour . They had the defendants before them . They had seeu their demeanour . They had heard their defences . Oat of so many speeches , the jury must have discovered what was ingenuous and what was disingenuous . He had extracted from some of the witnesses a good character for them , and yet they were not obliged to him for it . The jury , wguld see whether , out of the lump , they could pioauce the ' truth . Allusion had beeu made to the charge of Lord Chief

    Justice Tindal , at Stafford . He had very properlymade the distinction between a mountebank and a zealous politician . He had toid the country that if a man expressed his opinions zealously , and in language that did not pass the prescribed limits of tha law , yet his opinions ' . were to be respected . Chief Justice Tindal did not tell the people that they were to respect what was illegal , but that the opinions of a man , however war my they might be avowed , if they did not absolutely go beyond the law , were to be honoured as the conscientious con-Tictions of the man who uttered them . He ( Mr . O'Connor ) had attended more public meetings for

    the last ten years than any other man living and if he was asked which party in the country had been the most violent , he might be disposed to allude to one whose writings and speeches were prominently before the public ; but as his object was not to make out a case of prosecution against any party or any body of men , he Bhould abstain from any further reference to such a topic . It was enough that he answered for himself . He bad had the honour of sitting for three years in the House of Commons , by the side of the Attorney-General , and , during that period , he was as zealous a politician as ever entered the House . He had been out of tho

    House of Commons for nearly seven years , and during that period , he had spent £ 12 , 000 of his own money in advocating this } cause . And , now , how consolatory it must be to him—how he must rpjoiee that in a Court of Justice ^—in the presence of those who knew him best—who knew all the transactions of his life , that he had an opportunity of giving a triumphant refutation of the paltry aspersions of those who had insinuated that he was induced to pursue this course , and to give an impulse to this cause , from some personal benefit he expected to derive . He asserted , without fear of a > denial from any quarter whatever , that he had never received a fraction of a farthing for any public services he had rendered from the day he was born .

    He had never even travelled at the expence of th ) Charust body . He had never defended himself at their expensA . He had never received a farthing of their money . On the contrary , he had paid hundreds of pounds to their funds . Nay , so delicate bad he always been on this point that he had uniformly made a practice of paying for his own ticket of admission to any public demonstration of the Chartist body . So far from making money of that extraordinary golden thingthe Northern Star , he went to it a rich man , aud it had left him a poor man . He bad spent a fortune in the advocacy of the Charter , and yet he was represented as a political trafficker , and that he had established thQ'Northern Star , as a means by which

    to excite the people , in order to make it a medium of pecuniary profit to himself . He had got witnc : sos from Ireland , who had known him all his life . The Jury Bhould hear those who had known him from his childhood ; and they would then discover that , years before he established the Northern Star , he did that in theory which he now made his practice They should not find him guilty of lip service . They should fiad that . he had paid as much as £ 20 a-week for the support of the friends of those who were suffering from prosecutions of this kind . If he had been a person , who , from pliancy of disposition and principle , had consented to make merchandize of his political principles , he might have £ 10 , 000 for his purchase , but as he had scorned to be bought

    so he declared to God that he would never sell his principles to any party whatever . A trafficking politician I Why , such was the pecuniary gain which fee had derived from the agitation that he had cut down a thousand pounds worth of timber from his own estate to meet the demands which his defence of the Charter had brought upon him . Besides this , he bad sold aa estate bringing him in £ 350 a-ycar , all paid down . He had been engaged in thirteen contested elections , and he nevecreccived a farthing from any committee , or from any other source , to enable him to carry out his principles . This was long before he became connected with the Northern Star . The jury might think this unimportant , but they would see that he

    was establishing his character ; and this to him was the more important , seeing the manner in which he had been held up by those who , having no principle of their own , were ever ready to impute dishonesty to others . No—it was not from the poor Chartists that he ever looked for asy remuneration for all the labour and the sacrifices he had made in their cause . He had never taken pence from the Chartist Defence Fund . In 1839 , they owed him £ 280 on that account . To show that this had invariably been th © case , he would state that he advanced £ 1 , 000 , when Mr . Frost was tried , before & single penny had bean subscribed by the Chartist body . He had never allowed a single Chartist to be tried without giving him an opportunity of testing his principles . So

    much for that . . Thenthey had heard of his popularity . Let them find him guilty of that if they pleased . With all his popularity where was his offence ? Where was his name mentioned , except by the crack man , Grifiia . Letters had been produced , but not one word in any of them of the " grand conspirator . " No letter had been found from him —no act emanating from him to show a conspiracy . The Attorney-General was going to prosecute them , &b the acquital of Wild would show , for advocating the Chatter . A new question would arise here as to whether or no they were to take the law , and the legality of principles from so high an authority aa the Attorney-General ; and it would also be a question whether or no , the

    Attorney-General was to declare those principles legal at Monmouth , which he came to Lancaster to make the subject ef a criminal prosecution . Let them see what this high authority was . Here they would have laid down what the law was , ana how far the law justified them in going . This told them whether or not the agitation of their principles were legal . He ( Mr . O'Connor ) thought , after hearing what he was going to quote , the Jnry would say that the Attorney-General was a good ' Chartist—( laughter . ) In his defence of Mr . FroEt , the Learned Gentleman said" he became a Chartist , and , in common with many others , he adopted the opinions that are supposed to belong to that body of men . Gentlemen , I hardly know what is meant by a Chartist . One of the

    witnesses on the present occasion , spoke of five articles ; but what the fire articles were did not transpire . But the little that one picks up from the intimations of the newspapers on the subject , would induce me to suppose tha ; they carried their views of Reform far far beyond the Reform Bill introduced by Lord Grey's administration , and that they ardently' desire to establish Universal Suffrage , Vote by Ballot , Annual Parliaments , No Property Qualification , and , according to some statements , that they look forward to a better distribution of property . Gentlemen , with respeot to the first four of these matters , I , tor one , do Dot agree in any respect with the Chartiats ; but , I believe , upon these subjects their opinions are entertained by many

    Members of Parliament of undoubted respectability and honour , and considerable talent . If what I have heard upon the subject be true , many names have been subscribed to a document , tho avowed object of which is to frame what is called the Charter of the People , by " expounding the principles on which it is to rest . Gentlemen , I have abstained , t hope , from naming any person unconnected with thin case . I mean to adhere rigidly to this , and to give no offence to any absent person , asd not to us © the privilege that I have , I ought also , perhaps , to say the duty I have , of addressing you , so as to create any feeling of pain in any quarter whatever ; and I am sure that I best fulfil my duty to Mr . Frost , and most to bis entire satisfaction , if I refrain from making any remarks upoa any oua th « t can create a moment ' s pain , in respect of any past conduct or transaction . These Chartists , however , it must be admitted , stand at present precisely in the relation

    to ihe present Constitution as established in the year 1832 , in which the advocates for" Reform stood in relation to the old Constitution that was remodelled by the Reform Bill ; and however differing from those who are called Chartists in opinion , I mast do them the justice to say , thaVChartism ^ is not Treason , nor the public assertion of it , rebellion j and I must go farther and say , that although I trust never to live to see the day , and I trust no one in whom I take an interest will ev ? r live to see that day ( fatal as I think it would be to the happiness , the prosperity , and the well-being of this country ) when the principles shall be established ; yet I must say , that if at any time it should become " the confirmed opinion of the large mass of intelligence and of numbers—of the strength and sinews of tho community—if the intelligence that eontrouls that etrengih should finally determine to adopt the Chartist code , doubtless adopted it will be , as the Reform Bill was , and mere wealth would struggle against it , ia my opinion , in vain . ' * { Concluded in our third page . )

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    «TEM NORTHERN STAR ^ ¦ ~^ ; ~ ; ¦ ¦ ¦ •¦ ¦ ¦ ~ . w i I t )

• Citation
  • Northern Star (1837-1852), March 11, 1843, page 5, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/ns/issues/vm2-ncseproduct793/page/5/