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Northern Star (1837-1852), 13th March 1841, Edition 5 of 5, Page 4, Untitled Article

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    • jforeixn ant* ©omfsttcSnttflisntt*.
    • THE NOETHEEN STAR. SATURDAY, MARCH 13, 1841.
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      Untitled Article

      CHINA , —We learn , from the express recently received , tkat in China nothing decisive in the way Of negotiation had yet taken place , though , after Borne delay , th * preliminaries had been begun . The Imperial Commissioner , Kesben , arrived at Canton , od November 29 , and it was stated , -when the . ad-Tices left , that he was about to establish himself at Macao , for the purpose of entering upon affaire . Previous to his arrival , a flag of trnce had been fired n by the Chinese in the Bogus fort , but this was ubsequently explained away and apologised for . The most material feature , however , in the news from Canton , ia the resignation of Admiral Elliot , on the

      plea of ill-health , fle shifted bis fug from the Mel-Tille to the Volage on the 29 m of November , and ailed immediately for Singapore , leaving the command of the fleet to Commodore Sir J . G . Bremer , Mad the negotiation of affairs ia the hands of Capt . Eliiot . The squadron at the mouth of the Canton liver amounted to eleven ships of war , besides steamers and store-ships ; the remainder of the fleet , under Captain F . Bourchier , were at Chusan . The troops there were still suffering from sickness , biff not hi so great a degree as had previously been the ease , thongh few of them could be looked upon o fit for serrice . Mr . Stanton hid been released . The Admiral left Singapore for England on the 20 th bf December .

      INDIA . —India was comparatively tranquil , according to the new 3 received by tfle recant expresses , Nusseer Khan and the contumacious Beloocbes were suing for peace . In Afghanistan , however , the Dooranees , spon whom Snah Soojah had mainly looked for support , and revolted . One writer says ^ " the whole country has risen . " Tne widow of Knrrukh S . ygh ( and not Nao Nehal Sinsja , as she was at first supposed to be ) had obtained undivided possession of the throne of Lahore , as Regent , and was in close leagne with the illegitimate son of Runjeet Singh . Nepal is Btill conadered to be disaffected .

      EGYPT . —The Eastern question is once more msettled . The firmans conveying to Mehemet Ali the hereditary government of Egypt arrived at Alexandria on the -20-h . Among the more stringent conditions , tbe P& 3 ha ii required to limit his army to 20 , < r tW men , of Whom 18 , 000 are to be in Egypt and 2 , 000 in Constantinople ; he is called upon to pay three years' tribute ; he is restricted from anointing any officer in Egypt above a certain rank , which is considered equivalent to the rank o : Adjutant-Major : and the Sultan is to choose the

      Pasha's successor from Among his descendants , the Pasbalic not being seenred to the direct line . To the two last conditions Mehemet Ali had peremptorily refused his assent ; appealing to Commodore . Napier and the good faith of England for support . Napier is said to have concurred in disapproving of the conditions ; and he remained at Alexandria , when the latest accounts left , on the 2 < 4 ; b , to attempt -a settlement of theldifference . —Ibrahim Pasha had proceeded to Damietta . Great complaint is made of the obstructions ¦ which General Jochnms had offered to the retreat of Ibrahim ' s army .

      X 72 TZTSD STATUS . —A rumour prevails of preparations maim 2 by Lord Palmerston to enforce the liber&aon of Mr . M'Leod , still in confinement in the United States . Ten Bail of the line are said to hare been ordered to assemble at Gibraltar , and thence to proceed direct to the American coast , prepared to act in case of emergency . Lord Palznersum is said to have sent instructions to Mr . Fox , our Ambassador at Washington , to demand peremptorily the immediate release of Mr . M'Leod . looming Advertiser . Tiiis Ktsonrcioxs offered to the Honse of Representatives of the State of Maine , on the subject of repelling what is styled " Bri&sh aggression , ' were taken up by the Senate op the 13 : h ult ., and ,. after having been amended bv inserting 1 , 000 , 000 collars instead of 400 , 000 dollars for the defence of the State , were refecred to the Boundary Committee . Mr . Davis then offered the following resolution , which was referred to the same Committee : —

      " Resolve for repelling foreign invasion , and pro-Tiding for the protection of the Slate , " Be it resolv&d , That the President of the United Stales be requested and urged to cause the immediate removal of the fore ^ R armed force by which our State is invaded , stationed upon the upper valley of the St . John ' s , and that the Government of the United States be earnestly invoked to relieve this State from the present heavy needless burden of its own defence . " The following resolutions wers also offered and referred to the same Committee : —

      " Whereas the State of Maine is now suffering the disgrace of unresisted British invasion , begun In 1839 , repeated in 1840 , and continued up to this hour , is violation of the most solemn stipulations , cud whereas we have no faith in the efficacy of negotiations with a power which has so repeatedly disregarded its deliberate pledges , and believe that further forbearance on our part to assert tht rights and vindicate the honour of our State will pro-re as unavailing » s it will certainly prove humiliating—Therefore .

      . . , „ . .... ** . Resolved , That the Governor be authorised to take immediate measures to remove the troops of the Q , aeen of Great Britain , now quartered on the territory called disputed by the British Government , bat by the treaty of 1783 , by the resolutions of boih Houses of Congress passed in 1838 , and by repeated resolves of the Legislature of Maine , cleariy aud unequivocally a part of the rightful soil of this State . "

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      "Wreck of thb Rbhoiss I ^ duhas . —FALjtorrH , Sunday . —The Leeds steamer , which came in from Gibraltar yesurday , and takes this letter , at 2 pjn ., brings the disastrous news of a large lndiamaD , the Heroine , having been wrecked off Cape Spartel , with a considerable loss of life . Tie Gibraltar -Chronicle of the 23 d says— " On the night of Sunday , the 14 th inst ., the British Indiaman Heroine , from China bound to Lone on , "was totally lost near Azyla . not far from Cape SparteL Out of sixty persons on board , about thirty-four are believed to have perished , principally ' Lascars . '' __ „„„ . _„ . _ !—At Guildhall

      The Devil ' s Lat Agais , 0 B Saturday , tWO young women , named Ann Weeks amd Sarah HaJl , 'Were brought before Sir Chapmi Marshall , charged with coznmisting wilful damage at the "West London "Union-house . Mr . Miller , the Relieving Officer , stated that the prisoners had been received into the refuge for casual poor belonging to distant parishes ou i riday night , and on the following morning they had attacked the windows , and demolished tix panes . The tasualities were becoming so numerous and troublesome , that it was difficult to manage them . They had demolished ail the windows of the building they were placed in . smashed the gas lamp , dettroyed the stove , and committed other mischief . Some of them adinitved they coveted the better diet of the gaol ? , and would say , " Why do you keep us here 1 ' Why don ' t you give as in charge , aud ^ end

      us to Bridewell . " Tae applicants tor aAimissien to Ike retage now amounted to fifty per tught . Sir Chapman Marshall arked the prisoners where they came from , aud why they broke the windows ? One said she came from Rochford , in Essex , and the ether from Cheshire . They broke the windows , because-they could get no other relief than a small quantity of dry bread , and on the day before haii been denied even that . Mr . Miller adoiitted the allowance was only a certain Weight of bread , but be could answer for it that if they slept at the Refhge ou Thursday night they were offered some bread on Friday morning . Sir C . Marshall said it was true that Bridewell was not a place of punishment , as compared with the Union ; bat he mu ^ t enforce the law as he found it , and he , therefore , committed the prisoners to BrideweJ for two months .

      C&veltt of a Mothks to hfb . Child . —A woman , named A&n Moore , about forty } eara of age , and ol very repulsive appearance , waa charged w . th crueity to her iUegitisaft child , a little girl , ei ^ ht years of age . Tie race aod head of tne poor girl were dreadfully disfigured and wouiided . Uue eye was quite closed , and bruises and cms were ali about her head ; her mother had used bjth tongs and knife in producing the injuries . The inhuman parent was committed to take her trial for cutting and wounding , with intent to do some grievous boaily harm . Tss Libkeator— Aias ! poor I > an ! and ha 3 it eome to this p * bs , that he who threatened to inrade our Chartist camp wj ih 500 , » oO of the fine ** pisantry , " has fled into an obscure corner to spout his blarney ! Has the right arm of Wbiggery become go weak

      as to be only stretched forth amid a small squad of ha half-siaryed aud benighted countrymen } So it appears ; for Dan feit very desirouB to meet the Repeal era ou Sunday evening , at the Assembly Boom , Theobald ' s Road , London . The fears ot the CConnellices prompted them to be as qaiet as possible in announcing the above , which was only eone fey sending notice to the various districts located by Irishmen , and very small handbills ii 4 he holes and corner * . On each siae of the entrance t « tiie room , a number of the a pisautry" were mareaaUed , ready , in their labouring * uiu , to eject any unfortunate wight who ayjhi happen to evince -any disapprobation , while listening to the trash put forth by the trickster . After some time beyond that a » p © inted for the coamenctnaeat of proceedings ,

      a abort at ike doer seemed t * be the signal of the approaek « f the juggler . Not so ; Dan wa » too koowiflf for that . Anxious for his safety , he tent -one of his jfturseynen traffickers in mock liberty to try the ground , wno , seeing- things pretty fair among ¦ th e few-countrymen assembled , the aide-de-camp , Tost Steele , immediately communicated with his General , who in about half an hour after arrived in a hackney-coach , preceded by his messenger in a cab , I > an then treated his little auditory with one of his thousand-times-repeated speeches , with this addition : he challfcngwd the Chartists to appoint twenty of their parry , aud alkw him to choose twenty for himself , to form a Jury to examine hie conduct on the charges brou&ht again 3 t him ! !! Bra to J . Daa . But hare you sot registered a row in heaven ! Yon know yoa would make yourself Bcarce *

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      The Legislature of Maine has Toted a sum o money for the purpose of " removing the troops of the Q , aeen of Great Britain from the territory called ' disputed' by the British Government . " Ths Fbisce of Moscowa , the son of Marshal Key , was admitted a member of the French Chamber of Peers on Saturday . The Prince , before taking the oath , intended to eater into a protest against the sentence of his father , but was silenced by the President . GovBEJOtETT intend immediately to do away with army agents , and the paymasters of regiments will in future communicate direct with the paymas-Jer-general . A saving of £ 24 , 0 b 0 per annum will be made by this ; the Irish agents will first be got rid of , and the English ones will soon follow . — Hampshire Telegraph .

      A New Thick in Tbadk . —Aa a clever contrivance ought not always to remain a secret , it may be well to publish the following mode of obtaining labour very cheaply indeed . The plan i 3 , to engage a shop assistant , agree upon terms . &c . in » liberal way , bnt to stipulate for one month ' s services , without salary , as a trial ; then , at the end of the month , to find a little fanlt , or pick a quarrel and part . In this way twenty assistants may be had in as many months , without paying any wages whatever , and if this is not cheap labour we know not what is . When we think of the rapacity which originates this robbery of the industrious , and the deferred hopes , and the heart-breaking disappointments to which it leads , the utmost indignation of the public seems too gentle a punishment for the unprincipled perpetrators of s « ch a system . Our brother editors should notice this , as a caution to applicants for situations . Employ era ought to have characters as well as servants . —Liverpool A loion .

      Phiktees' Apprentices . —At Marylebone policeoffice , on Satnrday , Mr . Isaac Chapman , a printer , employing a great number of workmen , at his residence , 103 , Star-street , Paddington , attended before Mr . Hardwick , on a summons obtained against him by Thomas Lockley , one of his apprentices , for refusing to continue to employ him . It appeared that the complainant was receiving from his master for his services 133 . per week . The task of drawing a truck had been imposed upon the youth , and he had objected to do it , which caused his master to refuse to employ him . The magistrate decided that it was no part of the business of the apprentice , as it was both au inconvenient and dangerous practice , as many accidents miiiht arise therefrom in the public streets .

      Mkbbt , Fat , and " Drifting . "—A very laughable scene took place on Saturday evening last , at a place called Lane ' s Pool , in Chadderton , near Manchester . A party of Latter Day Saints , headed by their preacher , went to the above place for the purpose of" dipping" a woman , whose weight could not be much less than eleven score . The minister , wishing to be very cautious with such a weighty enstomer , tied a large shawl round her waist , so as to have a firmer hold of her . He than gave her a souce in the water , but she , being the keaviest of the two , pulled his worship in with her ; and bad it not been for the timely assistance of the crowd , both would most likely have been drowned , the pool being deeper than they expected .

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      FB 0 M 0 UB L 0 . ND 0 X CORBESPOSDKJfT . Metropolitan Petitiou Committee . —It i 3 not so generally known as it ought to be , that there is in the metropolis , a " Petition Committee , " consisting of the following delegates : —Messrs . Robert Southcombe and Armstrong Walton , for the City and Liberty of Westminster ; Mr . John Rose , for Bermondsey and Wandsworth ; Mr . Samuel Ford , for Kensington ; Mr . John Simpson , for Walworth and Camberwell ; Mr . John Murray , for the Borough oi Marylebons ; Mr . John Moy , for the Borough of Lambeth ; Mr . John Mills , for the Borough of the Tower Hamlets ; and Mr . J . W . Parker , ( who if ,

      pro tern ., secretary . ) for the City of London . This Committee have , duriDg the brief period of their labours , got up eighty-eigbt petitions for the Charter ; for Frost , William ? , and Jones ; for Itob-rt Peddie , and for the political victims generally . They have also received one from Worsbrough GommoD , near Barnsley , in farour of Mr . Feargus O'Connor , and the political victims generally . The Committee meets ererj Tuesday evening , at the Dispatch Coffee House , Bride-lane , Fleet-street ; where they are willing to receive charge of petitions in favour of the Charter and the political victims , from all parts of the country , and undertake to Bee them effectively presented .

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      MEANS TO AN END . THE NEW AND OLD PLAXS OF ORGANIZATION OF THE NATIONAL CHARTER ASSOCIATION . We stated , in our last , that the new plan of organization was necessarily less stringently expressed , and , therefore , more open to abuse , by a laxity of discipline , than the old one . The old plan was admirably well conceived , and every way calculated to work well for the concentrating of the cation ' s energies upon any o ^ e point ; but it was too

      good to be capable of subsisting safely under the rascally forms of law which class legislation finds , and deems necessary , for its protection . The points , however , in which the new plan falls short of the full energy of the old one , in expression , are points to be noted by the people , whose good sense and determination will , we have no doubt , fully make , up , by their own practical and individual exertion , for ererj discrepancy in active operation , which might otherwise have existed between the two plans .

      HYe desire to see the new plan universally adopted , because of its consonance with the law ; while , at the same time , we desire that , in active operation , not one jot of the entire efficiency of tha old one should be sacrificed ; vre think that both these object 3 cay be secured , if the people be alive and earnest ; and hence , we purpose to compare the two , to exhibit the discrepancies between them , and to show the people how they may , and must , as individuals , supply all the links of the grand national chain pf firmitude , which the cunning of class legislation lias prevented from being introduced into the actual arrangements of the society .

      We begin , then , "With the General Council , the nomination and election of which Bhould be proceeded with instanter . This General CoudciI appears to us to be merely the substitution of a general designation for the local Councils already in existence . The old plan says : — " Eich principal town , with its suburban villages , shall have a Council of nine persons , including an assistant Treasurer and Secretary . " The new plan says : —

      " Every town or Tillage in which members of this Association shall be rtadent , may Dominate one or more persons as members of the Ocaeral Council ; the nomination to take place erery twelve months—that la to say , on the 1 t day of December in each year ; the . election of such Councillors by all the members of the Aisoclation to be taken on the 1 st day of January next following . " Now here is , in the first instance , an avoidance of what we have observed to be a source of dissatisfaction and . dispnte beforetime , the linking together oi each principal town , with its suburban villages ; by

      the new plan , every village may have its own council , and its own treasurer and secretary , to do its own business and look after its own pence , the officers being , by the mode of their election , officers not for that part only , but for the whole of the Association throughout the kingdom ; while , at the Bame time , no place is bound to nominate officers , unless it be thought necessary to do so , so that as many of the suburban villages as choose to merge their right in the nomination of officers in that of any principal town , may still do so , as at present . The mode oi nomination , we take it , may be precisely that which

      is now adopted for the election of the several local councils , But with this difference only , that the members of the Association attii bear in mind always , that no meetings of any separate part or section of the Association , nor any meetingt of the members of the Association resident in any particular place , as such , eao be ( legally ) holden ; but they may also bear ia xind , that in becoming members of the National Charter Association , they lose art « ne of their previously holden rights , as ciiiaenj and

      Chartists . They have a right to meet in their individual capacity as Chartists ; to interchange their opinions and sentiments upon any subject of discussion ; and , if a difference of opinion arise , to take means for ascertaining how many of them adhere to the oue or to the other side . They can , therefore , thus talk over amongst each other , at their weekly meeting * , ths respectiTe merits of the several candidates for the General Council , and ascertain , by vote or otherwise , which of them may have the greatest number of supporters in that locality , and these will , of course ,

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      be nominated . To make this plain , we will suppose tbe nomination of membera for the » ext General Council to be now taking place , as indeed it ought to be ; the Chartists of Bradford meet in their usual place of resort , on Monday evening ; among other subjects of discussion , the relative merits of nine men who have started as candidates for the General Council , and out of whom seven , axe to be elected , comes upon the carpet ; the people express their opinion upon the matter by vote ; they have a right to do so ; it ia a matter for publio opinion ; and though this expression of publio

      opinion forms no part of the actual operations of the National Charter Association , the sub-secretary , whose duty it is to Dominate the CoBncillors , will , of course , nominate no other persons than those whom public opinion has thus marked out for him . Should he dare to act otherwise , he would ^ in our opinion , prove himself to be utterly unfit ; for bis situation , and we should advise the Association instantly to replace him by a more worthy man . Now , if this plan be carefully adhered to , the nomination of those members of the General

      Council , who may reside in any given locality , will be precisely the same thing as the election of a local Council under the old plan of organization : only the people must bear this in mind , that their weekly meetings , in their several localities , are not meetings of the National Charter Association they are meetings of the Chartiats thereabouts resident in their individual capacity . The business of the officers of the Association is , to watch the current of opinion in their several departments of the Chartist world , and toregul&te their movements

      accord-Whenever , therefore , previous to the election of a General Council , the man , or men , to be put in nomination , have been thus marked for preference , by the expressed opinions of the Chartists in the neighbourhood , the sub-Secretary will , of course , know his duty . He will , at once , nominate that person or those persons ; he will Bend is that nomination to the General Secretary , who , having received all the nominations , thus handed in to him from all tbe sub-Secretaries , will causa them to be printed , and the whole list to be handed in to every sub-Secretary , that the members of the

      Association throughout the whole empire , seeing before them all the persons nominated to form the General Council , may be able , at once , to adopt , or reject , the list . As a matter ol course , tbe members resident in each place will then Bee that their own men—the men whom they had previously marked out , by the expression of their opinions , individually , have been nominated ; they will , of course , know that in every other place the same precautions have been taken as in their own , and wi ll , therefore , proceed at once and , as a thing of course , to the election of the whole list , their own men being right .

      We are anxious to make ourselves distinctly understood on this point , becauso we think it the only one in which any difficulty can arise , or any abuse be perpetrated in the working of the new plan . Suppose , then , tbe list of nominated Councillors to have been Bent by the General Secretary to Brad * ford , the members see on that list the names of their own men , aud they se © also the names of John Thompsox , Robert Jenh ^ s , Timotht Weavkb , John Dixo . n , James Rudge , and Richae » Smith , nominated from Birmingham ; they know nothing

      about these men , and therefor * they know nothing against them ; they take for granted that the Birmingham members know them , or they would not have nominated them , and therefore tbey , of course , elect them along with their own . The same remark applies te every other place . The libts are then returned by the sub-Secretaries to the General Secretary , who publishes forthwith the entire list of the names and residences of all the General Council . The Bub-Treasurers and sub-Secretaries are , as provided by the ninth paragraph of the plan , to be elected at the B&we time , and in the B&me manner . The thing then to be most carefully noted is , that no sub-Secretary Bhall dare to

      nominate anj man as member or the General Council , whom the people have not previously determined , by their voice , to be a fit and proper person to be nominated ; if this be carefully attended to , as it must be , or the plan can never be worked at all , the nomination of the Council will be , in point of fact , its election , and the election afterwards will be a mere formal process ; and we think our readers mnst now see that , if these suggestions be acted on , the nomination of members for tho General Council , from any particular locality , under tbe new plan of organisation , will , as we before faid , amount , in practice , to exactly the same thing as the election of a local Council under the old plan .

      But the people must not forget , that the CUFSed Corresponding Act , makes liable to transportation every member of any society whose members meet and act in separate detachments . They must remember , therefore , that when a number of Chartists resident in Bradford , meet together , it is not a meeting of the National Charter Associatioa , nor is it a meeting of members of the National Charter Association , as such , though there may not be any person present who is not a member of the National Charter Associrtion ; ( that matters not ; a number of persons anight meet

      together , all of whom were Methodists , and yet not meet as Methodists , but as members of a Money Club , or in any other character , nor would the fact of their being all Mtthodissa at all constitute the meeting a Methodist meeting ;) they meet simply as Chartists , and whatever they ao is their own a , ct , as individual Chartists , and not the act of the National Charter Association . The National Charter Association appears only in the persons ot its officers and members , acting in universal concert . This is the most important thing of all , for it is the very thing on which the vaunted illega ' . uy of the old plan hinged , and which , therefore , the people must note specially . We call to it in particular , the attention of all the sub-Secretaries of the National

      Cnarter Association . We Bhall try to bear in mind the provisions of the law upon the subject , whether Others do or not ; our friends will obierye , therefore , that it is to no use Bending us reports , headed " National Chaner Association , " at such aplace , or telling us that the ' ¦ Council"of such a place , met at such a time and did so and eo ; the National Charter Asso ciation has no meetings ; it ? Council has no meetings , save those of the Executive , and general meetings of the whole kingdom , called by the Executive ; all local meetings are , we again repeat , meetings of Chartist 8 , hutno < of the National Charter Association ; if this distinction be attended to the meshes of the law will be avoided ; if not , they will surely be run in : o .

      We have said that the nomination for the General Council should be now goiisg oa ; it can , of course , lake place linmeojaiely ; everyplace will nominate the persons wno now constitute its local Council to be members of the firtt General Coancil of the National Charter Association of Great Britain ; every person who uow acts as a local Secretary will , of course , act as a Bub-Secretary for bringing the new organisation into play ; the nominations will be determined n the very next time that the Chartists

      meet in their several localities , and the sub-Secretaries will instantly make their returns to the General Secretary , ihat tbe list of Councillors ¦ ay be published in time for the election of the Ixecuthe Committee , on the first of April . Every return must be in the hands of the Provisional Secretary , at Manchester , at the latest , by the ead of next week , bo that he may have the whole arr&ug'd for publication , by Tuesday night , ¦ n which case they shall appear in the Slar of next week , which will carry them to all tbe members , in every locality , and ihus save the Association the expence of having tiiem printed separately . In future Numbers we shall take up the remaining portions of tae plan , and explain , so far as we un-

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      derstand it , the simplest mo of so working it as to combine , in operation , all tho advantages of both the old plan and the new one . Let it , however , be brought at once into operation , as far as the people do understand it—let do time be lost in bringing the General Council into existence . Let us have , next week , the list of nominations to lay before the members .

      W « perceive that the plan does not furnish a form for the nomination of members to the General Council . We would offer the following as a guide t » the sub-Secretaries in general : — To the Secretary of the Provisional Executive Committee of the National Charter Association of Great Britain . I beg to nominate Messrs .

      John Greenwood , weaver , < J , Hope-street , " ) 2 Ely TraTiBB , shoemaker , IS , Nelson-square , \ gj . Robert Kitching . woolcomber , Black Abbey , J - ^ Members of the National Charter Association , as fit and proper persons to serve on tha General Council , to be now elecUd ; and I also beg to nominate A . B . before-mentioned , for the office of sub ' Secretary , and C . D . before-mentioned , for the office of sub-Treasurer to the National Charter Association . ( Signed ) Johh Jones , 65 , Westgate , Bradford . Member of the General Council , and sub-Secretary of the National Charter Association of Great Britain .

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      GREAT BATTLE OF CROWN AND ANCHOR , AND TOTAL DEFEAT OF THE COMBINED ARMIES OF LEAGUE , BY THE ADVANCE OF THE ROYAL CHARTIST ARMY OF OBSERVATION . Wb gave a mere sketch of this great and decisive battle in our last , and , even now , we cannot devote to it as much space as its importance demands ; however , we Bhall endeavour , as briefly as possible , to lay the full merits before our readers . The meeting is denominated , by the Whig papers , the " annual meeting of the Metropolitan , Central , and District Anti-Corn Law Association ; " and its objects , " to receive a report of the progress of the question during the past year , and to adopt such measures for advancing the interest of the cause as might appear most expedient . "

      We have put the objects ia to good English , as substantially stated in the Sun . Let us now consider how the combined forces were commanded ; and , we think , we shall show that every section of the League was present , and in full force . Mr . Viliiebs , M . P ., commander-in-chief of the St . Stephen ' s brigade , and mover of the question , was there ; Mr . Wabbubton , M . P ., chief of the staff , was in the chair ; Mr . Easthotb , M . P ., proprietor of the Morning Chronicle , the journal with one eye that leads the blind , was there ; Mr . Benjamin Hawes , M . P ., soap-boiler to the League , was there ; Sir WittiAK Moleswortb , Bart ., M . P ., " a large ,

      a very large , landed proprietor , was there , but got the mullygrubs , aud retired upon the first disoharge from the Chartists' artillery ; Mr . Alcock , late candidate for Surrey , was there ; Mr . J . B . Smith , president of the League , and late candidate for Walsall , was there ; Mr . Roebuck , of the Royal Household recruiting service , was there ; and Dr . Bowbino , of the Russian—Prussian—Austrian—Egyptian—Dutch—Hung a rian service , was there . Suoh was the staff upon the hustings , and Mr . Stdnkt Smith , tha Secretary , was selected to read the report , whioh we take from the Sun , and which runs thus : —

      " The Report contained an account of the origin of the Association , and of the difficulties it had to encounter— lBt , from the general apathy of the middle class ; and , 2 nd , from the hostility of the more political portios of the working class . It congratulated the meeting upon the decline of apatby in the One class , and up « n the cessation , to a considerable extent , of the hostility of the Other . " Tha Committee had great pleasure in being abla to report that the same spirit was spreading rapidly ia © yery direction , and « " >»» ld . « ta \ nng , uim * k < u » o wwio country .

      " Energetic and well qualified gentlemen , under the auspices of the League , bad been eminently successful ia their efforts to convey useful instruction to the people . They bad been well received in every part of the kingdom , 'i'hoir lectures bad been numerously attended , and in no part of the country more satisfactorily than in the south-western counties , in which the Bupporters of the Corn Laws declared , boasting )? , they dared not shew themselvea So broad , so strong , so genial was the light these gentlemen had diffused , that the League had only to continue their exertions , in conjunction with this Association , and other Central Associations , to cause the enrolment , la aid of the repeal of the Corn Laws , of the whole ef the thinking portion of tho population of this great empire .

      The Committee concluded their report in the words of a former address , thus;—" Finally , then , permit US , fellOW-CitlZens , Solemnly to appeal to your sympathy—to y « ur intelligeuca—to invokeyour aid and co-operation ; since , deeply assured as we are that our object , the total repeal of the Corn Laws , is for the welfare of all , to aid In Its McomySishment . " ( Cries of " No , no , " and cheers . ) Now , we conceive that it doe 3 behove our friend , the Mercury , to find out , and publish the name of the author of this most audacious and biggest lie ever told ; in order that he may , for ever , stand purged , and cease to bo " the Great Liar of the North . "

      We have not patience to comment seriatim upon each lie ; let them , therefore , be taken in the lump , while we admit that the combined forces hare h&d a glorious campaign , if there be glory in being most ingloriously defeated by the very troops to whom they looked for succour and support . Their " glory " consists in not being able to carry one single resolution at oue singls meeting ; their " success" in not daring to call one singls out-door meeting , and their "improvement , " in being in doubt , in the third month of the Session , whether or no , in their improved state , it would be prudent to venture their cock in the pit iu the next main .

      Never did a set of Malthusian beggars get such a thrashing , drubbing , hooting , hissing , and groaning as the self-satisfied League , their missionaries , and friends , have received during the period so exultingly referred to in their report ; they are easily pleased I Now , whom had we to meet Buoh an array oi Field Marshals and Major-Generals ! Just three Captains , raised by merit from the ranks of the Chartist army 1 Captain Wall led on the centre in gallant style , while Captain Boogis , with the right wing ,

      turned the enemy ' s flank ; and Captain Peat , with the left , and a detachment of Light Dragoons , fell upon the rear , and routed and put the whole force of the enemy to the sword , the Chartists remaining in undisputed possession of the ground . And all this while the cowardly leaguers had anticipated a most decisive victory ; having brought their whole force to bear upon our advance , the grand army being at the same moment reconnoitring at White Conduit House , ready , if any attack should be made on St . Vincent ' s , or an attempt to turn our flank by the enemy .

      Many Chartists who-were engaged at the battle of the Crown and Anchor , would have gladly been at the celebration of the release of the Oakham garrison ; but having a duty to discharge , their motto was *• Business first , pleasure after . " Such , then , were the odds at which the " impracticable" Chartists fought the " practical" Leaguers , and sues the victory they gained . But it does not rest here . Oh ! no ; we have had a lesson from Mr . Robbvck worth all those taught by the League during the campaign . Hera we give it from the Weekly Dispatch , the only London paper upon which we can depend for anything like accuracy in reports of publio meetings , where the spirit of the people is manifested : —

      " Mr . Roebuck rose to support the original motion . His appearance was a signal for histea and uproar . He acknowledged that all their efforts would be vaiu without the Charter , of which he was a supporter , but the people , he s \ id , would noi go with him . ( Cries of 'Jio Poor Law , ' « No Foxes , * * Sit down . ' ) If the people stood by him as he stood by them' —( Cries of

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      • You were one of tho flwt to desert us . *) They all admitted the injurious effects ' of--tbe Corn Laws , and tne only question between them was , how could thay begot rid of ? ( Cries of' You ran away from Bath . ' ) No , but the people of Bath tan away from him . ( Laughter . ) He was willing to acknowledge , that if they inundated the House with petitions they ' would not obtain a repeal of the Corn Laws , until the Charter was granted ; ( The Learned Gentleman was proceeding to describe , by illustration , the insane and bigoted

      opposition evinced by the Chartists that night , but his Toic « was drowned by cries of ' That ' s Whig illustration—that ' a a . lawyer ' * illustration . 1 In conclusion , he asked , why did they Interrupt them ? Did the middle classes ever disturb the Chartist meetings ? ( Cries af ? Yes , look to the Bull-ring , whew the military and b—y police broke the people ' s skulls , and dispersed their meetings . ') A scene of confusion ensued , which terminated by Mr . Roebuck ' s sitting down . "

      The people would ' nt hear Mr . ROEBUCK , and he told them that he had been turned out of the House of Commons for being too Democratic , while the people thought he had deserted their cause , and he then used these remarkable words : — " No , it was the people who had run away from him . " This is just what O'Cornell says , and just what HvMBsays , and just what « very one says who considers himself "the people ; " but as we do not wish to hear " the people" charged with ingratitude , discourtesy , or inconsistency , let us jast review the acquaintanceship and the cause of its cessation . In February , 1833 , Mr . Roebuck was introduced to the people , th « constituency of Bath being the master of the ceremonies , and the people from « o

      respectable an introduction , were most happy to take Mr . Roebuck by the hand , but , in the following ye&t , Mr . Roebuck threw the said people " upon their own resources , " and , in return , tho people threw Mr . Roebuck upon hts own resources . Now , surely , if theirs was the cut direct , his was ths cut oblique , and so the odds are even ; Mr . Roebuck having thrown the first stone ; but now it is the people who have run away from Mr . Roebuck . O dear ! O dear ! O dear ! what a shame ! and how very , very cruel ! it reminds ns of the sad plight of the Btranded

      boat" The boat was still there , but the waters had gone . " Mr . Roebuck is there , but the people are gone , Now , we beg to re-asauroMr . Roebuck of that of which we assured all , some few weeks since , namely , that the people never do run away from any one till he runs away from them . But let us Bee if we can furnish an apology for our naughty friends for having so uncourteously " runaway" from Mr * Roebuck , from Mr . Roebuck ' s own lips . Hero then we offer that apology , as we find it reported in the Sun , and so that ( from the whole context ) we think there can be no misreport , or perversion : —

      " They had all agreed that there was an evil to be cured in the shape of the present representation of the people in Parliament ; but he said that there was another and a greater evil to be cured , and they were there assembled to inquire into and consider the best way of getting rid that evil , f Cheers and hisses J It had been said , and truly said , that the operation of the present Corn Laws had filled many a cottage with sorrow , and brought death and desolation into many a happy home , and they were there assembled to inquire the best way of getting rid of those Idtct ( CIteers . ) He was free to confess that the adoption of the Charter would get rid of a great part of the mischief consequent upon those laws . ( Chten and hisses . )"

      Now , we ask Mr . Roebuck , or any man , and we shall be glad to give him ian opportunity of correcting himBelf , whether the Chartists can look upon any man as a friend , who sets up his own opinion of the associated body of the Chartists , and presumes to tell them that , the evil of the Corn Laws is a greater evil than the evil of the present representative system . He might just as well tell us that a man with his throat cut should be punished for having the wound , instead of the man who in ' flirted it .

      But ho takes the Chartists to task JOT their moda of treating the supportera of the measara . We fear that this savours of " the pot and the kettle . " Does Mr . Roebuck read the papers , " and has he seen the ruffianly conduct of the leaguers , at T . ivprpnril , J-nwarHa ih . » Churtintn ' . ha . « he apsa the fact stated upon unquestionable authority that , no later than last week , the Gallant Sydney Smith , Secretary to the league , knocked off the hat of a Chartist , at Bermondsey , whose head he couldn ' t turn ! Has Mr . Roebuck heard of the iusult offered by Mr . O'Connell , Mr . Easthopb , Mr-Hume , and Mr . Wish Ellis , to the Chartists of Leicester ; and of Messrs . Seal and Mabkham ' s spirited reply to Messrs . Hume and O'Connell ,

      when every person , even friendly to the Chartists , was refused a ticket to the Leicester meeting ? Has Mr . Roebuck heard of Mr . James Leech , an operative , fully capable of teaching Mr . Roebuck , and the whole league , upon the question of the Corn Laws , being dismissed by his Corn-Law -repeal - tender - hearted - cheap -food - feed .-the * poor master for exposing the humbug ? and has he learned that the fickle , treacherous people ) who rah away from Mr . Roebuck , have given the said James Leach three times as good a salary , for advocating their cause , as the tender-hearted master gave him for working , like a slave , for sixteen hours a day ? Aye , aye , poor Leach is still therei and the people won ' t run .

      Bat the Sun also takes the Chartists to task for their conduct ; and our golden luminary we shall also convict out of bia own mouth , presently . The people aee a well-fed , well-housed , and wellolad police , insiiltiug , injuring , bullying , aud destroying a starving , houseless , naked , unprotected people , and no sophistry can blind them . They find the very masters who have reduced them to beggary , starvation , and a slavish depeudancy , asking for their assistance , to do that which the masters have never shown any disposition to do , to better the condition of the workmen .

      They refuse to join the people in obtaining the means of doing away with all evila , and now they are told that the Cora Laws are the greatest of all evils , that is , the ignorant , arrogant , purse-proud , tyrannical , choose to say , " O , yes , we ' l l join you , of course , but it shall be to use you for such purposes as we , not you , think proper ; " and of which purposes the people have had frequent tastes , and they don ' t , like the relish ; so now they have resolved upon seasoning a dish for themselves . In short , the people know ali about it ; aud it would be an insult to recapitulate all the arguments upon the question for the well-informed classes for whom we write .

      The people are wiser than the vain-glorious kniKht-errant , who preferred losing his life in single combat with the giant , to the disgrace of encountering the dwarf . They have learned that cheap and dear are relative : erma , aud that although there might be a Russian and an English loaf , varying in size , that they can have a slice of the dwarf , while they would only be allowed to look upon the giant . They know that if the Russian took their fabric he would have it at a lower price than the Russian serf , or any other Bert ' , « jau produce it . They know that it would be a cold consolation to stand grinning , at the outside of the window of a baker ' s shop , at the Russian loaf , while every warehouse ia Manchester was full of their manufacture—aye , more

      than would stock the world , waiting upon a turn of speculation , and then sold at manure or old rag price , to meet the bills ; aud while all the storehouses , meantime , were full of cheap Russian corn , also waiting upon speculation , bat never opened except "for a consideration . " They know also that those who now purchase twelva-thirteeatha of their prodace at home , and who wear shirts , stockings , drawers , flannel waistcoats , petticoats , knives , forks , &c , would then wear " shocking bad bats ;" and that , while they were breaking their neighbours and customers for the satisfaction of a parcel of speculating slave-drivers , they would be cutting off their noses to ves their laces , while the masters would laugh heartily at their folly .

      The people now laugh heartily at the greedyguta who suppose that a repeal of the Cora Law would set all the world producing cora for a Up , ie

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      island of operatives , and allow all foreign machinery to fitand still tha while . No , no ; it has gone too far : the people know enough , and too much . They know that w Au' tn stuff V th' world wor made for aw th' fowk i' th' world , " and that they haven't their share , and that they never will hare it , until they get the Cnarter . They know that the present shoemakers have made ahoea to pinch them , and they want to try fresh hands . They don ' t want to enter into ao analytical disputation with Mr . Nineteen-Foreign-Languages Bowring , who doesn't aa . derstand the plain English of justice : they dou ' i

      want to enter into logarithms with Mr . Cobdxm * or to go to loggerheads with Mr . Knook-off-Hati Stdnbt Smith ; or to enter upon the question of » choice of evils with Mr . RoEBDCK . Tbey jag know that all who have hitherto tried their haodi at managing the mess hare had the biggest share and they want now to try a few cooks of their own to be removed at pleasure , if their cooking does not suit ; and we have pride in believing that | l the force of the League and their backers mil nevet shake their rational opinion , and that they never may is our sincere and honest wish .

      Before we finish off the Sun , we must remind <*» friends that we informed them that the Leeds demonstration was to have been followed up , if sue * cesaful , by similar ones at Manchester , Birmingham , Sheffield , and in London . This , then , was the next device " , of the enemy , and , if successful at t 2 t « Crown and Anchor , the question of the Corn Liwt was to have been the first of a series of Whig demonstrations ; and , therefore , do we the more cordially thank oar indomitable friends for their splendid triumph . It was in every way worthy of them , and they are in every way worthy of th « great cause in which they have taken so glorieng a lead of late .

      Let those who heard Mr . Roebuck , at Leeds , read the extract from his Crown and Anchor speech . As for the League , it is very clear that discussion is not their object , and they are a paltry shabby , sneaking set of poltroons , for attempting to take the Chartists by surprise , when their forces were otherwise engaged . Have they now got a sickener , a douce in the blubber chops , a home thrust in the " cheap bread" basket f Now , onowordfor the BtrictTJTeB upon good manners of the Golden , Railway , Chinese , Royal Marriage , Sun - , and we leave the League to enjoy their tri » umph , and add it to th * long list of victories boasted in their whole year ' s campaign .

      Here , then , from the Sun ' s report , we give , side by side , the bane and antidote , the rebuke and the proof that ia unmerited , his own statement of fasts and his own contradiction of the same facts : —

      LOOK ON THIS PICTURE , «¦ Mr . Wall ( a Chartist ) rose amidst cheera , hisses , and great uproar , to propose an amendment . The Chairman endeavoured to obtain for him an hearing , and he addressed the meeting at some length in favour of the principles embodied

      AND OX THIS . " It is but right to numtion that the Chwtiat party behaved with the utmost unfairness , as the speaker ! on their aide of the question were heard with th » utmost patience and attea « tlon ; bnt when the other side came to claim Um

      in the People ' s Charter , bnt owing to the noise and confusion which prevailed , but few of his observations reached us . "

      same indulgence , they wen greeted with most aiacatdaat and offensive noiaat . This is setting an exatnplt worthy only of the m » jt intolerant Tories , andont which , if practiced towards the Chartists , they would be the first te denounce in tha bitterest language of complaint "

      This has been the greatest battle that has been fought in London since the battle of the , Martyrs ia March , 1837 , whenO'CoNNoa , single-handed , met thv whole cliqut , headed by thirty-seven Members of Parliament , with Job Home in the chair , and after an actual fight of seven hours and a-half , from twelve at noon to half-past seven—a time when it was thought the bliatersand fustians couldn't attendcarried his amendment for Universal Suffrage .

      Independeatly of the pleasure we experience oa thus chronicling the triumph of our party , ' we have also a doty to perform , as we find that our troops vociferated " Bead the Northern Star , " in reply to the lying reports of the league . We again , in confirmation , beg to assure our friends , that the Star has fairly and honestly reported the thrashings of the enemy , whenever they have dared to fight , and it will Btill continue to do so , until it record their total annihilation * Three thousand cheers for Captains Wall , Bo « kjis , and PKAT ^ and the army of observation t

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      THE LIBERATION OF PRISONERS AND THE CHARTER CONVENTION . We respeotfully invite attention to tho letter of O ' Connor upon this subject ; it should be seen to at once . From a notice given elsewhere , and furnished by our London correspondent , we perceive that a Petition Committee is already in existence in London , and has already done valuable service . We think that the , delegation recommended by Q'Cos * nor , from the country , in co-operating with the London Committee might greatly increase their capability of usefulness , and form , with them , a crew of Chartist mariners , whose tugging at tb . fr oars would not fail bo to agitate the stagnant pool of St . Stephens , as greatly to advance the Chartist bark on her voyage .

      We hope to be able next week to record the complete furnishing of the necessary funds . We have elsewhere notified our own mite , by way of a beginning , and have only to express our confidence that the beginning will be fol . owed up effectively and at once .

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      THE WORLD AGAINST THE STAR . We thank our friend of the World for the renewal of his acquaintanceship . We had for mauy weeks lost sight of him , and knew not , therefore , what he was doing in the Jlorld ; but we have this week received his explanation . The lapse was owing to an accidental circumstance . Previous to our receipt of this friendly intimation , the World of the Uth of February had been sent to us by

      a friend in Lancashire , in which we percciv that our contemporary has paid us some compliment whioh we certainly should not have permitted to remain so long unacknowledged , had we seen them sooner . The pretBnre of matter precludes us making those acknowledgments this week , although they are in type , but we shall next week try to bring up alongside our friend , and return hi * courteous civilities .

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      POOR MR . STANSFELD . Mb . Stanspelo may bless his stars , and thank our Star , that the Assizes fill up our columns this week and next , and so procure him a fortnight ' s respite from a slap on each tide of the head , the export and the import Bide , which , please God , he shall yet have with interest . Mr . Stavspblv has bottled up his valuable knowledge for so many years , that we have no fear of the cream leaving it for a week or two , —it will keep till it is wanted .

      A fig for all agitators but those of your middle class kidney ; they are the boys for unclosing the wound ! The outcry against the Chartist leaden , who have confined their denunciations to the bad principles of the representative system , has been that they made a contented people dissatisfied with their lot , whilst Stanfsbld and Co . have dragged , from beneath the bushel , abuses in detail , and placed them in the coffee-cup , the soup-bason , and the tea-poi , seasoning each meal with the piquant sauce of shaTp oppression I

      We have exposed the Household Suffrage humbug an < l the Corn Law humbug , and we promise the pvesent humbug as convenient a cuffing , as we hava given its predecessors . M « antime , let the troops be on the alert—let the several garrisons be on tha look out for the masked battery , till we take off tbe disguise .

      Jforeixn Ant* ©Omfsttcsnttflisntt*.

      jforeixn ant * © omfsttcSnttflisntt * .

      The Noetheen Star. Saturday, March 13, 1841.

      THE NOETHEEN STAR . SATURDAY , MARCH 13 , 1841 .

  • Citation
    • Northern Star (1837-1852), March 13, 1841, page 4, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/ns/issues/vm2-ncseproduct846/page/4/