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Northern Star (1837-1852), 9th October 1841, Edition 5 of 5, Page 4, TO THE CHARTISTS .OF THE UNITED KINGDOM OF GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND.

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    • THE IfORTHE&N STAR. SATURDAY, OCTOBER 9, 1841.
    • 2To 3$eatr*ttf ant* Cimjtfpotttrwtj?.
    • SLocal antr <£r*neral EnUUiam*'
    • TO THE CHARTISTS .OF THE UNITED KINGDOM OF GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND.
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      Untitled Article

      THE ENGLISH CHARTIST CIRCULAR . TO THE EDITOR OF THE 1 » ORTHEIU » STAHDeaR Sib , I hare just learned from what I have every reason to believe is good authority , that the proprietor of the English Chartist Circular does not find that encouragement which the excellence of the work and the cheap rate at which it is published , fairly entitles him to expeet . It is , I am told , at present , a losing concern ; and this , I inust sav , is a disgrace to our extensive body .

      This wort ought to be in the hands of eTery Chartist , and no Chartist who smokes tobacco or drinks beer , can « y he cannot afford to take it If he will not forego the price of a pipe of the one , or a smajl portion of the other , in order to find good intellectual food for himcslf an . Ms children ; "he is , in my oplnien , unworthy to be considered a worker in our glorious struggle , since he proves fey his acts , that he prefers to support the revenue of a corrupt Government , rather than aid in the maintainance of the Chartist press .

      I hope this hint will be extensively acted upon . I ¦ would also propose that every Chartist Association should spend sixpence in the purchase of Circulars to be sent to the parsons , magistrates , and other influential persons in each locality . Thus , the work would be made to pay , and the glorious principles of the Charter would become more generally known . I will conclude by requesting the lecturers to strenoufiiy recommend the work wherever they go . I am , yours , A Chabtist . Huuslet , Oct 5 th , 1841 . '

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      TO THE EDITOB OF THE TOBK COraiXT . Sib , —In the last number but one of your journal we noticed that our respected and talented townsman , Mi . James , had resigned the post of correspondent for that paper , on account of other engagements , and that you bad engaged , « nissuccessor , Mr . ThOS . Johnson . It ij an old and trite saying , that " new beesoms sweep clean , " ¦ which we found verified oh looking into tne next column , for in the notice of the Anti-Corn Law meeting , your new correspondent has swept away the truth altogether I As far as we were concerned individually , we contented ourselves by contradicting , under

      the signatures of the respected authorities of tke town , the false assertion of our being " ejected by the constables ; " the contradiction was advertised in your Last "week ' s paper , and having endeavoured to rescue our characters from false aspersion , we should not again have trespassed upon your columns , but finding in "the Earns paper , under " Thomas Johnson's" own signature , the p 2 rtinaciou 3 confirmation that , with- this exception , " the whole will be correct , " we feel it due to ourselves and the public to condemn the account ( report we cannot call it > generally as incorrect , and request that you will give publicity to the following instances :

      1 st A deputation of Chartists ias stated by your correspondent ) did not wait upon Mr . Duffy , the lecturer ; neither did he enter into any stipulation or arrangement respecting the time to be occupied by him and for a reply ; for it was proposed to , and decided by , the meeting without any previous arrangement 2 ndiy . There was no proof at the meeting that an anonymous placard ( alluded to in your Correspondents ' soticsj issued from a Tory press in the tows . 3 dly . The proceedings did not ( as misstated ) commence by a motion for Mr . Richardson to take the chair , and that Mr , Ibbetson proposed an amendment : the contrary was the fact ; the lecturer having presented himself , unsupported by any of his ahti-Cera Law friends . Mr . Ibbetson suggested that a chairman sheuld preside over the meeting , and Mr Burrows proposed , and Mr . Arran seconded , the appointment of Mr . Martin as r ^ ftirman ^ which was carried by a large majority ! an amendment for Mr . Richardson having been previously put and lost

      Lastly . Your ' new correspondent' forgot to notice the important fact , that , in consequence of the _ fre quent interruptions by the anti-Corn Law gentry , Mr . Clarkson , afier twice conditionally proposing , was actually obliged to press a motion absolutely censuring them for their misconduct , which was seconded by Mr . Duffy himself , who also moved , and Mr . C . seconded an adjournment , after which the meeting quietly dispersed . Trsstinz that your new correspondent will in fnture

      be careful te furnish accurate reports ; and that the importance of this subject to ourselves and the pnbiie will justify us in correcting the misr ^ ies of his first essay , ¦ We are , Sir , Yours , most respectfully , " Wm . " Martin , J . Clabkson . Jas . Ibbetsos . Bradford , 20 th , Sept IS 41 .

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      SHEFFIELD . ( From our oicn , Correspondent . ) Sr ^ DAT Evecisg Lecture . —Mr . Jnlian Harney lectured in the large room , Fig-Tree-lane , onSundaj evening last , on " the crimes and horrors of war . ' The room was densely crowded by a most respectable audience who listened with breathless attention and the deepest interest to the discourse of the lecturer . At the conclusien of the lecture which occupied an hour and a half in the delivery , Mr . Hoost moved the thanks of the meeting to Mr . Harney ; the uplifted tands of all present testified the universal satisfaction of the assembly .

      Public Meeting . —The usual weekly meeting of the associated Chartists and others , was held in their room , Fig-Tree-lane , oa . Monday evening , Mr . Green was called to the chair . The Secretary read a circular from the Executive Council and alerter from Mr . John Campbell . Mr . Harney gave notice that in the event of the Council not bringing forward a motion on next Monday , founded upon the circular just read , he would himself do so . Mr . Harney commented npon that pan of the circular in which it is recommended to the lecturers to be unremitting in their efforts to extend the associatiens ; he was ready to do his part ; twice he had appealed through the Northern Star to the readers of thai paper , residing in the ont-district of the -town

      and villages around to give him their help in . exteading the Association ; EccelesSeld had respondedto his call , ikere he had held a noble meeting aad to there the National Association was extended ; he hoped shortly to be able to say the same of Brigdehoases , and Woodbouse . He was willing to give his time and labour in attending any meeting within a few miles of Sheffield , ail he wanted on their part was that they should find places of meeting , ( Cheers . " ) A gentleman stated he knew that at Matlock in Derbyshire , the people were most anxious to hear-a Chartist lecture . Tney warned Chartist lectnres , Cbai : ist tracis , and Chartism in eTery shape . He knew they were desirous of hearing Mr . Harney , and he hoped

      that gentleman would not make } it long ere he paid them a visit . ( Cheers- ) Mr . Harney said he would atiend to their friend ' s information . A gentleman considered it would be well to pay first attention to the manufacturing and mining villages , wherever there were cutlers , weaTers , tailors , shoemakers . 4 c , snch were the places should be first agitated ; for there was comparative independence of mind ; once get the popuJarion to understand the principles of the Charter and they wonld readily embrace them , it wis no : so in the agricultural vilbgesground do-. m by some petty despDt , and kept in ignorance and terror by the black slug of the steeplehoiiie , the tillers of the soil dared not think for

      themselves . He nad good hopes that ultimately they -would convert even the labourers ; but they could not hope to do so yet . Mr . Otley , after some preliminary remarks moved that it is expedient and necessary that a paid secretary be appointed iokeep the books and transact the business of the association . Mr . Ward seconded the motion , Mr . M'Kettriek supported , and Mr , Gill opposed the motion , which , on being put , was declared by the Chairman not carried . Un the motion of Mr . Burton , seconded by Mr . C >^ ke , it was resolved , * That the iheatre should be engaged for the use of Mr . O'Briea , who is expected 10 -visit Sheffield , on the 13 th inst . " Mr . Harney , in a few introductory remarks , moved the adoption of the following petition : —

      To the Honourable the Commons of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland , in Parliament assembled ; the petition of certain members of the National Charier Association , residing in the borough of Sheffield , in public meeting assembled , this Uh day of October , 1 S 41 , Sheweth , —That your petitioners have heard with fraHngw impossible to express , that it is the intention of her Majesty , or rather the intention of-her Majesty's Ministers , to prorogue your Honourable House , on the 7 th day of the present month . That your petitioners would respectfu 'Iy but plainly uxyour Honourable Heuse , what bar * you done for the country , that you should so Boon abandon your Legis-UiorUl labours for the present session ?

      Thst your petitioners would remind your Honourable i Heuse , that the" distress of the working classes remains snalleviated , and their wrongs nnredre » od . When the t late Administration appealed to the country , the public ' voice very properly rejected them and their measures ,. . * baring no confidence in either . And though the pre-• eat Administration is supported by a Urge majority of j the membars of your Honourable House , it is not because the mass of the people have any confidence : in that ptxty ; for had the whole people recorded their i Tote * { which power is most wickedly withheld from j ftem ) in the Ute election , it -would hxva been seen that ¦* bH « one faction ires rejected , another ( equally unworthy of confidence ) would aot have been elected to fill

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      their places , and subsequent events have shown that , in rejecting both factions , the people would have acted wisely ; for , while the late ministry proposed measures worthless and delusive , the present ministry have proposed none at alL To tell the working classes of this country to wait six months for relief , while in the meantime they see their burdens augmented to meet the profligate expenditure of the Government , and tyrannical enactments continued in all their present deformitv—the Poor Law to wit—exhibits , in the opinion of your petitioners , most culpable indifference to the sufferings of that class who would not be victims of the evils they have to contend with , had they been represented in , and therefore protected by , the legislature .

      That your petitioners wish to inform your Honourable House that , in the Borough of Sheffield , it is estimated there are three thousand houses unoccupied , an unfailing index of the deplorable condition of the industri ous classes , who wander the streets of the town with n » placs to shelter them worthy of the name of home , or wend their way to other towns , leaving their families Burdens on the parish ; or lastly , if they can procure the means , leave the land of their fathers to seek in other climes that justice and fair return for their toil they cannot find in this . And , while this is the state of the working class , that class see an aristocracy —landed and monied—revelling in luxury , rioting in the wantonness of profusion , and seemingly treating with contempt , the sufferings and cries of the oppressed , misgoverned people . ^

      That , in this state of things , your petitioners deem it their duty to solemnly protest against the prorogation of the Legislature ; believing , as they do , that the dissolution , and not the adjournment of your Honourable House , is what would give satisfaction to the great majority of the people . That your petitioners are united to peaceably obtain a reform of your Honourable House , based upon the ancient principles of the Constitution , and would most sincerely deplore any violence into which the suffering people , goaded by despair , might be driven . But , more than ever convinced by the wicked tyranny of

      the last Parliament , and the but too apparent indifference of the present , of the urgent necessity of the change they seek , do respectfully request of your Honourable House that you will address her Majesty , praying her not to prorogue , but to dissolve your Honourable House , and ordering that , in the electing of a new Parliament , every male of twenty-one years of age , of sane mind , and uneonvicted of crime , shall bo allowed to give his vote for the returning of a member or members , to represent the county , city , or borough , of which he is an inhabitant , as was the ancient custom and practice of these realms .

      And your petitioners will ever pray . Mr . Fearn seconded the adoption of the petition , the reading of which had elicited repeated cheers . After a discussion , in which Messrs . ( Jtley , Mc'Ketterick , Buxton , Parkes , Prior and Gill took part , the petition was put by the Chairman and unanimously adopted . It was resolved unanimously , that the petition be sent to Mr . Sharman Crawford , for presentation . The meeting then adjourned . Post-Office . —An order has been received by the Sheffield Post-Master , from the Post-Master General , authorising him to refuse to receive and forward

      any packages which apparently contain knives , scissors , oi other sharp instruments of a dangerous nature , however they may be packed . We have before noticed the intended establishment of five receiving offices for letters , in different parts of the town . We understand the arrangements are now completed , and the offices will bo opened on Monday next , October lltb . The following are the appointments which have received the sanction of the Post-Master General .- —Thomas Kay , confectioner , West End ; Pearce and Son , Shales Moor ; Mr . Dewsnap , Wicker ; Mr . Skidmore , Park j and Mrs . Barlow , Sheffield Moor .

      Pardon . —At the last Summer Assizes , two young meD , named Joseph Turner and William Houseley , were found guilty of a burglary in the house of a person , named Dyson , near Ecclesfield , and sentenced to fourteen years transportation . We understand that since the trial , investigation of the case has been entered inte , and the result made known to the Secretary of State . A free pardon has been granted to the two men . " Bete Fishers of Mbx . "— Query , Be ye Shooters of Game !—The game lists for the county of York show , that as many as seventy-two parsons have taken out licenses to shoot game during the ensuing season . Fire . —On Thursday week , a fire broke out upon the premises of Mr . Bentley , brewer , Rotherham . We understand the damage is estimated at about £ 100 .

      " Help tocrselves and God will help you !"About the middle of the forenoon of Sunday last , a party of fourteen or fifteen , from Sheffield , went into a field , belonging to Mr . Rodger ? , at Gleadless , yoked themselves to a plough , with which they uprooted a considerable quantity of potatoes , and afterwards proceeded to fill a number of sacks . Mr . Rodgera , and a constable , with some assistants , eadeavoured to a put a stop to this revival of ** the good old days of Robin Hood j" bat were completely driven off by the " freebooters . " One of the party was afterwards captured , the police are on the look out for the remainder .

      The Iforthe&N Star. Saturday, October 9, 1841.

      THE IfORTHE&N STAR . SATURDAY , OCTOBER 9 , 1841 .

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      MISERABLE DESTITUTION IN STOCKPORT . SYMPATHY OF THE MIDDLE CLASSES . We are sorry to learn that there is no improvement in the miserable condition of the working men in this town . Our Correspondent writes thus : — "Distress , isease , wretchedness , and crime are on the increase , and things are growing worse every day . Since I last wrote you , another large firm , employing not fewer than a thousand hands , are stopped . Since the late reduction , those who remained at their work at the reduced price , have not been able to earn sufficient to supply them with food , to say nothing of rent , firing , clothes , &c ., and that of even the cheapest , because of the coarsest

      quality . A spinner , a very sober and hard-working man , with whom I am particularly acquainted , has only earned £ 113 . in three weeks , who could , but a short time ago , have earned more in one week , although his work is very labourious , and the atmosphere noxious and injurious to his health . Another man whom I know worked very hard for a whole week , and because he could not make the machinery do impossibilities , not only had to go home without wages , but had to pay 2 s . 7 d . out of his own pocket for firing . Since I commenced writing , this able-bodied , clean , and respectable-looking spianer , came to the door to sell buttermilk ; another sits now by my side , not knowing what to take to . I saw a number of spinners and others who

      positively teld me they had eaten nothing that day , and wished to beg a pipe of tobacco . The shopkeepers have found out that the late reductions have nearly ruined them . Many of them are selling off and going to America . There are rows of houses in many parts of the town with only one tenant , and some not even one in them . Though such is the case , there seems to be no disposition on the part of the middle class , the shopkeepers , to sympathise or assist those unfortunate people who are out of employment , and who are literally starving to death . A committee was formed who issued an adddres 3 to the shopkeepers , and sent a deputation to wait upon them with books properly signed , and would you

      believe that all the money collected was six shillings and a few pence . It is computed that there have no fewer ; han 30 , 000 left the town during the last six years , and that 7000 who were employed but a short time ago , are walking the streets for want of employment , many of whom have sold every vestige of clothing and furniture to purchase food to satisfy the cravings of hunger and keep them alive . The spinners have been out of two very large milk , resisting the reduction , and those of another have given notice this week , and will , without some concession be made by the masters , be out on Monday , which will greatly augment the misery and distress already so prevalent . I was in company with two officers of the Odd Fellows' society , who informed

      me that they were sadly reducing their funds by fifts and loans , and in consequence of members not eing able to pay the contribution money . In one lodge alone , which but a very short time ago was flourishing and laying money by , and for fear any Ehonld dispute my assertion , I was allowed , if I pleased , to mention the name of the lodge , which is , " Qaeen Elizabeth , " held at ths Grapes , Stockport . At this lodge alone they have sunk £ 30 a quarter for the last two quarters , and the other lodges in the the same ratio . Since I wrote the last time information has arrived and on the best authority , that a very sober and respectable dresser , named Henry Taylor , has hung himself , driven to it by being oat of work ; a man whom the writer had worked with , and who he esteems as a very honest and industrious man . If something is not dene to

      relieve the people who are clamming , we shall most probably hive the painful duty to record many such like cases . It is no use blinking the question , it is impossible to over colour it . The trades of all descriptions are suffering ; carpenters , painters , bricklayers are walking the streets in groups from morning till night . A question arises what is the cause of this deplorable and alarming state of things . Any one who has watched the cotton masters for the last few years will not be at a loss to furnish the answer—viz : competition , over speculation , and the rapid improvement in machinery From the mixing of the cotton to the finishing of the doth , the masters have snatched at every scheme that genius could discover , to supersede manual labour . The improved blower , the self-acting cord-Btripper , the improved drawing-frame , the American

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      belts , the self-acting mules , the size work , &c , &c . have all been introduced for the purpose of setting aside manual labour which has brought down wages , destroyed the home market , glutted others , driven both artizans and capital abroad , enabled others to manufacture , who have not half the taxes to pay , and henoe the masters have overshot the mark , and are yet too ignorant to find oat that they themselves have been the means of ruining the trade . "

      Such is the awful picture sent us by one on whose veracity and judgment we place the utmost reliance And yet the middle and upper classes , the eye and soul of the country , for the protection of whose interests the Reform Bill was carried , stand coolly byt and look with apathy , npon the mischief they have wrought . Our hearts bleed at recitals like this . We are unable to express our admiration at the noble-mindedness of the people , who can thus bear 6 uch an accumulation of misery , the consequence of wrong , or our detestation of the double-distilled hypocrisy and villany of those who wouldaffecfc to tell us that

      this people are unfit to be entrusted , on moral grounds , with the franchise . Let them , however , beware . Forbearance cannot last always . And let thepeople take heart of hope from the cheering accounts elsewhere given of the progress of the principles of liberty . Let them unite themselves in moral force and energy . Let their intellectual prowess be backed with unanimity ; and , the Charter of our rights being once established , the people exercising rightfully governmental influence and legislative power , will speedily induce a state of things to remedy such scenes as these .

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      thought it necessary to meet force by force . We regret onfy that their force should hare been thus wasted in a fruitless assertion of right by an inexpedient process . We maintain that the people are at all times morally justifiable in opposingforcibly , if necessary—in justice and oppression . But force , and epecially physical force , is never necessary until all moral means have been first tried ; and not then unless with a reasonable prospect of success . This it oan never hare when thus exercised

      in sectional and isolated conflicts . The physical force arrangements of the robbers' band of the " middle and higher classes" are too well perfected to permit a chance of it . Let the whole people , then , see in this , as in every other event which transpires before them , renewed evidence of the necessity of unanimity , of firmness , of a oneness of pursuit and principle , of an adhesion to the glorious Charter of our rights , by which the < " right" to do wrong shall be taken away from the factions and the sections ; the whole shall be protected against the aggressions of individuals , and each individual against tho aggressions of his fellow ; labour and property being each invested with its own value , and the rights of each alike held sacred .

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      Brother Chartists , —After a separation of sixteen months , I hare had five weeks ocular and oral demonstration of our present position ; and , O , how cheering to my soul , to find that the result of my inquiries enables me to put this enlarged heading to my present address . Yes , I oan now say , " Chartists of the United Kingdom , " as my beloved , but ; long-deluded countrymen , have , thanks to the immortal Father Mathew , been enabled to look with a sober eye into the causes of their degradation and humiliation .

      Ireland is coming to us ; and , ere long , the Irish , to a man , will be with us , because in our principles , and iu them alone , they recognise the means of regenerating our common country . Brothers , a great and a last attempt will be made by tho factions and their minions to divert us from the agitation for our Charter to a clamour for a repeal of the Corn Laws ; should the tricksters succeed , or in any way disunite our ranks , who will , who can , again marshal them i A portion of the Whig press has hitherto gone with us as far as suited the purposes of their base party ; that is , they hare eadeavoured to convert us into a hobgoblin to affright tho Tories ; but when the struggle came between the people and the Whigs , then the hirelings required no long period , nor much consideration , as to which party they should join .

      An article | in last week ' s Weekly Dispatch furnishes me with a powerful illustration of the fact . That article is headed •* Political Bloodhounds , " and breathes a spirit so malicious , so hostile to Chartism , and so much at variance with truth , that I here insert it for your perusal . It runs thus : — " Political Blood-hounbs . —It to well known that Messrs . Lovett , Hetherington , and Cleave , though they have not withdrawn their support from Chartism , have , for some time , been endeavouring to bring about a scheme for the successful issue of the principles contained in the Chatter By a system of education , they would instil into the minds of the working classes the means of obtaining equal laws and equal rights , without

      resorting to brute force ; and for this very worthy and praiseworthy object , they have been and are persecuted by a certain section of the Chartists ; and a call , monstrous aa it may appear , is now virtually mads upon the great body , to auassinate these individuals . If this be Chartism ; if this be the object of the Charter , Heaven defend us from the slightest connexion with it ; but assassination is not its object ; we are sure it is not , though some of the more violent of the class would not hesitate to put a person entertaining a different opinion to death . Such men do great barm to a cause , and the more just the cause , so the damage increases in proportion . In the early part of lost month , a discussion was announced to take place in the Hall of Science ,

      City Road , between two persons , nuned Watkins and Watson . The latter is one of the " new more , " or moderation men ; the former a fierce Chartist—on certain charges brought by Watkins against Messrs Lovett , Hetherington , and Cleave . These charges were embodied in a sermon t and a large body of persons , principally Watkin ' s friends , attended to hear it preached ; and abased Mr . Watson in very gross terms when he attempted to reply . In fact , the conduct of Watkins and his follo-weis offered as complete a picture as could be wished , of the most diabolical passions . Watkios said that the persons he bad denounced as traitors , spies , and assassins , bad been prosecuted for blasphemy , and deservedly so ! Is it not astonishing

      that a man complaining of the deprivation ef his rights should halloo on the hounds of bigotry and superstition in their rabid attacks on the priceless liberty of thought and opinion ? Is this part and parcel of the Chartist creed ? If so , the parsons can no longer couple Chartism with infidelity . But what is to bo done with this Coryphceus of Chartist ferocity ? Had Watkins the power , he would annihilate " the traitors and spies" in a breath . He would have his minions and his bowstrings , his scyinetars and poisoned draughts ; he would let no one live who is net of the same opinion ; and his sentiments , brutal and coarse as they were , were echoed to the roof by his Chartist confederates , who appeared ripe for any thing atrocious and cowardly . The

      interests of Chartism , ' observes Watkins in bia sermon , ' demand that we be firm friends , and as firm foes . No truckling , no time-serving , no temporising , no surrender to the enemy , no quarter to traitors . Despots give no quarter to traitors , except quartering their limbs . What was the sentence on poor Frost—to be hanged by the neck ; but to be cut down , while yet alive ; his towels to be torn out before his own eyes , and his limbs to be severed from his breathless , headless , bleeding trunk . If Frost was a traitor to Government , he 'was true to us ; and if such was to be bis fate , shall traitors to the people—the worst of traitors—be tenderly dealt with ; nay , courted , caressed ? Shall they go unpunished , uncensured ? No , let them be denounced and renounced

      —let us prevent their fnture treasons , and make examples of them , to deter future traitors . Washington hanged Major Andre in spite of his most urgent intercessions—hanged Lim for being a spy—and who will say that Washington ' s example should not be followed ? We are in a warfare , and must have martial law— ' short shrift , and sharp cord . ' Say these men are respectable in private life , that should not excuso their public delinquency . Say they have great moral influence , that only makes their political influence the more dangerous —the more fatal . Say they are personal friends , they are all the more to be denounced for being enemies to our principles , because we have a right to expect better proofs of their friendship . Though dear to us as our own eyes , let us cast out the offenders , for it is better that they perish than they should peril the cause . ' What is the foregoing but a no very gentle bint to some

      physical-force Chartist to assassinate Messrs . Lovett , Hetherington , and Cleave ? Even if those individuals had herded with the ' Whig wolves ; ' even if they had recanted , which they have not , they do not merit the dagger of the assassin . We have perused the book which was written by Messrs . Lovett and Collins , when in jail ; and , for nobility of mind , we must confess that it does honour to them . If we were Chartists , and were to be called' traitors' for joining the new move , ' * we should rejoice in the name , because we should know that we had united ourselves with the really sensible section of the body , and quitted that portion of it which is for bringing about Reform in pools of blood , and cutting of throats . We have from authority that Mr . Watkins is beyond price , or we should be inclined to believe that ho has made an engagement with the Tories to disturb the ranks of the Chartists , and thus render them utterly powerless . "

      Brethren , that is a false and malicious libel , not only on Mr , Watkins , but upon every Chartist in the land ; and as you will at once in your keenness observe , it has been forged as a link whsreon a new version of Whiggery may ba hung . The article itself requires no comment from me ; you are now , thank God , all critics , all commentators , and though not gifted with editorial powers , yet are you well able to judge of an Editor ' s meaning . This article was written with a double purpose

      Firstly , to raise up a standard under which the unfaithful may fight us as " rational Chartists , " and having destroyed us , then they would take a portion of public opinion in the Whig market for sale . Secondly , it was inserted at the instance of newsvenders , upon , whose' countenance th « Weekly Dis ~ patch calculates for much of its support . It is a most atrocious article , and has been published with the basest intent ; indeed , with the double intent of villifying a party which it has deserted , and of pandering to the spleen ef individuals .

      Brothers , you will bear m mind , that in 1838 , when we had become too strong for the Dispatch , that journal turned npon as like a viper , and yet you are the very breath upon which it lives . In charity you pardoned the transgression : and now calculating upon a repetition of your clemency , it

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      opens its second fire just at the moment when peace was proclaimed and union was strengthening our ranks . It is not my business , nor yet my intention , to say what I think of Mr . Watkins' sermon ; but I do say that the writer of the article in question has insolently and basely misrepresented its meaning and object . Let us have one word as to the principles of the Weekly Dispatch . That paper professes republican principles , and therefore is opposed to Universal

      Suffrage . How strange , how very strange ! And mark those are the Editor ' s own words . How strange , then , that a republican should object to the base upon which alone his darling form of government can be established . You , however , have observed that ever since tho proprietor lost his election for the mayoralty , that paper has lost all character for political consistency , and has become a mere anti-Times journal ; and to-morrow , if the Times advocated a republic , the Weekly Dispatch would kick against republicanism .

      Brothers , —It may be a bold step thus to array myself against so great a monster ; but as I have never , bo I never Bhall , turn from your defence , though the unitod press were my opponents You should , at all your meetings , repudiate and fling back with scorn th 3 foul assertion , that you are other than virtuous and moral soldiers , enlisted under the sacred banners of liberty . If you wish to support your enemies , well and good ; but if not , you must either teach the Weekly Dispatch to be at least an open and undisguised foe , or refuse to support it in its proflgate assault upon our ranks . I shall say no more upon this disgusting subject , but shall turn for one moment to the present position of the Metropolitan Chartists .

      Some would tell you that in our London ranks we number no more than about 300 . I have never ia my life deceived you ; and I tell you that we can boast a great many thousands . Indeed , never was the pure principle of democracay more triumphant or more ably advocated in London than at the present moment ; and hence the frequent attacks upon us by the press and those who despise us , because poverty upon the one hand , and dear-bought experience upon the other , has rendered it impossible for the poor to pay dearly for the golden opinions of Whig leaders revelling in the nam « of " true and rational Chartists . "

      Brothers , —Poverty and knowledge , which have led to a detection of delinquency , are our great , our only crimes , and with them we must bear to be taunted ; to remedy the one and spread the other is our object , while to preserve the former , by possessing an exclusive possession of the latter is the object of our enemies . They cannot show us what is irrational in our proceedings ; yet are we called irrational by those who have no rational object in view , and no means of carrying out sdv object under heaven .

      Brothers , —I never beheld ; no human being ever did behold such Demonstrations of Chartist strength , of " rational" Chartist strength , as I have since my release witnessed in York , at Birmingham , Manchester , Leeds , and Sheffield ; and yet , although not one single violation of the peace occurred ; and although our doctrine was union , and our preaching was peace , yet have the organs of " rational Chartism" either passed us over in silent contempt , or endeavoured to cast disrepute upon our proceedings . Brothers , —How often have I told you that the moment of our perfect union would be tha signal for a union of all the privileged orders to oppose us ! The most forward Whig would infinitely prefer Tory domination in its full plenitude , to the alternative of granting popular rights .

      You can have no administrative change worth a fig to the working classes—you can have no organic change worth a farthing—save thai which the Charter presouts ; and our tyrants , dreading our present position , will array themselves in dread and open hostility , while they will , from your Exchequer , feed with gold the false wolres who will prowl among you in sheep ' s clothing , preaching the doctrines- of what they call " rational Chartism . "

      Brothers , —For seren years I have been upon the watch tower ; and when I aaw our enemies approach ! I have sounded the alarum . I now tell you that we must give to hypocrites no quarter , to " false friends" no countenance;—and in the words of the General , who was surprised by the enemy , in his exhortation to his troops , I will 6 ay : — " There is the enemy , and if you don ' t beat them , by G d they'll beat you . " Brothers , my time , my counsel , my purse , and my person , to the last moment , to my best judgment , to my last farthing , and to . my life , if necessary , are at your service to beat down the injustice of faction , and raise upon its ruins the temple of right . Onward and toe conquer , backward and we fall .

      " Uaivarsal Suffrage and no surrender" ever has been , and ever shall be , the motto and the watchword of Your devoted and Unpurchasable friend and advocate , Fbargus O'Connor . London , 6 th Oct . 1841 . P . S . Turn not one fraction of a hair ' s-breadth from the virtuous and just / the righteous good old cause . The people ' s hour will never come , till the people will it ; and then stop it who can ! F . O'C .

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      We regret much that we cannot persuade our friends practically to observe the very clear and plain directions which w « have eo often given and repeated about the sending of matter for the Star . The extent of our circulation obliges us to go to press en Thursday afternoon ; and , therefore , our friends seem to think that if their communications reach us by Thursday morning it is quite soon enough . This is a great mistake . Tbey should remember that every word of the paper has to be put together by single letters , and the whole space filled before we can go to press , and it is impossible to do this in one forenoon . Our men are busily employed in filling up the paper with matter which , from one Bource or other , we must supply during the whole

      week , and it seldom happens that more than one or two columns , besides the necessary space for editorial comment , remain to be filled on Thursday morning . This shews the importance and necessity of all matters of news , occurrences of the movement , reports of meetings , &c , being sent to us at once , immediately they occur . Instead ef which , it often happens , that on Monday and Tuesday we have scarcely any letters , and on Wednesday comparatively few till the night poat arrives . The consequence is , that those letters which do arrive in the early part of the week axe carefully attended to and given generally at length ; while we are obliged to have recourse to the London papers , and various sources , for matter to fill the remaining portion

      of so many columns of the papei as must be Bet up before Wednesday night Wednesday night and Thursday mornings posts bring us a shoal of letters from all parts of the country ; these coma upon ua just in the hurry of writing and attending to what are called the leading articles ; while in the early pact of the week we have more time to attend to correspondence . The consequence is that one half of these letters are passed over entirely ; and the other half compressed into the smallest possible amount of space—and the next consequenee is , that in the following week we have letters of complaint from various parties about their communications being treated with neglect Some whose letters or reports may have been omitted for want of space , refer occasionally to the police reports—the column of " varieties , " or some other portion of the contents of the 2 nd , 3 rd , 6 th , or

      7 th pages of the paper , which are always set up first—and ask indignantly if their communication was less important than such or such a thing which appeared in the same paper from which it was excluded " for want of space "—others accuse us of partiality and unfairness in cutting down their reports to a mere annoucement , while those of other towns are given at greater length . We have had many most angry letters of this description , the cause for which has rested entirely with the parties themselves . Now if our friends will but bear in mind that we are filling up the paper every day ; that the same column cannot be filled twice over ; that we must give out such matter as toe have just when the men want it , or there would be no Star on Saturday , and that therefore we can't wait for the next post—we must go on ; if they would remember all this , and send their communications promptly

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      —in the early part of the week—all would stand 8 > fair and a good chance ; and if they would also remember that we nave only one weekly paper for all England , Scotland , Ireland , and Wales , and ' . that , therefore , no one place can be allowed to monopolize an unreasonable portion of the paper , we should have no complaints of inattention to any party—because we know then would be a » ground for them . Our anxious desire is to make the Stora truly national organ , equally represent-; ing all ; but we cannot d « this unless the country ¦ will aid us tightly in the sending of their matters of communication . The above remarks apply , of course , to news , facts , meetings of the people . Chartist intelligence , ace Original papers , letters to the Editor , personal correspondence , poetry , &c , must be here at the beginning of the week , or we shall not hold ourselves bound even to notice them .

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      J . Mellor , Belfast . —They were sent last vxek , vi » London . To Agents . —Those Agents who have received iheir accounts are requested to send their amounts due otherwise their papers wx'W be stopped . FOR THE "WIVES AND FAMILIES OF THE INCARCERATED CHARTISTS . £ s . d . From an old Radical , Hull , being interest on five shares in the Northern Star 0 10 0 FOR THE EXECUTIVE . ' From John Hall , Glossop 0 10 » FOR THE UNEMPLOYED AT STOCKPOST . From Rochdale Universal Suffrage Association 0 * 8 - FOR THE SPREAD OF CHARTISM IN IRELAND . From friends , Egremont 0 5 0 FOR O ' BRIEN ' S PRESS . From James White , Cardiff ... ... 0 1 „ a friend , ditto 0 0 6

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      HAZLEGROVE , near Stockport . —Disgraceful Pitched Battle . —Fatal Consequences , *** Example . —la the village of Hazle Grove , ( erst , called Bullocksmithy , but was christened to suit toe pride and elegance of a certain tyrant in that neign * bourhood well known to the poor colliers , ) abons three miles from Stockport , a pitohed battle has jusj been fought , the particulars of which are disgracemj to a civilised society . One of the men was ku 16 * on the spot , five of the parties have been commitwo to Cheater Castle for trial on a charge of mattslaughter , and a warrant for the apprehension of sixth has been issued by the coroner . It a ppeawa that a silk-weaver , named Samuel Perry , residing & Hazlegrove . and John Hadfield . a collier employed

      at the Poynton pits , owing to some pubuc-honaj quarrel , were backed to fight a pitched battle , up * u <* down , for 10 s . a-side , though Perry was the mucn better man of the two . A bod y of c olliers n » jj made up their minds to support this champion at »" hazards ; and on Wednesday night laet , the 29 t « , * large party , on both sides , proceeded towards * sequestered place near Marple Wood , about two miles off . Hadfield wa 3 backed by John Bold , * collier , assisted by a banksman at Poynton , b * ?® James Trafford , who came to Poynton as a p * "" ** man during tho colliers' struggle against a re <» u 0 ' " ! a of wages . Perry had no backer , though he wjj attended by his brother James . The men Btnpp « jj themselves naked , with the exception of an » P £ - " apiece ; and having fought about half an hour , tc ej were disturbed by the constable ? , and they fl « o- ¦*?" battle , however , was arranged to be fought on uw

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      0 f ¦ m ^^^^^ m ** ' * I i I I I I TO THE EDITOR OF THS NOBTHEEX STAR . Bradford , 5 th October , 1 J 41 . Sis , —A letter , of which the following is a copy , being refused insertion in the York Cowant , you would eonfer a great favour upon the writers , and tho public of Bradford generally , by allowing it to appear , space permitting , in a corner of the Star .

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      v — WHO ARE THE AGGRESSORS ? " You take my life , when you do take the means whereby I live . " We give in another column , from a Scotch faction papar , a narrative of a " Riot" in Durness , Suthorlandshire , in which the peace-officers of the country , being employed , as they too often are , in support of oppressive aggression upon the rights of the poor , were soundly beaten , and made glad to take themselves off . " Peace , Law , and Order" has ever been our motto , and is so still ; and because we desire to see the law respected , we have always contended for its being so framed and administered as to give

      it a just claim to respect from those whose interests and destinies are affected by it . We cannot defend the beating of the constables by the Keanabin people , because the constables seem only to have been employed in what the law had imposed upon them as a duty . Such things , however , cannot pass without forcing us to reflect upon the causes which induce them . The people have always an interest in the sustentation of right , and when the law does only right , they never obstruct its operation . What then was the matter in dispute here ¦ what was the thing to be done , which , though the law required it , the people were determined not to suffer ? We learn this in a few words from the

      report : — " Mr . J . Anderson , at Rispond , is principal tacksman of Keanabin , and other farms in Durness , under a lease from Lord Reay , the former proprietor of that country . Keanabin , and places adjacent , were sublet by Mr . Anderson to several people , who have small crofts of land attached to their houses , but whose principal means of subsistence is the herring and deep sea fishing , which used to be carried on there under Mr . Anderson ' s auspices to a considerable extent . His fishing speculations , it would appear , proved unsuccessful , and he has latterly turned his attention to sheep farming , with which view it became necessary for him to remove several of the Keanabin people . "

      It is hardly possible for words to convey a fouler picture , nor a more just one , of the unnatural state of society in which we live , than does this statement . The people of Keanabin had become unnecessary to the purposes of Mr . Anderson ; his "fishing speculations" had not brought him so much money has he was desirous of making ; he wanted to turn sheep farmer , and , therefore , the people must turn out . it was a matter of no consequence

      what became of them ; they might starve , or die of hunger and cold , or commit crime , and be punished . It was queit enough that they had served Mr . Anderson ' s turn , and that he didn't now need them . The law gives him as much right to dispose of his fishermen as of his nets and boats . The fact that these fishermen have wives and families , that those wives and families need food and clothing , and that the whole are endowed with human

      passions and feelings , is never once glanced at . They are regarded by Mr . Anderson as the tools with which he works to obtain wealth , or as the rubbish to be thrown out of his road to wealth ; and the law sustains him in this treatment of them . This forces upon us a consideration of how it comes to pass that men like Mr . A . vderson attain this power over the liveB and fortunes of their fellowmen . We come to enquire how it was that the whole land became the property of a few individuals , to the exclusion of the whole people , and how these came to have a right—a legal right—to " clear off" in this manner the

      surplus population ; to make human beings turn out and starve , that sheep may feed upon their holdings . However we contemplate tho subject , whether with reference to the law of nature and of right—to the equal and impartial distribution of the natural good of bis providence , by the Almighty Father of us all , or to the ancient tenure of what is called the constitution , the forms and conditions upon which grants of land were originally issued by the Crown , we come always to the same conclusion ; that these acts of manifest injustice and barbarous spoliation originate in , and are sustained by , an usurpation of

      the legislative power . We cease , then , to exhibit wonder or displeasure that the people , thus placed by the law without its pale , should have very little respect for the law which respects not them . And while wo recommend them , instead of employing , as in this case , sectional and misdirected physical powers , to oppose the enforcement of bad laws , to exercise their moral energies in establishing a position for themselves , which will enable them to enact good ones , we cannot permit ourselves or the country to lose sight of the fearful confirmation which the proceedings out

      of which this riot grew afford to the assertion we have so often made , that the " anti-bread tax" claznourers , the middle-class philanthropists , and the humanity-mongers of all grades , have no purpose but that of ministering to their own personal and party interests ; maugre all their protestations of humanity , their " sympathy with distress , " and their " pleas for the poor . " Here are we exhorted , because our people are starving for lack of food , to search all the four quarters of the world for corn wherewith to feed

      them ; while the corn growers of our own fields are cast out into the streets to starve , and our corn fields converted into- pasture lands , because the law says that the rich man ' s sheep shall have a right to eat the food of the poor man ' s children ! How contemptible must be the reason of any man who supposes parties to be truly anxious for the benefit of the labouring population , while they uphold a system which exposes them to a continuity of heartless spoliation , and denies them the right to defend their otto property !!

      Even this act of resistance to the authorities , demonstrates very forciby the good temper and forbearance of the people . The report tells us that an officer , in the month of August last , was deputed to serve these charges of removal" on the peaceable and quiet tenantry of Keanabin . The people then manifested their quiet determination to hold by their own , and to defy the power of the unconstitutional law to which they had given no consent , by simply taking possession of the

      offensive legal documents , and burning them , while they sent him quietly and unharmed home again . Another messenger , on repeating the attempted outrage , was dealt with in like manner ; and , even a third repetition was borne patiently . It was not until the fourth outrage was committed by property npon labour , and that , too , under circumstances of great aggravation , with an insulting display of physical force , intended to terrify the people to submission , that these harmless and inoffensive people

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      The Trowbrige Chartists agree with their Newport brethren in recommending Mr . O'Connor . not to pay any further attention to the " newmove" men . Mr . D . Cater saps that he has been very much annoyed by his Chartist brethren on account of some error appearing in his reply to the leclurt delivered by W . D . Saul , Esq ., in the Chartisfs Hall , 55 , Old Bailey , London , on the evening of the tenth of last month , which should read thut : — " He ( Mr . C . ) could assure the lecturer that the managing committee of the shareholders to this institution were , in their official capacity , totally ignorant that that sermon would be of a personal nature ; that they do not encouragt personal bickerings ; and that he , as well as many other members of the National Charter Associatien . were ready to forget and forgive tht

      opposing party if they would cease their endeavours to slop the progress of Chartism " John Bradley . —We see no necessity for outraging , the feelings of the deceased man's relatives by inserting the letter which he has sent us . The London Chartists want Richard Marsden ' s address . A Chartist . —Monies for the O'Brien Press Fund tnay be sent to Mr . Wm . Brook , 79 , West-street , Leeds . Wm . Jennings , Westminster . —His lines are not suitable . J . G . B . —It is not our practice to insert communicated reviews of books that we have never seen , and know nothing about . If authors wish their works noticed in the Northern Star they must ¦ send them , and then they would be regularly attended to . E . P . Mead . —Next week .

      T . G . —The Ten Hours Bill is intended by its advocates cbitfly as a measure of relief to the infant slaves of factories ; and is advocated chiefly on the ground of morals , humanity , and natural right . T . G's reasonings seem to regard it solely as a question of political economy . We dissent entirely from that view of the matter . We say that if the commerce of the country can be sus tained only by inflicting savage cruelty on little children the sooner it perishes the better . Our own opinion is that if the present Factories ' Regulation Act was honestly worked ( which it never yet has been ) the greatest gainers by tha enactment of Lord Ashley ' s measure would be the masters ; but the intricacy of the present

      measure , and the ease with which its provisions may be evaded , render almost nugatory Us best points . George Lindsey , Eccles . —We have handed his letter to the Executive , who have the management of tlie petition , and from whom , we doubt not , it teill receive every attention . Mr . J . P . Mead , late of Birmingham , is requested , by his friends in that t » wn , to communicate with them . H . Berrt , Sutton-in-Ashfield . —We have not room for the full-length report he mentions . *¦ H . D . Griffiths . — We are sorry that our judgment * should suffer in his estimation , or that he should think us "indiscreet" in refusing to publish his

      address to the Restoration Committee ; but toe still retain our opinion that it could not bt attended with any beneficial results . We beg Mr Gr \ ffiths to believe , that that opinion is holden without the slightest scintilla of "contumely " We thank him for his notice of the Marylebone sermon , which should certainly have appeared had not a paragraph from another source been previously in type , R . H ., Colne . — We have no room for his story about the worm and the lady-clock . Edward Suiue , Thomas ' s-street , Manchester , com-. plains of having , a few evenings ago , been rudely stopped by a drunken policeman , in Chester-street , Manchester , shortly after leaving the co-operative store kept by Mr . Gibson , where he had been

      purchasing some flour and other necessaries for his family . The policeman insisted upon knowing what he had got ; and on his refusing to tell him , he was dragged off to the lockups , where , - after his bundle had been examined , he was discharged , and told not to go there again . It was not his fault he was there then ; and the drunken blackguard who took him there ought to have been discharged also . General Council . —Lscalities sending lists of nominations to the General Council to be published in the Stax , must be particular to write them plainly , and to give the residences , especially of the sub-Treasurers and sub-Secretaries . Several lists have been this week omitted , these

      particulars not having been attended to . The parties will send them again , writing the names plainly , that no mistake may be made , and giving the residences . We shall not insert any more such lists in which these things are not attended to . ° Wm . Thomas . —His letter next week . Brighton Chartisis . — We have been under the necessity of turning over the correspondenct ¦ from Holberry , fyc , to next week . The Bishop ' s Soliloquy . —We have no room . Rochdale . — We received on Thursday morning a letter , without name or date , which says " A public meeting is to be held on ^ Friday evening next , ' to congratulate J . B . O'Brien , Esq ., on , his release from Lancaster Castle . " We are unable , from this , to understand whether the meeting is to take place next Friday , or whether it was held yesterday .

      The National Petition . —In answer to very many enquiries respecting the form and contents of the National Petition for 1842 , ice are authorised by . the Executive of the National Charter Association to say , that the document will appear at full length in our next . Rochdale . —The late Treasurer , Mr . Hanson ' * accounts , have been investigated , and found correct . The Bread-eaters' Advocate , No . II ., has been received , and shall be noticed in our next . Will the sender let us have No . I . by about Monday * . Aberdeen . —The news-letter was received just before we went to press . G . Cudlipp— We received his long communication about half an hour before we went to press . It has , therefore , not been read as yet . Samuel Noble , Trowbridge . —No Wiltshire Inde-¦ pendent was received here last week .

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      4 THE NORTHERN STAR . .

      To The Chartists .Of The United Kingdom Of Great Britain And Ireland.

      TO THE CHARTISTS . OF THE UNITED KINGDOM OF GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND .

  • Citation
    • Northern Star (1837-1852), Oct. 9, 1841, page 4, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/ns/issues/vm2-ncseproduct865/page/4/