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Northern Star (1837-1852), 11th June 1842, Edition 5 of 5, Page 4, THE K0RTHEEN STAR. SATURDAY, JUNE 11, 1842.

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    • SrWaX mtfr &meval 3EnteUi^ir«.
    • THE K0RTHEEN STAR. SATURDAY, JUNE 11, 1842.
    • <Eo MiaX>$v$ antif Cofr^sfpowusntjfi
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      2 SSAWCHESTES . —Oa Wednesday evenir-g about nine o'clock , a cMld was "killed under the following circumstances : —A young lad was comiBg op Butter-street with a can load of coals , upon ¦ which , he had ayonnger brother riding , a child oi four or firs years of age . The child fell asleep , and unfortunately fell off the cart { . arid before the horse oould be slopped , the wheel of the cur ; passed ovei his bead , and killed him upon the spot . Fibe —On Wednesday morning , the large factory » t Pin Mill Brow , the property of Mr . Thompson , was discovered to be on fire ; and notwithstanding the exertions of the fire brigade and the police , the building was burned to the ground . It is supposed that this misfortune will throw nearly 400 persons out of employment .

      BEADFOBD .-Hjmbubgh r . the Stabvixg Operatives of xSsadfobd . —During the last fortnight , nearly £ 2 , 000 has been sent to Hamburgh from Bradford , to relieve those who have been made de-timte by tha late lamentable fire There are hundreds in the Borough ^ f Bradford , who are as destitute of food and clothing as any of those whose all have been thus destroyed , yet not a single pound has been subscribed to relieve the wants of those who have , by their industry , been the instruments of creating so much wealth for the rich and tho greatj to riot in luxury and extravagance .

      Ixi-Ajious Coxdccx ot a Whig Muxocrat . —On "Wednesday week , a case was brought before the magistrates , at the Court House , in Bradford , which Ehows the demoralizing , filthy , and disgusting practices of certain " liberal ' miliocrats . The case was that of an assault which was alleged to have been committed by William and Jabt z Atkinson upon their sister Margaret . ^ Mr . Charles lees , solicitor , appeared to coaduct the case of the complaisant , who stated that the defendants had gone io Mr . Isaac Shackleion's mill , in Thornton Hoad , and seized their sister by the arms , and dragged her om of- the room . Sarah Normington , who also works for Shaekleton , was called to corroborate the statement . Upon the two brothers

      being called upon for their defence , William , the elder , delivered an address to the bench which was listened to with the deepest attention by the whole court , the purport of which is as follows : — " I need not inform your Worships that the complainant i 3 my sister . She was left an orphan at the age of thirteen years ; she was the youngest in the family , and at the death of eur parents I took her under my care aad protection , and not being able to maintain her xuysel ? , I sens her to the factory , where Isaao Shaekleton was then an overlooker . He had two daughters , one of whom became the intimate companion of my sister , and used frequently to visit her at my hoiise . After a while my sister , through much persuasion , was induced to ask t " o leave mv

      house and go to live witn Shackleton ; to this I felt strongly opposed , b-at being assured by-Shackleton that he would behave well to her and treat her a 3 one of the family , I reluctantly consented , and consequently she went . In course of time Shackle toe ' s conduct towards my sister was such as to cause jealousy to arise in the breast of his wife , and my asurr ltft his house and took lodgings , but still continue ! to work under him , and in a Ehort time she was furnished with means to take a house and furnish it . She acknowledged tome that . Shacklecon had given her the money . The house she took was inGoodmansend , 3 nd to this house Shackleton was frequently seen to go at a time when he ought to have been in bed at home . When my sister was

      questiened by any of the neighbours as to who he was , she alwsjs said he was her brother . The > e visits were kept until last week , when aperson happened to be in that neighbourhood , who knew biin to be her master ( Sbaekleton being now in business for himself as a spinner ) . After he had locked himself inside , several women went to inform Shackleton ' s wife , who came and in the presence of a crowd of people , forced open the' door wirh a poker , and he was obliged to come avray amidst the hoctin ^ s and groans of the crowd , one of whom ic aiming a blow at his head , knocked off his hat , and he was obliged to get off as best he cculd without it . Information of these proceedings having been eommuiacitcd to me and my brother , by Mr . Slack

      minuter , of the Asso : ia : ion chapel , we went to the spot in order to be satisfied of the truth of the report , and after hearing the statements of many sye-witnesits , we returned home overwhelmed with grief , and immediately went to Shacklston ' s mill , where my sisur was still working , and asked her quietly to come to my house , and I would again tafcs her under my protection . We told her ot the importance of a good character , and showed her the dangerous sitnation in which she was placed , proxnising ^ to overlook all that had passed if she would leave Shuckleicn ' s employ . Although these entreaties were made with tears , yet they produced eo effect . She refused to leave , and consequently I and my brother agreed to take her out of the mill by force . We took her to my house ; but she has gone again to Shackleton , and 1 am told that he hu . s given hermowy to take oat the warrant by which

      ¦ we are brought here , and to engage an attorney l ? ow , -your worships , my sister 3 s only eighteen years old , and before sbe went to Shackleton she was as modest as any girl in Bradford , and was aproiessorof religion . She always had good advice and a good example ; but now she is a wieked , impudent young woman , and does not blush to nse language unfit for me to repeat here . I do not blame her so much , as 1 do Sbsckleton , who is a married man between loriy and fifty years of age , and I am told that his conduct towards her has been suspicious for the last twelve mouths . " The bench , afcer hearing , this address , concurred in the opinion that theyoung men had only done ftheir duty to their sister , and she xr&& admonished to go home with her brothers , aud endeavour to redeem her now lost character . Instead of taking this advice , she persisted in her attachment to Shackleton in open court , stating that he had been her best friend . '

      The Leeds Impsc-testest Costhissi oxers , and THEIR CXLAWFITL EXPE >~ D 1 TCHE OT THE P £ OPLE S Mo . fET . —It will be in the recollection of our readers , that a Vestry meeting of such of the inhabitants of Leeds as are made chargeable wi ; h or towards the rates or assessments authorised to be raised by the Leed 3 Improvement Act , was convened inthemon-, h of March last . for the purpose of audujug and passing theaccounts of the Improvement Commissioners . When the accounts were laid before the Veetry , one item of £ 64 9 s . lid ., was objected to , on the ground that it was an illegal appropriation of the rate ? , it having besn spent , not in cleansing , lighting , or improving the streets and sothi of Leed ? , but in the pseso >' al jaunts of some of the Goinm' 3-

      aon € r 3 to London and Derby ! Eventually the sum was disallowed by the Yestry , and the present Board of Commissioners instructed to take the needful steps to recover back from the parties who had so grossly betrayed their trust , the uioriey they had unlawfully expended : and thy meetia ] adjourned to tiiai day two months , to receive a report from ihe Commissioners , as to what ih ? y had dons in the matter . At the appointed time , the Yesiry a ? ain assembled ; and . as the Law Clerk to tha Commissioners reported that nn steps had been taken to carry into effect the instructions of the Yestry , another resolution , asjain calliug the . attention of the Commissior . e ? 3 to the patter wa = passed ; aDd the Yestry again adjonrned to Mondsj

      evening next , June 13 ; h , to be then nolden in t-. e Court House , at seven o'clock in the evening . The course pursued by the Commissioners towards the Yestry in thi 3 matter , ha ? been insulting and disgracyiul in the extreme . When the subject was regularly brought before them , at ( heir next meeting , after the disallowing of the illegal payment , the consideration of the question was deferred " till the next general meeting . " When the next genera : meeting came round , it was again deferred j aud so on , continually : the object of some of the " Commissioners apparently being to prevent a vote on the subject from being taken . At the last general meeting of the Commissioners , holdea on Saturday last , the matter wouJd have been

      allowed to pass over entirely without notic 8 , had not one of tbe body dragged it upon the carpet . At that time there was juit a quorum of Commissioners present . While a resolution was being penned to submit to the meeting , one of the fire present ( by the-way , one of the old Board tcho spent the money ; and indeed one who " figured" at London at trie ratepayers' expence I ) was in the act of leaving the room , when his attention wasdirected to the fact that ifhedidso , business would beat an end , and that though euch a ruse might get rid of a difficult and u : sfcasteful question , it was but a scrubby way . of dealing with those who had placed them in office to guard their interests and execute their commands . After openly avowing that his object was to thwart the Yestry—whom he described as being unworthy of the least none *—( though they elected htm to a post which enabled him to put his fingers in the public purse , aud gt > to London sot at his own

      costI ) he left the room , aud thus , for * a time stifled the question ! Upon this , a special meeting of the Commissioners was convened for Thursday last , at three o'clock . It is usual at nearly all the meetings of the Commissioners for-the chair not to be taken till some half hour after the time fixed , to give an opportunity for those likely to come to asstmt ? le before tbe commencement of busiicb . In this instance the party who expended tha noney mustered in pretty good number , electad a ihairmap ., moved , seconded , And carried are solntion , postponing tbe consideration of tha resolutions of the Vestry to * iiat day six months , within a very few minutes of three o ' clock 1 When the rest of the Commissioners were wending their way tc > the meeting , to uphold the rights of taa rste-paysrs , they met ih * others returning to their homes , and had the gratification to hear that aU was over ! And thus HAVB THOSE WHO BFETT THE KOSBT played with" the

      VeJttX-4 ' Tbe-JPWtiy meeting is to be hoidea again on Monday evening next , in the Court Hcnse , at seven o ' clock ia theevening ; perhaps it will teil those who'h * ve the pubUe money in Vavlipockets

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      what it thiuks cf them , and of their attempts to foil the rate-pajers in getting it back again . The matter cannot be allowed to rest where it is . " It is bad getting butter out of a viog ' s throat ; " and it is equally bad to make a publie-fund leech disgorge ; but the attempt must ba tried . Let the rate-payers see to it . ~

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      Suicide op Lord Conglkton . —Ikqukst on the bodt . —On Wednesday morning , between nine and ten o ' clock , Lord Congleton committed a mo 3 t determined act of suicide by hanging himself with a pocket handkerchief , at his residence in Cadoganplace , Chelsea . —On Thnrsday afternoon an inquest was held on the body before Mr . Wakley and a respectable jury , when a verdict of " temporary insanity ' s was returned . Various rumours are assigned for the rash act .

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      CHEBDINGTOM . —Bucks . —Mr . E . Stallwood from London , having accepted the invitation of some of the friendB here , attended and lectured to a numerous audience on the village green , on Tuesday , at seven o'clock . Notwithstanding the threats of the farmers of " sacking" a' -. y one that should attend , a number of well dressed females graced the meeting with their presence . At a quarter-past seven , Mr . Stailwood commenced his address on the principles of the Charter , alternately producing applause and bursts of laughter , and continued in a fervent aud impassioned strain of eloquence , highly

      gratifying to the astonished villagers , who for the first time listened to a Chartist lecturer . Many of tho fair sex had the straw plait in their hands ( the staple trade of this part of Bucks . ) Mr . S . ' s address lasted upwards of an hour and a half . At the conclusion / a vote approbatory of the principles was unsBimously passed , and Mr . S . was pressingly solicited to pny them another visit , with which request he complied . Our principles are now fairly introduced into Buckinghamshire , aud with exertion and perseverance , the voice of Chartism will resound from end to end of our Tory-ridden coanty .

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      THE EDITOR OF THE "NORTHERN STAR TO HIS READERS . My Frie > -ds , —I step , for once , out of tho ordinary course of things—from behind the curtain of Editorial seclusion—to speak familiarly and freely to yon , in my own proper person , upon subjects of vast import to your own interests , and those of our common country .

      I seek not to M dictate" nor to denounce , " but , as one of yourselves , I claim the right of speech on what may affect our common interests ; as one whose peculiar position and circumstances have given him thebenefit of more experience and better opportunities for obs ervation of the many subterfuges , the deep cunning , and the reckless wickedness of faction than most of you , I may advise upon tho course of action which , in my judgment , given circumstances cause to b 6 right and necessary , or wrong aud inexpedient ; and I ask not for my opinions and advice thus

      tendered any greater amount of deference or respectful consideration than is due to them on their own merits . I seek 710 / " to earn a reputation , " but to bs useful . I have spent in active exertions for our common good , according to the best knowledge I possess , nearly a full half of the whole term of my natural existence . I have been a public man well known to masy of you for many years before tbe rising of the Star ; 1 have siuce that time held the most serious and important station of any in our wade movement ; you have to some extent evinced

      your sense and judgment of the manner in which I have there acquitted myself by making the Northern Star , under my government , what a national organ of democracy should be , —a terror to enemies of right , whether avowed or concealed , and a rallying point of union for yourselves . For so much of your . favourable estimation as I have thus received I feel grateful ; regarding it not as a boon of grace and favour , but as the due appreciation of exertions

      which were seen to have been honest and consistent , however feeble or impotent they may have been . I ask only from you that my advice and counsel may have dispassionate and calm attention ; that you vrill read and weigh it carefully ; remembering that it comes from one whom you know to have served you faithfully and fearlessly , and whom the bitterest tongue of calumny has never yet charged with political delinquency .

      The matter to which I think it necessary to call yonr serious attention , in the £ rst instance , is the condition of the country and the position of the Chartist cause . The condition , of the country is , at this present time snch as it never was before ; at all events , in my time . The fearful fruiis of the fell Upas Tree , Class Legislation , are being gathered in an awful harvest . Ruin ranges over the entire surface of the land ; famine follows in its foot-steps ; and death , the consequence of destitution , clears out many a cottage

      under such circumstance it is not surprising that the wasting life should lose its patience , and that hungry bellies should incite angry speeches and threatening ^ of vengeance . I can readily conceive the mockery of preaching patience and forbearance to a starving man . 1 can readily conceive the loathing of contempt , if not of rage , with which the sruirking , smooth , wait-a-while doctrines of the man whose " cake is buttered" must fall upon tho ear of Mm who sees his children perishing before him and ha 3 no means of helping them . Yet even to these , in ihair worst state of excitement and distress , I would address the

      lanymge of friendly remonstrance , of kiudly entreaty and of brotherly affection . I would bid them to remember that they know the cause whence all their suS ^ rin ^? flow—they know the means whereby alone a remedy may be afforded ; and I would entreat them by the very senso of woa and suffering —by their love of life , of honour , of children aud of country , and oar cauEe , not to rush into the lion ' s moaih of despotism ; not to throw back for an indefinite period , the chance of that amelioration which the gTowing greatne 33 of our cause brings every dayj and after every prudent effort , nearer to us ; but which one false , fatal , step may do much to render unattainable for many years .

      I entreat , especially , the Chartist body to be careful , that while they preclude the possibility of any desperate acts , to which starvation and oppression may drive men , in some localities , from being fixed , by the injurious casuistry of faction , upon them , they to this end be careful to repress the unwise rage for declamation , which ia but too apt to artrise itself by raiting a etorm , before which those who have striven to produce it are usually the first to -flinch and seek a hiding-place . I think it is especially necessary to give this cautien to you now ;

      because I learn that , in some portions of ihe country , big talkers are abroad , and ihstt in other parts , active marks of discontent are manifested ; not to be wondered at certainly , but much to be deplored . This is a state of things the factions are delighted with ; they have Etriven hard to produce it ; they wiil try every means for " nursing" it , unti ] it shall have served tbe purpose of more firmly rivetting the chains or slavery , which they thus make their victims 10 forge for themselves . The free traders , the Corn Law Repeal crew , the nitrciCul iniudle-class converts to half Chartism at half-past

      the eleventh hour , have been long seeking so to i work upon the passions of the sufLrins people as to i cause them to forget their prudence and to risk i collision with the trained bands of power . Tbeir ' incoiidiary placards , pamphlets , and lecturers have j been scattered through the country ; wherever suffer- ( ing was most severe , the pedlars" have been busy i with their knives j every effort has been made to ! lacerate the feelings and to introduce the foul virus i of physical resistance through the wounds . Hitherto = they have failed ; yon have laughed alike at their j hypocrisy and malics until now ; let th : m not now 1 raise over vou the fiendish laugh of exultation ! \

      Let us for Heaven ' s sake have no more Newport , i 5 h ; -fn ; ld , and Bradford exhibitions ; no more Shells , Frosts , Claytons , aud Peddies , to bo victimized , without service to the cause . In last week's Northern Star , you had the report , rent here by some person , of a camp meeting at Clithero , held on Sunday , at which language had b ^ n holden of a

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      character most ca . 3 geroa 9 . to the cause and most discreditable to the speakers , some of whom at least are men from whom better things might have been expected . See the U 39 that is made of this meeting by the factious press . Tho following is the brief notice of it giren by the Manchester Guardian . u Chabtist Camp Meetings . —On Sunday last , there was another very large meeting held on Enfield Moor , near Blackburn , to consider the next steps to be taken , in order to obtain the

      People's Charter . Many persons present are said to have had fire-arms . A person named Marsden , from Bolton , one named Tatiersal ) , and others , addressed the people in extremely violent language . Marsden declared thai they all meant to obtain arms i march up to Buckingham Palaae , and demand the Charter . Jf the Queen granted U nwell ; but if not , they would know how to use their arms ; and he hopjbd bveby au . v would get sbavy by their next meeting . TATTERSALL WAS EVEN

      MORE VIOLENT THAN THE ABOVE . Now , friends , I do not quote this as taking the statements of the Guardian for gospel , but to show you the necessity of taking care that those who , at a juncture like the present , are admitted to the position of leaders aDd guides among you ; made public speakers , aud thus enabled , if unchecked , to compromise your whole body by their folly , should be men of prudence and discretion , as well as men who have a sincere attachment to our principles , and who are able to make a Fpeecb . As I last week counselled you , so I mow implore you

      cast from you the big talkers , or cause them to become sensible that you are not reckless fools , if they be . I do not know that this language was used by Maksden , or that Tattebsali was " even more violent than this j" I know only that the Manchester Guardian says so , and that the honest Chartist who sent the report of the meeting to last week ' s Star , says also that much violent language was used , and that many speeches were made and heard , which would have been much better repressed , and which he therefore very properly suppressed in his report .

      Let not , therefore , Messrs . Madden and Tatter ~ ball , consider themselves " denounced" by those representations . They best know whether the Guardian has belied them . I hope it has . But in any case I use the allegations of the Guardian , not as adopting them for the purpose of " denouncing " these individual men , but in illustration and support of the general position that all such foolish and mischievous vagaries should bo discountenanced aud promptly put an end to by the people . As a further illustration of the mischief of such conduct , seo the uso the Guardian makes of it in its very next words : —

      " On the same day ther * was also a camp held near Failsworth ; about 1 , 500 persons attended . Leach , and another man from Manchester , with several persons from Oldham , addressed the audience ; but the language was mild compared with t at of the speakers near Blackburn ; some of the speakers contended that they had as good a right to hold political camp meetings on a Sunday * as other parties had to hold religious meetings . " Now , I kuow , aud you all know , enough of Leach to feel satisfied that wherever he was there would be no euch foUy ; yet the insinuation of the Guardian is that the language of ( his meeting , though uot quite so violent as tho other was still most violent and

      unbearable . It was " mild compared with that of the speakers near Blackburn . " Thus are we all liable to be compromised , and our cause endangered by the freaks of . every mad fool whom the people permit to amuse them with " ihe tale of an idiot , full of sound and furyj" instead of seeking to bend their sober , earnest , aud unremitting efforts , to the establishment of our principles where they aro not kuown , and the enforcement of them on the rational attention of all .

      From letters and rumours which have reached me , I have thought it necessary thus gravely and seriously to point to your attention the precipice , which , if you approach it , mil inevitably destroy you . law but one man . I have but one voice . But whilst I have power to lift that voice , or the means of at all communicating with my fellow-men , I never will eee them sacrificed without warning . I will , so far as my admonitions may be heeded , guard them alike , to the best of my judgment , from the dangers which might arise Irom an excess of zeal , an excess of apathy , or an

      ill-directed movement on their own part , as well as from the open attacks of faction , or the more disguised and insidious ones of those among their own ranks , who seek personal disiinction at the hazard of ibe public safety . Again , then , I implore you , do not sacrifice yourselves , and sell the cause , by any mad freak of violence or iadisoreet use of language , such as that intimated to havo been used mar Blackburn . You will , of course , do as you please ; but let the isBus be as it may be , I 6 hall know that I have done my duty in thus faithfully admonishing and emphatically warning yon .

      And now for a word on another subject . With the lessons of . experience , and of tho mo 3 t ordinary common sense before you , it would be an insult to attempt a demonstration that our object , the establishment of civil liberty and honest policy , oan be effected by violence . Peacefuluess and unanimity is that alone by which we can hope to succeed . By unanimity , I do not mean that we should all tl . iak perfectly alike on every subject , or indeed on any subject , for that is amoral impossibility ; but thai wo should be disposed heartily and seriously to lend ourunited energies towards the great pointof carrying the Charter ; that to this all other matters should

      ba made suboervient , and that ior this purpose we should , in tho excoilcat words of the address of the Executive , given in this day ' s Slar , " cultivate the best feelings of democratic friendnhip . " Our political Association should be a United Brotherhood , among whom , quarrels , dissensions , Btrifo , or malice , should be unknown . In . their conduct , tho most strict sobriety should be observed , and it ought to ba tho- most pleasing duty of Chartists to aid each other in distress , to rally round and protect each other from persecution and injury , and an insult or wrong iufl ' . oted on one , should be regarded as a deep injustice to all .

      " To their advocates , those who are foremost ia danger , and whose patriotic exertions are the mainstay of the movement ; the people should extend the best feelings of favour and affection , and at all times Chartists should bo slow to condemn men whose lives have been devoted to the cause , and who have given in many good and virtuous actions , patriotic aud positive proofs of their political integrity . " I never read words with which I more heartily concurred than I do with every one of these . I hy before you the whole tenour of my public life

      more especially since I became Editor of the Northern Star ; and I challenge any of you to-point out any instance in which this has not been my practice ; doing me the justioe only to view things in whole and not to separate a single expression or transaction from the circumstances to tvhich it immediately related , and with which it was of necessity connected . I seek only , without assuming any undue importance to myself , that tho like conduct should bo manifested towards me . The Executive truly state it to be the duty of the people to " protect all their advocates from persecution , misrepresentation , and wrong . " I fully accede to the . truth of this position ; and as it is laid down with the purpose of claiming the protection of the

      people against me , I shall so far retort it as to presume upon my right to rank amongst those who have to the best of their judgment and ability , advocated" the people ' s cause . I seek not protection against persecution , for I am able to protect myself ; and the only protection against misrepresentation and wrong , that I require is that ihe people will look at the whole facts of the case stated in complaint , and give upon these facts their honest judgment . That , as a public servant , 1 have a right to demand at their hands ; and that I do demand . 1 deman . l that they should look at the whole circumstances of my position ; that they should consider fairly the treatment I have received , and the spirit I have eviuced , and then-tell-me honestly and like men whether they think I have

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      doue my duty , or have deserved the abuso whioh has recently been heaped upon me . I ask them , 1 say , to look at the whole facts of the case . The Executiro complain and say th > t they " allude with considerable pain to the hostility which the Editor of the Northern Star haa shown to one ot their members . " Now this obliges me again , and for the last time , to adduce the whole facts of this matter . That member of the Executive and Mr . G'Bbien are the only two men who during , a very long public life have succeeded in fastening upon me a public quarrel with men of like principles to my own . And how has this been done ! I have a right now to

      demand that the people should look at the whole case . The Executive admit that they are " fairly open to fair criticism "—that their " publio documents , recommendations , and actions are fair game for pnblio approval , discussion ^ or condemnation ;" while at the same time they complain of the hostility which the Editor of the Northern Star has shewn to ono of their members . Now when and where did this hostility begin ? and how has it been manifested t The Executive ought to have stated this ; they do not state it ; and , therefore , I must . Up to the 12 th of last March , I had seen nothing : in the public documents , recommendations , or actions of the

      Executive , either as a public body , or in their separate and individual capacity , which , in niy judgment , was likely to do anything for the damage or retarding of our cause . Whatever " criticism , " therefore , had been exercised by me , had been , up to that period , commendatory . I received , during that week , jreports of the Bath conferences , at whioh one member of the Executive had taken a position which I believed , and do still believe , to be an unwise position—a position calculated to do damage to the cause ; and

      believing this , I said eo . I said it , not insuch language as that member of the Executive has used towards me ; but in mild and respectful terms , in terms whioh no man can say were not those of fair criticism . Surely it will not be contended that the conduct of the parties to the Bath conferences was not a fair subject for the expression of opinion ; and surely it will not be contended , that what I said upon it was anything more than the expression of opinion , and that , too , in very modest ; terms / Here is every word which I did say : —

      ** We refer with great pain to the proceedings of the Conference at Bath , between the Sturge Declaration men and some leading Chartists of that city . We respect yincent for his zeal , hisi talent , and his suffering in tho cause , as highly as we respect any man ; we believe him to be thoroughly honest and well-intentioned , but we cannot but regret the position he has taken in this business . Still more do we regret to Bee joined with him Mr . Philp , a member of the

      People ' s Executive . Doubtless these gentlemen give the now converts to Complete Suffrage credit for a large amount of honeBty and sincerity . We cannot do bo ; and we fear , if the people should be led into any general countenance of the steps taken by these gentlemen , that the error will not be found to be less fatal ; for haying been an amiable one . Once more we tell the people they must keep right on , swerving neither to the right hand nor to the left , or they will be ' used , ' left , and laughed at . "

      Here , in this little extract , is the whole root and foundation of all tho raving that we have had ever sinoe about " dictation" ! and denunciation" I The next week , resolutions of the people strongly condemning that member of the Executive , and calling upon him to resign his seat forthwith , were poured in from almost all quarters . 1 gave one of them as a sample , and kept out all the rest ; merely naming the places from whioh I had received them . I then , in returning to a consideration of the subject , made these remarks :

      " We repeat , as we said last week , that we respect these men for the talent and the zeal they have hitherto manifested in tho people's cause ; we respect some of theni for the sufferings they havo endured ia the cause ; but we cannot in this case compliment their judgment . We doubt not that they err from the excess of their anxiety to scizo every opportunity of making converts to the Charter , ana from their readiness to estimate the motives of others by their own , and so to give the middle-class Sturge men full credit for sinceriiy in their profession of Universal Suffrage principles : they suppose them to be sincere in wishing for Universal Suffrage , and that , therefore , ! hey can easily persuade them into the adoption of the other points of the Chartflr . We

      think them much mistaken ; and we still opine that their error will not be found much less fatal for being amiable . We feel some little difficulty in finding out the plane upon which the amiable principles of our friends operate . We are at a Joss to know how they discover , in this' Declaration' any distinct and unequivocal recognition of the principle oLUnivkksAL Suffrage ; and if that recognition were even palpable , we are astonished that they , some of whom have suffered so much from middle-class treachery to principle heretofore , can havo so simple a dependency on their adherence to principle now . We find in Mr . Philp ' s speech , at tho Conferenco , as reported by himself , the following sentiment : —

      ¦ " ¦•• ¦ But suppose tho worst—that the middle-classes wore not houest ;—that they signed this declaration as a fa lso pretence ;— -coul d they ever again sit in jury boxes and convict us ; as traitors and conspirators for contending for that principle which they themselves had declared in black and white to be the right of the pepplbi ' "Now , surely , Mr . PhiJp must have forgotten ,-in the goodness of his heart , the experience of all the iaat five years . Who have been the most forward in the Jury boxes , aud on the bench , to convict and sentence Chartists ? Have they not been the very parties who have , over and over again , in the Reform Bill agitation , testified ( 0 , and Contended for , the very same principle—the principle that representation should bo co-extenaive with taxation . "

      Now , I a > k of every reader of the Northern Star , to read these two paragraphs , quoted from tho Star of the 12 ih and the 19 : h of March , and say whether they contain anything more than fair critioism—¦ whether they contain a single word at which any man ought to be offended—whether there is anything in them of " abuse "—anything of "declamation . " - —anything , of " dictatorship" —anything of " assailing the characters of others to elovata " myself by their ¦ ¦ downfall" *;? Yet these were the paragraphs which constituted my " hostility" ! to

      Mr . Philp , and to which that gentleman replied in his next Vindicator by a long tissue of declamation about the " dictatorship of the Editor of the Northern Star , " by declaring for "independence of thought and of autiou" ! Tho whole paragraph was given iu last week's Star , and may be referred to again . But I beg that , even now , my readers will read all that I said about this gentleman , ( I have given it every word above , ) and then read with it the following sentences from Mr . Phixp ' s reply , and say , ( if it was worth my while to complain , ) who should bo the man to call out for " fair

      criticism . "But there are somo mixed up with Chartism , to its prejudice and injury , big in self-eateem ; who , having imperfectly learuod the alphabet of politics , presume to speak its language . Such "¦ men are but ilrags upon tae wheel of human progression ; their adoration is of mrn , not of Principlhs ; their tiiecoursea . ABUSE AND pKCLAMATION , not ARGUMENf . Thoy seek to cam a reputation ; and not having the ability to gain a People ' s esteem for tnemselycs , tht'y assail the characters of others , that they may b-j elevated by their downfall . * " 1 labaur zealously to advance the cause of Chartism , but I am not to be turned from my path by every mushroom thai starts up in my way . " * . ••¦ *

      " Let me not be viewd through the darkened medium of other men's thick heads and black hearts . " , I have not »; ven added to this the italics and capital letters ; they aro all Mr . Philp ' s own , just as he printed ^ them in lha Vindicator . . "• .. . This , and tho aitiula of last week , is all the editorial notice I havo evor taken of this genteman . To that , article I' now refer nay readers ; it is too long to be given over again , but I beg that , iu justice to me , it may be read over again ; that along with it Mr . Philp ' s letter may be rea , d , and see whether the letter does not justify tho article , and whether after all these things are fairly looked at , the Executive have any 1 igut , admitting their own acts to be fit subjects tor "fair critcism , " to fiiid fauU with my "hostility

      fowards one of their body . ' 1 Now for tho other matter of" dennnoiatwn" and '' hostility . " On tJie eecoad of April , the -Birmingham Confereuco began , and on the ¦ following Saturday I announced my intention of waUiiig for the official report of its proooedings upon whioh to found my commentary . I reoeifed that official

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      report the week following , and on it I founded an artioir , which stands in the &ar of the 16 th of that month . I foam ! from the report that Mr . O'Bntm had been somewhat prominent in the Conferernce ; things were set down for him whioh I thought unwise and inconsistent in Mr . O'Brien . I was very careful in every place where I quoted any thing from the report about Mr . O'Beiem , to give everything about him ^ -every word set down for him . In no case did I alter a word , in no case did I leave out a word of any speeoh of Mr . O'Bp . ibn ' s in that report upon which I commented . I did

      not in any one case take Bimply the words that I objected toy but in every instance gave the whole speech as it appeared in the report . ( And after all the bluster about that report being an incorrect one , I have sinoe seen a pamphlet containing the official report of that Conference , and which report I have reason to know had been sent to Mr . O'Brien with a request : that he would make any alterations or Corrections- he might deem necessary , in his own speeches . It was verbatim with the one upon which my article was founded !) The proceedings of this conference were

      most important to our cause . I had a strong opinion upon them , as I have upon the whole Stubge movement . Having that opinion , I should have been dishonest in the extreme to withhold it from you . I should have deserved your execration , if I had seen yon led into what I believed to be a trap deliberately laid for you , without telling you my thoughts about it . I did so ; and in doing it I found myself compelled to disagree with the opinions and policy of Mr . O'Bbien . I expressed that disagreement in the most guarded and respectful terms—terms which I imagined could not be construed as offensive by any man . Here is what I said on the

      matter : — ¦ " . - ¦ ¦;; " . ; .. . .: " .. . ' .. . . . M The Conference has been held i and thoBgh Mr . O'Brien is represented as having expressed himself highly delighted with its proceedings , and as having Baid that tt when he entered that Conference he expected to meet with men who would admit their principle in wholesale , and fritter it away in detail ; but his suspicions had proved groundless—( cheers ) . He had never been in any society ^ -coinposed even exclusi vely of working men—in which he had found the democratic spirit more thoroughly developed' — -a

      careful reading of the whole report compels us , notwithstanding oar deference to Mr . O'Brien ' s judgment , to adhere stilt to that which we had previously formed of this whole movement ; and to regard the very circumstances to which we have ho doubt Mr . O'B . referred , as the ground of his satisfaction , as so much additional evidence that the whole thing is a device of the enemy , and that insincerity is stamped upon its every feature . We repeat that we are able to discover in the whole movement , of which ; this Conference is the most prominent and distinguishing feature , and in the conclusions and resolutions come toby the Conference itself , no purpose save one , —

      which is the exact converse of the one avowed ; no evidence but that of deeply-concealed hostility and well-covered treachery , to the great cause of democratic rule , for the success of which bo much appearance of anxiety is manifested . We of course intend not that these strictures fihall apply personally to each , or any , member of the conference . That there were there those to whom ; they are most strictly applicable , and who will feel their truth , we verily believe ; and that there were there those who , like O'Bbien and others recognised as Chartist leaders , * ' hoped all things" out o £ fervent oharity , and were therefore indisposed .

      " To pry too nicely ' neath a specious seeinmg , " we can have no doubt . " I then proceeded to examine into the acts and bayings of the Conference , as given in the report before me , and concluded my survey of those acts and sayings with the following paragraph : — " What then is the conclusion forced upon the mind by all these proceedings taken as a whole ! The avowed object of these men is the uniting of the whole energies of the whole people , ahd particularly

      the uniting of the middle and working classes ; and they prosecute this object by a means which can have no other effect than that of breaking up , as far as it may be successful , the union . of the workingg classes already established .. This may be sufficient to prove to Mr . 0 ' Brien that his suspioions of the Sturgeite ' s were groundless ; we acknowledge , however much we may regret to dissent from his opinion , that upon , our mind it has worked a conclusion exactly the reverse of this . "

      Here , then , you have the whole sum , substance , and amount , of my '' denunciation" of Messrs . Philp and O'Brien , about which thoso two men have been permitted , ever since , to keep the whole country in a fcrmeuti ; for which , from tHem and their friends , every epithet of Opprobrium the language can afford has been unsparingly applied ( 0 me in all sorts of ways : —" liar , " " wilfulliar , "" villain , " assassin , " "hypocrite , " " slanderer , "" trickster , " and a string of such like epithets as lone as w'ould fill a column of

      this paper , might I believe be picked out of the ravings of these parties and their friends on account of the " denunciation" (!) contained in the paragraphs which I have hero laid fairly before you . And to crown all , the Executive now think it necessary , in their valedictory address , to join the crusade against the " denunciations " and " unfair criticisms" of the Northern Slar , and to claim the protection of the people for Mr . PiiiLr- as one of their body . It does not seem to occur to the Executive that the " denunciation" of Mr .

      Philp , in the last week ' s Star , was a necessary consequence of his own conduct f they seem to think that Mr . Philp , or Mr . O'Bb , ien , or Mr . Everybody-else should have a tight to use every sort of coarse indecency of language in reference to the Northern Slar , and to heap upon its conductor every possible amount of indignity and falsehood , while he should do nothing but praise theni in return ! The great card , however , of the Exechtiye's complaint of iU-treatiaent as a body is , the information contained in last week ' s Star , that I have frequently al-. ered the phraseology of their official

      documents to prevent their liability to prosecution . The Executive are most virtuously and valorously indignant about this ; and demand the right of ^ correotihg their own documents , and answering for their own ignorance aud criminal omissions , to the people and not to me . I should certainly like it much better if they would take the trouble of reading the plan of organization , so that their document 3 should not need correction . As to their being answerable to the people for their

      incorrectness , they might pprhapa get over that a little easier than the Proprietor of the Northern Star might chance to get over answering to the Government for making his paper the official organ of an illegal association . While , the interests of the Northern Star are in my hands , I shall consider them identical with those of the cause , and I shall not suffer them to be jeopardized by the ignorance or carelessness of any man or body of men whatever .

      A few words will , I thiuk , set this sufficiently at rest , and show the people that the big talk ot the Executive about my taking liberties with their documents , is very innocent big talk after all . I never made an alteration which could have the slightest effect upon the sense of any document from the Executive ; that they know very well . I never but once had occasion to dissent from the apparent sonse or purport of any of their documents ; and I then did what they say is my duty to do ; I printed it entire , With my own respectful suggestions concerning it . But it has frequently happened , as it

      does this weekj that I receive from the Executive a long and importaut document by the last post before going to press ; there is no time to send it back for correction , and to point out the alterations necessary to be made . It is uecesEary for the public cause that the document should be printed that week , and yet , upon examining it , I have found perhaps a word here and there which , if seized upon by the Anoa . net GenebaLj would bring both the Executive and the Northern Star within the operation of the

      Corresponding Societies' Act ; and in these ; cases I .. havo made such necessary verbal alterationB as I knew would keep ua safe . I shall always do itj whatever Executive 1 may bo in office . I have done it this very week . In their address which appears in this paper , the same address in which they so .. determinedly kick against iny intcr " trence , they style themselves in several places of the priginal copy which came here , the Executivo "CouncU" of the Natioaal Chax-

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      ter Association . There is no such body 53 the Exeoutive " Council" in the National Charter Association ; and I am amazed that Messrs , Leach and Campbell , who were members of the delegate meeting , to the expence of which the country was put for the pur ? pose of having the ; organization legalized , should have forgotten the long discussion opon this very point , on which it was thought most difficult to steer clear of the meshes of the law . The plan of organization , if they had read it , must have shown them that the Executive is not a

      Council . It is & Committee , selected from , and appointed by , the : 6 eneral Council for transacting the executive business of the Association . Now in the case of this address ; then . I had no alternative but to" alter" this expression , or to omit its insertion . Which do the Executive , and which do the people consider to be the preferable course I And yet . - " : this , is the whole matter about which the Execative protest so very indignantly against my "presumption" ! and appeal to the people whether they ara to be responsible to them or to me I All I can say on tha

      matter is , that I hope the next Executive will giva me less trouble in this respect , by reading the plan of organisation , before they sit down to the duties of their office , and thus enabling themselves to produce their documents in accordance with it . At all events , and in any case , I cad assure the present , and every futnre Executive , that to whomsoever they may hold themselves to bo responsible , I shall hold myself responsible for the legal accuracy of whatever appears in the Northern Star , so long as the estate and person of its proprietor are left without any other protection than iny watchfulness .

      And now to bring this long letter to a close . It is my turn to demand , not protection , but an expression of opinion from the people , it seems to have become the fashion to' * to ran-a-mucki' against the Northern Star . I desire to know whether this be in accordance ^ with the people ' s wish . The Northern Star has been now under my management for nearly five years . During all that time the people know whether it has ever shrunk from its post ; whether it has ever shrunk from principle ; or veered a pin ' s point from , the first direction of its compass . I demand that the people shall look over the columns of thet Northern Star , and tell me whether they approve of the bluster about the " dictation" and the "d * n « n-

      ciation" of the Northern Star , which is now so fashionable ? I desire them to look at tho plain facts of the case ; to examine the specimens of "dictation " mi of "denunciation" which I have given them in this letter '; ( and I defy any man living to produce from the columns of the Northern Star an allusion to any Chartist leader less respect- » ful in its terms than those 1 have adduced ; unless it may have been in reply to some tissue of abuse ); to remember that these fair and kindly criticisms , instead of being received in the spirit so eloquently recommended by the Executive ,

      " with the beat feelings of democratic friendship , " have called forth hot , Waspish replies ; full of rancour and misrepresentation ; and sometimes full of offensive ribaldry ; that these replies have invariably represented me as an overbearing " dictator ; " aa " a man with a thick head and a black heart V as " a mushrooni springing up in the path" of the giants of Chartism , againat whom my critioiBma have been fulminated ; as " a liarf H an assassin f " a villain ; " " a nifBan ; " a " cowardly hypocritel " If I refuse insertion to these violent fepues .

      to fair criticism and friendly remark , I am then * denounced" 2 , % taking aa unfair advantage of my position to destroy men ' s characters , without giving them an oppportunifcy for reply . If I insert them , and point out , and prove , their falsehoods * and misrepresentations , I am then accused of "denunciation f the whole matter which called forth iny reply for my own defence is conveniently kept out of sight , and at the next meeting to which an orator presents himself , you are told how shamefully the Northern Star has been '' denouncing" the good men and true of the move ?

      ment ' . '¦" - - . : . " . ; " .. : . . - :: ¦ - ...: . . . : ,. : :. - " > ¦ " Now I have no opportunity "' -of attending public meetings ia various places to make speeches to you , and- work upon your passions . My time is fully- occupied in attending to your interests here . I am told that an orator in Manchester , on Sunday , threatened , ia : the ardour of his zeal , that "if he were denounced , he would travel through the world and to the gates of hell , but he would drag tho accuser forth . " I have no such fiery incUnation ; and if I had , I have no opportunity of

      indu ' giug it ; and that , the braggers about public meetings know very well . I am anxious to do what service I can for the people ; and , in spite of all these little breezes , I always shall do so . I think Lam in that position in which , 1 can do it more effectually than I could in any other . So long aa I continue to hold that position , I shall do my duty to the people , honestly , fearlessly , and consistently as I always have done . I shall neither flatter their prejudices , nor allow them to be led into danger without raising an alarm ; But , though'like Mr . PHitP , I declare for "independence , " I should yet be glad to know , positively , and by their

      own statement , ; from the people , whether , in the almost five years that I have served them in my present National capacity , I have deserved to be made thebutt of universal attack , and of so much " misrepresentation and wrong" a 3 has latterly fallen to my share . I demarid , as an act of justice and of right , that the Whole of the Chartist bodywherever the Northern Star is known , shall register and . tranBmit to me by resolution , their opinion , honestly aud fairly given , of its merits ; and that they shall state distinctly whether they consider it and me worthy of their confidence , and will support me in putting an end , now and for ever , to this system of "denuuciation and abuse . "

      With the same fervour of attaohment to the cause of liberty and truth which has always actaatedme , I am , Friends , Yours faithfully , , WittuK Hrtt .

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      William Clark suggests that an explication and justification of Chartist policy at the last general ;' election , was a fit subject for the pen of Mr . ty Connory or some other talented writer . We ' , think the subject has been expatiated on quite ; sufficient for all parties to understand it ; those who are determined to misrepresent it , willdoid ,, whatever may be said * ' ¦ •/'' , David WniGnr . —To his first question we can ordij , answer , that scores of letters for Mr , 0 * C 6 nntft have been received here pnd forwarded ; whether his may be among them or not we do not knotPty To the second question we say , that the story is a . milicious and wicked lie , originate with whom U . ' ^ may : But Mr . O'C . would certainly not " pro- >

      secute' the parties . His letter in comment upon * , ; a paragraph from an A berdeen Correspondent in ^ our last , could do him no good if printed , asM merely repeats what the paragraph stales fiiinhU ' ; have said at the meeting in question . We cannoty therefore Occupy space with it . . h , ^ A Puprt . Leeds , must read his ninth lesson , inviM \ " Fifteen Lessons , " % c . . [ : ' : . Eccles Chartists . —We are at a fas to know hoto ¦ they can have read any article in last week ' s Star , so as to construe it into an attack » n the Executives Certainly nothing rjeas further from our intention than to attack the Executive , of ' whom aa a body we have always spoken highlyV ' and we donbt now need or purpose to w ithdraw one iota of the many commendations we have . ¦ thought it pur duly to accord them ; because we never do thus speak of any man or body ofnteTh without knowing that it is well deserved . We believe none but our Ecdes friends willsuspect tts of'Itaoihy had any purpose : /• . ** lower tkt Executivein the < estimationofthe ' people , ' of to " cancel their fitness for office ; " and we feel quite sure that tf '; they redd the last week ' s Star ao > iin , they will see that they have done us in ° justice . ¦ ' - ' ¦ ¦ . . . - . ¦ - ¦ ¦ . ' . ' ¦ : . ¦ " ¦ - . " ¦ " ¦ ¦ ¦¦ ¦ . : ' . v

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      The K0rtheen Star. Saturday, June 11, 1842.

      THE K 0 RTHEEN STAR . SATURDAY , JUNE 11 , 1842 .

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      Untitled Article

      4 TH E N OR THEEl S TAR . : ' - ' . /¦; , " - . ¦ " ¦¦ . - .. ¦ _ ^ - ¦ ¦ v ., r ;

  • Citation
    • Northern Star (1837-1852), June 11, 1842, page 4, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/ns/issues/vm2-ncseproduct892/page/4/