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Northern Star (1837-1852), 23rd July 1842, Edition 5 of 5, Page 4, Untitled Article

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  • Departments (3)
    • ©p 33eaHfv0 anli Corr^oittwnt^
    • THE PORTRAITS.
    • THE NORTHERN STAR. S ATUPvDAY, JULY 23,1842.
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      Untitled Article

      3 LAN FOR ORGANISING THE CHARTISTS OF GEE IT BRITAIN . AS REVISED AND AlSEXDED ATA T 4 EETIKG OP DELEGATES , APPOINTED BT THE PEOPLE , AND HELD AT THE KaTIOXAL CHARTER ASSOCIATION ROOM , iib-strxet , Manchester , feb . 20 , i «* i . designation ob ibb association . " L That the Chartiste * t Great Britain be incorporated in one Society , tote tailed the National Charter Association of Great Britain .

      objects . ? F 2 . The object of this Association is to obtain » "Radical Reform" of the House of Commons ; in other -words , a foil and faitbful Representation of the entire people of toe United Kingdom . PRIKCIPLES . 3 . The principles requisite to secure such a representation of the people are ; The right of voting for Members of Parliament , by every male of twenty-one yerzs cf age , and of sound mind ; Annual Elections ; Vote by Ballot ; Xo-Property Qualifications for Mem"bers of Parliament ; Payment of Members ; and a Division of the Kingdom into Electoral Districts , giving te each district a proportionate number of representativeB . according to the number of electors .

      MEANS . 4 . To accomplish the foregoing object , none bnt peaceable and constitutional means shall be employed . COSDIIIOXS OF 3 IEMBEKSHIP , -5 . Aay person BtiaH be admitted a Member of this Association on taking a Card of Membership , to be renewed half-yearly ; for -which be shall pay twopence , and afterwards one penny per week subcnption .

      REGISTRATION OF 1 IEHBERS . 6 . A book shall be kept by the Executive Committee ( hereinsf ; er described ) , in ¦ which shall be entered the names of ttiB Members of this Assoaation throughout theiingdoffli GOVSBJTHENT . 7 . The Government of this Association shall be Tested in-a General Council , to be chosen as hereinafter mentioned ; five of -whom shall sit as an Executive Committee . " -

      ELECTION OT GEKEBAL COUNCIL . 8 . Every town or village in which Members of this Association- * ball be resident , may nominate " one or more pewyis as Members of Ifee General Conocii ~ the nomination to take plaoe every twelve months—that is to say , en the 1 st day of December in each year ; the election « f jssch Councillors by all the Members of the Association to be taken on the 1 st day of January next following- -.- --- . SCB-IREASCRERS AND . SCB-SECRETARIES .

      9 . Each town or village , in which members of this Association shall be resident , may nominate one person , a member of the General Council , as a Sub-Treasurer ; and one person , alss a member of the General Council , as a Sab-Secretary ; to assist the General Treasurer and the General Secretary : the nominatioa of such Sub-Treasarets and Sub-Secretaries , and their election by all the members of the Association , to take place at the same time a 3 the nomination and election of the General Council .

      DCTIES OP SCB TB . EASXTB . ERS 10 . Each Sab-Treasurer shall be authorised to receive subscriptions and donations for the use cf this Association . He shall keep an tsict account thereof , and transmit monthly to the General Treasurer onefourth cf the whole , giving notice thereof to the General Secretary . DUTIES OP SUB-SECRETARIES . 10 . The Sub-Secretaries shall assist the General Secretary in writing and preserving minutes of all the transecUens of the Association , and in preparing for publication such reports of those transactions as may be deemed necessary to be published , and in such other ways as by the General Sseretary , -with the advice of the Executive Canimitiee , may be required .

      ELECTION AND DtllES 0 ? THE GENERAL TREASURER . 12 . The General Treasurer of this Association shall be chosen by the General Council , in like manner tnd at the same time as the Executive Committee hereinafter mentioned . He shall be responsible for fill monies entrusted to turn ; be shall keep an exact ieecnnt of ill receipts and disbursements of the Association ; and shall , ence in every three months , publish in the Xorihern Star , Scottish Patriot , and in sach other of the Chartist aewspapers as may be Selected by the Executive Committee , a statement of the same , with a fall balsnce-sbeefc , which shall be -first examined bj auditors , appointed for the purpose by the Executive . APPOINTMENT AND DUTIES OF THE GENERAL SECB . ET . S . S 1 .

      13 . The Qsnenl Secretary shall be appointed by the ExeiatiTe Committee . He shall keep an exact record of the business , monetary or otherwise , of the F xscutive Committee , and perform all the general duties of a Secretary , as bs may be required .

      ZXECnnE COMMITTEE . 14 . The Gaisral Council of the Association ifcall choose fire members cf their own body to sit as an Execauve Connrnttee , in manner as herein follows ;—Every sub Semtuy shsil be at liberty to , nominate one candidate , on the 1 st day of February in each ytar , sad Sve persons from among those so nominated shall be elected by all the mesbeis on the 1 st dsy cf ilarcb following . 3 I 0 DX OP ELECTING THE ESECrTlTE COHMITTEE 15 . The nomination of eradicates cf the Executive Ci-iniBittee , by the several sub-Secretaries , *>! & ?! be in accordance with the following form : — To the General Secretary of the Nationa' Cha-ier Association of Gieai Britain . February 1 ,

      ISSir—I here nrmuiLte A . B . iMactsmith ! of ( 14 , Eiih-Etrefel , Bath , ) a xcecibtr cf the Genera . ! CauEcil of Vne Is it ; on Charter Association cf Gr ^ ii Britain , as a fit and proper person to be ejected a member of the Executive ConuniUeej on the 1 st day of March BfcXt Signts ? , C . D ., ( Capenter , No . 6 . Tib-stret , Manch&iter , ) Heznber of the Gsnsrsl Council , and sat-Secret-ary of the National Charter Association of Great Britain .

      A list of all the candidates so no mutated , shall bs transmitted , per p'sst , by the Gec « : al Secretary , to every E ; i > --Sicr&ts , Ty , on or before tte 10 th day of February ; the election shall be taiea on the 1 st day of M ^ T ch following ; anrl the cniater rf Tct ^ s shall be j mniedictely forwarded to the General Secretary , -who shall lay the same before the outgoing Executive Com-E ; ittee fcr ex-. nnnaticn , and by tbrir trier publish , ¦ withia one Wctk of rtoei-rias them , the ^ ho . e cf Each TfctarE 3 ; together -with the fiecUr .-. tioa of tha outgoing Hs ^ cniiTe CcnuuiUee , of the persccs cdIt elected .

      yo-R-EH a ^ D DVTJES 7 H £ EXECUTIVE . 1 G . Tfce Executive Committee thall be empowered to adiipt any measure for the a ^ Tanceinent cf the oVjtCts of tbia Asscxlation , consistent with its fncdaitieistal Iets ; for -which purpose they i-hail hsTe the disoGEai < if one-fourth of the moaeya collected taronghout the society , and lodged with the Gvneral Treasurer .

      EEMrNEEATlON OP OFF 1 CEBS . 17 . The G-neral Sidtt ^ ry shall be psid for his -ser--rics the nun of ^ 2 per tre * t , and ezch olilzT ilember of tbt Ex jmiive Council , the sun of £ 1 ~ 10 s . per Wcfci finri ; z tbe period of their

      Biitings-C 0 MPE 5 SAT 10 N . 18- The Members of the Executive shall be entitled to conjpensatioD , for loss consequent npon their accepance of iffi-s , tithta by feelrg employed as missionaries . during any recesa that may harpan whila they coniicUB in the r cfB . c : al cajsjcity , or la each otber wsy as may T > 3 most conTenient for the Association . V / btn > 5 eiul > ers tf the Executive ehall be emploTtd as mi £ Mon = * ies , their szis . ir . es sbail be the fame as whes employed in thtir Tt-gti : xr duties . Goach hire , and one-hs ^ f . of any other Icc-dectal expenses , thall be paid to them in a ddition , by tae parties who may request their servicts ; or iu the evtnt of t-eing employea' by the Executive to open new diEtricts , the BiTse piopoTtion of expenses thall bo allowed out of tbe general fund .

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      TO TEE SHAKSPEREAJf ASSOCIATION OF LEICESTER CHARTISTS . IIt belotbd Cosisades ^ —Ton have been doing gallantly during my absence . Hononrantl g 3 ory to 7 onJ Honour and . glorj to Bairstow , and Ssedham , and Smith , for thai bravery in lesdiDg yon en . I hope to be witb you within a few hears after this day ' s Star reaches you , and onse more to lead on the charge , Trith my darting biigacSe , against the joggling Corn law Beps&lers , the sham Chartists , « nd all who dare oppose . I left you . 2 , 454 in nnmbe-, on Thursday morning , the 2-&Q instant . I trust my valiant recruiting serjeanta have been doing their duty , and that I * fr « i ( find you considerably increased on my

      . return . I hava spread " the Teal Leicester fire" with all my strength daring thes # last few days . On Tfeursday , the dsy that I left you , I addressed & large openair meeting » t Belper , just to prepare the iray for doing real business the following night . In company -with that tree-hearted and indefatigable Chartist , Mr . Tickers ( who is at Belper what Sweet it at Nottingham , White at Birmingham , Harney at Sheffield , Skevington at Leughboreufih , &c &c—lie staff and pillar of Chartism in his Is-safity ) , I visited the splendid scenery of Matiock , Bonsaii , Cromford , &a the cext day ; and rt > tamed to Belper , faiTigorstea by tie air of flie Peak , and laid to at tie heads and hearts of the rtout Belperians , in the evening , ontil I had enrolled 102 of their names , as . Chartists , in the open market-place . Tke next moraisg X entered their names in a new book

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      which I prepared with a view of improving their organisation , and in which my friend Tickers and the Secretary have promised that the members' names shall be inserted . The class-book is formed on the principle of street-districts , with a view to enlisting the services of collectors , on our Leicester system . I reached Sheffield on Saturday night , and with that intrepid and incorruptible spirit , Julian Harney , visited the widow of the murdered Hoiberry on the succeeding forenoon . I was much affected by the interview . She is a remarkably fine-looking woman , and in spite of all her heart-rending sufferings , wears a latent fire in her eye , and a dignity in her carriage , that tells you she is worthy to hava been the wife of the unconquerable patriot , Samuel Hoiberry . Great excitement still

      pret&Us in Sheffield , on the subject of bis death . They nave got plaster busts of him , from a cast , taken after death , by Mr . Demaine of York , a young Chaitlst of great natural genios . We will have one of these boats at Leicester , my brave Shakspereans . Hoiberry bears the highest character for integrity . He was a very fine looking man and was a head and shoulders taller than common men : his coffin measured six feet nine inches , and was but two inches within too long for the corpse . The poor murdered prisoner was bb completely skeletonised , tbat hi 3 widow could onlyrecognlzs him by his hair as he lay in the coffin . Poor woman ! no wonder that she became delirions I now , however , she is happily recovered . May the God of the fatherless and the widow be her support I preached twice to the Sheffielders , in the open air on Snnflay last . In the evening , the death of poor Hoiberry waa part of my

      theme . His faithful -widow sat in a chair close by toe table en which I Stood , — and with a . perseverance and ardour which prove her to be a woman of do ordinary value , —sat through the whole discourse , surrounded by from six to seven thousand people , and would not move from the ground tilt I had enrolled one hundred and fifteen names as Chartists l I thought , as I gave her my arm to conduct her off the ground , amidst the throng cf hundreds , who crowded round to gszs , —that if every Chartist in England could have seen that brave , bereaved , and noble woman , —they would have sworn , as I did , in my inmost soul , either to compass the downfall of the horrid tyranny by which her husband was martyred , —or to spend life in the attempt Iu the name of the departed patriot , let this poor widow be remembered , and that effectually , in every Chartiit locality .

      On Monday night the Town-hall had been hired , for fear of rain ; but we were compelled to adjourn to the Haymarket , immediately on entering it , through pressare of the Immense numbers . Till ten O ' clCClf , I addressed as large a number as on the preceding night ; and 1 believe the enthusiasm was so deeply-seated , and so widely spread , that I should have been able to enrol two hundred more names , if it had not been dark , and I had not been completely spent Harney , however , enrolled thirty-two names , at the rooms , after that time of night I should have told yon , by beloved Brigade , that I introduced our favourite song ; " Well rally around him , " and some oiher snatches , common at Leicester ; and the Sheffielders , as well as the Belperians , learnt them right heartily ,

      I got to Leeds , amidst a disagreeable change of weather , . on Tuesday afternoon , and was compelled to lecture in a email room , not capable of containing more than 500 people , at night . The meeting had been announced for the open air , but it was imposible so to held it The vs * t majority of my audience , of course , were enrolled Caartists ; but I enrolled twenty-two new members , nevertheless , at the close * . Mr . Hill , the invalu&ble editor of the Star , addressed the meeting in a pointed and energetic manner , after I had concluded .

      On Wednesday , I had the unexpected delight of meeting our peat champion , O'Connor , at the Star Office ; and after passing a couple of pleasurable hours in bis company , I set out for Holbeck , a suburb of " Leeds . The meeting had been called for in-8 oors , but I persuaded the Holbeckers to turn out , and we had a pleasant meeting , in the open-air . Sixty were enrolled at the dose , and I left the Chartists of this district of Leeds , full of enthusiastic admiration for our popular Leicester song , " We'll rally around him , " and also for our stirring chorus " Spread the Charter ! spread the Charter through the- land . ' Lst Britons , bold and brave , join heart in hand !"

      I have been spending another portion of happy time with our brave and nntireablo Feajgus , thia morning , and hare obtained from him a promise to visit ru . —aye , and to spend some lime with us , too , at Leicester , in the month of September . Now , dont go mad with joy about that , my darling lads , —let me see the " Shaksperean brigade" steady and firm as oaks , when T return . I am just off for Todmorden , and-will tell yen how I succeed there , when 1 get back to Leicester . 1 am , my brave comrades ,-Your faithful •¦ general , " Thomas Cooper . Leeds , Thursday , July 21 , 1842 .

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      Specimens of the Petition Processios and Thomas DtxcosiBE , Esq , M . P . are sow fob , THE MOST PAEI IN XHJE HASDS OP OBS AGENTS , ASD AT THE tRGEST B . E < iUEST OF MATTS "WE HAVE EXTENDED THE TIME FOB RECEIVING SUBSCRIPTIONS TO SaTURDAY NEXT , THE 30 TJI j TOE THOSE "WHO HAVE RECEIVED THEIR SPECIMENS ; and to Saturday iiie 6 th of August , ^? OE . 1 HOSE WHO , FKOM THE DISTANCE , CANNOT ¦ BE 1 N POSSESSION OF THEM TILL NEXT WEEK . . AGEKIS ARE REQUESTED TO G 1 TE TICKEIS TO SUBSCRIBERS , AS HOXE OTHERS WILL BE ENT 1 ILED TO , OR CAN RECEIVE , THE PLATES .

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      ORGANIZATION .

      There is iot , at the present time , any other subject of so much or of such immediate consequenoe to the people as this . It is only by union that our power can be knovrn and manifested , and it is ouly by organization that cur union can become effective . It is not enon ^ rh that an uniformity of opinion should obtain among the people ; there must also be an un iformitv of energy and determination

      universally , nianiftsled . In nobbing can . the fixed purpose and determined energy of tho people be so Trell manifested as in the steady adherence to all the principles and all the details of their own national plan of organization . We hare never-been in Ihe habit of assuming for the Northern Star , ihe position of a dictator or a guide ; we have sought rather to make it aTtftector iu wirica the public mind—tho people ' s will—should appearin its own jasiproportions ; striving only to prevent those pxopoiuoas from being marred or hidden

      by the machinations of ilia treacherous , the attacks of open foes , or the folly of indiscreet and unreflecting friends . We are , however , quite aware that a large portion of our brethren louk to us , and depend on us , for the necessary word of caution , whenever , from auy of these causes , or from any other causej dan 2 er may be apprehended ; and we should ill discharge the duty vrhieh we owe the people if we neglected so to do . We have , therefore , oa

      eeimal late occasions , bid the people to remember who were now in power , and who were seeking to ^ nake topis , of them to attain a donble objectthe . affrighting of the " Tory Government aud the makin g of more elbow room for their machinery . We have seen th . at there ia great danger from the neglecting to observe generally the national organization ; whereby the body becomes liable to the relentless inroads of the

      landsharks—the lawyers and middle-class jurors . We promised-in this matter , last week , to republish in our present number the plan of organization , of which some localities and some officers of the association seem really as ignorant as if it had never been published . That plan we give in another column ; and we beg th&t it may be read , learned , and inwardly digested by every Chartist in the kingdom . We append hereto tfae observations made npon It in the Northern Star of the 6 th of March , 1841 . They are as clear as anything we could now write npon the subject , and as necessary to be noted nowAs when they were first written .

      u Among the many good things which O'Coukexl j has said , we remember one saying of his : that" the ! nest best thing to being right yourself ia to put your enemy completely in the wrong . " We fully accord ! with this doctrine ; and hence we have ever been most aoxiois that tho operations of the people should be oonducted peacefully and legally : knowing ! that if their' moral strength was well marshalled .

      i and their numbers well organised , they were in-I vincible and . ' irresistible j—able to carry any ¦ measure of a wholesome and sanatory tendency , without violating any of those forms and appearances of law with which the harpies have | fenced round the carcase of corruption , in the | hope of feasting undisturbedly thereon . There is no

      power in any state successfully to resist the righteous

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      demands of a people , united in purpose and opinion , and so organised as to enable them to express their opinion and to prosecute their purpose as one man . Of this the factions are mest perfectly aware ; and hence their highest dread has ever lieen the organisation of the people , and their greatest care to provide against its existence . It is only by a well digested plan of organisation , generally understood and acted on , that the power of the people can be efficiently made manifest . The isolated struggles of individuals , or knots of individuals , Or separate societies or localities , even though all directed to

      the Bame end , are but like water thrown by bucketfulls out of a mighty rirer against the walls of a citadel , which expends its force in impotence , producing a splash and nothing more : while a national organisation , enabling the whole people to move at the same time , and in the same direction , bending their energies against the same point , is like the mighty rushing of the whole torrent , against which no obstacle can stand . The vast importance of this subject has been always seen , both by the people ' s friends and by their enemies ; and hence , from the time when the Honse of Commons was first sought to

      be emancipated from the direct coctronl of : the crown , and placed in its dne position as an independent branch of the legislature , to the present moment a period of about 250 years , an incessant straggle has been going on , between those who wished to organise , and those who wished to destroy , the expression of the people ' s will for right . This struggle has been carried on with more or less of spirit , as the parties anxious for right , and understanding it , have been more or less numerous , talented , or

      influential . It would be easy to run over the entire history ; but it would comport neither with our Bpace nor purpose to do so . Suffice it that the lynxeyed jealousy of faction watched every movement ; and , having in their hands the power of law-making , met every organised movement with new and more close restrictions ; till it W&S thought that effectual provision bad been made against any possibility of any national organisation existing , other than suoh as might accord with the designs and purposes of the dominant class .

      The laws now in force , in reference to political societies and national organisation , are comprised in two most sweeping and comprehensive statutes , the 39 Gko . Ill , chap . 79 , passed in July 1799 , and the 57-Gso . III . o . 19 , passed in March 1817 , and so well are the meshes of these two insidious and infamous statutes spread out , that it was doubtless deemed to be impossible for any "national " organisation to escape them . And so it would be , in the absence of a national organ of

      communication . When the scoundrels hatched this infernal piece of villany , they did not calculate upon a Northern Star rising in the political and social hemisphere , and shedding its rays over the entire surface of the Empire , That advantage the people will now feel , as , by means of it , they may be enabled to make the plan of organisation now offered them , as thoroughly efficient as it is perfectly legal ; and thus baffle all the arts of all the enemies of freedom .

      In calling attention to the plan of organisation propounded by the national meeting of delegates , a&d to the mode of working it , we begin with placing before our readers so much of the provisions of the law upon the subject , as were capable of being brought to bear upon the former plan . Freemasons , Quakers , and all societies of a purely religious or charitable character , and in which no other subject shall , under any circumstances , be discussed , are specially exempted from the operation of the acts above-named ; and with such exceptions only , by the united force of the 9 e acts , every society

      the members of which , or any members whereof shall , either verbally , or in writing , subscribe , or assent to , any test or declaration , not required by law , is an unlawful combination and confederation . See the carefulness with which villany has drawn the net strings ! Not content with prohibiting such oaths , tests , or declarations as might be against the law , the words not required by law extend the prohibition to all voluntary declc- ^ ations of whatever character ; even a declared determination , by the members of any sooiety , to uphold the law , might by this clause be construed aa illegal .

      This made the very outset of the former system of organisation illegal . The fifth paragraph , on " The conditions of membership , " being as follows : — *• 5 . All persons will become members of this Association on condition of siting a dec ' aralion , signifying their agreement with Its objects , principles , and constitution , when they shall bo presented with cards of membership , which shall be renewed quarterly , and for which they shall each pay the Bum of twopence .

      Now , this iignxng a declaration was quite un necessary : every man desirous of being a member Of the Association , of course agrees with its objects principles , and constitution . The " signing" is no protection against spies or traitors , whom the good sense and vigilance of the members will as easily detect without the " signing" as with it . In the new plan of organisation it is , therefore , omitted Every Chaitist is supposod , necessarily , in virtue of his being a Chartist , to desire the objects—to hold the principles , and to approve the constitution , of the Association . This is the first great improvement of the amended plan ; by which the fangs of the legal harpies are removed from one limb of their prey .

      The next has relation to the abolition of the classes , ward divisions , and local officers aud councils . By the Acts before named , every Society composed of different branches or divisions , acting in any manner separately or distinctly from each other , or of which any part shall have any distinct President , Secretary , Treasurer , delegate , or other officer , OR any person acting as such , elected or appointed by or for such part , or to act in ant office / or such part , shall be deemed and holden to be an unlawful combination and confederacy .

      This , of course , brought all tho classes , all the Town Councils , all ward divisions , officers , and Councils , all the local Treasurers , and Secretaries , and all the R dtng and County Councils , ^^ within the meshes of the law . Because in all these cases the several part 3 of the Association acted separately and distinctly from each other , having reference to their own local arrangements only , and without any reference to , or any overt cognizance thereof by the

      whole Society . The Council for Bradford , for instance , was a distinct Council for that locality . It was elected by the members resident in Bradford only , and its funotioas . were clearly referable to a part of the Association , separate and distinct from the other parts . In like manner , the Treasurer and Secretary for Bradford were officers only for that part of the Association , and not for tho whole ; and so on for all the other local officers .

      Having declared the cases in whioh political societies shall be deemed unlawful combinations and confederacies , these Acts provide : —That any mem ' her of any sveh society , and every person whqy shall directly or indirectly maintain correspondence or intercourse with any such soriety , or with ' any division , branch , committee , or other select body , president , treasurer , secretary , delegate , or other officer , or member thereof , as such ; or who shall by contribution of money or otherwise , aid , abet , or support Ba 6 k society t or any member thereof ' , as such , shall incur certain penalties . The penalties are of two kinds . " 1 . By summary process oa information before ONE Justice of the Peace ; on conviction , a fine of twenty pounds , or three months * imprison ^ - ment in the common gaol . 2 . BY INDICTMENT ;

      ON CONVICTION , TRANSPORTATION FOR SEVEN YEARS . " Thus was it doubtless hoped to render anything like a national organization for political purposes utterly impossible , without Eubjecting ' all the-partiea therein concerned , to the full penalties of this master-piece of class-legislative villany and cowardice . Indeed , our opinion was , after haying carefully and often looked tbroogb the acts , that there was no possible mode of escaping their pro-

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      visions , otherwise than by taking advantage of some one or other of the forms and names incidental to some one or other of the special exemptions therein provided * And as we most conscientiously believe tho Christian religion to inculcate all the doctriaea of truth and righteousness , personal , social , and politioal ; as in fact ire hold politics to be part and parcel of Christianity , and inseparable therefrom j being mixed up with , springing put of , and sustaining all its principles and dootrines , we were desirous to have seen , for the first time

      einee the age of the Apostles , a true Catholic and Christian church , acknowledging , in all the fulneBa of their comprehensive import , the precepts of that religion which being hitherto talked of , but neither understood nor practised , has been , and is now being made , the most fearfully effective tool that ever tyranny employed for the destraotibn of man ' s liberty , and of all clear recognition of the principles of-- ' moral right . We hold the principles of Chartism to be religious principles , and every Chartist society to be consequently a religious society ; and we were desirous to see them

      so declare themselves , and leave to the vile herd of despots the option of openly and manifestly trampling under foot their own lawa , or of crushing , along with Chartism , Methodism in all its varieties of aspect , the association of the Baptist churches , the Society of Friends , or Quakers , the confederated unions of Unitarians , the newly-Organised and admitted association of " Rational Religionists , " and ever y , other religious society whose creed , forms , discipline , or worship , should involve declarations ot principle not required by law , or the several societies of which anonld correspond with

      each other , or appoint deputies to meet each other , or in any other way transgress the almost all-comprehensive provisions of these two acts . This was our opinion ; it has been our opinion long—in fact throughout the whole movement . We were 60 rry to be unsupported in it by O'Connor , for whom , and for whose opinions every true Chartist : must have reBpeot , amounting almost to veneration ; but we permit not even the respect due to him to shackle us in the entertainment and the expression of our own honest sentiments . We ask , however , for no deference ; we are quite contented to have our opinions

      estimated by the people , and to accept for them just so much icflaence as they are thought worthy of . The National Delegates : refused to shrink from the direct avowal of their politioal objects and purposes ; claiming the right to consider their principles to be those of religion , they would not take advantage of that right to place themselves in any other position than the bold and manly one of meeting the enemy in front . Their voice : said , almost unanimously , " Let us go right on—legally , if j fc may be —illegally , if the law be such as that we cannot comply with it—but let tjs at all events go bighi on . " In the spirit of this determination they sat down , with the law before them , but without any

      assistance from its paid mystifiers , to exercise the shrewd judgment of plain working men , the clear heads of / teetotal Chartists , and the earnest anxiety for the " following of peace with all men , " of Christian Chartists , in the concoction of a plan of national organisation which , while it conducted the people ' s operations on a . straightforward and avowed baBia , should , at the same time , render strict submission to all , even the most tyrannous , requirements of - the concentrated essence of tyranny , which lay before them in the two Acts of Parliament so oft reverted to above . They have succeeded , we believe , to the very letter ; and right glad are we to congratulate them and the peoplo upon that success .

      The entrapment of the local Councils has been wisely provided against , by the amalgamation of all those into One body , as a General Council of the whole Association , provided for in No . 7 t of the new plan . The entrapment of the local officers has been ia like manner provided against , by making them not local , but general officers , acting respectively , not for a part , but for the whole , of the Association . While . their election , not merely by the members resident in their own locality , but by all the members of the Association , guards effectually against , the wily trap of a part of the society acting separately and distinctly from the other part 5 .

      The ; Bradford Councillors are to be now consfdered , and indeed are , not lecal Councillors for Bradford only , but members of the General Council , by whom the whole Government of the whole Assooi * tion is conducted , and whose residences happen to be at Bradford ; the Bradford Treasurers and Secretaries are , in like manner , not Treasurers and Secretaries for that locality alone , but Sub-Treasurers and Sub-Secretaries , acting under the

      direotidn of the General Treasurer , and General Secretary , and performing such duties as may be necessary te assist them in conducting the affairs of the whole Association . Thus , every officer acts as an officer , not for any part separately or distinctly , but for the whole . Thus , every mesh of this most elaborately and cautiously constructed legal net , has been avoided by the wisdom of the delegates .

      Of course , and of necessity , the plan , to be legal , is exceedingly general , and it may be somewhat undefined , in its details . We observe some of its provisions which are liable to abuse , and which may , unlegs precluded by the prudence of the people , give rise to some inconveuienco in its working ; but on comparing these most carefully with the tortuous enactments of which its conooctorB had to steer clear , we are fully satisfied that no other way , or , at

      least , no other way so good could have been adopted for Beouring the double object of the delegates , the active operation of the people , and the eviting of all collision with the law ; and we know too much of the people not to feel satisfied , that when these points are fairly laid before them and explained their watshfulness and prudence will come in to the assistance of their leaders , and takecare that that shall not be crippled in operation which has been deviBed so well and wisely . : .

      We have studied the plan most carefully ; wo think we understand it ; and we have . nO doubt of being able to show the people that , though its form is apparently more general , and its details less bracing , than the original , / but illegal ,: pian of organisation , it may be made in working to superadd to the immense advantage of being perfectly consonant with the law , every practical advantage possessed or provided for by the old plan . For this purpose , as we have been requested by the delegates to call to it the attention of the people in a series of articles , we 6 hall return to it , probably more than once . We shall take up its several clauses , and

      shew the people how we understand them—how we think they should be applied in operation— -what , means we advise for the avoidance of any inconvenience which might otherwise arise , from lany necessary laxity of expression , forced on its authority by the tyrannous mandate of the law ; we shall ahow them how , eo fer as we understand this document , they may , by a careful and universal adherence to its provisions , goion , oertalnly , safely ; tegdUi successfully , and triumphantly , in the prosecution of those great principles , to which the benevolent and just of all classes are pledged and bound by their adhesion to the rules ond principles of moral right .

      Thus shall we put pur enemies completely in the wrong , by fencing ourselves round with the provisions , not merely of moral , social , and religious , but of legal right ; taking ail these upon their own shewing . The National Charter Association of Great Britain may then bid defiance to the Government . It shall stand j it shall prosper ; it shall flourish , in despiteiof all ^^ their power , and ibi despite

      of all their sophistry , or they shall do one of two things—they shall maise a special law for its Extinction , as was done with the London Corresponding Society—< the very law now in amended operation , by which It was hoped to extinguiBh all Political Societies for ever)—or they Bhall at once throw off the mask , which we haye no doubt they will do as soon as they may deem it expedient , and , trampling under foot all semblance of respect

      Untitled Article

      for the laws of their own making , : try the temper of the people by a further experiment of undisguised brutoforoe . . ' . ' '¦ . ^ " . ' V- :- - ¦' ¦ ' " '¦¦ } '\ - '; ' . ¦ " . We shall return to thia subject next week , and for aom 6 time , week by week . We Bhall point out exaotly wherein the organisation has been wholly neglected and ^ suffered hitherto to lie dormant as a dead letter ; we shall show how it may and Ought to be beneficially carried out ; and we shall « lso givei in 8 tructioQS to those who may choose to follow them for the arrangement and perfecting of local eocieti « 3 to work hand in hand with , and to uphold and strengthen , our great National Charter Association . "¦¦ - ¦ . " ¦ : - . ; : : : "• -. '' ., ¦ . ¦; . " . . ;

      Untitled Article

      MR . M HEAD-PACIFICATOR 1 ' STEELE ; . . . AGAIN . ¦ ¦ -.. - ¦ . ¦ - ¦'¦ ' ¦ '¦ " The Morning Chronicle of Friday last contains the following morsel , —too rich to pass without oar readers having a taste Of it : —

      •« THE NORTHERN STAR--MR . STEELE . 'f To the Editor of the Mornity ( Chronicle . "SlR ,-rThe laet number of that Vulgar and stupid rag , the Northern Slur , contains a column of abuse of me ; grounded upon a puire lie , invented either by that wretched tool of Feargus O'Connor , the elifcor of the paper , or more probably invented by abject Feargus himself , to try to serve a purpose . ¦ -: " . ¦ ¦ "It is with audacious impudence of falsehood affirmed that , in my recent evidence at Bpw * street , before the magistrate , Mr . Jardine , I had alleged that tne imputed words- —that / the Queen should be got rid of , " had occurred at a Chartist meeting .

      "How , is will be perceived by reference to the repoited evidence , that I never once mentioned or alluded , directly or indfrecUy , either to CbartlBts or Chartiiim . I could not have done so , for the petaou from , whom I got my information at Bloomsbury , and who was by my side , aud who gave his evidence at Bow-street ; a person of the name of Fairbrotfcr , distinctly declared that he had heard that the observation was made at a different kind of meeting aitogettter . ' Tue . object of this rascally article is quite transparent v : ¦ ¦' ¦ ¦ : . -. ;¦ ¦ - ¦¦ ¦ . _ . - ; . , ¦ . : ¦ ¦ ¦ . ; .

      " I am myself a ChartiBt of the Joseph Sturge and O'Connell schcol , arid one of the council of the National Complete Suffrage Union , and , therefore , as a Sturgite Ghartibt , I am , of course , eager to unite the greatest possible numbir of frienda to freedom in sanctified , peaceful , and constitutional organization , Without bloodshed or violence , for general Reformi " Feargus O'Connor , in his shallow , ill-regulated , and fantastic ambition , on the contrary , labonrs to keep his deluded dupes , the- Feargdsites , in disseveratiou from us ; and for this hatsful purpose he . without S 4 tui > l © , speaks and writes all manner of lies , which may tend to prevent union and perpetuate dLcord .

      • V And now a Word on another subjictin relation to this unfortunnte person . He constantly , at his meetings of knaves and dupes , proposes cheers for Frost , and JoneB , end Williams , ¦ ' ¦ ' Now , sirj it appears to tne that if Mr . Feargus O'Connor : is of opinion that Frost , aud Jones , and Williams , ought to be cheered for , the proper time for him to cheer would have been in cheering them on at their head in their attack upoD Newport , instead of skulkbg from danger , as he always does . "That was th « time for cheering them , if he thought tkem rigat ; and not now while they are exiles , instigated to their fate by his own writings and speeches .

      " Frost , by his cowardica , showed himself worthy to be the follower of the craven Feargus O'Connor , and the poor wretch is now suffering a deep aggravation of his primitive punishment , very probably exoited by heating of thoae chcerings , by writing home political letters to Eagland , worthy of the disciple of ' the brave Feargns )!!' : * 'I have the tononr to bei Sir ,. "With great respect , 'VYour most obedient , humbla servant , ; Thomas Steble . July U . " ¦ ¦; . . - ¦"¦¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ - . " ¦ - .. ¦ . ¦¦ .:. " ' ' ¦ ,. ;

      Is not that fine ! So the ^ Head Pacificator " would charge ^ us with falsehood ] The lying fellow can himself speak no truth , and thinks no one else should ; We never said that Ac said any thing about Chartists Or Chartism . "VVe gave the report from the 2 Ym « without altering a word . The repoxi of the Morning Chronicle WftS just the game ; and it represented Mr . Steele to say that the "disloyalty' ' was at a Teetotal meeting , while his witness , Mr . Crow , fixed it on the Chartists ; thus contriving between them to saddle the odium of disloyalty " on both Teetotallera and Chartists . This SrnRGE councillor Steble is indeed a bright man ! " the broth of a boy 1 "

      "He menta not the name of man ! " So said as good a Chartist and as perfect a gentleman as lives ; and we never knew a , _\ truer sentence . Tom Stbhub ! what a name ^ for . -. "¦»^ Pacificator ;! It is really * 8 ironical aff "Captain Rock . " But seriously , let us see who this Tom &EEtE isj or if he be worthy the ; name of man ; in the firet place , let us ask ourselves what is man \ the answer is , ' a reasoning being , capable of judging between good and evil , and of acting in aoobrdance with his judgment '; but can an individual come tinder this bead who bound himself neck and sleeves to O'Conkell in 1836 , by : declaring " That if O'Connell would order him to spring a mine , stand upon it , and abide its issue , he would do so" ; while by way of shewing how much credit

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      is due to his words , in ^ he addressed a letter to O'Coitnell , stating if he would not auswet him ¦ ' oerfain questionB , " - he would never agaia ; act in public concert with h ^ answer him ' ' sweet enough / ' and accordingly Mr . *? Head Pacificator" Tom SrEBi . B , | in the most public manner , BEsiGNED ^^ both his ^ iberatorship and his head Pacincatbrship of Ireland I NevertheiesB , the following week hei addressed a letter to tho Freeman : s Journal ^ SIGNED witkaU bis pompouB insignia of office ! 1 Again , when MobraYj * ©

      Corn Law delegatej was in Limerick , in ; 1839 ; who opposed him ! The Mayor and Tom Stbelb with a mob , and turned him oat of doors ! Yef the following week he received a note froni OToNwEti , stating that he Daniel O'Connell was the friend of the Corn Law League ! and that he ( Steels ) must hot interrupt Murray ! Mark tha change { The following week Tom Steele actuaHy presided at a dinner given to : SipNEt Sjhth ia the very same city 111 Well might our correspondent say that he is not worthy the name of inan ! The " Mai > Tom " , to usa a local phraie , that would revile Cbartism 1 the goose of O'CoNNEix for whom when he was on the spit of a Debtors ' Court for £ 14 :, O'Connell did not advance even a

      penny to baste him I The moral force - 'head pacificator" of- Ireland , who denounced " physical-force Chartism , " , while " he ¦ '¦" called on the people of Ireland to appear in " marshal array" ! the head-pacificator , whose lodgings are not 100 yards from where Bean presented a pistol at her MAJESir ' s carriage wheel I The" paoificitor" , wlio is in London , while tfcemen of Ennis are : reeking with gore J The Pacificator , who raised hia tiger-cry of Blood in 1839 , against our iovsd brothers in Chartism ^ robbed poor Clancbx of the proceeds of his honest industry , and made him an 0-Uea to his native land ! Toi : Sieslb is ft Councillor of the Stpbgb Men ' s Complete Suffrage Union . We add to his Bow-street exhibition , and the precious morceaux above , the following from his speech at a repeal mseting reported elsewhere : —

      "A tide of thought rashes on my soul at thu moment by reason of the many subjects on which I might choose to address my brother Repeal Wardens in this wardmote—the Bapeal itself , the anti-slavery question , the income-tax , the new , noble , and peaceful Chartist movement in Eneland , under Joseph Starge , as contra-distinguished from Feargusism i the Chartism of that cowardly miscieant incendiary , Feargus O'Connor —( hear , hear , hear ) . In the ; Sfcnrgite more- ' ment O'Connell is not only a member of the povisional council , but , as a lawyer , ha U ; the 'Counsellor O'Connell' of the Complete Suffrage Union , as perfectly : as he was ever the ' Counsellor 0 "ConneU * of jthe Irian people . " . ' . " . - . ' " - ¦"¦'¦ " , - ¦ ¦ ¦ . - • ¦ .. : v- ¦ . / . . -- ¦ •¦ ¦ : ¦' / . " " ¦

      We leave the people now to estimate w the sack " of the SruKGE men by " the sample , " and to deliver their judgment accordingly .

      ©P 33eahfv0 Anli Corr^Oittwnt^

      © p 33 eaHfv 0 anli Corr ^ oittwnt ^

      The Portraits.

      THE PORTRAITS .

      The Northern Star. S Atupvday, July 23,1842.

      THE NORTHERN STAR . S ATUPvDAY , JULY 23 , 1842 .

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      real union with the middle . : ¦¦ ¦ ¦ - . ; ... ¦ ' ' : ; . ; classed .: ¦ ,- , ; . ;; . ' We have bit just time to point attention to the , proceedings as re ported in another column , of an important meeting Of shopkei ! pers at Burnley . Odr effort has been for some time back to show the working portion of the middle classes , the honest shopkeepers , that their whole interests are inseparableyeven for a moment , from the prosperity of those whose pence fill up their tills ; happy are we to see

      one portion of them ^ app arently con yincedi The shopkeepers of Burnley take the right course . They apply for the true remedy ; and they do so in the right way . ' They do their own work : the people very properly not interfering to ; destroy the distinctive character of'their meeting . With ^^ men like these there is some hope of an useful because honest union . And this is just what we have all along told the people must come if they were but faithful to themselves : and forbore ^ to go over to the

      middle classes instead of insisting on the middle classes coming over to , them . Xet them however yet be waryi The Burnley shopkeepers are hot Ati . the middle classes . The war ia not over because one regiment ot honest men ^ have joined ^ us . Tne League are as crafty and aa willing to lay Hold of popular support without giving anything to the people as they ever were . Let the people read the following silky , wily , letter to the Chairman of the anti-Corn Law Conference in London : —

      . : ¦ My Dear Sir ^ I thank you for your communication . I think you will have another Delegation from Coventry , but not for repeal only—{ oheers . y The people here are ripe for a struggle . We have to-day presented a requisition to tha Mayor , well signed , at a short notice , to call a meeting to consider the state of the country . He has done so , and we meet on Tuesday . Our measures are not resolved upon , but we oanuot keep the people back ; and I think we had better give the reins in favour of democracy . Do urge upon the League thi propriety and petlicy ofjeading the people . ; We want ; but leaders ; and we will do anything and everything , but the masses

      will not restrict their efforts to Corn Law Repeal . Our language will be denunciation of aristocracy and class-legislatiou , aud defiance of the present House of Commons . I shall be glad of the latest information from head-quarters , that our measures on Tuesday may be in harmony , if possible ; will you Write on Monday night ? Above all , impress upon theDelegates that if they vpant the people at their back they must take up the suffrage question , Without that , their efforts are hopeless , and the people will throw themselves upon more daring and reokless leaders . M I am , yours , truly , "J . Whittern . "

      Let this letter be well read . It exactly corroborates and substantiates all we have ever said and written as to the obvious purpose of the new-fledged patriots in " takingup the Suffrage question "—just to place themselYea again in the poBitioa ot ^ leading the people . " Let the people Bubmit t « be again "led '' by them , and whither will they lead them ? To the Suffrage ? Not they , indeed ! but to the accomplishment of their own projects of "Extension , " when , with small ceremony and less feeling , they will hand over their blind followers to an amoant of rain even greater and more pitiable than that which now engulfs them . Let the people but keep their eyes open , and their feet steady , and they are all right .: ; ¦ " • "¦ ' '¦ ' ¦ : - : ; " ; .- ¦;;¦

      Untitled Article

      The Local Council of the Tiverton Chabxeb . Association call loudly and earnestly' oh the Chartists of Devonshire to lestir themselves fo ? the cause . They suggestthatletters of invitation be sent from every locality t 9 F . O'Connor , Esq ., prdyinff a visit from that gentleman while on his Cornish tour ; and if unable to obtain his aiA ^ Ut secure that of some other talented lecturer . Mr Tom Steele and his "Cock , akd Bull' ? Stoey AT THE BOW STREE-f' POLICE COUKT . —Thepithy missive slated in &iir last to have been sent by : < & godd Chartist to the Secretary of the Birmingham Complete Suffrage Union , was transmitted to the head pacifictitot , who in repl y denies that he mentioned Chffrlists or Chartism at . Bow-street

      at all . Nqbofy ever said he did . He trumped up the slori ] of disloyal words uttered il at a , meeting : His friend , ^ the black- ' un" ( Mr * Crow j stated the meeting to have been a Char * tist meeting . Arcades Ambo . The one forges t and the other directs the clumsy javelin ' : the ill ' formant , "F&iibtothet ^ fwhat a name to be connected with a story like thislj having first supplied the unwrought materiel . J . C . Beauwokt . —// he will keep his temper , and give Us his exact address , so that we may reach him with a letter , he shall hear from us , and shall have satisfactory reasons for that which he is so very angry about . . Bristol Ciiartist Youths . —Their correction of the

      Statement thai ( here were no "Philpites ' tnthetr body appeared in our Notices to Correspondents of the week following ] the itatemenL / turn received from the same person who sent th&pwr / z * ¦ ; graph . - ¦ ¦' - .- : ' . ' ;¦' :. : .: ¦ } : ¦ "'¦ . - ' - . -. ¦ ¦ xiiA-iy . \ ¦ ¦ ¦ WiBitEHAVEN . —W ' g hear that the friends of-freedom are about to open a local association forJhe promulgatioh of the truths of Chartism in [ White ' haven . Heaven speed them ! : . ;;/; -: One of the Midijle Classes , who would bb Indostrious . —We have received his long teller ; but we do not see the utility of publishing it . It bears to ' . us the evidence of a mind which greatly overratesfitsown ¦ powers . We will try to answer his queries . 1 st . TheChartistbody . soforaswe

      know them , have no connection with , nor similarity Id , nor affection for , thefilthy ribaldry and disgusting Atheism of Publicola , in the D \ spatoh . Publicola Aas written against the Chartists with- as much virulence , ignorance , and falsehood as any public writer of the day . Our correspondtnt cannot more thoroughly loathe the diatribes of Pubucola * han we do . We know very little of ( he religious sentimentsofthe ' body whom our' correspondent terms the *' ' O'Neil Christian Chartists ; " but we apprehend that they are not -Catholics or Romanists . " We rather suppose them to consist of parties holding it may be a variety of individual opinions upon what are usuaiiij termed "matters of faith , " but

      agreeing in their political sentiments , and agree * _ ing aho in the two great religious acknowledgments of 'the Div ' mity of the Lord and the Di ~ vinity ( or truth ) of the Sacred Scriptures . Afri-O'Connor has riot been caught" in the trap" of " the Labourers' Friend Society . " We do not Jcnowivhelher Mr . O'Brien , the Chartist , be or be noti the same Mr . 0 Brien to whose writings in Ireland heinakes al / usion . i We know nothing about'Mr . Parry , the Slurge Conference deputy . The Bristol Chab . tisis and the Stvrgites . — -We have received a letter from the Bristol sub-Sscrelafy in reference to the conduct of the Charlists at the late Slurge meeting in that town , stating that no opposition tyas offered by the Chartists to the objects of the meeting ; that the meeting merely exercised its right of electing a cliairman , which was resisted by the Sturgites on

      behalf pf their advertised chairman ; that if even the advertised chairman had been submitted to the vote of the meeting , he would not have been opposed , but that all the " opposition" consisted in the contempt of the usage and orderly proceedings of public meetings evinced by the Sturge party . We still think that , notwithstanding this explanation , the Chartists did wrong : theyshould have allowed the Sturgites to go on with their own business in their own way , taking anybody ^ < or nobody for a chairman , as they pleased , so long as no attack upon , or compromise of , our principles were attempted . Had < tny suoh thing renderedl- ' ' -necessaryfortheChartiststouphold our principles , and the chairman had refused them a fair hearing , it would have been quite competent for the ; meeting to vote him out of the chair , and some < me else into it . :

      Carlisle Chartists— They have sent us no trades or residences of their council . ; David M'Millan . — We have no room . . ¦ . - # ; Birmingham Chartists .--Their address to the Irish Universal Suffrage Association next-week . ' David THOiapsoN .-r We have not room this week . TujiSTALL CHARTiSTS . —Their list of council is omitted because the trades and ' residences are not given , GeObqb Jfuw—fhe Bradford Chartists havewrHteti , us several tiroes , disclaiming all connection with ; this person , who teas some time ago expelled . '¦ - their-association . " -. " ' -: ' ^ - \ ¦ ¦ y \' - \ . . ^ . - ^^' - ' ' : '¦ . PR 0 PAOANDI 8 M . ~ Afr . Wm . GillinSUr , jan ., Mexbro ' Flint-glass ITbrfcs , by fiotherhdm % wntes to ex » hort the Chartists oj \ DorieasUr :, Rotherham rand Gainsbro ' , tovxertion . -Hesaus :--- } . ¦ ' .

      "Fellow-Serfs , —It is a fact , that although Chartism has attained a greater atrength now than ever it : had before , and that there are Chartists In every town and village , yet in many of the market towns Within forty miles of you there is no Chartist society . We find that wherever the local leaden are active . the good cause flourishes most : come , - - then , let us-be active , and do our own part towards our own freedoEa ; let ua unite , and aend the toI ^ of Ch artism Into every town and village lo our dlatriot . ¦¦ ,:: / . : ¦ ¦ ¦/ " ; " : ¦ ¦ . - ¦ ¦ :. ?¦ : * ¦ :

      " If Doncaster could furnish £ l , Rotherham "¦ ¦ $ i »" ' Oainsbro' £ l , Swfnton and Wath £ 1 , we inight then venture to employ a lecturer for one month , and the rest of his wages could be made up in toft month . Now these places , with » lecturer * t their command , could send good news to the following - placofl , all market towns : —Tnorne , Qoole » Snaith , Crowle , Epworthi Eiwt Retford , Gripgley-upou-Hill , Bawtry , Tickhill , Worksop , && Thia would be a good route for a lecturer ; and if associations coold be established in each place , they , along / with RoUiethaih , TJoncaster , &a , would , I think , formed in a district , be enabled to keep a lecturer employed regularly . There are many populous villages which might b « i agitated With gbaaaucceBB . " . ¦ . ¦"¦ :. ¦ ,., " .. - - -.

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      A THE NORTHERN STAR . '¦^¦ ¦^ ^ y i ^; ± ^

  • Citation
    • Northern Star (1837-1852), July 23, 1842, page 4, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/ns/issues/vm2-ncseproduct898/page/4/