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Northern Star (1837-1852), 6th June 1840, Edition 1 of 1, Page 3, Untitled Article

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    • TO THE DEMOCRATS OF LEEDS.
    • TO THE PEOPLE OF YORKSHIRE.
    • THE NORTHERN STAR SATURDAY, JUNE 6, 1840. TRE ISrOTl R-R lVr GT A Ji
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      Untitled Article

      tdUHimJtMtEpm RSWft , Uxrno ) States . —By the Hibernia , Captain Cobb , gxd the Mevtphte . Captain Nickells , which arrived it Liverpool on Friday night , we hare received New York papers to the 12 th , and Montreal to the 8 th nit . Their contents are devoid of interest . At the dose of bnsiness on Saturday , Hay 9 , United States Bank Stock was quoted at 73 | . Death of the King of Prussia . —News of the death of hiB Majesty the King of Prussia , whose health baa been declining for some time past , reached Paris on the 30 th nlu On the evening previous to his decease , his Majesty expressed the wish of teeing his army file off before him . To accomplish the vriih of the dying monarch , the bed was drawn close to a window , by which means the King was enabled to take farewell of his army . The monarch then resigned his anthority to hi 3 son , and on the following morning breathed his last . imCia > XiA !!!!! " ^

      Mr . G . J- Haslet addressed a numerons and enthusiastic meeting in the Secession Church , at West Kilbri . de , on Wednesday , the 27 th nit . The Radical Association of that town has bxecc then considerably increased its numbers . Mcrdebof Lobd WrLLiAX Rtssel . —Courvoisier , valet to the deceased nobleman , has been fully committed to Newgate , charged with the murder of his late master . _ Tarious rumours of more decisive evidence against him , than has yet appeared , are afloat , but they appear to have no foundation in fact . Thoxas Templkmas , who wa 3 convicted at the last Glasgow Assizes of the murder of las wife , and condemned to be executed , expiated his crime by undergoing the last punishment of the law on Wednesday . He denied to the Ia 3 t aiiy recollection of having committed the crime . This is probable , as both he and she were drunk at the time .

      The MnasTEHTAL papers state , that Mr . Norman Macdonald , son of Sir John Macdonald , acd the Private Secretary of Lord Morpeth , is appointed to the office lately held by Mr . Drummond . Bkiut ? k * kt / b Occckkksce . —A singular occurrence , or rather a combination of occurrences , took place in a cottage at Panfield , near Cheltenham , last week . On Friday , the loth inst ., one of the inmates was married ; the followisg morning the bride became a mother ; a few hourrafter a sister of the bride died ; and thus a marriage , a birth , and a death took p'ace within twenty-four hours in the same familv , and in the same house .

      Death of Sib Sid . net Sxith . —It is our painful duty to announce the decease of the gallant aiid illustrious officer , Admiral Sir Sidney Smith , which took place oa Tuesday morning , at his residence , No . 9 , Rue d'Augaesseau , Paris . Sir Sidney was born iu 17 W , and was therefore aged seventy-six . No praise of ours can add to his iame , which he . gloriously and deservedly acquired . A Novelty . —Among the novelties attending the "the new Post-office , the following may be considered worthy of notice : —Saturday , Messrs . Tasker and Fowle , Andover , received through the Post-office a pattern ploughshare , a distance of 70 miles ; the postage was only one shilling and fourpence .

      Wilfullt Maixisg . —On Monday last a man named Starves , » pri-rate in the 28 th Regiment , VflS drummed out of Chatham garrison , under circumstances somewhat of a singular ch iracter . It appears that his offence was that of wilfully maiming himself by caning off the fore-finger of his right hand , so as to incapacitate himself for the service . For such -offence he had been tried by a general garrison court martial , and sentenced to receive 100 lashes , and then to be dismissed from the service . The flogging , however , was remitted .

      DePAKTCBE O ? THE T . ibt . OF DCHHAM FOB GEBXast . —Yesterday afternoon the noble earl , accompanied by the Countess of Durham , left the family residence in CleTeland-row for the Continent . His lordship proceeds by short stages to Dover , and was to have slept last night at Canterbury , and to-n ght at Dover , and to-morrow embarks for Antwerp en route to Carlsbad . The Ladies Mary and Emily Lampton and Tiseount Lambton , and the family physician , leave thig morning for Dover . The noble earl is attended by an extensive retinue . —Sun , of Monday .

      vseiiheb ixi Crops ik ths Fltde . —Since our l& .--i report u / iae crups and treaiher , we have had a specimen of our nckie climate , the thermometer last week being within a few degrees of the freez ; ng point , viz ., 34 deg 3 . The latter end of last mo " nth it stood up vards of 70 degs ., making a difference ef tearly 40 degs . ; we are now enjoying a genial season , -and corn , ( exept some backward wheat ) is looking remarkably welL Grass , also , and all tie productions of the earth look luxuriant and beautiful—Preston Chronicle .

      Nise Ha weeks op Tickets at the doors of . the Paris theatres were on Wednesday brought before " the Tr ibunal of Correctional Police , aud ordered to be imprisoned for two or three days . " These persons , " observes the Gaxetle dei Tribunaux , " will all , no doubt , immediately on beujg released , resume their illicit dealings , since we are informed they are so Jaerative , that those who ply at the French and Italian Opera Hoaxes have a common fand , amountiEg to 80 , 000 fr . destined to meet all fines , easts , and © ther charges arisingfrom prosecutions . '—Galignani .

      The late Admiral Sib Sidxet Smith , G . C . B . — By the demise of this gallant admiral at Paris , the appointment of lieutenant-general of marines , and the insignia of a knight grand cross of the Bath , have become vacant . Sir Sidney ' s commission as aamiral of the red was dated 19 th July , 1821 , and that of lieutenant-general of marines 28 th June , 1830 . In the latter appointment he succeeded his late Majesty King William the Fourth . Sir Sidney was also , a knight grand cross of the Sword of Sweden , and of Sir Ferdinand and Merit of Spain .

      Heb Majesty and Prince Albert have signified their intention to visit the Royal Arsenal at Woolwich ( yesterday ) to witness the casting of some of the largest brass guns ^ ver yet made . The founders have been for a length of time making preparations , as the cast will be the largest made for nearly forty years , and have at the present time placed the moulds in the position for receiving the metal , which will be nearly twenty tons weight . They have also commenced breaking up the new and old metal , and amongst the latter is one of the guns recently raised from the Royal George . Gbeat prkpatutto . ts are making by the inhabitants of Southampton , to celebrate the completion of the railway , by a grand fete , at the Archery Grounds , which the chief inhabitants of the town have

      engaged , and are fitting up in a superb style . Themembers of-the royal family are invited , and much anxiety is felt by the town to make theeala worthy of the occasion . The day talked of is Tuesday , the 9 ; h June . Sohethisg fob AimquABiES . —We have been favoured with a sight of a watch , which , in point of antiquity , we suppose to have ne rival in America . It was made by " Druid , " in Switzerland , in the year 1403 , bo that it has now arrived at me respectable age of 457 years . The shape of the watch is -oval , having three sides , one of which is the dial , and the other two plain glasses , through which the works are -risible . The chain is made of caxgui . This carious timepiece was brought to this country by one of the early settlers of this city , and is Baid to be the only specimen of the kind . —Philadelphia

      Some hojtths sirce a watchmaker , reading in Gravesend , pawned a large quantity of watches rntruFted to him to clean and repair , / or which offence he was sentenced to three months' imprisonment . The pawnbrokers refused to . give up the watches to the owners without the repayment of the money lent on them , with which many complied . An Italian hawker , named Corribani , refused , however , to pay anything for seventeen watches belonging to him , which had been pawned , and he bruught actions in trover against the pawnbrokers , which haTe been settled without going to trial , by them , under legal advice , paying ths costs , and re ?

      turning the watches to the owner . Ths Gkkat Bot . —In the Allan Evening Journal there is an account of a young Yermonter , the son of a Mr . Denslow Barber , of Richmond , Chittenden county , who , though but three yeare and eleven -months old , is foar foe * h * habghi , weighs about lOOibs , and with the , oaoeptoon of a slight curve of the legs below the knee , occasioned by walking too -early , and the great weight of the body , is in every respect proportioned like a man , and has the mascuiar strength of a boy of sixteen . The general expression of the face exhibits the sprigbuiness and prying curiosity of the child of six or eight years , while the hair , whiskers , voice , and physical lineaffleBte , are those of a-man of thirty .

      The Paris prefect of police has Just issued the usual notice concerning mad dogs , and t-b ** Conseil de Salukrite has published a set of precautions , to be adopted by any person who may be bit by a dog , supposed to be in a rabid state : —** The wound should be "" marfiftWy presBed on all sides , in such manner as to squeeze oat the blood , with any saliva which the animal may hare left . It should be washed with volatile alkali diluted in water , or with water , either impregnated with wood ashee , lime , or salt ; or in ease none of these are at hand , with urine . This being done , the wound should undergo cauterisation , or searing with iron at a white heat . "GaSffnanL

      Thb "bold Pkasartrt" op Ekglahd . —At the Aylesbury Petty Sessions on Saturday last , Mr . Bonaei , the Governor of the Ayle&bury Union poorhouse , observed , in reply to an observation of some of the magistrates , that 83 . a-week was a shameful rate of wages ; thai a young man came into the ' workhouse the previous day , who had been hoeing beans for the Duke of Buckingham , and who earned bat four shOlingB a week : who had been living on bread and lard , with only half a pound of meat a week , and who was so reaoeed that he had the appearance of an old man ,, although he was not more than nineteen yean of age . At this statement , says tie reporter , the magistrates appeared thunderstruck , and well they might .

      Untitled Article

      Combikatioks . —A correspondent writes us , from btalybndge , that combinations to reduce waia are operating , in that locality , in a systematic nAnner , which shews that there is a settW determination on the part of those who have the power entitiy to break down the spirit of the people . He sayTthere is another most grievous and insulting combination taken place in this circuit by the medical genlemen , who have come to the resolution not to atteid any woman in labour , nor any other case , withjut the payment of their fee before their work is donu The people finding themselves both impoverished and despised , have established a society amonj themselves , called the Staly Board of Health ; tie fund thereof u raued by a small weekly contention irom each member . The medical gentleman elected to serve the society attends to all cases requrine his services , at a stipulated salary . This iniam society is proceeding very well , and the medical geatleman gives general satisfaction . Sta ^ Sr ^ aTi ^^

      Untitled Article

      on that lying spirit which deceives the King of England respecting his * manufacturing' subjects , and which tells him they are 'prosperous / when they are thus feasting on carrion !" About that time , Dr . Kay was engaged , at the public expense , in Norfolk and Suffolk , telling the agricultural labourers that prosperity and plenty were to be found in the manufacturing districts !! Surely , sure ly * my friends , the fare of these poor ' moor-edgers' was hard ^^ SSiS ^ KM

      enough in 1834 ! One would bav « imagined that even lions and tigers would have allowed them , unenvied , to have luxuriated upon green tails ! Philosophy , liberality , and reform , it is now proved , ( in 1840 } are more ravenous than beasts of prey ! By them ( after Parliamentary and Commissioners' enquiry ) these patient , industrious , patriotic Englishmen , are doomed "to die / or want of something to eat ! " they are driven "to die of starvation , raving mad ! "

      I will not , I dare not , trust my pen to vent my feelings ! My heart bleeds with disgust—it bums for revenge !! __ Oh God , thou God of the poor , arise I will not utter , in human ears , thai prayer—but it is registered in Heaven ! I am thankful that when I lived their neighbour , I was not unmindful—I waa not silent about their sufferings ; this thought soothes me in my exile , though it was one crime for which I was banished by an absentee , gambling , careless , pleasure-seeking landlord ! ¦

      My last letter was intended to prove to the owners of property , that their interest required , that they should be as scrupulous and careful to perform their duties , as they are to assert their rights . A mania seems , however , to have seized them , and it does appear that they would rather spend a portion of their rents in paying for a rural police , than trust to the less expensive and more ennobling influence of justice , in maintaining peac « and security ! One fact will .

      perhaps , be worth a thousand arguments . I mention it , in order , if possible , U awaken the sleeping drones . The moor edgers' will not ' die of starvation' unrevenged ! In proportion to the increase of the foreign system of philos&phy and centralised police , does the increase of the foreign crime of stabbing progress in England ! This fact no one can deny . This fact is , properly considered , worth ten thousand arguments . There needs no argument boyond this one admitted FACT !

      Should any one , however , doubt the truth of this astounding fact , let a return be obtained , by Parliament , of the number of cases of stabbing , in the last ten years ; separating the first five years , in that time , from the last That return will settle the point ; arid it will prove one benefit derived from the centralising New Poor Law and police , provided the latter five year ' s report contains fewer cases of stabbing than the former . I hope some Member of Parliament will instantly move for that return . By-the-bye , how is it , my friends ? When Mr Thornhill discharged me , on May 28 th , 1838 , he wrote to me and said , " I shall reside myself at Fixby , as you move out" ( The italics are marked by

      himself" reside myself . " ) I left Fixby , August 25 th , 1838 ; 1 have not seen that lovely place since then . The second year ef my absence is now fast waning , and Mr . Thornhill has not yet been there ! I am told that he waits nntil the Rural Police is established ; by which the expense of paying gamekeepers will be saved ! Cunning t » ht » ; I trust to you for information when he " resides" at Fixby . The Yorkshire Jury , and the litigants must meet together then .

      Mr . Thornhill has named another reason for bis absence , and for the presence of the Rural Police . You are aware that last summer the old Squire did venture to pay a visit to his dear and only Yorkshire friend , the Vicar of Calverley . The poor old gentleman would have been quite desolate in Yorkshire , if I bad not introduced that Redhead to him . Well , when the Squire was at the Vicar ' s , he was asked , ' Would he go to Fixby ? ' ' No , ' was the answer , ' Oastler has got the key . " That was not the fact—but it was a plausible excuse—it served the Squire ' s turn in Yorkshire . When he travelled South , he was asked , ' Have you been to Fixbyr No , ' was his reply . 'Why ? - ( Now , Yorkshiremen , mark tke answer , and remember

      that his attorney swore that Yorkshire gentlemen were not to be trusted on their oaths . ) The answer from the Squire ' s lips , piping net from Calverley Vicarage , was , Because the people said they would unroof the Hall , or make it too bot for me , if I went to Fixby . ' Poor deluded Squire ! Tis pity that so great a man should be so foolish ! I have a shrewd guess who it is that frightens the Squire ab » ut Yorkahiremen—that feeds his fears , by libelling you . I shall know Borne day . Meantime Thomas Thornhill , Esq ., may take my word that no one will harm either him or bis , if he will take up bis residence at Fixby Hall , and there perform Mb duties , as well as assert bis rights . No , no , bis only troubles will there be , bis conscience and his father ' s ghost .

      He has , however , discovered , yes , you have taught him that , in Yorkshire , the possession of thousands of acres , gives no passport to your esteem—that virtue , without them , even in rags , is more honoured by you , than vice when' clothed in purple and fine linen . ' The vain man supposed that " wealth was power ; " he had found it so , amongst his thoughtless , gambling , wicked comrades at Newmarket , and he fancied that he had crushed me by his defaming lies ! He has now found out his mistake ; he trembles to meet his cast off Steward , even on his own domain ! " I shall reside myselfat Fixby ms soon as you are out ! " Tain boaster ! he thought that I was extinguished by hii malignant missile ? Then he could have hurried to the hall of his fathers ! But it was otherwise . No one believed the cowardly defamer—his palsied heart was fearfml to

      meet the man whom he had injured , either at Fixby , in presence of his neighbours ; or in York , before a special Jury of Yorkshire gentlemen . Perjury and defamation were resorted to , to shield him from the latter ? Cowardice and wholesale slander sufficed to eave him from the former ! This summer , however , after two long years of my absence , be is resolved to buckle up bis courage to the sticking point , and " reside at Fixby . " Be it so .. I long to see that p ^ ace again ; then will I return . Nor need police to guard me ! You are my watchmen—you will give me sweet note of his arrival . I shall hot be slow to hear and to obey . Then let the Squire prove his written , published words , before your face and

      mine ! If he should only take a flying peep at Fixby , we cannot help it He may peep and welcome all alone . It is when he resides the meeting must take place . I care not for his sneaking peeps at bis old mansion . One of his friends told me , the other day , when I was speaking of our meeting at Fixby , "Oastler , you ferget that before Thornhill goes to Fixby—he will send you to the Fleet Prison . " My answer was , a hearty laugh . You know the wh * Ie thing would be so funny—the Old " King" in the Fleet Prison , and the old Squire in the " King ' s " palace ! Why it would make a horse laugh to think of it t Although Mr . ThornhiU calls Fixby Hall " his house " - < - it was tor many years , as yon are well aware , the palace of your " king . "

      If Mr . Thornhill has one spark of feeling , he will invite me to visit him at Fixby , and not send me to Fleet Prison . Do not you think so ? I am , however , disposed talet the "Squire , " the " vicar , " the " monstrous clever fellow , " and the Welsh attorney , " do their very worst ; and then it—will—be—myturn ! I am fain to think , that I shall be as happy , and mor e secure , in the Fleet than the Old Squire will be in my absence , surrounded by rural police , at Fixby HalL What thinkvou , friends ?

      But , enough about the Squire , the Fleet , and Fixby HalL I guess what you are waiting to know . It is about Ramsbotham , the " monstrous clever fellow ; " and Redhead , that worthy protegee" ef mine , the Vicar of Calverley , that you wish to hear . Be patient , and I will ten you one anecdote about those two worthies , which mast for ever stamp their characters with no , I will not be their judge ; yon shall . Hear the truth , and say—dare any of you trust them with your life or character ? Could yon safer / keep company with such men ? I will simply narrate the facts—the verdict shall be yours .

      In order that you may be able duly to appreciate and to feel as I felt ( when I , a long while after , discerned how these two had treated me ) , it will be needful that I remind yen of a few circumstanoes ; they are well known already "by you ; it 1 b necessary , however , that you now rmember them . RlCHABD OaSTLZJU ( To he continued in wr next . )

      Untitled Article

      LETTER XIII . " I hear that the little farmers on the noor edges are dying eff for want of something to eat—Letter from a Freeholder and a "Ten-pounder" at Bttddenfield . " I have heard to-day of a sad tale of w » e at Scammonden . The people are dying of starvation , raving mad ! V—Letter from a Freeholder at ¦ Dewsbury .

      Mt Friekds , —It seems then , that , on the moors , " the law " ia not bo strictly enforced , as it is in the streets of Halifax . The naturally industrious , patient , hardy and robust tenants of the heath , are , it would seem , charitably allowed to die of want , undisturbed by the police , unpunished by the magistrates " raving mad " with hunger ! Think you , my friends , that this state of things can long exist ? What ! and property remain secure ? Then is the spirit of our fathers fled ! Nay , more ; if that be true , philosophy has banished chriitianity , and gold has mastered God ! Oh that I could awaken the sleepers , ere God , the forgotten Creator of the Universe , arises to avenge . 'He will avenge the poor . Would that I could convey to my readers the horrors of those

      soul . excruciating words , " dying qf far want of something to eat ! "dying of starvation , raving mad !! " I am no stranger to these moor-edgers . It is no digression from my narrative to mention them . They were , my neighbours when I lived at Fixby , some of them I were tenants to the Squire . They are a hardy , honest | race ! But philosophy grudges them a dwelling-place , ! even on their native moors . The love of home is their I ruling passion ; hence " philosophy " is starving them j to death ! To draw their last breath where they drew ; tbeir first—to till the same s « il which their fathers i tilled , and throw tjjeir sire ' s shuttle where he threw | it—to sleep under the same roof their foreeldera I reared—to be buried where their ancestors sleep i these are the heart breathings of those native sons of i toH !

      In byegone days , they were the happiest race in England . Their wants are very few , their fare was coarse , but it was plentiful and it was ' wholesome too . In later years they fared most hardly . They would not leave , at the bidding « f philosophy , their moors and bills ! So , now they are dying of for want of food ! They are * 1 'dying of starvation , raring mad ! " I should not envy the life of a rural policeman in their fatherland ! One would have supposed that philosophy herself was satisfied , to let them live , as they were living (?) when I was their close neighbour ;—it seems , however , that " a green tail" iB now a luxury too good for them ! and that a liberal , enlighttned philosophy , ( for their stubborn patriotism , ) awards their death ! ilany of you are little atrare of the long-continued , patient sufferings of those poor men . It hag been my lot , years ago , to recount their trials and tbtir wrongs , before a committee of the House of Commons .

      Now that they are " dying off for want of something to eat ! " Now that they are " dti > g of stakvatio . n , eatisg mad I . '" it must be instructive to tell of their woes . It was on the 10 th of July , 1834 , that I was examined , before the " Select Committee on Hand Loom Weavers , " with reference to the condition of the inhabitanta of the " moors alongside and upon the back bone of England . " In their report , p-p . 278 , 279 , and 280 , I find that I stated that "A very great body of them are just now unable , when

      in constant work , to earn clear money into their pockets more than 4 s . Cd . to 5 s . 3 d . a week . "— " I see many acorea of them , who are carrying their burden of yarn , to their homes on the moors , from their masters at Deighton , Rastrick , &c . I always converse with them . I find that their net income is , as I have stated , when in full work , weaving from twelve to fourteen hours a day . But , they have often to go home without any work at alL One particular circumstance lately struck me very forcibly ; it was that day when I read the speech of the King to this house , in which he said ,

      ' the manufacturing districts are in a state of prosperity . ' On that very day , I met with several of those weavers , who were manufacturing * operatives . I questioned them very closely , and found , that on that day , when the King said they were in such a state of l prosperity , ' those men , and women too , were carrying burdens on their backs , thirty to forty pounds weight , eight or nine miles , ( fetching their warp and weft ) and after having woven them , they had to carry the ' pieces' back ,

      an * they were only making from four shillings and sixpence to five and threepence a week clear wages . " " There are scores and hundred * of families in that district , to whom a jieee of flesh meat ia a luxury , they live generally upon porridge and potatoes , and they do not know what it is , many of them , to taste flesh meat from year ' s end to year ' s end , excepting when somebody gives them it They are clothed in rag * . Their furniture is such as I cannot describe , but such as a convict ought not to have . "

      These poor men shall not " die for want of something to eat ! "—they shall not " die of starvation , rating mad ! ! " unnoticed and tmpitied by me . " Their sufferings and their patience may be gathered from the foregoing and the following . I now extract from p . p . 157 and 158 of my "Letters to the Duke of Wellington . " On October 8 th , 1834 , I wrote as follows : — " No person , who refuses to give himself the trouble of investigating the real condition of great numbers of the poor manufacturing labourers , can form any idea of their abject misery . I had a very intelligent friend here ( at Fixby ) the other day , with whom I had been convening on the dreadful condition of the weavers on

      the meor-edges , a few miles from hence . As we were walking ont , we met one of these poor wretches . I questioned ' him , and found that he lived ten miles off , and was going with his ' piece , ' still a mile further . With hard and constant working he could , when employed , nett 5 s . 3 d . a week ; but he was Bonetimes out of werk , &c . I asked him , ' How do you live ? Tell this gentleman all about if He replied , ' We live on oatmeal , potatoes , and water . ' What , ' said I , ' Do you never get a slice of beef or bacon V The poor fellow ' s eyes glistened at the very mention of beef and bacon ! His smile was like that of living-starvingdeath , it was so withering ; and wife a shake of his bead be answered , No , Sir , poor weavers must taste

      nothing of that aort , nowa-days . " And yet the Kiag u made to say that our manufacturing districts are prosperous . My friend seemed struck with horror , andsaid , " I could hardly have believed it , Oastler . ' Now , this waa one of the better bauds , or he could not have realised 5 s . 3 d . per week . I can scarcely trust myself , whilst I write the following : —It is almost , nay , it is actually incredible ; but , nevertheless , it is tree , —absolute fact , which can . be pr » red by incontrovertible evidence . No » six miles from this place , on the edge of tfio moors , a cow , dying of dysentery , is considered , by the weavers and their families , as a honey-fall—a God-send ! She is called by them a green taiL I will not trust my own description of this horrid fact ; I will merely

      transcribe the notes of a friend , w hich notes I know are true . In the course of out inquiry into the state of the labourers , one tf our questions was , ' How often do yon get butcher ' s meat ?¦ In the neighbourhood © f Dean Head and Scammonden , the general reply was , ' Never nobbat wen th' green tail batcher gets a ka-ah V ( cow . ) This expression , of course , required explanation , which was in the following terms : — ¦ When a fanner had gotten a sniftering ka-ah , and went' Doctor sod shu'd dee , they sent forth great tail butcher to sell bur toll Mm ; . then , a lad war hired , to drive bur past rich and sich houses ; they all ( the inhabitants ) new wat hit ment ; an then began to mak a collecshun i ' their folds ; an' if 6 s . could be raia'd , a whole quarter wod be brought in't t' fold , to be divided amang tfouli , but if they cudent raise 5 s ., they tuk wat they bed , and gat s ^ lunrp of her for thur brass ! " Now ,

      this was all the butcher ' s meat they had tasted , all the year round , except now and then , when they could afford a few pence for such to boil with their potatoes . The landlord' of the public-house ( who had not been long there , ) related the following anecdote . He told us , 'That he had once allowed a green toil to be killed in his mia $ al , bat he would never allow another to be killed or his premises ; no , not for fifty pounds . ' He said , ' the poor people could not wait unto , she was cold , that they * toj > p « d their knives into her , before she was stiff—that they cut eollops off , and held them a short time before the fire ; and actually devoured them before they were half fried ; mch savage work , ' the landlord said , 'he never saw before ! '" And is this a ' prosperous' state of trade ? These are ' manufacturing' labourers— hard-working hand-loom weavers . This is an TftngKgh scene—a scene in the thriving pariah of Huddersfleld 1 A corse , say I ,

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      w CHARTISM UNMASKED . " We , last week , laid before our readers some evidences of our Reverend Author ' s aptness , as aa expounder of the " word of God . " He improves upon acquaintance ; and when our readers shall have perused the extract with which we now present them , wo feel certain that their only dimeuHy will be to know which they should most appreciate , the perfect knowledge of the "Boat of God , " or the highminded Christian charity which it exhibits : —

      Now ,, reader , let me ask you to pause and reflect Ask yourself who is right and who is wrong ? The all wise God or the Chartist leaders ? Have they found out a better and a more just way of governing the world than God ' s way ? Hurl such an impious and blasphemous thought into eternal oblivion ! and believe that ? the Lord is righteous in all his ways , and holy in all his works . ' Yea , believe that no one shall be permitted to go on unpunished , that lives and acts in opposition to the established government of Almighty God . The devil himself is a proof of this . He may be called the first Chartist Leader . He was once a

      happy Angel in Heaven ; but he rebelled against God . He was full of envy and jealousy against the Eternal Word—the Second person in the ever-blessed Trinity . He wished to be equal to the Son of God . He created rebellion and riotous proceeding in Heaven ; and the Most High immediately drove the devil , the leader , and all the Chartist angels , from Heaven , to the eternal prison of Hell . Ever since , the devil has been busily engaged among Adam ' s fallen race , tempting them to be dissatisfied , preaching the doctrine of equality , and drawing mankind from the path of duty and happiness ; and all his efforts and proceedings are the fruits of jealous , envy , malice , and revenge . "

      This is , indeed , the Ne plus ultra of clerical good will ! The profound ignorance , the stupid assumption of a booby-like simplicity , and the inveterate malice , evinced by this paragraph , alike astound us ! The writer is a clergyman—a professed and paid expounder of the Word of God ; with which Word , it is , therefore , clearly , his first duty to be intimately conversant ; yet he here gives us , as tho result of his acquaintance with that Word , an elaborate picture of the Devil , not a single feature of which is contained in that Word ; but which is all stolen from the splendid , but over-wrought , poetry of

      Milton ' s Paradise Lost ! We are not going to occupy our columns with polemics . We shall * therefore , pass the parson ' s theological absurdities with such notice only as appertains to their political bearing and tendency . It is certainly a matter of no ordinary shallqw-patedness in this age of cavil and enquiry , when all established doctrines ore subjected to the test of rude investigation , to drag before the public antiquated notions , which , when ought into , are found to involve nothing but absurdity and contradiction , besides having no jot of warranty in Scripture . But let that pass .

      Suppose his doctrine to be as true as it is false . Suppose him to have bean the boBom friend of Satan ; to have been established on such terms of kindly intercourse and free companions hip with his black Majesty , as to have been informed , in confidence , of all his secret history ; to have been permitted , by the dim light of burning brimstone , to pore over and examine Hell ' s musty records at his leisure ; still by what " obvious argument" doeB he connect this legend of the DeTil and his angels with the Charter ! He has not condescended to inform us of one principle of Chartism ; he has not pointed or adverted to any one of its

      effects ; but , instead of arguing—instead of " unmasking "—instead of giving to his readers its real character and tendency—he treats them to an impudently assumed prejudice ; and refers its origin to the legendary Devil of the most vulgar and exploded superstition ; gravely affirming that the M Devil was the first Chartist leader" and his angels the first Chartists . He pretends to be the minister of peace ; yet is he here seeking to enlist the worst passions of the most weak minds against millions of his fellow subjects ! He presumes to call himself a teacher of that charitt which M hopeth all things" which

      " suffereth long and is kind f he presumes to rank himself with the successors of the Apostle who * could even wish himself accursed so that he might save his brethren f and yet , without the slightest inquiry , or appearance of either pity or remorse , he classes millions of his brethren in the same category with the Devil and his angels ! Is this becoming ? Is it consistent ! Is it Christian-like ? la it rational or just , in the default of argument , thus to cry " bogglebo , " and thus to seek to terrify the weakmiuded and to disgust the pious by an ascription of the Chartist movement to the Devil !

      However much the Reverend Mr . Jenkins may fear the light of argument and seek to " mask himself while he pretends to " unmask" Chartism , we fear it not . We shall unhesitatingly unmask both . Let us then adopt the position here taken by this blind leader of the blind . And to what consequences will it lead us ? Why , upon the principles herein set forth , no change must ever be attempted in an order of things which has been once established . Society must then eternally stand still . The slaves and tyrants of to-day , most still be slaves and tyrants everlastingly , for he who first essays a change becomes a Chartist leader and must : —

      " To Hell troop off , to bear the Devil eompany . " Hence would the blasphemy and folly of this brainless parson prove the children of Israel , when they cried out against their taskmasters , to have been followers of the Devil and his angels . Moses was then a partner in the firm of Devil and Co . ; Jesus Christ was another partner in the same firm ; for he made havoc with the established institutions of the time ; the first Christian missionaries who converted our Saxon ancestors from the idolatry of Woden , the people who demanded the laws of Edward the

      Confessor , in preference to the bloody mandate Of the Norman , the Clergy , and Barons who wrested Magna Charta from King John , the heroes who , with arms in their hands , effected " the glorious revolution of 1688 , " and all the Bishops , PriestB , and DeaconB of the English Protestant Church , as established by law , are all partners in the same reputable firm of Messrs . Devil and Co ., having commodious warehouses , store-rooms , manufactories and every convenient appurtenance in the best business-situation of the infernal regions . !

      We hope the Reverend Mr . Jenkins is quite in love with "the preferment" to which hiB principles must lead him . For though he twist and twine , and Trrithe and wriggle with more fire and vigour than we give him , credit for , to this complexion he must come at last . " In the next page , this meek-eyed apostle of charity and ambassador of God for peace follows up this foolish and suicidal attack upon the Chartist leaders with a blasphemous attack on God himself . He says : —

      "Another Chariislical doctrine , which is as diaraetrically opposed to the word , of God as the former one , is the following , namely , that poverty is not the result of the everlasting purpose and appointment of a sovereign God , bat is only the result ojt unjust human laws , and of the oppression of unfeeling , selfish hardhearted , and grinding rich men . This ia the doctrine which many mischievous persons , unbelievers in Divine Revelation , are anxious to persuade the poor to believe . These preachers of sedition , who go about the country

      to excite and inflame the minds and passions of the working classes , and so making them discontented with theirlot in life , are , I am quite convinced , much more anxious to enrich themselves out of the bard-earned wages of the workmen , than they are to better their condition and to relieve their wants . Nay more , I ver ily believe they create and cause immensely moire poverty , more wretchedness among the poor , than all what are called unjust laws , and the oppression of the rich . " '

      Thisis a pretty specimen of the sort of logic put forth by the paid priesthood of the " poor man ' s Church ! " The most heartless and brutalized infidel reading this paragraph might grin with delight , to find a professed minister of Christianity bo aiding to throw down its bulwarks ! so writing after the manner of his own heart . Here we have the Almighty Father of Mercies charged vrith / wilfully , causelessly , and arbitrarily entailing the accumulated ilia of poverty upon a large portion of his intelligent creatures ! To convince our readers that we do not overstrain the

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      meaning of the IReverend scribbler , we shall quote for them , from the thirteenth page , the following confirmation : — " Well , then , in deflane of philosophers , of revolutionists , and of Acts of Parliament , poverty " retains with unsparing grasp his uncompromising tenacity upon the cominunitiea of mankind , " and it does so because God himself declares— " The poor shall never cease out qf the lancU" Reader , ponder over these , w * ** , ^

      words ;—ask yourself who spoke them ? We have the same doctrine taught us % y our Blessed Saviour in the New Testament ; in Mark "xiv . 7 r he tells us , "Ye have the poor with you always . " And I might refer you to many more passages proving tba-same truth , but the above two are quite sufficient to warrant me in saying that poverty ia not the result of unjust and cruel laws , and of the oppression of the rich , but the result of the everlasting purpose and appointment of a Sovereign

      We make no pretensions to be meally mouthed . Our object is , in general , to find out the right names of things , and call them by those names . And we would gladly do so now ; but we are foiled . We want words in which to vent our indignation at tho blasphemy thus unblushingly put forth by this surplicedhypocrite ; thi 8 perjured trafficker in men ' s souls . Has he really the effrontery to tell us that the rich do not oppress 1 that no unjust and cruel laws exist 1 that no state of society could be brought about , in which every man might enjoy the bounties of a kind Providence , and in which the want of the common necessaries and comfor ts of life should be unknown "

      He tells us that God has said that the poor shal l never cea 3 e out of the land ; and , that , because God hath said so , poverty holds on hia tenacious grasp . This is a pretty fellow to set himself up as a teacher of the people , and an expounder of God ' s word ! He has carefully omitted to give any reference to where the text is to be found . We shall supply that deficiency shortly , and also shew why the ReverendU ) Mr . Jenkins forgot to supply it . There is no doubt that he kuew where to find it ; but it did not suit his purpose to refer to it . He would rather that hia

      hearers and readers should take it upon bis shewing ; and therefore , without any reference to Ub context ho drags out from its connection a part of a sentence , " The poor snail never cease out of the land , " and foundsupon it thus , isolated , the doctrine that poverty and all its evils are of God ' s ordination ; that they are " not the result of unjust aud evil laws , and of the oppression of the rich , but the result of the everlasting purpose and appointment of a sovereign God . " Now , then , we will give this parson a Roland for his Oliver . We will cive him anntViAi- tot-1 . ' aniata ^ i ;„ Oliver . We will give him another textisolated in

      , in like manner from the very same chapter : " There shall bo no poor among you . " There ! Mr . Parson Jenkins , what think you now ? Where shall we now look for the origin of poverty ? for " the everlasting purpose and appointment of a sovereign God " is , that there shall be no poverty at all ! Here we are , then , at a dead lock ! Our text is as good a text as that of Parson Jenkins : it comes from the same book , and from the same chapter of the same book ; and yet the two seem to warrant contrary conclusions . Why so ! Because they are both severed from the context ; and . who knows not that , by thus selecting words , you may make any book to say anything you please !!

      What , then , is the plain meaning of this favourite text of Parson Jenhins \ He ia not the only one who thus uses it : we have often , seen it thus unfairly handled by much abler men . Let our readers turn to the 15 chapter of Deuteronomy , and read carefully from the first to the twelfth vers ; . We print it here , because every ono should read it : — At the end of every sevea years thou ahalt make a release .

      "And this is the manner ef the release : Every creditor that lendeth ought unto his neighbour shall release it ; he shall not exact it of his neighbour , or of his brother ; because it is called the Lord ' s release j " Of a foreigner thou mayst exact it again : but that which ia thine with thy brother thine hand shall release ; " Save when there shall be no poor among you ; for the Lord shall greatly bless thee in the land which tho Lord tby God giveth the « for an inheritance to possess it : " Only if thou carefully hearken unto the voice of tho Lord thy God , to observe to do all these commandments which I command thee this day .

      " For the Lord thy God blesseth thee , as he promised thee " : and thou shalt lend unto many nations , but thou shalt not borrow ; and thou shalt reign over many nations , but they shall not reign over thee . ¦ ¦ " \ t there be among you a poor man one of thy brethren within any of thy gates in thy land which the Lord thy God giveth thee , thou shalt not harden thine heart , nor shot thine hand from thy poor brother : " Jiut thou shalt open thine hand wide unto him , and shalt surely lend him suSUient for his need , in that which he wanteth .

      " Beware that there be n * t a thought in thy wicked heart , saying , The seventh y « r , the year of release is at hand ; and thine eye be « vil against thy poor brother , and thou givest him nought ; and he cry unto the Lord against thee , and it be sin unto thee . " Thou shalt surely give him , and thine heart shall not be grieVed when thou givest unto him : because that for this thing the Lord thy God shall bless thee in all thy works , and in all that thou puttest thy hand unto . " For the poor shall never cease out of the land : therefore I command th » e , saying , Thou shalt open thine hand wide unto thy brother , to thy poor , aud to thy needy , in thy land . "

      When thus read , in eoanection with its context , this favourite quotation is seen at once to have no reference whatever to the permanent or necessary existence of poverty . So far from the whole text conveying any intimation that poverty is " the result of the everlasting purpose and appointment of a sovereign Ged , it directly intimates in the fourth and following verses , that when "the purpose and appointment" of God is fulfilled among the people , there shall be no poor » and it iB only in reference to the conBtant developement of a disposition , on the part of those for whom this Welsh parson has constituted himself the apologist , to set aside " the everlasting purpose and appointment of a Sovereign God , " that this

      intimation , that there will be always poor in the land , is given ; coming , as it does , in close connection with the divine injunction , that all property received in security for any debt should be restored , and the debt remitted , every seven years . Will this Reverend stickler for the Divine appointment be as ready to tell the rich that it is God ' b decree , that they shall remit to every poor debtor the amount of his liabilities , be it rent , or any other debt , every seven years , as he is to tell the poor that their poverty is the result of the Eternal purpose and appointment of a Sovereign God ! The one thing is proved by this text as much as the other ; and , if he conscientiously believes the one , he is guilty of handling the Word of God deceitfully , if he does not enforce upon the rich the obligations of the other .

      But let us inquire what the declaration that " poverty ia not the result of unjust and cruel laws , and of the oppression ef the rich , but is the result of the everlasting purpose of a Sovereign God , " really involves . It involves , in the first place ,. the blasphomous principle , that God is a respecter of persons ; and that , while he bestows the lands and wealth of the world upon the privileged classes , ; he formed the vast mass of mankind , to be the slaves and drudges of his pampered favourites . If God has decreed poverty , such as it exists among the industrious millions of this eountry , then as it is plain beyond controversy , thai certain parties have more than enough ; it is a point beyond dispute , that He looks not upon his creatur « 3 with

      M An equal eye , as Qod of all ;" and , what is still worse , He showers down the riches of His bounty upon those who are notoriously the least deserving of them . This declaration involves , further , a denial of the whole scriptural schema of the consequences of transgression . The distinguishing adjunct of poverty is labour—hard , painful labour . This the Scriptures declare to be the consequence of sin ; but this Welsh parson , who ia wise above what is written , declares that it is no such thing : that it is the consequence of" the everlasting purpose , and appointment of a Sovereign God . " This declaration is a ! gross and wicked wresting of the words of God from their true meaning . We have no scriptural warrant for the supposition that poverty , snohas it exists among vis , was ever contemplated , or intended

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      by the Divine IBearfHo exists We are ^ told that when God brought mankind first into existence , ihw made them male andjfeaale , and gave them the earth for their inheritance ; , and in the terms of his grant we find no Bpecialrclaoses—no mention of either lord or slave -but the whole earth , twith all its beautim and its bounties , waa Riven equally to all to hav « and to , enjoy . Weboldl ydeny that God ever intended any of his creature * to be poor , aud we defy any one to shew from Scrijjture , fairly quoted that any of all the various distinctions of rank and caste , into which the W ^ n ^ n ^^ ^ . . „ ... _ ....

      unequal distribution of wealth has split society , were contemplated in tho everlasting purpose and , appointment of a sovereign God . " Had : men continued as he made them , the gradations of soeiety / which we how see , would never have been known ; and when they had degenerated , as all had become corrupt , a common doom was passed on ale . There were no invidious distinctions in that doom . It sentenced all to one condition . That condition wasnot poverty but labour . " In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread . " There , then , fe labour connected with its duo remuneration . , This

      is not poverty . At all events , it is not such poverty as the Chartists complain of . On the contrary , it ia the very thiDg they ask for . The toiling millions of thi 3 realm are compelled , at least a great many of them , in the sweat of their faces , not to eat bread but to starve . They are made to see the sweat , not only of their own faces , but of the faces of their wives and children , a condition not " nominated in the . bond , " an infliction not includod in tho curse ; and even then they cannot " eat bread , " beoause the bread is nearly all consumed by hungry idle locusts such as this state priest , whose only occupation seems to be mischief as a pastime , and whose faces never sweat at all

      The decree of God , that every man Bhall eat hia own bread in the sweat of hia own face ; sustained by the wise teaching of the Apostle , that "he that will not work , neither shall he eat , " is evidently tho natural and true condition of society . It has been wrested from this state by the votaries of idleness ; injustice , and disorder ; and , in spite of all their efforts to tho contrary , with all the help of Parson Jenkins ' s sophistry , the good providence of an all gracious Gob will yet again cause this to be the universal condition of society .

      To The Democrats Of Leeds.

      TO THE DEMOCRATS OF LEEDS .

      " Rather would I see the tido of a second deluge sweep over England , than think the destitution of the sons of industry should continue unabated . " The Rev . J . R , Stephens . Mt . faithful Friends , —Through the medium of the press , I address you once more . I see by the columns , of the Star , that you have again taken the field for the assertion and defence of principles involving the interests , the property of the defenceless poor , and sweeping in their range the welfare of , not this kingdom only , but probably of every European destiny , nay , of every nation on the globe . Empires of colossal magnitude , immense wealth , and indisputable powers , but empires , many of whose liberties have sunk into the silent tomb , others tottering on the verge of extinction , while anrvrchy and insubordination in tho rest , threaten in the retrograde march of despotism , unless speedily

      arrested by the potent hand of Radical reform , to enshrine the last fragments in sepulchral shades . The sufferings of persecuted virtue call aloud for justice . But alas ! for this once happy , but now much injured country , the great principles of justiee and equality are defeated by the withering influence of wealth and monopoly , the huzzas of temporary excitement die away shortly after , lingering on the lips , and leave scarcely any impression , but the exposure of a wicked , iniquitous Government in all their treachery , tyranny , and treasonous acts of petty authority , tracing tho political and " social evils of society up to their original source , with the recommendation of a broad , ample remedy , practical in operation , salutary and wise in its influence , will live in the bosom of every thinking ' man when the excitement of the moment subsides , and leave behind an influence not evanescent , but durable in its perma nence , and glorious in its lasting effects .

      How long will Englishmen suffer their liberties and rights to be remorselessly trampled upon by murderous factions , jobbers , and commercial blood-sucking vampires , the rich unnaturally elevated above the proper sphere of mortal man , aud the poor crushed beneath the Alpine-mountain load of taxation , misrule , and oppression . I am happy to see the men of Leeds agaia rallying like the forlorn hope in the last ditch , determined to be in at the death struggle between the rich oppressor

      and the poor oppressed , the demon aristocracy throned on a pinnacle of elevation , tricked out in splendour and magnificence , wrung from . the blood and tears of the defenceless poor , unfeelingly exults with infernal malignity , while numbers of our fellow-creatures axe toiling the day long for the paltry sum of sixpence . Still you find the working man patient and non-resistant UHder these numerous and accumulating ills . I cannot but recur to the soul-stirring language of that poet , whose genius is the inheritance and the pride of the country that gave me birth ;—

      See yon poor laboured wight , So abject , mean , and vile ; Who begs a brother of the earth , ¦ . To give him leave to toil . And see his lordly fellow worm , The poor petition spurn ; Unmindful though a weeping wife , And helpless offspring mourn . My Friends , —I understand the bit-by-bit reformers have been endeavouring to seduce you from those principles which you have sworn to maintain . You did right to treat them and their offers with that contempt which they so justly merit If they do not already see , they soon will , how useless it is to talk of gradual reform , of bit-by-bit legislation , of political economy ,

      and so forth . Now we , the ignorant , reckless Chartists , as we are called , repudiate all such views , our aim and wish being to produce general justice and general good ; that we are burdened with manifold abuses is certain , but it may be wiser to bear all them to midday with some singly , if the roof above us be supported by rotten timbers ; better let all stand , than by meddling with one render the danger of being buried in the mass more imminent Yes , there is abuses , and there ia one , only eae , remedy . We must submit n » more to their bit-by-bit Reform , because toiling incessantly from day to day , yet famishing , we have not time « r means , or patience for the bit-by-bit job . Judging from the fruits of the Reformed Parliament , it may be a process of centuries ere a radical change can

      be effected . Besides , I am of opinion , that he is » tyrant that continues an abuse , or withholds a right , for a single day ; and that he must be an abject slave who submits to the one , or wants the other . I again fearlessly assert , that this CJorn Law agitation is a hollow , heartless stratagem to divide you , and divert yoa from your concentrated aim . Where , I demand to know , was the intelligence and patriotism of the factory lords and the higher orders when , in 1815 , the Com Bill appeared in all its naked and ghastly deformity ? And how is it that that intelligence and patriotism slumbered until now , when ( as they say ) oar foreign trade is all but ruined ? I ask yoa , is he a wise or an honest man who sees the progress-of the flames , yet cries not nor makes any exertion til ^ &be , building is

      nearly reduced to ashes . Universal Suffrage , ia inscribed on the banner you have unfurled .. Reflect , then , on the grandeur and justice of your cause . Remember it is your cause—the cause of generations yet unborn . B » vigorous then , be steady , be wise , fix your mind intently on that , one object , for by the obtaining of it yon haw the tyrants at your feet Do all that men e&n do to obtain it ; but stray not from the path to seek other objects .: Every man must fight as if the success of the day depended on hia personal efforts and mast feet himself responsible towards his eoaatry , hia children and friends , for any disaster that ' may resalt from any imperfect or unfaithful discharge of his , dirty . In conclusion , I implore you to . be on your guard ; be cautious , but determined ; stand forward like patriots , and teach your oppressors that , though sheltered tehind a body of tyrannical laws , and defended by legions of hired slaves , the voice of a mighty and injured people is still sufflcient to annihilate a power founded on injustice and

      yielded only to oppress . Yoa miut never cmmt to proclaim that sublime truth to tb * , worldi—&rmen to be free , it is sufficient that they will it ; and Out the power to will it and * to act Ues slumberfeg in . the bosoms of working men , only wanting guidamce and developement wad organisation to achieve , tag liberty of a world of republics , and I&e happiness , of the human race . Then , for this happy day , 1 st All hearts be united for justice , and f « m an iavindbte taad Let our vows on the altar of freedom be pUghted to obtain equal rights in our own- satire land . -, Then , hum ! far our friends who have been so ill-treated ., 3 $ aee eheere for the victims who have weathered the stem . Three groans for the tyrantsjrho have been defeated ; their deeds of injustice shaB hasten Reform . ¦ , I remain yours ever , - In the cause of freedom , © avid Black . Barnaley , May XBth , 1840 .

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      Secoxd Chudhood . —An old lady , named Sweatman ,. aged ninety-two , living at Southampton , after having lost every tooth in her bead , has , within the last few weeks , oat * tooth , and wore u every probability of her soon cottiaK another . ;_ Restraints om KuatuQK . —We beg to call the attention of our readers te an advertisement ia another part of owr paper relating to restraints on marriage , which we hope to see shortly placed upon some certain b *»» t consistent wttb . a « ad reason . « a £ good Bens * . ¦ "¦ ¦ , ' • ¦ ; ... . . . :: ¦

      To The People Of Yorkshire.

      TO THE PEOPLE OF YORKSHIRE .

      The Northern Star Saturday, June 6, 1840. Tre Isrotl R-R Lvr Gt A Ji

      THE NORTHERN STAR SATURDAY , JUNE 6 , 1840 . TRE ISrOTl R-R lVr GT A Ji

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      THE NORTH RBI * 8 T AIU ^ ^ 8 TTT- meaning ofthelReverend scribbler TO

  • Citation
    • Northern Star (1837-1852), June 6, 1840, page 3, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/ns/issues/king-y1kbzq92ze2687/page/3/