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O'CONNOR'S PLAN FOR ESTABLISHING THE CHARTER , TO THE FUBTIAN JACKETS . " The worst should h&ve a competence allowed , That -want of means enforce them not to evil ; And , as 'tis found they do reform themselves , According to their strength and qualities , May hope advancement " I propose the following plan for your advancement : — My Dear Friends , —I now proceed to my plan for carrying the Charter . You observe I do not say for agitating for the Charter , for but carrying the Charter . Mark its simplicity , and in that you will recognise its greatest worth . Two short words—Dati . y Paper .
You will now require from me an explanation of tbe mode of establishing the paper , and how far the paper of itself would ensure success . The mode of establishing the paper is as follows : — Twenty thousand men for forty weets to pay sixpence a week each , makes a sum of £ 20 , 000 . I will undertake to procure a half-year ' s subscription in advance from £ 2 , 000 persons , whose houses the people frequent and support , making a sum of £ 6 , 500 , to which I will add £ 3 , 500 ; making in all a capital of £ 30 , 000 . For the £ 20 , 000 advanced in shares of £ l each , I propose the paper to pay ten per cent , but not to the
shareholders , for the first year . For that period I propose the following application of the revenue , which would be £ 2 , 000 per annum . Twenty delegates to sit in London foi eignt weeks , from the 1 st day of April , to the 1 st day of July , at a salary of £ 5 per week each , £ 800 . Twenty lecturers at £ 5 each for eight weeks ; twelve for England , five for Scotland , and three for Wales , £ 800 . Five prizes of £ 20 each for the best Essays by working men , upon five subjects , to hi announced by the Convention , during the first week of its sitting ; the premiums to be awarded in the fifth week , £ 100 ; the copyright to be public property , and
the works published in such manner as the Convention shall think fit ; the proceeds of the sale to go to a genera defence fund ; no member of the Convention to be allowed to contend for a prizi ; the manuscript to be anonymous with number , and a sealed letter , with the same number , containing the name and address of the writer ; not to be opened till the prizes are awarded , and none but the successful one to be then opened , except with consent and by desire of the writer . £ 200 for General Defence Fund ; the
propnetsr to be treasurer , and to account with the Council to be appointed by the Convention , whenever called upon ; the treasurer to be responsible for the selection of cases to be defended or litigated , if the fund should not cover all those requiring defence or exposure . £ 100 to be applied to payment of rent of a good and respectable room , capable of containing not less than eighty visitors sitting , and to advertising in the London press such resolutions as the Convention shall think requisite . The Morning Star to advertise for the duty .
These sums make £ 2 , 000 . Should the machinery be required a second year , the proceeds to be similarly applied ; if not , the subscribers to receive ten per cent upon their money . Upon the third year , one-fourth of the subscribers to be paid off , at the rate of £ 1 2 b . for every £ l subscribed , thus leaving them nearly seven per cent for each year , independently of the ten per cent paid for public purposes . Each successive year one remaining fourth to be paid off in like manner ; the remainder receiving £ 10 per cent for their shares until their turn of payment arrives .
Now this I not only propose to do , but I will do it , and that forthwith . Before I enter upon my reasons for establishing , and my mode of conducting , the Morning Star , let me first simplify the mode of electing these delegates and lecturers , their qualifications , pledges , and duties . The election of both delegates and lecturers to be « . t & public meeting , of which ten dayB notice , at least , shall be giren . The qualification of the delegate to be the confidence and approval of nil constituents The election to take place in the most populous town in tbe district included in the representation of tl . e
delegate ; such districts as shall think proper to hold public meetings after the nomination uf candidates , which shall take plaee ten clear days before the election , to send a delegate each , to the general election , to declare the result of public opinion , in their several districts , upon the eligibility of the several candidates . The delegate and lecturer who shall have the largest show of hands , to be the one for immediate service ; he who shall have the next largest show , to be also elected as a supernumerary . Each delegate and lecturer to take the following pledges , to which he shall subscribe bis name -.
—" I , A B , do pledge myself , that I will resign my trust as delegate , or lecturer , when called upon to do so by the Committee of Review . I pledge myself not to drink any intoxicating liquor during the period of my delegation . I pledge myself not to communicate with any lecturer , or delegate , or any person or persons , within my district , upon any public subject , without having first submitted such public correspondence to the general Convention or to a public meeting of Ucturera . Same rules to apply to election and pledges , tc , of lecturers . Nothing more injured the late Convention than underhand eerrespondence .
In the pledge relating to correspondence or public meetings , the Convention cannot suppress or prevent any from being sent , but the knowledge of the eonlenU affords an opportunity of instant and eotemperaneeus observation , should any be necessary . Each of tbe thirteen largest towns within the district to appoint one committee-man , which number shall com . pose the committee of review . So that when any complaint shall be made against any delegate or lecturer , it can be investigated simultaneously , and the result
submitted to the Chairman of the Committee , who shall be the Committee-man chosen in the largest town , the vote of the majority to bind , but that vote to be taken at a public meeting of which the committee-man shall be the organ , and of which the delegate or lecturer complained of shall have three days full notice , with a copy of the complaint The lecturer to hold one meeting at the least at such hour in each day as shall be most convenient to the people in the locality wherein the meeting has been c&llwL
The first business of the Convention to be the appointment of a permanent chairman and secretary , and then to appoint a council of five to whom all resolutions and motions shall be submitted by the mover at least three days before discussion , except upon urgent business of which the Convention shall decide . The unanimous vote of the council to be necessary for quashing any motion or resolution , when , should the proposer complain , five members shall , pro tempore be added by ballot to the council , merely to decide the propriety of submitting the resolution , and , in the event of three voting for it , to be considered
as a motion ordered , and to be put upon the erder paper , no division which may take place upon any I question in the council to be made known upon any account , even to the Convention . All their business to be transacted in private , but the result publicly brought befere the whole body . When I say in private , I merely mean as to the vote , to prevent dissension ; because notice of all matters to be submitted to the council must be publicly given : secresy makes good men suspicious , and bad men dangerous . The details for management to be arranged by the delegates . The delegates to find their own paper , pens , and ink , and to pay their own postage .
~ ovr , having thus briefly shown the skeleton of my plan , I shall show what the value of the daily press is . A weekly is to 5 daily paper just what a luggaga boat is to a railway carriage ; passed and repassed several times in the course of its slow progress by the quick morning machine Suppose a London daily paper to circulate the foulest lie on Friday morning ; it is uncontradicted
and consequently believed , fall tbe flat ""**? week following , just the nine days * wonder . In that time tbe fabrication may havtbeen successfully acted upon , and all anxiety to arrive at tbe truth have died away . Whereas if met while excitement was fresh and feverish , a fair defence and refutation might have been set up . Thus one great benefit of a Radical daily paper , independently of its positive merit , would be its cheek upon , or ontradictlon « f , Blander from the enemy .
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So well convinced were all the members of the Convention of the value of even an evening dally paper that one of our principal items of expense was for the Sun newspaper . New observe , even an evening paper , in consequence of the accelerated speed of conveying intelligence , has become , as compared to a morning paper , a mere echo . I , therefore , propose a morning paper . Now , of the £ 20 , 000 , over £ 5 , 000 will betaken in £ l shares , so that one in every eighty who signed the National Petition , paying 6 d . per week for forty weeks ,
would accomplish , without risk or cost , more than could be accomplished by one million of money , Bpent in more unconnected and slovenly agitation . Such an organ must , in its infancy , forca a representation of Its principles In the H » use of Commons , and amongst all classes of society , for now the few are only kept in the ascendant by magnifying their own strength in the estimation of their party , which gives them presumption and courage , and by diminishing and ridiculing our weakness , which also increases their strength , while it paralyses the the chicken-hearted of our party . Shakspeare says
" Rumour doth double , like the voice and echo , The numbers of the feared . " I have often asserted , and now repeat it , that in one month an union of all the daily press could wholly , entirely , and completely , change the Constitution of this country , it could dissolve the Parliament , dethrone the Monarch , create anarchy and confusion , and establish a temporary Republic . The dally press is an active medicine which , when administered to hot pasaion , soon turns the coldest phlegm into raging blood . It is , upon the other hand , an opiate which throws the turbulent and unquiet patient into gentle slumber , until refreshed he again resumes his judgment As one of those remedies it has been ever used in this country . ' -1 would use it as a restorative , to give health , and strength , and nerve to the whole body politic
" Kumour , from Orient to the dropping West , Making tne wind his post-horse , still unfolds The acts commenced on this ball of earth . Upon his tongue continual slanders ride ; The which in every language he pronounces ; Stuffing the ears of men with false reports . " You have by your support and approval oi the Stor pronounced it a valuable auxiliary to your cause . It is as nothing compared to a daily paper . But if it is
so good , what would a daily paper be . As the Irishman , upon tasting the quince in the apple pie , exclaimed— " If one quince makes an apple pie so good , what the divil would an apple pie be if it was all quinces . " When I established the Star , I promised no more than that it should be a thorough Radical paper . I did not promise that any portion of its proceeds should go into any other channel than my own pocket , and now just read what I have given from its proceeds within twelve months : —
£ s . d . To Stephens ' s Defence Fund 54 0 0 To Frost ' s ditto 150 0 0 Expended above the General Defence
Fund more than 150 0 0 Expense of gas , posting bills , rooms , * tc in Glasgow , Manchester , and elsewhere 80 0 0 Two Friends of the People 60 0 0 By Abel Heywood , to friends of imprisoned Chartists . ( Unknown . ) ... 55 0 0 Through John Cleave , to friends of imprisoned Chartists 13 0 0 To keep the Operative newspaper up 10 0 0 To rent of room for last Convention 5 0 0 To Neesom ' s Defence 3 0 0 To support of Chartists , and oppressed
men ' s families 20 0 0 To expense of attending meetings , by invitation of the people in England and Scotland , not Including general meetings for agitation , and attending trials of Chartista 500 0 0 This does not include the expense of travelling upon agitating tours for the collection of defence funds , or other expenses , which none can understand , but those who have had some experience ; nor were they in any way connected with the Star ; and yet these itema make the sum of £ 1 , 140 . Add that sum to my own
agitating expenses , and then tell me who ha s expended so much in your cause ; and bear in mind that not one newspaper in the Empire has given one penny towards your cause , your defence , or the support of your friends ; but , on the contrary , they have gone with you while you were prosperous and could advertise , and then to the devil with you and your cause . They have watched for the first beneficial opportunity , firet to desert , and then to cover their own villany by denouncing , you . A daily paper would keep our party together ; would heal disputes ere they had grown into animosities ; and , mark my words , that a section of the ultra Whig party will , through the press , endeavour , by hook or by crook , by promise , intimidation , or reward , to make converts of your
several incarcerated brethren , as they Bhall be in turn released , but their best efforts will faiL The Star has been a preparatory school for the working classes ; a daily paper would be to them a college . The Star gave the whole weekly press a shove forward ; a daily paper of the same stamp would either drive away Whig papers out of the market , or oblige them to bring the proper artide into the market ; and , believe me , after all , the battle must be between the Tories and the Radicals at the long run . The Whigs are upon their last legs , never more to appear as a party ; and if ever they join us , we will take proper good care to put them ia the shafts , instead of in the traces , next time . They have led long enough ; now they shall follow a bit .
I now explain the several functions of my machinery I propose the Convention as a representative body ; I propose the Council as its digestive organ ; I propose the lecturers as the arteries or conductors between the community , which is the heart , and the body ; I propose the Star sb the tongue of the body-, I propose the committee of review , which are the eyes of that body ; I propose the £ 2 , 000 per annum as the food of th # t body , and I propose the attainment of UnWetB&l Suffrage as the only work of that body . So you see I am a moral-force Radical after all , as I leave out the
physical members , the hands and feet ; 1 propose the pledges which are absolutely necessary for the preservation of the health and judgment of the body ; and I propose the publicity of correspondence as the pacificator of that body ; I propose the prizes for the essays , firstly , because they will serve the cause ; secondly , because they will promote knowledge , which is power and , believe me , that there is no other so effectual method of instructing the ignorant , as by rewarding improvement ; and thirdly , because as the tyrant ' s best title to power is the ignorance of th « people ; the promotion of knowledge will destroy the tyrant ' s power .
We could , from our own ranks , soon fillup the several offices connected with the paper : O'Brien , M'Douall , Richardson , Lovett , Vincent , Collins , and several others , are eminently capable of earning a handsome livelihood in the discharge of some of these duties . Now I come to speak , and slightly , of the several plans proposed . I leave Republican out of the question , as we do not know him , and he is resolved we shall not know one another . But I , for one , during life , never will * ddwctly or indirectly , be party to a secret association . Republican appears to be a mis . anthrope : I should like to know him ; and find his reasons for disliking the old Convention .
Mr . Macconnell I think may , if he chooses , go to the President of America—that ' s bis plan ; and I give him my consent , and assure him , he will have as much weight with the President , even without that or any other consent , as if he was the accredited agent of any working man in England . The Presi dent would just « ay , " Well , come over to us ; " but Jonathan would not pay even for MacconnelTs cab hire to the water , side—and we can go to America without the President ' s' leave .
There is a great deal of good sound sense in Richardson ' s plan , which , must of necessity be brought in as a part of the details to work out any plan ; but Richardson thinks every man as honest as himself . Now , it is good to think a man honest : but well to
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treat him as a rogue : so says a great law authority ; and so says the law , in its indiscriminate method of dealing between all of the same class . I make this observation with reference to Richardson ' s proposed marshals , and , at once , I christen them the stop-lock . The very moment you were ready to fire , the M . P . Marshal would say , "Oh , stop , don't fire yet , or you'll hit me with the rest" Nothing could be more
injudicious than putting it m the power of an M . P . to sell a party of poor confiding people to a rich and watchful banditti . He * would only have to name his price ; and , though we might denounce him , the deed would be done ; and he would be off to the Continent , o * to Ireland , to join tbe O'Connell refugee . Tbe loss of a leader strikes great dismay into a party , and worse by treachery than death . Never lose a leader if you can avoid it honourably .
" A leader ' 8 death , "whose spirit lent a fire , E ' en to the dullest peasant in his camp . Being bruited once , takes flra and heat away , From the best temper'd courage of his troops . " Remember Stephens and the Brummagem ' s , and then reflect upon what treachery may effect With regard to O'Brien ' s plan ; to show the shortness of your memories , you appear to forget that I gave the whole plan with details , and all in July last , and also was the only one who acted upon it , by canvassing and addressing the electors and non-electors of Yorkshire . I only now mention that that was my plan , in
order to prove the fact , that what you see on one Saturday you forget on the next if not acted upon , and then you complain , oh , why not give us plans ? Why the Convention gave yen a string of plans as long as my arm , and you never followed one of them . I want a plan that will work without either putting you to danger , trouble , or expense . I proposed the plan of popular election , and of sending representatives from them to the Bee Hive in London , in November , 1834 , at Huddersfleld , and the people highly approved of it , and 1 since acted upon it at Preston , where I was returned , and at Glasgow where I was returned , and
would for the West Riding last election , had not the Whigs got frightened and kicked up a row to prevent me . This plan would form a part of the general operation . Lowry's plan , as far as it goes , is unobjectionable , and if he has not gone farther , it should be borne in mind , that he was cramped to it ; he was for another Convention , and never did he speak truer words than when he describes the electrical effect which a good speech has upon a meeting of oppressed men ; but then we are to bear in mind , that Lowry is a man of the very highest order of impassioned eloquence : I never felt so much afraid of speaking after any man as Lowry . But this only goes to the account of procuring lecturers , not to damage the principle ; in fact it is a part of my own .
But then I have a peculiar horror of sectional agitation , if not tributary to , and directed by , some responsible controlling power . It is an extensive system of se » resy . The delegates will look for popularity , and of forty delegates perhaps not three would recommend the same mode of attaining the wished for end . This I propose to obviate , firstly , by making them responsible to the committee of review , amongst whom they are always moving ; secondly , by paying them well ; and don't you believe any one who says there ' s nothing in that ; and , thirdly , by having another ready to step into the shoes , of any ona who shall become disreputable , treacherous , or inefficient But still , with all this local strength , we must both represent by a Convention , and proclaim it through the press .
I opposed the national rent scheme the night before the great meeting at Birmingham , at Mr . Muntz ' s house , in presence of Lovett , Collins , Vincent , Moir , Purdie , Hetherington , Attwood , Douglas , Salt , and several others ; but Douglas said I was only one ; 1 told him that it would ruin us , as it would be a mess to fight for . Now , by my plan , we get rid of the necessity ef raising one more farthing for any purpose from the people , and those who lend get ten per cent for their money , and get it back again . Recollect that
there are three stages in a great movement The first is to create opinion , the second to unite it , and the third to direct it Now , a paper with the machinery which I point out would do all three . Look at Lowry , Binns . Harney , James Taylor , and a few others , now doing aU the work alone , and poor Harney blackguarded by the blackguard Champion , because he is not like me , shut up in a stone coffin . All the wretches who deserted us , now accuse every man of dishonesty who has not been imprisoned . I wish to God I was the only Chartist in prison .
I have now imperfectly stated my plan . Yon have known me for eight years in my several public capacities ; let those who are still willing to trust me take my honour as security for their money , and my life as pledge for its success . The first Convention shall meet on the first of May next * whether I am here or not . And now , if we have not 15 , 000 men ready to lend sixpence per week for forty weeks , on good security , and for large interest and universal benefit , why I shall labour away with the old waggon and with my old lungs till I crack both or get Universal
Suffrage . If one cannot spare sixpence , six may join , or ten , or twelve , but we must have the paper . I hereby appoint Mr , John Ardill , clerk , Northern Star Office , and Mr . Heywood , 60 , Oldham-street , Manchester , to receive subscriptions for England , and Wales ; and James Moir , of Glasgow , and John Duncan , of Edinbro ' , for Scotland , and shall expect to hear of the full number being made up by the Saturday after this letter appears in the Star . The families of the imprisoned Chartists to receive the interest till the paper is established at five per cent , to be paid weekly after the first month .
I cannot give you a better notion of my opinion of the value of a Radical paper , than the following fact : —I became security to the Government and the Stamp Office for O'Brien when he started the Southern Star , which I knew must take some subscribers , and many from the Northern Star . He could not have brought it out if I had not become security ; every one refased him ; all the London patriots either would not , or would rather not , or had promised their wives they would not , or had entered into a partnership by which they could not , or they did not , from
private reasons , wish to appear , or their father , or motherin-law , or grandmamma would be angry ; or , O ! surely youll have no difficulty , but I am giving politics up altogether . Well ; I became security for O'Brien . The Southern Star has had an occasional slash at me . O'Brien is no longer the proprietor ; and have I withdrawn my security ! No , nor shall not as long as the Southern Star continues as it is—a good sound Radical paper . If the Devil owned it , and bis imps edited it , Messrs . Proprietor and Editors should have my consent to fire away at their security in one column , so long as they continued to fire at abuses in another .
You have now my plan before you . I submit it only to the working men . I desire only their interference , co-operation and support No man who buys cheap and sells dear will countenance it—no man who has labour to sell can oppose it The Morning Star shall be particularly devoted to accomplishing & complete change in the condition of the working people , by transplanting them to the land , and while it advocates the Suffrage as the weans , it will not lose sight of the proper instruction for the use of it when acquired . 1 hereby pledge myself to prosecute the plan , to repay every farthing of the money , and to accomplish the promised end .
If any man shall propose a better plan , I am ready to surrender and subscribe , ' .. I am your faithful friend , FEARGUS O'CONNOR . York Castle , July 2 nd . .
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TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE THE MARQUIS OF NORMANBY , HER MAJESTY'S SECRETARY FOR THE HOME DEPARTMENT , Detrahere aliqnid alteri , et hominem hominis incommodosuuniaugerecommodum , magisest contra naturam , quam mors , quam panpertas , quam dolor , quam csatera qusspossunt antcorporl acddere , ant rebus externls . - ¦ ¦ ¦¦•¦¦ ¦¦¦ ' ¦ ¦ '¦¦ ' . ' - . . . - • Toil . To detract anything from another , and for one man to multiply his own conveniences by the inconveniencies of another , is more against nature than death , than poverty , than pain , and the other things which can befall the body , or external circumstances . *
——Favourites * Made proud by princes , will advance their pride Against the power that bred it . My Lord , —If there be truth in my text , the attempt upon my life is the least grievous of the manjr inconveniences to which you have subjected me , for the purpose of multiplying your ewn conveniences . That you have offended more against nature than if your attempt at destruction , at robbery , at infliction of pain , had been successful , I shall convince the world , however sceptical you may remain .
My Lord , however the contest between us may terminate , I have the consolation to know that you fired every shot at your disposal , before I attempted a defence by retaliation . I bore much ; but there is a point beyond which endurance becomes servility , nay , criminality . You have allowed your false courage to strain my patience to that extreme to gratify others . My Lord , you strained the law ; you violated the Constitution j you lent yourself to the most pitiful revenge ; my only crime being a knowledge of your perfidy . I might frequently have •« multiplied my own convenience" by " adding to your inconvenience , " had I felt myself justified in doing so to save life or property ,
or infliction of pain , but I abstained till yon committed " an act more against nature than death , than poverty , than pain , and the ether things which can befall the body , or external circumstances . " I abstained till you had taken advantage of your power , as gaoler general , to put a construction upon prison rules , whereby you were enabled to stab my reputation , allowing me the poor consolation of seeing the assassins'blow , while you smiled at my inability to ward it off , and tied my hands , lest I should return it . You overpowered me with numbers ; you entangled me in the meshes of the law ; you knocked me down , and then you struck me while I was down . This was un-English , unmanly , and unfair . -
My Lord , if there be one thing on earth most pitiable , it is a little great man ; one who is resolved , per fas aut nefas , to acquire celebrity ; who will be known , either by shining upon the stage , or playing the bully behind the scenes . My Lord , my charges shall come in time ; perhaps you may think quite soon enough . Let me first consider why I am in prison , and how you have added to the insult of my treatment , beyond what the law could prescribe , or the Court constitutionally award .
My Lord , knowing you to have been made a tool of by Mr . O'Connell , and perhaps with the consent of ycmr party , I pitied you ; and when you were charged by the Tories with your Irish delinquencies , which I then mistook for a display of national feeling , I defended you , to the full extent of my power , always , nevertheless , declaring that I would rather Bee a Haddington or a Cumberland the servant of good laws than a Normanby the master and controller of bad ones- I wrote an article which , for its worth to you and your party , was
copied from the Northern Star into two successive numbers of the Sun , a thing very unusual , I believe . When you were accused by your Peers , and were before your country , a Mr . Whittle brought a motion before the Convention , which , if carried , would have thrown the whole weight of popular feeling into the scale against you . I opposed and beat him , commending your Irish policy , but regretting that the state of Ireland rendered even Quixotism in her rulers a virtue . I went to meetings both in England and Ireland , and selected y 6 U . as the least scabby sheep In the flock .
Now , my Lord , you will require me to defend myself for having thus defended you . I do it thus . I knew that you had been made a tool of , but I had a right to believe , in the absence of contradictory proof , that , though a tool , you worked as a willing tradesman , * and at your choice trade , that of healing broken hearts and administering a cure for chronic maladies . I had a right to consider that justice , or rather whim , for lack of law , was genuinely and cheerfully administered by you ; That yon delighted in copiously interposing the high and mighty trust of mercy lent and . entrusted to you by your royal master , between the innocent vietim and
the licentious and licensed oppressor . I know Ireland and the Irish better than you do , my Lord . I know their virtues , yon are but acquainted with their follies , their susceptibilities , and their cheaply-purchased gratitude . I knew , that had you ordered a general gaol delivery , in one fortnight after every Assize , yet Would many , in that short time , have received more punishment than their crimes merited , while none would have experienced any great stretch of royal clemency . My Lord , the virtues of Irishmen are characteristics of their nature—their vices are consequences of oppression and misrule .
My Lord , within the last forty years , Ireland has seen many professors but few patriots . In general the Irish gaols are filled with victims to private pique and party malice , of farmers who chance to have bargains guaranteed by old leases , which can be only broken upon condition of compromise or unjust prosecution ; with those , who having voted contrary to orders , have , when distrained for rent , stood in the gap before the old COW , and dared to ask the bailiff for his warrant to distrain , and thereby committed a rescue against the peace of our liege lady the Queen , her crown and dignity .
My Lord , these charges do not apply to Protestant landlords only , nor yet in the highest degree . No , of all the tyrants in Ireland , Catholic middle men , Catholic lay impropriators of tithes , Catholic policemen , and Catholic jacks-in-office of all sorts , are ever the most brutal , the most presumptuous and tyrannical monsters living . Their oppressions are less heard of . They are supposed to have a prescriptive right to oppress their own order , provided they but join in the national " liberal" swagger , and assist to swell the rent I know many of them , my Lord ; they are downright devils .
My Lord , while you were thus applying your magic wand to the prison gates , and while your master answered all applications for the long-coming " justice , " With " O ! here are the Tories , " or , " hold your tongue , here ' s the bloody Cumberland , " while he was thus buggabooing it and you were thus guiseothising it , I thought with others that you ( we never condescend to think of the old juggler at all ) were but conforming to a new and a wholesome rule laid down for the government of Ireland , until a permanent legal stop could be put to aggression . I , in common with others , thought , that , whoever prescribed the remedy , you administered
it with a becoming grace , and that , from your tenderness as a nurse , you had been selected to watch the patient in her crisis . 1 anticipated and looked for the strong and healthy shoots which were promised from the burned trunk of repeal ; I anticipated the fulfilment of the royal pledge as declared through the Ministers , that justice should follow a calm , and that coercion was but the talisman to produce it I oared not , my Lord , whether these goods sprung from your Tomfoolery or your master ' s knavery ; I cared little whether his patriotism—his cowardice—his credulity and blundering , or your pomp and folly should settle the question , provided it was settled and well : —
•• A rose by any other name would smell as sweet " But , my Lord , no sooner had your purpose and the purpose of gour party been served , than we find you throwing off the mask and playing your real part in this country . In your Irish performance there , was some thing strained . In your English performance yon are the virarythingitMlf . 'V "Few are deceived so much by any , as themselves . ' . In your-pexformance here , my Lord , there is no disguise ; Every prison house is a Btage , and its victims an audience , bearing evidence of your acting .
" Wise and benignant policy looks to prisons . In states which do not thus , 'tis seldom when The steeled gaoler ia the friend of man . " My Lord , the glory of having goaded the people into a declaration of their grievances at public meetings , does not belong exclusively to Lord John RusselL No , my Lord , in the qualities Which mark our statesmen now as patriots , he is over rich and can spare a friend some grace . Yonr Irish policy , coupled with Lord John ' s invitation , sounded the tocsin for another muster _ of popular strength , to make another and a greater
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assault upon your own corruption . You had sueeea * fully led the condemned regiment upon the forlorn hW in 1832 . Yon had taken the Tory camp and we did flatter ourselves that you were then ready for the geeatest conquest which man can achieve . The triumph over self . We had a right to think that thus enlisted and invited to a charge upon man ' s great enemy , « Op . pression , " that at least the same measure lenity , which was shown to the poor out-lawed Irish , would be meted out to those whose- freedom constitutes " the envy and admiration of surrounding nations . " We never dreamed that the very element in which yoa lived and throve upon in Ireland , would be considered and treated as a pestilence in England .
My Lord , you are very foolish " . to fall out with yonr bread and butter , " for , believe me , you are one and all but so many bubbles upon the surface of the great agitated waters . It was once said of an unsophisticated lady , who called things by their proper names , " Take away bawdy , and she has nowit" Now , my Lord , it may be truly said of you and your advocates—take away Cumberland and Irish grievances , and yon have bo power . They are to you what the Devil is to the Parsons a great " god-send . " My Lord , you are an old-fashioned tool from the old tool-box : you can't do your work clean ; it won't stand the test of hungry criticism . " Famine , E ' er clean it o ' erthrow Nature , makes it valiant "
In the plenitude of your power , you have looked into the political kaleidoscope with a partial , jaundiced eye and there you have seen the knight-errantry , the felly , and other tinsel in which cunning knaves dress e mpty fools , till they make them quite forget the naked man Look now , my Lord , into the plain reflecting mirror , and there you'll see the gewgaws doft , and the peacock stripped of his borrowed plumes , a laughing-stock for those who dressed him for their purpose and his undoing . My Lord , when both are dished , there is but little difference in the appearance between a peacock
and a turkey-cock . How easily you allowed the old birdcatcher to put salt upon your tail . Your Jamaica pranks might have given you some place in the chronicle of slaves , if you had never gone beyond the bounds of your poor capacity ; but now , my Lord , the little great things that you have done will be wholly obliterated by the one great little blunder you hare made . You made too great a plunge into the agitated waters . You should have paddled about a little longer before you tempted the rough Irish Channel ; it has wrecked better swimmers than you , my Lord . You never see the shoals till you strike .
My Lord , after all I feel inclined to pity your childish folly . Did you but know how carelessly your seducer pins his conscience on his sleeve , and how adroitly he turns the folly of others to account of rent , you would still rejoice that I , not be , happen to be your accuser . My Lord , I assure you that my Jcharge is but a little premature . I have but taken the plum from your friend ' s mouth , for believe me yonr blunder was one the very kernel of which would have been cracked ere it had decayed . Did yon suppose that had you really saved Ireland , you would have been allowed the slightest participation in the glory ? If you did , my Lord , you are a greater booby than even I took you for , and that is saying much .
" Lay not the flattering unction to your souL " Remember Wellealey , Anglesey , Lawless , O'Gorman Mahon , Sharman Crawford , Lambert , and a host of others ; and then believe that the greater your services , the more heinous your offence . When but the fitting moment for your undoing had arrived , you Were a doomed man . The hay was on your horn . Thus , after all , my Lord , the whole disclosure Is but a thing of time ; and I venture to flatter myself , and to comfort you with the consolation , that you will rather gain by a change of venue from the Corn Exchange to
the felons' cell at York Castle . Had yon been impeached at the Cam Exchange , see what a partial , unfair , and packed Jury y » u must have had ; composed of the very men who smil « d distinction oat of your folly . Those whom you have most served must have turned compliment into bitterest enmity . In fact , my Lord , so pure a thing is Irish patriotism wno , that I fear , in such an event , many of my virtuous countrymen , whom your kindness has placed in power , would relinquish office rather than longer hold it as the gift of so foul a donor .
My Lord , having said thus much , let me touch upon the manner in which I have been bunted , breast high , by your whole pack of bloodhounds . In the spring of 1839 , although I defended you , I became particularly obnoxious to Mr . O'Connell , by describing in the Convention what the real state of Ireland was , and by succeeding in taking all Irish grievances and questions into the general complaint of Englishmen , and also by recommending an honest canvass of the Irish mind by honest English delegates ; but , above all , by the rapid increase of the circulation of . the Star in Ireland . Very shortly after this , a rule for a criminal information against me was applied for by the Attorney-General , for publishing four lines , taken from another paper , and which your Sergeant , who conducted the prosecution at York , could not read without laughing .
This rule was moved for after the Stamp Returns shewed the circulation of the Star to be 32 , 600 weekly . In fact , I was prosecuted for paying immense sums to the revenue for a license to teach , aad not for anything that I either said or did . I spoke to too many Mr . Thesiger appeared forme , to shew cause why the rule should not be made absolute , -when I < ord Denman , after hearing the libel and the arguments , asked Mr Attorney-General if he thought he owabt to persevere '
He did persevere . I was tried at the Summer Assizes at York , and was found guilty ; the Judge , in bis summing up , telling the Jury that it was also his duty to state that the defendant had , all through , attempted to intimidate them ut of their verdict A very plain but not a very straightforward issue to send to the Jury . Thus I was tried for paying a very heavy tax , and found guilty of intimidating the Jury .
My Lord , the Attorney-General thought the finding bad , and dreaded giving me an opportunity of telling him so , and of laughing at him before Lord Denman , so he never called me up for judgment upon that conviction : after having put me to great expense and in * convenience , he baulked me of my triumph . When I virtually beat you at York , the Manchester authorities , upon the evidence of a journeyman reporter , trumped up a charge of some sort or other against me , in which I picked a great hole . In
October , I went to Ireland , and in the most Catholic part I held very large meetings , where I denounced Mr . O'Connell to the great satisfaction of all present Yom Attorney-General , at or about that time , had been upon a trafficking journey to Dublin , where Lord Plunket and ' he had some Chancery business to transact Mr . O'Connell constantly held me up u the greatest enemy of the Whigs to his shopkeeper ? , attorneys' clerks , aspiring police , and excise officers , is Dublin , and said , that the Attorney-General should prosecute me and several others when he returned . The
Attorney-General knew that the Chancellorship was in Mr . O'Connell ' s gift ; consequently , in the next month , and upon the very first day of term , the Attomey-Gentnl did , according to order , file an ex offido informatfoB against me , for the publication of matter , a portion of which had been taken from ih ^ Tyne Mercury ; another portion of which had only been published in 3 , 0 * 0 numbers of the Star , having then a circulation ^ 42 , 000 ; a portion for Which the speakers were tried and acquitted ; another portion of which was stated bj tbe reporter to be an imperfect report ; and all 0 / wbi was published , when I was attending the A 8 ^* T York , on the 19 th and 20 th of July , to defend my *"
against the first paltrycharge . ' - : ' ' - ¦ TtMA It was necessary to have a tool in the Home ***** ment ; for , on my conscience , I believe Lord J «** Russell , whatever he may do of hl » own **»/•»»? would not condescend to be the tool of O'Connell . » was necessary to h ave . a tool in the Home Office ? •«* who so fit as him whose very existence as a peer < w pended upon the completion of his work . I was proprietor of the most extensively read p » p « in the wwld-wU watched by a Ter ? Arg ° f L ^ , AttorneyrGeneral-and , after two and a ball J » existence , not a personal libel , or one word ° V ° " * JJ matter which could be prosecuted as libel , ftPP * " "
that journal . ^ adabt My Lord , before I go farther , allow me to P ** ^ of gratitude to your Attorney-General He ""^ J ^ the conrtesy with which he had treated me . I * ^ in the Court of Queen ' s Bench , that bis court ** * " ( Continued m our seventh f * ge >)
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WiffCiiiiTirtiflBOPS KEWB , The Domestics at Buckingham Palace and Windsor have been partially pat upon board wages with a view to an extended principle of economy in the household . The large sums paid to foreign angers , foreign annuitants , and others , entrench so wwely on the Royal purse , as to render parsimony in some quarter or other absolutely necessary , and in no quarter could it be better enforced than among the scullions and housemaids of the Palace . A RcsmY Wife . —The Australian , Sydney paper , of the 21 st of December , has the following : — Au advertisement appears in a-contemporary of yesterday , from a fond husband , cautioning the ir cbhe against ghing credit to his better half ; she having absconded from home for the eighteenth time !" Texperakck haa effected 5 uch an improvement in the habits of the people of Waterford , that there has been a diminution of the number of offences for tho list year up to the 7 th of July , of 813 .
O'CoierBLL jo ) Fikldkn . —In one of his recent letters to the National Association , Sir . O'Connell said— " Fielden of Oldham , Cobbeti ' s friend , has not giTen Ireland a single vote . " Mr . Fielden , however , in a letter to the newspapers , refers to the Divisionlists on Lord Stanley ' s Bill to show that Mr . O'Contell ' s charge against him is " an untruth . " The tbkatt of commerce between Eagland and France is virtually concluded . Two clauses , modifyine a part of the tariff , had created some hesitation on the part of the English Commissioners , hut these inoQlfications , which were not " comprehended in the instructions of the British Cibinet are now agreed to . Mr . Porter has gone to London , to procure the ratification of his Government to the convention .
M vsch op Texfe&asce . —Only tiro persons served notice for taking out publicans' licenses at the present sessions . The number used to be four hundred and fifty !—Nenagh paper . Tii £ RK is a wealthy and truly pa : riotic gentleman of Liverpool , who is so peculiarly favourable to the formauon of at least one park , for the health and recreaiion of our " good old town , " that he has expressed a desire , should he find a suitable site , to lav Gin % sum of £ o $ , 000 in the purchase and laying out of the ground , and to dedicate the same gratuium-1 y to the use of the public for ever . —Liverpool
Mr . Wabde , the Tkagedia > -. —We regret to say this geatleman died on Thursday . He had been in & declining state lor some months . His real name was Prescott ; and , in early life he served in the Army . His first engagement in London was at the old Haymarket ; after which he made his debut at Corent-Garden , as Brutus , in Shakspeare ' s tragedy of Julius Ccssar . Sir Geobgk Musgbate , who would otherwise kave started for East Cumberland , is prevented bv being High Sheriff of the county . Mr . Head " a staunch Tory , therefore takes the field . It is not yet decided who is to be the Whig candidate , but great efforts are being made to prevail upon Mr . Howard to stand .
The bjutseb op a female friendly Bociety , in Bolton , bears , on the reverse , an inscri ption of which the following is a copy : — "To th « Queen , Victoria of England , may she always rule , and the same to all other women ! " Well done petticoats . Wood Pavxxext . —On Saturday , Oxford-street , which had been closed for some time , for the purpose of extending the wooden pavement from Rathbone-place to Wells-street , was opened to the public . The piesent plan is by laying down shingie and eemeni laid on smootbJy , ana the blocks bear on each other , and are bound together by wooden pegs so that it forms one solid mass .
05 Moxday Moeking , no less than three bodies of nnfortnnate individuals , who have lost their lives during last week , were found in the river Thames , between Westminster and Putney bridges . One of the bodies is supposed to be that of an engineer , which was found close to Westminster-bridge ; the other two were found near Chelsea , No less than Beven persons were drowned last week by accidents in the river Thames . A REM 0 NSZRA 5 CB , from forty-eight clergymen , has been mads to the Directors of tbe South Western Railway against Sunday travelling . The Directors , in reply , charged the clergy with want of charity , and pleaded necessity as an excuse . A similar remonstrance has been forwarded by 348 persons , clergy and laity , in the neighbourhood of Winchester , but withsnt sncees 3 . —Devixes Gasette .
State op Tbladk . —Trade eontinnes without any improvement , although no apprehension is entertained of any ¦ decline in prices . As the present month is between seasons , in the absence of a foreign demand , business wili probably continue dull for the next few "weeks . —Leicester Mercury . The Hkabse , which is to transport the ashes of the heroes of July to the column of July-is just finished . It is twenty feet high , sixty feet broad , on six wheels , weighing 60 , 0001 bs , aad to be drawn by twenty horses .
A"wfitli . t suDDET Death . —On Monday morning , &s Mr . Richard Smith , of HaTering Park , was assisting his men in dressing his cattle , when in the act of easting a rope over the head of one of the beasts , he dropped down , and immediately expired . Mr . Smith had suffered for some years from an affection of the heart , which it supposed caused his death . The New Coitseryatory at Chatsworth . —Some idea of its magnitude may be formed on knowing that the centre arch of the roof is seventy-six feet high , with a span of seventy feet ! affording ample room for the stupendous grovrth of the American aloe ( Agave AmericanaJ , or indeed the loftiest greenhouse plant ever fostered in these islands .
We observe that some of the leading Chartists , as trell as the Glasgow cotton-spinners , have been released from gaol before the expiration of their sentences . It does not appear that these parties had given any sign of penitence , or held out any reasonable hope that they would in fnture abstain ' from practices similar to those for which they were convicted . The only Btirrer of sedition who endures the uttermost vengeance of the law i 3 Feargus O'Connor , and against him Mr . Daniel O'Conneil , Dictator of Great Britain , has an implacable personal spite . —Manchester Chronicle .
MoifMOTTH . —ft will be recollected that several of the Chartists were sentenced to various terms of imprisonment , and the following five , having completed their six months , were liberated " on Tuesday week , and returned home to their friends , viz . : — John Partridge , George George , Thomas Llewellin , Thomas Edwards , and John Owen . We believe there are still four of the Chartist 3 left in our prison , ttqo were sentenced to a long term of confinement , viz .: —William John Llewellin , Lewis Rowland , John Gibby , and James Moore . —Welshman .
Elopement- —On Sunday , the daughter of a yeoman , resident in the neighbourhood-of Ludlow , eloped with a jolly young Irishman , well known on the turf . ThiB gay love-monger was an entire stranger in the country , and had not been in the company of the lady many times before he struck the bargain with her for elopement . The Irishman went in a chaise about a mile out of the town , and the fair one sprang into the vehiele containing her new and fond lorex . —Hereford Times .
To&t Respect toh tbe Queen axd . her Court . —Tbe Northern Ttmes of yesterday has two leading articles—the one commencing with ri The Pot Boy Conspiracy , " and the other concluding with the surmise that the Bedchamber Ladies are not yet tired of the old roue Lord Melbourne . " These chivalrous Tories treat their Queen as they woujd not dare to treat any other woman of the land . The dastardly cowards would not venture to speak of any other virtuous wife as the mistress of a brothel . —Sunday Times .
Death of Lucies Buonaparte . —The Prince of Canino ( Lucien Buonaparte ) died at Viterbe , on the " 29 th nit ., at the age of 66 . He was the second brother of Napoleon , and born in 1775 . After the final over throw of his brother he retired to Italy , where he passed the remainder of his days , devoted to literature and the fine arts , and was much respected in private life . There are now three brothers of Napoleon living—Joseph , the eldest , the ex-King of Spain ; Louis , ex-King or Holland ; and Jerome , ex-King of Westphalia .
Termisahon of the Sulphur Dispute . —The mediation of France between England and Naples has ended in the desired result . After long and delicate negotiations , the arrangement proposed by France has been acceded to by both , courts . The definitive answer of England to that effect has arrived in Paris , and the Duke de Serra Capriola yesterday signified his official assent , in the'name of the Government of the Two fcScilies . A courier wae
immediately sect off to Naples with the intelligence . Gould has been removed from this Dock-yard , in company with 120 other convicts , in tne tender , to be embarked on board the ship Ada , for transportation . It is understood that on Mb arrival at the colony , the "log-book" of daily deportment during the voyage will give a discretionary power to the Government to determine whether he Bhall be disposed of as an assigned servant in an agricultural district , or as an incorrigible offender , sent to work in darkness and chains in the mines of Norfolk I&Lajid . —Dover Chronicle .
Eastboubjte . —Shifweeck ard Loss of Life . — On the night of Friday , the 3 rd instant , a French chaste maree , laden with Bait , about 100 tons burden , came on shore Bear Berlin Gap ; tbe night was very dark , and the fo ^ heavy , which prevented the hdmsmaa from seeing the light at Beacby Head . The vessel went to pieces very shortly after she ¦ truck , bat owing to the prompt assistance of the efitaer aad men on this station , the crew , four in number , were 'saved , with the exception of a poor little MJfrjfo wm left in the cabin for security .
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Political Prisoners . —Mr . Roberts , the Chartist attorney , has been discharged from Salisbury Gaol ; but why does ; Potts , bis feHow-sufferer , remain incarcerated , and wherefore is Carrier still tortured on the tread-wheeli The offence—if offence it can be called—of all these persons was alike : why are not all ^ discharged ! May it not be suspected that Mr . Roberta ' s originally Tory predilections , and his relationship to an eminent Tory judge , might have had an influence in his favour . Surely the Government would do wisely to set open the prison-doors of all the Chartists now suffering imprisonment . —The Statesman .
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6 THE NORTHERN STAR . 1
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Northern Star (1837-1852), July 18, 1840, page 6, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/ns/issues/king-y1kbzq92ze2693/page/6/
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