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TO READERS AND CORRESPONDENTS.
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LEEDS AND WEST-RIDING NEWS.
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THE NORTHERN STAR. SATURDAY, JULY 25, 1840.
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ERBOR IN OUR PRESENT NUMBER.-
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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MESSRS . LOVETT AND COLLINS . Next week , we shall furnish a full report of the liberation of Lotbtt and Coixiss , and all the interesting particulars relative to those two martyra . Our reporters have directions to meet them at the prison gates , and to give us every thing that transpires .
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PAISLEY WEAVERS . We End from the Sun , that the distress of the Paisley weavers has caused them to stnd % deputation to London , which waited oa Lord John Rcssell to solicit the means of transporting themselves out of the ungrateful country which ha 3 been enriched by their toils , and , in return , refuses them the meaEB of subsistence . Their prayer was , to be sent to New Zealand . The answer was that Government will next session bring forward some general measure on the subject , but in the mean time cannot help them .
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THE DELEGATE MEETING . The whole people will of course belooking anxiously for the decisions come to by their " collective wisdom" assembled in Manchester . The great length at which we have given the report , together with the pressure of Assize intelligence , and the lengthy Parliamentary debate on the Factory Inspector Spies , precludes our doing more at present than to refer them to the report , which they will find elsewhere .
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THE QUEEN DOWAGER , Wb understand that the German lady , who does the people of this country the honour to pocket , £ 100 , 000 of their spare cash , yearly , passed through Leeds on Wednesday , on an excursion to the lakes . As might naturally be expected , a considerable concourse of idlers assembled to see the sight , and no doobt many of them were highly gratified with the consideration that by so easy and pleasant a process v continually toiling on starvation diet during health
and full employment , and reveUbg in all the luxuries of a Whig Woikhouse in sickness , old age , or bad times , they were enabled to pay this trifling sum to so very harmless looking a middle-aged lady , as Mrs . Adelaide Gcklph is described to be . An effort at a cheer was made about the middle of Briggate ; but it was of the faintest character that we have heard for a long time . The people were , no doubt , fearful of disturbing the exquisite senability of such costly nerves .
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THE GOVERNMENT , FACTORY , REFORMED
SPY SYSTEMIn OUT fifth page , under the he&i Imperial Parliament , will be found a report of the debate upon Mr . Fielders motion for a committee to inquire into the instructions given by Ministers to Inspectors of Factories . In vain have we looked ihrongh the Parliamentary records of the passing session for the people ' s share of the time and booty expended since the 16 th January last . In vain have we searched for the boons to be -administered , in this "last Whig trial session , " and this first Royal
Matrimony Parliament . We heard of royal dowers , of royal navy , of royal army , of royal pregnancy , of royal wars , and royal balls , routs , dinner ? , drives , and dsnce 3 . We heard of £ 62 , 000 of secret-service Bioney , of Regency Bills , and all sorts of bills made fbr monarchy and its dependants ; but till Friday sight , the 17 th July , we did not hear it bo&stingly admitted , and insolently defended , that we lived ander a system of as complete espior age as ever disgraced the days of Focchx abroad , jr Castlbbeagh and Sidmocth at home .
First , let us , upon behalf of the whole-watched and well-watched people , tender thanks—best thanks to Mr . Fieldks for having brought the matter to light , and , still further , for having divided the House upon the question . Let us next take a general review of the matter as to the work to be performed , the persons by whom it ia to be performed , those from whom , in the performance , information is to be acquired , and those for whose benefit the information is sought . Inspectors and Euperintendant 3 of factories are appointed by Government , whose duty it should be to
report upon the general working of the factory system , and to insure a proper observance of such laws as are in force affecting that system . As inspectors we consider them first ; and we believe they are , « ne and all , in the interest of the masters . As organs , to represent the " prosperity and adversity of the poor , " we consider them next . In this situation , a more deplorable selection could not have been made , and for this simple reason : —they must glean all their information from the masters , whose interests are at complete and entire variance with those for whose benefit the " spies" hare been selected ; In their
agricultural capacity of " HARVEST" * reporters , they must cut a sorry figure , both from interest and ignorance . Let us suppose such a thing possible u an inspector not bribed op biassed by the masters , and canvass his means of acquiring information as to the state of the " har-Tesk" If he does his duty , he has enough to do in the factories ; and if from those concerned in fac--taries , he seeks information relative to the " harvest , " what is it likely to be worth ! Does not the question « f the Corn Laws hinge upon the " harvest 1 " And have not the millowners set their hearts upon the
repeal of those laws f Suppose , then , that they were ompetent advisers , are they disinterested advisers J Bat are thej competent ] We imagine we now hear our inspectors eliciting infornation from a pot-bellied eotton ¦ pinner upon the itate of the u harvest . " Well , Sir , how ii the harvest with you 1 How ifl Wheat , Bill lord I" " Why , rammish , they tells me . " " How are oats r " O , I hear oats is a failure . " * And hay f M Why , wet , after * H the rain , " " Then what ii your opinion as to the general
jrospeet of the poor P "My opinion . f Why , if the Corn Iawb are not repealed , they'll starve ; every other ' s son of them . " Suppose Mr . Inspector afcoald condescend to ask an operative , " Well , Sir , how is the harvest in your parts ! " what must be the reply ! " Harvest ! why , I knows nothing about harvest . I only knows we ' re working short tim * ad that flour is riz 4 d . a stone . " Let us next i quire into the machinery by which this M harvest > telescope is to be worked , and let us see what " the Mreral interests of the joint tenants in the under-
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taking may be . An inspector is appointed , and under him supermtendant 8 . It is agreed upon all hands that it would be imprudent for those gentlemen to Beek the required information through the only channel through which it can be acquired as to popular feeling , namely , at public meetings . All allow that , their persons being known , they should not themselves attend , but that they should hire others of less suspicious appearance to do so . See , in such case , how the interest is divided . The zeal of the inspector , heightened by the animosity of his associates the masters , makes the worst news most welcome to
him . The servant , the superintendant , very soon finds out the principal object for which he is required ; and he , not being sufficiently vulgar to have grievances to complain of , cannot make Mb appearance at public meetings without suspicion ; so that the villains in the third degree are to be hired by the villains in the second degree , whose business it is to digest the third villain ' s story for the first villain ' s appetite ; and let any man ask himself , if confusion , disorder , perjury , riot , tumtilt , sedition , conspiracy
and treason , are not the commodities in which the villain in the last dfgree trades ; and if the promotion of disorder doeB not furnish him with means of subsistence ; and yet this is the Whig observer—the inspector of , and reporter upon , public morals and opinions , and the reporter as to the "etate of the harvest . " With the factories , these working officials seem to have very little to do . Their business refers to the state of opinion , morals , and the harvest .
Having Bhown that the duties have been assigned to the worst possible persons ; that those duties are in their nature Buch as few men are generally conversant with , and should therefore not have been classed together , and above aU , having shown that the derivative interest from villain No . 1 , the Home Secretary sinecurist , to villain No . 4 , the spy in the last degree , consists in general turmoil , created by treachery , supported by fraud , and executed by perjury , we now turn to a more close commentary upon the more important portions of each Honourable Gentleman ' s speech . Fieldks ' s is a gem all through , but we select the following as the outshining brilliant : —
" It was assigning new duties to them , of which the Parliament knew nothing , and therefore employing the money voted by Parliament for a purpose altogether different from that for ¦ which it was voted . He , therefore , demanded inquiry as to what extent these inspectors of factories had been employed in the capacity he had mentioned- He had not forgotten the observations made by the Hon . Gentleman , the Under Secretary of State , on the motion of want of confidence , of the Hon . Meraoer for Devonshire , when the Hon . Secretary boasted that the Government had not had recourse to such " unholy proceedings , " ( as he properly termed them , ) as the Government of 1817 , who had employed
spies . But how did the House know that , seeing that the discovery which he , ( Mr . Fielden , ) had made to the House , was brought forward in the Factory Committee . There -was but a small step between being employed 83 Mr . Staart and iir . Beal -were employed , and that of becoming instigators to the acts which they were employed to denounce to the Government How did the House know either , seeing that they bad been so employed , that Poor Law Commissioners , police , and all who were in direct communication -with the Government , and the officers under them , had not been similarly employed ? He believed they had ; he had no doubt that the Todmorden riots were caused by some such emissaries . "
Upon this plain speaking , comment would be insult . General Johnson seconded the motion . His speech was short but decisive : let it be read . Next cornea young Norval from the Grampian Hills . He opens as follows : — Mr . F . Maule , in replying to the Hon . Member for Oldham , and answering his charge , would not detain the House long from proceeding to the public business . The charge , he would admit , was one of a very grave nature , if such proof had bean adduced in support of it a * would warrant the House in entertaining it . But , on tho showing of the Hon . Member himself , all the
proof which he had consisted in whispered rumours in the House of Commons , and in a letter which the Hon . Member had admitted was private and confidential , and intended only to meek the eye of the factory inspector . How that letter came into the hand of the Hon . Gentleman he ( Mr . F . Maule ) did not know . It was obtained either from the person to whom it vu addressed—a breach of confidenee which , he was satisfied , the House would not countenance—or it was acquired in some other way ; and , if so , he would much rather that the Hon . Gentleman should use it on this occasion than that he should . { Hear , hear . )"
Here we are taught a wholesome lesson . That the evidence of officers appointed by Government , and taken before a Committee of the Honourable House , are but u whispered rumours . " The next piece of Fox Manle logic is so laughable , that we can scarcely suffer ourselves to comment Boberly upon it . He admits that the charge is one of a grave nature , but , says he , it was all " private and confidential , " andj therefore , the Honourable Member for Oldham has no right to use it , even if trae , because it was not intended that he should know it . Well , then , A and B , privately and confidentially ,
enter into a resolution to cut C ' s throat ; one D happens to learn the private and confidential undertaking , and communicates it to C . A and B make the attempt upon C , who arrests the ruffians ; and when informed by what means their scheme was communicated , they reply , " Shame , shame ! to save your throat by so dastardly a device . What ! make use of matter which you yourself admit was intended to be private and confidential . Well ! we can only say that we would much rather be in our place than in yours ; we would rather be hung ten times over , than meanly owe our lives to the discovery of private and confidential matter . "
But die Hon . Gentleman goe 3 on admitting the authenticity of the document , merely objecting to its having fallen into Mr . Firldejc ' s hands . Now , will our readers bear a repetition of Maule logic ! He states how it might have been obtained , and then most justly concludes , " or it was acquired in some other way . " Oh ! how splendidly argued—how true ! The letter was there , and it did not walk there ! But this over punctilious , petty statesman dares to put his virtue in comparison with that of Mr . Fibi-dbk , and ia rewarded with ** Hear , hear " by his open-mouthed gang . He goes on , " And if
so ( that is , if it did not walk there ) he would much rather that the Hon . Gentleman should use it on this occasion , than that he should , —( hear , hear . ) Aye I in faith , hear , hear ! and we most devoutly believe the Bight Honourable Gentleman , for had he used it there , he would no longer use his appointments at Whitehall , or call at the treasury on quarter day ; but how justly might Mr . Fielden have retorted thus : —So then , sir , I am mere culpable for having discovered villany than the villain who concocted it ; and still more culpable in / having divulged it , because it was to have been concealed .
Fore gad , Fox , you must brin £ better logic to our national oollege , else will you never attain the degree of A . M . If this be not intimidation of witnesses we wonder at it . Just lei us reflect upon the consequence . A debauched and licentious Government , with the whole exchequer at its command , with a Becret service corner , appropriates as much aB it thicks proper , to the promotion of treason , tumalt , and riot , to the payment of the promoter * , and to the subornation of perjury ; an h * nest man discovers the trick , which , when be disotoeeg , the whole pack cry halloo , halloo , villain , you learned our treason
from oar accomplices ; why , geod heaven , anticipating our commentary by a little , 1 b not this the eulogised Method laid down by Sir Robert Peel , who says , as ia Thistlewood ' * ease , " It is not prudent that informing accomplices should abandon the project , bat should hold fast by h , to be better able to inenlp&te others . " Has not the system been admitted to be the divulging of accomplices ! and , therefore , had Mr . Fikldec been even the receiver and di-Tulger of the " secret and confidential" matter , he would have been no worse than the very persons whose evidence the Government declares necessary for the well-being of society .
The Fox proceeds thus : — " It was true that Mr . O'Connor had gone into Scotland , and it was possible that Mr . Stuart might have written to the superintendant to tay that there was to be a meeting at Dundee , at which Mr . O'Connor proposed to attend , and perhaps requested to know the particulars . "
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Now , from this we learn distinctly that the evidence was not to come from the principal , for here we have the order to the secondary ; and in passing , we shall only congratulate Mr . O'Connor , spied after as he has been , that he has not been entrapped in some of the many nets which were set for him . He should no longer mourn at being imprisoned as a felon , for the small offence of publishing truth . We come to a very important passage in the ramble of the Home official : —
" It was easy to cast aspersions , but it was not so easy to remove them , and the Hon . Gentleman had much to answer for , if he should unfortunately produce such an impression upon the public mind as that any insult should be offered to those officers , of whom he iMr . F . Maule ) would unhesitatingly affirm that they not only had not received the directions alleged , but that if they had , they would far sooner resign than consent to carry them Into effect . With regard to the statement of the Hon . and Gallant Gentleman , that convictions of Chartists had been obtained by means of spies , he could only say that those convictions had been obtained in open court , and upon the evidence of persons -whose names were before the public , and who had not , up to the present moment , been accused or suspected of being spies . "
Now , we ask who casts an aspersion upon a villain \ Whether is it the man who lies , or the man who exposes \ No , no ; if any of those gentlemen , in one of their various avocations , should be roughhandled , — which we now think very likely , Mr . Fox Maule , having put the people upon the scent , —the seducer and uot the exposer will have to tax himself with the consequences . Who in fact does the injustice to those moral , political , agricultural reporters ; whether is it the man who demands for them a fair trial , as Mr . Fielden doeB , or the man who says no ; odium is now saddled upon them , and mark the consequence if they are injured , but we wont try them , as Fox Maule says ; but he says they would not accept so
disgraceful an office . Innocent Abigala ! in faith they would , though tho infamy were tenfold greater * We now come to the very most important part of this functionary ' s speech . Chartist convictions , he say 8 , were obtained in open Court . O Heavenborn wiseacre ! O righteous Judge ! O second Dajhel ! Why , numskull , whera would you have them obtained 1 But he says none of the witnesses were ever charged as Bpies . So , so ! let us see . We did not wait for his assertion to make the truth known . No , we proclaimed it before ; but as Newport , Sheffield , and Bradford * have been referred to in the debate , and as these three places were the only scenes of physical outbreaks , let us see hew the matter stands : —
Firstly , the Newport riot . We refer our readers to the Government report of the Newport trials , and upon perusal they will find , that a certain " man with a glazed hat , " wholly unknown to any person at any one of the several meetings , and who always went from place to place on a good horse , was the person to whom every violent word spoken at every meeting was traced . Who said that the soldiers were Chartists 1 The stranger with the " glazed hat . " Who said that their ammunition would be ready packed up ! The man with the " glazed hat . " Did you know him ! No , never
saw him before . The man with the " glazed hat" was everywhere not known to a single soul , and had been more than once called to order by Zephaniah Williams and others , for Mb violence , and for recommending the people to come armed . The man with the " glazed hat" invariably informed the people of on « district that the brave men of other districts laughed at their timidity and Bupinenesst just as Lord John Russell states the practice to have been in 1817 . Now , by reference to our reports of the Newport trials , it will be Been from the ingenious cross-examination of the Crown witnesses by
Sir F . Pollock and Mr . Kelly , that each of those able lawyers , had also in their speeches , asked for the incognito in the glazed hat , but he was nowhere . So much for Newport ; and now for Sheffield . The high constable of that town , upon the Chartists trials , 6 wore that a foreigner had been there for several daya before the outbreak , that he knew him * ften conversed with him , thai he lodged at HollingsW and that he , the policeman , never saw him after the night of the riot , that he lodged at Hollings ' s house , and the policeman , who at once knew where to find the combustibles in the , said house ,
was in daily communication with the foreigner , and had no earthly- visible reason to auep&ot HoV bebbt . To the 6 e ^ facts ' add the fact that the whole of the combustibles were of French design and manufacture . The few implicated is the undertaking , and the speeches of persons not forthcoming , and the question as to who were the ooneocters , is easily solveable . Now we come to Bradford . Does the official forget that Harrison , an acknowledged spy , and still a spy , a ruffian , who had been concerned in nefarious transactions for thirty years , in ( every part of the kingdom ? Does he forget that this spy swore that he and another had received nearly £ 100 each from Mr . Briggs , the chief of police , and still expected more , and that upon marching with
poor Drake , one of his victims , up to the barracks , he brought Dhake right into the snare , upon which h « ( Drake ) exclaimed , " By G— , we ' re sold . " Has the patriotic Briggs been the suflFeror ; or , has the secret vein bled ? Was not Harrison proved , by his own confession , to be hired by Briggs ? and further , did he not acknowledge that he prompted the people to the outbreak ? Was he not denounced as a epy , and protected as a spy . So much then for trials in open court , and unsuspicious witnesses . All those who gave evidence against the Chartists were spies , hired Bpies , paid either by the Government or by their base and interested employers . One paragraph more from the Home Office Mirror , and we have done with him : —
" He should certainly not agree to the proposed committee . Considering the manner in which evidence was taken before those committees , that parties were not examined upon oath , and might put on record what they chose , he could not think that any such committee would b « conducive to the well-woridng of the Factory Act , or to the interests of the operative classes generally . He should therefore oppose the motion of the Hon . Member , convinced that the public would feel that the charges which the Hon . Member had made against those gentlemen in their official capacity were not well founded , and that they would believe with him ( Mr . Maule ) that those gentlemen had never shown anything but the sincerest consideration and desire for the prosperity of those classes amongst whom the greater part of their time was spent "
In this true reflection upon Parliamentary Committeee , let the working millions see their nakedness , their poverty , their misery , their wretchedness , and disgrace . " Parties were hot examined upon oath AND MIGHT PUT UPON RECORD WHAT THET CHQSS * Christians , ye , who by your word alone proclaim your attachment to religion , hear your organ and blush . Officers , peers , gentlemen , all who have hitherto considered a gentleman ' s word as his bond , read your disgrace and blush . This developes a
pretty state of things ! Who will hereafter—who can , for ever—have the slightest respect for a committee ' s deeision , who are ** not upon oath , " or for the evidence before them not " given upon oath . " This we hold to be the moat presumptuous , the most audacious , « nd the Hoet startling disclosure ever made . Here we leave tha friend and moral instruetqr of the ignorant working classes , with & fervent hope that the poorestaadBHMtfcase will not be found hardy enough to approve or follow his maxim .
lUvu , cerar again ask any man to believe your word ; travel with a pocket Bible , and swear that you are hungry befera you ask the waiter to bring yoor dinner . Shame , Mauls , shame upon yon ! Mr . D'IUjLBLI followed , and made some happy bits as to the peculiar Auctions pointed out for the Inspectors . He olenefced the whole matter by producing the circular of the factory inspector . And we here again give the precious morsel , that our readers may read , mark , learn , and inwardly digest" every word of it . That they may know whether these inspectors be Government spies or not : —
" Sir , —I have to inform you that y < m will , in your official capacity , be required to watch t »* ie state of the people in your district , and see what' meetingB of Chartists or of other of the working clab ws take place there , or other proceedings -which may . l ^ e calculated to endanger the public peace ; and la d < . < ing so , and
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reporting thereon to me , jou will also observe caution , and act with such prudence , as not to be discovered . " !!!! Lord Ashlet turned tail upon Fielden , in expectation of one day being a component part of an administration who might want the like protection . Nextcomesthe iiberal" Mr . Hmi > LEY , whonot only backs the mill-owners' Government , but absolutely taunts Mr . FiELDENwithhavinghimself procured information relative to the working of the "Poor Law . " Now what was the trifling distinction ! Why , simply that Mr . Fielden both published the information , and the names of the informants , and also the names of his inspectors . Philipps , of course , backed the Cotton Government . Hume spoke sensibly and fairly .
Maule , it will be seen comes again to the ' eharge , and acknowledges that Inspectors and Superintendauts have their own secrets . Next comes Sly Boots , Sir Robert Peel , and here we have the whole effect of such a corrupt system fully developed . We begin with a short and pithy morceau , a shield for future iniquity , a parry for every subsequent thrust from the Whig swordsmen . Hear S ' . y Boots speaking for himself . He
says" These considerations only tended to convince him how exceedingly similar in this respect all Governments were—they all procured information alike , and by pretty nearly the same means . " In faith , Bob , you are right . There is not one pin ' s point between any two Governments . " Tanta ra , ra , ra , rogues all ! rogues all ! " So said Sheridan , and so say we ; but head of the temporalities of the church , if you havn ' t vir tue , assume it ; it will best become yourself , and best serve the interest of your protegees . Hear Sir Robert again" He would assert that the Governments of I < ord Castlereaeh and Lord Sidmouth had never employed persons for any such purposes . "
Now , offended ghosts of Sidmouth and Castle * reaoh , arise , and , in comparative purity , stand in your Bnow-white shrouds , before the crimson mantled Whigs . Awake , ye slumbering innocents , and defend your tortures , your martial laws , your star chambers , your gagging , your ironing , your six acts , your open and honourable epy system , your acknowledged villanies , stand up and defend your dark lantern assassins . Aye ! your memories
will yet lire green in warm hearts of Englishmen , and Irish as well . Rise ! and though your sins be as scarlet , they shall be white as snow . All hail I gnosts of departed and insulted comparative virtue . And , have we lived to hear the people ' s representatives in the eighth year of Reform , declare themselves moulded , as nearly as possible , upon the Sidmouth-Castlereaqh policy , only stretched to its required and expedient limits !
My Lords , you were bold good ruffians ; your humble followers , do in the dark , what ye blushed not to do in open day . We prefer you . We now come to the most important morsel , in this most important debate . Sir Robert again speaks , and says : — " He hoped , then , if hereafter he should be found pursuing the course which Her Majesty ' s Government had in the present case adopted , that their conduct towards him would in such an event be the same as his towards them had now been , and that they would admit the necessity of affording to the people of England that protection which law and government ought to afford in every civilized society . " ( Heir , hear . )
Road that , Englishmen , and think upon it too . Have we not always told you , that the Tories merely allowed the Whigs to remain . in office until Whig wickedness had woven a mantle for Tory villany . Who now can oppose practice according to the precedent established by the Reformed House , and the Reforming Whigs 1 May we soon see the law , aa laid down , practised by the open foe , rather than by the pretended friend . Constitutional , finality Jack , fenced upon expediency and comparative dexterity . Waklet spoke out manfully .
Brotherton we leave , upon this occasion , as well as his vote against producing the Inspector ' s report in O'Connor ' s case , to the good men of Salford , when next they meet . Of Mumz we can only give his opinion in glowing type , and assure him that > the men of Birmingham will see the naked face of hypocrisy even through the dingy folds of his beard . " Mr . Muntzdid not rise to take part in this debate , because he was the representative of one of those large constituencies to wnicb the Honourable Member for Maidatono had referred , bat to request his Honourable Friend , the Member -for Oldbam , to withdraw his motion . He agreed with the Honourable Member for Salford ( Mr . Brotherton ) in thinking that no grounds
had been laid for it Every Government must have information . If he ( Mr . Muntz ) were in the Government , he would take care to have information from all quarters of everything that was passing . ( Hear , and a laugh . ) Some years ago , when he took a more prominent part in political agitation , he was aware that the Right Honourable Baronet opposite ( Sir R . Peel ) knew perfectly everything that was done ; and he thought that the Right Honourable Baronet was right . ( Hear , hear , hear , and a laugh . ) No man could feel greater indignation than he did at such spies as were employed in 1817 , but he did not think that the present Government had employed any agents of that kind . He trusted that his Honourable Friend would consent to withdraw the motion . "
Here we close as to the debate , which terminated by eleven voting against the spy system , and one hundred and thirteen for it . Among the latter we find the names of many Irish brawlers , who , in 1833 , appealed piteously to the English people . "Shall Ireland be coerced upon the evidence of spies and informers . " He who calls you slave-class , commands fifty voteB , where were they ! ThiB debate will , we trust , have its proper influence upon those for whose especial benefit spies are appointed , who are paid out of the secret service money . Be it also remembered , that
in spite of over-boiling public feeling , we did , in the midst of confusion and anger , risk our popularity by pointing out the folly of secret meetings , and the madness of partial outbreaks . Let Lord John Russell ' s exposition of the mode of rousing certain districts be read , and in it will be found our very language . We have cried down angry prejudice , aod , aa our office is ministerial as well as editorial , we congratulate our own honest feelings with the firm belief and conviction that we have prevented the shedding of torrents of innocent blood , for the effecting of which we now know the process . We
have fought many battles with Mr . Fielden before the Starvna established , both in the factory and asti-poor-law campaigns ; but never had we or the country so much reason to poor forth abundance of thanksgiving to that amiable and excellent man , as for having thus stood between the poor , the helpless , and undefended , and the marked , assassin ' s deadly blow . If , indeed , information was their object upon any one of the paraded subjects , we can point out better channel * of information than hired spies , and , consequently , interested and desperate revolutionists . If they require evidence of the working of the
factory system , let them post sentinels at the gates of the " hells , " when the moving toll summonsghoatly mount figures to the abode of misery . Let them again guard , when the enchanted cripples stagger from the infernal region upon the tocsin sounding the information that the daily store of infant strength is exhausted , and require * repose for another onslaught for Mammon . If they require evidence upon the state of public feeling , and public opinion , let them read the Northern Star ; &ud . if a knowledge of the state of the harvest be necessary for our Home Minister , who has invariably refused a committee to iaqoire into oar agricultural condition , but if they
now require a glance at home , let it be a recommeadaiion to grand jurors to transmit through the going judge of assize a condensed account of the prospects of the coming crops . 920 of these gentlemen , twenty-three in each of forty counties meet , almost simultaneously , at the two most important periods of the year , seed time and harvest ; and although with them , as with manufacturers , the harvest may now be a political-question , we would rather believe the word of 4 * 28 , < or rather 1840 , as we have different grand jurors for spring and summer , ) gentlemen with character , than the oath of money-mongers , without character . How easy the task and how simple of practice . Wheat ,, mare or less than aa average crop iown—more or less Ihio an average
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crop promised—produce bids fair or otherwise . Labourers , well or badly employed , wages — per week ; so much so with ; oats , barley , hay , and all other crops . Let each send in his own opinion , and from all a fair estimate may be formed , taken from those who know that the wheat grows at the end of the straw , instead of from those who only know that the fingers grow at the end of the hand , which are
Mammon ' s fingers . The necessity of commenting full y upon this important , this vitally important subject , compels ns to withhold some observations upon other matters , for the present week , and we feel confident of pardon when the necessity for this exposure is seen , and to which we shall refer again and again . Who now sayB that anything short of Universal Suffrage will satisfy the people ? „
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O'Connor ' s letter to the Times , on our . sixth page , speaking of Abbet , the turnkey ; it is printed " This witness was never reprimanded . " The word never is interpolated by mistake : it should be " This witness was reprimanded . "
—In Mr .
To Readers And Correspondents.
TO READERS AND CORRESPONDENTS .
Sbnex . —His letter shall appear . Casheos . —The times of Penn and religions persecution certainly bear a striking analogy to the present ones of Chartism and political persecution . Bradford Woolcombers . —Their address shall appear , but we are too much crowded this week . H . Griffith . —We have never excluded any reports , of the Metropolitan Charter Union . We have inserted every word which we have received from them , We shall be happy to hear from him
whenever it may be convenient to him . S . Briggs . —Next week . Allen Pierce . —Must stand over . Christopher Wood must stand over for the present . We are crammed . Mrs . O'Brien ' sletternextweek . A Hater of Ttranny . — We believe f rom a letter which we have had from him , that spme change in Mr . O . ' s arrangements tnighl render the publication of his letter rather mischievous than otherwise .
Sauvel Walker . —We received the copy of Mr . Higgins ' s letter from Hyde , with a request for Us publication . Our policy is to do all the good we can to everybody , and no harm , if we can help it , to anybody , and this was our reason for publishing what might be only justice to Mr . Stephens , while toe omitted what we , as well as Mr . Walker , thought must injure the
writer . A man in prison is entitled to some allowance , even if his judgment should stray a little . J . MoORE . — We have no recollection of the-letter and report he alludes to . We believe we never had it . J . R . —We have no room at present for his anecdote . We may give it sometime , as it will keep . Errata in our last . —In the subscription from Dewsbury last week , the words "For Isaac Armitage , " 8 [ c , were printed " From , " $ c . FOB P . M . M ' DOUALL . —FROM MANCHESTER . £ t . d . A Friend 0 10 My Country and M'Douall 0 10 Do . Do 0 10 6-3 0 From the Chartists of Tillicoultry 2 12 From the Journeymen Tailors , 12 , Conduit street , London 0 2 6 From O . Burnell , London . * . © 06 From Bishop Auckland 10 0 From Two Female Chartists , Preston 0 2 6 From a few Democrats , Edinburgh 0 9 8 From the Edinburgh Charter Association „ 0 10 4
John Wright . —The one pound for Mrs . Wright was forwarded to Robert Horsefield , Astley ' s Buildings , Heaton Lane , Stockport , before his letter arrived . C . S . S . —No ; but to the nest . Burns ' s Plates have left the office . W . Tipwn . —Yes . To be divided by P . M . M * Douall among the Chartists confined in Chester Castle , 13 a . 44 . from the Chartists of Harwell , Ayrshire , Scot , land , per Mr . Bowie . PROM THE JOURNEYMEN TAILORS , 12 , CONDUIT-STREET ,
LONDON . £ « . d . For Vincent , Benbow , Johnson and Higgins , 2 s . 6 d . each 0 10 0 From J . Brown , for O'Brien 0 2 6 For O'Brien 0 3 0 For the Wives and Families 0 15 0 From a few Friends at Sittingbourne , for Broyan 0 S 0 From Bishop Auckland , for Mrs . Vincent 1 0 0
For Mrs . Lovett 10 0 From a few Friends at the Fox and Hounds , Bethnal Green , ( the produce of fifty Neu Black Lists , given by Mr . Cleave , ) to be equally divided between Lovett , Vincent and Brown 0 4 2 From the same , for the release of Mr . M ^ Douall 0 5 0 From a Preacher of the Gospel at Rotherhithe , between O'Brien and Richardson 0 4 0 Two Friends at Rotforhilhe , for Mr . Richardson 0 10 East London Democratic Association , for Mrs . Frost 0 2 6 FOR THB WIVES AND FAMILIES OF THF IMPRISONED CHARTISTS . £ s . d . From one of the York Northern Union 0 0 3 From a few Friends , Leeds , per E . Pybus 0 2 6 | From Heckmondwike , per J . Wass 0 15 . 9 ^ From a Friend to Justice , at Bramley 0 17 From the Edinburgh Charter Association , being proceeds of Social meetings and subscription * 3 0 0 From the Smiths and Engineer * of theEast districtof Londonf third subscription ) 0 11 0
Leeds And West-Riding News.
LEEDS AND WEST-RIDING NEWS .
TjSEDS . . THE MURDER CASE AT LEEDS . { Adjourned Inquest . } On Monday afternoon , pursuant to an adjournment , the further enquiry into the circumstances attending the death of William Reynolds Rothery , who , as stated in our last , was taken out of the LeedB and Liverpool canal , with hia throat cut , was resumed at the Geldards Arms Inn , before John Black burn , Esq . It will be seen that the Jury have recorded a verdict of wilful murder against persons unknown ; and looking at the case in all its bearings , it is one of the most mysterious that has recently
occur ed . The man laet seen with deceased when he was alive , cannot be found , notwithstanding the most diligent search , not only by the chief constable , but also by Messrs . James and Child , who , with policeman SpierB , have left no stone unturned to fathom the mystery in which the whole case is shrouded , without any satisfactory result . The verdict of the jury leaves tho case open for investigation by the magistrate * , on the production of any further evidence , and it is understood application will be made to the Home Office to offer a reward for the die < 50 Very of the perpetrator of the atrocious deed , and we sincerely hope that eomething will turn up to throw some light upon the subject . The following is the
further evidence which has been adduced : — John Varan , of Hunalet—I have known the deceased above a year ; I saw him at George Oakes ' s , the Anchor Inn , at Hunslet , on the Thursday night ; it was between eight and nine o'clock '; there was another man with him , but I do not know him ; he is about five feet sixinchesin height , with dark hair and whiskers ; this man and Rothery went out togeter ; they were both sober ; I believe Rothery had a blue smock on ; I cannot say whether or not he had a wolsey apron on ; . I did not hear any conversation between , deceased and the other man . By » juryman—I could tell the man again if I was to see him ; I have not seen him since .
Untitled Article
Maria Gelderd-I was present when the deceU » was taken out otthe water ; his right hand wi ?* kis trowsers pocket ; I saw , when they were putt !! I } " « fljt , his han ^ jjome ^ out of his pocket . I teHS it at the time , and thought he was then alive ' Mary Bannister , Chapel lane , Armleyl-i ^ the deceased taken but of the water ; I did not tm £ his rkht hand ; his left hand was ^ ngbg dow > his side ; I heard Mary Buckley and Maria Geul say at the time that his right hand was in his docW and they were nearer him than I was . ' m T . P . Teale , Esq . —I examined the body of tk deceased on the 9 th of July ; the inspection was ' mL on the same day , 15 hours after the body was taT out of the water ; the deceased was lying at the & ?
ueras Arms , aressed in a blue smock frock waJ coat and shirt , and dark coloured trowsers whEt were extensively torn at both knees . There ^ round his neck a checked cotton handkerchief « * closing a soft wadded stock ; the handkerchief' ^ extensively stained with blood . The hands t 5 white and sodden ; there was not any appearanS sand or mud having been forcibl y inserted beneli the nails , nor any excoriations on the tips of the 1 ? gers , but there were extensive abrasions on S knuckles and back of the right hand . A few scratch were observed on both legs , over the shin boS On the left side of the nose was a superficial wom 5 about an inch in length ; in the neck was a raiW wound two mches and a half in length , commewL , on the left side , about an inch below the angle of r rZK ^ A ^^ Jh * ***}* ^^ verse direct ^
a , little beyond the middle of the throat , tenninatin , immediatetly above the larynx . The portion of tS wound above the larynx was of great depth allnv ? ing two fingers to be passed down between the larv ^ and hyond bone , so deep as to penetrate the me ? brane otthe mouth b y a small opening , allowine « , tip ofthe finger to pass into the mouth immediate ! m front ofthe epiglottis . Near the large wound we 2 numerous small superficial wounds , ( not complete ! penetrating the skin ) resembling that on the no * ihe carotid arteries and jugular veins were m wounded , the instrument having pressed deep iDu the throat between these vessels . The vessels of til neck and neighbouring parts were much riistm ^!!
W * JT \ i T 1 " »?> ™ * be only parts ofthe extern of the body which exhibited any appearance of ea pnysema . The cuticle was not in any place detatchl ed by putrefaction ; the skin of the abdomen w £ very slightly green ; the Bkin of the other parts Z the trunk , and of the limbs , was white ; the skin $ the face wm pale red , and slightly tumid . The ey £ were red . There was a slight odour of putrefaction arising from the wound , but this was not detected £ any other part . The tongue was protruded and fol eibly compressed between the teeth ; there Was M any frothy mucus observable about the mouth Th « brain was firm and healthy ; the veins of the brai were distended with black fluid blood . The rick cavities of the heart , and the veins ofthe neck wp ^ loaded with black fluid blood ; the left cavities of ih heart were nearly empiy . The luncs werA aJ
coloured and loaded with black blood . The broncbit or air tubes , did not contain any water or froth mucus . The stomach contained about a piut of pal ! red watery fluid ; the liver and kidneys were loaded with black blood . Under these circumstances I cos . sider that death has been produced by asphyxia 11 interrupted respiration ) , but there aro no facts to efr able me to say whether the asphyxia was caused before immersion or not ; it may have been caused bi either drowning or suffocation—all the appearance would accord with either . Death has not been pro ! duced by the wound , nor do I think the wound h * .
been inflicted by himself . The jagged state of th « wound must have required very considerable forct which a suicide would not be likely to use . The wound on the side of the nose appears to hait been made by the same instrument aa that in thj throat ; and tho wounds on the hand do not appes self-inflicted . . This knife ( the one found in the houa ot the deceased ) is just the kind of instrument t » make the woHnd . I oonsidir the wound to have beei inflected during life ; I do not think it could han been inflicted by a boat hook . The man mitrht . h *«
walked with a wound of that sort from his house tt the water . I consider the wound to have been inflicted during life in consequence of the emphysena round the neck . There was no putrefaction abonj the body , and therefore I consider the emph ysem * has arisen from the wound having been inflicted during life , as respiration must , to produce it , have gone on after the wound was inflicted . The emphysema from suffocation would cause the body to rise to the surface sooner than emphysema from putrefaction . I am not aware of any facts which will bear upon the lime the body has been in the water j it may have be 9 n in the water four or five days , or s shorter period ; it might havo only been in the wat « about 27 hours . I think the green appearance of the body might have arisen shortly , after having been taken out of the water . The Btock and cravat an
evidently marked with blood ; the clothes are extensively torn . Unless the body had been in a state of complete insensibility , the hands would have not remained in the pocket . It is quite possible for the wound to have been lLflicted at his house , and for him to have remained in a state of fainting till he was carried from his home to the water . My opinion is that the deceased has been murdered—that the wound has been inflicted during life , and not by himself . Thomas Boon—I reside at New Wortley , and was by the water si ^ kwhen the deceased was taken out ; both , his hands 1 * rehanging down by his sides ; neither of them were in his pockets j I am quite sure they were both hanging by his side ; there were several girls there , but I did not hear any of themsaj that his right hand was in his pocket ; hisback wasto me , and 1 should think I could see the situation of his hands and arms as well as any one else .
J . Crabtree—I live at Armley , and was present when the deceased was taken out ; I was standing right opposite ; I noticed the position of the body ; his hands were hanging down by his sides ; bis right hand was not in his breeches pocket ; had it been so , I must have seen it ; I do not think any person could have a better yiewpf the body than I had . The two girls already examined Were hero recalled , and saii that they could positively say that his right hand was in his breeches pocket , for they both distinctly saw it come out , when he was seized by the shoulder . David Mayler , of Holbeck—I knew the deceased , and remember meeting him coming from Leeds , seven or eight weeks ago ; he had a knife like the one
produced in his hand ! , which he said he had beet buying ; he said he wanted it to eut hia rags up with ; the knife was quite new . Thomas Spiers—I am a policeman , and went U the house of the deceased on the Wednesday , whai he was found . There was no key , and the shutten were all fast . I broke open the door . On examining , the furniture did not seem at all disturbed ; the bed appeared as if it had been Iain upon . lu a box I found about 18 d . in farthings ; in a waistcoat pocket I found 6 d ., and on turning up the bed in tht mattrass I found £ 21 in gold , in an old purse , and another purse with £ 3 14 s . lOd . hi silver , in the same place ; I also found his Saving Bank book .
[ This book was produced , and it appeared that he had no money there . ] I left the house secure si that time , and returned on the 11 th to prosecute a further search . I examined the knife produced , and the walls and bed , but could find no marks of blood , except on the knife . There was a night cap , which had also a few stainsof blood , and a towel which Was hanging on * line in the kitchen ; I had not seen these things to notice them on the first search ; they were all then then , but were aot taken away ; his apron was thei » also . I have measured the distance from the house to the nearest side of the canal , and make it 60 S yards . There was nothing in his boxes which appeared to have been disturbed ; his shirta were aU wrapped up in paper . I have made strict search m
company with El y , for the man who he ( Ely ) stated he ( had seen with him at Hunslet , when last seen alive , but without effect . Benjamin Burton—I am constable of New Wortley , and examined the house in connection * i tt Spiers ; the knife produced was at the bottom « a box , wrapped up in a cloth . It was in the gam * state when we found it as it was when produced » the inquest . The remainder of his evidence w »* corroborative of the testimony already given » J Spiers . , This being the whole of the evidence , ana tb » the Jurors , on the question being-put to then , te&i in favour of coming to a decision , . The Coroner summed up , and read the whole ra the material parts of the evidence , commenting » he proceeded , and finally laid down the law as app" cable to the case . .
The jury then retired , and after a few minnW absence , returned with a verdict of ¦** wilful murder against some person or persons unknown . " Fihjb . —On the afternoon of Wednesday last . > moBt alarming fire broke out on the premises of ^' Land , druggist , situate at the corner of Dunca *; street , Briggate , which threatened destruction » the Whole range of buildings along the south side « Duncan-street . At the commencement , a *™**" . " ;* culty was experienced in procuring a ^ 'X supply of water , and it was feared that thewW » pile of buildings , including the Bank of Me fF ; Beckett , Blades , and Co ., would be consumed W the destructive element . However , after u ^""* : strenuous exertions of the firemen sad otnen .
the fire was got under , but not . on ^ immense damage had been done to the Pf ^ f ?!^? Messrs . Land ? Harrison , Tomlinson , Weg Falshaw , Shipley , » nd others , the }™ U & AS nearly wholly unroofed and mnch damage dw » J the property and in the interior , the amoun « which has not yet been correctly •«^ ^ aJ ^» supposed the fire originated in the tridental igm w ^ of aquantity of Lucifer matches , vitnol , « c . «» drug warehouse of Mr . Land . Great P * y ^ $ 1 property is uninsured , consequently . P ** , |" t , j , « tb be suffered by the occupiers of the shops wiucn " been visited by this conflagration . . We mos » ^ omit to mention that too great prM 8 f " * . ^ m , given to Mr . Lancaster , foreman of the w ^ a and to No . 10 Policeman , for the strenuous e * " ? ^ to quell the flames and preserve the property u » sufferers . ¦ ' , '
The Northern Star. Saturday, July 25, 1840.
THE NORTHERN STAR . SATURDAY , JULY 25 , 1840 .
Untitled Article
PORTRAIT tifr WILLIAM LOVETT . © us readers are entitled to , and shall have , a Portrait of Lovbtt . We had not a drawing of him , as hb elose attendance as Secretary prevented "his sitting for the Convention Plate ; but he Bhall be given same siie as Frost , M'Douall , and Collins .
Erbor In Our Present Number.-
ERBOR IN OUR PRESENT NUMBER .-
Untitled Article
THE GLASGOW SPINNERS . These sons of persecution arrived by the steamer from London at Hull on Snnday last . Numerous and enthusiastic meetings have been holden on their behalf ; on Monday evening at Hull , on Tuesday at Selby , on Wednesday at Leeds , on Thursday at Bradford , and we nnderstand that they visit HuddeTofield to-night . At each place handsome collections have been made to aid them on their way , and to provide for them on their arrival at home .
Untitled Article
MR . O'CONNOR , Elsewhere our readers will find Mr . Q'Cos . vor ' s second letter to the Times , from the lookiDg-glass We have yet a large stock of looking-glass matter oa hand which the pressure of assize , delegation , ftfid . other intelligence , obliges us to keep back . M ? . CConnob ' s whole looking-glass budget will be before She people bye and bye , and then it may be our time to say something in the wav of comment .
Untitled Article
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Citation
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Northern Star (1837-1852), July 25, 1840, page 4, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/ns/issues/king-y1kbzq92ze2694/page/4/
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