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THE NORTHERN STAR. SATURDAY, DECEMBER 19, 1840.
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^ioetrr>. ^iOTtrg.
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*t«wtog, BeblCtogf,
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TO HER MOST GRACIOUS MAJESTY THE QUEEN.
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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.
Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.
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UJfES ON SEEING A YOUNG LADY SHED A j TEAR AS SHE LEFT ME IN PRISON . j pjACE , peaee to thy heart , -which so silently bled , i As you left me alone in my cell ; per « 11 the soft tears that affection can shed , Will not move the hard demons of hell . : fis true that the heart overflowing with grief , For » tyrant-doom'd captive like me , ¦ jViU steal o ' er the sense , like the dew on the leaf , And uphold the stem will to be free . Bat , loved one ! the gleam of thy beautiful eye , Became dim lite a star in a storm ; A . -world I would give to hare kissed quite dry , The -warm tear as it rose on thy form .
But , back to my home I -will quickly return , For to battle again for the right ; And thy heart -will no longer so loTingly moum , But "twill B-weil -with a thrill of delight . G&oL
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? FREEDOM TO THE SLATE . i SrXBLT I > SCKIBED TO THE MESBEBS 0 ? THE LATE CO-NVENTlOh " . Freedom to the slave ! our saintly mitres cry , Affrighted echoes mock them as they fly . ; Freedom , forsooth— so ae"w , so strange the text , i E'en Tillage curs bark out what mania next ? ' Freedom from those who ' ve forged the galling chains , i That chills the running life-drop in our veins : , Those whs have trampled every sacred cause , That bore the glorious stamp of freedom ' s la-vrs . ! Freedom—as soon can heaven and hell unite , In one eommicgled scene of pure delight , j As thtir base blackened hearts can feel , or know , , The soul-entrancing ^ xtacy , the bliss-fraught glow , ' That heaven-born attribute can alone bestow . i
Oh ! God of Freedom ! round whose holy shrine , Those fiend-taught miscreants , reckl * ss , dare to twine ' Their gilded trickery—their masked deceit— i Oh , grant us Thou the p » wer te spurn the cheat , j Teach us to tnrn indignant from the snare , j And steel our breasts to every idle care ; Show to our sick ' ning saze the dungeons filled With kindred souls—ihe scalding tears distilled Trom more than widowed hearts—the orphan ' s cries Reverbrating verjgeance to the skies . Lrt but this Afric bauble down be hurl'd , "We'll shout—the standard of our cause unfurl'd—In thundering accents , Freedom to the World ! j i i
England , Erin , Scotia ' s sons unite , " 1 And claim for freedom ' s children , freedom ' s right ; j Concentred in one common cause , the wrongs , i The untold miseries—the countless throngs ! 0 ; stern oppression ' s victims—soon must fade , ' - And freedom ' s semblance vanish in the shade . ; Then , only then shall freedom's self be seen , Gladdening each heart , enlivening every scene . ' Pei » ce , joy , and temperance , joining hand in hand , > Will grace each town and village in the land ; Till high in triumph o'er the tyrant ' s grave , j Our charter'd liberties shall proudly wave ; ' . Let fools re-echo , freedom to the slave . " ^ JOHX A . LiWSO . N . ! Sheffield , December 6 . 1 S 40 .
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v OXE WORD FOR LOUIS PHILLTPPE , FIRST CROWN-CRAFT AND ROYALTY . BT " ABGI 7 S . " InFjLMors wretch ' -why does not Heaven mar Thy royal sway ! Why do * s not heaven and earth Combine to stem thy progress in hell ' s an ? Who would be virtuous now ? Why is it fata permits Thy rotten carcass to pollute our earth , And blot the page of time ? 0 ! Justice ! Justice ! where is thy abode ! And where , O . ' Mercy ! is thy dwelling place ? But truth feath wings -, and on truth ' s wings are borne Htaven ' s stern degrees ! Thy idiot offspring yet Shall earn the Tsln = of their parent ' s crimes . Then liberty shall nourish ! Then shall God-like man Live in his purity I T tea , and no : till then , Shall probity and virtue grace our earth ' . Speed then the crisis . ' Haste that glorious day ! When justice , truth , aad freedom sha . ii attain their sway .
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THE DETIL AND OWEN O'CONNELLY ; OB THE >~ ETV ISISH CHASCELLOB- A EOSUMIC BALLAD , Sow Singing zcilA gre > A applause , at the Royal Repeal ' Theatre , Corn Exchange ., Dublin . i It was in an Irish churchyard where the bones were lying bare , The Devil walked out one morning to take a mouthful Oi fresh air , And as he was reusing upon a heap of « frni }« , the thought occurred t-o him suddenly , ; " It was somewhere rear this spot , " says he , " they buried the famous Owen 0 "Connelly •"
i Then tiking up the skulls one by one , and examining i them phrenologically , i It was not long before the Devil found out the skull of : famous Owen O'Csnnelly ; ) And having contemplated it some time with an air I thoughtful and melaneholy , He put it in his coat pocket , saying , " 111 make a man of you again , my faithful Owen O'Connelly . " i So the Devil took the skall home with him , and as it . hadn ' t a morsel of hair , . He dapped an old dark brown scratch of his on the top ; of it , to give it a , janty air ; * Then he stuck a face in front of it , broad , impudent , I and leering , i With a mouth as m = aly and servile , as th 9 brow was proud aad domineering .
Next he stuffed the skull inside with the brains of a i lawyer , And set it upon a pair of shoulders he hid made for a sawyer : ! And having balanced it below with a tail that was long ! aad flexible , j He turned the creature round three times , and TOTred i he looked quite respectable ; ' Then putting a pipa in his mouth , and giving him a i basin of sc-p and hoiy water , i He says , " Counselor O'Connelly , go anri blow bubbles j for the peuple to run after . " I The Counsellor he blew the bubbles just as the Devil j ordered hisi S
. Black and white , green and yellow , thick and thin , j great and smal ., all sorts o' them . ! The Devil he btooi by , and christened every bubble \ before it left the basin ; j And the largest green and yellow one he called Catholic j Emancipation . ' " Counsellor , " says the Devil , " this green and yellow ' bubble pleases me to my heart ' s content ; It ' s jast the tool I're betn leaking for , to puli down the " , Protestant Establishment , And the least I cm give you for it , is a perpetual seat i in the Imperil P-Xiiaraent . I
His success and the Devil ' s praise made Counsellor O'Connelly b-iider , And he bl * w a bubble up like a Walloon , that startled every beholder . And the Devil , -wi ^ n he saw it , gave a shout that was beard as far as aell , And signing it with tLe sign * f the cross , he christened it The Repeal . Then clapping the Counsellor on the back , he says " My apprentice ciever , You have only to keep this bubble up , and your fortune's made ior ever ; Under my direction and management , U will yield you an income clear , After deducting ail erpences , of ten thousand pounds a year . "
" That ' s just half my calculation , " says Counsellor O'Connelly , looking innocent ; " If the Repeal ' s worih one penny , it ' s worth double that rent ; But be it less or more , I ' m ready to sell yon the whole of it , Both the Rent and the Repeal , both the body and the soul of it . " " That ' s no more than I expected from the blood of an O'Connelly , But you haven't named your price yet , " says the Devil , looking solemnly . " There ' s the Irian Chancellorship , " says the Counsellor , " ifs in your gift-Here ' s the Bent and the Repeal—and you owe yom friend a lift . "
" It ' s a bargain , " says the Devil , " and you wont have long to wait , For I was talking with old H * Tmirmi yesterday , and he's "but in a crazy state . He ' s a dainty bit I have been nursing ever since the day of Emmett' s trial , And I have us compunction in taking him now , after so long ft self-denial . " " It's a bargain , " says the Counsellor , " with this clear mpgTiTTig and intent , That the xngpent I ' m Lord Chancellor , the Devil may take Repeal and Rent . "
Then the Devil and the Counsellor shook hands , and called each other brother , Each revolving in his own mind how be best might cheat the other ; And then going backwards , with great politeness , that neither mi ght see the other ' s tail , They separated until the next day , crying " Hum for the Repeal !"
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A . N APPEAL TO THE BRITISH NATION , as to a Petmon for Presentation to Parliament for the Repeal of the Poor Law Amendment Act . . By Charles Bbooker , Alfriston , Sussex . Brighton , Aiidrewa ; Lower , Lewes ; and Berger , 19 , Holywell-street . Strand , London . Published 3 rd October . Price One Shilling . This is a pamphlet written by a firm and conscientious opponent of the law of devils , and the facts he states are in truth of a most appalling
charaster , and -which must claim the deep attention of the people , and ought to tell with fearful force upon the consciences of British Senators , Ministers , and Christians , who have in any degree made themselves parties to a measure so anti-Christian and diabolical , both in hb principle and its details . We extract the following ca-se as a reply to those advocates of the Poor Law Act , who tell us that in the case of aged and afflicted couples the separation regulation of the Devil Kings would not be enforced : —
And here , as to separating man and wife , your petitioner begs te state to your Honourable House , that m the Union Workhouse at Firle , Sussex , about five miles from Alfriston , there has lately been—and your petitioner knows not but the man may be there nowan agricultural labourer of the name of William Norman , with his wife . Your petitioner has known both tuese persons nearly or quite from his childhood , and b ^ a a \ so considered them to be creditable persons on account of their industrious and orderly labits and your petitioner believes they have always had a creditable name in society , and also as to bringing up as they did , by their industrious habits , seven children . A few years since , Norm an— -whose age your petitioner believes is about sixty-eight years , and his wife nearly the in of
! ! same—a way hedging and ditching , was struck m one of his eyes by a bough from the hedge , and which . occasioned the loss of both his eyes ; and atv-ut the same period his wife was laid on a bed of affliction , and through this affliction was deprived also of the sight of both her eyeB . Though Norman , as an agricultural labourer , had worked under different employers for fifty-three years on one farm , and hail been married for forty-five years , and pleaded , as to geing into the above Woriheuse , not to be separated from his wife , saying—to use his own words— " As that : would hurt him most of anything , so ma . uy yews as ( they had-been together "—yet did the Firle Union j Guardians—and amongst these are some of the most celebrated agriculturist * on the South Downs , though , your petitioner has no intention te reflect on them as ! such , bnt only as standing forward to work the Poor
Law—separate , as to their being in the Union Workhouse , this respectable and sightless couple . How a case so replete with , or refined in cruelty , relative to the separation in an Union Workhouse of this industrious , creditable , aged , affectionate , and blind couple , should find sanction in a British Parliament as to up ^ holding , as they evidently do by a . vast majority , the Poot La-w that produced such cruelty , your petitioner must leave for each Member who upholds such law , pertaining to your Honourable House , in conscience ' , and as before his country nd Maker , to contemplate and decide on ; while for himself your petitioner must say , if honest , sober , industrious agricultural labourers , and especially such as have extended herein their iabuurs to fifty-three years , are thus to have the prospect of closing life ; bitter must be the reflection thereof through life , as well as direct experience in its closing part of that bitterness . " '
The writer has paid a very imperfect attention to correctness of style and expression , and that , we fear , will militate against the usefulness of his pamphlet , which , notwithstanding its defects , we cordially recommend to the careful consideration of all . We have again and again told the people that it was in vain to seek the repeal of this or any other bad law while the old tree of corruption was permitted to stand , and we repeat our assertion — Universal Suffrage can alone set all things in their proper order ; but we do not wish our readers to lose sight of the abominable statute , against which the pamphlet before us is directed . No ; let them remember it , and a thousand things beside , wnich "sunk of rank oppression ; " and let such thoughts nerve them with renovated resolution never to desert the glorious cause till all are in possessiun of that glorious freedom for which their God designed them .
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HARRY WILD ; OR , THE SOLDIER'S PROGRESS . " Now , Maurice , " said Uncle Oliver , you shall have the whole history of Harry Wild , aid if you learn nothing from it , th * fault will be your own . ' Harry- Wild was a wilful young feliow , and he wobIu go to the fair with bad companions , though his mother , who was a widow , with tears in her eyes begged him to stay at home . * ' Harry went with his comrades into a publichouse and . drank some beer ; one glass followed another till he grew tipsy , and was ready for anything , gO' > d or evil . " Harry met -with a recruiting sergeant , -who was dressed in his gay soldier ' s clothes . The sergeant told him he was a fine spirited young fellow , and wouid look noble in a soldier ' s uniform .
Harry listened to the sergeant , who , among other thing ? , told him that if he enlisted , he would live like a gentleman , have little or nothing to do . and wouid soon be made a corporal . " Harry was foolish enough , though he had a trade in his fingtrs , to enlist;—a shilling was put into his hand , a bunch of red and blue ribbons stuck on hh hat , and away he went to the public-house with the sergeant to spend his shilling . —His mother ' s hearl was half broken . " Harry was sworn in before a magistrate , anc received his bounty-rcoiiey . He treated the : ergeani trtely , because he promised to be a friend to him , ;( his bounty-money melted away like butter in th < sen .
Harry m a h ; t ! e time was sent to drill , that hi might learn his exercise . His money being all spent he-could not treat the drill-sergeant , so he got or dered-about strangely , and . caned on the knuc&les ii a manner that he never expected . —He repented thej of having enlisted as 3 soldier . ' ¦ Harry had his soldier ' s uniform given to him but though it looked very fine , it did not feel ver comfortable . The stock round his neck half throt tied him , and his cap was so heavy that it made hi head ache terribly . " Harry found a soldier's life very different t what the sergeant said it was . What with his ex ercise—and mounting guard—and keeping his mat ket and accoutrement * in proper order , —he had n time to spare , and there was very little likelihood c his being made a corporal .
" Harry was sent abroad , for the country was at war then , and he began to know what hardship was .: He had to march many miles a day , carrying his \ heavy musket — bayonet—cartridge-box—canteen— I horse-sack—and great-coat ; and instead of lying on i a feather-bed , as he had been used to do , he often stretched himself on the ground , where he lay—his limbs numbed , and shaking with the cold . j " Harry , at time ? , knew what it was to be so j hungry , that he could have eaten raw meat , and so ' thirsty , that ditch-water would have been a treat to him ; but he could get neither the one nor the other . Heartily did he repent having enlisted for a soldier .
" Harry went into battle , where his heart sadly j failed him , and he wished himself safe back again in Old England . It was awful work when the musketry began to rattle , and the cannon to roar , for the men fell as standing corn falls before the reaper s sickle . How few of them were prepared to die ! " Harry heard , between times , -when the roar of the battle was not so lond , aad when the drum and the trampet were still , the cries and groans of ihe wounded : they were fearful . The battle , however , was won—a town was taken , and the soldiers pillaged the poor defenceless inhabitants , —and drankand revelled—and committed all kinds of disorder .
' Harry got worse and -worse in his habits , and his heart grew harder , though he conld not help , now and then , thinking of his wid-owed mother , who was then , alas ! sorrowing for her scapegrace of a sob . Harry , at last , got wonnoed in a charge—a shot splintered his right arm a % the same moment that a bayonet passed throngh his shonlder . ¦ " Ham had his shattered arm taken off in the ¦ hospital , but the wound in hi s shoulder never would ¦ ¦ heal ; and when he was sent home , he found that his [ poor mother bad died of a broken heart . Bitterlj ! did he repent having enlist ed for a soldier ! . " Harry might have prospered had he feared God 1 and followed gooa way-., ; bnt , instead of that , h » i neglected his Bible—despised the counsels of hii
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motter , —and left an honest employment to enlist Ior a soldier . The coBsequence was—he had lost his arm—he was tormented with a wound that could not be cured—he had no friend in the world , —and was looked upon as an idle , worthless , good-for-nothing vagabond . ' — Uncle Oliver . motfer ,-and left an honest employment to ealist
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^^ rvsvw rur . AN INDIAN'S OPINION OF CIVILIZATION . Of the ability and spirit with which he ( Brant , chief of the Mohawks ) reasoned and wrote upon these subjects , we have a singular specimen in the following portion of a letter addressed to an American philanthropist who had questioned him concerning his views on imprisonment for debt It must be uuderatood , that this is no translation or correct version ; it is word for word as Brant wrote it : — " Tour letter came safe to hand . To give you entire satisfaction , I must , I perceive , enterinto the discussion of a subject on which I have often thought My thoughts were my own ; and , being so different from the ideas entertained among your people , I should certainly have carried them with me to the grave , had I not received your favour . You ask me , then , whether in my opinion civil zation is favourable to human happiness ? In
answer to the question , it may be answered , that there are degrees of civilization , from cannibals to the most polite of European nations . The question is not , then , whether a degree of refinement is not conducive to happiness ; but whether you or the natives of this land , have obtained this happy medium . On this subject we are at present , I prehume , of very different opinions . 1 ou will , however , allow me in some respects to have had this advantage of you in forming my sentiments . I was , Sir , born of Indian patents , and lived while a child among those whem you are pleased to call savages ; I was afterwards sent to live among the white people , and educated at one of your schools ; since which period I have been honoured much beyond my deserts , by an acquaintance with a number of principal characters both in Europe and America . After all this
experience , and after exertion to divest myself of prejudice , I am obliged to give my opinion in favour of my own people . I will now , as much as I am able , collect together , and set before you , some of the reasons that have influenced my judgment on the subject now before us . In the government you call civilized , the happiness of the people is constantly sacrificed to the splendour of empires . Hence your codes of criminal and civ . l laws have had their origin ; hence your dungeons and prisons . I will not enlarge on an idea bo singular in civilized life , and perhaps disagreeable to you , and will only observe , that among us we have no prisons ; we have no pompous parade of courts , we have no written laws ; and yet ju . iges are as highly revered amongst ns as they are among you , and their decisions are as much regarded .
" Property , to say the least , is as well guarded , and crimes are as impartially punished . We have among us no splendid villains above th « controul of our laws . Daring wickedness is here never suffered to triumph over helpless innocence . The estates of widows and orphans are never devoured by enterprising sharpers . In a word , we have no robbery undef the colour of law . No person among us desires any other reward for performing a brave and worthy action , but the consciousness of having served his nation . Our wise men are called Fathers : they truly sustain that character . They are always accessible , I will not say to the meanest of our people , for we have none mean but such as render themselves so by their vices .
" The palaces and prisons among you form a most dreadful contrast Go to tho former places , and you will see perhaps a deformed piece of earth assuming airs that become none but the Great Spirit above . Go to one of your prisons ; here description utterly fails . Kill them , if you please ; kill them , too , by tortures ; but let the torture last no longer than a day . Those you call savages , relent ; the most furious of our tormentors exhausts his rage in a few hours , and despatches his unhappy victim with a sudden stroke . Perbaps i is eligible that incorrigible offenders should sometimes be cut off . Let it be done in a way that is not degTading to human nature . Let such unhappy men have an opportunity , by their fortitude , of making an atonement in some measure for the crimes they have committed during their lives . " But for what are many of your prisoners confined ? —for debt . '—astonishing !—and will you ever again call the Indian nations cruel ? Liberty , to a rational
creature , as much exceeds property as the light ef the sun does that of the most twinkling star . But you put them on a level , to the everlasting disgrace of civilization . 1 knew , while I lived among the white people , many of the most amiable contract debts , and I dare say with the best intentions . Both parties , at the time of the contract , expect to find their advantage . The debtor , we will suppose , by a train of unavoidable misfortunes , fails ; here is no crimes nor even a fault ; and yet your laws put it in the power of the creditor to throw the debtor into prison , and confine him there for life ! a punishment infinitely worse than death to a brave man ! and I seriously declare , I had rather die by the most severe tortures ever inflicted on this continent , than languish in one of your prisons for a single year . Great Spirit of the universe !—and do you call yourselves Christians ? Does , then , the religion of Him whom you call your Saviour , inspire this spirit , ana lead to these practices ? Surely no . ' —Stone ' s Life 0 / BrauL
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Sam Slick's System of Phrenology . —When I enter a location , arter a little talk about this , that , and the other , I looks at one of the young grovrM up galls airnest like , till she says , "Mr . Slick , what on airth are you a-lookin' at ?"— " Nothin' " save I , " my dear , but a most remarkable developement . " — "A what > " says she . — "A remarkable developement , " says I , " the most remarkablo , too , I Dever seed since I was raised . "— " Why , what in Natur ' s i that ! " says she — " Excuse me , Miss , " says I , and 1 1 gets up , and pins my finger on her crown . ** What benevolence ! " says I , " and firmness of character did you ever !—and then , " says I , a-passin' my finger over the eye-brow , " you ought to sing well positively : it's your own fault if vou don ' tfor you
, have uncommon petikilar power that way . Your time is large , and tune great ; yes , and competition strong . " " Wei , how strauge ! " says she ; " hare guessed right , I swear , for 1 do sing , and am allowea to have the best ear for music in all these clearm ' s . How on atrth can you tell ? if that don ' t pass ?"— "Tell , " says I , " why it ' s what they call phrenology , and a most beautiful study it is . I can read a head as plain as a book ; and this I will say , a finer head that yourn I never did see , positively . What a splendid forehead you have ! it's a sight to behold . If you was to take pains you could do anything a ' most . —Would you like to have it read Miss ? " Well , arter hearin' me pronounce aforehand at that rate , she is sure to want it readand then I say ,
, "I won ' t read it aloud , Miss ; I'll whisper in your ear , and you shall say if 1 am right . "— ' * Do , " says she ; "I should like to see what mistakes you Jl make , for I can ' t believe it possible you can tell ; it don ' t convene to reason , does it ? " Nothin ' , squire , never stops a woman when her curiosity is once up . especially if she be curious to know somthin' about herself . Only hold a secret out in yuur hand to her , and it ' s like a bnnch of catnip to a cat ; she'll jump , and frisk , and frolic round you lik anything , and never give over purrin' and ccaxin'of you till slie gets it . They'll do anything for you a ' most for it . so I slides out my knee for a 3 eat , and says "it's no harm , Miss , you know , for Ma is here , and I must lovk near to tell you ; " so I draws her on my knee
without waiting for an answer . Then gradually one arm goes round the waist , and t ' other hand goes to the head , bumpologLsin ' , and 1 whi&pers—" wit , paintin ' , judgment , fancy , order , music , and every good thing a'most . " Ana she keeps a-sayin ' , — "Well , he ' s a witch ! well , how fctrauge ! lawiul heart . Well , I want to know!—now I never!—do tell ! " as pleased all the time as anything . Lord ! squire , you nevrr see anything iik « it ; it ' s Jerusalem Hue fun . Well , then , I wiud up by touchm' the back of her head hard , ( you know , squire , what they call the amative bumps are located there , ) and then whisper a joke to her about makin' a very lovni' wife , and soon , and the jumps up acolouriu , and a-sayin ' , " it ' s no such a thing . You missed tbat guess , any how . Take that for not guessin '
better ! " and pretendin' to slap me , and all . that ; but actually ready to jump over the moon for delight . Dou ' t my clock ? get , fust admired and then boughten arter this readm' of heads , that ' s all ? " Ye 9 ; that ' s the beauty of phrenology . You can put a clock into their heads when you are a-puttin' other fine things in , too , as ea ? y as kiss my hand . I have sold a nation lot of them by it . The only thing agin phrenology is , it ' s a little bit dangerous . It ' s only tit for an old band like me , that ' s up to trap , for a raw one is amazin' apt to get spouney . Taking a gall on jour knee , tbat way , with one liana on her neari , that goes pitty-pat , like a watch tickiu ' , and the other a-roviiig about her head a-discovering bumps , is plaguy apt to make a fool of you without vonr knowing of it .
The Northern Star. Saturday, December 19, 1840.
THE NORTHERN STAR . SATURDAY , DECEMBER 19 , 1840 .
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RAILWAY ACCIDENTS . The frequent and appalling accidents by railway travelling have naturally excited a great sensation among the public at large , and have caused some stringent measures to be taken at Coroners' Inquoats > in the shape of verdicts imputing some , though not sufficient , criminality to the Companies , and , in the form of deodands , drawing largely upon their pockets .
In the case of the Gloucester and Birmingham Railway the deodand levied was £ 300 ; and in that of the London and Birmingham Railway a verdict of wilful murder and felo de se was returned against the engineer , and a deodand of £ 2 , 000 was imposed ! That the verdict should have been against the employers , as well as the employed , we shewed in our last week's paper . We now turn , to the fine N alone .
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• Of course , the Directors do not relish these large demands ; and we are sorry to see that many of our contemporaries have been endeavouring to get them out of the deserved penalty , by means of inventing quibbles and splitting hairs in regard to the law of the subject . Deodands , say they , are only to be exacted in cases of accidental death ; and , therefore , cannot be taken in cenj unction with a verdict of wilful murder . e , BrBB . « ... -p ,, ^ ^ ^ ^ v-n-.- ,
In support of this position , they cite a few dubious black letter authorities , which leave you as wise as you were before ; and then fancy they have settled the question . Now , we ourselves , having somewhat lawyer-like libraries at our command , and being armed to the teeth also with black letter authority , and what ia much better , with reason and ustice , we assert that a deodand may be levied in cases of criminal , as well as of accidental , manslaying .
First , as to what a deodand is : — " That moveable good which brings a man to an untimely death , " says Lord Hale ( 1 , Pleas of the Crown , p . 419 . ) " Whatever personal chattel is the immediate occasion of the death of any reasonable creature , ' ' observes Blackstone ( Commentaries , vol . 1 , p . 300 . ) " All things , which cause death , " Bracton is made to say in Book 3 , c . 5 , though it is not to be found there . These , however , plainly include every means of inflicting death , a fact more strongly proved by Lord Hale ' s remarking , that in all indictments for murder or manslaughter the value of the slaying
weapon is to be inserted , as it is a deodand to the King . Here , then , is a direct authority in the cases of criminal violence . What do our opponents bring to answer this ] A definition of Lord Coke , to the following effect : — " When any moveable thing , inanimate , or beast animate , do move to , or cause the untimely death of any reasonable creature by mischance * without the will , offence , or fault of himself , or of any other person . " ( 3 Institute 57 ) This is against us for a moment , but let us see a little deeper into it ; his Lordship quotes precedents and authorities in the margin of his page for this meaning of the word . We turn to those primary
sources , an 3 in the very first reference to the Year Books , or Reports in the eighth year of Edward the Second , we find these words : — " Omne illud quod movet cum eo quod occidit homine 3 deodandum domino regi erit , " &c . "Everything which in motion causes the death of a man , shall be given as deodand to the King . " Could terms be more general ? This is no support for Lord Coke ' s qualification;—the other references are either as general , or are ambiguous in thoir meaning . But , above all , Lord Coko in the very same page corrects himself ; for he says , " If A kills a man with B ' s sword , yet the sword shall be forfeited as a
deodand' ; which is taken from tho " Doctor and Student , " a work published during the reign of Henry the Eighth , where it is said , in Dialogue 2 , c . 51 , — " If a man killeth another with the sword of John at Stile , the sword shall be forfeited as a deodand , and yet no default is in the owner . " Observe , here is no limitation ; no exception , if the verdict be murder or manslaughter , instead of accidental death , or justifiable homicide . These authorities , the very oracles of the common law , of themselves prove that criminal destruction of human life is good cause for a deodand .
Let us next see the origin and reason of deodands , which will explain their tiue object and application . Thi 9 branch of our subject will embrace their history . The value and the sanctity of human life have ever been recognised by civilised and polished nations ; hence legislators have proposed two objects to themselves ; to punish the offender , who destroys it , and to inspire others with a dread of following in his steps . In order to increase the awe with which the existence of a rational being is to be regarded even the instrument of death , whether an inanimate thing , or an animate creature , without reason , is to
be looked upon aa accursed , and unworthy of future use in the service of society . Thus , as far back as the Mosaical law , we find it commanded , " If an ox gore a man that he die , the ox shall be stoned , and his flesh shall not be eaten . " ( Exod . c . xxi ., v . 28 . ) Among the ancient Greeks , whatever caused a man's death by falling upon him , was exterminated , or east out of the dominions of the republic . The Romans were wiser than their predecessors or their successors in this respect , for by the Aquilian law the instrument of death was in part devoted to the benefit of the family of the deceased . With the ancient Goths the weapon or cause of destruction
was forfeited , and went in the nature of a fine—( Stiernhook de jure Goth . b . Hi ., c . 4 . )—and thus , and in this form was the doctrine adopted by the Saxons . Hence , then , its origin ; we must look to the Saxons for its true reason and foundation . Among these hardy ancestors of ours , life was most sacredly guarded , it never was taken away without some penalty being demanded from the slayer , and yet that penalty never amounted to a capital punishment , but was a pecuniary fine ; they were not willing to sacrifice the life of the offender for tne life of his victim . The mulct or fine was always in the nature of a forfeiture to the king for the loss of his subject . Where the verdict was murder or man
slaughter a total forfeiture of the goods , chattels , and lands of the offender took place ; where it was accidental death , or even justifiable homicide , a partial forfeiture occurred . In all cases the active cause of death was forfeited to the crown ; the destructive instruments were anciently called banni , which means " fines , " but when they were subsequently devoted to charitable and religious acts by the crown they were called deodands , ( deodanda , given to God . )
Many have thought and still think that the origin of deodands was for the saying of masses for the soul suddenly called away with " all its imperfections on its head : " but this is mistaking the subscqaent application for the cause . They were first given as a fine to the state for the loss of a subject ; and we would ask were not the services of the subject equally lost , wether he was slain criminally or accidentally ? If so , will not the same principle apply to both cases , should the same consequences ( in this respect ) flow from both ? In time the partial forfeiture for accidental and justifiable dea ,. h waa
taken away by statute , the only penalty remaining being the forfeiture of the cause of death , which was left as a check upoa carelessness and negligence . The moving cause of death or its value was forfeited in all instances of destruction of life ; where the verdict was felonious homicide , and the instrument belonged to the offender himself , of course it escheated to the Crown under the general forfeiture ot his goods ; and where the instrument belouged to another person , it nevertheless went to the Crown ,
only it went aa a deodand , being a punishment on the owner for not having taken greater care of it . Under- this latter branch comes the forfeiture of the £ 2 , 000 , being the value assessed on the London and Birmingham train . This we maintain to be law at the present day . In cases of accidental and justifiable death an anomaly has been introduced by stat . 9 , Geo . 4 , c . 31 , s . 10 , by which it seems that if the instrument belong to the party offending , it shall not be forfeited , but that if it belong to another party , it shall go to the Crown .
We hate stated what the law is , not what it should be ; we do not discuss its principles now , nor are we anxious to enter into the quibbles , which have been introduced , such as when a ringer was strangled by the bell-rope , whether the bell was forfeited , as well as the rope , and the like . With regard to the amount of the deodand , there seems little doubt , from the definitions and
explanations we have given , that the whole of the train in the late accident moved to the death of the party . increased the pressure , and added to the shock The whole , therefore , should have been assessed , as a warning to directors and companies in general , who sacrifice life without compunction , until their pockets ( which aTe much more sensitive than their hearts ) are touched . The application of the forfeiture is villanous ; either the Crown snapsatityor
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some wealthy Lord of the Manor , to whom it was granted when deodands were a trifle , steps iay and walks off with it . The civil law has here sol us a fine example ; it gives the penalty to the injured survivors . The poor family of the deceased , bereft of their natural protection and support , should receive some compensation , some means of living fiom those parties , through whose criminal negligence they are rendered destitute . __ , „ . .
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THE SCIENCE OF POLITICS . If a man were to place the whole of his money in a bank , or invest bis capital in some speculative undertaking , without for a moment inquiring into the nature of the seourity / or into the probability of ever recovering his property , we should set him down aa a weak and silly mortal ; if there existed certain laws , inflicting the punishment of imprisonment for divers simple acts , and one subject to these laws should go on through life , committing or not com . mittint ; the specified offences , without eudeavomiiig to learn what deed deprive him of the blessings of
liberty , he would deserve to be regarded as a very bold era very careless person ; if the life of himself his wife , and his children were to be threatened by an impending evil , which probably might be averted , and if he were to neglect the means of knowing the cause of this evil , and the qualities of the remedy to be applied , what term could be found sufficiently expressive of our diegust , mingled with pity , for his guilt and negligence ! And yet the man who thus risks the property , the liberty , and the life of himself , and others most dear to him , is not more culpable than he who refuses to take an interest in the public affairs of his country !
Politics means nothing but the science of government—a science whioh relates to the administration of public matters , and teaches the rights and duties arising from society . But though simple in definition , yet boundless and important are the interests embraced by the term " politics . " We speak not of a sect nor of a party , but in the general sense we use the word , and assert that it contains within it everything thing that concerns the very basis of our social state , the framework of our constitution , and man ' s earthly weal or woe .
Hither must be referred every act of the Executive and the Legislative , which affects tho State ; hither must be referred every social movement , every popular impulse , every sign of the times ; hither mnst be referred every law , that touches the property , the liberty , and the life of the subject ; in a word , every action and every principle , that can in any way influence the community at large , will be found within political science . How mad , how idiotic must be that man who , content to suffer , but unwilling to resist , stops his ears and shuts his eyes to these vital matters ! We live not for ourselves
alone ; a responsibility for the safety and happiness of others is thrown upon us ; we cannot shake it off without danger and without guilt . Shame upon the wietch that , indifferent to the welfare , and careless of the sufferings , of his fellow-creatute 3 , tamely looks on , and will not exert those powers with which he has been blessed , in the noble 3 t and most important of human undertakings . We cannot understand how any man can refuse to take an energetic and active part in what is called " politics ; " we have heard some say , " I do not busy myself in these things ; I leave them to others ; I
never take part in politics ! " Why , what is this in substance and effect ? It amounts to a declaration that the party cares neither for the manner in which he is governed , nor for the honour of his country , nor for the welfaro of his countrymen , nor for the dearest rights of the human race . These considerations at once solve the question , so often , though so absurdly mooted , whether the labouring classes of a country should take an active part in politics ? If they are to be stocks and stones , "hewers of wood and drawers of water ; " if they are to be vile slaves without thought , will
action of their own ; if they are to be these alone , then let them not inteifere in any public measure ; but if they are to progress in tho scale of being ; if they are to exert those faculties and energies , which live within them , to assert the dignity of their nature , and fulfil the grand object of their existence , then , in the name of all that is sacred , we call upon them to " mark , learn , and inwardly digest" all matters touching the public interest ; to foster them by their encouragement , if good and wholesome ; or to crush them by their execration , if oppressive and detrimental . There is another
trashy argument , which may be met by these views , namely , that women should not take any part in politics , but limit themselves to domestic concerns . This assertion involves rank injustice and flat contradiction . We have neither space nor inclination to enter into a comparison of the mental powers , as respectively possessed by men and by women ; it is selt-evideut that the latter have been endowed with a vast amount of common sense , and a tenderness and humanity of feeling , which are more than sufficient for the comprehension and application of any political difficulty that may occur .
The contradictory portion of the statement is tbat which refers to the preference of attention to domestic habits . Need any one be convinced of the intimate connection between the prosperity of a state and the comfort of a home ; between the judicious regulation of public affairs and the peace and happiness of a private dwelling ; between political and domest ' o advantages ? Go into the abode 1 of squalid wretchednes 3 , behold the care-worn and suffering father , the weak and miserable mother , the starving and crippled children ; listen to their cries for bread . the . r moans of bitter
anguish , and if you would seek the true cause of this unuatural and lamentable scene , trace it up step by step , you will fmd it flows from the cruelty or the neglect of the legislative and vuling powers One false step of a government will be felt throughout the community ; one injudicious measure will have have its influence on every class ; and thus the happy condition of a labourer b often the best index to the character of a Monarch a < id the prudence of his Ministers . Talk not then of the exclusion of women from political , and their confinement to domestic , duties , as if they were separate or opposed ; they are closely united and knit together . A learned Editor of " Blackstoie ' s Commentaries , " in his notes to the chapter on" Husbaud and wife "
asserts that" there is no valid reason for excludiug women from the power of voting or for taxiug them without representation , " aud we bail it as a good omen of this epoch that females have enlisted in the cause , that they have exerted their vast influence upon their husbands , their brothers , and their eons , and have enoouraged them to imitate the glorious patriots of past and present times . Equally fallacious is the assertion that the pulpit is not the place for political discussion . This arises from a misconception of the nature and object of politico , for what is there inconsistent with religion , with charity , aud humanity in those efforts which are made for the happiness of the vast family of mankind , aud the regeneration of society ?
When we advocate the study of politics and the attainment of this object , as a science , let us not be misunderstood as following the nonsense of pedantic fools and designing knaves , who fancy ; that such knowledge can only be acquired from books , and can only be gathered by philosophical ( as they call them ) and well-educated minds . They would iusi&t that history must be studied from Herodotus to Hume—that Government must be inquired into from the Mosaical dominion in the Old Testament to
the American Republic—that Latin aud law , Greek and mathematics , are essential to a right understand * ing of what every day concerns us . Away with with such petty , childish notions ! The science of politics is the science of human nature—the common sense possessed by all men , their reasoning powers exercised by reflection , by diacussiou , and experience , with a knowledge of their wants , and a rectitude of purpose . These , guided by the public organs of opinion , whioh have been tried and found
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worthy of tnret , will lead to right conclusions , and bo sufficient for every desirable object . Go on , then , good and trusty soldiers—persevere in the holy cause j cease not your exertions , but assert your claim to a voice in public affairs . Encourage others to do likewise : instruct the young , communicate with the aged , become acquainted with all matters of general interest . Private happiness , domestic comfort , national welfare and security , depend on the jealousy and anxious care with which the people regard and serntinise the acts of their rulers . —•*
In the words of Paul— Whatsoever things are true , whatsoever things are honest , whatsoever things are just , whatsoever things are pure , whatsoever things aTe lovely , whatsoever things are of good report—if there be any virtue , and if there be any praise , think on these things . ''
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Madam , —In pursuing the important inquiries connected with the subject to which , in these letters , I am most desirous of drawing the attention of your Majesty , it will be necessary that we take a comprehensive survey of human character as it stands developed before ns in the various ramniifieations and modulations of society . Man is not only a curious and complicated machine , destined to perform certain evolutions and movements in connection with the material world , of -which ,- in his present Btate of being , he is an inhabitant : but within that machine , as a
storehouse or depository , is contained a miniature , but perfect , world of mind , consisting of mental and intellectual powers and capabilities of the highest order , aud of affections and desires of the most tender , ardent , and bouudlesa description and character . Many of those mental and intellectual endowments can be developed only in . society , and some of them only in a state of society considerably advanced in civilisation . Hence it results , that In a well-ordered state-ef society , the arrangements of the social family will be based upon the acknowledged truths that those
to whom they are intended to apply are responsible beings , and that they are persona whose powers of the understanding are , at least , so far perfect as to be able to distinguish right from wrong , and to know and practise the duties devolving upon them , as parts of the general whole . Tho body politic is made up , like all other bodies , of detached parts , each of which has a self-regulating power inherent in , and insaparaWe from , itself ; and it is in the aggregation of those parts , and the blending of them together into one harmonious whole , which constitutes the beauty , stability , and perfection of the social or political fabric .
From those premises your Maje 3 ty must at once perceive that we arrive at the inevitable conclusion that any state , or community of men , in which mind is neglected , and matter only cared for , or , in other words , any political arrangement which regards as principal the lower faculties , and places in a secondary point of importance the higher capabilities of human nature , is totally and radically bad , because based upon a sandy and insecure foundation . True policy consists in placing right things in their right places , and iu proportion as this simple but all-important maxim is in letter or spirit
departed from , in the same proportion is the policy of a nation , no matter-what pretexts may be put forth to the contrary , in ' a bad and vicious state . Now , let us inquire what are the evident proceedings of ss ' und policy in laying down and preparing laws for the government of men in their civil and social relations with each other . Is it net a fundamental principle which can never be departed from without manifest and serious detriment to the public weal , tbat all the acts of the Legislature and all the efforts of the Government should be directed to the attainment of the following objects : —
First . Thnt virtue , sobriety , and honesty should be fostered and encouraged by every practicable means , and that especial care should be employed to impress upon the minds of the young the necessity and importance of strictly adhering to those excellencies in every transaction of life . Second . A departure from the rules of justice and equity should , wherever found , subject the offender to a certain fixed and inevitable consequence , of a nature which , by the very constitution of his being , he would naturally shink from and avoid .
Third . That in all penal jurisprudence , great care should be taken tbat the infliction of punishments and penalties , shall be either protective , or corrective , or re 3 trictive , or restorative ; and that , as far as possible , all these should be combined in every case , and that in no instance should punishment of crime be , or appear to be , vindictive . And , fourth . That all the institutions of the country should be based upon , and be regulated by , the principle that the only security for personal safety and independence , is to be found in the mental elevation
and moral advancement of the great mass of the people . These objects are , I am inclined to think , pre-eminently worthy of the most serious consideration of your Majesty . They contain matters which intimately connect tlemselves with * he welfare of a people who , I verily believe , you desire to govern well ; and they involve principles , a want of attention to which is the prolific parent of all the misery , and crime , and wretchedness , which blight , and wither , and deface tea fail prospects of our sea-girt isle and her numerous dependencies .
Look , Madam , at the state of the people over -whom , you sway the sceptre , and from whom those who claim to be their representative annually wring , in the Bhape of taxes direct and indirect , a sum for the support of your royal state and dignity more than sufficient to maintain in decent competency 30 , 000 families ! Look | I say , at this people , and at the laws by which their conduct as citizens ia regulated , and say , if you can , that your dominion extends over a nation in wkich . virtue , sobriety , and honesty form the pleasing and predominant picture . Alas ! Lady , the Union Workhouse , filled with the unwilling idlerswith those who would be ready to toil , and sweat , and labour , that they and theirs might eat , but are forbidden by the worshippers of Mammon to—do sotells but a miserable tale .
The increase of the police of the kingdom , said to be rendered necessary by the alarming increase of crime , speaks but little for the increase of our national morality ; while the large amount of revenue derived from the baneful habit of using intoxicating drinks , exhibits a melancholy prodf of the utter recklessness of the Legislature , as at present constituted , as to the sober and domestic habits of the community . Allow me , witii dutiful respect , to ask your Majesty if , when you have been called upon to affix your royal
signature to some Act for the suppression of crimeto some commission of oyer and terminer , or to some warrant which was to consign a fellowcreature to an ignominious death , and an unpreparedfor eternity . Has the thought never struck your royal mind , whence does all this crime proceed ? " How is it that my prisons are so crowded with offenders , and whence does it arise that the fatal gibbet too often gronns beneath the dying agonies of my fellow-mortals , < iooJnea in my name thus to endure the utmost penalty of the law ' s severity . " .
Madam , start not at the idea that royalty is allied to the expiring fallen . It is a fact , and why should not even royalty condeseend sometimes to contemplate so common-place a fact as this . I believe you gentle and benevolent , though a Queen ; you are a woman and a . mother ; that poor victim was as dear to some maternal heart as your smiling infant is to you ; she caressed him with as much joy , she looked upon him with as much hope as that which filled the breast of a mother so justly dear to you—as that which now fills your own . " He was your equal at his birth , - A naked , helpless , weeping child ; And such are born to thrones on earth , On such hath every mother smiled . "
Oi in the name of a people rendered vicious ( if vicious they are ) by poverty—by poverty the result of laws which would disgrace a Pagan statute book—in the name of the thousands who must steal or starve , in the name of hundreds of thousands of your ov » a lovely sex , forced to seek bread by means and in ways of which your Majesty can form no conception , save that they are ways of the most appalling and heart-sickening wretchedness . In the name of the God of Justice and of Mercy , I implore you , in ' gratitude for your own recent deliverance from the pain
and peril of child-birth , in return for the numberless blessings yon enjoy , to take this subject into immediate and serious consideration . It will be an uncourtly study , but it will be a profitable one ; and , if it produce the desired -effect , in leading you to call such men to your counsels as will make the Improvement and happiness of the people their sole and constant aim , millions will yet rise up and call you blessed . I am your Majesty ' s Faithful and devoted Subject and Servant , London , Dec 11 th , 1810 . NUMA .
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THE ILLUSTRATED WATTS'S HYMNS , edited by the Rev . Mersa . vdee Fletcher , of finsbnry Chapel , London . Orger and Merger , 178 , Fenchurch-siree ; . The first two parts of this beautiful work are now lying on our table , and certainly demand liberal encouragement from the lovers of sacred literature and the admirers of ihe fine arts . It is stated in the prospectus that the work is intended to be a home book , andnoihing can be better calculated for such an object . The parts before us coniain sixteen engravings on wood , executed in the best style of the art , and most of them conveying to the mind a vivid picture of some event described or referred to in the
accompauying hymn . Of the execution of the whole we can speak in terms of unqualified praise , and we regret that the meed of our approbation cannot in the same degree be accorded to the designs . Most of these are passable , some are excellent , but the " Sermon on theMuunt" is bad , as it contradicts the narrative , by representing the Saviour in a standing position . " Jacob ' s Dream" represents an English coronation as much as the patriarch ' s vision at Bathe ] , and the " Translation of Elijah" is a piece of absurdity . To make amends , however , we have " Daniel in the Den , " The entrance of Jesus into Jerusalem , '' and the * Resurrection , " -which may be considered a 3 first-rate productions . The work cannot but be acceptable to the religions public . - — - — ? ~
To Her Most Gracious Majesty The Queen.
TO HER MOST GRACIOUS MAJESTY THE QUEEN .
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_ THE NORTHERN STAR . v I I Of tv ... ,. .. "" '
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Northern Star (1837-1852), Dec. 19, 1840, page 3, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/ns/issues/king-y1kbzq92ze2715/page/3/
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