On this page
- Departments (1)
-
Text (9)
-
Untitled Article
-
Untitled Article
-
Untitled Article
-
Untitled Article
-
Untitled Article
-
THE NORTHERN STAR. SATURDAY, DECEMBER 19, 1840.
-
Untitled Article
-
Untitled Article
-
Untitled Article
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.
-
-
Transcript
-
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.
Untitled Article
-at-- ^ X *? __ 4 = ^ ___ —fn — "' ' " ^ c _ KlOil CCa LOXBOX C 0 K . EX 5 P 0 M > EKT . # - ¦ Wednesday Evening , December 16 lh , * . Haif ^ peM Seven 6 'Clock * |* ISGRACEFCLJX ) 2 iDUcr OF TEETOTALLERS , , ; AJTD , EXTRAORDINARY DECISION OF A ^ ¦ SLAGISTRATE . TaATTON GARDEN POLICE OFFICE , Tcesdat . Richard Sport , oC Castle-street , Cfcrkenwell , was tiharged on the police sheet -with bating been drunk , and disturbed a peaceable meeting , assembled for the purpose of discussing the principles of teetotalism , held on Monday « vening , at the Methodist Chapel , near Hatfcon Garden . Mr . Spun had been confined in the dungeon of tke station-hoese all night The first Tritness called ¦*•*¦! &
Samwsl Barae , printer , of Peerless How , City Road , "who depesedthat he is a member of a society of teetotallers , 'aeeting every Mond&y evening , at the Methodist Cbapelj that last ni ^ ht the defendant , hating denied some « f the benefits allied by tiie preceding speakers to be derived from teetotalism , aid introduced politics into bis speech , hfi was turned out , but sot with more force than iraa necessary for that purpose . In answer to questions from Mr . Spurr , tae witness admitted thai previously to his ( defendant ' s ) feeing taken into custody , be had given another person in charge for assaulting him . Inspector Penny , rrho took the charge at the stationboBse , said he had bo doubt the defendant was drunk , for bis fece looked k > red .
Mark Gage , tailor , of No . 2 , Rose-street , Brick-lane , tfce chairman of tbo meeting , corroboctted the ttsti-» tmf of the witaess Banme , adding that Tiien the defendant introduced his polities , ha , the Qjairman , asfeed him to KSsisL Altgisizxte— . Desist yoa mean . Witness—Yea , my Worship !!! Veil , Sir , he -went « D speaking , and he tras bundled out in answer to the Magistrate ' s questions , about the barge of drunfcenness , the iritness said , he "would not « wear that the defendant ¦ vras drunk , but iiis face looked red , as though he had been drinkiDg . By Mr . Spcrr—Did I Dot ask your permission , as chairman , to address the meeting ? Witness—Yes ; but vhen you came to talk about politics I told you to mist i again !) In reply to questions from the Magistrate , the "witness said he did not see any eae collar Mr . Spurr , nor push him , hat he went quietly .
John-Wilinot—Went to the teetotal meeting last night . Oae of the speakers was talkisg a lot of non-« ense , as be thought ; and Mr . S > urr , who "was in the body of the meeting , made some exclamation in reply to it , when he "was callsd to order , but on exhibiting what wiUess belicT « s to be a card tt membership , he tras invited on the platform . The defendant vras cer" tainJj- Beitber drunk nor "violent Richard "Woodward corroborated the testimony of the last witness ; the defendant "vras refutiDg some nonsense of the preceding speakers , ¦ whena person who seemed to hate . grew influence with the meeting , said , alluding to
tbe defendant , " 1 / kno-w him , and I'llhaTe a go in "with him ;** "but whether he meant in the way of argument or blows , witness cannot say . By the Magistrate . What were-tbe palitics introduced ? Tbe witness could not recollect ^ the precise words , but it was to the tffuct that teetotaiism would not do everything that it had been a » i& it would d # , for it would not give political rights . Edward Lstnb said be dropped in at the meeting last night , and just as Mr . Spurr had made a few remarks , advocating temperance , he was shoved off the platform . He saw him deliver his card of membership to the ehainnan .
I An explanation here took place between the magistrate and the learned chairman , as te whether Mr . Spurr ' s card entitled him to be considered a member of the general body ? from which it appeared , that the teetotallers are divided into three great sections ; that the meeting consisted of members of the " British ar . d Foreign Society for the suppression of intemperance , " tod that the defendants card showed him to be a member of the " Hew British and Foreign Society ; " that « &rd would , nevertheless , entitle him to be received as a friend ; " but , " said the chairman , " we arp a society of Methodists , not Chartists , and when he introduced his politics he broke our rules , and in course we turned him out" When the cailoquy between the chairman And the magistrate had ended , Mr . Spurr reminded his ¦ worship that the meeting was distinctly admitted to t > e fniii . it , and mi o * t for religious worship .
Wm- Saunders depose * that he went in casually as the chairman was speaking ; when be had finished , nether person got up , and said a great many strsage things , and the > risoner said something from the body of the meeting , upan which he was told to come on the platform , if he wished to say anything . He did do so , and said he hoped they were net there to put fortn their opinions under false pretences ; he wished to see every opinisn settled with truth ; and though teetotalism was good for its ownsake , yet the people could not , by teetotalism alone , politically benefit themselves Then there wis an outcry , and the defendant was turned owt ; most shamefully he i witness ) thought ; for they seemed more like a set of drunken or mad people , than teetotallers . Policeman 56 , deposed that defendant gave another person iato his charge , but he took the defendant Instead , became most of the people said he was in tout
Mr . Gage ( the Chairman ) here said something to the magistrate which we did not catch , but his Worship said , " Call your bat . that ia your main witness . " And , taming to Mr- Spurr , he said , " Will you promise me sot te go there again !" Mr . Spurr replied , that he could not make . such promise , as that would imply be was now in the wrong , when the reverse was the case . John Christopher Symes was accordingly called , ami deposed , "that Mr . Spurr forced himself on the platform ; opposed the principles of total abstinence , laying that it was calculated to create a disturbance ; and that he called en them te join the Chartist ITnions . "
Mr . Spurr declared most solemnly that thin -witness had perjured himself . He had been a total abstainer from all intoxicating drinks for three years and one . month ; and he did not sdopt the principle inconsiderately , but after having heard the question thoroughly argued by sensible persons . This was * public meeting ; and having listened to arguments that he ftsssidered fallacious , inasmuch as they said that teetotolim would get the people good houses , food , aod clothes , and make them thoroughly independent , be asked and obtained leave to address the meeting ; when he stated that , though he waa a teetotaller , and acknowledged the many benefits of total abstinence , yet it would not give them politioai independeiice . Upon this , he was most forcibly handled , and one of the fellows who attacked him pretended to be an officer
bnt , as soon as they got him to the door , he was given : into tb ^ custody of the police ; he afe the same time i fivi&g in charge one of his assailants , whom the j policeman refused to take . When they got to the I tation-house , Inspector Penny , who knows him to be a , Chartist , a name in which he glories , said he waaintoxi- \ ted , and added that charge to the oneforwhich he was brought to the Station-house . Ai to the evidence that : had been given by the last witaess , tie whole of the i other testimony proved that no such assertion , as he i bad stated was made use of , could have been uttered . | Bat euppoee that he ( defendant ; had considered the ' use of strong drinks , in moderation , to be benefiaial , ¦ be had a right , he maintained , to express his opinion j %% a public meeting , having got permission from the j Cfeairaan to address that meeting . i
The Magistrate | Mr . Ortenwood ) said that , when he put tbe - < niestion just now , whether defendant would ' promise not to go to this chapel again , the testimony ' had not then come ont , thai he ? iad advised ihs ptop ' e to \ Join the Chartist Unions ; and the case was , therefore , ' cow eery difcrext to what it was at that stage of the i business . Here were a party of people , quietly assembled , upoa a subject that he wu not bout to discuss ; do doubt , when they found , by defendant ' s card of membership , that he was one of their own body , or a similar one , they were very glad to hare his assistance ; but noj to launch out Into political disntricmt ; and , therefore , when you ( Spurr ; sailed upon the meeting to join tbe Chartist unions , you insisted apon turning it into a political meetiiig , and I shall , therefore , require y » u to find bail in two respectable hoaaeholders ai sureties , and to enter into your own . reeog&ixance * to keep the peace and be of food behavioox .
£ Our correspondent cannot allow jh \ * case to go forth j withont stating , that , in his opinion , the magistrate ^ throughout laboured to " extract a east" against Mr . i Spurr from the hostile witnesses . Several times did \ he check th « defendant in points perfectly relevant to ' the decision ; several times did he prompt the witnesses ' ¦ in support » f the charge ; aad sot a shade of notice ' ¦ did he take about Inspector Penny ' s voluntary lacking \ she false charge of drunkenness to the groundless | barge of creating disturbance ; in short , without en- j tering into tbe merits of the question on either side , it ' was manifest that the whole bearing of the police and magisterial power was against the defendant , on ace oust j « f being » weU-smown Chartist . Our correspondent is ] acquainted with cotae of the doings at the Station- 1 houM , which wm form matter for Parliamentary en- j « nay . ] \
Untitled Article
tic ? . Three clrec-rs were given for Fcargus O'Cunaor , t ' iree for Frost , three for the Charter ; and though the reverend reporter for the Herald says a vote of thanks was giten to tht chairman , tbe \ rath is , that a rote of centure was proposed , and cxRaiBD too against that eiemptery functionary ; not twenty hands being held up against its adoption , so shame-stricke * were even his own faction at his gross partiality , and intolerable fury against the friends of civil and religious liberty . Three cheers were proposed for Dan . O'Consell ; and almost the only sentence of truth In the HeraUft report is to be found in the description of th » reception of this proposition . The first cheer was weak , next weaker , and . the third most weak the parties being diffident of exalting their few and humble voices , unaccompanied by the vast majority of the assembly . These are the tntt tactics . for tbe Chartist *—peace , union , and persereranoe .
London Demonstration Committbb . —The London Demonstration Committee , which is composed of three members from each branch of the Metropolitan Charter Association , with a section of the Riding Council , have get on famously in the way of funds : money will not be wanted for the display on the Monday after New Year ' s Day . The Committee have taken the White Conduit House for that day . The sections will meet on Clerkenwell Green at three o ' clock , so as to . be ut White Conduit House by six . The drums -sriil be muffled , ind each member will wear black crape on his arm j the various musical instruments , waDds . fcc , will be also enmourned , and profound silence is to be preserved by the prooession throughout the whole route . The reports of the various collectors have been very favourable , and all is waticipated to go off splendidly .
Htsterious Disappearance Mr . Benjamin Wx * den , who has for some years held the situation of Surveyor of Pavements in the parish of Marylebone , has for some time past been missing from his house in Great Chesterfield-street , Marylebone . Mr . Warden was a man of such strict punctuality and sobriety , and so much confidence has been reposed-ln his integrity , that various fears are afloat as to his disappearance . The parish authorities , we hear , have offered a reward for his discovery . He carried on business also as a suddler , and it is said was involved deeply by a law-suit One rumour is , that the sum of £ 250 of the parish money is missing .
A lecture wss to have twen delivered last evening , at the Ma . rylebune ' 8 Mechanic ' s Institution , by Mr . Chapman , before the Charter Association , but such was the inclemency of the weather , that few persons were in attendance ; the lecturer himself had not arrived at halfpast nine , and the evening waa spent in desultory conversation . Thb frost has been very severe for the last two days , and during the whole of to-day the snow has descended with every indication of a deep and continued falL
Perhajs the old adage , " times were never bo bad ;" is how again as true as ever . Judging by the hundreds who are grumbling , tbe numbers who are actually suffering privation , and tbe thousands who seem to be , and probably are , in a sinrihir condition , we should think few chrifrtmases will have been accompanied with a greater depth of misery , tLan tbe one now approaching .
Untitled Article
TO THE WORKTXG MEX OF THE COUNTIES OF WARWICK , WORCESTER , AND STAFFORD . FELLOW-WOBKIXG Ml >" , —Impressed with the great and important necessity that exists for the election and support of a lecturer in the counties ef Warwick , Worcester , and Stafford , I beg moBt respectfully to request that the following towns and districts "will forthwith delegate the number of persons affixed to the end of the names of the places , via : Blrmi ^ jham , 2—Kidderminster , 2—Bromsgrove , 1 Kuncaton , 1—Stourbridge , 1—Worcester , 1—Studley and Rt-dditch , 1—Warwick . 1—Wolverhampton . 1—Bilston and Darlaston , 1—West Bromwich and Wedneabury , 1—Dudley and Districts , 1—I / . chfieM . 1—Tamworth , 1—Coleshill , 1 —Leamington , 1—Stafford , 1—Staffordshire Potteries , 2—Walsall . 1 .
To meet at Bill ' s Coffee House , Moor-street , on Sunday afternoon , December 27 th , 1 S 40 , at four o ' clock precisely , to consider the best means that can be adopted for the purpose of electing a lecturer on behalf of the Charter , and for the obtaining of our natural rights . By order of the Council of the Birmingham National Chartar Association , W . H . COTTON , Secretary . P . S . Every delegate will be required to bring his credentials with him , signed by the Chairman of the meeting who elected him . December isth , 1840 .
Untitled Article
CHARTISTS ! LOOK OUT !! Chartists of the United Kingdom ! arc jour eyes open 1 if not , rut them instantly . The middle classes are trying to put salt on your tails . The feast of chaff is all in preparation : will the old bhds be caught ? The household suffrage men—the " Foxes , "—
are preparing to entertain the " geese " with a national cackle in Leeds . The Big Dog-Fox , Can , —the Fox who has lost his tail , —will take this opportunity of seeking to have the tail stitched on again . He feels queer without it and would like to blarney it back from the people who have docked it .
1 ¦ ¦ plain words , a grand effort is to be made at Leeds to recover some portion of the lost popularity of Dan , and , by means of him , of the lost power of the mi Idle classes . The middle classes feel themselves powerless , without the people ; the Whig section of them find the Tories yet too strong for them ; and they again call the people to the rescue . They kindly offer to place themselves once more at vour head , and lead you ! They would sell you to 0 ' Cornell , who would sell you to the Devil . They would blind you' by telling yon that their " eyes are open "that th « y -will watch Dak , to see that he does
not pick pockets ! Faith ! let them do so ; but if you den ' t watch both , aod all of them , you are deservedly damned ! They bid Household Suffrage for your support —a support which they never vet had , but they abused and sold it . But they will fail this time . The whole gang of foxes will find their grains left on hand ; the geese won ' t gobble them . The " eyes " of the people " ARE OPEN " , as well as as those of the Foxes ; &nd they -will not be again gulled .
P The middle classes will never again be permitted to take the lead in any great movements . The back ground is their place , and they must be made to'know it and to keep it . They are disposed to make this a NATIONAL demonstration ; and they must not be disappointed . The nation must be aroused . The
I -i 1 I . 11 Leaders of the people from every part of the United Kingdom must be in Leeds on that day : The people , en masse , from every town , village , and hamlet , within thirty-six miles , must be in Leeds-on that day to do honour to O'Connellto show him the estimation in which he is holden by the people of Eneland .
i , About it then at once ! Appoint Committee * instantly in every town and village . Appoint collectors , and let funds be raised—and the monies at once transmitted to the Central Committee , sitting at Leeds , who will make all the arrangexients for gmng him and the Foxes a full belly , if only the people don ' t fail them ! We must not have a man fewer than three hundred thousand honest Chartists assembled in Leeds that day ! ! Not a man less ! and all up to the mark !
Bring all your " hooret with you ! and let the villain see the blooming faces of traduced English "women swelling with virtuous indignation , while their husbands , sons , and brothers , cast the vile calumny into the monster ' s teeth ! Stir ! Stir ! ! lose not the time—be readymake the Foxes stare and the Geese gabble with amazement doomed to be perpetual .
Untitled Article
THE FORCE OF OPINION . There are three stages required for the completion of any peat change which depends nponthenational will . Lafayette has said , " For a nation to he free it is Buffioient that she wills it "; but , in order that she may will it effeotually , it is absolutely necessary , firstly , that public opinion be ereated with a view to the achievement of the object , secondly , that public opinion be organised for the promotion of the object , and , lastly , that public opinion be properly directed towards the attainment of the objeot . The creation , the organisation , and the direction of opinion are the three great atageB in the course of any national undertaking . '
If we may now revert to by-gone times and touch gently upon error , without imputing other motives than over-xeal , we may observe that a delation from the right road led us down sundry bye ways and cross-paths in the course of our journey and that we are only just now finding ourselves after such laeanderings once more in the high road ; but we are there .
In 1839 , it was almost to be expected that so many young drivers would be anxious to take the reins of the national chiriot , not more to try their hands for self gratification , than to show to their share of the passengers , ( their-constituents ) that they were quite equal to the service they had undertaken . It is not in the nature of man to rest quiet and inactive through every course during which he is in a
state of preparation for the discharge of duties to be subsequently imposed upon him ; he will be eternally experimentalising : and if such is the propensity of individuals , merely in a 6 tate of training for a race in which there is no competitor , how much more likely is ibis national desire to burst forth when stimulated by all the inducements of pride and emulation , in a general struggle for preeminence
. Our opinions with respect to the late Convention are too well known to admit of suspicion or doubt ; we have more than once declared , that taking into consideration the magnitude of the uudertaking , and all the circumstances attendant thereupon , tha Convention did wonders . Of necessity it occupied for some time a merely negative position , from which it never could emerge until it had been attacked ; and the Government , aware of that fact , dared not attack it , until internal treason had made it an easy prey to faction .
The Cobbetts , the Birmingham men , and the moral philosophers , who paraded the question of physical force as a gho 3 t to fence with , were the first assailants of the Convention ; and the fir 8 t grand error committed by the bod y was the appointment of missionaries from their own ranks , instead of the selection of those persons not of the Convention in the districts wh * re ihey were known , and beyond the precincts of which they could not prudently have passed . This error led to the most fatal results . Firtly , from the moment of tho return of
the several missionaries , we find that the members sought rather a personal alliance with the inhabitants comprised within tho scope of their several missions , than paternity with the nation or correspondence of opinion with their fellow Delegates . They informed themselves of the bearing of sections and spoke to tho ^ e sectional feelings , and correpoaded with the leaders outside , and thereby made a completely new political acquaintanceship ; while , although the accomplishment of the Charter was ' the aim and end of all , very different modes
were pnt into requisition by the several missionaries for its furtherance . The system of missionaries then gave rise to conflict , and led to accHsation and recrimination , while the mode of payment subsequently led to unbecoming disputes , and but too often to personal animosity . A saw no reason why hs should not have the same rule of payment observed towards him as w » a observed towards B ; he cared not for himself , but submission would be an insult to his constituents Perhaps another fault was in the Executive Council
convening the Convention after the funds were nearly exhausted , and giving opportunity for the publication of the differences of opinion , which appeared to exist , ( and which were much heightened by the various impressions locally made as to the saered holiday , ) in a body among whom union should have been the watch-word . With all those faults , however , we still affirm , that never did a weak body more sturdily contend against the whole strength of organised faction , than did the People ' s Parliament . Had it not been for the Convention , we
might have struggled for years before we had found ourselves in our present advanced position . The Convention has given tyranny a shake , which it never can , which it nevtr shall , recover ; it has opened the whole question of ri ^ ht , determination , and abuse , to the world ; and while it has been the means of portraying some of the vices of human naturo in individuals , it has also been the means of developing many national virtues . The very fact of the working men seeing those
inconsistencies , and arguing and remonstrating with the body , but Btill preserving their confidence , in such of the leaders as have since stood by them , raise * the judgment , the integrity , and good sense of th 9 industrious classes in the estimation of every unprejudiced mind , while the fact of all clinging to the vessel in the pelting storm which has since raged , dispels all hope of the enemy ever taking the present Chartist garrison , as they have taken all former ones , by dividing asd conquering .
We never have been for pushing the public mind beyond what it was capable of bearing . We felt convinced that if no desertions had taken place from the ranks of the Convention , Government must of necessity have met the demands of the people ; we feel bo still , and we now feel that having weathered treason , treachery , and persecution , tho people are Btronger without the Convention , than they were after the first breachy shoep had broken from the fold .
Let us for a moment consider what was the position of the people befor * the establishment of the Convention , as compared with their present position . The people were looked upon as only formidable according to their loc * l strength aa led on , occasionally , by local crotchet-mongere . Glasgow gave no strength to Birmingham ; Shffiield gave no strength to Manchester . Birmingham , in fact , the first of all towns , had boon but newly marshalled for Household Suffrage , as a grand step in the progress of Reform , and thus it was in all other towns , large and small , each following a pbantom and that phantom only the new creation of « ome restless leader ' s brain . Then we find Attwood flying paper kites and the ga » eis
in admiration crying , " Behold ! " The press never mentioned the party of the people , save in derision . In the se-reral struggles between the Wbigg and Tories no account waB made of popular strength or iaclinauon ; when aeetings of the factions were convened , at which the people attended , they were invariably led by the bugaboo of Toryism and Cumbsrlahd , and appeared , for ] ack of combination and unity of purpoae , as mere appendages of the then least anpopular faction ; their leaders , though never ? o violent , were not worthy the consideration of tht Attorney-General ; because their breath was only & « a local draft , not even a current of the great storm .
What now is the position of tbe people ! The press ocenpied with reports of the ChartiBts , their meetirjga , their martyrs , their principles , and the means of accomplishing them ; the old Whig leaders , stretching both hands , crying , Save us , or we perish "; no meetings but those of the Chartists , no party but tliat of the Chartists , who though not ia power , in tho political sense of the word , arc yet so powerful as to make it wholly impossible for either of the recognised factions to do ioore than scramble for quarter day ; the leaders , at lar £ e , more bold in consequence of the increased duties impe&ed upon them by the incarceration of their friends ; new missionaries springing up ; new
Untitled Article
associations formed ; no new question , though ever so fascinating or full of promises , allowed to bo introduced at their meetings ; no deserter or body of deserters taking the slightest strength from the ranks they have abandoned , or carrying with them any strength to the enemy to whom they desert , beyond the mere unit of individual turpitude . These and many other great things did the Convention accomplish ; but even these fade into utter insignificance when compared with the great achievement of infusing the real democratic
provincial spirit into the putrid and rotten rump of metropolitan liberality . Previously to the establishment of the Convention , the nose-led politicians of London threw a damp over the high spirit of the provinces ; a lot of jugglers were ever and anon putting a new face upon the old monster , in order to laugh a starving people out of the belief , that giving all their money to others made themselves poor . The Convention , however , dragged London through the Malthusian mire , and placed it upon the green sod of provincial Radicalism , and from tho moment that the country
batteringram broke down the old barrier , pure , unsullied , and genuine opinion made a rush to the breach ; and now London , thanks to tho Convention , is garrisoned by the veritable corps of fustian jackets , blistered hands , and unshorn chins , and not all the tickling palms , twitohing noses , and itching hands in the empire can dislodge them till the national flag shall float upon the tower . ThiB , of itself , was a triumph worth twenty times the expence , else would London have continually met the country's call by a marble monument for martyrs , sympathy for the Canadians , promised result from classical education , or some such Bide-wind boon .
Now , a word as to the enemies of the Convention . Attwood has written a letter to somebody complaining that he has failed in his attempt to give us one pound notes aud Universal Suffrage , and upon this ( knowing his incapacity to grasp great political questions ) we should have remained silent had he not , frog-like , puffed himsolf into part notoriety and pompous importance , by saying that " the
failure of the Convention proves the unfitnos 8 of a House of Commons , chosen by Universal Suffrage for legislative purposes . " This assertion makes Mr ! Attwood fair game , and we incline to think that , without any great stretch of fancy , or the least animosity , we shall prove the good-natured , but incompetent , banker to have been the very head and tail of the failure . Let us begin .
Firstly , men never do cordially undertake that which is forced upon them , and even Household Suffrage waa forced late in the day upon Atwood , by his own small circle of politicians . This step was taken for the one pound notes ; the pressure from without very speedily forced Axtwood , and most reluctantly , to adopt Universal Suffrage , even 80 late as 1839 ; Household Suffrage was the Union motto , vide Birmingham Political Union Medal . The selection of one-sixth of the whole Convention , at a guinea a-day per head , waa made from
Attwood s special fund , of whom all , save one , deserted . Attwood proposed the saored week , and when opposed by 0 'Connon , except upon the condition that committees should be formed , and funds vested in their hands for the support of the national soldiers , while the officers were fighting their own battles , and unless bankers would refuse to dis ' count , and merchants to make and receive consignments , Attwood began to talk of one million , two
millions , and three millions of pain of strong arms . Attwood ' s friends then deserted the Convention , and Attwood himself , when the day of skirmish approached , began to get frightened , and told the deputation , who waited upon him with the National Petition , that he never would support equal representation , because it would deprive England of ibat superiority which , since the conquest , the bad held over Ireland ; this deprived Attwood , but not the Convention , of Irish sympathy and confidence . The next fault in whieh we find Attwood is , in the presentation of the People ' s Petition , when he sung the national anthem to his own tune of
" Bang It up to the One Pound Note . " " Bang It up to the One Pound Note . " The whole effect of the debate upon the People's Petition was marred , nullifiod , destroyed—nay , rendered worse than a failure—by the incomparable ignorance , self-sufficiency , and arrogance of the liberty-loving kite-ftiers . Th ^ s , then , we trace to
Attwood , aa their source , all oar temporary misfortunes ! and this poor fellow takes fright upon the first experiment , and he , with his whole staff , all but one man ( and , indeed , Collins nerer was his man ) , desert the people , tiy tho field , turn Mayors , Town Cleiks , and Informers , and then turning those ( return they do not ) establ < sh tho fact , that the people are not
fit for the Suffrage ! Very flimsy logic this , in faith No , no , Master Attwood , we tell you what it proves ; it proves that your staff were not fit for the Suffrage , and that nothing but the Suffrage can destroy such perfidy . Of all men living , Attwood has least right to complain of the people ; they allowed him to play his " pranks before high heaven " , and often while they laughed at his folly , good-naturedly hnmoured his simplicity ; and , let it be borne in mind , that tho Scotch tour of the rifle brigade and musket commissioners of Birmingham patriots , was all at the expenee of the funds of the Political
Union ; that these gentlemen travelled , eat , drank , and slept at the people ' s expence , and got a guinea a day per head in tho Convention , fur selling them and that no acoount has , as yet , been passed by the political tourists . Now we call for the items , and we trust that our nice censor of the True Scotsman , whose scrupulousness led him to publish the tavern bills of M'Docall , Collins , and White , will joinuB in this our just demand . We never yet have had a settlement of this account ; justice demands it , and Mr . Attwood , whose honesty , any more than big good nature , we never questioned , 6 hould , for hi own sake , forthwith order a balance-sheet to be prepared for the public satisfaction .
We have now shewn how far the Convention , with all its faults , has effected the creation and the organisation of public opinion : those are the drill Serjeants , and ere long , when the second process in the course of organisation is performed , common sense , a perfect knowledge of the national will and national strength must , as a matter of course , give to tnat overwhelming power such a direction as no hired physical force can successfully resist . How the principle of Universal Suffrage is to bo carried is now the only question , for ( hat it will be carried
no man but a fool oan doubt . Whether the monopolists will or will not yield to moral force , is for them to decide ; but that the people will have it , erea though at tho expence of life itaelf , they may re » t assured , and we entirely agree with our friend , Tail , that when the people are prepared to take , then , and not till then , will the monopolists be prepared to yield ; and , ia order to be thus prepared , a thorough organisation of that will , whioh hag been so
successfully created , i 6 absolutely necessary ; as without it , our forces are but as raw recruits before an organieed , well armed , and well drilled enemy , and we rejoice to think that an opportunity for displaying the effect of our organisation cannot be long withheld ; for , juggle as they may , the time must come when necessity shall say tht Parliament it dutohed . Thus our prospect is not a remote one . The Whigs will be infinitely worse off , and more rabid , upon the next use of their own machine , than even before its firBt application to their sole use .
Let the people then be ready for the dissolution , which cannot bo long postponed , and then will the fruits of the Convention be eeen , notwithstanding the railings of fools , the desertion of traitors , and the short-lived triumph of tyrants , whose death-knell mil be sounded .
Untitled Article
Let the Chronicle now attend and hear . Every agency that man and the Devil could devise has been set to work to crush the Star . Many of our readers have been compelled to seek an asylum in-foreign lands ; many have been discharged for hearing the Star read . ' Six months of tho dead season hate passed away—no portraits , no bills , no "high priest of Chartism" to keep up excitement ; the flicker o ?
Chartism extinguished in the dark cell of the felon ' s dungeon ; the proprietor muffled , gagged , tonguetied , during the whole period , and jet will the next returns shew the increased circulation of the passing quarter to be larger than the whole eftdolatum © t any other provincial journal in the empire ^ an ! 4 ot incbbasb of a bqna fide circulation to be evea larger than the bona fid * circulation of the Weekly Chronicle . This , we think , will at onee settle the question of the Chartist press , and prove that , instead of a decline , there ha 3 been but a merging into one body This announcement will , no doubt , add much to the comfort of our friend .
Untitled Article
THE MIRACLE . W HOUSEHOLD SUJFEAGB WOTJL © DESTROY JHE INFLUENCE OF TOWNS , STRENGTHEN THE ABISTOCRACY , AUD PEBPETUATB THB CORN LAWS . " Such are the sixteen words , and such is the order in which they stand at the head of the last letter to Mr . Fox Stansfeld from the Editors of the Leeds Mercury ; and had we been aware of such a finish to the correspondence we might have spared all our labour , which in the round went to prove what , at length , the Editors are compelled to admit , that the Reform Bill was a cheat upon the people , and a mere transfer of power from one faction to another .
Here in three short lines , in thirteen of the sixteen words , the Mercury most ingeniously establishes the whole fact . Can confession be more candid than that contained in the Mercury ' s words to the effect ; firstly , that neither our Government nor the electoral body represent even a decent minority of the whole people ; nay , not even virtually , which has hitherto been the assertion % Secondly , that the franchise is a middle-class franchise ; and , thirdly , that , at present , 27 per cent . of the whole population have 61 1 per cent , of the whole representation , and this 61 J consisting of the representatives of cities , towns , and boroughs .
In a former letter of the Editors wo have an admission—first , that Household Suffrage would enfranchise Irish bog-trotters , Scotch rapparees , English and WeUh riff-raff , and all the imperial tag-rag-and-bobtail ; and here we have the admission that such a constituency would , mind would the positive , not might be artfully made to do , but " would destroy the influence of towns , strengtlien the
aristocracy , and perpetuate the Corn Laws" If then , an extended constituency , to the amount of the Mercury ' s anticipation of Household Suffrage , would have such an effect , are we not justified in crowing braying , barking , and flapping our wings , for having invariably and systematically oontended for the only measure of suffrage which would not destroy any reasonable influence , but which would equally represent all .
We have always preferred the rural to the urban population—the pure country air to the cities' putrid fog ; and if tyranny is to continue , the half-yearly to the half-hourly tyrant . We have made many very round- * bout-way extracts from the Editorstheir notions as regards the legitimacy of Governments , as well as the mode of applying the electoral influence to any pet measure . " Your plan , " say the Bainksbs , in a former letter , " would let in a Tory Government : " " your plan , " fay the scribes , in their last , " would perpetuate the Cora Laws . " Now , can admission be more plain than that our Government and the Corn Law repealers are the mere weeds of Reform ; and that that measure is to constitute the sum and substance of the Whig toola * support of WhUrgery .
We fear that oar over-anxious and too-zealousfriends of . the Mercury mil get into sad disrepute with the more clever adherents of faction , by their unambiguous disclosures of Whig weakness . We have not only the sweeping admission from the Editors , that every trick , device , and artifice should be resorted to for the purpose of keeping this represent-themeolves Government in power , but we aetually have an expression of regret that the Whfr running string , the reform " cordon sanilaire , " has not been more nicely , lightly , and critically drawn round every reformed borough . Will the sane readers of the Mercury ( if euchja class exists ) just read the following lamentation of the Reformers j they say-
—In Bipon , if the town population alone returned the members , the Liberals would have a chance of succeeding ; but the district around the town , and comprised within the borough , has enabled Miss Lawrence and other Tory proprietor * to bring in their tenant ! , and to swamp the Liberal voters of the town . " Let us first balance accounts as to the swamping j for when , we ask , did mortal man know of a Whig being behind hand at the game of political swamp I Having , then , established ; an equality before the
swamp , let us look for the Mercury , principle . Had we had only houses represented , say the merry men of Briggate , we should have secured Ripon , but because Miss Lawrence has slipped in a little bit about the edges , aud thereby even given you a miniature of equal representation , we , the Reformers , have been ousted ; we have lost Ripon . Can anything be more unblushing ]; and will the Editors , after this , he henceforth looked upon as leaders even of a Municipal Ward !
What is the inference 1 Why , simply that a reform borough was intended as a Whig dtsh , with juBt so much of Tory opposition as would constitute a piquant sauce , as without some opposition the thiug would be too palpable , barefaced , and insipid ; in fact , the Tory votes were to be the ruffla to the Whig shirt . In short , alter , disarrange , or even meddle with the beautiful machine , say the Mercury men ; nay , even talk about its imperfections , aud you forthwith expose the whole thimble-rig of Reform .
Let us now briefly remark upon the two great objects aimed at by our friends in their nearly one soore of columns fired at poor Fox Stafsfeld . In their firat letter , they speak of the constituencies as that portion of society which may be reasonably deemed " likely to support a Whig Government . In latter the second , they contend for the means of perpetuating the rule of the present Government as the party most likely to make an assault upon the yet unreformed abuses . If such was really their object , tve would recommend them to begin by undoing everything they have done . In letter the
third , the writers propose another object— - " the repeal of the Corn Laws" ; and we leave to the reader to judge of the great value of those desirable objects , when we learn that the only means of effecting them is by the very narrowest franchise which pablio opinion will admit of . The writer most ferociously contend , that tho very narrowest constituencies alone can insure the two great , liberal , desirable , and fatriotic objects . Th « Mer-• vry editors have devoted five oolnmni to ' one truth , and an overwhelming amount of old statistical
rubbish , tablet ) of Parliamentary divisions , and loaf extracts from the gpeecheg of all the fools , whether living , or dead , which could be pressed into the Mtrmry service , or tortured into support , or even countenanee of their views . In their population table of Parliamentary cities , towns , and boroughs , which , above every other circumstance , would go to support Stahoteld against them , they so mash , mingle , and jumble—population and houses , brains and mortar , bricks and common sense—together , that no mortal can make head or tail of the motive for which the table is used . We
must now have a single word about the Corn Laws substantively . Our friends gay that Household Suffrage would perpetuate the Corn Laws . Very good . But let us enquire who . . the- ' parties moat | likely to be householders are ! We should
The Northern Star. Saturday, December 19, 1840.
THE NORTHERN STAR . SATURDAY , DECEMBER 19 , 1840 .
Untitled Article
THI XO-POPEiT MMTIJIO lit GlAyTOK-STBEST , yuzao-r-SqcAiLS . —la mj letter of Thurniay lart , I alluded U thi « meeting , then to be held on the morrow treeing , and ai "which aome / w was expected ; to it ha * turned out KotwithsUndiag all the tfforU of the conveners to paek tbe meeting , aboat 800 Chartists Attained admiation , by right , aa inhabitants of the bofftugh of MarrleboBe . The iMondmc Herald , in a ] long and false report , « yi , that the resolutions , eon- j denming Popery and landing the Protettact Associa- tion , " were earned by a large majority : -whereas the Ttry reverse vu the fact : and indeed several parsons oa the platform , admitted in the hearing of our correspondent , that they had been beaten . The police were called in , doubtless in the hope that some of the Char . ! tests iron } d , by attempting to speak , or to move , coaster j resolutions , contrary to the chairman ' s wiih . lay them- i selves open to tha interference ef these civil fellows , j But the Bads , were " not to be had" at this game ; I they contested themselves with simply voting " on j the contrary , " to the resolution ; and thus , -with i tbe sad of some Catholic * , making a majority of at i * a * t tea to one against the 2 ro » Popery higoU and fana-
Untitled Article
TRIUMPH OF ViRTUJS OVER VICE ; IMPRISONMENT OF THE WORKING CLASSES ; DECLINE AND FALL OF THE VICIOUS PORTION OF THE PRESS . While the knowledge-mongers deal largely in their anathemas against popular ignorance , they most scandalously withhold , from public notice , many facts best known to themselves , confirmatory of the rapid advance made by the " lower erdors , " both in taste and literature . As Geobge Henry Ward , M . P . for Sheffield , has been the principal
brawler about tbe ignorance of the working classes , and their consequent unfitness for the franchise , we are justly entitled to direct that gentleman's especial attention to the virtue of public taste now , as compared with the juvenile days of the Greenacre Chronicle , or Weekly Newgate Calendar . Demand and supply are Siamese youths , as regards tho press ; the great pot will bo set a boiling , and the great wheel set a going , for a single copy , rather than allow a customer to go to the next shop , which , whether of genial or adverse politics , is equally a competitor in trade .
When the Chronicle was a Newgate Calendar , it had a circulation'of nearly a hundred thousand a week , with rather a cheap etching establishment ; as a very slight alteration in the features of Gbebnachk made the remains of that distinguished individual serve for Mr . LEADERat the Westminster election , and , subsequently , for many oiher persons of equal celebrity ; while new drapery and a royal nose was all the change that our friend Hannah Browne underwent , to constitute her a fac iimife of the Queen , or Queen mother , as occasion required . Every
condemned cell , brothel , Btew-hole , loek-up , fancyheuse , hell , Tom and Jerry-shop , boxing-ring , and police sessions was watohed with a jealous and an eagle eye by the Chronicle caterers for public morals and juvenile instruction . The growing youth were made quite familiar with the fashionable slang of the dayl Jem Ward , Dutch Sam , the Game Chicken , Spring , Cribb , and the " upper class" of Chronicle society , was placed before the young idea as most onviable specimens of morale , and the " fancy " as worthy of imitation . A whole stand of cabs has
not unfrequently been taken by assault , by the u corp diplomatique" of the master of " haut ton , " roused into action by the glorious news of some sudden affray , or tit bit for growing genius , such as a bloody murder , ferocious rape , appalling suicide , noble dog fight , splendid cock fight , unequalled boxing match , last appearance and penitential exit of Greenacre , or some such treat for the lovers of science and morality ; but then the people were , in the estimation of friend Chron ., the very pink of perfection , and not only entitled to a vote , but to a
treat ; and why not ! The reflecting mind , however , Boon becomes disguste , not only with vice , but with those who furnished it ; and by degrees we find the Chronicle falling , falling , falling , till at length it has fallen from a hundred thousand to less than ten thousand of a bona fide sale ; and in the exact ratio in which improved morals forced the Chronitle from open vice to the assumption of virtue , has its suffrage strings been drawn tighter and tighter , till at length we find the old " fancy " grubber even behind our neighbour of the Mercury
in his notions as to who may be " reasonably deemed" fit for the franchise . Most newspapers consider , or rather affect to consider , their own readers as that portion of society in whom is vested an inherent right of representation ; and thus , since the falling off of our friend , we find him most pugnaciously contending for the principle of the Chronicle ' s , subscribers alone being entitled to the franchise . Of late , our friend has engaged some most consummate philosopher to propose questions for the people whioh neither man nor beast can understand , and , beeause lacking knowledge to comprehend political conundrums , the number of those ** reasonably deemed" has been still further limited .
By a repetition of this rule by some more deep metaphysician , we shall find the " reasonably deemed" so fine drawn as to be at last wholly confined to the solvers of political riddles . In short , the Downing-street whipper-in , having contrived to get the game list , and some palace kitchen advertisements , together with garbage from the Government and Ordnance stores , now sees " reasonably deemed " through the Whig advertising telescope ; and , like his brethren of the little red spot in the oorner , he is resolved to make his paper . respectable—•/ he can . We shall rejoice to hear of the rake ' s reclamation , of the prodigal ' s return , and of the Chronicle * conversion .
Newspapers very much resemble new streets in a city , the houses of which are , iu the first instance , generally taken as hells , brothels , gin palaces , or beer ihops , till ,-by degrees , thereBt become tenanted by respectable lodging-house keepers , tradespeople , quiet families , and so forth , and at length the vicious are squeezed into a corner , and , finally , vice is routed out altogether . Such is precisely therostino course of most newspapers ; they begin with the scaffold , the brothel , the hell , and gin palace , till , by degrees , the advertising eommuauy , requiring a better market for their wares , squeeze tho old friends into a little corner , and , finally , mo 4 unceremoniously dislodge the architect of the building .
The odds are Lombard-street to a China orange , that the virtuous proprietor of the Chronicle would be immensely offended , nay , wounded to the quick , if requested by his old supporters to give them an improved Bketch of tho penitent Greek acre , and his reclaimed paramour , Hamnah ; while in nothing do we see so strongly manifested the improved taste of the industrious classes , as in the improved tone of their organ . The Chronic !* could not now seli 2 , 000 Tom and J eery papers at any price . The people have taken to the right way of thinking ; the demand was there , and the supply came , and while the Chronicle ignorantly speaks of the imaginary falling off
of the Chartist press , we substantially rejoice in the galloping consumption leading to a speedy dissolution of the Gbeeiucre Journal and all the other immoral prints . Let our friends be politically consoled , while we are peculiarly satis fied , with the faot , that we have now ten readers , if not purchasers , for every one wo had in our palmiest days , before a Whig plundering Government had deprived the poor man of a -wholb cheap paper . Let him rejoice while he believes what we assert , without fear of refutation , that the news of the " Star" is read by and for a greater number of per sons than every other paper in the kingdom put together .
When the Chronicle Bpeaks of the failure of the Charter , the Operative , and the Southern Star , he should bear in mind that the Charter , and Operative were sixpenny papers started without capital , and too doar for the class of readers by which alone they could be supported But , in conclusion , let the M . P . further bear in mind , that the principles ofthe Harare temporanoe . charUy , and sobriety , anti-war and anti-revolution . No melo-dramatic bloody wars and blue fire—no catering to vioe { but , on the contrary , a journal for
the porttayal of the poor man ' a knowledge and the poor man ' s virtues , by the poor themselves , who can best expose aristocratic lust , and most foroibly describe its effects upon their condition . That the Star posts no bills of contenta ; that the Stor gives not one single paper upon sale or return ; that the Star has no traveller ; that the Star recommends moral force , but , nevertheless , justifies consK tutional resistance to tyranny ; and not only that ,
but contends for the right of the people to have arms , and to UBe those arms , for such change as a majority of the nation shall proclaim to be useful , necessary and for the common good of the State ; and well pleased should we be to find every reader of the Star in the condition to defend ri ^ ht aud oppose injustice ; and sure we are , that an armed people is the best bulwark of a constitutional government , while an unarmed people must over be a prey to faction , tyranny , treason , lust , and deoeit .
Untitled Article
. / jr . . . - . - w THE- NORTHERN STAB . ¦ ¦ H
-
-
Citation
-
Northern Star (1837-1852), Dec. 19, 1840, page 4, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/ns/issues/king-y1kbzq92ze2715/page/4/
-