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THE NORTHERN STAR SATURDAY, DECEMBER 2«, 1840.
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^oetrg.
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TO "BE 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.
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EHOUT ? 0 R T&E CHAPTER . LND FREEDOM IS NEAR . Hearts of Old England , poor acd degraded ! Up , and gi-re orer your sighs to the wind ; Strike for your Freedom , and be not upbraided * " As cowardly serfs by the rest of mankind . Whit are ye dreading can worse come than hunger ? That gna-vrs out your Titals , and ¦ wastes you to death Tis easier t » die vhere the battle shall thunder , Thau perisi ihua slowly , and gasp out your breath . fp in your might , then , and be ye true hearted ; Ask ' for your rights with a front lika the braTe , Think of the martyrs to freedom , departed ! Live in their ipirit , or find ye their grave !
Bead ye of Cromwell : and -what may be done * The sound of your muster will conquer as well ! Far less mi-jhi than yours the battle has won ; Aye , think of Wat Tyler , of Wallace , and TelL Gather ye . ' gather ye . ' come o ' er the heather , Thick in your millions from nountain and glen ; 2 » umber , like treei in the forest , together : Council ye union—be broihexs . ' be men ! gland your a larm from the sea to the centre ! A dastard is he -who refuses his aid ; © see in your lifetime for liberty venture ! ShVfce off vour lethargy : —he not afraid . '
Terror shall strike every tyrant oppressor : Terror shall -waten fbeir senses to yield : Tenor alone is their father—con : Vssor , Tabsolvc them , and give us again the broad field . Why do ye slumber ! inglorious—repiniDf—One effort s : rescne . from thra'dom and shame ! Avaunt your ccrnp ' iainicg , and wincing , and whining Tp , like vvur fathers , to conquset and fame ! Act a rew KaiiBvniede ! purchase new glory : Live ia the boast of all aces to ojnie—The bre . i = t of each Briun shall swell at the story , And depots for eTer be wi : her'd and gone . Dare it ' . —no l * nger be cowards in straggle ! Fed at your bosoms—your conscience is clear ; Bear do-wn the f- > e , and y ^ u break , up the juggle ; Shout fur the Charter and freedom is near . William Hick . Leeds , author of tie Chartist Song book .
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ANSWER TO AN ENIGMA IN THE XOBTHER * STAR OF DEC . 12 , 1540 . Tour er . irma is answered by writing a figure , la s . ze , or dimensions , be smaller or bieger j Variety spreads throughout all the creation , Yet , port-lite , it stands over all our nation . Its brothers are nine , tho" diTersiSed strangely , But finely united , we see them msst plainly In every land , as the scholars have reckoned , We must have a first , or we can't have a second .
This wonderful ngnre , tho' ever so small , Is sure ' . '' ' be first at the church , rout , or ball , At the horse tzcz , both Legar and sweepstakes are taken By the horse that is first , whosoe ' er be mistaken ; Bu : to draw to 3 close my poetical story , This figure stands forth of ail others the glory , Tour enigma to solve , may philosophers bother : Yet the answer is 0 > 'E , knd there is not another . J . C . E . Blttk . I > ec . 15 . 15-to .
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LINES ADDRESSED TO THE PRINCESS ROYAL . The merry bells with joyful tiding ? ring , And hireling birns to thee thrir false songs raise ; And sycophancy strikes the lyric string . Whilst heaven ' s high arches ecno with thy praise ; All welcome ther to life , and seem to sing , " Hail : hail 1 all hai ! ! then bright auspicious morn , To us this aay a royal babe ia born . " Around thy regal bed a venal throng , The pandering slaves of pamper'd royalty , -Speai of thy worth with falsehood ' s gilded tongue ; Eaek to the fulsome strains of flattery , Tuning his artful and deceiving song , Which fonts upon the tainted air that clingB , Around the joyless residence of kings . I tell thee not those tale 3 which smoothly glide ,
From uS the flatterer ' s slippery tongue ; nor yet Pour into thy weak ear the fulsome tide Of connly adulations ; which beget Within the mind that monster passion—pride ; ^ 7 \\ ™ i '> ' ^ " * F * ? sincerity of y » uth , I tell the simple tale or noaW . u » b-Why should I bid thee welcome ; if to me Thy birth affords no joy ; of pleasure naught ? And when iiy being , tho' it may but be , In the vast universe of life and thought , As one small speck—creates new misery , Increases the black store of human woe ? But these are strange truths thou mayst never know
How many toiling slaves , from whose heart ' s blood The wealth and grandeur of the rich are wrung ; How many weeping mothers , when the flood Of giief has overwhelm'd , and want has stung ; How many orphans , hungering for food , Mutter their secret curses on thy birth As a nt"w burthen crashing them to tarth ? Why should I praise thee , when thy mother's ear Heeds not a mourning natioa's earnest prayer , And c- ^ MSy disrf girds gritf' 5 scalding tear , The grams of va . v . 1 . which thror ^ the burde n'd air ? No , n- > , I cannot praise thee ; jet I fear On thee , perchance , the punishment of all The guilt and crim-s of royalty may fail .
For man ' s expanding mind mu * t soon dis : ern The chiitiish fo ; ly of supporting kings ; And , from the precepts of fair reason , leam Tohite ' . he insulting mockery , which springs Frura thrones , or senseless royalty ; and spurn Tha gorgsoiLS idol , rear'd . on tuman gora , Whicn priests and parasites have gilded o'er . Wm . Jones . IiveTDOiL
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Edinburgh , 14 th December , 1840 . Sib . —The following stanzas were suggested by the &ccid = T- * al perusal of a Whig recommendation to the sons uf toil to " sing" at their labour , and thereby render i : ' almcsi a pastime . " This son ? was sent to the " f&eiosophers , " who perhaps only retailed the ices ; bet a 3 they have taken no notice of it , 1 make bold to send it to a journal which I c- 'nstantly read , and which rears its proud front despite of ail the i : ttinj-. ts of crta-urea lite unto these " Chambers" to destroy its induence . I am , Sir , Yours respectfully , Ja > ses Stme .
LABOrR SONG . Te : l , brothers , tuil ; s = Dg and toil , From earliest di . wn till dark . What matter , though kln ^ i a ; id priests should spoil You have nothing to do but work . Go form the richest fabrics , And the costliest r ^ bes of gold , To deck the legaJ plunderers , WhiU : jou ' re = liTerh : g with the cold . Sing , brothers , sing , sing 3 nd toil , Though ragged an > l scant of bread ; You are honoured—the palace deigns to spoil From the worimaji ' s lowly
shed-Toll brothers , toil ; let the anvil ring With clanging blows , and strong ; Go force the ponderous bars , and = ing . . As you pant and sweat . , a song . Then sin ? , brothers sing , " the good and great , " Who t-nant the gay saloon , TTho " graciously" stoop from their high estate , And rob you . Blissful boon ! Toil , brothers , toil , sing and toil ; Draw not the avengers blade , Though perjured legislators spoil Your famishing children ' s bread . Raise palace homes upon the land , Send navies ocean o ' er The sickle wield with sturdy hand , The sparkling mine explore .
Toil , brothers , toil , from dawn to dark ; Let not the heart complain , Though you have hardly aught , save work The idler all the gain . Then ton , brothers , toil , sing and toil , Let not a cuoe be said , Though mitred knaves , and princes , spoil Each comfort from your shed . Sing , brothers , sing , I'd hare you sine " But ltt your ditties be Such anthems as can only ring From spirits that are free . Oppression ' s funeral dirge go sing , And peal the dying knell ' - Of public plunder and each courtly thing . ' Such songs would suit yeu welL JaMEJ STMfl .
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Wealth of Englasd . —The enterprising spirit of trJ tLK % ' - f 0 Stered ^ institutions which are the pride of Britons and the envy of the world , il £ nV ? ^ the *« W » ° f «» e nation , that almost as countlesa ram m the aggregate was choerfally len ; to the necessities of tK empire during the lw eventful struggle , not only for her own , but for a ni pTf 11 ^ ° f l > e World ' nothing short of lo * r « U lu&"on w ° « ld have satisfied the Sn ' m ^ nJ ^ ha ^ n contend with ' and nearl >' A 80 . j , COO , 000 were still due to the community . Many miUiona since 18 U have be . n loaned to European and Transatlantic states . But notwithstanding such Z ^'^ L i onthe P roductiT « energies of this glorious
. __ , . country , » nd the indebtedness ( to use an Ame-? n \ n ; . \ ° f Dearly aU ^ world to her capitalists milling , ° fr ! n ° twitll 5 tanding the hundreds of millions that nave been sunk in . lines , canals , docks , tmnS % »»\ roadB , there is still a boundlesl amount of wealth waning for employment in any SrlfT jeCt ° v . , « e , or whatever the more speculative may think to acquire a greater profit by any adventurous use of his capital in some one of the numerous schemes , domestic and foreigD , that daily court attention , and promise a sum in return mat would have been quite inadequate to satisfy the cupidity of the usurers of old .-tiughes on Loan
SoHawkie on Trial bt Jurt . —Hawkie has ground ol complaint againsi the law as it exists for choosing Jurymen ; we give his what is , and what should be acd leave these lor the due consideration of our leafc . lators , the Benthams , Broughams , Maekinto ^ es and iiomillys of a future generation . " Your Jurymen , at least the maist o' them that I hae secn-and im thankfu' that I ne ' er was afore ony-nveht hae been born and brought up in a cabbage bed ye may see , ouy day , as mony sensible looking kailstocks , wi their curly heads looking ower the creel " m the green market—and your Special Jury are nae better-they only differ in the length o' their shank * , -t-v ^ ry man worth twa hundred pounds U fit to sit on a man , and murder , transport him , or put him to gang up a woocen turnpike for a month , and get nae tarer thatwa
up n or three steps ; for though he ' - i gaun up a' the time , he getsna out o' the bit , which ! mass a perfect fool o a reasonable creature . It ' s no the rent o a house that a man Iive 3 in that should qualify mm for the Jury , for there ' s mony a twa- legged calf that owns a castle ; it ' s no the number i o his acres , for mony o' your lairds are of as j muckse value to the community aneath the earth as I aouon t . Tney cam out o' yird—a' they w * re worth was vird—they gacd to yird at last , when death had done his dar « wi' them : so " Yird aboon what else can they be below ? " ye micht put on their tombstanes tor an epiuph , for they ' re able to pay for a stane , but it should hae been yird too . It's " no the ciai' . h that covers the carcase ; the tailor wi' his shears , needle , and goose , can thus qualify him for omee , lur if this be a' that ' s necessary a cuddy as *
can carry ciaes : nor is t being able to jabber Greek and Latin—being brought up at a cohere , for they come out vri' heads as naked as a sheep aff the shears . 1 would ^ adv : se a' thae numskulls to be made writers o ' . if they can sign their ain name ; they ' ll taKe care o' themselves , and there ' s nae animal , that 1 ken , grips the grass sae near the grund as a goose . bo _ it s nane o' lMk possessions or adornments that , wi justice ajid humanity to poor criminals , should ever determine between guilt and innocence ; bat it ' s the man that has heart and head , that kens his am heart , and what crimes are there , though uncommitted , depend on't it ' s no his fault that they wtrtna —a man wha ' s tongue keeps within the teeth when nes guid to his neighbour— happin' the naked , and tiilin' the mouth o' the hungry—and instead o ' wishiDg poor wretches on the treadmill , or to let hangie put a rinnin' knot round their neck , would help to hide the poor wretch if they thocht that he wouldna do ' t atain . Were such like to'k to be set
up as judges o' right and wranj :, innocence and guilt , in our kintra , from the Lord Chancellor , wha's head is whiles nae better filled than his seat , to a magistrate o' ; he C ^ nnongate . wi' some feasibility it micht be ; a : d , that jusiice and judgment had their place amang us . "— Laxrd of Logan . Cam i . n Religion—Religious cant is truly disgusting to every class of society . It is hypocrisy covered by pretensions of devotion in the face and voice ; but generally such canting is perceived in such persons in civil soc : ety as well as religious . Canting is not confined to hypocrites in religion . Tuere are canticg physicians and apothecaries , canting lawyers and tradesmen , canting gentlemen and ladies ; the rich aud poor—the scholar and the dunce—the master , mistress , and servant , may be canters ; some preachers are guilty of this most
disgusting whine in their voice and servility in their manners , and receive from many of their hearers , who despise religion , praise for their excellent ser- mtms—and praise convejed in forms of the most canting politeness ; and , so general is thi 3 sickening attempt to please others and commend themselves , that some of my plain neighbours complain that even their barber is the greatest cant in the town . And it not unfreque&tlj-happens that those who — mnst forward to aoSafe ' others of canting ara the m rrLJr-tlv ^ Y' ( hemselves , and the greatest grangers to vital ana >^ ent ^ religion * under the cast of its professwas an < T loi ^ ... rf aDDea _ disgusted with hypopri 9 J& affect great sincerny / . L j boast of not pretending to more religion than their neighbours , while their conduct and conversation prore that they are " ashamed of Christ before men , " and as " men of the world , " seek acceptance with men of the world . —Cook ' s Seleet Remains .
The Northern Star Saturday, December 2«, 1840.
THE NORTHERN STAR SATURDAY , DECEMBER 2 « , 1840 .
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POOR LAW BENEFITS ONCE AGAIN ! Whe > ' a state once permits an unconstitutional power to be lodged in any individual or party , the dangers to which it is exposed are as incalculable : as they are alarming . An example is created for ; others to exert the Eame privileges ; the delegate I itself employs menials and officers , to whom is com-! rnunicated an authority of the same illegal character . ' The source is polluted : the channel cannot be pure .
! Thus the Poor Law Commissioners were , and are , I arrayed with most extraordinary powers ; and thus : the different Guardians springing from them tch . il-; dren worthy of their parents ) are not only entrusted 1 with similar powers , but are absolutely shielded ; and protected in thrir most violent and excessive ; acts . An instance—a flagrant instance—illustrating t the truth of our assertions , ha-s lately occurred . I On Tnursday , December 17 , 1840 , was terminated ; an inquest on a poor old man , who had died an ' inmate of the Hendon Union Workhouse . The
lacs were as follow : — His name was James Lisney : he was aged , and subject to a terrible disease , known by the name of diabetes . He disobeyed some trifling order—that is , he a ^ ked frequently for leave to go out *—of the Guardjans , aad for this oifence , what was his punishmeEt ! Twenty four hours' solitary imprisonment , on bread and water , and no fire , which caused his death . 1 I Leathis happy of Englandthe
cs r , ye men , infringement ef a workhouse rule is visited by capital punishment ! Tne offender , guff-.-ring from disease wnieh required careful treatment and , above all , proper warmth ol ttmperature , vras imprisoned in a room w . thout fire , a . ud was allowed only the i&n-ezt diet—bread aud water—aud this during the inclement month of November . ' ' . ' Tne old man shortly after died . Gracious Heavens ! are these things to continue ] Such iujts-, huwtver , need no commeat ! Before the inquest , evidence was given , both of medical and other persons , which plainly showed thai this treatment had hurried the pauper to his grave . A Rev . Mr . Williams , one of the Board of Guaraians , made a long and irrelevant harangue in defence of the system ; Mr . Waklet told the Jurj that hard and cruel as was the punishment , yet that it did not exceed the spirit and the letter of the Poor Laws , which suffer " Dogs in office" to do these things ; and the Jury returned the following verdict : —
E 0 h d * ' " We find that the death of James Lisney was earned It / an imprisonment in the gaol room of the Hendon Union Workhouse , on the fourth and fifth days of the inclement month of November , 1840 , under a sentence of a Board of Guardians of the Hendon Union ; and the Jury beg to express their opinion that it was not humane to imprison him wishout fire , and on low diet , the said James Lis . nkt being at the time in an infirm state of health , in consequence of a disease called diahetes . " This is an odd -verdict , but we are now-a-daya so accustomed to odd verdicts , that we are apt to pass them by " As the idle wind , which we regard not . "
• t t How absurd , how illogical , is the above finding f the inquest . Now mark ; the premises on which they proceed , were these : —The man ' a death , they say , was caused by the imprisonment , and the imprisonment by the Guardians ; the Guardians were the' cause of his death . What is the conclution
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they deriye from this ? That it was not humane to do so . Humane ! Was it legal , was it constitutional ? Whatever had been the pauper's offence wer ^ the Guardians entitled to sentence him to death f It is assuming at once that they are Judges ana . Juries , and that the crime of the man was fully pro-red to amount to a felony worthy of death . They hare no more jurisdiction to put a man to death , than a gaoltr or a governor has to destroy his prisoner , or the manager of a hospital to kill his patient . Then , if the Jury found that the death of a human being was caused by one or several , where they had no right to destroy him , surely , the necessary consequence is something more than % charge of mere inhumanity . If it was homicide , which the firat
part of their verdict seems to make it , and which is the most general term to express the killing of a human creature , then it was either justifiable homicide , or eacusable homicide , or felonious homicide . The first occurs , where one sl ays a robber breaking into his house at night ; the second , where one destroys another in self-defence or by accident ; and the third , which is either murder or manslaughter , where oue deprives a fellow-being of life with a malicious intention of destroying him , which may be implied from the circumstances , or where in heat of blood , and before it has had time to cool , he causes the same result . The Coroner ' s inquest , by the latter part of this verdict , have left in doubt of what offtnee the Guardians were guilty of . The public , on a calm review of the facts and
circum-, must constitute itself the arbiter , and decide the question . .,. Since writing the above , we hare observed in a contemporary the following account of the previous " humane'" doings of the Heudon worthies : — " In the report of the proceedings of the inquest it was stated that some person connected with the Board of Guardians said that the cise in question was the only case of punishment inflicted since the formation of the Union . It will be remembered , however , that , about five years ago , a case occurred in the same Union , in which that death was not the result as in the present case was probably owing to the accidental interposition of Captain Cakvkk , an ex-ofncio Guardian of the Union .
borne particulars of this case were made public at the time , but the following may be relied upon a » : an authentic statement of the facts , and it will | serve to show in what manner the irresponsible j power possessed by the " Guardians" over the : unfortunate and unhappy paupers may be exercised . " It appeared that a young woman , named Alick Shepherd , had been admitted to the Hendon Work' house . She had previously led a very dissipated and ¦ irregular life , and it was deemed advisable by the Board , in consequence of her having misbehaved herself on several occasions , that she should not be
allowed to go out of the house . The effect of this ¦ confinement upon her constitution was to produce a peculiar and dreadful malady ( furor ulerinutj , which deprived her of her senses , and while in that melancholy condition she conducted herself with great violence , and in other respects most outrageously . Information was sent to one of the Guardians , who attended at the workhouse , and without inquiring into the cause of the misconduct , he , without any ceremony , ordered her to bo placed . in a Btrait-waistcoat , and to be kept in solitary , confinement on bread and water for fourteen days .
] i The poor creature was accordingly placed in a cell ; by herself , the strait-waistcoit applied , and for , nearly a week she had nothing but the diet ordered ! her , and the sentence would have been fully carried : out , but fortunately Captain Carvjck , a magis-; trate , and ox-officio member of the Board of Guar-! dians , happened by accident , to go ta the workhouse , i and he was dreadfully shocked at the appearance of ! the unhappy woman . She was of a thin | spare habit , apparently suffering from con-! sumption ; and , as it Beemed to him , rapidly sinking
mder the effects of the dreadful punishment to vhich she had been subjected . He lost no time in > ringing the subject before the Board , when a most mimated ditcussioa took plao * , »»< l-Gftpfc ,-CAR » jc > K expressed his opinion that the punishment waa a nost unnecessary and cruel one , and that it ought lever to have been iijflicttd , especially upon a ! —« a . lft . and under such circumstances . The result was , that the xc ^^^ der of the punishment was remitted , and it was understood that in ttffare all misconduct of the pwijcrs should be puBhcly inquired into , and dealt with before-vbe Magistrates of the district .
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The Coroner read the following wrttactai from the Master shook relative to the deceased > -- ~ " July 21 st , 1840 , James Lisney applies for three days" holiday to go to London . " Tue answer is , " Tea , wilhhis family . " " 8 th Sept . 1840 , J . Lisney applies for four days to see his brother at Hounslow . " Answer , " Net at present " " Uct 6 th , 18-10 , J . Lisney applies for four days to visit his brother , who is very ill . " £ | ttwer , "No . " " Oct . 13 th , J . Lisney applies for four day ^ Wflee his children and relations in London ; " and then- followed this note : — " J . Lisney is suffering severely from a disease , which will « ltimately prove fatal , and un ! es 3 permitted to go during favourable weather , will shortly be too weak to undergo the journey . " Answer , " No . " Thus the old man was to die without seeing his children '
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It is a faot , that the people are more unlesi . ^ d than their friends could wish , but not so ignorant as their enemiefl would desire . Our task , then , is , to discover to whom the blame of this ignorance ia attributable , whether to the Government , or to the people themselves ; and whether it is in the power of any Government representing society as at present constituted to afford ever time for popular instruction .
Some very ableessayists have contended that good living is indispensible to good writing . Many very well written papers upon the subject appeared some eight years since in the New Monthly Magazine , in a controversy , well sustained , between an advocate for literary high feeding , and an advocate for literary frugality . Some contend for champagne , Burgundy , and claret , as necessary strops to prod ace the keen edge of wit , after intellect shall have been duly sharpened upon the whetst » ne of substantial fare . Others contend for the harmony
of the animal and mental organs , and the necessity of perfect health in both , before either can be brought ' o an efficient discharge of duty . If your mind be disturbed , say the physicians , your body must be more or less disordered ; and should your body be disordered , your mind must be proportionally incapacitated . The production of a mind and body so well tuned and harmonised , sharpened upon substantial fare , and whetted upon delicacies , we must suppose to constitute the desert of literature , furnishing those luxuries of which tho mind can
partake , without surfeit , after a ht » rty meal of common sense . Thus an agreeable novel is a pleasing desert after a sound mathematical feast ; or the perusal of a chapter in Don Quixote , after a Whig newspaper report of a debate in the House of Commons . These productions are to the literati what % ripe melon , rich pine apple , emrly grapes , well-ap champagne in prime order , " imperial Tokay , " delicious Burgundy , high-flavoured and fruity claret , with a crowner of noyeau , or cherry brandy , are to an alderman after turtle soup and stinking venison .
Isow , we contend for none of these grinding gtones of understanding , or whetstones of wit ; but wo do contend for one essential , which must be conceded to us as an indispensible : w « contend for leisure . Many of the ablest and most useful and instructive viorks havoi been written in prison ; where the mind and body were tuned , though not to the key ef luxury , yet to the necessary point of
harmony ; but deprived of leisure , had the appetite been all that gluttony could desire , we should have Utked the rich butunsurfeitingfeast , which Le Sage , Montgomery , and others , have provided for all tastes , all meals , all seasons , and all times to come . Leisure , then , we take to be an indispensible ; good living a help-mate : leisure the shirt ; good living the ruffle .
Can Government , then , afford the leisure ! Let us see . The Government may enact severe restrictions upon the poor man ' s enjoyment , and will bo sure of the co-operation of the Bishops , Parsons , Aristocracy , Gentry , Humanity-mongers , Profitjobbers , and politicians , of both classes , Whig and Tory . St . Bartholomew ' s gambols , or Greenwich fetes may bo abridged , and no aristocratic tongue will wag in defence of the poor man's little privileges : while a lusty debate , and much fine old English feeling , ( bless the murk !) will bo expended in
the House of Commons , it the Chamberlain attempts to # ag a juggler , even for certain nighta , and according to old custom , during Lent . Abridging the poor man ' s amusement is distinguished by the moral philosophers and Christianitymongers as the suppression of vice ; the curtailment of his usages is represented as an inevitable consequenceof those fluctuationsin acountry remarkablefor the enterprise and speculation of its merchants : while any attempt to reduce or interfere with the salaries of tho idle , or to raise tho price , or restrict the hours of aristocratic or middle-class amusement or
enjoyment , is called tyranny , and would be resisted by the physical force of insulted and enlightened society . And fools rappose that the people don't ubseT 7 DtW-- < iiffornnaa t but they do . Hai to reAnrQ . Leisure is necessary , nay indlspenaible for the attainment of education ; and dare the slaves of an exclusive constituency concedu this requisite ! Letuseeo , Suppose , then , that a Bill should pass both Houses of Parliament , and receive the royal assent so speedily as to defy the opposition of the waitefleahers ; and suppose it contained the following short clause : —
"And be it enacted that from and after the first day of April next . work shall ceaso in every factory throughout every part of the United Kingdom , from the hour of ten o ' clock a . m ., to the hour of twelve a . m ., for the purpose of allowing all persons employed in the said factories LEISURE to attend to the improvement of themselves and their families ; and be it further enacted , that with a view to the preservation of health , no factory shall commence work before six o'clock in the morning , or continue to work after five in the evening , of any day from the firat of April till the thirty-first of October ; or before eight o'clock in the morning , or after four in the -ereuBg , of any day from the firBfc of November till the thirty-first « tf March . " ^ ,
Now , no law could be more just—no law would go farther to confer education upon the working people—and no law could be devised more to the advantage of all persons connected with manufactures , and really desirous of a steady trado and a proper adjustment of demand and supply ; and yet would this just and enlightened law , if persevered in , snap administration after administration , dethrone monarch after monarch ; and finally , a republio would be established upon chance , rather than education upon certainty ; because the factions well know that knowledge teaches how to preserve what chance , or other circumstances , hare conferred .
Our readers have not forgotten tho evidence of many clergymen who were examined upon the factory commission , and who proved that they were obliged to pin written extracts upon the sleeves of little children , for the inculcation of religion , they having no other time or mode whereby sueh instruction could be imparted ; and we ha « e the evidence of the little children , and of some kind-hearted overseers , for , though rare , yet thank God , tyranny has not yet quite dried up the pores of humanity , or stopped , the springs of nature
we have suoh evidence that the children had not time to refer from their work even to the short precepts of morality sought to be thus stealthily instilled in spite of the butchers , who so muoh mourn popular ignorance . Will this pwfA ^ anl df fej ^ u |^! ' .... Again , we would ask , whether fae vffiH-fed and independent sportsman , or agriculturist , or any who may be employed in tko most choice , favourite , or profitable pursuits , even upon their own account , from six in the morning , till eight at night , divested , as they are , of all thought of poor house , . of all notion of dismissal from work for daring to speak ,
or even think on politics , relieved from the dread of seeing a loved wife 4 nd little prattling offspring , after being half-starved , consigned to different wards in a cold bastile , though anxious and willing to work ; divested of all such frightful apparitions untuning the strongest mind ,, and unhinging the stoutest Jtawae '• we . (^^( & |^ 8 jf > would even these have aft «^^ l ^ tf # ^»! ft » ble toil for intellectual improvement ! " Sunday" , whispers some sanctified , hypocritical sabba ; h-break « r ; some bloated infidel , biBhop , or
parson ; or some wanton and lascivious moneymonger , who himself devotes that day to drunkennesss , debauchery , and riot , after the hour of divine service , with which ends , in his estimation , all spiritual obligation for thetiresome day . " Sunday , " says the pious parson who reads from the wellthumbed book : — " Six days shalt thou labour and do all that thou hast to do "; but which forbids all manner of w # ik on Sundays , save and except the adoration and worship of him , who , as the best judge of his creatures' strength , ordained it as a day of relaxation after his six days' labour , not six
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days' debasing and life-destroying drudgery . Do the children of those " pious" gentlemen , read , learn i ^ ssons , or even open a book on Sunday ; or are the yOUlW ai * yet unformed , allowed by their parents to he pressed beyond their powers of mental comprvshenJ'ton or physical endurance ? No ; no such thh » g . Tie situation , heaJthfulness , extent of play-ground ; nay , v ^ ven prospect and all matters conducive to bodily health ,- for the insurance of mental maturity by wholesome degrees , and corresponding with pirjsical strength , are wisely the considerations
which most interest those who are so fortunate as to be able noi only to educate thtit children , but likewise to choose the most pleasfog mode of accomplishing it ; while the poor , whose ehildren are not less dear to their parents , and with * whom the education of their children is not less an object of pride , and satisfaction , are first worked , themselves and their infaats , nearly to death , ant ? then taunted with their ignorance , as a justifiable reason for withholding the only means by which leuTtre , the one great and indispensible requisite , can be acquired .
That Suffrage which artone will be the means of tnrning machinery into a blessing instead of a curse r of regulating supply and demand , of apportioning each maa ' s share in the general improvement of the age to each man's own sole use , according to his deserts—that suffrage which' will make ignorance a shame , if not a crime—that saffrag * which will give to man masterdom and coutr » ul over his hours of toil , and over the produce of that toil—that suffrage which will teach the very poorest that knowledge being power , he must acquire a certain portion thereof as his title to promotion and distinction—that suffrage , which alone can give the leisure , is the great schoolmaster to which we steadily look : while we assert ,
without fear of contradiction , that so apprehensive is tyranny of the fruit 9 and application of knowledge , that tyrants would rather face a regiment of half-armed—or even of well-armed , undrilled Chartists , than a single company of intellectual soldiers . However the factions prate of intellectual fitness as a title to political privilege , none seek to promote that state of things , which would give this glorious title to political power , but to which , alone , it will never be surrendered . Their real cause of complaint is , not that the people are ignorant , but that the people are becoming so worldly wise as to look about for their share of the age ' s wonders and the nation ' s boasted prosperity .
As to Sunday education , we assert confidently that two days in the week would be time far too short for stretching th « cramped limb , getting rid of the thunder of tho rattle box , and of the unwholesome dust ; without any thought of improvement of the moral condition . Many , very many , times already have we told our readers to beware of all crotchet mongers , and that the Suffrage must precede , not follow , education . We repeat it ; and why ! Because that alone can give leisure ; that alone can remove three-fourths of the
human vermin from the putrid stinking stews of factory hell 3 and butcher stalls , and place them once more upon the green sod , breathing the pare air , working for themselves , and reading under the shelter of their own orchard or hedga-row , surrounded by their improving and beloved wives and children , while they behold kind nature aiding in the completion of their work , by healthful showers , genial rays , or timely dew-drops from the throne of Himf who has given to man the earth that he may till it , and woman that he may multiply and
replenish the ranks of the industrious . This will create emulation ; emulation will induce education ; education will teach man his own value , and how to respect himself , and this respect will teach him to prefer the death of a freeman to the life of a slave , and this preference will teach all tyrants not to invade a national fortress so garrisoned and protected . Nothing but representation can give education , and , therefore , it will be opposed to the death , because " The ignorance of a People is the Tyrant ' s best title to Power . "
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Madam , —In resuming the consideration of the subject commenced in my former letters , permit me to remark that , in considering man as he z ' s present exists , there are two important facts which we should be most careful to beat in mind , and which are most essential to a right understanding of the matter in hand . First . That man is now , both as to the powers of his understanding and the affoctions of his will , in a very different state to that in which he was at first created by the wise and benevolent Author of his being .
Second . That man is gifted with the faculties of hope and friir , which , in the savage state and in cbildhood , are only sensations ; but sensations which , under a judicious system of training , are capable of becoming principles of action , subservient to the noblest ends . T « attempt a laboured demonstration of facts so obvious would be an insult to your Majesty's understanding , and were it not for the consequences which
they involve , I might content myself -with , a simple reference to their existence . They do , however , involve consequence * of auch high importance / and must , in the progress of ages , produce results of such incalculable moment , that I trust no apology will be deemed necessary for the length into which I may find it requisite to go , in placing them in a clear and lucid manner before the notice of the constitutional sovereign of a free people .
I have said that man in his present state is a being very different , in both the great constituents of his nature , from what lie was at his original creation . I write as a Christian , to a Christian Princess , and I take it , therefore , as admitted beyond controversy , that while we admire the wisdom and the benevolence so conspicuously displayed in the physical , intellectual , and moral structure of man , we are bound to admit , that that ¦ wisdom and benevolence would combine to usher
such a being into the world , endowed with all the powers and faculties necessary to secure his well being , and with those again so nicely adjusted and placed in orderly arrangement as should render it impossible , while things remained in the state of order in which they were placed at first , that anything but goodness and truth should be found amongst the race , however intended , or wherever found . Wisdom , perfect and infallible wisdom , could not . and infinite benevolenee
would not , sanction any arrangement contrary or in opposition to this . And yet , how widely different do we discover things to be * as at present constituted . Had man continued in his primitive uprightness , that is , had he remained a being of wisdem and goodness , instead of ^ generating into one of low cunning and degrading sel&sbncss , blind government , as it at present EXISTS , ' would have been unknown . 1 aay as it at present exists , because I cannot conceive of ang 4 S 0 ftof society which could where together withouffplme kind of laws for its guidance ,
and come persons deputed from the general body to carry them into execution . But in the case supposed , the nature and ends of Government would be widely different to those which prevail , and which , under existing circumstances , must prevail , at present . The nature of a Government , in what may be termed the golden age , would be paternal ; its functions purely directive , and its sole end the continued developement of the principles and practices of truth and goodness , when inherent in , and constituent of , the vast mass of the community .
Now , we find man , in the mass , a compound of selflove , grasping avarice , false intelligence , and love of cunning and unprincipled intrigue . The weak become the prey of the strong ; the simply good is overreached by the intelligent knave ; the workman , whose skill anil industry are his only capital , becomes gradually a slave ,- and the rich possessor of money , and the influence which it can command , forgets his duties , and becomes a despot . This is , I confess , an unamiable picture of human nature ; but if your Majesty will take tho trouble to look around you , I will stake my reputation , as a man , that you will find it a correct one . And what kind of government do such beings as these require when congregated together in civil society ? Would that before described be in « mch a state of things at all sufficient ? No ;
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the nature of a government , conatitnted t « meet tb « r necessitiea of the present state of things , must be coercive , ita functions must U protective and corrective , and its aim must be the aetnrlty of the persons and property of ita well-disposed subjects , and the i * straint and correction of those bold , bad spirits , whom vicious habits and propensities dispw them to disturb the public tranquillity . In sofaras any elvil government ia of thia nature , performs these functions , and ans wers these ends , it is good and valuable ; and in so far as it fails , it is evil and worthless ; and should be hanged or amended as the case may require ,
Ihisbring 8 me to notice the second fact to- -which I before alluded , Daraely , that man is a being p ?« sessed of the- faculties of hope and fear , which , ia the savage sftte and in childhood , are only sensations , but capaWe , under a jy » tem of judicious training , of becoming prrastptes of action of the moat important character . Those two faculties have each three degrees st development , and to these I woul * most respectfnSly invite yqwr Majesty ' s attention ; First , they exist as sensatkw merdy , and in this state fear ia superior , aud hope safcordinate . Hence , in all infant government- severe penal statutes are found to
prevail , and the obedience of lite subject is secured , by the fear of punishment , and n « C the hope of reward ; Jot a newly settled state never o&tb general rewards as a > motive to obedience , but operates « by the fear of punishment , and the hope to-Mcape it Bu the second degree of developement those . Acuities existf partly as sanctions , and partly as principles ^ of action . There is a manifest advtwieenient In the former state the-operation of fear and 1 hope was upon the aaimal propensities almost entirely -r but . in this , some of the highey faculties of the mind'are brought into pics ?; , for prin 3 iples affect th $ interioB-nature of man , whila- sensation * affect his
txterior o ? animal nature only .. And in tliis state hope and few have come to > an ssuipoiae , or equilibrium ; and sometimes- the one , and sometimes the other prevails , according as-theanimai propensities , or the spiritual nature predominates in > the subject . This may be called the educational , state of society ? and it is maiked by a relaxation of the peaal code , by the enactment of laws for the enoouragemeat of industry , by defining and securing the rights-of property , and for admintsbsiing corrective , mingled with vindictive , punishments to those who employ , their energies and liberty in any way detrimental to the public peace .
Here , it is plate that we have arrived at tv point where the obedience of the subject willb © seoured by the prevalence « f hope or fear , according tothttirpredominaaoe in each individual mind . The well-disposed will yield a cheerful obedience to lawa framed for the good of all , and will find themselves incited to do- se fey the hope that their obedienoe will be rewarded' by continued prosperity and happiness ; while any seeds of selfishness , which migfaS lead them to secure some personal advantage at theeipenceof their fellow-citiiena , will be checked by the salutary fear , that by so doing they may disarrange the system , and so destroy that harmony of its parts on which their own interests , as parts of the general whole , mainly depend . On the other
hand , the vicious will , in numerous instaneea , be awed into obedience to laws which check their evil propensities and habits of insubordination , by the fear that they will not be able to escape detection , and that , should they be discovered , they will find themselves in a condition of privation and suffering , more than sufficient to counterbalance any advantage which their dexterity in mischief might enable them to secure ; while , at the same time , hope would , even in them , possess a most important influence , by leading them to anticipate the securing of some considerable 3 hare of the advantages » t society , by an apparently willing compliance with the laws and regulations -which ita wisdom had seen . proper to establish .
In the third degree of developement , hope and fear cease , almost entirely , to be sensations , and assume the high character of governing principles of action . At this state , Madam , we are not yet arrived ; but , depend upon it , it is coming : the glorious dawning has already gilded the eastern horiaon . Soon will the clouds be empurpled with its radiance , and earth shall smile beneath its fertilizing influence . Believt me , Lady , when I assure you that the earnest wish and prayer of my heart is r that thiB kingdom may kad the van of the Gentilea , who shall " come to its light , " and that Victoria may lead the line of kings who
according to the prediction o < . the inspired h *» a , " shall comef . 6 the brfghJ-aSSSofIts rising . " An essential pre-requisite to the elevation , of those important faculties of the mind , into this atote , this climax of their perfectibility , is the generaVjrad sound education of all classes of the people in the principles of true liberty and Scriptural Christianity . Tour Majesty has been taught that you rule over a free people , and you are constituted , by law , head of the Church . You may therefore be somewhat startled at the announcement , that in roaiity . as things exist at present , liberty ' and Christianity have little more than a name in thia realm
of England . Yet , could you but for a short time forget that you are a Queen , and consider things in their true light , I am much mistaken if you would not return to your throne with very different views and feelings than those with which you descended from it . Trust me , Madain , if you take the definition of liberty from my Lord "Melbourne or Sir Robert Pe « l , you will be presented with an idle mockery instead of the heavenborn reality : and , if your ideas of Christianity be borrowed from his Grace of Canterbury , the General Assembly of the Kirk , or his Holiness of the Vatican , you will be presented with a painted bauble resembli- ^ my thing
and every thing but the blessed and benevolent religion of Him whose chosen employment was to in 8 tru 6 fc the ignorant , relieve the distressed , comfort the afflicted , and preach the gospel to the poor : who , denouncing the avarice , the cruelty , and the selfishness of the rich—and eschewing with the most scrupulous care the pollution of palaces—chose the humble cot for hia resting place , and for his most cherished associates , the fishermen of Galilee . Yet the time will come when true liberty shall , indeed , fix her sacred temple here ; because the time will come when the whole -people , from the occupant of the throne to the humble
ploughboy in the field , the sailor on the deep , and the half starved and emaciated factory child in the mill , shall be taught , and shall obey , the precept of the King of kings— " Whatsoever you would that men should do to you , do ye even so to them . " Then shall the idol of Britain's idolatry , the golden calf of Mammon ,-crumble into dust ; then each shall love himself , not in himself , but in his race ; capital and machinery shall then no more grind down honest labour to the earth ; the vile person shall be no mora called liberal , nor the churl said to be beuntifal ; but the liberal shall desire liberal things , and by
liberal things shall he stand . Then , instead of the care-worn . child and the distracted father , " our sons shall be as plants growing up in their youth , and oni daughters as corner stones polished , the similitudes of palaces . " Our union workhouses shall be changed into museums , our prisons into mechanics' institu tions , and our courts of justices into halla of sciencBi Let me ask your Majesty , would it not be Indeed an occupation worthy of all your energies to haalen on a Consummation so devoutly to be wished . In such a happy state of things , hope and fear would be developed as
governing principles of action . But hope wou ^ d , be . ' high in the ascendant , gasing on a sun < ot . tH&rond ' ¦ ¦* love , which should bless all without excepM 6 n , Hh&-diDg its glorious beams alike on princes and peasant * , and never dimming , setting , nor eclipsed . Hope would look forward to further and still further developenrtnti of human intellect ; higher and atUl higher manlfestationa of human happiness ; while fear , refined from every thing low , base and degrading , would assume the attitude of a guardian angel , and watch with eagle-eye the rights of the people , tte » . fa » . rogutiveB of the throne , and the tranquillity < rf tfa world . ¦ ¦ ¦ - . ¦ ¦ ¦ - ; -- :-fV * .
I need not point out what kind of civil mle would be required in such a state of society . It t ouMJhs . that -which I mentioned as exiattog Itt tto golden age of man . My " - *¦ l i Trrarit fatnHItt jfuj _ „ pect of the future . The night is paat : the day i » ^ arrived . There ia nothing to hurt or destroy throughout the holy mountain . And while hope leada the tribes of humanity through the delightful bowers of hia recovered Eden , fear , as the holy Cherub stands with the flaming sword to guard , with' asaidious watchfulness , th » hallowed precincts of the tree of life . I am , Madam , Your Majesty's faithful subject ' and servant , OTJtfA . London , December 18 , 1840 .
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"THE IGNORANCE OF A PEOPLE IS THE TYRANT'S BEST TITLE TO POfifipR . " . F . O $ 6 r » NOR , The mouth-worshippers ofliberty are in a desperate rage with the poor Chartists , because ; they will not allow bloated Bishops and infidel parsons , ( who religiously eschew all interference with domestic tyranny , and the right of ownership in white slaves , ) popularity-hunters , hired missionarie ? , ( who , if better paid , would undertake the advocacy of the opposite party , ) and all Prince Albert ' s white staff of the
sable corps , to lay the foundation for another application to Parliament for permission for the white slaves to pay another twenty millions aa a second instalment to the fleshers . Education-mongers are , at the same time , outrageous at the little Buccess of their endeavours to extinguish Chartism , by the transparency of "knowledge " , which has been so badly finished and < = o awkwardly placed in the Whig windows as to allow the dupes to see light through it . Those gentlemen denounce all who will not join
in the admonition to abandon politics for the more profi-. able pursuit of literature atfd the irt ^ . Infidel economists , who insult the Crefetoria ^ 'fly in the face of the Holy Scriptures by telliifc ' - u ^ atjxjpuiation—God ' s creatures—press too hardlW ^ pon . the means of subsistence , invite the sons of l&fl toabandofi family , country , friends , and home- ' . in ooBst of foreign lands whereon they may expend Urtfcinjieritance—their labour . These three tribes of philosophers are now spreading their forces over the face of the country for the purpose of smothering Chartism , the mere emanation , as they term it , of an uneducated rabble .
For the present , we taka leave of the slavedrivers of the first and second class ; as well those who -would drive the people to pay another instalment to the black fleshers , as those who would drive them from house , from family , and hom « , out of the way of the white butchers . These twfc classes we leave , for the purpose of considering tbi question of
education . In this undertaking , let us'have a peep into the bowels of the old almanac , and there we find that the people ' s ignorance was skudwi of old as the invariable and ready answer to all appeals ' fo * further concession to the working clafees . EYom 1780 till the Reform Bill , this bug giM ** Was ) the aristocratic hobgoblin , conjured up bjffnB CTo vernment and their adherents to affright' the
middleclass money-mongers . The Tories spent fifty years of incessant chatter in persuading the jobbers to the choice of evils ; to the principle of stay-in-the-fryingpan-lest-you-jump-into-the-fire polioy . Popular frenzy , fury , and vice , occasioned by popular ignorance , was the fire ; rotten-boroughs the fryingpan . During the whole of that long period , no statesman , not even Castlereagh , ever used a stronger argument against concession ; all regretted that such a stumbling-block stood in the way of an object so " devoutly to be wished , " but not one during the whole of ( he long time ever attempted to remove the cause . ' i
To "Be Most Gracious Majesty The Queen.
TO "BE most GRACIOUS MAJESTY THE QUEEN .
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THE NORTHERN STAR .
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Citation
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Northern Star (1837-1852), Dec. 26, 1840, page 3, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/ns/issues/king-y1kbzq92ze2716/page/3/
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