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Octobbe 2,1852. THE gTAR 0j! , FEEED0M_
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THE CHISWELL-STREET TYPE-FOUNDERS. Our r...
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PRIESTS, PELF, AND POWER
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A new agitation is breeding in' Ireland,...
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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Transcript
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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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Saturday, October 2, 1852. Despotism's D...
7 f overthrowing those ^ tyrannies under which they suffer , is to strugg le for tne ° ^ inment of political power—equal political -power for all—and that the best and only means by tfhieh that power can he gained is to act in unison with their brethren of England and Scotland . gut Irish agitation is a trade , and there are no hopes of such a course "being pursued "by the men who so glorv in the thought of England ' s downfall , and who hope for independancc ' not by means of the patriotic arms of their own land bllt l > y the ruffian soldiery of the perjured Bonaparte . '
Kotwithstandiug the passing strange freaks of the journal allud ed to , we must confess ourselves to have been considerably surprised at the appearance in its columns , unaccompanied tv a word of comment , the letter of a correspondent , in which the public andprivate character of Loms Bonaparte is defended with a degree of ardour which the hireling scribes of the Elvseaii journals might vainly attempt to equal . " Why " asks this laudator of the Decembrist , " copy the flunkies of the English press , by calling hiin 'Napoleon le Petit ? H ow can you tell but he may achieve the conquest of an empire which consigned Napoleon le Grand to the barren rock of St . Helena ? His career has only commenced .
Though of mature age , andheirto the greatest man of modern timesi ' hehas not had an opportunity of distinguishing himself . " The writer has forgotten , or thinks the intelligence of his readers is not sufficiently great to render it necessary for him to show wherein consists the " flunkeyism" of the English press . Who betrays the greatest flunkeyism , the writers who nobly express their horror and indignation at the criminal deeds of this monster in human guise , or those who , like the correspondent of the Nation , degrades himself so far as to palliate those crimes , and defend the criminal , merely because the wretch panders to the priests of a religion which happens to be that of the Nation ' s correspondent ?
Louis Bonaparte s career has only commenced , says his worthy defender , and it would seem that the commencement has been one well calculated to please that gentleman and inspire him with great hopes for the future . We all know that his whole public life has been one continued series of crimes , of perjuries , and treasons , that since his elevation to the presidential chair , he had never ceased to plot against the
liberties of the people , to undermine that Republic he had sworn to defend , and to do all in his power to crush every aspiration for freedom within and without the frontiers of France ; and during , and ever since the crowning crime of the coup cVekd , has not his every word been a hypocritical lie , his every action been a crime of the deepest dye , his reign a reign of terror , of robbery , and bloodshed ?
Had no opportunity of distinguishing himself , forsooth He has had ample opportunity , and he has improved it He lias distinguished himself in infamy ; the annals of crime record no more distinguished criminal than he ! And what he might have done had he been honest and honourable His elevation to the Presidency of the French Republic in 1848 , placed under his control the destiny , not of France only , hut of the world . He had it in his power to have repairedthe
errors of the Provisional Government , the misfortunes consequent upon the fatal " Peace , " and "Respectability , " notions of the criminally incapable Lawartpne , to have firmly established the Republican institutions of France , and to have struck off the fetters of the European nations , so enthusiastic in the cause of liberty , and so determined to be free . But Louis Bonaparte refused to tread in this , the only path that could have led him on to real greatness . Instead of aiding the people to obtain their freedom , he was eager to prove himself no enemy to the despotisms of the continent ;
instead of freeing Italy , Poland , and Hungary from their foreign oppressors , he sent the troops of France to overthrow the Roman Republic and restore the priestly tyranny . We need not here capitulate the number and monstrosity of his subsequent crimes . They are recorded in the English journals , in the writings of the patriots of France , in the pages of Victor Hugo , of Schcelcher , Xayier DUERIEU , H . Mages , and others . And yet a man has the impudence to publicly assert that since Louis Bonaparte got power in France " he has used it to the right purpose !
0 , shame for Ireland , when even her " democrats can thus defend a perjurer and an assassin , and prefer the elevation of a miserable old man at Rome , and a few lying and intriguing Jesuits in France and elsewhere , to the freedom and enlightenment of the people . And still greater shame to the journalist , who should be the teacher of the masses , and who professes to be the exponent of Irish democracy , who can thus publish , without comment or disapprobation , the shamenil laudation of Louis Bonaparte of which we have spoken . But it is evident that the " Joshua of the Irish people" also
prefers the Pope and the Jesuits to liberty and progress ; for , side-by-side with the song of praise to BONAPARTE , is an editorial article in which the papal government's refusal to make any explanation with regard to the case of MURRAY is justified , * and is spoken of as a matter , for congratulation by the Irish people . Murray was a Democrat and a Republican , but he was the enemy of priestly domination ; it is right and proper , therefore , according to the " democratic" Nation , that he should be tried by a secret tribunal , and bo put to death .
Irish democrats , we arc told , are Catholics , and have no sympathy with continental democrats , who are socialists ; < hey have no feelings in common with them . Out upon such democracy as this . ° We reply to these soi-disanl democrats , that true democracv has no feelings in common with priestcraft , its votaries or its organs , or with any men who can constitute themselves the defenders of despotism .
Octobbe 2,1852. The Gtar 0j! , Feeed0m_
Octobbe 2 , 1852 . THE gTAR 0 j ! , FEEED 0 M _
The Chiswell-Street Type-Founders. Our R...
THE CHISWELL-STREET TYPE-FOUNDERS . Our readers will all remember the protracted " strike" of the type-founders in the employ of the Messrs . Caslox and Eagg , Chiswell-street , two years ago . The injustice of their treatment , aud the mean and selfish feelings which dictated tbe proceedings of the employers , raised a universal feeling of indi gnation against those gentlemen , and one . of the most cordial sympathy towards the wronged workmen . Thanks to that sy mpathy , and to the aid rendered to them by the typefounders in employment , and by the working classes throughout th & country generally , the men w ; ere enabled to hold out .
The Chiswell-Street Type-Founders. Our R...
They gamed their point ; the masters had to succumb , and the workmen prevented not only a reduction of wa ^ es in that foundry , but saved , without doubt , the washes of all the men in the trade . The " strike" lasted for two-and-thirty weeks , yet such was the generous support they received in their righteous struggle that , as appears by an account of the receipts and disbursements just published , a copy of which has been sent to us , each person received , on an average , - 10 s . a week throughout the whole period of the "turn out , " at the termination of which they had still something in hand .
ibis is gratifying , inasmuch as it proves the existence of a real spirit ot fraternity amongst tho workers , and also that , with support , the working men may very successfully defend their Labour against the encroachments of capital , notwithstanding the many and great disadvantages they labour under in such a strife , It is indisputable tfhat " strikes" very seldom tend to the
benefit of the workers . The capitalist may suffer a money loss much greater than any one of them , or perhaps of all of them together : but if he is only determined enough to make this sacrifice , he is certain to conquer , as hunger , an enemy he has not to encounter , will fight his battle , and in time will bring the men to terms . But , notwithstanding all this , in such cases as that of the Chiswell-street type-founders , the men can only choose the lesser of two evils ; thev must
submit to the grossest injustice , or they must " strike . " And although we should vastly prefer their being in a position in which they should bo able to defend their rights with a greater chance of success than a " strike" presents , wo cannot but applaud , so long as they have no such opportunity , their taking the only course which a sense of their dignity as men would suffer them to adopt . We have often enough heard the complaint , as absurd as
heartless , of the economists , thati : strikes" are unjust , inasmuch as they are intended to exact a higher price than that determined by the labour market . But the real injustice is in determining the value of labour at the starvation point . It is the grossest tyranny for society to do so and this tyranny should be resisted by all possible means . The very term " labour-market , '' is an insult to humanity , for it implies that human labour it a thing to be valued only at that for which
it can be procured . In the postcript to the statement issued by the type-founders , the sophistry and worthlessness of this favourite argument of the opponents of " strikes 11 is fully exposed : — Capitalists and political economists are against strikes , and they urge their injustice , inasmuch as they are efforts to com * pel a higher price for labour than the state of the market will allow . This allegation seldom gives us much concern , from the fact , that those whose work people are most frequently on strike , contrive to accumulate colossal fortunes in a very few
years . We are therefore led to put little faith in the truth of the charge ; but even were it true , does it follow that the labourer must live on in discomfort and privation , in order that the capitalist may retire to his country seat years the sooner ? To what national b merit is a trade carried on to the advantage of only one per cent , of those engaged in it ? What national loss would it be if we were to leave the country altogether ? Mem hers of parliament , and newspapers may quote statistics of imports and exports , but where trades and manufactures are carried on under such circumstances as these , it is certain that , as evidence of a nation ' s prosperity , nothing can be more fallacious . If we are to entertain such objections , we may as well
at once revert to primitive feudalism . It is also made an accusation against strikes , that they interfere with the operations of capital , and are therefore injurious to the public—we confess the impeachment , but not the usual inference . It is only when capital attempts to encroach ou the rights due to labour , that we resort to a strike , and then , what other resource is left us ? When a reduction of wages is notified , we must either tamely submit , or refuse ; a daily sacrifice of necessities and comforts is the concomitant of acceptance , the benefit of which we arc at a loss to discover , and the producers are a very large portion of the public , whilst refusal is to strike , and were this alternative never resorted to , there wonldbe no end to the reduction of wages . Apart from the disagreeable circumstances incident to the best
sunported strike , they are always undertaken with pain , and nothing but the hope that the ' temporary sacrifice may prevent a permanent one , would induce working men to resort to them . It is only those whose incomes are limited , that know the loss of two or three shillings every week . Surely it is as much a duty to protect our means of subsistence from the avaricious capitalist , as it is to protect our native shores from the invasion of a foreign foe . Not until capital and labour have a more tangible and abidimr interest in each other , do we see how
strikes are to be prevented . Were the remuneration of labour the margin of profit left , after paying the interest on capital and the cost of its management , antagonism would be at an end . As it is , supply and demand regulate wages , which means the lowest pr ice at which we can be got , not the value of our productions to the community . We are therefore compelled to take measures to limit the supply of our labour in order to live with respectability when that labour is employed . . It is not because they are unjust in principle that we have
discountenanced and still- discountenance " strikes . " As the type-founders truly say , resistance to any species of oppression is nothing more or less than a strike : — We may also add , that to our minds all that distinguishes modern from ancient civilization has been won by strikes of one kind or other , tteligion ' has been elevated from the formality of a ritual to the standard of conscience . Polities have progressed from the divine right cf one to govern , to the recognition of the inherent rights of one and all * ; and in the eye of the
law the labourer is no longer a serf , a mere chattel to a feudal lord . Did not the movements that initiated this improved order of things partake of the character of strikes ? What was Luther , the " man that pulp it , press , and platform emulate to praise , but the leader of a strike against the mental despotism of Rome ? What is the history of the 17 th century in our own country , but a series of strikes for political and religious freedom ? And of later times , what was the Anti-Corn Law League but a gigantic strike of the manufacturers against the monopoly ot * the landoAvn ers ?
X * i a ¦ i * 1 _ 1 . 1 . 1 . _~ _ - .-I .-. t- \ r \ 4 ' I ' n'M I _ But we discountenance strikes because they do not constitute a means by which the desired end may be obtained . And it is therefore that we would recommend that the workin <> - classes should take means to prevent strikes , by such an organization of labour as would deliver them from the power of the capitalist , and by obtaining possession of that political power which is the only guarantee of social justice ,
Priests, Pelf, And Power
PRIESTS , PELF , AND POWER
A New Agitation Is Breeding In' Ireland,...
A new agitation is breeding in' Ireland , or rather , an old agitation is taking a new turn . ' A more vigorous and determined attack than ever , is to be made upon the Irish Church . The Catholic Defence Association is to be abandoned as an instrument unequal to the work to be done , and a new religious Equality Association to be constituted in its place . The meaning of this is , that one sect , however large , is not sufficiently strong to act upon the legislature . A merely Catholic Association is not universal enough . The past might have taught the movers that truth before now . The
emancipation of the Religionists of tho Bister Isle was carried by the united power of the great majority of all sects dissenting from the National Establishment , and that is the only safe foundation for religious or ecclesiastical agitation . It has become apparent to Archbishop M'Hale , that something mustbo done to catch the Protestants , and inaugurate a common activity , hence the association about to spring into life . There is every probability that to some extent , at least , the attempt will be successful . With whatever suspicion or dislike rival professors may look upon each other , they have a
common bond in hatred of the establishment . To all it seems a great injustice , representing the wrongs and the plunder of centuries . It fleeces the peasant who confesses to the priest , and the mechanic who sits under Mr . Snufrlebotham , with equal impartiality—It knocks for rates and tithes at the doors of all—whether they read the scriptures in the vernacular , or pour out their petitions in doubtful latin . It would as soon distrain upon those who denounce the doctrine of purgatory , as those who charitably hope their persecutors may make a
long stay there . To satisfy its demands it would pounce upon the image of a saint , or Watt ' s hymn book , with precisely the same absence of compunction . It looks upon pigs as pigs , whether they be by ownership , puritan or papist . It has no more pity for a Wesleyan widow , than a Roman relict . Looking upon all as fish that conies to the net , it spoils all . Tithes are a part of its temporal theology , bearing alike upon Protestant property and Catholic chattels . It would be a wonder if such an incubus did not ensure universal detestation , when it is looked upon as a legalized thief , and an
impenitent thief to boot—a thief not crucified , but crucifying . A church with rich pastors , but without congregations—its ancient service drawled to empty pew seats , or not drawled at all—its clerks tithe proctors , and its processions , parties of plunderers *—is a spectacle too scandalous to be patiently contemplated . Mo correctness of creed , or purity of doctrine , can atone for its spiritual uselcssness and its temporal evilness . In the one great hate of it minor animosities are hidden if not abated .
It is probable , that beside a portion of the Irish Protestants the English Dissenters will also be led into the struggle . Our readers are already aware that Mr . Bright is in Ireland , and that he has given signs of his willingness to act with the Religious Equality party there . We of course do not regard Mr . Bright as a friend of the people . The Manchester school does not breed helpers for us—but opponents of the bitterest kind . It is a levelling school down to a certain point , but not down to our mark . It erects the standard of property , and
will maintain it as inveteratcl as ever aristocrat fought for Corn Laws , or bigot for Religious Disabilities . Still Mr . Bright is a man of energy , ability , and great influence among his own class—somewhat conceited and egotistical , and therefore conscious of his own power . He is a politico puritanical trader , with the commercial tendency uppermost , but with the sectarian as strong as the legislative impulse . He , with all his party , advocate anarchy without perhaps being thoroughly conscious of it—the anarchy of being " let alone " and doing " as they please . " Not anarchy for tho people , but for a class . Freedom to do good , or to let it alone , with the chances in
favour of the latter is practically his motto . He has a horror of all establishments , excepting possibly the police . His aversion ranges with pretty equal force over armies , navies , churches , by-law and Factory Supporters . There is no doubt that he would devote lavishly , time , talent and money , to separate ecclesiastical and temporal government , and get rid of the eyesore of Bishops in the House of Lords . We are very much inclined to think that this is the special path of agitation that he has marked out for himself . It abounds with opportunities to employ his energies and satisfy his ambition . In it he may become in . ecclesiastical matters what Cobden has been in commercial ones . This is the man whom
the Irish hierarchy has pitched upon to aid them in their crusade , and if the alliance be completed , he will lead as large a body of English nonconformists to the invasion of the . " sacred property" of the ' church , as Richard of the Lion-heart led mailed warriors to the invasion of the Holy Laud . It is quite plain that the compact , if it be formed , will be a hollow one—the allies aiming at very different objects . Bright aud his party are for Religious Equality and voluntaryismthey would do what " the spirit moved them " to do—no
what acts of parliament enforced upon them . Their road to public worship is through private means , ' not over national property . Who are to be their coadjutors ? The priests of Rome . The people distrust all priests . They not only distrust the men for which they have had too much reason but they have a strong inclination to distrust the doctrines preached , not practiced . But of all kinds of priests the sort that is most feared by liberals , is that which owes allegiance to Rome , and numbers among its orders that of the Jesuits . The history of all churches present records of fraud ,
treachery , tyranny , and persecution , but Rome in that respect stands prominent in the present . Our English establishment is tolerably tolerant—it emulates Manchester in its will to ' let alone " . Men may read their bibles or not read thembow in churches , or kneel in chapels , or do neither ^ as they list . It has become in its spirit , thoroughly commercial . The money changers are indeed in the Temple . It require to be let alone , to buy and sell presentations and advowsons—to gather tithes and make rates . In short it is content with any-
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Citation
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Northern Star (1837-1852), Oct. 2, 1852, page 9, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/ns/issues/ns2_02101852/page/9/
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