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Northern Star (1837-1852), 6th November 1852, Edition 2 of 2, Page 9, THE SINIGAGLIA SLAUGHTER. Who now shall ...

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    • mmf m Wtm^m * SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 6,1852.
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      „ «] _____ The Star Of Fkeebom.

      „ «] _____ THE STAR OF FKEEBOM .

      Ad00907

      ST j £ . PUBLISHERS OF THE "STAR OF FREEDOM . " NOTICE TO HEADERS AND THE TRADE . The following Booksellers and News-agents undertake to s ly the London Trade with copies of the Star of Freedom ; Mr Vi 6 ers , Ho lywell-street , -Strand . Mr . Coulson , Playhouse-yard , White \[ t purkiss , Corapton-street , Soho . cross-street , St . Luke ' s . Jr . Clements , LitUe Pultney-street , Sir . Sharp , Tabernacle-walk , City-road . * so ho . Mr Harris , 9 , Dean-street , High yit . S . > Theobald ' s-road . Holborn . ^ Trae love , John-street , Rtzroy- Mr . Baker , Providence-place , Kentish

      Mmf M Wtm^M * Saturday, November 6,1852.

      mmf m Wtm ^ m * SATURDAY , NOVEMBER 6 , 1852 .

      Macajjlay In Edinburgh. Great Joy To Aul...

      MACAJJLAY IN EDINBURGH . Great joy to Auld Reekie ! the orator she ostracised has returned to her Athenian halls , the statesman she divorced is restored to her affections , A true Whig , the brilliant rhetorician was in days gone b y something too much of a polifical roue , and , f ascinated by the blandishments of place and

      p ower , was rather apt to stray from the strict line of duty prescribed by his lawful mistress . But all is vanity , saith the preacher , and Macaulay , having tried and proved the fleeting joys of ministerial life , and no longer dating his letters from 1 , 4 our Castle of Windsor , " returns to his first love a wiser , if not a better man , and will never more stray . He has given his solemn pledge and vow , and sweet Edinburgh believes .

      She , too , repents . She cancels the hasty divorce , and expunges the decree of exile from her archives . The fishwives of Newhaven and Musselburgh may proclaim the virtue of " real natives '* as musically as they announce their far-famed " caller-herring ; " but never again will oystershells be in request to mete to Macaulay the doom of Themistocles the unscrupulous , and AristidEs the just .

      Mr . Macatjlay ' s speech in the Music Hall , Edinburgh , on Tuesday last , was just what might have been looked for—the speech of a master of "the art of speaking' ' : showy but unsubstantial ; witty at the expense of the Derbyites ; laudatory of Peel , Wellington , and Russell ; eulogistic of " oar glorious constitution " ; and mixed up therewith considerable misrepresentation of the European Revolution , and revolutionists of 1848 . His ridicule of Minister Walpole- s

      absurd proposal to " draw the line" of citizenship at Militiamen was the most effective part of the orator ' s address . There was nothing either new or true in his praise of that wonderful piece of state machinery , the celebrated British Constitution—a fertile theme for the eloquence of the sophist and the drivel of the blockhead . We owed our escape from revolution in 1848 , not to the wisdom and justice ^ incarnated in our institutions , but to the fact that unlike the continental

      Bourgeoisie our " middle classes ( for good and sufficient reasons ) were practically conservative ; and our working men were too demoralized by the long-continued operation of the reigning system , to seek their rights through the rough process of revolution . His zeal for «« our wise and noble constitution " impelled Mr . Macaulay to remarkable lengths in the way of assertion , for instance , the assertion that « the Habeas Corpus Act had never- in this island been suspended ! An astounding declaration tx > come from the lips of of 1848 onl

      a popular historian . If he had intended to speak y he shouldhave avoided the word " never f and even m 1848 there were acts of despotism perpetrated m the name of the Law , strondy savouringof the times of Pitt and Castlereagh -Mr . Macaulay may have a convenient memory , but our readers remember the Alien Act , the Act against ' -open and advised speaking , " police suppression of public meetings the employment of spies , and the incarceration and transportation of men who demanded that " the wise and noble constitution should be made a verity for all ; not a privilege for the fevv , a

      scourge for the many . , „ irt „„ Q „„ Mr ? MAOMI . AT discourses with carefully p « M »« d eHueuoe , on the ' < democratic violences , " " excesses' and * '" ( tones , " of 1848 . Remembering that Adam Smith and J M had said that •< there would never be again a destruction ot nafl saia tnat , wereiw u (( s occurred to civilisation by barbarism , he aaas , u " « them that civilisation itself mig htengender the J" *™?* " ™ should destroy it . Ithad ^ ima ***** *** * £ ™ J heart of great cap itals-inthe very ^ f ^^ A ^ Zms palaces , and churches , and theatres , hbrarKa , andmmsum * vice and ignorance might produce a race of Hun , fierce ^ than those who marched under AttiJa . Such « u thei toger It passed by , and civilisation was saved ; but at whaiaJtt-e . W ^ SES ^ the Ul- * - " * «

      audaLh ; c imes ' of the European reaction <** <™ £ has beiled history , ^ F 1 ™^ . of Socialism as « robbery " civdlsatlon . Thrtlia ^ J ^ and ignore the are known to iiimself , the question will naturally obtrude it

      Macajjlay In Edinburgh. Great Joy To Aul...

      pa ^ mV M ^ Sted - aS a delin ator and chro ^ ler of the Political ni ^ f I - a man ° abundanfc words > and vast and lh 72 TV , S P ite 0 f his " constitutionalism , " ticaVaK he would keep the masses in polic vltlf ! r ? - ra 11 ' and P P etuate t 0 a » eternity that false £ Si ^ JL V er T ° the : ™ gs of the majority , and Auld RppIT - ° fr i 10 ns aud ci ^ -conflicts . We ' wish ~ Dior ^ c e rl ° y f h f 0 urite ' beto luck wh <* next —UlOGENES-like-she looks around for an honest man ¦

      The Sinigaglia Slaughter. Who Now Shall ...

      THE SINIGAGLIA SLAUGHTER . Who now shall dare to repeat the thousand calumnies that have been heaped upon the names of the martyrs of the people ' s cause ? ynly the most wilfull y blind can hencef orth fail to discern that it is not Democracy that is ruffianly and bloodthirsty , but * the Kings and friests that are reigning now , and whom it is the mission of Democracy to pull down from their blood-stained thrones . Day by day come new tales of woe , of the sufferings of the downtrodden peoples , and the cruelties of the inhuman monsters who nave usurped their sovereignty , and who remorselessly pursue their career of oppression and of crime . The men of the people , when in power , have sometimes punished severely the traitors whose

      intrigues had endangered the common freedom , but they have never sought blood for its own sake , or struck a defenceless and unresisting enemy . On the contrary ; unfortunatel y for themselves , they have been too generous . They have left unpunished those whose previous guilt was glaring , and who only secretly laboured to promote the destruction of liberty , and the restoration ofthe old tyranny . Were the republican people of Italy cruel and blood-thirsty in their day of power ? Yet now that the crowned "fathers ofthe people , '' the " vicegerents of the Lord , " are returned in triumph to their palaces , scarce a spot of Italian soil but is crimson with Italian blood .

      Since UAmi du Peuple penned his letter last week , we have received L'ltalia e Popolo , containing farther particulars of the assassination of the martyrs of Sinigaglia . From the account given by a Itomagna correspondent of the exponent of Italian democracy , we learn that the victims died heroically , and full of faith in the ultimate triumph of that glorious cause for which they have so worthily lived , and so nobly suffered . The writer thus speaks of the martyrdom : Can I tell you with what a shudder of horror our population beheld these assassinations committed in the name of Christ and of order ! Can I describe the

      holy energy of the victims I It requires only to have seen their grand and noble resignation , their calm demeanour , and their looks , lighted up by what seemed to be a ray of the future of our dear country , to be convinced of their innocence , and of the holiness of the cause for which they died . You may judge wl \ at was the compassion that filled every heart that was made of other material than that of Antonelli and of Nardini , when I say that every person , even some priestsand that is saying much—shed tears of grief at the fate of these generous young men . Nevertheless , before setting out for the place of execution , they refused all

      religious aid : " the absolution , " said one of the victims , to a priest , " that you would accord us , you give in the name of Christ , and it is also in the name of Christ that you have condemned us to death . To accept absolution would be to recognize our sentence as just . We have a better religion ; we know very well that you do not * ish to distinguish God from he who pretends to represent him upon earth , and thus impose upon mankind . Leave us alone and tranquil ' . On the brink of the tomb man feels truth beating in his heart . We will find a holy prayer , a prayer which is not written in your books , but which is written in the human soul . "

      A noble reply , truly , and one that well became a pioneer o f the future . Who would not joy in the fall of this disgusting , hypocritical creed , whose priests offer religious consolation to their own victims ? The Swiss bandits of the Vatican , murder in cold blood at the bidding of the self-styled representative o f Christ , the generous young soldiers o f the Republic , and the accomplices of that same " representative of Christ affect to be solicitous about the future welfare of the murdered men \ Pius assumes to be the father of Christendom as well as of his own subjects , and he enters into alliance with all the despotisms , and spills the blood of the noblest children of Italy .

      But this will have its favourable effect on the peoples and on the future . They will cease to bow down in grovelling superstition before the temporal and spiritual despotism of Rome . The bloody tragedy of Sinigaglia , will , so far from extinguishing the revolutionary spirit in Italy , only deepen the hatred of the people for the merciless priesthood that has sent so many of their noblest brethren to a bloody grave . One of those who fell , addrsssed the f ollowing letter to to his family :

      Despair not because to the tortures of a dungeon succeeds the repose of the sepulchre ; I am prepared for the sacrifice , and I do my duty . Perform yours . You have a country , honour it by good works , and defend it against its enemies . Doubtless they will do so , they will perform their duty to their country and to themselves ; and that duty will dictate vengeance for the ' assassination of their compatriots , and the deliverance of their country from the priests and kings . who are pressing out the very life-blood ofthe Italian people . Our Italian contemporary gives the following details of the last moments of the gallant Simencelli :

      But above all others , as a great martyr of our popular struggles , did our Simencelli distinguish himself in his last moments . You know him . There was something divine in his soul . His was a nature composed altogether of intelligence and love . He was a valiant soldier , and an ardent and generous tribune . He was a true Italian tribune , as were those of our republics of the middle ages . Our people , eminently artistic , love in the men to whom they confide themselves , besides ' an easy and graceful speech , a robust form , and strongly marked features . Simincelli had such a head . He had that manly beauty so distinctive of our race , and which still exists amongst us , although the tyrants , the foreigners , and above all , the priests , have done their best to bastardise ouv beautiful Latin race .

      He was beloved ; he had so much simplicity , so much generosity , so much virtue , that he won the esteem even of those who were op posed to him as a man of the people . He has left behind him a work , which I have not yet found , but I will seek it with care in order that it may be published in your journal . He died bravely . He marched to the place of execution firm and erect ; his countenance was extremely pale , and his eyes , bathed in tears , were lifted towards heaven . Who knows what holy thoughts of love and sadness came across that noble mind in a moment so solemn ! I will not seek to be their interpreter , since it seems to me that no words could reproduce them perfectly . He was silent for some time , and when he arrived at the appointed place , his person seemed suddenly to gleam with a halo of light , as he cried , viva Vltalia , and

      thundered the Marseillaise . May that patriotic death-cry—may that glorious song of the Revolution reach the ear of every son of oppressed and downtrodden Italy , and be the signal of a new rising for liberty and nationality ! For the present , France , herse lf enslaved , can render no aid to any other nation , so that if Italy is to be free , she must work out her own redemption . And , in spite of her numerous oppressors , domestic and f oreign , we cannot doubt that she shall be enabled to become free , What are a few Austrian and French soldiers in presence of a nation—a nation inspired with sucli heroic courage and love ol liberty as that displayed by the noble Simencelli and his fellow ' martyrs of Sinigaglia !

      The Sinigaglia Slaughter. Who Now Shall ...

      The Pope ' s curses and assassinations will not lessen the hatred of the Roman people to priestly rule , but will only make more ardent their aspirations for liberty , for Mazzini and the Republic . ^ Italy has teamed too well by sad experience the evil o f " moderation "—the sacrifice of principle to expediency and personal ambition , to seek in the coming revolution for anything else than the Italian Republic , one and indivisable . And when the Republic shall have taken the place of Pope and Princes , let not the liberated nation forget the honour due to the noble and valiant martyrs who have perished at Sinigaglia .

      The Farce Of Public Meetings! Struck Wit...

      THE FARCE OF PUBLIC MEETINGS ! Struck with horror at the contemplation of the Sinigaglia slaughter—that horror heightened bv the apathy of the British press , and the suspicious attitude ofthe British Government , the thought occurred to us that at least an opportunity should be afforded to the British people to " protest" through the medium of public meetings . But we minded the old adage of " second thoughts , " and a moment ' s reflection showed the folly of the imagined " protest . " Such a * ' protest" would be worse than

      useless , seeing that both the peoples and the . tyrants of Europe would know that there was " nothing in it . " When Cracow was annexed by Austria , Palmerston protested ; of course , that was a sham . But the public also protested , through the medium of " an influential meeting , " assembled in the Freemason ' s Tavern . Nothing came of it . Then there was some sympathy expressed for Italy ; but nothing came of it . " Large and enthusiastic " meetings were " got up" in behalf of Hungary ; Mary-le-bone pronounced , and Notting-hill " came forward , " and— ' Hungary f ell , without so much as a pebble being thrown by British hand ' s

      at Tsar or Kaiser . Kossuth came , and was received with a frantic shout of " enthusiasm /'—there was " nothing in it . " Announce a public meeting at the Freemasons' Tavern , or St . Martin ' s Hall , "to take into consideration the abominable murders at Sinigaglia . " Announce too , that Mazzini will take part in the proceedings , and—after much outlay of money for advertisements . & c , a " good house " may reasonably be anticipated , Mazzini will be received with" much cheering ; " an eloquent speaker describing the last hours of the murdered patriots will create " great sensation ; " the resolutions will be " adopted

      unanimously ; " the meeting will conclude with " three cheers for MazZINI and Italy ; " " three cheers for Kossuth and Hungary , " & c , and all will be over . Visible effect there will be none , unless it be the marked contempt of Europe ' s oppressors , on reading the account in the English papers ; and the ultimate disgust , min « led with despair , which must take possession of European patriots waiting , and waiting in vain , for this nation of vain talkers to do . Ireland has been ruined by her orators and professional agitators J

      and by her babbling patriots , and political traders , England has been brought to impotency and shame . The Sinigaglia slaughter is too serious a matter to be desecrated by common-place " resolutions , " expressing either sympathy " or " denunciation . " No ! let the martyrs sleep , undisturbed by whining or bluster ; and let those who do feel for Italy in her suffering , and England in her shame , find some better mode than public talk for giving expression and effect to their sentiments .

      Public meetings would , indeed , be useful , if those who resolved on the one day would proceed to act tip to their resolutions the next day ; and day by day , advance in action , until the end proposed was accomplished . The " Lone Star" men of America are in earnest—they mean to have Cuba ; and , therefore , although they hold " indignation meetings" when needed , those meetings are altogether subsidiary to their organisation , and those other more effective means by which , in advance of the day o f battle , they design to make a contract with Victory .

      Home politics meet with no better fate than foreign ; indeed that " glorious institution , " the true British " public meeting , ' * is rapidly assuming the character of an established humbug " . People go to "lectures , " " political soirees , " and "public meetings , " te be entertained , and to indulge in that kind o f mental excitement in search of which the denizens of the New Cut throng the " Royal Victoria , " and the elect of holiness fill Exeter Hall " to suffocation . " One of the most

      disgusting sights to any sensible man , not unfrequently exhibited . at public meetings , is to witness the evident enjoyment of the t coarsest charlatanism . No matter how serious the question . that may have caused the convening of the meeting , the antics 5 of a mountebank , or the language of a buffoon , will be as s keenly relished as though the audience were in presence of a a pantomime ! No wonder the ruling classes can afford to such h a people the cheap luxury of public meetings ; the right too grumble ; and the privilege to burlesque patriotism , and bring g the very principle of Freedom into contempt .

      As " the season (!) for public meetings" has re-commenced , 1 , these remarks may be considered not out of place . '' Mobsjs have their courtiers as well as kings , ' 'and the people , like : e princes , are never told the truth by those who for selt ' -aggran-1-dizement employ the base arts of falsehood and flattery . Ounr country ' s regeneration , Old England ' s good name , EuropeVs freedom , and the eternal interests of Humanity , are too sacreded . to be trifled with—too important to serve as the mere rawiw material of aimless , make-believe agitation . Better absolutfrte death than the mere mockery of life ; better still the com-nmencement of an earnest effort to have done with shams , andndl to give to Truth and Honour the fruitful service of untiringng ; Duty .

      Working- Men's Associations. The Society...

      WORKING- MEN'S ASSOCIATIONS . The Society for Promoting Associations of Working Meiileii has , as one of the results of the conference which was . helael « in July last , put forth their first Report , from which we hav < av « during two or three past weeks given extracts . From thithi Report , we are enabled to gather something of the present posiiosii tion of co-operators , their f uture prospects , and the means an < an « mode of action which they are possessed of and intend td to adopt .

      The Council of Promoters are not to be looked upon in an am sense as a commercial body . With the Rev . Mr . Maurice ne &\ their head , they are gentlemen quite unconnected with tradcadv The idea took its rise in some conferences which they held wit witl working men , in order to ascertain their wants , and to gai gai some idea as to the best practical means of remedying thenherc ! Che evil which appeared in the greatest prominence was tls tl ]

  • Citation
    • Northern Star (1837-1852), Nov. 6, 1852, page 9, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/ns/issues/ns2_06111852/page/9/