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Northern Star (1837-1852), 11th July 1846, Edition 2 of 3, Page 1

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  • Departments (2)
    • TO THE IMPERIAL CHARTISTS
    • NOTTINGHAM ELECTION.
  • Text (5)
  • Transcript

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      To The Imperial Chartists

      TO THE IMPERIAL CHARTISTS

      Mr Beloved Frieses , —Much that I should have gjtid in my letter this , week you will find In my speech at the nomination of candidates at Nottingham . I find that , as was the ease when the Whigs before relied upon the Irish place-hunters for power tCCTash the English Chartists , the big beggarman , who has been the bane of freedom for the last quarter of a century , has commenced his new career by fresh abase of the Chartist party , at Conciliation BalL This doating , plaoe-lranting driveller , had

      net the candour or the courage to tell his dupes that nearly 400 , 000 English Chartists had petitioned against the Irish Coercion Bill . Was I not right in designating . - the fusion Ministry as ' a coalition of English capitalists and Irish plaee-hnnfers , and am I not now justified in proiMming it as my determination , and what shoaWjbeiyonr policy , to oppose the Whig faction on every finsSngs by all available means at onr disposal , and to prefer a Conservative , Protectionist ,. Tory , or the devil himself , to a fusion Wile ?

      Wheat has already fallen 10 s . a quarter in Liverpool , and a ^ great majority of the growing corn is irreelaimably lost , and let us ask how the Whigs and the place-hunters can contend against such a catas trophe and our registered enmity . Had it not been for tue resolution of the men of Nottingham that I should proclaim onr principles before Sir John Cam Hobhouse , I should have met Macaulay at Edinburgh . However , my pledge was to meet him

      at the next general election — the present skirmish is but a stolen march of the Whigs , and the unopposed return of their Cabinet bespeaks neither increased confidence nor diminished hostility . I g ive you the following notice of my speech at Nottingham from the old bang-hole ( the Mominy Adjitrtwer ) , and from it you will learn that the liberal portion of the press meditates another crusade against . what it is pleased to call Inflammatory

      Jan-Mr . TEi ^ STJsO'CoHKOB then rose , ana was greeted by his adherents with thundering applause . lie commenced his oration by attempting to refute the various allegations ofSirJohiiBobhoiise , that the Whigs had done good ; ana , after continuing in a strain of the extremes ! vituperation for about two hours , in which lie dealt out mneh language of a highly inflammatory and seditions nature , lie c oncluded by delivering a variety of messages to the Hon . Baronet charging him strictly to convey them to the Cflguet—the purport of which was , tbat the people looked upon them as " base , brutal , and bloody , " and would not have them for ruUrs . Sir John promised to do the bidding of the Agitator .

      Tie Sheriff ( Nathan Hurst , E ? a- ) put both candidates to the vote , when the show of hands was immense ' -y in Txronr of ifr . O'Connor . Without waiting for a poll to be demanded , Mr . O'Connor withdrew from the contest , and Sir John wasdeclaredto be duly elected . The Sun is more tolerant , the Ernes is awed into Si ' ence ; my speech did not suit the Book of the Post , acd in fact they hope once more to crush U 3 by inso-Itnceorby silence , but I hurl defiance at the whole pressgang ; andwitayonatmybackl will drive the

      Whigs and the Irish beggars into obscurity once more . They hope , forsooth , not only to govern the country without us bnt against ns , and while they are dragging every channel of corruption for adherents , they had not the courage to be honest , or even to pretend to be honest , by appointing the one man alone in « hom the people had confidence , to a place in the Cabinet , Not that I imagine that Duncombe would have defiled himself by associating with such a crew , but they might have paid the people the compliment of inviting him .

      I have been asked to attend at the opening of the People ' s Ball , at Manchester , on Sunday week , the l £ th instant , an invitation which I accept with pleasure , as I trust it may be the means ol inspiring the faithful with confidence , and 01 retrieving the waverers . A great press upon our space this week precludes the possibility of addressing you at greater length just now , and therefore I must conclude by assuring yen of my unaltered and unalterable attachment to your principles , and my continued devotion to vour cause ..

      I am , my friends , Tour faithful friend and servant , Feabgps O'Coxxob

      Nottingham Election.

      NOTTINGHAM ELECTION .

      Sir John Cam Hobhouse, Having Accepted T...

      Sir John Cam Hobhouse , having accepted the office of "President of the Board of Controul , " the Right Honourable Baronet was subjected to the disagreeable necessity of appearing before the constituency of the Borough once more , to ask them to confirm his appointment , by returning him again to Parliament , lie has long been unpopular here , owing to his close alliance with the Whigs , who are thoroughly detested by the people of Nottingham : and from the moment it was announced that he had become , "part and parcel" of the Russell . Administration , every one asked— "Will he not be opposed V "Is it possible that he will be allowed to walk over the course ? " Up to Monday . it appeared that the Whig minister , would not meet with any

      opposition , as all parties seemed to think that it would not be worth while to incur the expense of a contest just now , seeing that the General Election is so near at hand , when both Sir John and his colleague Mr . Gisborne , are sure to be sent about their business . Late on Monday evening however . a stir was observed amongst the active members of the Chartist body , and on the following morning , lame posters appeared notifying that Mr . Feargus O'Connor would be nominated in opposition -to the Whig p laceman . A second bill shortly afterwards announced a public meeting , to be held in the market place at seven o clock-in the evening , to be addressed by Messrs . P . M'Grath , T ; Clark , and C . Dovlc , of the Executive Committee of the jVational Charter Association . Mr . O'Connor was also expected to be present and address the inhabitants .

      THE MEETING . LoEg before the hour of commencing business the people were to be seen wending their way to the place of meeting , and shortly after seven o ' clock there were abaut ten thousand persons present . Mr . James Sweet was unanimously called to the Chair . He commenced bis address by declaring his deadly hostility to the intended reign of Whiggcry , aud his deierniinaticn , as an elector , to offer it all the opposition in his cower ; he had been persecuted by the Whigs for the annoyance which his conduct had caused that faction , but still he was determined to persevere , and it his vote could have any effect upon their existence , they should be again consigned to that obscurity which they were so eminently calculated to adorn . lie had the pleasure to introduce to their notice Mr . Thomas Clark , who on coming forward was loudly cheered : he explained the reasons

      which bad induced the Directors of the Chartist 1 movement to appear before the people of Nottingham in opposition to their late candidate . Sir 3 . O . Hobiiouse , and contended they would have failed in the performance of a great public duty had they not met the Whig Ministers on the threshold , and declared their d etermination to oppose the domination of the party vim bad not left untried any means for the extermination of the Chartists . Mr . C . alluded to some of the acts of Sir J . V . Jlolhouse , as a justification for the opposition which he and his friends Lad resolved to offer him , and retired to make way for Mr , C . Doyk , who was cordiall y greeted ; he I proceeded to analyse the creed of the newly formed j Cabinet , and adduced historical facts to prove that the Whigs had never been more than mere expediency j managers , always persecuting the real friends of the j people .

      Mr . Bvtxe dwelt at length upon the misconduct of the Russell party when last in office , aud concluded an energetic and powerful address by appealing to the electors of Nottingham to reject Sir J . C . ilok bouse . The chairman next introduced Mr . Phillip M'Grath , who was received with loud applause , lie congratulated the working men of ^ Nottingham upon the spirit which they had evinced in assembling together in such large numbers with such short notice . He was sure they would on the morrow at the nomination , sustain their high character for independence and intelligence . Like his brothers of the Executive . lie had the most unbounded confidence in them ; so much so , that they were certain of success . Mr . O'Connor ' s object in meeting the Whig knit ht , was not so much to find fault with him personally , as to strike a blow at the party of which the inconsistent

      Baronet farmed a part . Sir J . C . Ilobuouse had once bten * . i ** Iladiuil Reformer , " but for rc . iions , which , from mbtives of delicacy aud chasiitv he would not mention . Sir John had retrograded / but the ptonle 2 , ad pro ~ . -es ** l . { Cheers . } " Finality" would not ' do it ihi : c tLys of improvement when ktiowk-duewa . - * sprd ; ;> r . 1 : r ^; u ; wiili a celerity that was as astounding , sl * it w . ^ s gratifying . ( Cheers . ) Omvaid must be tb < - ! :. avr lii ^ . t , & f the new Ministry , wlh-. y would be Lui-v I KOfci jo ' . ver by an UHu V iuint and justly exaspeia ¦ il ueo , , k \ { Alr . jMGrath's address was here abruptly broken off by the arrival of Mr . O'Connor , whoK-Uijad N » sii »« haffl by theelj > lix o ' etoek train , and who was met : ind escorted to the mectirg by thousands of the working men . ) After the cheering which

      Sir John Cam Hobhouse, Having Accepted T...

      greeted his appearance had subsided , Mr . O'Connor stepped forward and assured the meeting that his only object in being amongst tbera was to plead the cause of labour , whicb had hitherto been left out of the calculation of statesmen , but thanks to the in-Creasing intelligence of the aue , Labour ' s Sons were now able to advocate their own rights , in such a manner that tyrants trembled at their growing power . Sir J . C . Hobhouse was not a friend to the rights of labour , and therefore he would oppose him . ( Cheers . ) He would meet him on the hustings in the morning , —( loud cheers)—and as Nottingham had been the scene of some of his former trinmphs . he doubted not that he was once more on the eve of an additional

      triumph . ( Cheers . ) His victories , however , were for the people , not for himself . ( Hear . ) He had ho personal ill-feeling towards the gentleman whom he was presentto oppose , but he detested his politics and his party , and he would therefore struggle againsi them to the last . As it was not his intention to become hoarse , by speaking too much in the open air on the ni ° ht previous to the engagement , and as they had already heard good speeches from those who had gone before him , he would take leave of them for the night and promise them to renew his acquaintainship with them in the morning in the most friendly manner imaginable . ( Loud and continued cheering ) Mr- O'Connor was then accompanied to his lodging

      by a number of the working men , and the meeting broke up . Mr . O'Connor ' s appearance amongst us once more has created the greatest possible enthusiasm and excitement . Itseems like old times ! - .. . ' [ The Whig committee of Sir J . Hobhouse had been busily engaged in reprinting and distributing thousands of Cooper ' s infamous letter from Ui > yd ? s Refuge for Btnegadtt , and the fact having been communicated to Mr . O'Connor , and a copy handed to him , he said "The Whigs have been circulating the mad poet ' s letter . Shouts of laughter and cheers answered this announcement . It was well for Cooper

      thai he was nob present . This Fact of printing his "filthy letter" for the purpose of damaging Chartism , settlesthe question of Cooper beingnow a Chartist , " since the' enemies of Chartism claim him for their own . We wish Cooper joy of his new friends . He may rejoice that his "filthy" letter has been printed and circulated at the cost of Whig gold , but let him not flatter himself that his Whig friends have succeeded in damaging Chartism or Mr . O'Connor ; they have however consigned the moralizing slanderer to a still lower depth in the " Purgatory of Suicides . " — " Alas poor Torick ! " 1

      THE DOMINATION . WEnsEsnAY . —The nomination took place this morning , and as we all anticipated , Hobhouse was quite unpopular , Mr . O'Connor ' s reception was everytliingtnat we could desire , and be in return acqulted hunselt so far exceeding everything in the shape of public oratory that ever we heard , that to some other pen must be left the task of pourtraying its effects upon those who had the good fortune to hear it . After the usual ceremonies had been completed , Francs Hart , Esq ., proposed Sir John Cam Hobhouse as a fit and proper person to represent the borough of Nottingham . ( Cheers and groans . ) Thomas Herbert , Esq ., Mayor , seconded the nomination .

      Mr . James Sweet proposed Feargus 0 Connor , Esq . ; and Mr . William Moii seconded the proposition . Sir Jonx Cam Hobhousb , on rising , was greeted with partial cheering and tremendous groans and hisses , which having subsided , he addressed the electors , saying that had not his Honourable opponent requested for him a fair hearing , he had no doubt the electors would have granted him one . He was notastonished at Mr . Feargus O'Connor conducting himself so handsomely towards him , as they had sat side by side in the Honse of Commons , and he ( Sir John C . Hobhouse ) had had the honour of being his coadjutor on Questions of great importance and reform .

      —( Hear , hear . ) The Hon . Gentleman proceeded to defend himself from the charge of being a " renegade , " advanced against him by the proposers of Air . O'Connor . He cited his labours in the Liberal cause in aiding in carrying the Reform Bill , the Catholic Emancipation Bill , < x-c . He continued : — Having said that it is my boast to be one of those who , long before reform was popular—long before reform was the watchword of Ministers—long before reform was the favourite word and sentiment with monarchs—1 now declare that I and my much-lamented friend Sir Francis Burdett —( groans)—and Mr . O'Connor can tell you it is fact—that we belonged to the persecuted band who moved onward

      and carried reform . — ( A voice , " What are you now ? " ) I am twenty-four years older than I was then . —( Laughter , and a voice " Older and worse . " ) But I am telling you what I was at my first setting out , and the principles I then espoused I have never for a moment ceased to act upon since . —( Hear , hear . ) I have been accused of being what is called a party man : it is perfectly true , as my honourable friend the seconder of Mr . O'Connor has said . I did find fault with the Whigs , and I would now if they were to do as they did then . But I bes leave to say I did not go to the Wijgs , but the Whigs came tc me . —( Applauseand Hear , hear . ) When I went intc Parliament in 1819-20 , the Whigs were not friendly

      to Parliamentary reform . But when they proposed to bring that great measure ( the Reform Bill ) forward , I became incorporated with tbat party , and I have never seen any reason to desert them . He proceeded to vindicate the past measures of the Whigs since 1832 , and . eulogised their good intentions for the future . He retired amidst the cheers of his friends and the overpowering groans of his opponents . [ We have merely indicated the purport of the Whig Candidate ' s speech ; for a fuller report we must refer those who wish to see the speech to the Times , Chronicle , Post , Herald , I ) aily News , and M . Advertiser—all these papers report HobhoDse ' s speech , but give not one word of Mr . O'Connor ' s . !

      Mr . O'Connor upon presenting himself was received with loud cheers and waving of hats , which appeared to astonish his opponent . When the applause had subsided , he spoke as follows . Mr . Sheriff , electors , and non-electors of Nottingham , the only triumph that I seek to achieve from this day ' s proceedings is that of reading such a lesson to the right hon . gentleman who claims your support , as may induce him to abandon his new course of error and return to the advocacy of those principles which he held dear in former days , and which would yet render him dear to the working classes . ( Cheers . ) My desire is to exhibit to him such a manifestation of popular improvement as shall convince him of the

      hopelessness of longer governing this country by faction . ( Cheers . ) There is no office more valuable than tbat of censor , andits loss has received but a poor substitute in a corrupt and venal press . ( Cheers . ) When a candidate presents himself for the suffrages of the people , it is due to Mm , and justice to them , that his opinions and pretensions should be searchingly canvassed , and with that view I shall now proceed to examine the qualification which the r ight honourable gentleman's proposer and seconder have endeavoured to establish as his title to your support . First to the gentleman who proposed him . He based the righi honourable gentleman ' s pretensions upon the fact that he had been a consistent

      and strenuous advocate of ' civil and political liberty . This branch of the subject 1 shall consider in its proper place . The worshipful mayor , who seconded the nomination , ingenuously , if not prudently , confessed that some differences of opinion upon various subjects existed between him and the right honourable gentleman . He told us , however , that , as another op . portumty would shortly occur of canvassing those differences more minutely , that the present time was neither fitting nor appropriate to the purpose . He further told us that the differences were immaterial , as between the present time and the right honourable gentleman ' s next appearance no public business would be transacted , while he told us in the next breath—and I am glad that he is not an Irishman , as he favoured us with

      more than one bull — ( Cheers and laughter )—he told us that it was necessary to re-elect the right hon . gentleman that he might aid IMMEDIATELY in carrying out those gre ; it national measures which were about to be proposed by the government . As far as his friend is concerned , he has committed even a greater blunder than this , for if I had been inclined to canvas tiie individual character of Sir John Cam Hobhouse , he has priced jr . out of aiy power , by Leaping upon him -nidi exctssive oulogiunx for those mcaiur . * , i „ the accomplishment of which he hai informi d you the right hon . gentleman wJ ) S a principal actor , -therefore , 1 am now justified , in treating him iuliis corporate capacity , as a number olai . adin inanition which I mean to charge with enormous crimes , in-

      Sir John Cam Hobhouse, Having Accepted T...

      consistencies , and follies . ( Cheers . ) The right hon . gentleman cannot expect to reap individual glory and escape censure . I now turn to a consideration of the right hon . gentleman's appeal . Jh commenting upon the harsh epithet applied to him by the friend who proposed me , he observed , that " IIAI $ J WORDS BREAK NO BONES ; ' ; but from the tenor of Lis address 1 . fear he forgot the ; twin

      adage" SOFT WORDS - BUTTER NO P ABSNIP &« In replying to the charges made against him by the friend who seconded me , he has told yon , and truly , that to the Reform Bill to which he gave his support , he owes the power of nomination that he has exercises * here to-day . I admit it— -but is that an answer to the general failure of theReform Bill . The ' quesl tion is not , whether these two gentlemen have receiyod aright , or a boon ; but the question is , whether ithas been withheld from thousands and tens of thousands to whom the Reform Bill promised it . ( Loud cheers . ) The right hon . gentleman has told yco , that he not only extended the suffrage to cities and boroughs .

      but that he also extended it to counties . Yes , it is true , he gave us a rural constituency of an hundred and eight thousand tenants-at-will , slaves in the caprice of their landlords ; and capable of overawing the bit of liberality that previously existed in counties . ( Cheers . ) And therig ^' hon . genthSmanhas boasted ; that the Government , confident in its measures , ' confident in popular support , and confident in its' swn integrity , has appealed—not to boroughs , not * to small constituencies ; but to London , to Nottingham , to'Edinburgh , Plymouth , and the : West Riding ef Yorkshire . Aye , but to whom do they appeal ? Faction' knows where to kin , ' faction BlJlOWS What

      to . avoid . They have appealed to rotten constituencies , created by their own Reform Bill foi their own purposes . ( Loud cheers . ) The whole tenor of the right boh . gentleman ' s address was confined to the laudation of the Whigs , for measures in carrying which they . had no share . He appears to forget : that , there exists a material difference between men looking for power , and the same men exercising power . ( Cheers : ) He has travelled far out of , the record . He has gone into the old almanack , but I . shall confine myself to the period beyond which the memory of man goeth not—the Reform Bill , with , a mere passing glance at some of those

      changes for which the right hon . gentleman takes credit—the merit of which is not due either to him or his party . He has instanced Catholic emancipation , as if the Whigs had carried or even forwarded that measure . It was one of those conditions upon which the union between , the tvo countries was effected ; and often as the Whigs were in power , from the period of the Union to the . passing of that measure , they gave to it but a mere party , factious sup . port , making it the war-cry of Ireland , and using it simply for the purpose of party ascendancy ; and even then it was not the Whigs , nor yet the Tories , that carried it ; it was carried by Daniel O'Conneli

      and the Irish people , when it was dangerous longer to resist it . ( Cheers . ) The Test and Corporatio n Act , of which he has also boasted , was passed antecedent to the Reform Bill , and by a boroughmongering Parliament ; and the Municipal Act , for which betakes credit , was but a poor boon for so great a measure . A boon which transferred power from a bloated to a hungry faction , and imposed more tax ^ s upon you to fatten the lean Whigs , whilst it excluded you from any participation in municipal affairs ' . ( Loud cheers . ) The hon . gentleman has told you that the only change in him is that he is twenty-four years older than when he first advocated the great

      principles of Reform . In mercy to him , and injustice to you , would he had remained at his then age , and in possession of his then principles . ( Loud cheers and laughter . ) I now turn to a consideration of the fruits of the Reform Bill , which he has told you b y his labours was made moreRadica ] and sweeping than the Whigs had originally intended . Let us canvas its results , and the means by which it was carried . The government of that day , unable of itself to force the measure upon the boroughmongering parliament , had recourse to declamation and popular agitation , never before witnessed in this country . A Minister of the Crown corresponded

      with the Birmingham unionists—the reform demagogues had so recommended their measures to the favour of the industrious classes , that the nation appeared to conspire in one general effort to effect the great change . The flame of reform , as was natural , traversed the country , and even reached the remote county of Dorset . ( Tremendous cheering . ) All the angry passions of an excited people were put in requisition , to balance the weakness of a faction . ( Loud cheers . ) So the measure was carried , and now for its results . The right hoa . gentleman has told you that he and I sat upon the same side of the House , and were coadjutors in the supportof Reform-We did sit upon the same side of the House it is true . but we did not vote upon the same side of the

      question . Who carried the Irish Coercion Bill ? ( Tremendous cheering . ) Who voted for it ? Yon did , I did not . ( Loud cheers . ) It was a bill more atrocious in character , more unconstitutional , less needed , more base , brutal , and bloody , than that by timely opposition to which you have succeeded to temporary power . ( Cheers . ) Your Reform Bill promised justice to Ireland , but have you governed the country by the ordinary law ? Did you keep your pledge ? Did you redeem your promise ? or did you not pack the House at the dead of night with your military supporters , flushed with wine from the Royal table , and did you not exhibit your new Whig jurors in their military uniforms , the jurors whose finding was to become a substitute for that of a constitutional

      jury . Have you forgotten your Courts Martial , your domiciliary visits , your suppression of public opinion , and your law to transport Irishmen for being oubol ' their hovels aftcrsunset . ( Tremendous cheeriug and waving of hats , ) If you have , Ireland has not , and I never shall . ( Loud cheers . ) Have you forgotten your starvation bill ? by which you hoped so to degrade the labourer as to compel him to sell his labour for any pittance that the proud capitalist may condescend to offer him . ( Continued cheering . ) Have you forget that you separated husband from wife , and both from their children ? ( Great cheering . ) Have you forgot that a Whig judge so far

      strained the ordinary law as to transport the Dorchester labourers , whose hopes you had raised , and whose passions you had excited , by straining an act of par . liament enacted for suppressing mutiny in the navy ? Dave you forgotten that you attempted to suppress the Birmingham Unionists and Trades' Unions that helped you to power ? Have jfou forgot your protestations in favour of the free expression of public opinion , and have you forgot your inhuman crusade , not only against the conductors , but against the poor vendors , of the unstamped press ? ( Loud and continued applause . ) Have you forgot the war that you waged against the Chartist body for the mere expression , nay , in many instances , for merely listening to opinions which you in your youth had propagated ? Have you forgotten your £ 1000 bail before

      trial ? Have you forgotten your cropping ol hair off your own disciples —their consignment to felons' dungeons and felons' fare , to the treadwheel and silent system , for two , three , four , and five years ? ( Uproarious applause , and " Take that , Johnny . " ) Have you forgotten the trial of working men by special juries ? Have yon forgotten the spies , the informers , the lickspittles that drained jour Exchequer , made you bankrupt in faise , said Whi ggcry a term of just derision throughout the world ? ( Tr emendous cheering . ) Have you forgotten the use you made of llio royal prerogative , and has it escaped your memory that while Louis Phillippe , the tyrant of France , was seeking opportunities to extend amnesty to polities ] offenders , you were abusi ng the royal prerogatr ' ,

      Sir John Cam Hobhouse, Having Accepted T...

      you weretarnishihg the brightest gem in the re ? al diadem , by searchingthe hulks and the prisons for objects of royal clemency . ( Tremendous cheering . ) During your rule wo had a . royal marriage / and ( royal babes , pledges of royal felicity , and fione furnished you with sufficient pretext to liberate one of your own political disciples . No ! yon alfotred them to pine in dungeons , andsom e of them to breathe their last as victims of the ORDINARY LAW . ( Indescribable sensation and cheering . ) Where was your justice ? Where was your mercy , when you made one of those sixty , who , after the most savage vengeance had been taken by

      the law , voted for a continuance of your triumph and kept us still in felons' dungeons ? ( cheers . ) Was it according to the ordinary law you' sent mo for eighteen months to a felon ' s dungeon for proclaiming the principles which you had instructed me in , ( loud cheers . ) Ah , but I survived your tyranny , My . party , notwithstanding , the treachery of-your Attorney General , your Scotch adventurer , your political pedlar , your tramping pauper , your Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster , is more vigorous , more powerful and determined to resist your coalition of English Capitalists and Irish place-hunters-than at ' . ' auyi former period of our existence , ( load and

      con-• fcinuedveheering ; and waving of Hats , ) and here from this spot I hurl defiance" at your authority , and tell your Cabinet from me , " that the world has never presented , in any country , a union organised forliberty such as that which now exists in this country , ( loud cheers . ) We may be less violent than we were , but our partial reaction has been occasioned by the-fact that , for five long years ihe greatest statesman ikfc ever the world beheld , has conducted on incipient Chartist agitation , ( loud cheers . ) Sir Robert Peel ( renewed cheering ) has left you upon a bed of thorns , which your finality Lord , NOT YET STRONG ? ENOUGH FOR THE PLACE , will find it difficult

      to follow in the steps of that giant performer . Afld although you have succeeded nimby a happy accident , yet I tell you nineteen in every twenty of the people of this country would vote to-morrow for his restoration to power , ( preat cheering . ) You live but upon sufferance , within your Cabinet are the elements of dissolution , you have three Greys , all holding the . most important offices , with a Ponsonby for your Irish Lord-Lieutenant , and Charles BuIIer , who is a disciplejof Grey ' s , upon your flank . The difference between Brougham and Grey is this—that Brougham will agree with nobody ; Grey can't even agree with himself . ( Cheersand laughter . ) Do yousup .

      pose that the betted Protectionists , after their temporary spleen shall have subsided , will not . rather coalesce with Peel than bear even your extensive pledges for the preservation of office . A coalition may destroy you , a thunder storm would annihilate you . ( Laughter and cheers . ) Aye , I request of the right lion , gentleman to look right and left on his way home , and throughout be will see the greatest enemy to Whiggcry—he will see more corn irreelaimably lost than ever was known at this period of the year before . He will see twothirds of the wheat fields , not laid but flattened , all proclaiming the incompetency of an

      imbecile government tor complete the great commercial policy of its predecessor . ( Cheers . ) The right hon . Baronet , after proclaiming what the Whigs did not do , raised our hope , by a promise to define the future policy of liis government . You and I , and all of us , were anxious for such au important developement . But he began with lauding the commercial policy of Sir Robert Peel , the foundation of which , he said , was laid by the present Prime Minister and his party ; forgetting the noble Lord ' s 8 s . fixed duty , which was his lowest bid for free trade support , until lured- bythe tempting bait of a replenished Exchequer , ( Cheers and laughter . ) when he said , take all ,

      perish every interest , for another suck at the old cow . ( Cheers and laughter . ) The right hon . Baronet and his friends will soon suck her dry once more , and then the haberdashers , the manufacturers , the clothiers , the bankers , shopkeepers , and speculators , of which our representative assembly is composed , will call out for another clerk , another bookkeeper to git behind the desk of the great counting house of the na tion . ( Cheers and laughter . ) The right hon . Baronet , however , failed to gratify our curiosity further than by assuring us , that the thing would eventually be done . What that thing is , however , whether it is his thing , or Lord John Russell ' s

      thing , that is to be done , we are left in blissful ignorance . ( Tremendous chcere and laughter . ) I have no confidence in the right hon . gentleman ' s thing . I tried . it before , and found it wanting ; it will not stand the popular scrutiny . ( Uproarious laughter . ) The late Lord Chancellor Plunketfc once observed , that we Irish barristers were frequently about the thing , and about the thing , but not a whit nearer the thing , and so it is with the present administra-( ration . But as the right hon . gentleman has so vauntingly boasted the capacity and intentions o his present leader , let us canvas the meagre programme upon which he once more hopes to secure

      the public confidence . We have the test of his efficiency in an indictment ; framed against himself , which his friends have foolishly paraded as his fitness for office . After ten years' uninterruptcd ' possession of power we are told of the social reforms still required . We learn that after the plunder of one party for the gratification of the most powerful , and after the adjustment of the , commercial relations of active speculators , that now something must be done for the social comfort of the poor . And what is that something ? He tells us that the " sanatory condition" of the poor is in a deplorable state — 'that the state of the

      " criminal law is yet a problem to be solved , and that the sy stem of "education" is lamentably imperfect—but not a word about the TEN HOURS ' BILL —( Tremendous cheering)—not a word about the repeal of the Poor Law Amendment Act —( Renewed cheering)—not a word about the extension of the franchise . ( Repeated cheers . ) Tell the noble lord , from me , that our policy of sanatory improvement is , every man his own ventilator of his own cottage —( Cheers)—every man his own severer , that we require no national system of education , that what we require is , every father of a family shall from the fruits of bis own labour be able to educate

      his own family . ( Great applause . ) We require no repetition of the national farce , by which £ 30 , 000 was voted for national education , and £ 70 , 000 for the comfort of Prince Albert ' s horses . ( Renewed cheering . ) The right hon . baronet , practised as he is in the science of agitation , is not yet aware of the mine that is about to spring under the fragile footing on which faction stands , lie has slept while wc were awake . He does not understand that Glasgow and Plymouth , Newcastle and Bristol , Edinburgh and Bath , Manchester and London , are now of oaomiud .

      That wc have created a new public opinion and organized a now public opinion , and thai the next demand upon the leaders of the movement party will be bravely and successfully to direct that opinion , ( Tremendous cheering . ) While ho a , nd his party arc clamouring for cheap broad , which ' means low wages—( Cheers . )—the people have set their hearts upon the thing that produces bread TIIE LAND . ( Tremendous Cheering . )—lie and his party may talk for ever about their commercial arrangements by which the people arc led to hope

      for their miserable share , butl'tell them that labour will be satisfied with no change short of tiiat which will make every man his own producer and his ) own consumer , regardless whether the surplus is worth 3 s . or ± 3 per quarter . ( Great applause ) Mas the ri-ht lion , baronet enjoyed the repose of flip Van Winkle , and has ho boun asleep while the universal movement has been going forward ? Whether wc . leok

      Sir John Cam Hobhouse, Having Accepted T...

      to Russia with its despotism i or Pmsia with iia despotism , t 9 Poland openly struggling , or the Italian States secretly conspiring , to France in a state of ef fei'yescence , faction in Spain living upon periodical revolutions , or Portugal after her triumph , to Austria bending beneath'the weight of the wrongs of her Italian States , or the republic of Switzerland struggling for , more popular freedom , can he , I ask ,-for a moment suppose that England , though ' , ' less excited , yet upon occasion more excitable , will , hang back in this universal march for freedom . ( Cheers . ) No , I tell him

      that , in spite of Whig coercion , of the strained ordinary law , of party and , judges , packed juries , anbome ' d witnesaes , spies , perjurers , and informers , in spite of the dock , the dungeon , and , the scaffold , the English mind and Englishmen will knock down and trample upon your boasted landmark of corruption ' and with an irresistible torrent sweep away every vestige of usurped rights and stolen privileges . ( Tremendous cheering and' waving of . hats . ) The right hon gentleman has named penny postage as a great boon : I admit it as a means of communicating grown opinions , and I ask him if he can contemplate the

      rapid progress of their transit , without shuddering fotthereign of"despotism . ' Can he think of our rail ways , and our steam navigation , and hope that the scienee of legislation is alone to stand' stiil while all others are rapidly hurrying on to the goal of perfection , ( cheers . ) Has he reflected tbat we can now shake hands with America , ' in posssssien of a republic ,, anti kiss Francs panting for the same form of government , without coming to the conclusion * that England is the great volcano'in the raidsfc of ocea * n , and that the free expression of opinion is the only safety vaive that can save ns-from explosion . ( Great

      cheering , in which Sir J . Hobhouse joined . ) I agree with Junius and with Burke , that agitation is aa . the hue and cry that prepares you'fbr the thief by announcing his approach , but once stop it and ho will come stealthily upon you in the night . ( Cheers-. ) There is no danger of a physical revolution in England , so long as public discussion is permitted , but once stop it , as in France , and other countries , and you may retire to rest in peace to be roused , by the war cry from your alnvnber . ( Great cheering . ) Wc have not been behind in the march of mind , when we find America , in possession of

      republican institutions for three quarters of a century , compelled to adopt our cry for the Land , as the onlymeans Of UUIUplci / iny ho « - /» oo < lnm ° Wlint- «> niirifcT \« with the wealth and the power that England can boast of , is so liable to combustion from apparently insignificant causes , and yet the death of any one of three eld gentlemen , might throw us into anarchy and confusion . If Mr . O'Conneli , Louis Philippe , or the Duke of Wellington , die to-morrow , the wisest man would not vouch for ton days' permanency of our institutions . And- thus your system must be bad , when it cannot stand the death

      of one . old man , or a single thunder-stormi ( Great cheering . ) The right hon . gentleman felt sore at being reminded of his old opinions . I shall not torture him with further extracts from his juvenile speeches , not liable to the same charge of incorrectness as Hansard , the Mirror , or the press—the dread of hasty and intemperate speakers . This ia-a book written at his own express desire , lest his opinions of those days should be misconstrued or forgotten . Here are resolutions embodying his opinions ,, and testifying his fitness as a representative for the radicalism they contained . From this book I learn that he declared himself a Republican in 1810 . ( Loud

      cheers . ) He also declared himself for the extension of the Franchise , not merely to my two friends , who have proposed and seconded me , but to the mechanic , the artisan , and the labourer . ( Cheers . ) He has declared himself for the fullest extension of the suffrage , for short Parliaments , and equal electoral districts , and yet while he was Minister , land others have been treated like felons for propagating those principles which rendered him worth the purchase of his party . ( Cheering . ) Of all men living I have a right to charge him as the author of all my suffering . When 1 was allowed but half a glass of wine , the toast that my father used to propose was PROSPERITY TO IRELAND , when I was entitled to two , the second was " A DOWNFALL TO

      TYRANNY ALL OVER THE WORLD , " when I got three the last was the health of Lords Grey and Russell , Sir Francis Burdett , and John Cam Hobhouse . We wove four of a persecuted family , even of * a persecuted race . I was the youngest ; it was my task to read the parliamentary debates and speeches of the reformers , and the room not unl ' requcntly rung with cheers for Hobhouse . My eidest brother ' s tasit was to read Cobbett ' s Register , and my second brother read the Examiner , and my third read the leading articles in the daily and weekly newspapers . Tims I " was one

      of the pupils of the right lion , gentleman . And now , I ask him , how he can dijve to look me in the face , having abandoned those triples , while the weight , the penalty , and odium of ustaining them devolved upon me . ( The most indescribable scene ever witnessed upon a hustings followed this appeal . Mr . O'Connor keepinghis eyes sternly fixed upon Sir John Hobhouse , whiletk 9 vastniultitudecheercdandciiecreil again ; those standing behind the right'hon . gentleman stooping forward to get a peep , while he blushed and turned pale , attempting , but in vain , to look his opponent in the face . ) Ah i Sir , continued Mr .

      O'Connor , I am too faithful a disciple to be converted or intimidated by your dUhonourable coalition , or your unnatural fusion . ( Ch eers . ) You boast of Whig consistency , while you arc obliged to appeal to the Tory Duke to be your Commander-in-Chief . You boa * t of Whig honour , when the consistency of Sir Robert Peel alone saved three juvenile statesmen , Lord Dalbousie , Sidney Herbert , and the Earl of Lincola from falling into your patronage-baited trap . ( Cheers . ) Do not , however , mistake me , this fusion is what I have long expected , and now hail all

      witb ^ oy . You hav e now destroyed p olitical distinctions as far as name goes—you have marshalled tho rich oppressors of all classes against the poor oppressed , and therefore do I hail it . A great charge against the Chartists was , that they sometimes allied themselves with the Tories against the Whigs , but now you have destroyed the right to repeat that charge . You have hadyour fusion , we'll have our fusion , and perhaps out of the two fusions , WC may have a confusion , too strong for Whig liberality or it th

      the ordinary law . ( I ^« d cheers . ) How comes at you boast of what the Reform Bill has done , when we find you relying upon Catholic Emancipation , the repeal of the Test and Corporation Act , and other changes effected by a boroughmongering Parliament , and now basing your pretensions to power , not upon what the reformers have done or will do , but upon what the Tory Peel has effected . You shudder like a guilty man at the recollection of your own acts , and would vainly cover your misdeeds by stripping

      the honoured garments from your opponents . ( Cheers . ) How , In the face of truth , of practico , and of acts , can you presume to eulogise the Reform Hill , when it is a known fact , that whereas Mr . Pitt aud his successors never calculated upon a lavrcr working majority than 30 , the same party woro enabled in the teeth of your Reform Bill to secure a majority ol one hundred , ( Loud cheers . ) Is that a proof of progress , or is it not a fact that whereas the Whig constituencies arc too libera ) for their represents ! lives , the Tory representor ives are too liberal' foi their constituencies . ( Cheers . ) How have you

      Sir John Cam Hobhouse, Having Accepted T...

      gamed your majorities ? At first , by extensive" pro . ' raises from the Reform Bill , you secured a majority h > . ° ^ er m > and in 1834 J you pVWshed' undet-the : ; - . eight of your own profligacy . You supported your S vernment by patronage and 'expensive commis- - - * «? m ; you died a natural death ; , you ; fell : to pieces , ~ ^ your offn rottenness , andthenan the hope of '; I l V ; propping the

      edifice by splicing whatappeared sound , ' - you got a vote of confidence in LoraV Althorp . -uAr !¦ eve ^ member ca ling himself liberal , with L ^ , ^ catio n of mysejf , 81 gned the degrading aocument . r - „ Aye , even he Irish pedlars , the prostitute place .. : " hunters , voted confidence in the man , who , but the ; " " year before , had coerced their country , and deprived . ' her people of even the semblance of a constitution , ¦ v You were expelled from office , and in 1835 you v " came in upon no better cry than "the Irish Church . ¦ ,:, ' £ and keep the Tories out . " You lingeredon till 1837 , ' " ^ wasting of Whig consumption , when the death of the V ^

      monarch furnished you and your beggarly supporters with the cry of the LOVELY young Queen and Re- : : ? . ;; form , arid from that period till 1841 , you went on . * f f bribing , dissipating , corrupting , and betraying , tilt 5 " at last you perished to rise no more , except iipoa the ruin of a man who accomplished what you dared not propose . You exhausted the Exchequer , yoa ' \'" . ' .- ' disgraced the country , you dishonored the name of -- > Whigy and made Reform a bye-word of contempt . . " ¦' ( Loud Cheers . ) When we raise the midnight torch ' ! once more , which we asswedly will , if you will ' , , ; not redress our grievances , and admit ua to a full , free

      , and fair partici pation in the representation ot the country—will you again treat ' -na ! to your ordinary law ? When we sgain rise as one-man , will you prosecute-us again for circulating the opinions , which you say you have not abandoned ? If your Should attemptU , sir , give me leave to tellyouthafr I have added a new element to Chartism . AforetinW r we fonght the battle with the hand-lootoweaver ' satid operatives alone , Butnow I have added alargeseotioa of the agricultural labourers to , the main body of the movement ; And when the price of cent tumbles , as it assuredly will , not to the plentiful , bufc the starvation point . — when bread is cheap bufr labour unemployed , then , Sir , how will youresisfr

      thetomnbl Then you will leariy that Sir Robert Peel kept the Irish Goercion Bill asra backdoor to walk oul ? of whenliehad introduced and carried his great-, commercial measures . But even upon ' this subject I may boast a little . ' Our neutrality ; had no slight effect upon the carrying of those , measures , for perhaps you are not aware that we whw had successfully combated- and beateti the League from its infancy , asserabled ' m Manchester in December last , and there came to-the resolution that the threatened starvation of the Irish people , added to thedreaded scarcity in England ; , rendered it impolitic longer to oppose the measure : ( Cheers . ) Nay , more , Sir ,, to show you that we werefully alive to the merits of the question , during the period of the hottest of

      oar resistance , we applied the very terms to the Corn i ass that ¦ Sir Robert Peel was-eoropdlcd to adopt . This was the form of our resolution , that although therCorn Laws are UNJUST IN « ' PRINCIPLE , the working eiasses would not ; receive'any [ benefit from their repeal until , by the enactment of the People ' s V 7 l ! CUVOl , ~ UllVJ OUCVIX VU LVLHV VV U 11 VVV v .. v -v « .. m ^ v--w nationalinstead of class' -purposes : ( Sheers . ) I am now , Sir ,, drawing to a close . I have sought for no other triumph than that which my . conscience tells mol am entitled to . But ,, before we part I must assign the proper reason to the only'aot of clemency

      ot winch your part y boasts—I mean , - sparing the life of Frost and his companions . ( Cheers-, ) Sir , that act was wrung from your fears , not from your olemeacy . In vain did Sir Frederick . Pollock plead , in vain did Lord Brougham plead , for a mitigation of punishment' Five times they . imploredj but were as often repulsed ; until an express came from a military officer , high-in command , threatening to publish a letter received from a Whig Minister during the Reform agitation , wherein he was directed not to interfere if popular fury should break out : iu favour of a > Reform BilL This threat , Sir ,.. had the desired effect ,

      and toyoiir infamy , and not to -your mercy , we are indebted for the lives ' of our- 'companipns . ( Loud and long continued cheering . ) . You boast- of having moulded your cabinet to the popular will ; . but I ask you , how it was that our man , Duncombe , . was overlooked ?—the only one amongst ; you in whom the People have confidence . ( Tremendous cheering . ) I ask you , if you are a liberal , andjthe friend of labour , how comes ic to pass that you voted against his -motion for reducing the labour of the lace workers , although demanded by a majority of the . masters and their hands ; and with the knowledge of . the fact

      that your leader had become the champion of shopboys , at Exeter flail , who required relief from the monotony and tedium of doing nothing behind the counter . ( Cheers . ) How comes it , jf you are a liberal , that you were one of those sixty who voted for keeping your disciples in dungeons , after the offended law was more than avenged . ( Cheers . ) How-happens it , that if the law is pure , and not used for party purposes , that when prosecuted by the Whigs we selected Tory barristers to defend us , and-when prosecuted by the Tories wc relied upon the advocacy of Whigs ? How happens it , that with the exception of

      Baron Rolfe and Baron Alderson , that , on the numerous Chartist Trials simple justice was never extended to Chartist , prisoners .. ( Cheers . ) —and how comes it to pass now that you have formed an administration with only two members ,. who are not in the Cabinet , in whom the . people have hope or confidence—I mean Mr . C . Buller and MivJervis —and even those , I fear , you will corrupt .. ( Cheers and laughter . ) Noir , Sir , mark . me ,. and mark me well , I arraign your errors as-thase of the head ; you arc a man of powerful eloquence and capacious mind With one exception , duriug ^ the whole period 1 was

      in the House of Commons , 1 : never knew a speech that secured a voce or chanced an . opinion , excep t one mado by you . Upon that occasion you secured seven , my own amongst the number . Abandon your evil ways , therefore , anAsome from , out that darkness which has so long obscured your vision into the daylight and sunshine . ( Great applause . ) . Resume your position , not as a Republican ,, hut as a Chartist , and you will be the second man in the empire . Duncombe will ever hold the first- place in popular affection . ( Tremendous-cheering . ) The rock upon which the system wiil . split will be the ignorance ot our representatives :-. Public- opinion- bus marched

      beyond your commercial policy .. railway , speculation , sanatory improvement , educational . ' reform , and the problem of criminal laws . When you return , tell your leader to grant those PRUDENT AND TIMELY CONCESSIONS- mentioned in his fishing letter , and then we shall want no criminaUaws . as wc shall have no criminals . But tell him there is . danger cveniu the frown of four million unemployed , paupers , who ,, we are told , depend upon parochial relief , though , willing to work . Tell him that the royal chaplain , thu Hon . aud Rev . Baptist Noel , lui » charged " him with a heinous crime and grave offence when he stated that there were five hundred

      thousand perishing souls lingering within the precincts , of the royal palace , living without , God and without hope . ( Loud cheers . ) Tell him more , and tell it to your colleagues-TELL THEM TIIAT I AM IN THE FIELft AGAIN—( tremendous and long-continued cheering ) at the head of a phalanx whose numbers will bear thinning by thousands , but who will no lender sub . mit to that disparity which exists , of klarvation for the industrious , while the idle live in pampered luxury . ( Loud cheers . ) Tell him that I will nse equal to any emergency that his crooked polioy may

      impose upon me ; that I hurl defiance at his coalition and his fusion ; and that , if necessary for the achievement of the People ' Charter , I will die in the attempt to gain it . ( 'tremendous cheering and waving of hut .. ) Td ! him that we arc neither dead nordy inff . Tell him lluvt . you have witnessed a new public opinion that i * inr . sisiiHa , ' Unit , m H '" ' te porsceutuMJ . our Hagst )' , " ! wr vcs in tlio bvccx- ; ; •¦* ourpmuAAs are ; -ANNUAL riM- ™*!! 1 '" 1 *' UN 1 VHUSAL Sl'l-FllAGK ; VOT JS M b ^

      LOT ; KQUAr . ' rtKl'RESE-N TAT 10 N : » u ^« I ( Conth . ucdto lk Eiahlh ^^

      -Djt^Zf't^Rffe

      -djt ^ zf't ^ rffe

      __ and ¦ ^& M ^^^ m " mmkmi ^ ^

      Vol. X . No. 45l. London, Saturday,. Jue...

      VOL . X . NO . 45 L . LONDON , SATURDAY ,. JUE ^ 11 , ; 1846 . " ^ .. '_ ¦• - ' ¦'¦ ¦ "¦ - " ' - ' *'¦ ' ' -: _^ j giTC 8 nillinga n » d Sixitfettcfe vcv Qivtutci '

  • Citation
    • Northern Star (1837-1852), July 11, 1846, page 1, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/ns/issues/ns2_11071846/page/1/