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THE NORTHERN STAR February ^j^_
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r SHIPPING INTELLIGENCE. Shipwreck op Tw...
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lIoRitiBLE Destitution.—One of the most ...
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THE NORTHERN STAR. SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 1S15.
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THE GRAHAM « SETTLEMENTS." Is our report...
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NATIONAL PLUNDER. WAR TO IHE KSIFE ACAI....
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THE "ROYAL LOYAL NATION AT REPEALERS." ....
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THE CONFERENCE. dcxcombe and the TRAnn?....
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THE INCOME TAX AND THE " STIRI-LOS . " O...
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to Matters & tor^jponW*
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\Y. it., Oldham,—We are sorry that we ca...
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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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The Northern Star February ^J^_
THE NORTHERN STAR February ^ j ^_
R Shipping Intelligence. Shipwreck Op Tw...
r SHIPPING INTELLIGENCE . Shipwreck op Two American Liners , ^ jjj . l ' of Life . —Bv the packet-ship Stephen Whrtae , which arrived at Liverpool from New York , m « early part of the week , we are in receipt ot inteu gence of the total loss of two fine ships , Amen « liners , the Pennsylvania , fl > 0 ions burthen , belongU to Liverpool ; anu the Dorchester , 400 tons registe also of the same port , which occurred during tl month of December , while on their passage to ai roni England and the United States . We arc son
to add that the wreck of the latter ressel was aceonv panied with loss o f life . While lying-to on the Lttl she was struck bv a most terrific sea ; it earned awaj the three masts * and rigg ing , clearing her deck o every boat , and sweeping three men overboard , con sisting of the second mate and two seamen , who melancholy to say , perished . For days the gale con tinued , the shi p being dashed about , actually unma nagable , her rudder gone , and her hold halt full o water . The remaining poisons on board , forty-five h all , were saved by the ship Rochester .
The British Brig Dove was lost in the mom of January last , while on a voyage from that place Dominica . She was capsized in a gale of wind , tl sea sweeping one seaman off the deck , and drownii two others below ; their names are Godfrey Brow James Gardner , aud Samuel Began ; the rest of tl crew were nine days afterwards taken off tlie wrei b y a passing vessel . Your other losses are report * on the hooks in the course of the wreck . Thcschoom Lady Scott , wrecked on the Castle Sands ; the sloi Jane , of Lynn , sunk off Saltfleet ; the Ann , Ipswich , wrecked near Whitby ; and the Napier , Newcastle , lost on the coast of Spain , the master ai one man drowned , and the rest of the crew wei saved .
Lioritible Destitution.—One Of The Most ...
lIoRitiBLE Destitution . —One of the most appalling cases of human misery came under the notice ol the police on Wednesday morning last . On that day it was reported at the " station of the V division , on Clapham-common , that a girl had been found in a dying state in a loft over an old and ruinous cowhouse , in the WJnidsworth-road . Several constables , under the direction of a sergeant , were sent with a stretcher to convey this wretched human being to the Wandsworth Union . On a heap of filthy ^ litter in ihe comer of a loft over a cow-house , now in disuse , and situate at the comer of the Albion-road , Wandsworih-road , they found a being with scarce any si gns of life , and presenting all the appearances of an exhumed corpse . Her apparel was but a bundle of
rags , and wholly msumcient , to conceal her person , much less protect her from the intense cold . Some weak brandy and water was poured with difficult } ' through her lips , and the police then proceeded to place her with , extreme care upon the stretcher ; they covered her with horse-cloths and sacks , and then conveyed her to the union , hardly daring to hope that she would survive the journey . Mr . and Mis . Tring , the master and matron of tho Wandsworth Union , received the unfortunate creature , and had her instantly conveyed to a warm apartment . Within five minutes of her arrival she was undressed and placed between hot blankets . Her dothes , wMchswaimedwithvermin , ' wereimnicdiately burned . An assistant to Dr . Connor , the surgeon to
the union , was in the house at the time , and after examining the young woman , directed arrowroot and diluted wine to be administered often , but with extreme care and in small quantities , as it was evident that her life hung as it were upon a thread . When this miserable object became partly sensible she was minutely examined , and a more horrible aud soulsickening spectacle , perhaps , never before met the human sig ht . She is , it appcai-s , notmorcthanlG years of age , but she looked 30 . Her countenance was as pallid , and ihe skin as contracted , as that of a corpse . Iler back was one mass of sores , her flame was fiightfully attenuated , and her feet swollen and frost-bitten , seemed to be last approadiing mortification ; but the most appalling sight
was the myriads of Terrain that crawled over her person , and even exuded from her mouth . The walls of the room were covered with them , and the colour of the blankets and sheets on the lied could not be distinguished . Her head was covered with a mass of living corruption , at least an inch in thickness , and its appearancewas korridm the extreme . Tin-nurses , 10 whom tlie task of cleansing this miserable creature was intrusted , were , for tlie safety of them own persons , enveloped in sheets whilst they performed the necessary offices . Within a very short space of time nine blankets were placed upon her , and werereinovcd loaded with vermin , and immediately burned ; and to preserve ihe health of the honse , she was obliged to be moved into another rooin , that that into
which she had been first broug ht mi ght be whitewashed and otherwise cleansed of its impurities . Luring the night tlie poor creature was watched most assiduously by two nurses . Iler constant erv , when sensible , was for food , which was given her ' as often as was compatible with safetv . On Thursday morning a hair-dresser was directed to shave her head , and this he accomp lished with difficulty , the stench being so horrible that be was repeatedl y " compelled to relinquish his task . In the course of Wednesday night this wretched being was enabled to converse -with Jane Toplis , one of tlie nurses , mid she informed her that her name was ilaiy Loveday , that she was 16 years of age , and the daughter o a gardener in the Union-road , Larkball-lane , Clapham . She said her father , whohad recentl y married again , turned herout of the house on the 1 st of Dcceinberlast , and told her
T O go and support herself b y prostitution , as he would no longer support her . The first ni ght she slept in a sand-pit ; she then went upon the streets and wandered about from place to place . At hist she came back to the neighbourhood in which she had lived ; she found out tlie loft already spoken of , and as her clothes had become sfiabbv she lay there all day and crept out at night , when she picked up what pittance she could . A number of carpenters and bricklayers who were working at some new buildings in the Albionroad , and who knew her father , were aware that she hau taken up her abode in the loft , as were a chaftcutter aud a milkman occupying contiguous premises , but none of these persons attempted to remove her . On the contrary , they behaved kindly in her , and occasionally gave her food and halfpence . On Thursday last she became too ill to leave her
miserable bed , and from that day until Wednesday morning last no food or water passed her lips . On that morning she had some dim knowledge of one of the carpenters , accompanied by a gentleman , coming up to her , and speaking to her , but she was beyond the power of utterance and soon afterwards became insensible . The father , the mother-in-law , andthe brother of the unfortunate creature visited ' her on Thursday . The mother-in-law did not seem the least angered , but up braided the girl for not having gone to service . The father and brother are greatly grieved . The interview between the brother and sister was peculiarly affecting : he is a soldier , has been absent from his country seven years , and who had only just returned home . The father and mother-in-law both assured the master of the union
that their daughter might have come home if she had chosen so to do . " This of course they will say in self-defence ; but their conduct has evidently been most atrocious , and should the unhappy girl die , murder , cruel , foul , unnatural murder will be too clearly chargeable to their account . Such hellish brutality brings disgrace on the entire community , and odium upon the very name of Eng lishmen and Englishwomen . Lynch law is surely too good for such savages . Dr . Connor visited the wretched girl on Thursday afternoon ; he ordered that the most nutritious food should be given to her , and that she should be kept quiet , but he has no hope of her ultimate recovery , the system being so utterly exhausted , and It is more than probable that her feet will ultimately mortify .
The Ihkee Misers . —On Thursday afternoon Mr . Baker held an inquest atthe Royal Oak , Whitechapelroad , on the body of William Chapman , aged 65 , who lived with his sister ( since deceased ) , a cowkeeder in Rosemary-lane , and who , with another brother , was discovered living in a wretched state of destitution , a notice of which appeared in this journal on the 30 th nit . The deceased was found in a small back apartment , sitting up , with only a coarse rug to cover him , and was moaning piteously . He had not been to bedfor fiveyears , neither had his brother , who lived in the same house , and to whom he had the strongest
hatred . The place being filthy in the extreme , and the deceased evidently dying , he was removed to the Whitechapel workhouse , lie graduall y sunk , and died on Tuesday night , having previously made out Ms will , being possessed of about £ 2 , 000 , bequeathing the bulk of it to the nurse who attended him in the workhouse , and bestowing the nominal sum of Is . to his eldest brother , who is still living in tlie same penurious style , although very wealthy , at his deceased sister ' s dairy . The jury returned a verdict » of " Natural death , induced by privation and neglect . " It was stated that the property belonging to these extraordinary characters is situate at Lutterworth ,
in Leicestci-shire . Ixquisi os the Child Wilfully Bubned to Death nr its Mother at Lammonht . —Penrith , Moxuat , Feb . 10 . —The Coroner for the county of Cumberland , Mr . Carriek , having adjourned the inquestf rom Wednesday , Thursday , aud Saturday last , for the purpose of adducing further evidence to elucidate this unnatural and horrible case , continued ihe inquisition this day at the house of Mr . Warwick , innkeeper , at Lammonby , on view of the bod y of the child , Ann Crosby , asicd seven rears . The principal facts . have already appeared in this paper . A medical gentleman gave it as his opinion that the child must
have been held down ou the fire by force with its face downwards , and described the various injuries it had sustained . A great many witnesses were examined , who spoke to the cruel and unnatural treatment sustained b y the two children in the father ' s absence , and said that the children would have been undoubtedly starved to deathhad it not been for the sympathy of some of the neighbours . The jury retired to consider their verdict * and after about an hours absence returned into court with a verdict of Wilful Murder against Jane Crosby . She was comrutted to Carlisle gaol , and will no doubt take her trial at the ensuing spring assizes , which tike place aboutthc latter end of this month .
Lioritible Destitution.—One Of The Most ...
Agricultural Pkoteciiox . —A number of noblemen , gentlemen , and farmers , representing the agriculturists of the country , - waited upon Sir Robert Peel by appointment , on Saturday , and laid before him the present depressed state of the agricultural interest , urging its claim upon the Government for a share in any remission of taxation . Several tenantfarmers addressed Sir Robert Peel , stating , from their own practical knowledge , the existing distz-ess in their own particular districts . The Prime Minister received them with great courtesy and attention . The Duke of Richmond read a letter from the Duke of Buckingham , expressing regret at Ms unavoidable absence . The Mowing were nresent : —The Duke of Richmond , Marquis ol
Salisbury , Earl of Essex , Earl of March , M . I ., Sussex , West ; Lord Beaumont , Mr . ( x . -Bankes , M . P ., Dorsetshire ; Mr . T . W . Bramston , M . P ., Essex , South ; Mr . Darb y , M . P ., Sussex , East ; Mr . E . B . Denison , M . P ., Ydrkslure West Riding ; Mi \ Du Pre , M . P ., Buckinghamslnre ; Mr . W . Allies , M . P ., Somerset , East ; Mr . ^ cwdigate , M . P . , Warmdahire , 2 fottb . ; Mr . Stafford O'Brien , M . P ., Northamptonshu-e , North ; Mr . Pusey , ^ .. Berkshire ; Col . Rushbrook , M . P-, Suffolk , West ; Sir John'Ti-ollope , Bart ., M . P ., Lincolushn-e , South ; Sir John Tyrell , Bart ., M . P , Essex , riorth ; Mr . Wodehouse , M . P ., Norfolk , East ; Mr . J . J . Allnatt ,
Berkshire ; Mr . H . G . Andrews , Somerset ; Mr . It . Baker , Essex ; Mr . W . Bennett , Beds ; Mr . Brickwell , Bucks ; Mr . Blaudford , Somerset ; ill' . Brown , North Wilts ; Mr . Cramp , Kent : Mi- . I . Clarke , Lincolnshire ; Mi \ I . Ellman , Sussex ; Mr . Hilditch , Salop ; Mr . Fisher Hobbs , Essex ; Mr . Hudson , Norfolk ; Mr . S . Jonas , Cambridgeshire ; Mr . S . Mills , South Wilts ; Mr . Moseley , East Suffolk ; Mr . Oaklev , Herts ; Mr . Pain , Bedtordslure ; Mr . Rodwell , West Suflblk ; Mr . G . Shackel , Berkshire ; Mi-. R , Smith , Rutland ; Mi-. Stevenson , Lincolnshire ; Mr . Turner , Devon ; Mr . Warsop , Huntingdon ; Mr . Weall , Surrey ; Mr . Edward Wyatt , West Sussex .
The Northern Star. Saturday, February 15, 1s15.
THE NORTHERN STAR . SATURDAY , FEBRUARY 15 , 1 S 15 .
The Graham « Settlements." Is Our Report...
THE GRAHAM « SETTLEMENTS . " Is our report of the Parliamentary proceedings it will be seen that on Tuesday night Sir James Ghamam , the Secretary of State for the " Home" Department , moved for leave to bring in a Bill to " alter and amend" the whole existing law of settlement . In doing so , he detailed at considerable length the " alterations " and " amendments " he proposed to make : alterations " of a sweep ing nature , and " amendments" of tremendous import and effect . Of course on such an occasion all he could do was to
impart a general notion of his proposed measure as to its leading principles , leaving details for afterconsideration ; but he enunciated enoug h to enable " the House" and the country to understand the nature of the great bevolutiox in parochial matters that he is seeking to efiect ; and it will be for tlie former to instruct the latter whether that revolution be at all desirable or necessary , or likely to be submitted to . With great seeming candour has Sir James thrown his measure on " the consideration of the country , " and expressed an anxious desire that its merits may be fully and carefully examined . In concluding his remarks on the introduction of his Bill he observed : —
J wish it to be understood that J have no intention oj pressing this measure to a second reading till there is time to collect the opinions of persons best informed upon tl < se svb jects , and 1 commit the plan to that species of examination * with entire confidence as to the merits of the measure . I commit it to the favourable consideration of all men of humanity who have hitherto laboured sedulously to promote the well-being of the poor : and especially I commit it to the protection of those whose sense of justice would lead them equally and fairly to distribute a burden intended to sustain sinking humanity , and which ought to be levied on the rich for the defence of the poor ; finally , I commit the measure to the consideration of hon . members now present , in the full confidence that it will be found not altogether unworthy of the adoption of the house .
It will , therefore , remain with the country to , say whether this measure shall pass with the seeming concurrence of the peop le—or whether it shall be submitted to the test of extensive and searching examination , to the end that the really good and desirable " amendments" it proposes to make may be secured , and the unnecessary and baxgekovs "ALTERATIONS" in the old and excellent Pare chial S ystem of Eng land , with which it is proposed to accompany such " amendments , " may be prevented . It is all the more necessary that the people should " speak out" on these matters from the " candid" and " open " course pursued by their
" Home" Secretary : for , should they not do so he will be fairly entitled to interpret their silence and quiescence into acquiescence ; while , should the measure in all its entirety be persisted in by the " strong Government" andthe . shoe-licking majority of "the House , " in opposition to a the determined and unequivocal public opinion against the dangerous and revolutionary innovations attempted , the people will be clear of all blame when the injurious consequences overtake the nation , and the responsibility will rest on the right parties . It therefore behoves the people to examine well the newly-proposed scheme , and to " speak right out" on the subject .
That some alterations are needed in the existing law ot settlement , no one who has used his eyes , his ears , and his judgment on what is daily passing around him , but must have been long since convinced of . The present law of settlement , though perfectly applicable to the existing state of societ y for which it was formed , is totally inadequate now ; and by its operation most gross injustice and perfect cruelly is oftentimes inflicted . When the law was passed , the circumstances affecting those likely to be subjected to its operation were essentially different to those which obtain in our - ¦
improved' age and time . Then the " takes" of land were much more numerous than now , i . c they were ' ¦ held" in much smaller portions , and on such conditions as to let them descend from sire to son , all as if the land had been the family ' s 1 " own "; and the consequence was , that there then existed the farfamed stout , sturdy , well-conditioned race of English yeomen , the pride and the glory of the land , instead of the ignorant , conceited , purse-proud , overbearing , stinking Bullfrogs of the present day , who dare not let a labourer come between the wind and their " respectability . " (?) Then the labourer had a
"home" in the house of the farmer , feeding and faring as the rest of the family , instead of being driven to shelter in hovels by the way-side or the corners of lanes and ( what were once ) commons starving with his family on seven shillings a week when fortunate enoug h to get casual employment , and poaching and stealing to keep him out of the dreaded xnciox-nousE when employment fails . Then , manufactures were confined to certain districts of the country , where there existed Guilds and Companies ; the workers in such trades being incorjwrated for mutual protection : Then , it was ordained 61 / law
that the sheriffs of counties , with the aid of the justices of the peace , the mayors , bailiffs , and other head-officers of cities and towns corporate , and such discreet and grave persons of the county as they should think meet , should " confer together respecting ihe plenty or the scarcity of the time , and other circumstances , and should rale and appoint the wages to be paid for all kinds and descriptions of labour and service , to the end that idleness might be banished , Jtvibandry advanced , and the hired labourer have yielded unto him , both in the time of plkstt and in the time of scarcity , a convenient proportion of wages . Then , there existed a power to punish the sordid and the avaricious of the employers of labour , who should attempt io pay less than the
rated and appointed amount of wages . Then there existed a law which made it imperative on the Overseers of parishes to find employment for those who could not otherwise obtain it : not employment on a " mount of misery , " alias a stone-heap ; not employment in the filthy and injurious occupation of oakum-picking ; not employment in grinding stinking rags into " shoddy-wool" by means of a hand-mill in a union-bastile ; not employment in the nice , and sweet , aud healthy occupation of bone crushing , —so appropriate an employment , as Lord Edrington thinks , for those whom he has the insolence to call " paupers" : not employment at any of these things ; but employment at their own occupations , at home , and with means raised by rate from the "wners and occupiers of property . Then the Overseers
The Graham « Settlements." Is Our Report...
of the Poor were obliged to furnish the unemployed with raw material , land , wool or flax —( cotton wasthen unknown)—on which to expend their labour : and that , too , without having to 6 rcctfc up their h ome ; with out having their " traps " sold by their " guardians ;" without having to enter the Union-house—to be torn from wife and child , and child from parents—to be fed on a "dietary" much below that of prisons , in a place , where , as in the Cirencester case four ounces of bacon is the onl y animal food allowed for a whole week ! without having to be clothed in a degrading workhouse dress , and branded with the
mark of poverty ! raw material furnished to them , too , without their having to be insulted with the odious and un-English name of " pauper" and without being liable to have their after wages "attached" to repay the " relief " thus afforded them . Then the workman had a home : his home was guaranteed to him : his " right to live" on the spot that gave him birth was acknowledged and secured . Then he was " the first partaker of the fruits ; " and want and privation , or at all events destitution , was to him unknown .
Then he had no inducement to leave the place of his nativity ; he had no occasion to wander ; he was settled at home ; and the law which provided that if he should indulge a vagabondizing disposition— -if he should wander from his home , and become chargeable to those who had not enjoyed the benefit of his labour ; the law which in such case provided that the idle aiid the wandering should be " passed" to their own parish , was wise , and just , and applicable to the then circumstances . Now , however , the case is different . The circumstances are changed . What
was just then is monstrously unjust now . The Bullfrog system of " taking " land at will in large heaps has superseded the small farms held on an equitable and secure tenure ; the labourer has been driven out of the farm-house ; the system of " clearing the estates" of tha " ragged rascals" lias been all but systematically followed : the labourer has been forced to " migrate " into the manufacturing districts agents and offices for his sale and " consi gnment" have been appointed and opened : even manufactures themselves are not stationary ; the Guilds and Companies are all broken up , or exist but in name ; the protection which the labourer had in a fixed and certain rate of wages , and in the duty of the Overseer to find him raw material to work at when
unemployed , has been repealed ; employment is no where certa & i ; the worker has been forced to become an animal of prey , not only on other species , but even on his own ! he is compelled to ' -migrate" to those spots where , for the time being , employment at under wage is to be found : and it has not unfrequentl y happened , that after he has spent his marrow , his strength , and all but life itself in the manufacturing districts , heaping up princely fortunes for the numerous tribe of nabobs there abounding , the old law of settlement has been brought to bear when he was thoroughly " destitute , " and he has been
removed from the p lace where the property was that HE HAD CHEATED , to another spot , where he had to be kept in a lingering state of misery till death , out of " property " to which he had added no value , because the grinding system to which he had been subjected had in the outset of life driven him from home ! Yes ! an alteration in the law of settlement to adapt it to the present times aud present circumstances , is much needed : though it may be much doubted , and will , we hope and trust , be stoutly contended , that to effect such needful alteration , it is neither desirable nor needful to
break up the ancient and existing divisions oi the country , and revolutionise the ideas , and feelings , and habits of the people ! The one can be effected without the other ; and it reflects no small amount of discredit on the Pijel Ministry that they should have meanly taken advantage of a generallyacknowledged want , and made it the occasion , under the p lausible pretence of satisfying that want , to accomplish a most sinister and base desip . Alteration of the law of settlement is needed ; that cvery-day experience demonstrates : and if there could possibl y be anv doubt on the subject , the monstrous threat of
the League manufacturers oi Lancashire , to " remove the thousands upon thousands of worn-out workers in their district , —who have , from the . causes above narrated , been ibrccd to " migrate " thither , and who have expended their labour for the benefit of the said manufacturers ; could any doubt possibly exist as to the necessity for an alteration of the law of settlement , the threat made by tlie Leaguers to " pass" thousands upon thousands of poor labourers , —whom they had sucked till they were marrowlcss , —back to their parishes to be maintained by the landowners , the farmers , and the farm labourers , —
a threat uttered tor the monstrous purpose ot overawing the leg islature , and of forcing from it a measure at once unjust , impolitic , and thoroughly selfish , —aud which threat the existing law would enable tlicm to execute , did not a cowardl y fear to brave public odium and disgrace restrain the conceivers of the horrible project : we say , that could there be a scintilla of doubt as to the necessity of an alteration in this state of the law , it would be instantly " set at rest by the bare enunciation of the facts , that such a monstrously unjust proposal has ken entertained ; that thousands are hourly in danger of being
made its victims ; that the law will allovj of their being torn from their present '' homes "—from friends , relatives , families , acquaintances , and associations , and of being sent in a " pass-cart" to spots where all is strange—where feelings , and notions , and habits are entirely " foreign" to the man so long away ; and that it is not unlikely that the demon-spirit of gain and power which first prompted the horrible conception , may arm the nttcrers of the threat with " courage" to carry it into execution ! Yes ; a just and wise alteration in this state of the law is much needed , and will lie hailed with joy . but it does not
follow that therefore wcare to submit to have England re-parceled out—have all our old home-institutions , and boundaries , and distinctions upset and destroyed ! The one portion of the Home Secretary ' s scheme , if accompanied with just details , the people , to whom he has appealed , may aid him in : the other portion , — the sinister attempt to permanently establish . the Somerset-house tyranny , through the innovating hand of the spoiler , —will , we are sure , be resisted to the uttermost , even should the result be the " upsetting" of Sir James and his " iniperium hi imperio !"
Before Ave examine in detail the several " alterations" and " amendments"thatthe Home Minister proposes , —and which we purpose to do at length on another occasion , —we must direct attention to the matter-offact as to the condition of the people with which that said Home Minister prefaced his statement ; and dut y also calls on us to expose a MONSTROUS LIE which that same Minister was . allowed , and uncontradicted too , to utter in the face of Parliament and the people of England . In introducing his subject , according to the reporter for the Times , Sir James Graham said : —
It is a mclanclioly fact , hot still a fact , that no less than one-tenth of the whole vopvlathox or England and Wales receive relief from the Fooa . itATE in the course of the year . A multitude of no less than 1 , 500 , 000 persons in this country receive relief from the poor-rate . ( Hear . ) The magnitude of the smnnlsft THUS PAID is VfYt J great . 1 COULD 1 UUXO THAT FllESn TO YOUR becolleciion in various ways . I might ' state it thus : it would be no exaggeration , that since the termination of
the war in 1815 , notwithstanding all that has been said of the neglect of the interests of the poor—notwithstanding all that has been said of the inhumanity of the law ( hear , hear ) , of the culpable negligence with which the wants of the poor are regarded by the rich , independently of all private charity and of the benefactions of our charitable institutions—since the Kiriniiictioii of the tear no lest a . sum . has been levied from the rate-payers of this country than £ 200 , 000 , 000 ( hear , hear ) , a sum nearly amounting to onefourth of the capital of the national debt .
Here , then , we have , from the Home Minister ' s own mouth , the extent of destitution and poverty in this wealthy country ! ' ¦ ' onc-tcnth" of the whole population receive relief from the poor-rates in the course of the year ! Hail ! the " spirit of Improvement ! " Hail ! 0 , hail ! our blessed system of Government ! One in every ten of our population a " pauper , " as the poor are no-w insolently termed ' . What a credit to those who have ruled us ! What a fact for the Home Minister of Britain , —the centre oe
The Graham « Settlements." Is Our Report...
civilisation and mistress ol { the sea , —to enunciate ! Bntthefact ' mo . Itcannow no longer begainsaid . We have " authority" for the statement . When the people complain they arc rebuked , and eluded , and sneered at , and their complaints impudently denied . The assertion has been as common as an every-day word in the Political Economist ' s mouth , that the workers were better off now than at any period of British history ; that their wages were higher—the amount of , necessaries that those wages would purchase was much greater—and that they could tret fine broad cloth for the men , and silk and cotton gowns and stockings for the women , much finer and better than the Court and Aristocracy could
obtain for love or money in Elizabeth ' s reign . All this we have had incessantly dinned into us , and much more to the same purport : and now the climax is capped by our Home Minister , telling in the face of the world , that every tenth man woman and child in the country is a " pauper ! " " Wau ' st improvemen t , Ma am , " as Will Coubett would have exclaimed . We shall see hereafter whether it were so or not in the days when full Protection was enjoyed by every class : before the days of Debt—of grinding - taxation—of the ever-accursed and curse-scattering paper money—of Peel ' s Bills—of Huskinson ' s and Peel ' s Free-trade Tariffs—of heavy burdens and low prices-The comparison between tlie two periods \ vo shall shortly institute .
The fact , the " great fact , "—a , fact greater than the Anti-Corn League ; the " melanchol y f act , " as Sir James Gra h am calls it , as to the extent of " pauperism , " we do not dispute ; but we do dispute tlie MONSTROUS LIE which the Minister built on that fact . Whenever an assault on the poor is meditated , the scheme by which it is intended to accomplish the base purpose is sure to be ushered in with a LIE as to the extent of relief afforded to the poor . Before tlie Poor Law Amendment Act was introduced , the infamous thumper that the poor cost £ 8 , 000 , 000 a year was industriously and
systematically circulated ; and now , when the last remaining tie of the poor to Fatherland is to be severed ; when the system of self-Government which has withstood the shock of ages , is to be uprooted ; when the timehonoured divisions and landmarks are to be removed and the country re-mapped out on the " Wau ' st improvement , ma ' am" principle , as though a conqueror had invaded us , and determined to obliterate from the hearts of the people all recollection even of former station and greatness : now when this destruction has to he accomplished , to make way for the full development o ^ Malthusian Philosophy ; now , to prepare the public mind for this change , a Minister of State docs not hesitate to get up in his place in Parliament , and utter the ATROCIOUS LIE , that during the last
thirty years the poor have had paid to them no less a sum than £ 200 , 000 , 000 . ' . ' It is not without purpose thatthesestatcmentsaromade . The 48 , 000 , 000 a-year story in 1384 did its work ! The owners of property were alarmed ! THEIR estates were about to be " swallowed up . " It was time to put a stop to the horrible devastation which threatened to leave them penniless ; and «? the Poor Law Bill ' was passed ! Assault first , was then committed . Assault second , is now attempted ; and , therefore , we have a similar preparatory process . The fears and alarms of propertymen are again to be evoked , and set in play ., Tho extent of " pauperism" is therefore paraded ; and the ASTOUNDING LIE that £ 200 , 000 , 000 in thirty years has been paid to the poor is uttered by " authority !"
We by no means deny that the sum of £ 200 , 000 , 000 has been "levied from the ratepayers" during the last thirty years . Nay , we freely admit that that sum has even been levied on the pretence that it was for " the relief of the poor . " It is not with that statement we quarrel : but with tho statement of the Minister , that that sum has been . PAID to the poor . It is not true . Out of the sums raised ostensibl y for "the relief of the pooi * " arc paid a host of charges which diminish the amount paid to the poor in proportion to the amount " raised , " very considerably . There are all the salaried officials of the New Poor Law—the
workhouse masters , matrons , clerks , and schoolmasters ; there arc all the hired overseers , and the paid collectors of rates ; there are the salaried chap lains of workhouses , andthe clerks to the Boards of Guardians ; there are all the lawyers , with their long lists of charges for litigations respecting settlements , and one sort of dispute and another : there are all the County-rates , and the building of prisons , andhousesof correction , and tread-wheels , and lockups , and court houses , and the erection and maintenance of County brid ges ; there are all the expenses of prosecuting misdemeanants , and of keeping tjiem while in prison ; there arc all the salaries ofjailors , and turnkeys , and prison-parsons , and hangmen ; there are all the expenses of Constabulary , parish and rural—chiefs ,
inspectors , scrjeants , privates and all ; there arc all the County Lunatic Asylums , erecting , maintaining , and sustaining , with all their tribes of paid officials : there are all these charges , and many more defrayed out ef the rate levied for the ' rclief of the poor : and it is monstrous—it is stupendously impudent to represent the money " THUS PAID" as money 2 > aid to ihe poor ! Deduct from the £ 200 , 000 , 000 what has been " swallowed up " by these things ; and then we shall get atthe real amount paid to the poor . No doubt that amount will be ' very considerablewill be greatly too hi gh to be consistent with this " wau ' stly improved" age : but still it will be much below what the alarmists now represent it to be . I f Sir James Graham had had to sail on the other tack ;
if he had had to demonstrate the saving in rates effected by the new law , we should have heard nothing of the £ 200 , 000 , 000 paid to the poor during the last thirty years . Having thas exposed the MONSTER LIE , which has been enunciated by " authority " to pave the way for discreditable and unworthy ministerial intentions , wc shall , for the present , leave the subject . in the hands of the reader . We shall shortly return to it ; and examine the several propositions that Sir James Graham makes , for altering in the law of settlement . Wo shall endeavour to ascertain their
sufficiency or insufficiency for the end proposed : and point attention to the monstrous proposal by which such alterations are accompanied ; the proposal to break up the " existing land-marks of England . We shall show that such proposal , or project does not necessarily , nor ought not , to 'form any portion of an attempt to amend the law of settlement . "Wc shall show that every one of the advantages wluch tho Home Secretary dares to speak of , as likely to accrue from such a step can be secured with the parish and township divisions just as they arc ; and wc shall also show that the
maintenance of our present parochial system is the only mode wc have of preserving THE VESTRY the remains of the system of self-government , once the pride and boast of Englishmen . We shall show that this attempt of Graham ' s is intended , and will have the effect , if successful , of annihilating every vestige of parish-rig ht and parish-liberty—placing the whole of the rate-payers of the country in the hands of an irresponsible Secretary of State , three unconstitutional Poor Law Commissioners , and at the mercy of the no less unconstitutional and hateful , bevies of prowling rural police . Meantime we bid the people awake , and look about them ! The enemy is at their homes
National Plunder. War To Ihe Ksife Acai....
NATIONAL PLUNDER . WAR TO IHE KSIFE ACAI . VSI THE POOR . Wr . complained of the total omission of all questions connected with the interests of the working classes in the speech with which her Majesty opened the present session of Parliament : and with an expectation of the advantage that Ministers would take of " surp lus" and temporary " prosperity , " wc intimated that to their early speeches , rather than to the Royal prologue , we must look for the peop le ' s share of both " surplus " and " prosperity . " We had a notion , and as it appeal's not an unreasonable one , that an attemp t would be made to quell all the angry feelings of classes swspiciewa of the present Prime Minister , by uniting theni in one common assault against the working people .
National Plunder. War To Ihe Ksife Acai....
The great knowledge acquired by the working classes upon all questions of political economy , deters the Minister from entering upon measures the results of wluch are visible at a glance . The power of Capital , the perversion of justice , and the tread-wheel cannot be obscured in the clauses of a Masters' and Servants' Bill , however enveloped in legal technicalities . There , the naked eye can sec the covered arm raised and ready to strike the moment the law shall have sanctioned the blow . No man can tell , when the foundation is excavated , or the first courses of the building laid , whether it is intended as a silent
tomb for the class-made thief , or for a palace wherein royalty is to uevel : but as it rises , the intent is developed . So precisely is It with that finesse to which our present rulers are obliged to resort . The foundation is laid in " humanity , philanthropic , and kindness for the poor : " but the progress of the building dcvclopes the intention of the architect . Sir James Graham has propounded a new law of settlement to the House of Commons , of which , mystify it as he may , the real ' meaning of the measure is " war to the knife " against the last remaining and very dearest and most cherished privilege of the poor man
the privilege of at least having " something to love ' Fatherland , to the soldier or the national plunderer , may carry with it a more extensive meaning than parochial residence ; but to tho poor man , whose existing condition and future hope is bounded by the landmarks of that parish of which he was born an inheritor , FATHERLAND COllVCVS A DlOrC limited , Oil ft HOfc less enthusiastic idea . " Home , sweet home ; " " the land of my birth ; " " thehomc of my fathers ; - ' " the land where my forefathers dwelt ; " the companions of my youth ; " " the associates of manhood ; " and " the cronies of old age ; " one and all cany feelings
o f nationality , however circumscribed b y the narrow boundaries of parish . The humble spire of the unostentatious parish church ; the face of the old overseer , the parish beadle , and the parish officers , were once sights that the humbler classes loved to look upon , because in them they recognised tlie simplicity of religion , the protection of ; iaw , and the right to live . Indeed so stoutly have those cherished bulwarks resisted all the attacks of the damnable New Poor Law Acts , that our present Home Secretary sees the necessity of levelling them altogether , before he can hope to carry that measure into full effect .
We have now to learn whether the Richmoxds , the Bcckixgiiams , the Baxkes ' s , and Young- England , so loud in their demand for "the rights of labour , " will allow the last " stake" to be drawn from " the poor man s hedge . '' The very object of the Poor Law Amendment Act was to save the estates of the landlords from the pressure of " pauperism , " by the clearance of the rightful proprietors ; and its effect has been to keep society in a state of perpetual social revolution , ready at any moment to take advantage of a favourable opportunity to take vengeance upon their oppressors . The manufacturers were as readv to receive as the landlords were to disinherit
the " surplus " agricultural stock ; and were it not for the certainty that the keen eye of the capitalist will sec through the ultimate effect of obtaining settlement by a time residence , and be thereby led to the anticipation of having one day to support thojr own victim , wc have little doubt that Graham ' s codicil to Grey ' s "legacy to labourers " would be received as a boon . Independentl y of the denationalizing effect that the substitution of Union departments for parochial boundaries must have upon the national character , we sec in the measure the comp lete frustration of the allotment plan ,
the small farm system , and even the most partial return to agricultural pursuits . Wc sec the breaking up of the old family compact . We see the impossibility of realising that better understanding between peer and peasant recommended by Baron Alderson , and enforced by Mr . D'Ishaeij , as a means of harmonising class with class , and of destroying the present susp icions reciprocally entertained by each . What a mockery then , that the poor can only hope for such protection and defence as that which arises from the jealousies of those upon whom they may lie henceforth quartered for existence !
The anomalous incrcfise of manufactures in its day led to the easy surrender of the poor man ' s rights ; and no doubt the present prospect of " improve , ment" has led to an attack upon his remaining privileges . At the present moment , there are in Lancashire alone more than one hundred new cotton mills in process of erection , all of immense magnitude ; and , doubtless , a portion of Gra h am s Settlement Bill is intended to facilitate the required importation of agricultural slaves to work them ,
The great object of manufacturers in the present day is in every possible ease to substitute machinery for manual labour ; and if overgrowing fortunes already made arc not to be sacrificed , they can only be preserved by equalizing tlie facilities of production to those possessed by the new mills worked by improved machinery . What then , we ask , is to become either of the present operatives or the " surplus , " by which their ranks are to be increased ? The policy of the Minister has ever been to divert attention from things substantial to those which are
but shadowed forth in his measures , but are nevertheless , sure to be one day realised . Hence he reconciled the landed interest to his tariff in 1841 , by the assurance that there was no competing supply of livestock in the markets of the world to damage their interests . They could not see the calves unborn ; that would one day become oxen and he laughed at those foolish apprehensions which are now in course ol realization . Onpreciselya similar point will the debate upon Sir James Graham ' s plundering bill turn .
The ministerial farmers that whistle at Downingstreet , will obey ministerial orders ; while the acquiescence of the manufacturing interest will be insured upon the principle , " Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof , '' The battle of the manufacturers will be waged against any proposed short acquirement of settlement ; while the landlords , of course , as friends to the " honest labourer '' will contend for title upon shorter conditions . And then a compromise will be made—after a few elegies have been delivered by Young England and others , who would serve the poor , if that service could be made
contingent upon more satisfied servility . Then , the " p lausible Minister" will step in , as the arbiter between contending factions ; and the rights of the labourer will lie equitabl y distributed , as a boon to contending belligerents . The parochial landmarks will be broken down , and the odious word " union " will be substituted , to harmonize in-door wretchedness with stalking discontent . All the tics of affection which bound man to his birth-place will be destroyed—the worst passions of an offended and zealous race will be let loose ; and in every " rich oppressor " the " poor oppressed" will see a deadly
enemy . An insult supposed to be offered to a . bagman missionary , thirty thousand miles from England , threatened the world with war , and a " strong Ministry " with dissolution ; and our rulers at home made their Royal mistress congratulate herself and the country on the " increasing loyalty" of her people ; andthe reward is an expected tame submission to the annihilation of their every right ! If Gra h am s uprooting of parish landmarks is not a Masters' and Servants' Bill : if it is not an anti-trado combination
bill , it is a bill more sweeping in hostility to the labouring classes than any ever proposed , even by tho putative father of the measure . Will the people now not arouse ? Will they tamely stand by and witness this measure of outlawry ? The Minister , as we predicted , has calculated on temporary " prosperity" and consequent apathy ; otherwise would he not have dai-ed to offer such an insult to Englishmen . Time was when he would have lost lus head even for the proposal . Time may come when Eng lishmen will be themselves again .
Now , then , is the time , without distinction of politics or creed , for every friend of the poor man to wnitc . Let the people not be taken b y surprise . Let us have a bold , a manly , and a timely resistance , or let us hear no more of "labour ' s friends , " of the
National Plunder. War To Ihe Ksife Acai....
" stake in the hedge , " or of - the labourers' y , \ society . " lUe -o O ! for an Oastler in this hour of tribal r Wc verily believe that if circumstances had not pelled that great and truthful advocate of th r ^* of labour to seek in other spheres that coning to which his exertions in-behalf of the poor than entitled him , Graham ' s monstrous pro " * 0 / 6 would never have been made . It is made lirtt ^^ and if the people don ' t exert themselves thf * ^' find that it will soon become law . ' * ** -
The "Royal Loyal Nation At Repealers." ....
THE "ROYAL LOYAL NATION AT REPEALERS . " . We have often had to advert to , and chastb disgusting , fawning sycophancy and slavcruV « ? loyalty " that has disgraced most of the proceed ; 15 " of the " Royal Loyal Nation-al Repealers" of Dubr "" It g ives us delight to be able to record the feet *' on this point , the Nation at least—the wan of If " Royal Loyals " -is coming to its senses ! ' Then lowing will lie read with pleasure by the ma » i minded Chartists , not only for the truths cnatnV ! in it respecting tlie position of the poor creat ^ decked out in and feathers '' .. JJt - tUm ivukuurs
gew-gaws of viml „„ fe , _ . „ „ , „ o ot wiiotii '•• speaks , but for the evidence it supplies that iron " sentiments are malting way , and are at length b ,. jrl enunciated by those who onl y latel y licked the ftl ! and fawned and flattered the " painted idol , " ' « , so remorselessly unveiled . Our extract is from r } , Nation of Saturday last;—The Parliament of the empire lias met—its r . rray i : gorgeous . '—its language how proud ! It lacked no poma —it seemed to lack no power . Its chroniclers are phlii , UU
ut ito ,.. n ,. ;«» « i mi ~ " J at its waving plumes . There was a Queen—scqj tr ' dinted with the revolutions of a thousand years . Aroiaj her were the Ambassadors of every civilised a & . tioo Around her was a Council containing the most fa . * r > o « s general and the wiliest politician of her subjects . Befoiv her were tlie Lords and Commons of the " United . [ W donis "—owners of enormous wealth and venerable titV —empowered to make laws for Bast and West ir . di » Australia , Canada , Ireland , Scotland , and EnglaacC-i ^ posing fifty millions of taxes , maintainors of a boa-vj constitution , of a splendid army , and of an i-n . be . rir
navy . What wonder if , while they rustled in hroidered Vy * their throats were swelling with pride , and the- ; - d .-..-ij heaven and earth to say them nay 1 Is this a fabric surely founded—safe from , iocs 1 ori ;; - a pile of clouds , splendid with a setting sun ? The people of Ireland shall put it to the trial . We pass from the outside of this Parliament to th ? . . side . This renmvned ty ' . een , is powerless . She ma-cj-b am FomtiDS no law—no api'ointment . She dare 'lot rr . ' v , IliC coioicil-i-oom . 0 / Iter Cabinet . She appeared , h : au " h < r trappings , to read a document to which she gaveuo :--sentence . She was brought down as a sicessJjy FOHM OF THE CONSTITUTION , , 11 , 0 X 0 WITH THF . . ' ? Sii . Ell ' s MACE AND THE SXATE-TRUMl'ETER , 1 . 1 ) ( I /) fa ,, j-j j the Ministry . "' ¦
Of that diplomatic circle some were there as obsen-js ! enemies , some as indifferent neutrals : all allicJ till . w strikes—none fond , none trustful of England . That Ministry is a committee of compromise . ; - . . leaders have always been beaten in polities . Tht-y ?•• •« heatcn by the Irish on Emancipation—they were dmw by the English on Reform . "Whig folly and Whig -- raltor ; gave them office , and another chance in I ?> i ) : t ! if < - wer . ; to law with Ireland , and were beaten agrdn . They trv-i keep oftice by renouncing their principles—rash , ] K < * firm—divided , yet not liberal—without one man trf : ; on : n —without one man who lias not deserted—the- ' , »? -. ¦ « . thcless , are Tllfi RULERS of Query mdenvntrr .
The Parliament—the Parliament of such imrr . r-H power and responsibility—we have judged it already . That formal Queen read to that mxeti'M I' -Ah *** tho resolutions of the Ministry , and tlie Parliament mnimously approved of them . Let us trust that the foregoing is from tr- wim of the men of the Nation ; and that we shall no now be nauseated with the rank hypocrisy of "« : w : /;?•• : ¦ nine for our beautiful yoimg Queeu . "
The Conference. Dcxcombe And The Trann?....
THE CONFERENCE . dcxcombe and the TRAnn ? . It has been the luck , whether good or evii , of t ' a « Working Classes to have many friends who wre prolific in theory , but niggard in practice ; nuwy Vw have counselled them , as to what ought to be done , but few who have lent a helping hand in execuSiffl . Not so with him to whom Labour ' s sons nowi-i with a surpassing interest If Du . nxomih * vecom mends the Working Classes ' to a course of actios calculated to serve their cause he is not the m > ra to flinch on the day of trial . On the contrary , n over find him the boldest of the bold , going even
beyond the most sanguine anticipations entertained bv his friends , and at all times evincing an amoaiH of research upon subjects on which , without disparagement , ignorance would be pardonable , - but to which he brings to bear commendable diligence in aid of ? comprehensive understanding . Under these circumstances we have peculiar pleasure in directing attention to the report of the preliminary meeting of tie London Trades , by which it will be seen that Mr . Duncomre has , in the most honourable manner , consented to r-REsioE over the forthcoming Trades ' Conference .
IJvery man of common sense will at once sec , cm . - withstanding Mr . Buncombe ' s claim of exemption from that office upon the score of ignorance of Trades business , that he is not only a fit and proper person to be appointed , but that , in fact , he is the most lit ard proper person : and for this simple reason . As & Buncombe is to be the Parliamentary organ of tte body of Trades , there is no school in which lie could so well learn that lesson which is indispensable to tte discharge of the duties subsequently devolvingonsini . It is evident , from the masterly manner in wluch J * -
Buncombe instructed himself , in a very short tmuv the Miners' question , the Masters and Servants Bill , and the Ten Hours Bill , that he possesses the faculty of concentration in a high degree . Mr , Bi : kco > 3 s might read till he became grey with old age , oi ; & e several subjects written in connection with * Trades , and yet appear as a child in debate ; wheres ? , the first and practical oral knowledge acquired &> K 1 the lips of the Trades Delegates will put him hi Df session of the corn , without imposing the tax ol ¦ •* nowing upon him .
Moreover , Mr . Buncombe has proved his funcs ; » v the office of President , by the knowledge he lifts displayed on points of order in an assembly govcraw by most intricate rules ; a circumstance wMc « wc learn from the very adroit manner in wli ' ic . ' . ^ has instructed the Speaker of the House of Conu EOBin his duty upon more occasions than one . l ; * Trades are now fairly afloat with a pilot that lis ? * judgment to guide , and the courage to stand on * - last p lank of the vessel , should danger threaten . e trust that the " crew" are as fully prepared ami deti -rmined to do their work as Mr . Buxcomiu : is ' " his . If tiicy be , salvation to the producing «^ is near at hand .
The Income Tax And The " Stiri-Los . " O...
THE INCOME TAX AND THE " STIRI-LOS . " Ox Friday ni ght Sir Robeut Peel will make ^ he calls his " financial statement : " that is , he ' condescend to tell us how long he proposes to keep f the Income Tacc , and how he intends to dispose of J" ' " surplus . " In our Saturday ' s Edition we shnll &•• a report of his" statement . "
To Matters & Tor^Jponw*
to Matters & tor ^ jponW *
\Y. It., Oldham,—We Are Sorry That We Ca...
\ Y . it ., Oldham , —We are sorry that we cannot &*> p- ^ : _ suggestion for the mnin portion of oar impression . - - ^ Hhowever , impossible . By the time the market in l ^* ' ; is over , two hundred miles from us , a great i > o vtv 0 ! n the second edition is printed , and ready for V ** ' f . j our third edition , or in the one that arrives i | 1 ^' , country on Sunday morning , we shall in future- !? ' •¦' Wakefield market news . . : ju Pkteu tii-owK , Glasgow , may just do as he Ii ^' ' ^ own obtnsivcnessled him to expect something ' ne - . ^ not have ; and he may now make a fool of him ^ - mend his bargain if he pleases . . . ; 7 { l ' The South LANCAsniiiE Secketary would f « tl O 0 I-5 jut ; ovi . ni juA ^ i ; A 3 uijt £ . ^ j-. i . ive .. iajh .. v .. . . ^ .
to the sub-secretaries of the following l' ) - ' ^ . jCf . would send him their several addresses— vis ., ^' , J . ton , Stalyhridge , Ashton-undcr-Lyne , Hyde , J - ^ . . field , Uolton , Hatcliffe-bridge , andMilnrow . A ° » ^ post-paid , to Mr . Itichard Kadford , N ' o . 8 , W Wilcome-street , Hulme , Manchester .- . # All communicatoss ; for the Chartists of Ma , y j ' JB 0 must , for the future , be addressed to Mr-Smith , care of Mr . James Leach , So . 40 , Oak *^' , Ma . M'Lam , Leith , will please make his post-ot hce « payable at 180 , Strand . , ft ? J . Lecck , Aberdeen * . — We cannot post the ^ - ^ Scotland so as to arrive , at Aberdeen on Saturi l ^ V ^ ' our own machinery is all completed and at woi ^ We can send a later edition as he suggests . arrive on Monday morning ' , if that will do .
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Citation
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Northern Star (1837-1852), Feb. 15, 1845, page 4, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/ns/issues/ns2_15021845/page/4/
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