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and honour to Porter, our two standard a...
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THE POETRMT OF KOSSUTH
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Is sent to Mr. Robinson, 11, Greenside-s...
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Eo aroiTespon&enw.
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The Mathos Estate.—In reply to T.S., of ...
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THE KORTHEM STAR, SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 1319.
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DEATH OF A CHARTIST PRISONER AND MARTYR....
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THE COST OF A STATE CHURCH. Unity of rel...
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Transcript
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.
And Honour To Porter, Our Two Standard A...
and September 15 , 1849 . 4 TH . E N-O'RTHER-iN ¦ k * ^ ; ;— ^ "XuTropTrjr
Ad00408
TjIttTISH EMPIRE FREEHOLD LAND AND BUILDING SOCIETY ± J 0 nm Adrar ice jonrBent is Saved , —yoa become yoia-own Land and Householder . PtfJroa * . -T . S . Dcscohbi ^ Es- - ^ jlp , T . - Waklev , Esq ., 1 LP . B . B . Cmbeh , Bs « ., Jf . P . L ., LHiNsAK > , EsQ ; , M ..: , ' , « , T , „^ 4 CQn « = aeioaV Bank of London ( Branch ) , 6 , Henrietta Street , Jovent Garden . London Ofr < x . —Ao . Io , Tottenham Court , Xew Koad , St rancras , London . — Basel WttLUtt Rom , Secretary .
Ad00409
T \ W " UNITED PATRIOTS' AND PATRIARCHS' BENEFIT SOCIETIES ^ v „ ii ^ mii ^ iiant to Act of Parliament Thus securing to ils members the pro tectio n of the law for their ^_ . * - ^™! 2 r £ ^ Le » alised to extend over the United Kingdom , with the privilege of appointing Medical Attendants , ^ ent ^ i ^^ op ^ rtumry is now offered to healthy persons , up to Forty Years of Age , of joining these flourishing Institutions ia town or country . ¦ r - - ~ . „ a ™™ is Tottenham Court , Hew Boad , St Pancras ( thirteenth house eastward from Tottenham Court-road ;
Ad00410
EMIGRATION . ~~~~" THE BRUISE EMPIRE PERMANENT EMIGRATION AND COLONISATION SOCIETY , To . sccurc to each Member a TAUSI of not less than Twenty-Five Acres of Land in AMERICA , By Small Weekly or Montldy Contri & utioiw . Losdox Of vice : —1-3 , Tottenham-Court , New-road , St . Pancras . —D . "W . Rcfft , Secretary . OBJECTS . To purchase a large tract of Land , in the "Western . States To purchase in large quantities , for the common benefit , of America , upon which to locate Members , giving twenty- alinecessary live and dead stock , and other requisites , five acres to each Share subscribed for . supplying each member on location with the quantity re-To erect dwellings , and cleara certain portionof the Land quired at cost price , on each allotment , previous tothe arrival of the allottees . To provide for the location of groups , holding the Land To establish a depot , from which to provide each family in common , as well as for individuals , securing to each with tho required quantity of wholesome food , until their their collective aud separate rights and immunities . own land produced sufficient for their support .
Ad00411
ETJPTUEES EFFECTUALLY CURED WITHOUT A TltCSS !!! DR . GUTHREY having been eminently successful in the cure of Ruptures , now offers his remedy to the public . In every case of Rupture , however desperate or longstanding , a cpbe is ci 7 Aeaxteed without the use of any truss whatever ; is easy in application , perfectly painless , and applicable to both sexes of all ages . Sent free , on receipt of 6 s . bv post-office order , or postage-stamps , by Br . HEXRYGCTilKEY , C , Amptonstreet , Gray ' s-inn-road , London . At home daily from Ten tiU One o ' clock . Hundreds of trusses have been left behind hy persons cured , as trophies of this the only remedy for Rupture , which witt realty be given away to persons requiring them after a trial of it CHOLERA 3 CIIOLEUA ! — Dr . GUTHREY will be happy to forward post-free . ^ on receipt of sis stamps , his celebrated treatment for the cure of Cholera .
Ad00412
PROTECTED BY ROYAL LETTERS PATENT . DR . LOCOCK'S FEMALE WAFERS , Mave no Taste of Medicine , And are the only remedy recommended to he taken by Ladies . They fortify the Constitution at all periods of life , and in aU Xervoas Affections act like a charm . They remove Heaviness , Fatigue on SUght Exertion , Palpitat ion of the Heart , Lowness of Spirits , Weakness , and allay pain . They create Appetite , and remove Indigestion , ifearfc . burn , Wind , Head Aches , Giddiness , & c , In Hysterical Diseases , a projier perseverance in the use of this Medicine will be found to effect a cure after all Other means had failed . ij 3 ? Full Directions are given with every box . Kote . —These Wafers do not contain any Mineral , and may be taken either dissolved in water or whole .
Ad00413
NOW READY wrrn hie MAGAZINES roBSEPfEMBER No . IV . of THE DEMOCRATIC REVIEW Of BRITISH and FOREIGX POLITICS , HISTORY
Ad00414
BEAUTIFUL HAIR , SKIN , AND TEETH . TWENTY RECIPES indispensable to alL—For the best Liquid Hair Dye extant ; Remedies for Freckles , Sun-bnrn , l ' ock-marks , Ringworm , ami ml other Disfigurements ; Superfluous , Weak , or Grey Hair , Baldness , & e . ; Pomade and Bandoline , for beautifying and curling the Hair ; Amandine , for beautifying the Hands . Lips , and Complexion ; Tooth Powder for purifring the Teeth and Breath ; White Enamel , for filling Decayed Teeth ; Liquid Glue ; Cement for Broken China , Glass , 6 x . ; a certain aud safe Cure for Co'ns , fiunions , 4 c . ; and a choice selection of French Perfumery , will be sent on receipt of 25 postage-stamps , l ; v Miss C 0 CPELLE , Ely-place , Holborn . London . Beware of dishonest Imitations .
Ad00415
CAUTION . R UPTURES EFFECTUALLY CURED WITHOUT A TRUSS ! -DR . WALTER DE ROOS , l , L / y-pIace , Holhorn-Iiill , London , still continues to supply the afflicted with his celebrated CURE for J . LVGLE or DOUBLE RUPTURES , tlie efficacy of which is now too weU established to need comment It is easy in application , causes no inconvenience , and as the merit of this discovery , has never been disclosed , all others , are spurious imitations on ! v . WiR be sent free , on receipt of Cs . Cd . hy po & t-oflice order , or stamps . Dr . de It has a great number of old trusses left behind by persons cured , as trophies of his immense success , which he witt almost give awat to those who like to wear them . N . B . —Inquiry will prove the fact , that this is the only remedy known , all others being spurious , useless , and Uangerousimitations , against which sufferers are especiaUy cautioned . Hours—10 tiU 1 , and from 4 . tills . Key . H . Walcotf , Higham Ferrers , writes : — " The person tor whom you sent your remedy is quite cured , and you win be good enough to send me two more for others "
Ad00416
O'CONNORVILLE . THE LEASE OF FOUR ACRES OF LAND FOR SALE T » 0 BE DISPOSED OF , X . the Lease of a Four-Acre- ARotment , House , & c . The Landlhas beeni well manured , and is of good quality J , ^™ -- n ^ rr Es - tote - T , - le term of ^ is lritTetJl m " y bl had "version . Immediate possession N « ° R ™ e r | , atioaittt i ^ ^ A . » -. atMr . Watts's , & rs PosipSa dl £ e'ron ' ***«»««* . *¦*» . All N . B .-Every security can be had from the Company .
Ad00417
TO BE DISPOSED OF , Willi IMMEDIATE POSSESSION , A THREE ACRE ALLOTMENT AT -O- CHARTERYTLLE , with or without the crops consisting of an acre of good potatoes , swedes , carrots ' parsnips , mangel wiirzel , 4 c ., with three store sows ' and working implements ; the-whole for £ 50 . For particulars apply with a posUffice stamp , to A . RC . CharterviHe , I ost Office , new Witney , Oxfordshire .
Ad00418
THE CHEAPEST BBITlOJf EV ? 8 rUBUSHZD ,. i i " Price Is . 63 .,. . A awf and elegant edition , with . Steel Plate of the Author , of ' ' . . PAINE'S POLITICAL WORKS . Sow Beady , a Hew Edition of MR . O'CONNOR'S WORK ON SMALL FARMS Sold bvJ . Watson , Queen ' s Head Passage , l ' aternoste mw London ; A . Heywood , Oldham-street , Manchester ond Love and Co ., 5 , Nelson-street , Glasgow . And by all BookseUcrs in Iowa and Country .
Ad00419
D . -FLEISCHMAN ' S CHOLERA DROPS , which have been used with great success on the Continent , check this disease on the onset . Sold in bottles at Is . 3 d ., 3 s . Gd ., 5 s ., and 7 s . Cd ., by Sutton aud Co Row Churchyard ; Edward-street , St . Paul ' s Churclivird * Barclay and Co ., Farringdon-strect , London , and oy all Chemists and Patent Medicine Vendors m town awl country .
The Poetrmt Of Kossuth
THE POETRMT OF KOSSUTH
Is Sent To Mr. Robinson, 11, Greenside-S...
Is sent to Mr . Robinson , 11 , Greenside-street , Edinburgh , for our agents in Edinburgh , Alloa , Alva , Perth , Hawick , Tillicoultry , aad Lefts . To Mr . Love , 5 , Nelson-street , Glasgow , for that city ,- Hamilton , Falkirk , Paisley , Greenock , Kilmarnock , Aberdeen , and Dumbarton . To Mr . Simpson , Wellgate , for Dundee , and Arbroath . To Mr . Lowry , 9 , Bryon-street , Caldewgate , for Carlisle , Wighton , and Dalston . To Mr . Turnbull , Side , for Newcastle ,- Cho & terle-street > Seabam Harbour , Durham , Sbotley Bridge , Jarrow , Hartlepool , and "Wingate Grange . To Mr . Wilson , Bishop-street , for Stockton , Darlington , and South Shields . To Mr . Roberts , Peter-gate , for York , and Scarborough . To Mr . M'Brook , for Dewsbury , Bailey , Batlcy Carr , and Mirfield .
To Mr : Cook , 67 , Meadow-lane , for Leeds , Bramhove , Woodehouse , Burstal , Millbridge , Heckmondwikc , Ckckheaton , Bamsley , Wakefield , and Churwell . ' ' ¦ To Mr . Cooke , Vicar-lane for Bradford , Bingley , Keigbley , and Thornton . To Mr . Lord , North-gate , for Halifax , Ripponden i Elland , and Hebdea bridge . • . To Mr . Clayton , 10 , Kirkgate , for Huddersfield , Bradley , Dalton , Almondbury , Clayton West , Henley , aud Holmfirth . To Mr . Barraclough , 40 , Far-gate , for Sheffield , and Rotherham . To Mr . Bailey , Newcastle-vtnder-Lyne , lor Shelton , and Walsall . To Mr . J . Sweet , Goose-gate , for Nottingham ,
Carrington , New Radford , Newark , and Retford . To Mr . G . Guest , Bull-street , for Birmingham . To Mr . Plumb , for Sutton-in-Ashfield , and Ironville . To Mr . Busby , for Grantham , Horncastle , and Lincoln . . : . To Mr . Harvey , G , Richmond-street , for Brighton . To Mr . Fish , Witham , for Essex . To Mi-. Hornsey , Broad-green , for Weliingbro' . Those agents in Northamptonshire , Herefordshire , Gloucestershire , Sussex , Devonshire , Dorsetshire , and other southern counties , who have not received the portrait , must say how their parcels are to be forwarded . Agents in towns not . named above , having weekly book parcels , and who have written to us , will find their instructions have been attended to .
Eo Aroitespon&Enw.
Eo aroiTespon & enw .
The Mathos Estate.—In Reply To T.S., Of ...
The Mathos Estate . —In reply to T . S ., of Eccleshall , I beg to state that the Mathon Estate is within eight miles of Worcester , three of Great Malvern , and within less than five of Ledbury . That the money must be paid , at once at the rate of 37 i . per acre , of which 7 J . per acre willbe returned when the growing timber is disposed of , and when the materials are sold ; and that the purchasers will be located as soon as the timber is felled , the old outbuildings taken down , the fences levelled , and the allotments surveyed ; andIalsobegtostatc , tlmtthose anxious to purchase must pay then- monies within tlie present month . F . O'C . Mr . J . Sweet begs to acknowledges the . receipt of the following sums , sent herewith :- ^ Debt due to the PaiNTEr . —Mr . W . LeesGd . Victim Fund . —Mr . W .
, Lees , Gd . ; Victoria Tavern , New Lcnton , 2 s . Gd . Chartist Executive . — Mr . W . Lees , Is . Conference Expenses . —Sutton-in-Ashfield , 2 s . Fob toe Hu . \ gaisia . \ -s . -- G . Julian Harney has received from a " Chartist Prisoner , " Is . W . GiitiunD , Ipswich . —There are not content bills . Your other question is forwarded to the proper quarter , Mr . W . M'lfoxETT , Dumfries . —At id . each . How could they be sent 1 Mr . A . Johnstone , Galashields . — We could send what you require either , to Mr . Robinson , Edinburgh , or to Mr . ' Love , Glasgow . Mr . J . Hopps , Crook—Your remittance pays tothe end of this month . To your second question—Tidd Pratt , Esq .,
National Debt Office , Old Jewry , London . Mr . P . Snaith , Darlington . —^ They arc sent through Mr . Wilson , Stockton . . . .-Tub Khikdale Pjiisoxehs . — Thomas Ormeshcr has . received from Robert Howarth , Highes-lane , Pilkuigton , 10 s . H . Foster , Covbridge , had better apply to tho Secretary , Mr . Staiawood , -V Little Vale-place , Hammersmith Road . J . Leusion , J . Duncan-, W . Wabiiajt ,. and J . Coifax Received . " ,.,, „ Reviews . —We are in receipt of several works which sh ? . ll receive our earliest attention . Mr . Thomas Clark will deliver the Funeral Oration over the grave of Joseph Williams .
The Korthem Star, Saturday, September 15, 1319.
THE KORTHEM STAR , SATURDAY , SEPTEMBER 15 , 1319 .
Death Of A Chartist Prisoner And Martyr....
DEATH OF A CHARTIST PRISONER AND MARTYR . Silvio Pellico ' s affecting narrative of his sufferings in tho dungeons of Austria , has made tens of thousands acquainted with the punishments , which despotism awards to aspirations after political freedom in that country . Few have riot shuddered at the recital of the fiend-like atrocities perpetrated by the " familiars" of the Holy Inquisition upon the unhappy victims of its crusade against free thought and speech . It is hut
the other day that daylight was let in at Rome upon its dungeons , its chains , and instruments of torture , and men rejoiced in the belief that all chance of the restoration of such an infamous and horrible tribunal was destroyed for ever . It was reserved for the arms of Republican France to destroy the illusion , and to restore Rome to the priestly domination under which it had so long groaned , and from which it had so nobly emancipated itself .
It is not unusual for the Pharisees at home to congratulate themselves , that , in this respect , at least , we are superior to other nations . They " thank God that we are not as other men , " or even as these Austriaus . In the heat of their imagination , they draw glowing pictures of the freedom of writing , speech , and action which exists in this happy laud , and look down with an air of lofty superiority , from their assumed , elevation , on all the rest of the world . ' 1 Vhat wifi such eulogists of our "glorious institutions" say to the legal murder which occurred last week in the Tothill Fields Prison ?
The crime for which the victim was condemned to imprisonment , prison diet , regulations , and discipline , was simply Ins discontent with these institutions , and his advocacy of others which he thought better fitted to promote the general well-being . However much the Crown lawyers might , by the aid of legal phraseology monster indictments for " sedition , " & c and factitious exaggeration of all kinds , magnify the assumed offence of Joseph Williams that was in reality ' " The head and front of his offcnditiff—$ © more . "
For this offence the whole machinery of a State prosecution was set in motion against him and others , at a time when the mere accusation of being a Chartist was sufficient to ensure a verdict of " Guilty" from middle-class jurors , too panic-stricken and terrified to ho able either to analyse evidence , or coolly examine its veracity and value . As might be expected , verdicts were in every case given for the Crown ; and our honest opinion is , that if Sir John Jeiivis had chosen to try the subserviency of juries so far as to indict a Chartist for sedition against Pursier John or the Great Mogul , they would have convicted him ofthe offence .
The Judges were nothing loth to second the efforts of jurors , frightened out of their wits bythe " raw head and Wood y hones" stories ofthe alarmist Pbess . They had their cue and in every instance awarded sentences preposterously severe , compared with the alleged offences . Rut then they were justified in doing so , it was said—hy the necessity for putting
Death Of A Chartist Prisoner And Martyr....
d ^^ 7 discontented revolutionary spirit S , existed in the country , and protecting rSS ^ V institutions" from any violent a ^ ifpMlled-for innovations , official attachment to our constitution , as ricSd in thereportof the inquest given m aU tSums was apoor man , because fc „ 2 S ; a journeyman baker ; one of the li worked worst-nsed , and badly-paid £ &* tafcSU Condemned to ceaseless S 3 I- —rated labour , at _ the > same tim from the possession ofall ^
S ^^ TSSd noHtical rights , he naturally became dissatisupon him and his class . Ho believed that ? here was , or that there mig ht easily bo created , enoug h of wealth for all , by means of more just ! nd equitable political and social institutions , The . iron of slavery had entered his soul , and he' gave utterance to his agony . He demanded liberation for himself and his f ellow-toilers-that the British Constitution should become in practice what it was in theory , and that taxation and representation should be co-equal . For t his ho was—after a trial which
admitted o ¥ no doubt as to its termination—sentenced to imprisonment as a . first class prisoner—that is , without specially being condemned to hard labour . Confinement was therefore all ' that was strictly and legally included in the sentence of the Judge . But there 3 s an imperium in imperio in these matters . ' The county magistrates can overrule the superior courts . They make all the regulations , ; for the internal management of the p rison . ; and- once under their rule , the prisoners pass from the jurisdiction of English Law into # iat of . Justices of the Peace , who are , withinthegaol ,. supremelords .
' Tims , inthe . case of Williams and his fellow ' martyrs for political liberty , who were consigned to Tothill-fields ; their sentence did not include labour , hut tho prison rules offered them the option either of performing the same degrading species of labour as the criminal occupants of the gaol—namely , picking oakum , or the payment of five . . shillings weekly to purchase exemption from the loathsome task . How was a poor man—whose weekly wages when in work were little more than five shillings—to find the means for buying this exemption ? Clearly , only by the kindness of his : friends ; and thus the supporters of the Constitution had the double satisfaction of
imprisoning Chartists , and taxing others at the rate of £ 13 per annum , per head , for each prisoner who thus escaped oakum picking . For some time this tax was paid . At length the money was not forthcoming , and then commenced a series of cold-blooded acts of legalised cruelty , to which we only refrain from attaching their proper designation , because our readers will do so for themselves , and more forcibly than any words of ours . For his contumacy in refusing to pick oakum , he was sentenced to six days' solitary confinement , and bread and water diet . The solitary confinement , and its accompanying dietv commenced on the 26 th of August . On the 28 th- —under its influence—he was seized
with bowel complaint ; and this , be it remembered , in the very height of an alarming and terrible pestilence , of which the jjremonitory symptom and fatal consummation is disease in the bowels . The day after the complaint was made , the doctor ordered some gruel and medicine , and being " a healthy and robust man , " the complaint immediatel y yielded to these simple remedies . But so far from taking warning bv tlie attack , and
releasing the victim from the influences that induced it , the moment it was over he was again placed in Solitary confinement , and upon the same diet , uutilthe six days had expired ; On the third day after his release from "three meals of six ounces of bread daily , and as much water as he ' could drink , " lie was again attackedby bowel complaint , placed , in the Infirmary , and died the next day . Mr . La vies , the prison surgeon , says " Asiatic cholera " was the cause of death . ' Mr . "Williams
himself > said to his father , who visited him before his death " That it was no suck thing . It was STARVATION AND COLD , and NOT CHOLERA . " "Who is to be believed—the medical man , whose obvious interest it is to whitewash the establishment under his care , or a man of sound intellect and healthy mind , who on his death-bed deliberately points out the means b y which ho has been " done to death ? " "We have no hesitation in saying that we believe tho murdered man . When " starvation and cold" produced the " Tooting pestilence , " it
was attempted to show that the wholesale slaughter was owing to Asiatic cholera ; but the decree failed , and the Coroner ' s Jury branded tho contractor with Manslaughter . Even in the case of poor "Williams—Chartist as he was—the Jury—while they introduce " Asiatic cholera" into their verdict on the assurance of the surgeon—put in their own convictions as to tho cause of death in the second clause— " and the Jury recommend that the change of diet to bread and water FOR SO LONG A period should be discontinued "
On the strength of this verdict we say Joseph Williams was clearly brought to an untimely end hy the prison discipline and diet of Tothill Fields House of Correction . He was sentenced to imprisonment , and because he would not work at a degrading and disagreeable occupation he was placed in such circumstances that his life was sacrificed . He has fallen , in the prime of life , one more martyr in the cause of Freedom —one more witness against the iniquities and anomalies of our present system . "How long , 0 Lord ! "
One question to the Chartists of tho Empire . The cessation of the five shillings weekly which procured their departed brother exemption from oakum picking , was the proximate cause of the solitary confinement , and bread and water diet , which led to his death . There are other noble martyrs in' that and other prisons , who are now giving testimony of their pure and noble devotion to the cause of Chartism ; are any of them to die , because their unimprisoned brethren ; will not supply the means to prevent degradation and bodily suffering from being added to the privation ' of liberty , home , and friends ?
While in the act of closing the preceding observations , a communication has been put into our hands , from which we learn that it is intended to give this Chartist Martyr a Public Funeral on Sunday next , ( to-morrow ) , The procession will start -at two o ' clock in the afternoon , from 28 , Golden Lane , Barbican , and will proceed through Chiswell-streot , Sunstreet , Bishopsgate-street , Church-street aud Bothnal Green , to the place of interment . An address will be delivered at the grave hy a sterling democrat ; aud we cannot doubt but
that duo honour will be done b y tho Chartists ofthe metropolis , to one , who while living fearlessly advocated their principles , and who sealed his faith in . them with his life . In the note accompanying the intimation of the intention to honour the deceased by a public funeral , it is stated "The Corpse is as fresh as the day he died , and not in any degree discoloured , so that he could not have died of Cholera , " This is corroborative of the facts
which the evidence given at the Inquest clearly established in our own minds , and which evidently induced the Jury to append the qualifying sentence to their verdict which we have quoted . Whatever may he the legal difficulty of substantiating such a position , there can . be no d oubt in the mind of any impartial and reasonable man , that the death of Joseph Wilhams was caused b Ins treatment iir Tothill Fields Prison , and not by Asiatic Cho lera , "Peaco to hig Alanes . " "Let tho jieoylo show by tho
Death Of A Chartist Prisoner And Martyr....
honour they pay-to ^ *^ X « S appreciate the Martyrs who fall in the cause of Liberty . ^ „
The Cost Of A State Church. Unity Of Rel...
THE COST OF A STATE CHURCH . Unity of religions belief—conformity to a certain profession of faith - and obediences to ecclesiastical discipline , are the ostensible objects of a State Church . In early times when the laws which regulate the formation of opinion were altogether unknown—or , if _ partially known , entirely unrecognised , it is not should
to be wondered at that our ancestor have attempted to realise an idea in itself essentially impracticable . That nations should have persisted in the attempt , through so many ages of downright and utter failure and in despite of the accumulated evidence which proved its folly , can only be accounted for by tho factj that the majority of men do not think for themselves , but , like sheep , blindly follow the hell-wethers of the flock .
Even under the purely theocratical government ofthe Jews , the nation was divided into two great sects . The history of the Church of Rome is one long narrative of struggles against " heresy ; " and its offshoot , the Church of England , has long since abandoned even the semblance of supreme authority over religious- opinion . It is content to share a divided rule with organised bodies of Dissenters , whose existence and religious privileges , as religious corporations , are as fully racosmised bv the State as its own .
Tho State Church has , therefore , failed to secure the essential object for which it was instituted . It never has succeeded in producing that-unjty of faith and disci pline which it was intended to , establish ; and looking at tlie numerous agencies now at work for the expansion of the human intellect , we may safely predict that it never will . Further , we may add / that it is not necessary or desirable that it ever should . Individually , every man is called upon to examine all things , and hold fast by that which appears good to him after such examination . Collectively there can be
no doubt , that the nations which have been unburdened hy Church Establishments have progressed most rapidly in civilisation . Thought and action have , in their case , been unfettered ; and , in the instance of the North American States , less than a century has produced a nation aud empire , which a thousand years of old despotism could not equal . For the officers and employes of such an establishment to continue in the receipt of public money , under such circumstances , is a public fraud . They are not National , but
Sectarian teachers , and ought to he paid by those who desire and enjoy the benefit of their services . My neighbour who goes to church while I go to chapel—or nowhere as tho case may be—has no more rig ht to call upon mc to assist in defraying his parsons' bill than his grocer ' s or his butcher ' s . All that any man can he justly asked to do is to pay his own score , either for sermons or sugar , vvtuals or rump-steaks . In these days of Malthusiau philosophy , and Political Economy , the preachers and professors of every modification
of doctrine should be taught to " relyupon their own resources as well as the " independent labourers "—to whom that cardinal principle has been so long and zealously propounded . Tho revenues now annually misappropriated by the Bishops and Clergy of an Ecclesiastical Corporation—whichhas no claim to them , eitheronabstractorpractical groundsought to revert to the nation , and be applied to national purposes—that is , to purposes in the benefits of which all sects and parties could participate . That these revenues are public
property , of which the state—in other words the nation—is the real proprietor , is a proposition ,, in support of which high parliamentary authority might be adduced , apart from the practical- admission of the fact by the heads of the Church themselves , whenever they have occasion to ; apply to the Legislature for authority to make any new appropriation of tho property they are entrusted with . The union of Church and State is purely a financial one . The former pays money on condition that the latter will submit to its control . The State exacts submission on account of its
bestowal of public fuuds ; and tho Church in return becomes a political machine instead of a purely religious organization . Financial aid therefore constitutes the real bond of Union between them . A separation of Church aud State implies that the application of public funds to ecclesiastical purposes should he discontinued , and that these funds should no longer he alienated from the objects to which they ought to have been restricted . It is a matter of great importance to ascertain tho extent to which these national
resources , have been thus alienated , and by the aid of some recent publications on the subject , we propose to throw some lighten the question ; believing that the popular demand for the restoration of Church revenues to secular uses , will bo strengthened by the disclosure of the enormous amount of these revenues . The national advantages "which would result from their judicious management and equitable
distribution , are almost incalculable . Though Mr , O'Connor has on several occasions given glimpses of their nature and extent—and we believe that if tlie people at largo , were awakened to a perception of tho vast and immediate benefits that would ensue—statesmen and priests would speedily be compelled to desist from making religion a stalking-horse for their selfish purposes .
It is ' , however , difficult to ascertain with exactness , what the actual annual amount of these revenues is . One cause of this difficulty is the variety of the sources from whence they are derived ; another from the exemption of church property from any effective public supervision , and the faulty , if not false and fraudulent , returns , which have been made to the legislature when such returns were supposed to imply any retrenchment or
interference . The details are thus shrouded in darkness and complexity , which appear to justify the widel y differing estimates ofthe total , amount—varying from the three or four million * of Churchmen themselves , to tho twelve or thirteen millions of other parties . Through these difficulties we must grope our way , and at tho end of the investigation if we do not arrive at the precise amount , a tolerable distinctness of outline may be attained .
The sources of tho income of the State Church may be thus enumerated : Tithesepiscopal and capitular estates , — fees and oflerings—parsonages and glebe lands—grants tor chapels of case—chaplaincies to public and private bodies—besides the revenues derived from the exclusive control of the universities and from educational and other public chanties . Tithes constitute the largest proportion of Church
revenue ; they arc the tenth part of the annual produce of land , of the yearly increase arising from stock upon laud , and . from the personal industry of the inhabitants . Thcv were formerly payable in kind ,. and couscquently varied with the fluctuations of agriculture and industrial prices and profits . This clement of uncertainty no longer exists to the same extent , m consequence of their commutation into money , by an act passed in 1838
' Previous to the passing of that act , various computations of the amount yielded hy Tithes had been made by staticians . Where the total 1 produce of- the land can be ascertained the iitho , which bears a fixed proportion to it , can readily be det ermined . This proportion is between one-fifteenth and one-twentieth of the whole ; for two-thirds of the produce only temg titheable , one-fifteenth is the utmost the C orgy can claim ; and as they are not famous for taking-less than they can demand , onetwentieth , is the lowest at which their receipts should be rated . Mr . M « CvuoC 3 \ ST
The Cost Of A State Church. Unity Of Rel...
Porter , our two standard authorities on these subjects , estimate the total annual value oi agricultural produce at 132 , 500 , 000 / ., of which the C lergy must receive ,, according to this caJ . culation , from 0 , 000 , 000 / . _ to 8 , 000 , 000 ? This estimate is borne out in another way , There are upwards of 30 , 000 , 000 of acrea under cultivation , of which 20 , 000 , 000 are subject to clerical tithe . From answers to enquiries instituted by the Agricultural B oard , it appears that the average Tithe per acre was , in 1790 , 4 J ; in 1803 , 5- % ; and in 1813 , 7-94 . Agriculture has very considerably im demonstrated b , our two standard authorities on these
proved since then , as is y the increase of rents , and tho increased produce sent to market , to supply the wants of a considerably-augmented manufacturing and commercial population ; There can , therefore , be no injustice in taking the rate of Tithe at least as low as it was in 1813 , viz . 7-0 & ; which , calculated upon a basis of 20 , 000 , 000 acres , would give a total of 7 , 037 , 500 / . Botli these methods , therefore , give an approximation to the cost the country pays from this source for the services of the Parochial Clergy , which fully justify us iu setting it down at upwards of six millions sterling .
These computations were , however , always decried by the clergy and their friends as much too high , and in order to ascertain what the amount really was , as well as to furnish the data for some proposed internal improvements , the clergy were required in 1834-5 to make returns of their incomes and of other matters connected with their parishes . These returns were made accordingly , and from them it appeared that the total gross incomes of benefices in England and Wales amounted only to 3 , 251 , 1591 , and tlie net incomes to 3 , 055 , 451 / . On the faith' of those returns , the Church party and its' organs lustily abused
the opponents of-. a State Church , for being guilty ofthe most shameful exaggerations and falsehoods ,: as to the weight of tho burden it imposed on the country . And , even now , these returns arc by the samo party generally made the basis-of any financial calculations , as far as they are not glaringly contradicted by facts which have subsequently transpired . The public , at large , were very much sin-prised at finding the Church they had considered bo extremely rich had such a moderate income , and some even went tho length of suggesting that , as it . was in such impoverished condition , the legislature should give it liberal aid .
It is well , however , to look at the motives under which these returns were made . It was supposed that the intention of the Government in asking for them , was to found a measure on the data thereby afforded , which , in some way or other , would trench upon tho exclusive clerical possession of Church property . It was , therefore , felt , the sooner they got rid ofthepopolar impression , that tho Church , was very wealthy , the better for the present holders . Even conscientious men were impressed with the opinion , that the dishonesty of false returns was a ti-i vial error , compared
with the preservation of the property of the Church . Besides this , the Commission to which these inquiries was intrusted , did not procure a very searching investigation , It included the Archbishops of Cant . ku . uUUY and York , and the Bishops of London , Lincoln , and Gloucester . The Lord Chancellor , SirR . Reel , as First Lord ofthe Treasury , and several other laymen , were included , but they wore all required to sign a declaration that thoy were members of the Established Church , and that their duty was to " consider the state of the several dioceses in England
and Wales , with reference to the amount of their revenues , and the more equal distribution of Episcopal duties ; " not the more equal distribution of income for the duties performed . From a Commission so constituted minute and searching inquiries could not be expected . It may be judicious to " set a thief to catch a thief , " when their interests are opposed , or where the thief-catcher can gain bv serving
the law ;¦ but in this instance the interests of the questioners-xivl the , respondents ran on all fours , and it was , of course , well understood by them that over-minuteness in such delicate matters would not be required in the returns . The consequence was , that although verified by a body of men who ought to be patterns of veracity , they were very generally disbelieved . It was not long before their falsehood was demonstrated . Tho Tithe Commutation Bill
passed into law in 1838 . The frequent squabbles between the clergy and their parishioners as to tho amount of tithe really payable , compelled the legislature to interfere for the purpose of preventingthe parsons from appearing in tho character of " shearers , " not " shepherds" of tlieir flocks . Not that it was intended to reduce tho amount of wool actually taken off the backs of the latter . By no means : the clergy would rather have continued their collisions with the tithe payers to tho end of time . The object was to ' collect the tithe in quietness , and to do this a change
was proposed in the nature of the property . Tithes were converted from a tax into a rent charge , and payments in kind exchanged for payments in . money . This alteration compelled tho parsons to reconsider their average incomes . . But they did so under opposite motives to those by which they were actuated in 1834 . Then it was their interest to make them as low as possible , and they did so , as wo have seen . Now , however , " the cat jumped the > other way ; " and they showed themselves ! equall y prepared to jump with it . Never in the history of tho world was there »
an example of property so rapidl y increasing ; m value as Church property in these four : years ! The incomes of these truthful , pious s men had , in fact , more than doubled in that ' . short time ! The rent-charge now amounts J to ' nearly four millions , or nearly a million t . more than the total income of the Church re- - ¦ turned in 1834 , though little more than one- ihalf of the . tithe has yet been commuted ! V Every return and report , since the property yr was placed on this secure basis by the Act c * f ift 1838 , exhibits demonstrative proof of the false-e «
hood and fraud practised by the clergy in their in former returns , and stamp upon Ylicm as it , w body a character which renders them unfit to tec he the moraMcaehers of the people , howeveron well adapted they maybe for spiritual mstruc-ie- ; - tion . We cannot better- substantiate tbisV strong statement than by quoting the followinfflU ! tab o of specimens , selected from an innume-iee rablo host of similar examples by a writer whaha < has carefully analysed tho returns of the tweuv difierent periods . They Avill suffice to show . ovi bow the parsons play fast and loose witlnft hgures \ rnen it suits their interest : Benefice . County . jNetincoinelJc- ; lYesrnt nrr ^ ; . turned in 1831 . Reiit-chgi-Jigy Stow-cuBi-Quy Cambridge ... £ 7 j TT . r—" Cam Gloucester ; ... yg I A ?; 1 Muwtoii ..... . . Hereford U . ? , 1 Gladdcsdi'ii .. Hertford , ooa ; i £ * IMgnrnj .... Leicester UG J 2 ? ? tfoi-tiioi-pc ,,., Lincoln 43 j « « Kingsbury .... Middlesex .... 40 tm u Tottenham .. Middieaex .... SW ^ KivUlmgton _ .. Jiottiiigluun .. 49 lw |( J The incumbent of Stow-cum ~ Quy ancTthTt other beneficiares in this list , must have concon sciences more elastic than Mia rubhJr TZ jve hope they are satisfied with the bavgaSaS they have made under the new law . CcrtaiSr an increase from fift y-two to five hmiS ^ Z thirty pound , a-year , is an astounding ono ^ c « b < u % £ ? % * . ^^ "Stances ofhf ' i ] had faith and falsehood exhibited by tho Cleroler and their supporters on the subject of ISS income , let us sum up the result o > thL \ , ftftl f gation into the actual aunSt nT SS After making an ample allowance for -S S ? K ot deductions , we believe tW u" v „ , " set down at 0 , 0 ^^ a £ l ™ 3 $ f . ^ give to each of the 10 Wft £ * lh TCV RfirnliHaliwl Dl \ 1 U > 71 » benefices of tfcf ' 500 /^ 1 tS - ' un PG 1 ' « ge income ne > oOOL , and that income is of course actuiHu-i-Uvt are formally aud nominall y forbiddeuMd
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Citation
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Northern Star (1837-1852), Sept. 15, 1849, page 4, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/ns/issues/ns2_15091849/page/4/
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