Current:

Northern Star (1837-1852), 2nd December 1848, Edition 3 of 3, Page 7, DsATttOF TBB RlQET Hoif, CsABtSB BuitKB,...

Page 7
Page 7
7 of 8

On this page

  • Text (5)
  • Transcript

    • 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.

      Mr Fjliemw, At At Foot You Wm Find The I...

      Asjerably opened ihedoor and they walked in ; the ' _juntiffs ask , _« . What we the acts of the " Assembly ? . _^ e thrjy not its resolutions ? . . Tes , distinctly ; and _gen tly I shah * publish one proposed by Mr Adams \ fiih re ference to a large portion of his attack . 2 nd . resolutions to which I refer shall be an _^ _jff -rto _thecbaree of blarney' _againsVmvself . " 3 rd . As to the Executive not being dismissed by _jju Assembly , appointing fire others appeared very _jjjjeit ; while my acceptance of offi ce as one of the _jjeentive proves two things—firstly , that I was not to be driven from the ranks by a set of _namby--jjnhy p ismires ; and secondly , that as I did 8 o , j kis determined to recommend the old organisation * ¦ _shich rendered the Chartist movement perfectly legal- My acceptance of office wu long after the Assembly had died a natural death . I . was elected

      _oy the people and not by the Assembly , ' and by ibe people I wu and am determined to stand . Sat as the * Northern Star" stands as a book of _inference when it is supposed that it may be used _jff-jrist me , I defy any of my accusers to point out one single line in that paper confirming the assertion that I admitted the legality of an association consisting of more tban forty-nine members ; bnt , on the contrary , I stated in the Star of the 6 th of May . it wa * not until Mr M'Grath told m ; on the 15 th of Ap ril that the London men were to elect eight delegates to the Assembly , that I was aware of the intended illegality ; . what elicited the answer from Mr M'Grath was this , as published in the Star : London , ' said he , 'is to elect ei ght delegates . ' ' Then , ' said I , » is the rest of the country but to elect _forty-one ?

      As this qaestion of legality or illegality is sought to be based upon my presumed legal knowlege , al * though dlfiusely scattered over thewholeindictment _, I will answer it continuously . 'When the Convention wu sitting , it will be remembered that my visits to it were enly casual , and then hurried ; that I merely made each statements u I thongbt necessary , and wu then compelled to attend to my duties in Parliament—and the delegates _vHll remember that I requested them to sign a petition on behalf of Frost , Williams , and Jones ; that they did sign tbe petition , and that it was brought to me , I think , by Mr Murray , a clerk at the Land

      Office , at the lut moment for presenting petitions . I presented it . Sir Robert Inglis and others looked at it , and counted the names , and , having discoveied tbat there were fifty-one signatures , itwas moved that it be rejected , u the law did not recognise more than forty-nine delegates meeting in convention . I went to the Convention the next morning , took the petition with me , and told them what fools they must have been to have given me a petition signed by two more than the lew permitted to sit in snch an Assembly , and that I was not at allawaie that it consisted of more than forty-nine members . [ Then , u to the Convention of 1839 . it did not consist of more tban _fortv-nine members . ]

      Again , the Convention in IS 42 , in Manchester did not consist of forty-nine members ; but these scribes—so ignorant of Chutist matters—presume that because there were fifty-nine included in the Lancaster indictment , that they most all bare been delegates ; whereas , from fifteen to twenty consisted of defendants from different parts ofthe conntry , that _rerer bad anything to do with the Convention ; for instance , the Rev . Mr _Scholefield _, in whose honse the Convention assembled , bad nothing to do _fcith the Convention ; and it shall always be my pride aad my boast , thst my rejection of the address . submitted to that Convention , saved the delegates from a long imprisonment .

      Then , uto the Sturge Conference , I would be only too happy , to morrow , to make a delegate in a Conference of fonr hundred or four thousand , to save tbe PEOPLE'S CHARTER from such men u Brewster , Ritchie , the middle classes constituting the Jury class , even backed by such men u Cochrane , and , I think , Adams , wbo voted in that Conference for ibe abandonment of the name of the PEOPLE'S

      CHARTER . There is , however , one most important fact , and one which must not be lost sight of , touching the difference of the law ' s nicety before and after the 10 th of April . Man may brave imprisonment at home , even at the expense of the folly of others , u I have done—bat these critical lawyers , so foil of facts , bnt deficient in dates , appear to have forgotten that , on the very nig ht of the 10 th of April , after tbat national triumph , which the Ten Thousand Pounders and the National Assembly wholly , utterly ,

      andl entirely destroyed—but I trust only for a time—Sir George Grey explained the provisions of his Gagging Bill , making open and advised speaking felony , and the publication of it also felony . This vras giving despotism a power and & Might against which right conld not successfully contend , and had it not been for the timely dispersion of that Assembly , wherein a few cowards wonld bave influenced the minds of brave men , the long catalogue of expatriated victims would have struck a deadly blow at Chartism .

      The Attorney-General declared Chartism , as attempted to be organised by Adams and Co ., u illegal , but never bas declared that Chartism , u propounded hy me , is illegal ; bat these three wise men say *—• Well , and are _aD things to be held as illegal which * * "Whig Attorney-General choose ! to call so ! Splendid authority , certainly ! Upon the _israe authority , Mr O'Connor is a sedition-monger , a libeller , and a conspirator ; bnt wUl Mr O'Connor plead gnilty to these charges , simply because the Whig and Tory Attorney-General who preferred these charces Againat him said so V This is an extremely enthusiastic appeal , bnt mv answer is , that Mr O'Connor pleaded 'Not Gnilty' to those charges , but , unfortunately for him , Special Juries declared him * Guilty . '

      4 tbR The Chartist power is to be measured by numbers or fnnds , and we are told that onr former safety was attributable more to our inherent ' peverty and weakness tban to the superior wisdom of its _acknonledjred lender . Well , the National Assembly was certainly weak in numbers , but wished to make amends in wealth by substituting a £ 10 , 000 fund for our poverty , 5 thly . As to my acknowledging the 'National Assembly to be a fair representation ef the Chartist mind _. _' in tbe * Star' of the 6 th of May , it was based npon the natural presumption that they would do their doty to the Chartist body—a presumption , however , which every day ' s experience taught me was _jll-founded . I wu deceived iu the same way at the last General Election , when I anticipated great things from the fact of 260 new members being chosen Who were likely to be influenced by the

      progressing mindof the age . 6 thly . As to the conversation so critically repor ted in the indictment , between Mr Adams and Mr O'Connor , on the question of legality , not one word of it ever occurred . _ftbly . Mr O'Connor is not answerable for Mr Clark ' s proposition ; it would be hard if be wu , particularly u Mr O'Connor never directly or indirectly interfered with the election of delegates to any Convention that ever sat . and bad not time to boldi single conference with the Executive during the sitting of the Convention . number than

      8 . bly . With regard to a larger fortynine , I should have had no objection to a larger and more com prehensive Convention , representing ALL CLASSES FRIENDLY TO THE MOVEMENT , to present a memorial to the Queen , praying for the dissolntion of Pailiameat--the dismissal of ministers —and the appointment of men who would make the CHARTER the law ef the land . In such an usemblv of all classes , including the jury class , there might have been safety , aud the scribes forget that the one and simp le duty is defined—namely , that of presenting tbe memorial . 9 ibly . The scribes deny that because there was ; no offensive resolution passed , that , therefore , there

      wu no offensive language used towards Mr O Connor , Now . for the contradiction of their false assertion , I refer to tbe delegates—to the daily papers which were flashed in my face every evenintr when I entered tbe Honse of _Commons-and to the secret meetings of the Scotch delegates , which were held nightly by a hand of consp irators ; and I think that « ry fact admitted by the scribes , that , without consulting me , they dismissed me from the Executive ; and then , curiously enough , they refer to the" S / ar * of the 13 th of May in proof of my acquiescence in what they did a fortnight before , and tt is rather a whimsical charge against me , that I sbonld have submitted to this insult rather than be _aboneofrontentiou . However , I am well pleased

      to accept the taunt . m ., lOthly . As to my use of the words WAIT . WAIT , WAIT , ' I really do not know how to answer them . I can only ay , that if all , or as I have often said before , tbit if one-half of those professing Chartist princip les worked for a month as * I have worked inBnglandfor the hut fifteen yean , that yon would not have to wait a day for the Charter . . llth . Comes the charge of cowardice on the 10 th ofApril . and this _cbai-ge Mr Adams shall answer hiraself by speech and resolution . The speech delivered on the llth , the day after the Kennington Common meeting , andthe resolution proposed on the 14 th , of worse relative to Mr O'Connor ' s * blarney / but certiinlv after thk Ten Thousand Pounder wu aware of

      Mr Fjliemw, At At Foot You Wm Find The I...

      Mr O'Connor ' s cowardtce _^ _audralso after he _Wes aware that the , <* onvention' -h ad 'decided-tbat-Mr O ' Connor ' s motion tor the Charter should not be brought forward ; Here is Mr Adams * * speech , delivered on Tuesday , ' the llth of April , at a GREAT CHARTIST MEETING AT THE LITE . RARY AND SCIENTIFIC INSTITUTION JOHN STREET , F 1 _TZROY SQUARE . ' Now , curious to say . Mr Adams wu the first sneaker and ' spoke as follows , taken word for word from the « Northern Star" ot tha 15 th of'April . « Mr Adahs , _ideate for 6 la _» gow , _* came forward Joudly applauded , and sail : Perhaps the best thing they conld do was to review the _proceedinrs and the policy . of the

      Convention The delegates had been charged with acting a cowardly part yesterday . (« No , no . *) They had the character of consistency to preserve as well as that of courage : ( Hear , hear . ) They had professedly said , that t . e agitation waa peaceful and moral , and yesterday they had turned out to give a demonstration of their peaceful moral force , not to give battle . ( Load cheers . ) Although he was one of tho « e who held the doctrine' morally if we may , forcibly if we must' ( Loud cheers . ) Bat , he said _, letns exhaust moral means first . ( Hear , hear . True , he came to the Convention with his life in his hand , hut still that was no reason he should commit sui .

      cide— ( hear , hear —and he did not think they had showed any want of courage . Hehad a letter in his pocket which contained this : — ' I should sooner hear of your death than your cowardice . ' His sister , also , wrote as foUows : — « I wouM rather lay your lifeless body in the grave thsn hear that you were gnilty of being' either a spy or a coward . ' Now , this showed that his family were ' ap to the mark . ' ( Tremendous cheering . ) His constituency , also , left it with him whether he should remala in town or not . He had never heard anything * lets from any delegate , but that he was prepared to sacrifice all in their cau < M , and when the net day of trial arrived , they would all be found to act worthy ot Englishmen , Irishmen , and Scotchmen . ( Great cheering . )'

      Now . that was the speech and I next come to the resolution . 1 st . — 'Mr -West stated that be doubted whether ( hey wonld git the people to petition again } but he begged to nvwe . after what had taken place ia the House of Commons on _Thortday night _, that Mr O'Connor-would not be justified in bringing forward a motion on the subject of the Charter . ' Mr Srihsm moved , as aa _amendment , -- * That the Charter ba brought forward that sight The motion and amendmept _having been respectively seconded , a vote was taken , when the amendment waB negatived by a majority of _tbiity-fire to fonr , and the ori . giial motion carried . ' Now that resolution is in the Star ofthe 15 th of April , page S , col . 3 , acd in the same page , col . 4 , will be found the following : — Oa the motion of Mr Adams , A VOTE OF THANES WAS GIVEN TO MR FEARGUS O'CONNOR FOR HIS NOBLE AND DIGNIFIED CONDUCT IN THE

      HOUSE OF COMMONS LAST NIGHT , AND THAT CONVENTION DECLARED IT * WARMEST SYMPATHY WITH HIH m THE TREATMENT HE HAS

      RECEIVED . 'The motion was carried _nnan ' moasly , and briefly acknowledged by ' thehon . gentleman , who retired amid loudcheers . * Now , here was my justification—nay , MY COMMAND—not to bring my motion forward under the circumstances , and here wa * Mr Adams ' s condemnation of my out-door COWARDICE , and my indoor BLARNEY , after four days ' and nights' reflection , as the meeting was on Monday , the 10 th , and his motion was brought forward on Friday , the 14 th . I would ask if there could _possibly exist a stronger conviction against my present accusers ?

      12 th . With regard to my laudation of Sir George Grey , I stated then , as I state now , that men will be guilty of acts as a body , that the basest among them would blush to acknowledge as an individual , and I was showing the vices of the system which thus induced individuals of kindly feelings to lend themselves to acts of injustice ; but sorely this was no great crime ? But , perhaps my Seotoh censors hold it to be a crime fo say good of any man . , 13 th . With regard to my fling at the Irish Confederates in the person of C . 6 . Duffy of the Nation , after circumstances are not to constitute a test for judging previous acts . In the letter of Mr Duffyupon wbich I commented—the most rabid and ungenerous attack was made upon the English Chartists , and the'Irish people themselves were invited to rely npon the shopkeepers and the landlords rather than upon their own exertions ; and would I , who

      have suffered so much in the defence of Chartism , have been justified in allowing this apple of discord to have been thrown between the English Chartists and Irish Confederates , to secure whose amalgamation has cost me years of pain , trouble , and expense . Bat , do my accusers forget that the Irish Confederates of that day were as much opposed to the policy ofthe * Nation' as I was ? and would these Scotch censors make Mr Duffy ' s martyrdom the basis of their present onslaught upon me ? Mitchel was suspected and denounced until victimised , and then he was eulogised , and so it is with every , man ; but much as I sympathised with Mr Duffy , the English Chartists must bear in mind that he vowed never lo BRIDGE THE GULF' between them and the Irish people , and that as a representative of Chartism it was my duty to resent the insult . " I did so , and will again , if circumstances warrant .

      14 th . I have no objection to risk my ' corpse , ' as the Scotch philosophers term it , because it would be worth but little except for dissection ; but I have a great objection to place my life in the keeping of such men as Adams , Cochrane , and Co . 15 th . The scribes state that no insult was offered to Mr O'Connor , and yet we find the following pithy morsel in the voluminous indictment preferred agaissthim . Here it is . ' The enthaiiasm of the people-aba ted—their brightest hopes of success were all blasted by Mr O'Connor ' s letters . They hesitated about sending their delegates to the Assembly . The first of May came—the Assembly

      met ; and behold the result . Oat of 1 * 0 delegates elected , only twenty seven appeared , at the commencement . Gra It-ally they came _dropping In , till the beginning of the second week ; bat never did the number reach anything like that originally ntended . The Assembly saw , from the beginninjr , it had not the unanimous support of the country . The sincere portion of the members , find _, ing themselves so awkwardly situated , and knowing the eause , soi . r > vt and openly _xxncssEO their minds upon the object . ' Tbi * called forth the condemnation of tbe O'Connor party , wbo . in consistency , ought not to have been there at all , and hence the speedy dissolution of the Assembly , and the complete prostration ot the people ' s eame-yet O'Connor it _thtpop-larleadtr . '

      Now 1 should be glad to know what the terms boldly and openly expressed tbeir minds upon the subject , which called forth the condemnation of the O'Connor party , and knowing the cause' refers to , if not to abuse of Feargus O'Connor ? But then see the self-condemnation ofthe Assembly , and see the exemplification ofthe democratic principle , as illustrated with those gentlemen with their LIVES IK THEIR HANDS , ready to be sacrificed in the g lorious cause of liberty , bnt panting more warmly for the ten thousand pounds , but now increased to the fever pulsation , in the vain hope of destroying bim who prevented the plunder of the people , and the sacrifice of their cause . . The democrats admit that the Assembly , from thebeginning , had not the unanimous support of . the country ; and although the veritable Chartists belonging to tbe O'Connor party constituted a large majority of the Assembly , we are

      told tbat IN CONSISTENCY THEY OUGHT NOT TO BE THERE AT ALL . * Now , is not this extremely democratic , or does it not smack of the democratic policy laid down in the Birmingham Sturge Conference , in which Messrs Adams and Cochrane were delegates , when the Chairman declared that the majority was in favour of preserving the name of the Charter , hut the good sense was with the small minority , the chairman , walking ont , and abandoning his own Conference ? Now is not this a bright illustration of the Scotch philosopher ' s notion of Democracy and Universal Suffrage ? But still further to prove that these creatures of Paddy Brewster are strongly impregnated with the Birmingham policy and definition of majority , they have the unblushing insolence to propose that the name of our movement should be changed from the

      CHARTIST ASSOCIATION to the DEMOCRATIC CONFEDERATION OF GREAT BRITAIN . . 18 ih- Mr O'Connor did promise in the Star ' , of the 15 th . of April to propound a plan , and every week from that penod . to the close of the sittings' of the National Assembly , Mr O'Cenner was propounding his plan ; not a new plan , but the plan which he recommended in the Sta f of 1848 , namely-a union with the small shopkeepers , trades , and Irishmen . The Irish had but recently joined us ; and had it not been for tha villainy of the Ten Thousand Pounders , « irith their hearts in their hands , ' before one month after the 10 th of April , all those parties would have joined us ; and from the ScUfch delegates in that Assembly I trace the temporary suppression of Chartism .

      17 h . Mr O'Connor did pledge himself that if that Gagging Bill pmed , he would declare himself a Republican ; and he thinks that was a pretty broad announcement in such a House . And when taunted by Sir Robert Peel with stating 'that he did not not care whether the Pope , the Devil , or the Pretender was on the throne—or wbat they called the monarch—if the people had the power of electing bim '—npon that occasion Mr O'Connor did not qualify , bus repeated tbe assertions . And now , without any reference to the enraged state of the House during the last session , Mr O'Connor submits his speeches as published in Hansard , as specimens of the boldest speeches ever delivered in the House of Commons . 18 tb . I did say , that I would impeach the ministers , bnt I trust that I have more sense tban to do

      Mr Fjliemw, At At Foot You Wm Find The I...

      _sbV when ' _all-would" be ' their 'Supporters , ¦ and all howl at me . ' * ' ' - " . * .- _.: ' .. IJJihV 1 did _^ promise to , bring " oh the motion for the Charter _^ ' _£ ut the -hew Executive , [ appointed by the . ' . _philoaopherB j _jaye it ,: as their opinion , that it would be . injudicious , and surel y the philosophers will not now dispute the wisdom of their own officers . 20 th . I did tell the Convention , that I woutd be prepared to assist the . National Assembly , anticipating that that Assembly would be a legal Assembly , and . would fairly represent the . Chartist principles ; but I did not anticipate the gathering of such a body , to misrepresent . those principles , and render them odious ..

      . 21 st . The mind of England , might have been looking to me for tbe promised fruits of tbeir long and incessant labour ; but , for fourteen long years _, up to that very period , the mind of Ireland had been marahalled against my principles , and embittered against my person . 22 nd . I adopt every word of the following passage , as my own . MEASURE HIM BY HIS OWN STANDARDEXERCISE YOUR OWN JUDGMENTS . BE MEN . READ . READ , READ ; THINK , THINK , THINK TRY HIM NOT BT ONE 80 LITARY ACT , BUT BY HIS EVERY ACT . _AfTO _THEff DECIDE A 3 TO WHETHER HE BE ENTITLED TO A _COKTUIVATIOX OP YOUB COSPIDEUCE .

      Now those are the words in the indictment , and upon them I join issue with my accusers ? I say , try me upon my every act , not during the last boisterous season—not since I joined tbe English ChartiBtB—not since I estab'ished the « Northern Star '—not since I first came into Parliament in 1832 , but since I first joined the Irish people in 1822 , when deserted by their every leader ; when every door of every relative ' s house was shut against me , and when I was compelled to fly my country for thirteen months . YeB ; try me through my long and continuous struggles with . Daniel O'Connell

      and his Irish lickspittles—with the' base , bloody , and brutal Whigs' and their officials—with the press and its power—with the middle classes and tbeir deeprooted hatred—with the jury class , ahd thejr omnipotence , and , though last , not least , with the vermin of Labbur , and I assert , without fear of contradiction , that no public man who ever lived in any age , in any country , can boast of tbe same political consistency for over a quarter of a century , when promises , pledges , and anticipations held out tothe poor , justify them in tolerating their betrayal by their pledged friends .

      Henry Hunt was prematurely hurried to the cold grave by popular ingratitude , created by folly and madness . He was murdered , and rests in his grave with the consolation of his memory being honoured ; and yet the ordeal through which he passed , was but child's play , compared with what I have gone through . . John Knight , of Oldham , Henry . Hunt's friend , told me with hia last words , ' that the Londoners would destroy me if I stopped the supplies ; ' and , no matter what my opposition to the philosophers might have been , if I aided them in the £ 10 , 000 grab , I might bave denounced the principles of Chartism as long as I pleased .

      23 rd . I did sell to the secretary of the Glasgow Association 1509 cards , upon my tour with Mr Duncombe , the secretary telling me that that number had applied for cards , ' and when my toad y repeated the lie , '—Oh ! how the Lord d 6 th deliver my enemies into my hands—James Adams , of Glasgow , stood in front of the platform in the City Hall , and spoke to the sentiment , 'Feargus O'Connor , Esq ., ' when he stated that he could not 'FIND LAN GUAGE SUFFICIENTLY STRONG to express his admiration of tbat gentleman . ' Now , what will the honourable delegate say of his abuse of the honourable gentleman ?

      24 th . In _1846 , Mr O'Connor himself advanced a great portion of the funds to keep the movement alive , and surely , when the scantiness of tbe receipts at that period is referred to by the philosophers _, instead of being urged as a charge against me , it should be urged as a charge against the people . But what do the philosophers say ? Why , that

      _« WHILE HE KNOWS , AND HE IS AWARE T _1 IAT _GOYERNMENTKSOWS . THAT WHEN THE STRUGGLE COMES , BE CANNOT MARSHAL THE FORCES HE BOASTS BE CAN COMMAND . ' Well , surely , if ever there was a justification for not going to battle with inferior forces , and their inferiority known to the enemy , here it is furnished by tbe philosophers ; but let it be understood , that if that weakness does exist in the popular ranks , it has been caused by such vermin as those to whose charges I am replying .

      25 th . Mr O Connor did much prefer the Free Trade policy of Peel to that of Russell , and Mr O'Connor , when famine stared—not millions of his own countrymen—bnt the whole population in the face , and when he was aware that if Free Trade did not pass , the agitators of that country would bave saddled English Chartism with all the consequences ofthe famine—would bave told them , that , but for the Chartists , the streets would have been pared with penny loaves , and the -houses thatched with pancakes ; and Mr O'Connor having discovered for many years , that Irish hostility to English Chartism constituted the main strength of the Whig government , he did call a Conference at his

      own evpense , and what other man in Europe would do it— -that Conference consisted of the most consistent opponents to Free Trade ; that . Conference saw the justice and the policy of the proposition ; that Conference submitted its proposition to a meeting of over 5 , 000 working , men in the Hall bf Science , at Manchester , and it was unanimously received amid the most unbounded applause . Was this an act of despotism ? First , to have consulted the representatives of Labeur , and then to have submitted their deliberations to Labour itself . And what Mr O'Connor new says is , that under the present / system , Sir Robert Feel is the only living statesman who can suggest those changes which Free Trade imperatively demands , and which the dominant party will accept ; Peel ' s Free Trade means a

      progressive advance towards reciprocity ; Russell ' s Free trade means office ; while Mr O'Connor further contends , and ever has contended , that the only possible means of making Free Trade nationally beneficial , is by the enactment ofthe PEOPLE'S CHARTER . But Mr O'Connor does not belong to tbat class of politicians ; who under a bad system which creates famine , starvation , and death , con . aiders himself debarred from selecting a choice of evils . And Mr O'Connor ever has and ever will , attribute tbe present distress of the country to Lord John Russell ' s Free Trade policy , which might have been much mitigated by the policy of Sir Robert Peel , but never can be wholly eradicated , until the creator of wealth is represented in the House of Commons .

      26 th . I now come to the last charge , that of misstating tbe number of . signatures attached to the National Petition ; lst . The Convention itself appointed a Petition Committee , and upon that committee was Mr ADAMS himself . They appointed' London men to count the signatures to that petition . On Wednesday I went to the Land Office and asked Mr M'Grath how the petition sheets were coming in ? He took me down stairs to the cellar , in company with Mr Nicholson , who was appointed to take the

      numbers . Mr M'Grath showed thera to me , and told me :: he did not think there was over a -million and a half .. I admit that I did stamp my foot , and that I said in a rage , 'Are these the men who want the Charter ? * Oh , Sir , ' said Mr M ' Grath , 'this is nothing , the Convention bas reeeived communications from all parts of the country , mentioning large petitions that have not arrived yet ; they have not come yet from any of the large towns . ' I replied , « I stated to the country that this time there will be five million signatures , and if I cannot state in the House that there are that number , you must get

      some one else to present it for 1 will not , ' and I left the office . On Saturday , the 8 th , I went to Snig ' s End , and between Wednesday and Saturday I had not a word of conversation relative to the petition . On Snnday I returned to my hotel ; there were p resent there Mr Cullingham , Mr M'Grath , Mr Clark , Mr Doyle , Mr Dixon , Mr Harney , and a highly respectable gentleman , well known to and respected by the working classes . -When the Executive entered I said , « Well , M'Grath , how goes on the Petition . ' ' Well , Sir / he replied , I think your expectation will be more than realised , aB they are sear the five

      millions now , andthe men will be engaged all night in counting and rolling the sheets . ' I said , ' Thank God for that . Shall I have such a list as I can read to tbe house , if tbe signatures from any locality are questioned ? ' Mr M'Grath replied , Yes , Sir , Mr Nicholson has been appointed to draw up a list from eacb place . * On Monday morning I went , to the Convention—it was stated to the Convention , not by me , but by one of the Committee , tbat the signatures amounted to much more than five millions , but tbat as they were still pouring in the men were still rolling it , and the list was not eompleted ; Cuffey , who is now summoned as one of my accusers , was present in the Convention we got into tbe ats

      Mr Fjliemw, At At Foot You Wm Find The I...

      drove to * the Land Office to receive * the' * Petitlqn ;? the " Committee ' Brought me out the list , _aitibuntlng to 5 , 700 , 000 , and placed' the Petition in the car . I . stated the numbers as represented to me ; and when impugned b y tte Government—on the faith of thirteen law ' clerks , who I subsequently showed _should have counted at , the rate of 150 a minute , besides discovering all the . false signatures and obscenities , and without eating or drinking—I made the following speech in the House of Commons , which will be found in page 1 , column 3 , of the 'Star' ef the 15 th of April ' : —

      ' . On toe motion that the report do He upon the table Ur F . ' O'Connor said ; that It would bo quite impossible fer any thirteen clerks' to ' count , ' from the time the petition was printed , even 1 , 900 , 000 signatures , and he should , therefore , more for the appointment of a committee to inquire into the subject . There was an old faying , ' That those rrho hid knew where to find , ' and he believed tbat if such abuses did exist , it no doubt . was tbe act of some of the government spies . ( ' Oh , oh . ' ) . He folly be . _Hered that the number of signatures he had represented the pstltlon to contain was correct . He wou'd apply another test to tbe petition . The petition was contained in four or five large bundles , and It took himself , assisted by four _otherpersons to lift the lowest of the bundles .

      Vi « Jr _* . _* ' V eild no * beHeTe he should hare any difficulty in _obtalatng a petition npon the same subject signed by 15 , 000 , 000 or double or treble tbat number . ' « l . _^ n _„^ fl 0 e _' 000 wMml 8 rB Port ' 1 d . _lt ' shenld have been D _f Vl _' U _/ _'UU . J ¦ Now , then , I ask any sane man whether , with a thorough knowled ge of the omnipotence of a Select Committee in such cases , whether I would . he likely to move for the appointment of such " a tribunal , if I did not conscientiously believe that I had not been deceived by : the PETITION COMMITTEE ? What would have been my chance of escape if a petition , which I represented to contain five million seven hundred thousand signatures , was found to contain only onethird of that number ? With respect to the petition 1

      presentedby Mr Duncombe , it did contain ihe number stated—namely , over 3 , 300 , 000 . Mr Philp , one of the Executive , was superintendent of that petition , and with him rests the responsibility ; while , with regard to not being counted , every man who understands the forms of the House , is aware that every petition MUST BE COUNTED ; and Mr Duncombe was not held responsible then if there was any inaccuracy , because terror then was not so necessary to keep the Whigs in power , and because HIS destruction then , though a much abler man , was not considered as necessary as my destruction in the perilous days of April ; and I now unhesitatingly declare that the last petition was infinitely larger , and infinitely heavier , than the petition presented by Mr Duncombe .

      There is another fact , of which the philosophers are not aware—namely , tbat , independently of the large muster roll , during the previous . week , I had presented 175 other petitions-for the Charter , some of them—if I remember ri ght—signed by 12 , 000 , some by 6 , 000 , some by 4 , 000 , and some by smaller numbers . As regards Cuffey , what I stated in the House was not that he was a ' Tom-fool ; ' but when Colonel Sibthorp ( I think ) called him a ' Tomfool , ' and wished to make me responsible for his every word , I defended Cuffey , and asked if I was to be held accountable for what every « Tom-fool said ?

      Having thus answered this portion of the charge , let me now call the" reader ' s attention to the nicety with which our professing friends scrutinise the signatures to a Chartist petition , as compared with the dashing and unscrupulous manner in which their enemies perform the . same work . I know parlies who signed the petition against Catholic Emancipation every time they passed the place where it lay ; while it is aa indisputable fact , that for Catholic Emancipation , and against Catholic Emancipation , for Reform , and against Reform , for _/ Free Trade , and against Free Trade , for the admission , of the Jews to Parliament , and against their admission , signatures have been

      manufactured , as Mr Newdegate stated , at so much per hundred . But to furnish the reader with the strongest proof of this process _beincr well understood by the House , when the strength of party is _sufficienlty powerful to meet the sneer of their opponents upon the charge of fabrica'ion , tost session I presented a petition numerously signed from the Colliery _. districts in Lancashire , with reference to the Collifiry explosion : Sir George Grey subsequently took it off ihe table , and not with anger or gravity , but as if it was a common practice , shewed me that nearly every name was written in the same band . But , as with physical force , so with petitions ; I rauBt bear the weight of both ; I must

      he denounced as . the physical force Chartist by the Press and the enemy , and as a moral force coward hy the professing friend ; I must be answerable for the genuineness of every signature to a petition , while others pay for , and boast of . their manufacture ; and when I saw hundreds standing at the Land Office , while few were signing the petition , I asked Mr Clark , who was with me , why they did not sign it ? and he replied that many of them ceuld not write—and I retorted ' You are pretty fellows to get up a petition . ' You should take a lesson in petition manufacturing from the enemy ; and when'you find one who cannot write , let another sign his same , and let him put his mark .

      But let me now see if I can establish some greater number of signatures than 1 , 900 , 000 , by a sectional analysis of the country , On Wednesday morning , the 5 th of April , the second day of the meeting of the Convention , as reported in page 1 , col . 5 , of the _'¦ S / _ar ' ofthe 8 th of April-. 'Mr Ada-ns said , from Glasgow , which was a district comprising an immense population , he had brought up one hundred thousand signatures to the petition , and another thirty thousand had since been forwarded . The middle classes had begun to fraternise ; in fact , the only parties wbo refused their , aid and subscriptions , were those who fatten on -he vice and dissipation of the people —the publicans , ' MrWyld , the delegate from Mottram , said he had brought up 70 , 800 signatures . '

      Now , if the Scotch philosophers will add 70 , 000 to 130 , 000 , they will find that it makes 200 , 000 , or more than _one-tenth ofthe reported signatures , coming from Glasgow and Mottram alone , while Mr Lightowler reported 70 000 . from his d _i strict ; and Mr Ernest Jones spoke as follows : — _"' Mr Ernest Jones believed that it would be found that the number ef signatures really affixed to the petition was underrated ruther than overrated . ( Hear , hear . J There were i 0 " , 6 i ! 0 signatures now lying at the office ; he had been advised of 47 , OU -rhieh were sent from Halifax en Thursday last , which had never come to hand . ' , 'Air M _irsden stated , th . it he bad brought 65 , 000 signatures with him . '

      Thus we have 382 , 000 signatures , WITH MORE TO FOLLOW , reported by _fivedelegates , more than _one-fifth reported to be affixed to the petition , and not embracing the large manufacturing towns of Manchester , Birmingham , Leeds , Huddersfield , Liverpool , Preston , Bolton , Oldham , and district , Edinburgh , Newcastle-upon-Tyne , Carlisle , Bristol , Bath , and the thousand and one tributary streams . But seeMr Adams ' s wrath at the imputation east upon the petition before his mind was perverted by the hone of the £ 10 , 000 : —

      ' Mr Adams moved , as an amendment , * That the Convention would undertake to procure a greater number ot genuine signatures to the petition than it was represented to have had , If the Government were prepared _toconti . der that as an argument in favour of it * consideration . * Now then , as is my custom , I am going to carry the fire into the enemies' camp . Of course every reflection cast upon tbe number of signatures , since the failure of the National Assembly , was known to j Cuffey and others previous to its presentation , but j certainly to Mr James Adams , who was A MEMBER OF THE PETITION COMMITTEE , and therefore , if the numbers were falsified , and if in consequence thereof I received insult from the House of

      Commons , and the Chartist cause received damage , 1 charge the insult , the damage ,, and the falsehood upon James Adams , whose business it was to have reported truly the number of signatures , aud thereb y bave saved himself from the charge of palpable fraud committed upon Feargus O'Connor and the Chartists . He cannot get - over this , even if I was guilty , because he is particeps criminis , and stands in the position of Powell and Davis , with this difference ; that iu the transaction he is guilty and I

      am wholly innocent . It-is to be understood , howevei , that I merely charge this information upon his own evidence , as at this moment I declare , so help me God , I believe there were over five million signatures to the Petition . However , I leave the question with the Scotch jury , and , truth to say , they are much better than English juries ; and when the controversy is between me and the biggest blackguard tbat ever wore a head , he'd be sure to get a verdict , but then there ' s an appeal to a lareer tribunal , and that is the WHOLE PEOPLE .

      So much for Mr Adams ' s views before the anticipation of the - £ 10 , 000 ; and now for his previous physical force views when he had ' his heart in his hand . ' The reader will find the following in page 5 , col . 5 , of the « Star ' of the 8 th of April :- _**¦ Mr Adams did not see the slightest necessity for any bravado . They were pursuing a peaceful , legal , and cob . stltutlonal course . He thought that they were wrong ; in _anticipating an _onilaught . Suoh discussion _«¦• _«««« 1 « e _« to provoke feelings of hostility . What right had tbe « o . vernment to make an onslaught ! The question had yet to be decided in a court of Jaw , whether we had or had not the right . He therefore moved , as an amendment , « That this Convention has no right to a nticipate an on . _alauitht . orthe arrest ot the members , on Monday next .

      Mr Fjliemw, At At Foot You Wm Find The I...

      «» ' Ndw _. Hheh / what will the reader say to the valour of tne . patriot with 'HIS HEART IN HIS HAND , ' proposing to appeal from'the field of battle . tb the arena of law , and who iiow abuses mc and the Executive for not waging war with the elements on the 10 th of April ? . This patriot , " with ' his heart in his hand , ' very much reminds me of poor . Judy Flannigan , who , when startled by the * sudden appearance of her lover , exclaimed , ' OH ! WISHA , DARBY , MY JEWEL ; BUT MY HEARTS IN THE HEEL OF MY SHOE !'

      __ Now ,, ! think I have been as good as my , word in answering every charge seriatim ; and I think the reader will see that I have more to dread from the rascality of professing Chartists than from the snares of Powell _. _DaviB , and their masters ; and although I have gone to great length , and occupied much space , if the reader thinks it is thrown away , . 1 am not to blame . Let those whom tbe philosophers assured that there was not an abusive or offensive word in tbeir statement , judge for themselves ; and let each ask himself , whether there is another

      proprietor of a newspaper in the world that would publish such rabid _nonsenseysuch insulting stuff ? The position of the three tailors of Tooley Street was sublimity itself compared to that of Paddy Brewster's three knobstick Chartists , urged to madness by the cherished venom of their master , whom 1 have thrashed twice at Paisley—in bis own townonce in Dunfermline , once in Aberdeen , and once in Glasgow : and still further , these knobsticks were driven , to frenzy by the disappointment of the lion ' s share of the LIBERTY FUND .

      Are these fellows , who declare ihey did not abuse me inthe Convention , aware that thewhole of their original correspondence has been p laced in my bauds ? Is their immaculate coadjutor from Falkirk aware that I am also in possession of his original correspondence , and of the original correspondence , during the sitting of the National Assembly , of the Scotch delegates and their constituents , and that I have never published a word of these . atrocious letters , though I bave been requested to do so ? But I have withheld them in the hope tbat the . ' philosophers ' would see the error of their ways .

      I shall now conclude with an anecdote strictly illustrative of the position of the patriot who came to London with' his heart in his hand , ' to fight the battle of the Charter . In the old days of the Spanish wars an enthusiastic volunteer ordered his regimentals , tbat he mi ght die grand _; but , though panting for liberty , he had a strong affection for his heart , and he told the tailor to put . . a ' , strong tin-plate in his coat . The regimentals came home late at night ; the war-whoop was

      sounded early in the morning— the _enthusiaaticsoldier was doomed to a place in the front rank—the order to charge was given , when his regiment was routed ; arid when , scampering over a ditch , a grenadier gave him a poke in _Jhe posteriors with his bayonet , which assisted him in the bound . The gallant soldier felt for the wound , and discovered that Mr Snip had put the plate of tin iu the backside of his breeches , ' instead of inside his coat , and he exclaimed , — By Joye I Snip knew better where my heart lay tban I did myself . ' Fearous O'Connor ,

      • ' ... ¦¦ ¦¦ ¦¦ ' • . - •' -' -Ar-A Kn&...

      • ' ... ¦¦ ¦¦ ¦¦ ' . - •' - ' _-Ar-A kn _&^ i _ntt / i _^ .. _H ¦; , " _- - _•¦ - •¦ ¦ ¦ _¦" _, ' - * - _-- " _¦• _- "" _- _¦ --- » -- * - ' - * ¦«•¦» -- _•• ¦ - " ¦ ______ 1 _ yi _* - ; . j JJ \ w _* _.- . _^* -ti . _L-. _i _.-. i ¦ _* _.,-. .- _-:- < .. -.. ..,:. _„ _-T . H E . K . _OliTIlEJ'ltf . S . TA . R- ,, ' .. _.-., ¦¦ : , . '" . : 7

      We Have Read That Part Of Mr O Connor's ...

      We have read that part of Mr O Connor ' s answer to the . charges of the _Ghsgow delegates , and the statements therein made , in which our names are mentioned , and they are critically and literally true . Philip M'Grath . WitLiAM Dixon . Thomas Clark , I was appointed by the Petition Committee of the National Convention , to take the number of signatures coming from each town and district , and the manner in which I performed the duty was thus : —the delegates who brought petitions with them reported the numbers to me , and I superintended the counting of those which came by post without numbers affixed , and the duty of counting

      those petitions was assigned by the Petition Committee to London men . After the numbers were impugned in the House of Commons , Mr Adams , who was the most active of the Petition Committee , and who called upon me every day at dinner hour to ascertain the numbers , accompanied by me waited upon the several delegates again , to ascertain the number of signatures brought b y each and _upiih comparing the list , as furnished by me to Mr O'Connor on the day of the Kennington Common meeting , with the statements subsequently made by the delegates , there was little , if any , difference between the numbers Btated b y Mr O'Connor in the ! House of _CommonB , and that subsequently ascertained from the delegates themselves .

      I can solemnly declare , that neither Mr O'Connor , nor any _persjn _authorised b y him , nor any person whatsoever , directly or indirectly , attempted to in * fluencerae as to the statement ef the number of signature ' s , tothe National Petition , and ofthe truth of the above statement 1 am prepared , if ner _cessary , to take my oath . W . H . Nicholson .

      Dsatttof Tbb Rlqet Hoif, Csabtsb Buitkb,...

      _DsATttOF TBB _RlQET Hoif , _CsABtSB BuitKB , — Mr . _Cmvles Buller . member for _Lisfceardand Presi . dent of the Poor Law Board , died at an early honr on Wednesday morning . About a fortnight ago Mr Bailer underwent an operation for one of the most painful disorders to whioh man is liable . Although the operation was _suece-fully performed , great dc * bility succeeded , the health ofthe patient not haviag been previously very robust ; On Monday , it seems , a low fever supervened , and under it the right hon . gentleman sunk about half-past six o ' clook . on Wednesday morning , despite the unremitting attention and skill of hia medioal attendants . The deoeased has _passed _' away at the comparative prematu . e age of forty-two .

      A Hbroine . _—Albxmjdhu , Ncv . 23 . —A vessel bound for Aden with coal , having lost her master by death when about twelve daya' sail from her _des'ln & _tiou , the crew _conspired to take possession and dispose of her on the coast of Arabia . However , the captain ' s daughter , Misa Arnold , a young woman of the age of twenty , was oh board , and she having received some intimation of the piratical intentions of the men , armed herself with a pair of pistols , secured all the firearms and getting the mate and another man to join ber , bravely forced the mutineers to work the ship to Aden , where they are now in con . finement .

      . _Sbis-ork of an Illioit Dhtillbry . —On Wed . _nesday Mr E . Thomas and Mr J . _Vanstone , Excise officers , went to a house in Water-lane , Hackney , and having gained admittance at the front door , they proceeded to make an examination of tho premises , and in the back toom of the ground floor , found a large copper still , set in briokwotk , which had been recently worked off . with a small quantity cf illicitly _, made spirits . The rest of the working had been removed by tbo men belonging to the plaoe . There were about 100 gallons of molasses wash prepared fer distillation , a number : of tubs , pipes , and the

      general . stock-in-trade of a contraband distillery . Two females were found in the house , who gave the raws of . Phce > e West , and Ann Brown , the latter of whom was _reoogoised as an old offender , having b'en detect"d in a _similar transaction in 1 847 , when she suffered three months' imprisonment ; both women were Riven into custody . While the Exo ' _so officers were in tbe bouse . preparing to despatch their seizure to the Esoise _wavehouseB , a gentle tap was given at the door , which was opened , and a man , bearing a bag of _molasKg enteied , who _wsbuIbo given in cbarge .

      _BnaniH . — De . tb nou HTnaoTBoBh . —Oa \ 7 _esnes . day week , _UrOiorgv Camming * , innkeeper and grocer , residing at Sherburn Hill , dlid tn tbe greatest agony from the _tffsots of hydrophobia . About nine weeks ago the deceased had what is called a * wife ' s feast' at his house , and , during tlie course of the evening , two dogs whioh were In the house began to fight under a table , and , on the deceased attempting to separate them , one of the dogs &> w at him , and bit him _sligfatfy npon theno-e . Not muoh notice was at first tsk * n of the matter ; altbeugh eomo time after It took place deoeased complained of shooting pains from the wound up te his head , Oa Monday evening , bo-Fever , _nnmistskeable ¦ _ymptonMof tha d-eaMal maUdy _exhibited _thsmseWia , and tbey Inoreased In violence up to Wednesday night , when , as stated above . Mr _Cummings _eiplred . The dog , effeoted Its eeo _. pe from tho house , and has not _elaoe been seen . '

      _St-uhoi _Ciaoou-taucs . — A boy named Edwin H » y . ball , of Ctiard parish , one day last week fell iato a mill pond and was supposed to be drowned ; he was , however , taken out of the wat r aad the body earried home , _E-erybbdy _believed the child dead eicept hts mother , whose tflilolon was very great , , She took h _' m In her arras and held him before the Are . After nearly half « a hour the ohlld showed symp ' _oms of returning- e * n * _eoloutneis , upon which _sorae change in the _position of the body to ok plaoe , wben it was discovered tbat tbe child ' s foot had been in ibe fire , and was dreadfully burnt . A surgeon baviog been ealled In did what was necessary , sod the child was getting on very well . About three d «; s after tbe mother placed him before tbe fire for a moment wblle ahe went into the garden , and on her return was horror-struck to find ber ohlld burnt almost

      to a cinder . It Is a singular coincidence tbat a girl , the cousin ofthe _abovennmed Edwin _Haybsll _, a short time sine * fell Into the fire , and one of her breasts was almost entirely consumed in ber agony she ran to the mill pond to allay the paia by bathing the breast with eold water , when she fell In and was drowned . An Inquest has been held on Edwin _Hajball , and a verdiot of' Accidental death' returned .

      The Edinburgh Chautiit Tkials. On. Satur...

      THE EDINBURGH CHAUTIiT TkIaLS . On . _Saturday Inst Henry Rarken and _Ri !; frt Hamilton were p laced at ihe bur of the Hhrh ' C _'* m of _ja-tioisry , in Edinburg h to hear the judgment of their lordships in full beech , on the objections whiob . had been raised by their counsel to the sufficiency of the verdict whioh the jury about a forttifeht ago pronounced in their case , finding them -guilty of sedition , in ao far that they used language _calculted to exoite popular _disaffaetion and resistance to lawful authority . ' All the Lords of _Justiciary were present , except the Lord Jastice General .

      The Lord Jusiice Clerk having stated the terms of the jury ' s verdiot , and the explanation with whioh it was accompanied , that they hod purposely left out the word' intended , 'in characterising the language used b y the prisoners , at great length gave it as lils opinion ! that to hold , as counsel had done , that such a verdict was equivalent to one of not guilty , was a position opposed to sound reason and common sense . He showed , from avast number of cases , that it _va g not essential in an indictment for sedition to set forth the averment that the words were ' intended ' to produce such a result as popular disaffection and resistance to lawful authority ; and he contended , that it it was not neoessary for tbe public _prosecutor bo to frame the indiotment , it was not

      _necessary for the jnry to find such an 'intention . ' Ia a oase of theft , for instance , it was not necessary for the jury to use the words ia tbe minor proposition of tbe indictment , that ht wickedly and _theftuously look the articles awayj The words ' guilty of theft'were quite _suffisient to establish the charaoter of the act ; and hence , on the same principle , the verdiot * guilty of _sedititu ' was sufficient of itself to characterise the crime of sedition . The crime ot sedition consists in wilfully , unlawfully , and to the pablio dinger , using language alculated to produce general disaffection , _disloyaltf _, and resistance to lawful authority . Now , in this orime he apprehended that tha law did not look foi

      or _n quire the general dole , or legal malicious inten * tion or _purpsse with reference to the precise intent which tbe words _wsre calculated to produce . If such purpose was also proved , the case would be one of a ' more aggravated kind of sedition . If this view of the law ofthe ca-e was correct , and he held that it was . . then he _maintained that the objections te tha verdict must fail . He stated in conclusion thatit was satisfactory to him tbat thejury had left out thi ward intended , because it left the case in a less as * gravated light . Lords . _Maohnzie , MorfCBiRpp , Mbdwh- , and Wood , successively delivered their opinions , wbioh , in the main , coincided with the views of the Lora Justice Clerk .

      Lord CecKBDRN , in a long speeoh , was in _favoaf of holding tbe objeotion relevant , and tbe Verdiot al tantamount to a verdiot of acquittal . lie held that there conld be no sedition unless there was some director indireot guiltiness of _iotenticn ; that evil intention was indispensable to tbe _commission of tha crime . He had looked over all the indictments is the well-known State trials of the last century , and ho ceuld not find one in which the wickedness , of mind of the accused was not charged , although , no doubt , the charge was not always framed in _thesnros way . The libel before them contained not only a general oharge of wickedness , but a special charge of what that _wiokedness consisted in . That was the ease whioh the prisoners were warned to meet . The

      use otttie words averring thia showed that the pro * seeutpr must have understood that it was neoeMary for bim to embrace them in the indiotment ; and cer * tainly the intention was not left ont in the coarse of the trial , fiot thejury having left out the intention in their verdiet , the substance of the argument founded on this by their lordships was , that this wa lot material . He sonld not seo this at all . _Assuainz _faat the evidenoe of intention was essential to the offence , it was the province of the jury to find it proved ; and as they had not dose so , he held that there ought to be no straining ofthe verdiot to make it express what it did not do , and least of all when ' that straining _wa-jagainst the prisonera , and for _thibenefit of the publio proseoutor . In conclusion , his

      lordship stated , that when the oiroumstance essential for the prisoner ' s conviction waa not found , he waa entitled to have the verdict considered aa one of acquittal . There being thus only one judge in favour of sat taming the obieotwnBiMBcdby the prisoners' connsel in arest rf judgment , the objections were renelled . aRd the court proceel to pass sentenoe . Lord _MoacHiEFp said that he wag happy to think that , having now sat on this criminal benoh for nine * teen years , hehad not been called npondurine all that time to take any part in a trial for sedition till now . A case had however now occurred and it was impossible not to see that in theoiroumstanoei under which this indiotment was laid there was

      aa absolute necessity at law reqoiring the pnblio authorities to bring the matter under the consideratioa of the oourt . The indictment _rontained very serious charges . The charge of _coDsoiracy in the terms libeled was one of a very serious character indeed . That oharge , however , had not been proved _aeainst the prisoners at the bar . That being the ease it waa laid aside ; bnt then they oame to the _cnaret of sedition contained w the indictment , the _jurr having found both the prisoners guilty of sedition . "it * , ? P mJ tl 0 U _J 5 , _^ _i _!" _P _«« ed in their verdiot . The finding fh ; m _j-uilty of the chare * of sedition even in the modified f-rm exercised iin the verdict , Implied a certain criminal

      _ntention . It implied the intenlioa of _gpeakinir words which in the _option of the court and thejury were _Beditious . He would not go throueh any of the particulars connected with thia cast but hewould just say that it waa impossible fer aay calm and sober-minded man to read the speeches delivered and particularly to read the whole of them as eiven in evidence beferetho jury , and to look to the state of thecountry , and notto see that they were _' _seditious in the oharaoter which thejury had gim to them , namely , that they were calculated to excite ceDular disaffection to government , and to excite _resistarico to lawful authority . If they Lad any _measimr at all that was their meaning aod import . He wae not speaking at present ef the intention of the parties , but was staling tbat that wt the meanim * and import of the speeches which Lad been read in evi . dence . It would be > sad matter indeed if the deliver ? of such speeches in large as _emblies of persons ono

      . _oW' ! T _«»» few assembled from _*/ 0 _* to 800 individuals , and another in an openfield called _Btuntsfield Links , were notto be regarded as daneer * _oustothebest _inter-stfl . _ofseewi y , and were not to be approaehed by the law . He would not allow him * self teenier into the ressons hy which the delivery of these speeohes was defended—he would not allow himself to enter into the views ofthe persona delivering them , and of the _asswiation to which * the » belonged - , but , he woald only say , that if their views were accomplished by the means they smrgested , it . would be most dangerous to the countr * and to the best _"teresta of the _sabjeot . While , however _, heiaid all this , he could aet help feeling sorry . and . it gave him great pain in being called unon to

      pronounce sentence ini tfiia case . He wished that he had been saved this duty-it was undoubtedlr very painful to have to pronounce sentence upon persons suoh as tbose at the bar , who * , in all other _respscts , appeared to be _respeotable individuals . The law , however , must be put in force : the court must discharge its duty to the country , and it most not allow saoh a thing to go on , when a jury had found them guilty . Is was , however , a great consolation to think that , as thia case _UOWStSBds , it il undoubtedly a very mitigated oase of sedition . Ho would give all weight to the prooeedines ofthe inn *

      in disavowing the intention , and in finding that the language whioh was need , was not intended to excite in the manner stated in tbe indictment . Then again , he would take into consideration that tha serious charfio of _conspiraoy was set aside ; and in these ciroumstances , they onght to pronounce Ben * tence with all possible leniency . He , _con-inced that every person in the community , who believed that the prisoners at the bar had been fairly and honourably convicted by a jnry , would be of opinion that theBentenoe whioh ha was to pronounce was aa lenient a one aa possible . The sentence whioh hi would propose would be , tbat the prisoners be im * . prisoned for a period of fonr oikndar months . The Loan Josnoz Clbbk . addressin g the prisoners "

      sam : Henry KanKen , and Robert Hamilton , if job retain and cherish the sentiments and opinions whioh were expressed in the speeches whioh have been proved in evidence against you , it is quite unnecessary for me to say more , in pronouncing the sentenoe of the court , than this , thatthe object ef punishment is to deter you and others from oommitting the lift offences in time to come ; and that , of coHrse , in re gard to yon in particular , the repetition of similar _ofisnoaa . after punishment has _enae been pronounced by this high oourt , will operate most prejudicially * against you in the event of another conviction . Bat I weuld fain hope and trust—I express it witfc

      sincerity , for I have oolleoted it * somehow , I cannot tell hew , in the course of this trial , from your wholt manner and demeanour—tbat it is not likely that yosf will sgain rashly , wantonly , and recklessly use snok language as you have done on previous occasions . In ' the situation whioh I hold , I think it is my duty tft stato that I do not think that the authorities interfered one day too soon to prevent and atop _meetinas at whioh auoh language as wae proved in evide & M waa openly and constantly ottered , I have _O 0 W tO deolare that the sentence of the court is , that yon bt imprisoned for a period of four months _. The prisoners haviag been removed from tbe bar . ' the court adjourned .

      A Mdbdbr , The Motives Of Whioh Are Invo...

      A Mdbdbr , the motives of whioh are involved ia some _myatery , too . _* x place on Thursday night week , at _BuHgival _, war Paris , inthe house of M . _OdUlers Barrot . That gentleman , being in the _department _d'Aisne , Mme . Barret , had , for her persona , security , caused her valet de chambre to _sVp in room adjoining her own . Daring the night this room wss entered , and two pistol shots were fired atthsj valet de chambre , who , it is said , died in the court of the next day , without being able to state _ttotts _cumstsBCM of the attaok .

  • Citation
    • Northern Star (1837-1852), Dec. 2, 1848, page 7, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/ns/issues/ns3_02121848/page/7/