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  • Departments (2)
    • ii — : - LIBERAL BOOKS on POLITICS, THEOLOGY, AND SOCIAL PROGRESS,
    • IHE NORTHERN STAR. SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 1846.
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      4 : .. , .. ' . . The Northertj Star * '...

      4 : _.. , .. ' . . THE NORTHERtJ STAR * ' ' ' _^ ' ' ' -November 7 , 184 6 ;

      Ii — : - Liberal Books On Politics, Theology, And Social Progress,

      ii — : - LIBERAL BOOKS on POLITICS , THEOLOGY , AND SOCIAL PROGRESS ,

      Ad00409

      Published , and Said , Wholesal e and Retail , BY JAMES WATSON , Queen ' s Head Passage , Paternoster Row , London . THE REASONER , ( Editedby G . J . Holyoake . ) a "Weekly Publication , price three half-pence , devoted to the investigation of Religious Dogmas . Te be had aho in Monthly Parts . Mathematics no Mystery . Now publishing in Weekly Numbers at Threepence each . Practical Grammar , by G . 3 . Holyoake , Is . 6 d . Handbook to Ditto , by Ditto , 10 J . Or in Five Numbers at Twopence each . " U 5 t Published , in Two Volumes , neat cloth bo-vrds and ana letteree , price Six _Smllmgs aud Sixpence , the Fourth Edition of 5 ENQUIRY concerning POLITICAL JUSTICE , and its Influence on Morals and Happiness . By William Godwin , To be bad in 11 Parts at Sixpence each , or

      Ad00410

      TO TAILORS . LONDON and PARIS FASHIONS FOR AUTUMN AND WINTER , 1816-47 . By READ and Co ., 12 , _BTart-Ptreet , Bloomsbury square , London ; And G . _Bcrger , Holywell-street , Strand ; May fee bad of all booksellers , wheresoever residing , NOW BEADT , T > y approbation of her Majesty Queen Tictoria , and -L » his Royal Highness Prince Albert , a splendid print richly coloured and exquisitel y executed Tiew of Hyd Park Ga _.-dens , as seen from Hyde Park , London . With this beautiful Print will be sent Dress , Frock , and Riding Coat Patterns , then west style Chesterfield , and the J > ew _lashionable Double-breasted Waistcoat , with skirts The method of reducing and increasing them for all s « cs , explained in the most simple maimer , with I mr extra Plates , and can be easily perform _^ by any person Manner of making up , and a full description ol the Uniforms , as now to be worn in the Royal Navy , and other in _' ormation . —Price 10 s . or post-free lis .

      Ad00411

      LITHOGRAPHIC ENGRAVINGS OK TIIE DUNCOMBE TESTIMONIAL . M AY still be had at the Office of -Messrs . M'Gowak 1 a a , m , Co _-. lfl . Great Windmill Street , Haymarket , London ; through any respectable bookseller in town 01 country ; or at any of the agents of the Northern Star . the _enjrravimr is on a _larjrc scale , is executed in the most limslied style , is finely printed on tinted paper , and gives ft minute description of the Testimonial , and has the Inscription , & c , _&« , engraved upimit . PRICE FOUKPENCE .

      Ad00412

      A GOOD FIT WARRANTED . UBSDELL AND CO ., Tailors , are now making up u complete Suit , of Superfine Black , any size , for £ 3 ; _Superfine West of England Black , £ 3 10 s . ; and the very best Superfine Saxony , £ 5 , warranted not to spot or change colour . Juvenile Superfine Cloth Suits , 24 s . Liveries equally cheap—atthe Great Western Emporium , Nos . l and 2 , Oxford-street , London . ; the noted house for fo nd black cloths , and patent made trousers . Gentlemen can choose the colour and quality of cloth from tbe largest stock in London . The a . : of cutting taught .

      Ad00413

      NATIONAL HALL , 242 , HIGH HOLBORN . FOUR ORATIONS Will be Delivered in the above Hall , commencing on _Soroat Evenino , the 8 th of Novembeb , And continued every following Sunday , BY THOifAS COOPER , Author of the" Purgatory of Suicides . " The subject on Sunday Evening , November 8 th : ToIatVns of Political and Social Justice in our present condition . The Lid _es wiK commence at EIGHT o ' clock precisely . Ball , 2 d , ; _Galixri . 3 d .

      Ad00414

      IMPORTANT TO PHOTOGRAPHISTS . AN application was made on the 22 nd September , to . the " Vice-chancellor of England , by Mr . Beard ( who , acting under a mostextraordiny delusion , considers _hiiuscif tbe sole patentee of the Photographic process !) to restrain Mil . ESERTON , of 1 , Temple-street , and 14 S , Fleet-street , rom taking- Pliotograpliic Portraits , which he docs by a process entirely dift ' ereBt from and very superior to Mr . Beard ' s , and at one-half the charge . Iiis Honour refused the application in toto . No license required to practice this process , which is taught by Mr . _Egerton in a few lessons at a moderate charge . All the _Apparatus , Chemicals . & c ., to be had as usual St his Depot , 1 , Temple-street , Whitel ' riars .

      Ad00415

      Now ready , Price One Shilling . TIIK SECOND EDITION OF MY LIFE , OR OUR SOCIAL STATE , Part I . a Poem , by ERNEST JONES , Barrister at Law . Published by Mr . _Newby , 72 , Mo ; timer-street , _Caien iish-square . Orders received by all booksellers . By the same Author ' THE WOOD SPIRIT ; An Historical Romance , in Two Vols . CHARTIST POEMS , ; BY ERNEST JONES . j Price Tliree Pence . SECOND EDITION , REVISED _AXD CORBECTKD . The wish having been expressed in several quarters foi the author to publish in a collected form his Poems that have appeared in the Northern Star , he begs to an nounce that a revised and corrected selection under tin above title is now 011 sale . Agents are requested to send their orders totheauthoi or to Mr . Wheeler , at the office of the N . C . A ., 83 , Deai Street , Soho , London , or to M ' Gowan . & Co ., Printers 16 , Great Windmill Street , Haymarket , London , when opies may be procured .

      A Coirect Engraving' Copied From The Map...

      A coirect engraving ' copied from the Map of the above Estate will appear in the Northern Star of Saturday next , November the 14 th . MALCOLM _M-GREGOR . We fear our tourist has become embroiled in Irish excitement , as , up to Thursday morning ' s post , we had not received his weekly contribution .

      Ihe Northern Star. Saturday, November 7, 1846.

      IHE NORTHERN STAR . SATURDAY , NOVEMBER 7 , 1846 .

      Free Trade. He Who Fights And Runs Away ...

      FREE TRADE . He who fights and runs away "Will live to fight another day ; But he who is in battle slain , Vfil _* . never live to fight again . By St . Paul , but the disposition of the Generals of the Free Trade army and their allies is rather remarkable . Cobden , the acknowledged chief of the allied forces , has shown as much tact and generalship in his timely retreat as he evinced during the battle . He may Live to fight another day .

      Peel , the Lieutenant of the Free Trade General , _apppsars to ba wounded , but not _mortr-ly , while bis successor , Lord Jobn , is so hemmed within the narrow entrenchments of the conquering army , that news of him appears a startling novelty , while the aid-de-camp Quaker Bright is rewarded with a PROMISE of translation from the See of Durham to the Borough of Manchester . Cobden ' s pretensions as a leader we never disdisputed after we had met him , analysed him , and heard him . His appearance strikes you , if not with awe , at least with respect ; his countenance is so brimful of p hilanthropy , humanity and kindness .

      Indeed , so much so , that onr only regret was , that so much natural goodness should have been enlisted by necessity in so bad a cause . Cobden ' s thorough ignorance of the science of political economy constituted his great charm with his hearers ; he was telling and captivating , if not able and convincing . Aware of the tender ground on which he stood , he never pressed heavily , he merely dealt with all the frippery portions of the subject , which promised advantages to the poor and bespoke the kindliness of his own nature . Therefore we envy not the General the harvest tbat he bas reaped as the fruits of his labour , while we may marvel at his sudden evaporation after so notable a triumph .

      There are many who are not able to distinguish between the injury of Free Trade to England and the value of the principle to the Continent , and we shall therefore consider the relative value of the measure at home and abroad , and thereby be enabled to illustrate Cobden's present position . Those who have witnessed the rise in the price of food , the reduction of wages , and the limitation of work to short time , would be but an _awr-Tr-i audience _afce

      Free Trade. He Who Fights And Runs Away ...

      the promise of high wages , cheap bread , and plenty to do , while the foreigners from whom Cobden is now receiving all honour and laudation , are experiencing that benefit which was promised to the English people ; the measure which destroyed confidence and unsettled all our relations at home having given a spur to all foreign operations . It is no wonder that the foreign merchant , manufacturer , and farmer should feast and applaud Cobden ,

      inasmuch as he has secured increased traffic for all by the opening of the rich market for the produce of the farmer through the merchant , and has limited the speculation of English manufacturers , thereby advancing the profits of their continental competitors . Hence we distinctly prove tbat tbe same circumstances which may make England rather hot just now , naturall y insure for Mr . Cobden a hearty welcome abroad .

      Our friend the Quaker would no doubt gladly exchange situations with his chief ; and , indeed _^ we learn that the solid reward of Cobden , as compared with his promised promotion , rather frets friend Bright , who appears to have been " Iu battle slain . " There is something very amusing in our liberal friends of Manchester

      " Giving what is not theirs to givo . " as we should not be at all surprised to find thegovernment tool , Milner Gibson , and the Free Trade bellows blower , John Bright , defeated by a thumping Tory and a red hot Chartist ; a most characteristic finish iu the Free Trade Camp . It must always be borne in mind that our principal objection to Free Trade from the coinmencemenl , has been the hardships and privations which , through casualties , uncertainty ,

      and doubt , it would subject those least able to stem the torrent during the first three years of settlement and adjustment . It was upon these grounds that we invariably contended for the " timely and prudent concessions , " as preliminaries to the measure , well knowing that tbe Free Trade party , flushed with victory , and with a government moulded to their purpose would throw all the onus of experiment upon those least able to bear it .

      We predicted the unsettled state of the pi ices of al commodities , and the consequent fluctuations in the rate of wages—averring that those who had the making and controul of the laws , capital , and machinery , would throw the burden from their own shoulders upon those of the poor . The farmers are just now cock-a-hoop at the first turn ofthe experiment ; but let us remind them that culture abroad is not like culture in England—that seasons abroad are not like seasons in England—and that while they would require at least two years to put their house in order , the foreigners can complete theirs in one .

      Again , let them bear in mind that theirs is the rich and inviting market , where the produce of the world will meet in competition , and that the amount brought to it , and not the price given abroad , will regulate its value . An , English farmer could not ; since the passing of Free Trade , make very extensive arrangements for an increased breadth of wheat . He requires nearly a year to prepare it , and a full year from seed time to market to realise it ; but not so with his universal competitors , who , in many instances , in eight months from seed time can send their produce to our markets .

      Let us lay their present condition fairly before tbem , by showing what constitutes a substitute , and how the price of all other " breadstuffs , " as well as wheat itself , tends to regulate the price of wheat , Indian corn , rye , barley , oats , and rice , are articles of bread-stuff , with which foreign countries may be made to abound ; in fact , the amount of land called into fresh cultivation by the prospect of remunerating for prices here would produce more than a sufficiency the whole population ofthe empire ; thus rendering the domestic bread-stuff a mere drug . This the farmers will feel before this day twelvemonth , notwithstanding the fascinating asmrauce of the Times that all the world could not give us much—that is , as much as would visibly affeci the pi ice of corn at home ..

      American junk and salt pork is not fresh beef or mu'ton , and yet a considerable importation of those articles would considerably affect the price of English beef and mutton , because they are substitutes ; so with coarse cloths , linens , and woollens—their price would affect the price of all finer fabrics , because the purchasers of those articles would lessen the competition for finer articles , and they would become substitutes . " In fact , the same holds good as regards all the articles of life ; a large haul of fish will sometimes cause butcher ' s meat to stink in

      the stalls ; and a good sample of breakfast powder will reduce the profit of the village grocer . We heard of the great scarcity of food that now prevails all over the world , and yet will it be believed , that from Thursday to Saturday in last week , we saw 110 vessels , laden with bread-stuffs , enter the port of Antwerp alone ; a proof of one of the Free Trade doctrines , that where there's a demand , there will be a supply . Further , notwithstanding the general character of sluggishness stamped upon English farmers , we learn from many sources , that they merely look upon present high pr ices as an immediate godsend , but which must be followed by destructive cheapness , and in consequence of which many are discharging some of their hands , while others are reducing the rate of wages .

      The conduct of the Irish farmer is precisely simi . lar ; he is a much greater tyrant than his landlord ; and whilst bis voice swells the national wail just now , he looks upon famine as a godsend , which justifies bim in dismissing labourers to whom he affects not to be able lo give remunerating wages , while he speculates on a rise in the price of their food . Thus we unequivocally prove , that the poor and helpless have been the greatest sufferers from Free Trade , while the comparatively powerful are daily reaping temporary benefit from the change : JUST AS WE PREDICTED !

      The Land. In The Midst Of That Chaos Of ...

      THE LAND . In the midst of that chaos of opinion and experiment which now presents itself on all hands , we do not think that the present position of Chartism has even yet presented itself in its fair proportions to the disciples of the principle . We see . a Ministry tottering from incapacity , fearful of meeting Parliament lest a responsibility to which it is not equal , maybe imposed upon it—a Ministry , a Whig

      Ministry , abase , bloody , and brutal Ministry—whose love of office has ever outweighed all consideration of constitutional , political , and social duties . A Ministry that , properly recognizes the duties consequent upon the possession of property , but fails to recognise those that appertain to government ; thus foolishly establishing the fact in the national mind , that Gove . nments and Parliaments as at present constituted are a _nationr 1 nuisance .

      Upon the other hand we find Ireland , ripe for the attainment of its rights , again made an easy prey to faction hy the treachery of her leader . How often have we abstained from taking vengeance for injustice , lest our individual heat and feeling should be set down to another attempt to destroy that union indispensable to the achievement of Irish liberty . Shakespeare has told us that no blow is so fatal to a party as tho desertion of its leaders _, and was it not pity , cruel , and barbarous , after a struggle of half a cen

      tury , to sow the seeds which were sure to be reaped in desolation , even if the pretext was more than feasible . Do the Chartists of England now see their real position , and while the bugaboo physical force waives like a harlequin ' s wand over the fragments of a once powerful , because national party , will they , while they see the debris , rejoice in _having escaped the charmer ' s wand . Will they now see that which we have often told them , while we have justified physical force—n amely , that neither , moral or physical

      The Land. In The Midst Of That Chaos Of ...

      revolution can confer benefit u _*» on the workin g classes , unless the national mind is previousl y trained , fixed upon , and rivetted to , a new system whieh is to supply the rejected , and a social system which _isf to take the place of that destroyed , The benefit of all physical and moral revolutions has invariably been lost for want of this substitute , and Chartism , but for the social principle easy of accomplishment which has been appended to it , would have now but slumbered in the hearts ofthe hopeful and energetic , but it would have failed to possess an universal charm for universal labour . Again _. Chartism

      alone can boast of unbroken and undiminished confidence in its parliamentary leader and chief . Peel , the leader of Toryism , i 3 denounced by hisVpartyas a traitor ; Russell , the leader of Free Trade , is characterised as a halting imbecile ; O'Connell , the Liberator of Ireland , . ind the leader of a blind-fold nation , has deserted in the very hour of the enemies weakness ; Cobden has run away ; Bright sticks silently by his mules ; tho religious freedom gentlemen are obliged to pray in the closet , while Duncombe is [ shrouded in national confidence , and recruiting his strength for another national struggle .

      The social principle of Chartism , so long mocked and decried by faction , is now the every clay theme of its pre ? . ? , its clubs , itscoteries , and its members . Landlords in despair threaten to sell their estates , while Chartists in joy purchase them . We doubt that the working classes have thought seriously of the completion of one locality , and the further purchase of £ S , 100 worth of land to complete another ,

      with the prospect of a still larger purchase ere long _, ilas not Chartism then been politically and 86-cially in advance of all other isms ? lias it not justified the principle of physical force , while it has systematically and successfully denounced , reprobated , and stayed revolution , outbreak and cruelty ; and-has it not as successfully contended for a ' social change , the necessity of which every class of society now tardily and reluctantly admits .

      Had Whiggery realized its principle of extended suffrage , Chartism would never have been heard of , that is , had it realised the principle tbat "TAXATION WITHOUT REPRESENTATION IS TYRANNY AND SHOULD BE RESISTED . " Had free traders tacked some social principle to their commercial move , the principles of free trade would have been universally adopted . Had the brawlers for _religions freedom also contended for tbe political rights that the majority sought , they would have been hailed as welcome auxiliaries , and

      had Daniel O'Connell applied the people ' s funds to the re-purchase of the people ' s laud for the people , he would now be the greatest monarch that ever the world saw , nnd might rely with perfect security upon his own definition of physical force as a meaiis of resisting aggression , as all the armed force at tho disposal of European monarchs dare not invade a people entrenched in their own cottages , bivouacked upon their own inheritance _. ' and ready as one man to fly to the cry of "My cottage is in danger . "

      Every newspaper and every agitator now writes about and speaks about , the value of the Land and its capabilities ; while the Chartists having for years discussed the theory , are now engaged in practical operations , and although we rejoice to find our writings circulated as words of knowledge , yet itis unfair that tlie Nation , the Chronicle , and other journals , should copy our opinions nearly verbatim , offering them as their own , or recommending them as those of plagiarists to the Irish

      landlords , without the grace of recognising them as ours . Whole passages , scarcely varied in terms , have been taken from our letters to the Irish landlords , from our work on Small Farms , from our letters to the Chartists , and leading articles , and yet none have had the decency to acknowledge the source from whence they were received . However , we pardon this act of dis-courtsey , consoling ourselves with the satisfaction that our repudiated madness now constitutes the sanity of our former revilers .

      1 he curse of the present age is that population presses hardly upon the means of _snbsistence permitted by landlords , while we assert , without fear of contradiction , that there is not a single newspaper editor in the empire , who undersatnds anything more of agriculture than a sow understands of Algebra . Here then is a mi _' _-foitune , a greatmisfortune , and a natural misfortune , —the misfortune that a completely new system is indispensable to national prosperity , while not a single teacher of the national mind understands a particle of the subject . The old chuck pin game of writing for political parties and sectional convenience , will no longer serve the purposes of the age . If , as Peel said , truly said ,

      the SCIENCE OF AGRICULTURE IS BUT IN ITS INFANCY , the tutors of the national mind must henceforth be selected for their knowledge of that science . We have asked for a Minister of Agriculture . We have said that the day would come when a knowledge of the value of a dunghill would be of more importance than a knowledge of the value of cinnamon , nutmegs and allspice ; and we predict that , even in the next session of Parliament , the petition of some forty thousand members of the Chartist Co-operative Land Company will convince the collective wisdom of clodpole landlords ,

      that it they are incapable of discharging the duties consequent upon the possession of property , that society will demand the restoration of the trust to abler hands . Thus we show , that while all other parties have become weak from tricking , truckling , juggling and imbecility , that Chartism has become strong in theory beeause wise in practice . May Chartism then live until it affords shelter to all and violence to none , and may tho National Petition , escorted by half a million to the House of Commons , reflect new and increased lustre upon the

      leader , the champion , and the chief , who had the moral courage to increase its muster roll by the addition _, of his honoured name , when the power of somo and the treachery of others had nearly consigned it to that tomb in which it has buried old opinions . Yes , it should never be forgotten that Thomas Slingsby Duncombe joined Chartism in the hour of its greatest weakness , while Daniel O'Connell deserted Repeal in the hour of its greatest strength . Hurrah , then , for Duncombe and the Charter ! The National Petition and the Land !!

      The Judgment. Authority Tbat Has Long Pr...

      THE JUDGMENT . Authority tbat has long presumed in that protection which the ignorance of a people ever confers upon tyranny , and pride that has so long fenced itself with ostentatious charity , are now beginning to lower their proud crests before that judgment which they have blasphemously hoped to charge upon the Creator . They are beginning to discover that if the cottage alone is subjected to the wild ravages of hunger that the mansion is not secure from the assaults of the hungry . It would he presumptuous iu

      us to venture even a guess at the mysteries by which an all-wise and beneficent being works out his own ends , but yet , as far as famine has gone , and as far as results may be gathered , we must come to the conclusion , that the poor and dependent only were not selected as the only sufferers ; and , judging of the great provocation necessary to induce civilized men to commit murder , or even acts of cruelty , we must presume that the suffering of a patient and enduring people is intended as an instrument to lead to their improvement .

      We are now assuming the divine interpretation of the Church of England , in presuming that the present famine is in truth a heavenly dispensation ; and w . e arc shewing that , if the sufferings of the poor is a portion of that heavenly decree , that the rich have no right to murmur if , as regards their order , it is manifested in another shape and form . True , the government thought its officials would hope to meet the calamity by common custom and the ordinary law ; true , the Irish landlords are now

      The Judgment. Authority Tbat Has Long Pr...

      ready to confess their long errors and transgressions and to admit that property has its duties as well a its rights ; true , the press is compelled to fight oi the side ofthe ravaging monster , and to proclain the inadequacy of the several measures proposed ti arrest its progress ; true , the pulpit teems with it : admonitions of charity and the natural duties of th christian ; true , Mr . 0 ' onnell gives instructions ti his constituents and bears them as their opinion and resolutions to the Irish executive , but it is als < true , that , amid this combination of elements , starva tion and pestilence are on the increase . .

      To what end tben , wc may ask , are govern ments instituted , and for what purpose i society constructed , if , upon a sudden emer gency , both become paralysed and declare thci inability to act . Upon the other hand , ha it ever struck those who would impiously charg the Almig hty with the present scarcity , tha it is still move impious to endeavour to avert tha punishment which in their danger they are com pelled [ to admit _, they have merited . Politics apostacy , ministerial delinquency and treachery , ar things of such every day occurrence , that the

      merely create a sudden start and vanish with th expression of sudden dissatisfaction ; but not s with famine , it is not merely a nine days' _wondei its novelty doe 3 not die away from its long con tituiance , hut , on the contrary , it gains strength i its daily progress . If it could be shown that tli land of Ireland was insufficient to support its ow population , then we _fmight sympathise with thos who are now charged and chargeable with neglecl Or if we saw a prospect of that immediate relic ( which is now the one thing required ) , in the cul tivation of the waste lands of Ireland , we may hi

      inclined to give our adhesion to the project , but when we know that the horse starves while the grass is growing , however favourably we may incline to the slow process of improvement as a means of future comfort , we cannnot so far stultify ourselves as to rely upon it as a means of meeting the present necessity . The one is a question for deep thought and consideration , and to be subjected to such management and control ) as will secure the profits of improvement to him who improves , while tbe other requires the instantaneous attention of those who have undertaken to administer tbe affairs of

      the country . It is but poor comfort to the unwilling idler to be feasted with the glad tidings that corn , bread and meat have declined in price , if he cannot sell his labour at that price which will enable him to purchase a sufficiency of those commodities . Go vernments have frequently interfered indirectly , and hut for the bold resistance of Duncombe wonld have interfered directly , with the rate of wages , when those for whose benefit the boon was intended did not ask for government interference , and wh y then should the harsh rules of political economy be now enlisted to justify the Government in abstaining from necessary interference . ¦

      Our columns of this week again teem with the sad and forlorn condition of the Irish people , while , j as the Times truly tells ub , there is not a single man in the country appears equal to the present emergency . The head of the government truly tells the landlords , through Ireland ' s only Duke , that the condition of the Irish people is matter for their sole _tonsideration ; while the domestic tyrants pule like infants , and attempt to cast the whole responsibility upon government . One thing , however , is certain , _i

      that when the Irish landlords and their government are engaged in solving the question of responsibility the Irish people , without protection or hope , are thrown upon that wild vengeance which ever follows despair , as a means of redressing their grievances . Meantime , it is heart-sickening to find each succes-» ive announcement of local distress followed by the information , that a large reinforcement of troops are on their way to administer that relief—that only relief , which the Irish , for centuries , have been inthe habit of receiving from their rulers .

      It is sad , also , to see the manner in which the Liberator now panders to the cupidity of domestic jobbers . The government proposes a loan for the improvement of the landlords' estates , with a pvopei provision that the funds shall he administered by a responsible agent , appointed by tbe lender ; but , no say the landlords ; and , no , says the Liberator ; this is a vexatious interference with the rights of the pro prietor , who , in justice , should have the appointment of his own superintendent . This is one ofthe vital points upon which the Liberator , as the agent

      of the landed proprietors , waited upon the Saxon Viceroy ; and , from a thorough knowledge of the Irish landlords and their superintendents , we warn the government in time , that , if they adopt this suggestion , they may as well at once do the generous , and make a free gift of the cash , as they never will see a single stiver of it if . committed to the guardianship of the squire ' s superintendent , who will , in nine cases out of ten be one of his largest creditors , and from whom the squire will never dare to demand an account of the expenditure .

      It is not long since we pointed out that course which , in the end government will be compelled to adopt , when midnight assassination shall have more force than timely remonstrance . Government must buy food for the people , and must compel the landlords , and farmers ( for they are worse than the landlords ) , to give such wages as will enable the labourer to purchase a sufficiency ; and if government does not do this in time , all the armed force at its disposal will not be sufficient to protect lis authority , or the property of the Irish landlords . Sophistry and blarney may serve the political ends of faction , but they will be found incapable of ar- j resting the march of hunger , and the wild vengeance ' of a starving people :

      Ireland For The Irish. It Is Impossible ...

      IRELAND FOR THE IRISH . It is Impossible to recur to this subject too frequently at the present moment . The deductions of the philosophic investigator into the causes of national evils are seldom listened to when statesmen are at their ease and things go smoothly . It is by the hurricane , not the calm , that great changes are effected . Wh « n turbulence and discontent , the natural results of a bad system and long-continued misgovernment _. frighten rulers from their apathy and appal politicians with the fear of a still more dangerous future , then is the time to urge the practical adoption of those _Radisal remedies from which in fairer weather they would shrink with abhorrence .

      The institution of property is , as we have before observed , one of the most sacred in this country . Before " the rights of property" as before the car of Juggernaut , all other . things he prostrate . The Jews in the wilderness were not more blindly enthusiastic in their worship of their golden calf than we are , and , like all other idolaters , v . _* e have lost the faculty of reasoning about our idol . In no other way can the fact be accounted for , that the origin of property , the great conditions on which it is held , the primary and paramount right of the state over all minor claims , and the hiali & n & ble right of the

      whole people to the land m which they live have been so utterly disregarded and forgotten . U pon no other hypothesis can the fact be accounted for , that a few men have been suffered to usurp the soil of Ireland , and by the ignorant selfishness of their conduct doom that land to sterility , and its entire people to permanent destitution . " This is an abuse so monstrous , so apparent , that it has struck all intelligent foreign writers on the subject : but enslaved and Winded by our reverence for property , we have suffered it to exist , until at length the cup of Iniquity is full . The state itself is threatened with anarchy , and all the elements Of a _TfelLordered

      Ireland For The Irish. It Is Impossible ...

      society about to _disappea r } under the baneful and crushing influence of this _rnC . 11 * _- 46 _* " evil . We wish we could participate in the expectations of the Morning _Chronicle , that a measure for the reclamation of the six million acres ol Waste Lands in Ireland is certain to be introduced next session , and that upon terms which will give the needful assistance from the State to ensure , their cultivation and ultimately leave those by whose labours they have been reclaimed in free proprietary possession of that wealth which they may be said to have created . So far as the admirable articles in which

      this great and valuable measure has been advocated are concerned , we are inclined to believe that a considerable impetus has been given to it . But we do not see that the Government , either here or in Ireland , show any signs of readiness to act upon its enlightened suggestions . Weshouldreally verymucli like to hear Lord Besborough , or Lord John Russell , address to the Irish landlords the following admirable speech respecting these waste lands , which we find in the columns of our contemporary : — " Gentlemen , you have had five centuries to try what use you could make of these lands . In that time you have not contrived to make thorn yield any produce or profit even to your distinguished selves * . If in any one year—if six months ago—you had done

      one overt act , had moved one sod towards rendering these lands useful , either to yourselves or others , whatever you had even touched with that object in view , you should have had our free leave to keep as , your own . Bnt you have not done it 1 and the time ' is now come when a public ncces « itv requires that what you have omitted to do si cold be done to the general good by the representative and organ ofthe general good—the State . We are going to take the hind from you ; to enter it , and do as we please with it , for the purpose of rendering it productive , whether with your leave or without . Now , therefore , yeur modest proposition is , that after we- have drained , fenced , built upon , and manured this land ,

      and made it worth as many hundreds of pounds as it is now worth shillings , we shall , reserving only a mortgage to the amount of our expenses , give it back to you . And this you demand in the name of property . But , by your leave , your right of property stands good only for the shillings . Those , nobody thinks of refusing you * , but tbe pounds which will be added to those shillings by our capital , and by the ' < labour of Irish peasants , are either theirs or ours , . not yours ; and to make them yours would not be restoring your own properly , but presenting you 1 with a large and gratuitous estate in addition . Now , ' this is a thing which you must absolutely _reconcile . ! yourselves to doing without . It will notcannot

      - , , c I shall not , be done . We are not so charmed with the use you have made of what is already yours , as to be desirous of adding more to it ; and besides , there , are really other people who must be thought of be-. _foreyou _; Your necessities , we own , are great , but . those of seven millions of poverty-stricken _peasantry 1 are greater . We mast take care of those first . We , mustgive them justice before we give you charity . Console yourselves with the reflection , that by doing for these people what you have failed to do , we I shall at the same time relieve your estates from

      _, what you perpetually complain of as their greatest ' , burthen ; a burthen which must indeed be insup-1 portable , for otherwise , men with the charitable 1 feelings you lay claim to would not surely be driven l to ridding themselves of it by turning out a whole tenantry on the high roads , to perish of hunger , or find in beggars like themselves the mercy they had not experienced from the rich man who had lived on i their labour . What you can only effect for your' selves by means like these , we are going to do for you , freely and effectually . Let that suffice you . "

      That is a speech " according to our own heart . " Its appearance in such a quarter ought to be a warning to the Irish landlords to set their house in order ; for , though it has not yet been spoken by any member of the Government , yet its appearance in an old and faithful Whig organ indicates that some such sentiments prevail in official Whig circles . But it is not only in the Chronicle or the Times now promoted to the dignity of leading ministerial journal ) that we find indications of a growing conviction of the publie mind , which must force the carrying of such a measure . The Herald , Standard Spectator , and other metropolitan journals join in the cry . It is echoed from Ireland , and by that

      journal which , at the present moment , perhaps , most faithfully represents the public voice of that country—the Nation . That journal thus emphatical _' y warns the " landed interest" of Ireland . _*—' "See the blindness of Irish landlords—see how they are suffering the ground to slip from under their feet—how the problem to be solved comes more formidably before them every time it re-appears . Eleven years ago , if they had unanimously urged on Government to adopt the plan ofthe select committee , they might have had the lands reclaimed , and inhabited by their own tenants . Now , all men seem disposed to deny them all claim to this ; and the world cries out— ' At least on this new land let us see no more cottiers or con-acre—on this virgin soil let a race grow up who may call their hearths and their soul their own . '

      " And even now , if the Irish proprietors would cordially accept the terr as , they might save their territorial privileges over the present arable and pastures , with all their woods aud waters , timber and minerals , and all the rest of it . But let a year or two more go round—let public works , commissioners and engineering tourists , and the gentlemanlike officialities of Dublin Castle , devour the heart of Ireland but a little longer—and when the Sybilline books are offered once more to these landed Tarquins , they will , from the bottom of their hearts , wish they had bethought them sooner of the requirements of the time .

      Prophetic words ! Each time the question recurs it will be with added demands . Already the Chronicle , no longer confining its attention to the ¦ waste land , has propounded an additional measure for dealing with the soil already cultivated , and paying rent to the landlords . We will not do the injustice of condensing its proposals , but give

      them in its own words : — - The advances from the public , contemplated by the Lord Lieutenant , are a gratuitous boon to the landlords . To this boon no one supposes that the landlords , as such , have any claim . They give no equivalent for it . They have in no way either earned or deserved it . The government , accordingly , does not give it to them for their own sake . It intends them as the mere channels through _which a benefit is to reach a portion of the community far other than themselvos , Well then , to this unmerited nnd unintended gift let the government annex a con . dition . Let it make a rule that no landlord shall receive its aid in improving his land , except on

      condition of giving to the tenants of the land so improved a permanent proprietary interest in the soil . The con-¦ lition would not be onerous . The land would be riven back to the landlord greatly increased in value . Let him rest content with that increase , and bind himself for ever that there at least his demands shall stop . " Let him grant to every tenant a perpetual lease , on a fair valuation ofthe land after the go . vernment has drained it . " We should greatly prefer an arrangement much more liberal than this . We would require him to divide with the tenant the boon conferred on himself , and to grant a perpetual tenure at a rent much below the full value of the improved land . Bnt we should hail with joy even the more

      niggardly arrangement ; and so , we venture to say , would the tenantry . The immediate gain to tho landlord would be a manifold equivalent for renouncing any further prospective increase . Wc propose this plan as the supplement and completion of tbat which we have already advocated with respect to the waste lands . We propose it as a . means , the readiest means , by which the " admirable social and economical effects of a property in the soil may be extended directl y to a wider circle of the population than those who may become settlers on the waste . We propose it also as susceptible of immediate application . The Lord-Lieutenant has . onlv

      tA will it . He is not pledged to improve the lands ef everybody who asks for it ; he has _resened to himself a full discretion . Ue has only to name his conditions . What they should be is to us very clear . Such is the present stage of this momentous agitation . The Star was the first newspaper wlucb recognised the paramount importance of " the Laud question . " At the risk of much misapprehension , and with the endurance of some abuse , it has steadily persisted in showing its manifold advantages and the justice of its principles . It is most gratifying to find that these views are so warmlv taken up

      and advocated by contemporaries on both sides of the channel . We suspect that many of them do not yet see how success in Ireland will react on Great Britain , and its bearing on the occupation of the soil here . But it will be time enough to look at that part of . the subject , when we bave made our Irish brethreu « at home" in their own land .

  • Citation
    • Northern Star (1837-1852), Nov. 7, 1846, page 4, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/ns/issues/ns3_07111846/page/4/