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4 THE NORTHERN STAR. October 10, 1840,
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Sow ready, I'ncs One Shilling. THK SKCOSD EDIT10H •* MY LIFE, OR OUR SOCIAL SX&.TE, Past L a Poem,
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CIIARTIST POEMS, BY ERNEST JONIES. Price...
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THE NORTHERN STAR SATURDAY, OCTOBER 10, 18*6.
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"THE NATION" AND "THE CHARTER." " We hav...
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IRELAND. MONOPOLY OF THE LAND. CLASS LEG...
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WEEKLY REVIEW. The extent and severity o...
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Cmmuai aria fovtimx EeirieiD
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The. news this week from ahroad, both Co...
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Transcript
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.
4 The Northern Star. October 10, 1840,
4 THE NORTHERN STAR . October 10 , 1840 ,
Sow Ready, I'Ncs One Shilling. Thk Skcosd Edit10h •* My Life, Or Our Social Sx&.Te, Past L A Poem,
Sow ready , I _' ncs One Shilling . THK _SKCOSD EDIT 10 H _•* MY LIFE , OR OUR SOCIAL SX _& . TE , Past L a Poem ,
Ad00412
by ERNEST JONES , Banister at Law . "Wi hope the antfior will be _encourageE & y the public to continuebismeinoirs . —Literary Gazette , An unequivocally strange _andcventfullristory—Ossiunic inits quality . _—^ Horning Herald , Lady Caerleon and her Lord are portraits trua as any ttat Lawrence ever painted . Beaotiful in description , tender . ' pathetic _aad plow iug in the affections of the heart , the author ' s penis not without a turn for satircifasalondJfiStorjr Gazette . ¦ It bears forcibly and _pugucntly « ndhe existing state © f " < _S its vices , its follies , and ate cnmes _.-Court J 9 _^ «« before us may be discovered _wm « fresh .
Ad00413
A TEA PARTY AND BALL WILL be held at the Chartist Reading and Assembly Room , S 3 , Dean-street , Soho . on Monday evening next . Tea on the Table at six o clock . —Ball to commence at nine o ' clock . Double Tea tickets , Two Shillings , _single ditto , One Shilling and Threepence . —Ball tickets , Ninepence each . Messrs . O'Connor , Jones , Harney , _M'Grath , _Wheeled Eydd , and Clark will be present at tbe tea party .
Ad00414
ROTAL _MARYLEBOSE THEATRE . _PKOraiETOK , MB . 10 VERIDGE . LESSEE , MB . JOHN DOUGLASS . A XEW DHAMA ENTITLED . "THE MIRROR OF DEATH . " OS MOXDAT , Oct . 12 th , and _during the week , t « commence with " The Mirror of Death : or . The Extorted Oath . " The Count , Mr . Cowle ; Ferdinand , Mr . lickfold ; Paolo , Mr . 3 iddell ; Marquis , Mr . Gates ; Soranso , Mr . Harrington ; Countess , Mrs . Campbell ; Zerlime , Miss Hodson . To be followed bv the burlesque of "Hamlet . " Hamlet , Mr . T . Lee : Ghost Mr . Biddell ; Claudius , Mr . Gates ; _Queen , Miss Hodson ; Ophelia , Miss Martin . To conclude with " Genevieve . " Belmont , Mr . Cowle ; Count , Mr . Harrington ; Mouse , Mr . T . Lee ; Bulldog , Mr . Biddell ; Bertrand , Mr . Lickfold ; Genevieve , Mrs . Campbell ; ClarisseHarloweHohbs , Miss Martin . J Boxes 2 s . ; Pit le . ; Gallery Cd . * Doors open at half-past Six—Commence at Seven . _Actinjjmanaser , Mr . T . Lee .
Ad00415
_IMPORTANT TO PHOTOGRAPHISTS . AX application was made on the 22 nd September , to tbe _Tiee-Cham-ellor of England , by Mr . Beard ( who , acting under a mostextraordiny delusion , considers _lmnseifthe «> fcjx 7 fc «<« of the Photographic process . _' ! to restrain MR . ESERTOX , of 1 , Temple-street , and 148 , rieet-Street . from taking _Thotographic Portraits , which be does bv a process entirely d _' _nertKt from and very superior to Mr . Beard's , and at one-half the charge . His Honour refused tbe application in toto . 2 io license required to practice this process , which is taught by Mr . Egerton in a few lessons at a moderate _fharje . " All tlie _Apparatus , Chemicals . _A-c , to be bad as usual at bis Depot , 1 , Temple-street , Wliitefriars .
Ad00416
WEST RIDING OF YORKSHIRE . MICHAELMAS _SESSIOXSTVTOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEX , That theMICIIAEL-1 \ MAS GENERAL QUARTER "SESSION'S of the Peace for the West Riding ofthe Countv of York , will be opened at _KXARESUOROUGH , on TUESDAY , the 20 th day of October , instant , at Ten of the Clock in the Forenoon : and bv Adimirnment from thence will beholden at LEEDS , oil WEDNESDAY , the 21 st day ofthe same month of October , at Ten of the Clock in tlie Forenoon ; and also , bv further Adjournment from thence , will be holden at DOXCASTEK _. ' on MOSDAY , the _ifltli day of tbe same month of October , at half-past Ten of the Clock in the Forenoon , when all Jurors , Suitors , Persons bound by Recognizance , and others having business at the said several Sessions , are required to attent the Court on tlie several days , and at the several Hours above mentioned .
Ad00417
LITHOGRAPHIC ENGRAVINGS or ins _DTJNCOMBE TESTIMONIAL . MAY' still be had at the Office of Messrs . M'Gowav and Co ., la , Great Windmill Street , Haymarket , London ; through anv respectable bookseller in town or country * ; or at any of the agents ofthe Northern Star . The engraving is on a large scale , Is executed in the most finished style , is finely printed on tinted paper , and gives a minute " description of the Testimonial , and has the Inscription , Ac , & c , engraved upon it . PRICE FOURPEXCE .
Ad00418
A GOOD FIT WARRANTED . UBSDELL AND CO ., Tailors , are now making np & 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 , Xfos . l and 2 , Oxford-street , London ; the noted house for food black cloths , and patent made trousers . Gentlemen ean choose the colour and quality of cloth from tbe largest stock in London . The a _» t of cutting taught .
Ad00419
TO TAILORS . LONDON and PARIS FASHIONS FOR AUTUMN
Ciiartist Poems, By Ernest Jonies. Price...
CIIARTIST POEMS , BY ERNEST JONIES . Price Three Pome . The wish having been expressed in-several quarters for the author to publish in a collected form . his Focms that have appeared in the _jVorfSccn Star , he begs to announce that a revised and corrected selection under the above title is now ready to be issued . Agents are requested to send tbeir onders to the author or to Mr . Wheeler , at the office ef _= the N . C . A ., 88 , Dean Street , Soho , London , or to M « _$ ownn . & , Co ., Printers , 16 , Great Windmill Street , Hajmarket , London .
The Northern Star Saturday, October 10, 18*6.
THE NORTHERN STAR SATURDAY , OCTOBER 10 , 18 * 6 .
"The Nation" And "The Charter." " We Hav...
"THE NATION" AND "THE CHARTER . " " We have received a priuted address from the Chartists of England to the Irish people , with a request thai tee should insert it in the " Nation . " We desire sio fraternisation between t & e Irish people and ihe Chartists—vat on account ofthe bugbear of 'physical force , " -but simply lecause some of their Jive points are to us an abomination , and the whole spirit and tone of their proceedings , though well enoughfor England , are so essentially English that their adoption in Ireland would neither be probable _uter at all desirable . Between us and them there is a gul f fixed ; we desire not to bridge it over , but to snake it wider and deeper . " From the " Nation" of Aug . 15 , 1846 .
ABOMINATION , No . VI AND LAST
PAIMENT OF MEMBERS . The payment of members has a negative as well as a positive meaning . It not only implies that every member of Parliament shall be entitled to an annual" wage " for his public services , but , it also implies , that he shall NOT BE ENTITLED to , or
receive any other gratuity or reward whatever , beyond that pleasing and gratifying recompense which is ever sure to be the reward of integrity—PUBLIC CONFIDENCE . The Charter , having for its main objects the improvement of our national resources through INCREASED LABOUR , and the more equitable distribution of the produce through REFORMED LEGISLATION , has been painted to the affrighted imaginations , of THE
SATISFIED-WITH-THINGS-AS-THEY-ARE , in all the horrors of destructiveness , lewdness , and infidelism , in which the most fanciful could present it to the most ignorant ; and hence has arisen the ridiculous notion that none but blood-thirsty brigands and plundering adventurers , could possibly be acceptable as representatives of such men , and such evil propensities and passions . Such , however , was the prediction as to Reform . The mouth of respectability , which meant CHARTERED CORRUPTION , was full of the indignity offered to education and civilization ; and prophecy doomed posterity to
the licentious rule of a rabble . " "Who would sit in such an assembly ? " or , "Who will now attempt to stem the torrent of fierce Republicanism ? " was the foolish " cry " of the deposed and real brigands and freebooters . However _. we did not discover any greater disinclination upon their part to contend as unscrupulously for a participation in the new harbarism of representation than had been evinced under a more civilized rule . On the contrary , many DEVOTED PATRIOTS were willing to SACRIFICE themselves for the good of their country , by standing in the way of a headlong jump to anarchy aud
republicanism . However , let the motive be what it may , whether dictated by a desire for a share in the scramble , or by patriotic feeling , it is an indisputable fact , that the desire of the high minded insulted respectables to become part and parcel of this licensed brigandism , was rather increased than diminished—a fact , susceptible of easy proof , by til e numerous charges of bribery and corruption , and even perjury , brought home to those very Tory members whose nice feelings prompted them to loathe he barbarous measure . We are fully prepared to admit , that the first crop of reformed
_legislators was a disgrace to a RESPECTABLE BROTHEL , and would have been esteemed unfit associates for a RESPECTABLE band of smugglers , or a high-minded gang of brigands , governed by the principle of honour among thieves . We merely mention the fact of the Tory party , so much disgusted with the insulted honour of representation , still preserving their anxiety for the lowered dignity , as a balm to the weak-minded , who fear that the result of the Charier would be to frighten intellect , educaton _, and honour , from the Senate House ; and we have no doubt
upon our mind , that Sir _Kofcart Peel and Lord John Russell would be members of a Chartist parliament , and as Peel said that Reform and progression must henceforth be the rule of legislation , so would Russell be compelled to say now that we bave tbe Charter we must endeavour to mitigate its pernicious influence , by the infusion of as large a corrective balance as possible . In truth , when the power of selfrepresentation was placed in the hands of the whole people , we should be sorry to see the influence of education and thought , when controuled by jealous circumspection , disqualified from taking part in
national representation . Education is a mighty instrument , which under proper direction and wholesome controul , might be made the means of universal greatness—while , turned to class purposes , it is a dangerous weapon in the hands ofthe cunning . There is much difference betwe' n the qualification of a representative , and that of an elector ; and while we stoutly deny the necessity of the educational test as anecessary qualification for the latter , we as stoutly contend for its necessity as a qualification for the former—nay , we go further , and assert that the most ignorant constituency would look for a protection
against their own deficiency in the education of their representative , upon the same principle that a constituency of confirmed drunkards would elect a teetotaller , and a constituency of thieves would elect a representative of the most unblemished character . And although we contend for the payment of members as a most necesssary part of the great whole , yet it hy no means follows that none but paupers would be elected under the Charter constitution , any more than it would follow that £ 600 a year , and £ 300 a year , being now the minimum qualification for county and borough members , limits tbe choice
of constituencies to persons possessing precisel y those amounts . The object of the Charter being to destroy class legislation , it would be impossible to make even Universal Suffrage a complete system of representation , so long as a single barrier as to choice stood in the way of a constituency ; and although no property qualification was needed or required as a test ; yet the impossibility of an honest poor man discharging the functious required of him , would of itself limit - nay , destroy , the value and very principle of Univeisal Suffrage . The payment of members then becomes necessary , not more for the purpose of giving free scope to the choice of the constituent body , than to save members themselves from the taunt , the suspicion , or temptation , of bribery and
evil influence , consequent upon poverty placed iu the most trying position ; when a poor man is placed upon an equality with the wealthy in point of rank and situation , hut marked hy poverty as his inferior . No situation could be more galling or open to temptation than this ; andalthough we contend for the ri ghts of labour and the poor , we must , nevertheless , be always understood as contending for a system most likely to develope the virtues and controul the vices of man , and we feel assured that a poor man is just as susceptible of eviJ influences as the rich man . We must presume that the election of a Chartist member implies every hour ' s attendance upon his duty , and _fthcrefore his presence in London and absence from ; his business and home as inevitable consequence * Ms return , and therefore
"The Nation" And "The Charter." " We Hav...
a suitable provision for his comfortable and honourable support becomes necessary , nay indispensable . Kings and their ministers have always relied upon pauper members of bankrupt fortune and fame , and luxurious habits , as the most fitting _detriments of tyranny , and so great is our respect for the honest poor man who can resist temptation , that we selected Andrew Marvel as the first patriot whose
portrait we gave with the Northern Star , in consequence of his triumph over a profligate monarch in the contemptuous rejection of the royal bounty intended as the purchase money of the representative conscieneeand vote . " Boy , " said the representative of Hull , in the hearing of the royal pander who was sent to bribe him , " what have we for dinner to-day ? " ¦ ' The cold blade bone that was left yesterday , sir . " " Go , " said the representative , "
TELL YOUR ROYAL MASTER THAT ANDREW MARVEL ' S DINNER IS PROVIDED !! " Wliat a rebuke . Now it is in order that our Marvels may not be disqualified by poverty , or subjected to royal or ministerial intrigue by want , that we demand the payment of members . We also demand the payment of members , in order that no obstacle whatever shall limit the use and value of the franchise . We demand the payment of members , as a means of breaking down class-legislation , by placing tbe representative of labour upon an equality with the representative of capital , and as a
means of protecting his constituency against the advantages which dexterously used wealth ever has over-necessitous poverty . We demand payment of members as a more fitting and honourable principle of remuneration for public service than ministerial favour and _royaKbounty , manifested in the shape of public plunder to secure representative prostitution . We demand the payment of members , as a means of placing honest and educated poverty upon a political equality with prostituted ignorance , bribed to ministerial purposes by the produce of the poor man's sweat ; and , above all , we demand the payment of members as an indispensable part of a great whole THE PEOPLE'S CHARTER .
Ireland. Monopoly Of The Land. Class Leg...
IRELAND . MONOPOLY OF THE LAND . CLASS LEGISLATION . It is the duty of the journalist to grapple with existing grievances , and , regardless of the laws terror , or society ' s pernicious fashion , so to probe the wound and expose it to the naked eye , that those who have the power , and whose duty it is , to heal the sore , shall not be able to plead ignorance of its existence or the seat of the disorder , and seeing the wound , and knowing the remedy , it then becomes a duty and a virtue to stamp them with the deepest brand of infamy and public reprobation , if they shall fail
to perforin the cure . When the people of a whole nation , called the sister . Kingdom , are visited with famine in its most intense and frightful form , and when their demand for labour at the miserable pittance of 6 d per day , is met with the soldier ' s bullet , fired by order of some resident magistrate , it requires stronger trammels than the law of libel to controul the proud spirit of offended man within the bonds of legal phraseology , which means the measured language of sycophancy , agreed upon by hirelings , as the protection of tyrants and veil of hypocrisy . We fling all such expedient trammels to the winds when innocent industrious blood flows for no other crime
than that of honestly demanding the means of subsistence . ( When the widowed mother's frantic howl is heard , and the destitute orphan ' s protector lies weltering in his blood , as a scarecrow to affright the starving from any participation in the produce of their own labour , we can only offer the spiritual consolation to the MURDERED" That they who die by the sword , are better than they who perish of hunger , for their bodies pine away , stricken through , for want of the fruits of the field . "
But we cannot allow the unnoticed and uncondemned murder to furnish an example as the rule of future rig ht . MONOPOLY OF THE LAND , and class legislation , which protects its unjust possession , are the t \ v _« master grievances of which the Irish people have to complain , while the system sanctified by this double tyranny is what we seek to destroy ; and in order to pourtray it in its most hideous form , we need but remind our readers that no law , no word of command , could have destroyed the poor Irish lately MURDERED in Dungarvan , if those of their own order , flesh of their flesh , and bone of their bone , had not been ready and willing to fire the deadly shot in obedience to their commander ' s order , and then let it be borne in mind , that the monopoly
of the land has led to class legislation , and that class legislation has led to the necessity of a standing army , and that a standing array has led to the murder of millions of good , honest , virtuous men and recently to the murder of [ the poor Irish , WHO ASKED FOR BREAD in Dungarvan . This we think is but a poor return for Dungarvan's recent sycophancy in the election of a ministerial tool ; however , it should be borne in mind , that the soldiers who shot the people , were protecting the property of the Whig electors , while the victims had no vote and if they had , their soldiers would not dare to shoot them in the first place , and they would not be driven to the sad alternative of taking a portion of their own produce to preserve life , in the second place .
If then the monopoly of the Land and Class Legislation are the two master grievances , not only of Ireland , but of the wide world , there is no hazard too great to run , no danger to imminent to risk . to destroy those two enemies of civilization and of MAN . Wc shall now treat of the value of the land , as compared with all other raw materials _. and shall show the little protection and slight importance extended to itas compared with the most insignificant article of its produce , when it constitutes the staple of speculation and traffic . When famine strikes Ireland , the Government , for the protection of trade , lays its hands
upon the least protected commodity , and subjects the raw material of the landlords to an assessment for the support of the people , while the same government dare not subject cotton , or wool , or iron , to any poverty requiring tax , not even to the amount of a " fraction , though famine stared the English people in the face . This fact clearly shows that those raw materials in which capitalists can dabble with hired and artificial labour are protected , while that article in which free labour may be employed is reserved as the Government Experimental Fund . The government supposes that extra
taxation upon Irish land will lead to an improved system of agriculture , while the same government is conscious , that any interference with the raw material in which speculators in artificial labour trade , would he met by a total cessation of production , and , consequently , attended with increased difficulties and dangers . If the landlords who have neglected their duty , have a right to complain of free trade , they have a much greater right to complain of being subjected to all its evil consequences . It is idle to tell us that the present famine in Ireland is wholly consequent upon the failure of the potatoe crop , and the fact must not be lost sight of ,
that in our several articles upon this extensive and intricate question , we have , over and over again , asserted that it would be impossible to avert the present state of things in Ireland if the Corn Laws were repealed without much more prudent and extensive concessions than those hinted at in the Russell Edinburgh philippic . The facts , the naked facts , must not be lost sight of , and what arc they ? Is it a fact , that there is a great scarcity of food , such a scarcity as betokens a real famine ? Nothing of the kind , the famine is , as we predicted , caused , or at least , _considerably augmented , by the discharge of over 70 per _jCent of the agricultural
Ireland. Monopoly Of The Land. Class Leg...
labourers , a circumstance produced wholly by the dread of the free trade measures , nakedly thrown upon the world instead of being clothed with general protection until the working of the new system could be estimated , or at least , fairly guessed at . But faction clamoured and expediency re-echoed the " CRY" without other consideration than that which leads to pelf , even through famine and bloodshed . The Whigs are an ill-omened race , their restoration to power is ever the precursor of some grievous national calamity , and of all the spots in
this Whig-hating land , Ireland has been the most fatally struck by this curse . From coercion in 1833 to famine in 1846 has been a succession of plunder , deception and misrule , but we may yet hope that the nation is not spell-bound , but that famine , if in truth a dispensation from God , is meant as the omen of Whig destruction . Lord John Russell has declared the criminal law to be a problem that has yet to be solved , but the condition of Ireland is a puzzle which the master _jugttler will not allow him to unravel . Land is the staple commodity of Ireland ,
the country is almost exclusively agricultural , and , as a matter of course , tbe viceroy should be selected for his knowledge of agriculture , while , within the last eleven years , Ireland has been blest with four Whig viceroys , a bankrupt soldier , a bankrupt landlord , an old woman , and a good-natured tool . How then , can Ireland be otherwise than misgoverned and oppressed , when the only qualification requisite for the high office of viceroy is that of partisan and tool ? She has been comforted with the hope of good results from a Land
commission to enquire into her agricultural condition ; and another faction selected as the head of that commission a nobleman , whose very drawingroom requires draining ; and , in truth , we were at a loss for a key to Lord Devon's qualification for this high and important office _. ' until we surveyed his estate at Devon Castle , and when we saw land worth £ 3 an acre dear at 5 s . an acre up to his very hall door , for want of draining , his appointment was no longer a riddle . It was solved by his manifest ignorance furnishing his masters with plausible pretext for rejecting
his recommendations . We much doubtthat theEnglish people yet understand that the misgovernment of Ireland is the greatest evil of which they have to complain ; that the negligence of government , the oppression of landlords , and prostitution of patriots , costs the English labourers over ONE HUNDRED MILLIONS PER ANNUM , consequent upon a pauper competition in the labour market . There is more than thirty millions a-year paid to Irish labourers in the English market , not a man of whom would be a competitor if he could live at home ; and
the competition has the effect of reducing the _xvages of the English labouring classes by fully SEVENTY MILLIONS more per annum ; and hence , Irish poverty is the English capitalist ' s greatest wealth , and the English labourer's greatest grievance . And yet , a silly , weak-minded , contemptible government , is allowed to dupe the Irish people by a specious system of baronial assessment—which means moonshine , and nothing more—as 5 s . in the pound will never be levied for the benefit of the people ; and
jobbers and speculators will pocket 70 per cent , of whatever poor pittance is raised . What we require of the Irish people , then , is , to throw off their purchased bribed leaders and jugglers , and to struggle for Ireland ' s regeneration by the destruction of her two greatest enemies—LAND MONOPOLY and CLASS LEGISLATION ; as they may rest assured , that a Parliament of their own choosing , by the present constituencies , would but multiply sorrow , and increase national complaint and distress .
The old juggler , who has so often shed crocodile tears o er Irish suffering to extract another mite from the widow ' s small hoard , now lolls in luxurious case , while the starved and maddened poor are being shot for poverty , which he Jtas preserved as the surest prop of his destructive influence . When Ireland joins England for the Charter , then the hired soldiers of one country will not dare to murder the starving people of the other ; then the harlequin
mantle will fall from the shoulders of the magician ; the people will possess the land — their votes will protect it ; their country will be free , and they will be happy ; but so long as they lend themselves to a spurious agitation to secure wealth , pelf , and patronage , for puuch-driiikiug profligate _hirelings , so long will plague , pestilence and famine , battle and murder , and sudden death be their portion . But , in spite of the juggler ' s influence , the Irish people will shortly raise the
BANNER OF CHARTISM . Meantime the English people must seize the present opportunity of convincing their Irish brethren that they are no parties to the murders now being committed in that country . / That it is not with their consent thai the bullet of the soldier should be the response to their demand for bread , but as hunger is the leveller of all distinction , and as that monster is nearing this land with rapid strides mayhap our gallant soldiers , with the stripes of regimental honour upon their back , recruited , as their officers have told us , from the dregs and offscourings of society , may shortly be engaged in the honourable service of shooting their own fathers , mothers , and
brothers , for asking their own government for the means of prolonging a wretched existence for another hour of misery . Alas , the working classes are too forgiving , and the murder of the poor Irisb in Dungarvan is but a sorry return for the national sympathy bestowed upon the murdered White . This winter promises a fair crop of luxury to tyranny , but as we have ever stood between the people and all threatening danger , we pray them , we warn them , we beseech them , wa implore them , to abstain from all collisions with armed authority , from all secret associations , and from all snares that tyrants may lay to entrap the hungry with the view of terrifying the wealthy into armed resistance to political rights .
The Whigs and their place hunter who writes his missives from " His cold quiet home , " will take advantage of every hungry outbreak and every famine howl to justify armed resistance to political principles . While the blood of his deluded dupes flows in the streets of Dungarvan , sold to bis patrons , he never mentions the murder in his last missive ; but , on the contrary , eulogises the Saxon Lord-Lieutenant under whose sanction the foul deed was done . The Irish are crying for food , while he is howling for an Orange representation of his
countrymen ; and while the nation is starving , he is boasting of his own elevation , achieved by a triumph over the Young Irelanders , who , to say the least , are free from the charge of dishonour and peculation . The rent still goes on , and is still expended on punch and dissipation for the recreant idle None of it flows back to the wretched hovel from which it came , and which has yet to be sacked for the annual tribute to him whose thirty-five years service has ended _injiational famine , his country ' s degradation and sale . Then Hurrah for Repeal I
For Repeal Hurrah who ever lives to see it .
Weekly Review. The Extent And Severity O...
WEEKLY REVIEW . The extent and severity of tlie calamity which has overwhelmed unhappy Ireland grows daily more palpable and distinct . Every post adds to the list of outbreaks , or conveys rumours , from various quarters , based , no _doulit , on too good foundation , that the patience of the starving peasantry is exhausted , and that they will no longer submit to be famished unresistingly and in silence .
Ihe only consolatioti which cau be gleaned from the present awful condition of the sister island is , that things have come to that pass
Weekly Review. The Extent And Severity O...
which proverbially accompanies an excess of evil . We have arrived at a crisis . It is impossible that tbe singular and anomalous state of society which , to the disgrace of Great Britain , has so long existed in Ireland , can longer be held together . It is true that the first efforts of the frightened landlords , now thoroughly awakened out of their former apathy , are short-sighted and miserable enough . It is true that Whiggery , with its accustomed feeble and temporising policy , " letting I dare not wait
upon I would" is deterred by the dogmas of political economy from boldly grappling with the hcartcousuming disease of Ireland ; it is true , also , that O ' Connell , * and the mercenary traders in Irish distress , who haunt Conciliation . Hall , have as yet shown little more than a disposition to turn its hunger , its desperation , its outbreaks and accompanying bloodshed , into the means of bringing grist to the agitator ' s mill ; but , notwithstanding all these drawbacks , the ultimate consequence must be the commencement of a better system in that island .
The proclamation of the Lord-Lieutenant this week , announcing that he will aid improvements on the land , or what he terms " works of a reproductive character , " such as draining and sub-soil ing , both of which are specifically mentioned , is a proof that the pressure of the famine is so great—the evils to be met so imminent , that even Whiggery has been forced into common sense . It is surely better , per se , that the suras granted in aid should be laid out in improving the soil , adding to its fertility , and increasing its products , than in making roads which nobody wants , or be spent on miserable works of a similar nature , equally irksome to
the poor peasant who has to perfcrm it , and valueless to the public when done . So far we can approve of the announcement of Lord Besborough But an important question is thereby raised : to whom are the lands so improved to belong ? to the landlords exclusively , or the Governnment and people , who have , by the expenditure of capital and labour , so largely added to their value ? Repayment by tbe landlords , even if we were certain of itwhich the fate of past grants makes hy no means an assured event—would not , in our opinion , meet the requirements of the case . An equitable and a beneficial interest in the lands thus improved , ought to be vested in the Government as trustees for the
nation . The Labour Rate Act established a new prin ciple of legislation for Ireland . O'Connell and the landlords have always violently opposed a Poor Law for that country , but the Labour Rate Act went further in principle than any modern Poor Law was likely to have done . It re-enacted in a simple form the principle of the old laws of England with respect to the employment or maintenance of the poor . Modern theories have denied this right ; the Irish Labour Rate Act re-enacted it . This is a great innovation on fashionable legislation , but it is merely the precursor of greater . The providential visitation by which the accustomed food of millions has
been _^ annihilated , thus reducing them to helpless destitution , and utterly depriving them ofthe means of paying renf , must convince the landlords , that , even for their ownsakes , a change is imperative . It is evident that tbey by no means feel upon a bed of roses at the ' present moment . The complaints of the Marquis of Westmeatb . and Earl Mornington to the _Tiynes , and the resolutions at various baronial sessions , are forcible illustrations of their unsafe and uncomfortable position . Self-interest will dictate a sweeping alteration in a system which thus entails wholesale destitution and disease upon the peasant ; anxiety , burdens , losses , and even fear of violent death , upon the peer .
As to O ConneUspanacea—a parliament of Irish Landlords in Dublin—it would be o ~ ly wor * h a laugh if proposed in simple earnest ; but it is proposed in no such spirit , and can therefore only elicit disgust and indignation . At first he ventured only on proposing a meeting of delegates to make suggestions ; this week his letter goes further , . and suggests a permanent Committee of Landowners to assist the Government . How easy it is to see the cloven foot here ; what a Godsend would such a committee , cleverly used , prove to the attenuated funds and diminishing popularity of Conciliation Hall !
Above the well-defined outline of lush _sutfering the shadow of English and Scotch scarcity begins to project itself , and render the future still more gloomy . It is now ascertained that all the crops of the season were a failure except the wheat crop , which was not more than an average crop . Upon the continent a similar failure is reported to have taken place . The price of every kind of provisions advances weekly—a sure indication ot scarcity ; and researches into the available quantity of corn , either at home or in foreign markets , seem to point to the melancholy conclusion , that a comparative famine will afflict our own side of the Irish channel ere we can reap another harvest .
In the meantime , the enormous rise of prices which has already taken place , must bear heavily on the scanty incomes of the labouring classes , stinting them both in the quality aud the quantity of their subsistence , and notwithstanding the extent to which the railroads in constrnction contribute to employ labour , aud circulate money , we fear that a season of great suffering and destitution lies before us .
It is clear , so far , that the boasted powers of the manufacturing system under a free trade , to give employment and bread to the population , have lamentably failed to do so . Instead of increased work and wages we hear only of short time and reduced pay . To this complexion have the magnificent promises of the League come at last ! The god of the commercial classes has proved but a wooden idolafter all .
The recent Cabinet Councils have , it is rumoured , been occupied with a similar question to that which engaged the attention of Sir R . Peel ' s Ministry last year , about this time—namely the opening of tbe ports . Lord John is very severely blamed for not having adopted the measure alread y , and comparisons , by no means flattering , are instituted between Sir Robert ' s promptitude and energy , in the prospect of difficulties much less threatening , and the dilatory , uncertain , and feeble policy of the present Premier .
Even John O'Connell , at the last meeting of the Repeal Association , cast a lingering longing look towards Peel , the Minister who could and did provide Ireland with subsistence last year , as compared with Russell , which appeared somewhat ominous for the continued allegiance of the " Agitator" and his tail . Lord John must bestir himself , or he will find that his astute and powerful rival will once more , by universal consent , be chosen "to weather the storm , " and tbe seal of inefficiency be stamped for ever upon him , as a practical statesman .
tor ourselves , we need no additional proofs to convince us that this is the case—but it will be so much gained if the nation is prevented from in future placing any confidence in a Minister , who is equally unfitted to progress with the solid political aud social improvements , which a time of calm and prosperity Should give birth to ; or to originate and carry into effect those bold aud effective measures demanded by emergencies of so pressing and direful a nature as those which require a master head and baud to meet .
The Rev . S . G . Osborne has somewhat distinguished _^ himself by the perseverance and courage he has exhibited by his numerous revelations of the state of the peasantry in Dorsetshire , and in some parts of the adjoining counties . His last exposition had reference to the doings of the farmers at Ryme * Having had occasion to visit that parish , he was brought into contact with a number of the
Weekly Review. The Extent And Severity O...
labourers , from whom he learnt the extensive prevalence of the truck system , and the abominable _prac--tice of the farmers in giving as food vile carrion , which should not even have been given to dogs-. Mr . Osborne duly chronicled the result of his enquiries in the Times , on the 24 th of last month ; His statement roused the farmers in defence , and , in concurrence with their wishes , an investigation was held on the spot last week , at which both labourers and farmers were present . Notwithstanding that each witness might be said to speak with a
halter round his neck , all the allegations of Mr . Osborne were substantiated . It was proved that the average wages were not more than 7 s . a week ; that even this pittance had principally to be taken out in gdods from the farmer ; that a portion of these goods consisted of " tailings , " or the light wheat , which is separated from the sound grain in the process of winnowing ; beef and mutton , cut from animals which were found dead in ditches and folds ; carrion bo pernicious that it made those who partook of it sick . But as one of these " jolly farmers "
said , " It made a d—d deal of difference paying in goods and paying in money , by at least a shilling aweek . " So that , by their own confession , they rob in this manner the poor fellows dependent upon them to the extent of one-seventh of their miserable and scanty earnings . Yet they were so accustomed to these practices that they did not see anything wrong in them . One of them set up a brutal horselaugh at the recital of the most disgusting part of the evidence , which was duly echoed by all his brethren . In fact , these demoralizing , oppressive , and loathsome practices , have been so long in existence , so completely an every-day occurrence , that the
yeomen of Dorset are not now aware they are offending the moral sense of every unpolluted and undebased man who hears of their conduct . - Nay , one of them , " Farmer Brake , " boldly avers " that he never knew the labourers more contented and happy than they are at present . " He thinks they would continue to be so , " if officious persons , pretending to be philanthropists , would not come among them and persuade them they were badly treated . " Heaven help the peasantry of Dorset say we , if this be trne ! For men who could willingly acquiesce in such deep degradation , there could be no redemption . But -we do not believe the statement . The manner in which
they gave their evidence , with the eye of their masters upon them , and the fear of dismissal in terrorem , proves that the old Saxon spirit is in them yet . A day of reckoning will come , when the account between the people and mammon-mongers , whether they lord it over poverty in the mills of Lancashire , or the downs of Dorset , must be settled . Meanwhile , these exposures are useful in keeping public attention alive to the subject .
Cmmuai Aria Fovtimx Eeirieid
_Cmmuai aria fovtimx EeirieiD
The. News This Week From Ahroad, Both Co...
The . news this week from ahroad , both Colonial and Foreign , is not very interesting . Some later accounts from the Cape of Good Hope have come to hand , the general tenor of which is not more satisfactory than previous advices . The military are still in pursuit of the Caffres , but somehow , like the French in pursuit of Abd-el-Kader , the pursuers generally contrive to be just too late to catch the Caffres . At the same time that one b : dy of the Caffres are being pursued in one direction , another body of them pounces upon the defenceless colonists
in another quarter , and plunder and ravage at pleasure . Others of our African neighbours are expected to put in their claim for a share of the plunder , some , of them " our friends and allies . " The " pacification" of the Cape is evidently yet distant . !" The news brought by the Overland Mail this week from India and China was anticipated by Lieut . Waghoni's extraordinary express , _tvhich arrived in London last Saturday morning . _ These accounts foreshadow more gore and glory , more pillage , and more " annexation . " The Ptinjaub is in a state of
anarchy , bordering upon revolution . The profligacy of the Queen-Mother , the dissolute conduct of the chief minister , Lall Singh , and the incompetency of the Maharajah , Dhuleep Sing , combine to excite the universal disgust and hatred ofthe Sikh population . The Government is entirely sustained by the British forces , and those forces once withdrawn in all probability a general massacre of the present Government , with all supposed to be favourable to British interest , would ensue . Gholab Singh is intriguing to overthrow the young Maharajah and place
himself upon the throne of the ancient empire of the Sikhs . The _Governor-General of India is preparing for coming emergencies by tbe collection of a large force in the neighbourhood of Lahore , and the probability is that ere long we shall hear of new conflicts between the British and the Sikhs , followed by the annexation of tbe entire Punjaub to the British territory . In the Nizam ' s territories confusion worse confounded reigns supreme , affording a favourable pretext for the British to interfere , which they are about to do . This friendly interference ' will of
course be followed by the usual result . Mohammed Akhbar Khan is threatening to bring down the Affghans upon British India . Is is said , that Persian ( which of course means Russian ) intrigue is at the bottom of this threatened onslaught . If Akhbar unsheathes his scimitar , the Chronicle threatens that if taken prisoner he shall hang on the nearest tree . We tell the liberal Chronicle , that the Affghan chief was as much justified in
destroving the invaders of his country , as was Bruce when he destroyed the English ; or Tell when he destroyed the Austrians . If it be praiseworth y in Abdel-Kader to punish French rapacity , it was equally praiseworthy for Akhbar to smite down British domination . When the Chronicle threatens Akhbar with hanging , it is well that the threat is accompanied with the saving clause — " when caught . " First catch your hare !"
The West Indians are growling at the loss of their Sugar Monopoly , and the North-American " Britishers " are complaining at the loss of the privilege tbey have hitherto enjoyed , with regard to " bread stuffs" shipped for the English market . Thus " free trade " seems to cause almost universal dissatisfaction , abroad as well as at home . The bread riots in Paris were continued several evenings last week , and in other parts of France the cry has been raised , " down with the tyrants , " "bread at five sous , " -accompanied bv the singing ;
of the Marseillaise . The celebrated M . de Lamartine , more celebrated , however , as a poet than as a politician , has furnished to the Paris journals a paper on scarcity and subsistence . He calls it " La CYise des Su 6 sistences . " He adopts the idea of an analogy betwen political government and family government , and he appears to consider that as a prudent head of a family provides in due time for his household and himself , so ought the Government to do for the people committed to its charge . In his view , corn , or the _subsisted „ _-e of the people , cannot be completely and absolutely regarded as private property . He does not
recognise the principal that a man may do what he will with his own , as far as corn is concerned . The Paris , like the London journals , are still occupied with the Spanish marriages question , but in neither do we observe anything worthy of comment or extract , unless we except the following bit of truth from tbe ( London ) Morning Post : — " Louis Philippe has been called the Napoleeu of peace . It seems to us that he might more aptly be called the Talleyrand of Sovereigns . " O if the 3 rd the Duke de Montpensier had arrived at Vittoria . According to thfi Monileur and the 1 'hilippist journals , tlie p rince is everywhere received with the greatest
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Citation
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Northern Star (1837-1852), Oct. 10, 1846, page 4, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/ns/issues/ns3_10101846/page/4/
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