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' 4 m : HTl - 'V'*i'. .«,«i,'i1 CimA-D S...
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- PENDENT ORDER OF TIJUTEI BROTHERS (LEICESTER TJNITT).
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THE NORTHERN STAR SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 13,1845.
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MR. O'CONNOR AND HIS BELGIAN 'TOUR. Mb. ...
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MORE OF "IRELAND'S RUIN:" OB THE BLESSED...
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" At first they came by twos and threes ...
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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 M : Htl - 'V'*I'. .«,«I,'I1 Cima-D S...
_' 4 m HTl - _'V _'* _i _' . . _« , _« i , _'i 1 _CimA-D _SBWPEMBER 13 , 184 & . 5 . - __ THE _SOUTHERN STAR . - _~
- Pendent Order Of Tijutei Brothers (Leicester Tjnitt).
- _PENDENT ORDER OF _TIJUTEI BROTHERS ( LEICESTER _TJNITT ) .
Ad00408
IMPOBTAXT TO WORKING MEN . SELF-INTEREST ; being the first law of nature tana _througn life we find this tie one grand ruling _prin-Ciple—neither is it -wrong , if not carried out to an improper extent ) , in these days of incertitude it behoves every man to have a thought for the future—to make Borne provision for the time _\> t sickness , want of employment , and such like _contingencus to whkh . man is liable . Tlie \ aiioos _societies _ibrzaedfor this purpose are amongst the _foremost esta blished by tne philanthropist of ear day ; the greatest _good has accrued from them ; bnt the most prormneat stands the various Secret Orders ; the _princijAs < nn which tbey are _bound-pfes them a superiority above aH . ovt » _i-similar insfitutieES . Various are their _tifles ' _-ind _signifisatlijM . « _na _vgt-ious are the modes of
Ad00416
IMPORTANT _* W WORKING MEN UNDER FORTr TEARS OF AGE . _£ oi > k to the interests of yourselves and families ; hasten - and fo ' w . iJxtt Jlourishing institution , the" United Patriots' Benefit _Sedtty" enrolled and empowered by Act of _IParlkmmtJo extend over the United King dom . THE Society is-on a new , yet correct principle , and is tbe only Benefit Society legalised with the privilege of establishing branches , appointing sub-secretaries , having Snb-f _* oninuttees , & c . Look around at the numerous unenrolled societies in _jOTfieulat , ever breaking np , and men , after being members from twenty to forty years , who
Ad00417
IMPORTANT TO HEALTHY MEN FROJ ! FORTY TO FIFTY-FIVE YEARS OF AGE . The United ratriarchs' Haufit Society , including Medical Attendance and Medicine . Enrolled and Empowered by Act of Parliament to extend over the United Kingdom . THE waut of a Society of this nature must be evident to every person who may have neglected _providing against thc calamities of _Jifein tfteiryouth . It is i ; j Four Divisions , after the rammer of the United Patriot *' _, hnvhig the same Benefits , escept that of Lyings-iu . Thi ?
Ad00418
- REVISING BARRISTERS . A _* _™?^/ _** _^ _" _^ and _PRACTICE of REGIS-„ a , ? T ?* - ° f VOTERS _** _E _^ _and and Wales , -aufci ' the 2 nd of William IV ., cap . 43 and C : Victoria cap . lb ; _incindm-j all the _ret-er . i Appeal Casts . Bv _BicaABD _CtiBKE S-ewr . ii , of tha _Uidvile TcmpK _Barro-ier-at-Iaw _. _H . c . L . S _,-cor . < l _e-Utfen _, price Ms . Owen Bichards , Law _ilookselkr , & c , 103 , _i'icet-street .
Ad00409
LESSONS IN MILLINERY AND DRESSMAKING . MADAME GALLIOS , _M , New Bond-street , continues her superior method of teaching the art of Dress-Making . She undertakes to make persons of the smallest capacity proficient in Cutting , Fitting , and Executing , in the most finished style , in Six Lessens , for One Pound . Her superior method can be fully substantiated by references to pupils , and has never been equalled by any nmpetitor . _fsr Practice hours from eleven till four .
Ad00412
TO T _I-. SHAREHOLDERS OF THE WESTEND CHARTIST HALL . AT A PUBLIC MEETING of _Shareholder held Sept . 7 th , 1 S 45 , it was agreed : — "Thatpersons applying to Mr . ShackJeton , at No , 1 , Turnagain-lane , Skinner-street , Snow-bill , should have the money returned that is due to eacbu _AU claims must be made as soon as convenient , for none will he attended to after three , months from this datej after which all money remaining in hand will be given to the Veteran Patriots'Fund . ' *
Ad00413
JlARE ON SPINAL DISEASE . THIS day is published , price 2 s . Gd ., CASES and OBSERVATIONS illustrative of the beneficial results which may be obtained by dose attention and perseverance in some of the most chronic and unpromising instances of spinal deformity ; with eighteen engravings on wood . By _Sixcel Habe , M . R . C . S . London : -Jahn Churchill , Princes-street ; and may be had of all booksellers .
Ad00414
EMIGRATION TO THE CAPE OF GOOD HOPE . 17 RE 13 "PASSAGE- ; under the sanction of Government , The undersigaed are authorised by her Majesty ' s Colonial Land and Emigration Commissioners to grants free _passage to _the-above eminently healthy and prosperous _^ Colony to married Agricultural Labourers , Shepherds , Male and Female Domestic and Farm Servants , Bricklayers , Carpenters , Masons , and Smiths , of sober _xnO . _industrious character . The demand for labour at die -Cape is urgent , and is well remunerated in wages , _provisions , clothing , and lodging . All particulars will be furnished on application , personally , or by letter , to John Marshall and Co ., 26 , _Birdhin-lane , Cornhill , London ; or 79 , High-street , Southampton . .
Ad00415
THE QUEEN ! TRIUMPH FOR THE PICTORIAL TIMES !
Ad00419
Ad00420
COLOSSEUM . PATRONISED and visited by her Most Gracious MAJESTY and his Royal Highness Prince ALBERT . OPEN DAILY from Ten till Six . Proaounced by the Press , and confirmed hy every visitor to be the most perfect triumph of Art in its various branches , both by Day and Night , that has ever been achieved . Equal to six exhibitions . The Glyptotheca , containing works of the first artists ; Mont Blanc and Mountain Torrents , Superb Conservatories , Gothic Aviary , Classic Ruins and Fountains , Panorama of London , ¦ re-painted by Mr . Parris , & c . Admittance , 3 s . Children , half-price . The Stalactite Caverns , the most magnificent of all the temples which nature has built for herself in the regions of night , Is . extra .
Ad00421
TO THE WORKING CLASSES . IMPORTANT TESTIMONIAL . ' "We are always gratified in noticing the laudable exertions of the industrious and provident among our fellow-labourers in the social vineyard , to avert from themselves aud families , as far as human foresightmay do , thc calamities attendant upon an old age of destitution , or a period of wearisome inactivity and uselessness , through sickness or accident ; and we will venture to say , that up to the estrcmelimitof what is called thc middle class of society , there is no method so likel y to attain the object as the institution of securely based and judiciously regulated Benefit Societies . Our attention was some time since called to the subject by the proceedings of one accordant witli our views , enrolled
Ad00410
EVERY MAN MAY HAVE A H jT jSB OF HIS OWN Second _SlMnheaft Provident ynewCm » nt _Astociatum . TO ADVANCE MONEY t » MEMBERS to BUILD or PURCHASE PROPERTY np _» n the Security of the Property Purchased , the rent oC -which -will aid in re-paying the amount advanced . TB ! jmES , J . E , Bromley , Esq ., 7 , Rodney-terrace , Bow . H . B . "Walmesley , j 3 « j ., 24 , _New-road , _VThitechapel . G-. F . White , Es _'^ ., 45 , Gloucester-terrace , Commercialroad . _*' "'"" * ' With twenty Directors ( who aet gratuitously ) . - ¦ _¦;' ¦¦ .. PIFTH SUBSCRIPTION Payable at the GEORGE INN , Commercial-road , Stepeny , on FRIDAY , 8 rd October , 1845 , at 7 p . m . The Entrance Fee will be 5 s ., at the meeting , and still further increased as . the Society progresses . Near 400 Shares Registered , and £ 780 awarded to Shareholders .
Ad00411
JUST-PUBLISHED , In one volume , foolscap 8 vo ., neat cloth , price 7 s . 6 d ., THE PURGATORY OF SUICIDES A Prison Rhyme : in Ten Books : BY THOMAS COOPER THE CHARTIST . J . How , Publisher , 132 , Fleet-street . _fy Orders from the Country to he sent through the Booksellers .
The Northern Star Saturday, September 13,1845.
THE NORTHERN STAR SATURDAY , SEPTEMBER 13 , 1845 .
Mr. O'Connor And His Belgian 'Tour. Mb. ...
MR . O'CONNOR AND HIS BELGIAN 'TOUR . Mb . O'Connor , in accordance with the announcement in last week's Star , started for Belgium on Saturday evening last . It would be Monday mid-day ere he arrived at Brussels , we believe ; and the time of the Post starting after that , to reach us on Thursday , would be so short that he would not have time to make any observations worth writing about . No doubt but next week we shall have a good budget from liim .
More Of "Ireland's Ruin:" Ob The Blessed...
MORE OF "IRELAND'S RUIN : " OB THE BLESSED EFFECTS OF LANDLORDISM AND [ IN
SECURITY OF TENURE . At last we are having Ireland's misery laid bare . At last we are having the curtain fairly lifted np , and the terrible scenes of degradation and utter abjectness hitherto enacted behind the veil of religious and national prejudice opened out mail their hideousness for a world to gaze at ! It is true we have had glimpses beforetime . It is true that occasional peeps have been afforded ; nay , even at times some portion of the covering torn away , and more than a glance obtained of the length , and breadth , & M depth of that misery which the landlord class have so systematically striven to hide from view . Cobbett , in
his short and hasty journey through a portion of the Irish interior , did this for us . He showed that in no country under the sun , savage or " civilised , " was there to be found such a state of utter destitution and debasement in condition , as existed in the " Green Isle . " The Ibish Poor Law Commission op Ikquirt established the same truth ; and subsequently it has been confirmed by the inquiries of the Devon Land Commission . Travellers , too , who have gone over Ireland , have noted and promulgated the same facts . The pages of Kom . and of Indus team ' with , observations to this effect . But until now , we had not the detail ; until now , we had not
the entire picture ; until now , we had not the filling in of the general outline ; until now , we had not the CAUSE of _^ that utter wretchedness everywhere abounding traced HOME ; until now we had not names , and dates , and facts , indelibly -fixed '; until now , we were not able to deal with the facts in con nection with the persons who- have caused thtm to be : bnt now we are enabled to do this ; now , the information is supplied * now , we have exposed to view the whole question , even in minute detail : and now , therefore , we can deal with it , and draw correct inferences and deductions from it . For this full information we are indebted to the Times , who has , in this particular , rendered essential service to the ' cause of human progress ; a service sufficient to atone for many of the enormous sins that same journal
committed against the " movement" to meliorate the awful , condition it now shows to exist ; sins committed in the days when that movement was not so fashionable as it is now—when it was only joined in hy the workers who "felt thc iron , " and before they had succeeded in impregnating the public mind with the philosophy which , seeks to give the producer a greater " SHARE" than " Laxdlommsm" and "Masterdom" can afford ; sins committed in the days when rampant authority put down complaint with the high-hand of power , and when the drunken bullfrogs of the middle classes mounted their cavalry horses , and stifled the murmurs of discontent in the groans of tho wounded and thc dying ; sins committed in the days when tho 2 Y » ies was emphatically the " Bloody old Times . "
So long ago . is April , 1833 , William _Gobbeti proposed the establishment , by thc people themselves , of a
_"RECKONING COMMISSION , " which should furnish itself with facts in relation to tho ¦• OWNERS' ! of property , to ena b le the p eo p le to settle with them when the " day of reckoning " came . He mooted this point at a time whon " Commissions" against tho people were beginning their unholy efforts ; when the Poor Law Commission of Inquiry was " making out a case" for the abolition of all Poor Laws , and devising measures to reduce tho
working people of England to "live on a coarser sort of food ; " when they were " reporting" in favour ofthe establishment of a "Rural Police , " armed with daggers and pistols , to " keep down" tho work ing people , who " embodied the spirit of discontent '* in the shape of SWING-FIRES and thus made their " grumblings FELT ; " it was at this time , and under such circumstances that thc far-seeing politician of the age proposed his "Reckoning Commission" in manner following : —
defence association . Seeing the oppressions which we endure ; seeing how small a share of tbe taxes is paid by the aristocracy , and how large a portion of them they receive , it appears to nie , tliat this is the great evil of tlie country . We have seen the game laws hardened to a degree that our fathers never could bare dreamed of ; wo have seen the new trespass law , and tbe new Highway Acts , almost deprive us of the right of setting our feet upon any part of OHr country ; we have seen tbe trial by jury in great part laid aside , as far as related to the _ofli-nces of the common people ; we have seen our property seized by tho taxgatherers of various descriptions , and by tithe-gatherers
and taken from us without any trial by jury ; we have seen our property taxed most enormously by stamp and auction duties , while thc landowners have oscaped those taxes , and while we have been compelled to pay pensions and sinecures to support the families of this aristocracy . In short , we bave seen ourselves ruinea , pressed down , one after another , into a state of pauperism ; and now we behold schemes for establishing a gen darmerie to compel us to submit in silence to all these wrongs . What , then , are we to do in such a case as this ? What are we to do in our own defence 1 It appears to me , that there ought to be established an association under the following title , and for thc following objects * . —
DEFENCE ASSOCIATION ; Or , an association for protecting tradesmen , and other tbe industrious classes , against all unconstitutional encroachments of the aristocracy . To he established in London , with a . chairman , deput _y chairman , and secretary . To correspond with nil parts of the kingdom ; and to receive statements of acts done towards the industrious classes , which would be proper subjects of representation to the Parliament .
To give advice upon the subject , and _obtain redress where that is possible . To receive statements relative to all acts of oppression ; and iu all cases to be very particular in giving the name ' s of thc parties and tbe places of their residence . To obtain , in reference lo the direct taxes , an accurate list ofthe names and places of residence of all the great landowners in each county -, to ascertain , as nearly as possible , when each of them came to . bis estate , and whether he got it by purchase , heirship , or bequest ; aud also to ascertain the probable worth of it . To cause to be printed , \ ipon a small piece of paper , and at a very cheap " tc , u true pedigree of every great
More Of "Ireland's Ruin:" Ob The Blessed...
landowner , showing how much of lite public money he or any of his relations have received , not omitting . hlB predeeesilrg for three or four _generations ; showing how he came by his estate , and particularly showing what men , women , or children , appertaining to him , are or bave been on the pension or sinecure list * , and to cause a sufficient number of these papers to be circulated amongst the industrious classes in his _ount immediate neighbourhood ; so that we may all know one another well . . . T _» get the names of all the justices ofthe peace in the several counties , and to ascertain whether they he receivers of tithes or of taxes , and to what amount . To ascertain , aa nearly as may be , the amount of tbe lay-tlthes , o £ the _alibiy-banots , of the college property , of the bishop's property , and of the dean and chapter property
in each county ; and also of the corporation and public charity property ; and to ascertain in whose hands each parcel of this property is . Tha associaton might take care to furnish lists of the _abbey-Iands ; and the correspondents WOUld inform them in -whose hands they are , and the worth of them , There are divers other things to mention of a most interesting nature . I throw out this merely as a hint for others to improve upon . This is the sort of " commission " that is wanted ; and I would call it the " Reckoning Commission : " for it is absolutely necessary that we begin to make up our accounts , and t _» have them ready . It would be a sad thing for us to be taken by surprise . When we all know one another well , we shall easily arrange matters quietly , we shaU easily come to an " equitable adjustment . "'
In this proposal _COBBEir was but before his timethe usual fate of all popular teachers . As might be expected , the bare proposition was enough to drive the " _OWNERS" of property stark staring mad . The author of it was subject to the most virulent abuse . He was told that he " speculated on public confusion ;'' that he sought to establish in England the " reign of terror ; " to " produce confiscation ;" to " ro 6 the owners of property of what was their own ; " told this , too , by the men who had sent out the Poor _LkvrCoiaassMic of Isqjubx , which reported in favour of the- entire abrogation of the people ' s right to live out of the soil ! in favour also of schemes to reduce them to a coarser sort of diet !! and in favour also of an ARMED POLICE throughout the kingdom , to beat out the brains of " embodied discontent" with the metal-mounted truncheon 1 On
one occasion , the present . Premier himself mads a ferocious onslaught on the member for Oldham , in the House of Commons , for having put forth this proposal for a " Reckoning . Commission . " His words were , amid the deafening cheers and roaring shouts ofthe " noblest assembly of freemen in the world : "God forbid that the hon .-member ' s speculations on the prospect of "public confusion" should be realized . He laboured under no apprehension that they would . He felt confident , whatever might be the political differences that divided public men , that all who were possessed of property would unite in its defence and put down such attempts . ( Great cheering . ) Not only would it be the
greatest calamity , but a calamity tenfold greater than had ever happened to this country , because accompanied by the greatest disgrace , to live under the domination of sueh instruments as those . ( General and long . continued cheering . ) " Come the eleventh plague , rather than this should be ; " Come sink us rather in the sea . "Come rather pestilence , and reap us down ; " Come God ' s sword rather than our own . _**• " Let rather Roman come again , " Or Saxon , Norman , or the Sane . " In all the bonds we ever bore , " We grieved , we sighed , we wept ; we never blushed before . "
It is little more than ten years since this famous bombastical apostrophe against the Reckoning Commission was uttered by Sir Robert Peei ., amid " cheers , " which more resembled the roars of madmen than the expression of feeling on the part of sober sanity . It is little more than ten years since the bare proposal frightened the " Lords of the soil" from their propriety —( not their property !—would to God that it had !)—it is little more than ten years ago all this ;—and the Times is now daily engaged in collecting facts to be used for the very purpose that Cobbett recommended ! Cobbett , the author of the proposal for a " Reckoning Commission , " is dead : but the Times is doing Cobbeit ' s work as well as he could have wished had ho been alive . ' IIow WELL that work is being done the reader shall now judge .
Last week we accompanied the " Times ' s Commissioner" —he that is collecting materials for the "Reckoning "—in a portion of his journey over Ireland in search of pacts . We left him . at Cavan , where he had discovered the great political secret , that "those who WILL live comfortably and well DO live comfortably and well " : in other words , that those who are determined " to make their grumblings FELT" are attended to , and have secured to them a far greater share than those who are content if they can only procure hog ' s-food to live on . We left "our Reckoning Commissioner" at Cavan , where he had made this all-important discovery , throughnoticingthe distinguishing characteristics otlhe two " races , "thc " grumblers" and the " slavishly content " : and wc havo now to accompany him to Donegal , and learn the facts his sharp-witted observation has made him acquainted with . Hear him : —
The town of Donegal exhibits another of those numer . ous examples of neglect with which Ireland abounds , The bay of Donegal , dotted with green islands , —with thc Atlantic Ocean on oue side , and the town nestling at the toot of arange of magnificent hills , which rise in the back _, ground abruptly behind it , on the other , affords scenery of the most exquisite natural beauty . \ Yere all the advantages of scenery , locality , bathing , and cheapness of living this town possesses connected with any English town , it would not be long before it was a seeond Brighton , or Bath , or Cheltenham . There is , however , but one resident landlord , or gentleman , in tbe neighbourhood , —Mr . Hamilton , —who has built himself a beautiful house on one of the islands in the buy ; and the town remains neglected and poor .
Prom this town I proceeded to Plenties , a village waica is the PROPERTY of the Marquis of Conyngham , whose chief managing agent is Mr . Benbow , M . P . for Dudley . The whole of the country for many miles in the direction Of Dungloe , and beyond that town—in fact , almost ihe whole barony of Boylagh _belongs to this nobleman , together with thc island of Arran , or Arranmore , on the west coast . Osce , in ¦ _rms course of his life—two years ago—the Marquis of Conyngham visited this estate fob a few davs . His chief agent , Mr . Benbow , usually comes once a-year ; and the sub-agents visit thc tenants every half-year to collect their rents . _Atshorli'Criodsofafewycars the farms are visited to see what increased rent they will bear ; and this is _inE extent of the acquaintance of the Marquis
OP _CoWVNGHiM WITH HIS TENANTS . TlllS _noblcilinil , himself , bears the character of a kind-hearted , generous man—fond of yachting and amusement , and having an excessive distaste for every kind of business or trouble . From one end of his large estate here to the other , nothing is to befound butpoverty , _inisery , wretched cultivation , andinfinite subdivision of land . There are no gentry , no middle class , —all are poor—wretchedly poor . Every shilling the tenants can raise from their half-cultivated land is paid in rent , whilst the PEOPLE SUBSIST I'OR THE MOST PART ON POTATOES AND -WATER . They are untaught ; they know not how to improve ; tbey bare no
examples before them of a better state of things ; tlicy are left to themselves . As they increase in numbers , as not a shilling of the rent is ever spent among them in the shape of capital , in giving them any kind of employment , they are driven to the land for support , till they infinitely subdivide it , and their poverty and wretchedness necessarily increase . as their _meass lessen . Every rude effort tbat they make to increase the amount of-thc produce . is followed immediately by raising their rents in proportion —as it were , to punish them for improving . They are , NATUKAI . lt ENOUGH , as DISCONTENTED and full of complaints as they are wretched in their condition .
Wc will not stop here to inquire how it comes to pass that such an immense track of country " BELONGS" to the Makquis of _Cosysouam . We do not now ask how he came to have it ; how he came to "OWN" it . We will not « _ow stop to ascertain whether ho got it by _purchass , by heirship , or by bequest . We will not ask now from whom he purchased it—from whom he heired it—or who bequeathed it to him . Nay , we will not even ask concerning ids title to it at present . Enough for us that he lias
it : let us see how he uses it ; and whether the use he makes of it will justify his keeping it . A time will come when all the points of inquiry sot forth above will have to be entered into—will have to he answered—when wc get nearer the "RECKONING-, " In the meantime let us be content to store up the facts wo are made acquainted with by the Times , and deduce from them a lesson tbat will bo useful both for immediate and ulterior purposes . Here is more towards the " Reckoning" : —
What I hare stated is not hearsay nor imagination . I walked a couple of miles from _Glimtics amongst the farmers' cottages , with a guide , —the Vice-Presidunt of the Poor Law Union there , —and I will shortly describe to you the condition of the farmers , as I had it from . tlieir own lips , and noted down at the time . The land is not let by the acre , but by what is termed a I" cow ' s grass "—<; o many " cow's grass" to a farm . A " cow ' s grass" is a measure of land : usually it means as
More Of "Ireland's Ruin:" Ob The Blessed...
much J * douhtain grazing land as w , tl keep a cow during the _summer , and as much ara . l / _u , land as will keep the cowhouse in fodder during the winter . The size ofthe farm , varies from 6 to 20 acres , and larger , by the measurement of acres . The rent of arable land is ahout 30 s . an acre . It is sandy soil and bog mixed , on a granite rock foundation . The grazing mountain land is let at about 2 s . 6 d . an acre . The farmer pays his rent and rates by disposing of his butter , pigs , eggs , beef , hay , oats , and milk , when he can sell it . He usually sells the whole of his produce , exceptpotatoes , and in dear seasons even part ofhis stock of potatoes , and buys meal on credit , in order to pay his rent and the county-cess . If the tenant lives near a town where he can sell his milk he sells that also , and
the common drink' to their potatoes then is an infusion of pepper—pepp er and water , as being more tasty than water . Sometimes they are so hard pushed for their rent that they will buy a heifer on credit at £ 6 or £ 7 , much above the market price , and sell it again for £ 3 or £ 4 , to be able to pay the rent ; or buy meal on credit of local usurers ( giving a promissory note ) at 20 s . a-barrel , and sell it again to the same usurer at the market price for ready money at 9 s . or 10 s . a barrel . If a farmer is so well off as to hare milk to his potatoes , or to be able to buy a few sprats , he is what they term here " thokey" —that is , in independent circumstances . Tbe farmer who gave me tliis information pays £ 16 rent , holds seven cows ' grass , and I was informed was the most" thokey" farmer in the
district . The grazing is so poor that last year these seven cows produced only two firkins of butter , which he sold for £ 6 ; he sold two pigs for £ 5 , and he could hardly tell how he scraped up the rest of the rent from the sale of his oats and some potatoes . This farmer assured me that for the half of this year , whilst his cows gave no milk , he had to subsist on pepper and water < mA potatoes . He could not afford to eat butter . " Not a bit of bread have I eaten since I was _. born , " said this man ; " we must sell the corn and the butter to give to the landlord . I have the largest farm in the district ; some don't pay more than £ 3 to £ 5 rent , and I am as well off as any in the country . " This man gave me his name , but did not wish it to be published , as it might do him an injury with the
agent . This man also assured me that many of the tenants have no beds , and lie on a " shake-down" of straw or hay on the ground in their cottages , with but a blanket or a _mg to cover five or six of the family . " The people , " he said , "do what they can to improve , but the landlord does nothing , and they have not the ability to improve . They are tenants at will ; and if they improve , their rent is raised accordingly at the next valuation . The only good thing we have is plenty of turf to keep us warm , We never taste meat of any kind , or bacon , unless a pig chances to die of some disorder and we cannot sell it , and we would not taste that if we could sell it . " I asked him if he would show me the cottage of any small farmer who lived in the way he had described . He took
me immediately to the cottages of John and Charles M'Cabe , who lived across a field close by . I state this case to you because it ig a sample of the subdivision which is permitted to go on . The father rented four cows ' grass , for which he paid £ 010 s . rent . He was so pressed by poverty and distress in 1812 that he sold the tenant _, right of half his farm for £ 15 to another man , who cane in , built a cottage , and occupied it as tenant . His son had married , and having a family growing up , he divided the half of bis remaining farm with his son , and father and son are now subsisting with their families on a cow ' s grass of land each . Into these cottages I entered . They were stone-built , and well roofed—but tho mud floor was uneven , damp , and filthy . In one corner was a place for
the pig , with a drain from it through the wall to carry off the liquid manure , like a stable . Two chairs , a bedstead ofthe rudest description , a cradle , a spinning wheel , and an iron pot constituted the whole furniture . An inner room contained another rude bedstead ; the mud floor was quite damp . In this room six children slept on boost hay , with one dirty blanket to cover them . The father , mother , and an infant slept in tbe first room , also on loose hay , and with but one blanket on tke bed . The children were running about as nearly naked as possible , _dresttd in ihe cast-off rags of the father and mother ; the father could not buy them clothes . They had never been to mass for a twelvemonth for want of decent clothes to go in . Both these men assured ms tliat _thcir . vihole food was potatoes , and ,
if they had a penny to spare they bought salt , or a few sprats , but very seldom these . Instead of buying salt they sometimes bought pepper and mixed it with tho water they drank . This they called "kitchin "—it gave a flavour to their food . Both cottages were in the same wretched condition , and the rent of the farm had been twice raised ; last time from 48 s . to £ 5 10 s . 'If their rent was not punctually paid , their cuttle and everything they bad was immediately distrained . From these men I went to another small farmer ' s house . He was mowing . His name is Manus M'Ginty . He has two cows' grass , for which he pays £ 3 8 s . There has been no improvement on his farm for the last twenty years ; but his rent was recently raised from £ 2 5 s . He had potatoes and milk
that day for mowing for a farmer . His usual diet was potatoes and pepper -water . He lived inprecisely the same wretched condition as that which I have just described . I give you these as examples , without any kind of selection , ofthe universal condition of thetenantry around on this estate . From this place I proceeded to Dungloe , a village sixteen miles further , direct north—the whole of it in the same property . Near one or two small villages which I passed a good deal of land was brought into cultivation , and bore heavy crops of oats and potatoes ; but a mile beyond these villages nothing hut bog and heather is to be seen . Excepting here and there a small patch of potatoes growing , the only sign of industry I saw
was a couple of men on a hill-side boring the bog with an iron rod and searching for timber . I entered several cottages on the road-side , hut they were all alike filth y and wretched . Sometimes a calf as well as a pig would be inside them ; sometimes three or four ducks in addition , dabbling in a pool of dirty water in a hole in the mud floor . If you point out this filthy condition to the women in the cottages they generally laugh at it . In fact , they know no better ; they don't know how to live differently , and they never had abetter example set to them . There is everything to depress them , nothing to elevate them ; and the wonder is that , half savage and uncivilized , they are so quiet and tractable as they are .
There is a picture ! Look at it as a whole ; and then in detail ! Seethe fine end to which "landlordism" leads ! See him , a cormorant , devouring what a whole country side produces ; sec this man ; this "Marquis" of Costsgiiam , "i ' onil of yachting and amusement , and having an exceeding distaste for all kinds of business or trouble ; " see this man who never worked a hand-stroke in his life ; who never did anything useful ; who has all his days been a charge , a BURDEN on society ; see this man taking to his cheek the whole produce of "the Barony of Boylagh and the island of Arran , " excepting a portion of the potatoes , which are left as tho "SHARE " of those whose sweat has been spent in causing all to
come : see this ; and then say whether it be right that the tastes or distastes , * the whims or the pleasures ; the caprices . or the wants even , of such a miserable fop as the said "Marquis" should be attended to before the comforts and well-being of those who till thc soil ? If society should take it into its head to do aivay with such useless beings as these alldevouring _Swrfncss-avoiding " Marquises , " and secure to the labourers not only in the Barony of Boylagh , but in all parts of the kingdom , the fruits of then own industry , or at least arrange that they shall be " FIRST partakers of them , " ivould it be any worse ? Suppose the " potatoes and the pepper-and-ivater " in the hovel ofthe _Glentios farmer wore to give way
to bread , and beef , and butter , aud milk , and eggs ; and thc "Marquis" of Cosysoiiam compelled to give up " yachting" and take to the " business" of the spade , would it be " a sin against the Holy Ghost , never to bc forgiven , either in this world or the world to come ? " It Is possible tbat the " Marquis " might so consider it ! and be as " unforgiving" as eternity itself ! but we imagine that thc farmer "who pays £ 16 rent ; " who "holds seven cows ' grass ; " who "is withal the most ' thokey' farmer ofthe district ; " but who "his never eaten a bit of bread since he was bom , " because he has to sell his corn and his butter to GIVE to the landlord ; wo imagine that this man ivould soon reconcile himself to the change , and " forgive" those who made it '
One thing the poor "half-savage , half-civilized " people of this district have yet to learn . ' They ba venot yet learnt how to " embody their DISCONTENT so as to " make their grumblings FELT ! " Perhaps the Times ' s _CojixussiONEnwilltcacli them that lessonlet them into that secret . Should he do so , he will confer on them a most incalculable advantage . "Those that WILL live comfortably and well , DO live comfortably and well . " 0 . ' - may that truth h ° present to thc minds of the farmers of Gienties and Arran , at their uprisings and their down-lyings . ' If it is , they wiil not bc " to quiet , and so tractable as they are !"
But wc have more pact ? . Thc budget is far from being exhausted . The " _Marqu _,, " f Conugiiam will have much to answer for , when the "day of reckoning" arrives ! But before we record more of those facts , let us have an incident in this horrible - narrative which will raise a smile even amidst tbe disgust and boiling anger that the detail of the treat ment of his "tenantry" by the _TitounLH-escapin _" Marquis involuntarily excites . The incident is no less iustrtictive ,-as to actual condition _,-fov _beui" _? little amusing , and amusingly told : — " "
At Dungloe I was told I should fi _, icl nn lnn ond _commodat-ou where I could sleep . Stay there I must for there was no other plae » W ! thin n dozen Msb _milaoff and it was getting late . Tbe look of the inn was rW unpromwing . A pile of lime and sand , for buMM- ., wall adjoining- , blocked up the doorway , _1-uU bright went
More Of "Ireland's Ruin:" Ob The Blessed...
fire and a boarded and sanded floor—a luxury not to be met with everywhere in Ireland—made me hope for a comfortable rest , The brightness of the fire gilded over the discomfort of the room . It was perfectly Irish . Twolarge and apparently much frequented rat-holes in the Boor showed no want of company of that kind . The table was propped ; its cover torn and dirty ; ono of tha windows had before it a broken looking-glass to dress by , a corner of which still remained in the frame ; the whitewashed walls were marked round with candle-smokes , where candles had been stuck with their own tallow : and two lads at one side of the room had a most unpromising appearance . Sundry women ' s caps were stuck under tha
testers for readiness ; and under each bed was a pile of dirt and sand , the sweepings ofthe floor from a remote antiquity . After making a tolerable supper on eggs—that Only support Of travellers in parts of Ireland , —the bread being sour , the butter abominable , the appearance of tho salt forbidding its use , and the tea an infusion of some unknown herb , —I went to bed thoroughly tired , hoping to sleep . But the "downy pinions" of what the poet Young describes as " tired nature ' s sweet restorer ? ' fled from mc j and every moment I remained there I began to have a more and more lively impression of the applicability of the chorus of an old song I once heard——————— — These cursed fleas ;
" At First They Came By Twos And Threes ...
" At first they came by twos and threes " But how they come by swarms . " At length the weary night passed over in listening to the gambols of the rats , making the most of their opportunity at the bread-loaf , uutil the quacking and cackling of some ducks and hens in the nezt room assured me morn _, ing was breaking . But I do not blame the people . They gave me tha best they had ; and they never saw , and cannot conceive , anything better . And with a non-resident landlord , a non-resident agent , no capital spent amongst them , no encouragement given to them , and no one to teach them anything , either by precept or example , how are they likely to improve ? Now for another bundle of " facts . " Let them be carefully , treasured up ! They will be wanted at the "Reckoning !" ,
Next morning I took a boat and guide—a coast-guard man , who could speak Irish , and went ov « r to the Island of Arran , which is also the property of the Marquis of Conyngham . This island is about fifteen miles in circumference , with a lofty hill in its centre , and a gradual declivity down to the sea . It contains eleven villages , each having from nine to'fifty cottages , and has a population of about 1 , 800 people ; it yields a rental of from £ 300 to £ i 00 a-year to the Afnrguis of Conyngham , and is three-quarters of an hour ' s sail from the mainland . The rents here are much the same as those on the mainland , from 20 s . to 30 s . being paid for a cow ' s grass but the land is let in rundale .
I must explain the meaning of this form of letting to your readers . This form of occupation seems to have arisen from a small community equally dividing a portion of arable land for their potatoes , and holding the surrounding laud in common . As the population increased , the patch of cultivated land being found insufficient to provide them with potatoes , some individual of the community was obliged to bring a patch of the grazing land held in common under cultivation , and the following year each _membsr- of the community claims the right of dividing this land , made arable out of commonable land , into equal shares . The consequence of this mode of occupation has been , that a tenant will hold a dozen small patches of land in different places , and almost every potatoe bed or ridge of oats belongs to a difi ' erent tenant .
I landed at a village called Labgarroo , containing twenty-four cottages , and almost the whole of its shookingly-destituts- and half-naked shoeless population immediately swarmed out and surrounded me , begging nie to go into their cottages—such of them , at least , as could speak English—and look at their misery . Some thrust scraps of paper into my hands with petitions written on them , praying for assistance to keep them from starving , for medical assistance , to have their rents reduced , and so on : such an assemblage of wretched _beggar-hka human beings I never saw . Picture to yourself tbe beggars who sometimes on Sundays lie about the pavemtnts in the streets of London , dressed up to excite commiseration , and who write with a piece of chalk on the flags " I ' m starving , " and then lay themselves down beside this
scrawl crouched up in a violent shivering fit as the people pass them from church , and you have an exact fac simile of the kind of looking people around me—the tenants ofthe Marquis of Conyngham 1 I asked one man—a cobblerwho spoke English , to show me into one or two of tho cottages near . I entered that of Nelly Gallagher ; the pays 30 s , rent for one cow ' s grass . She was preparing her dinner of potatoes , and—what , think you?—seaweed . They gather , I was told by some twenty of them ( and saw them using it ) , a kind of seaweed called "diJIisk , " which they dry , and hoil as " kitchin" with their potatoes . It boils down to a kind of gluten with the potatoes , and tin salt in it , tbey say , makes the potatoes more palatable , ' In winter thoy gather the common seaweed which grows on the rocks , and which they call" dhoolaman , " in Irish , and cutting off the thin leaves atthe extremities ofthe weed boil these , when they cannot get " dillisk _, " which is a better kind of seaweed . They showed nte how they used it , and _abOTS a dozen of them told me the same story ; in
fact , every one that I asked about it confirmed it . i , _Vj guide , the coast-guard man , and a respectable seaman , assured me tbat the tenants on the mainland in the same manner lived on seaweed part of the year , and that thi y used it , as he called it , "Kitchin , " to make their potatoe more palatable , and in aid of their potato food . Some of these tenants had quantities of laud ns small as the fourth part of a cow ' s grass . Their cottages are stonehuilt , with mud floors , no chimneys , rarely any furniture in them , usually hay on the floor for a bed , with a rug or old cloths for bed covering . I walked over the whol island and saw many such , and rarely any in the feast degree better . There is a Roman Catholic chapel in tl e island , and a school is talked of being built , but there is not one at present . Some kelp-burning is going on now , and this has helped the people a good deal . At times I was informed , and I can well believe it from what i saw , that their destitution is horrible . They are , however , but a degree worse than the tenants on thc mainland opposite .
I left the island , and on landing came to this place . Before leaving this estate , tluj high road crosses a strand at Anagary , over which the tide flow 3 ten feet deep . This strand is one mile across , and the water was up to the axle of the gig I was in when my guide attempted it . It was quite dusk , and I assure you it was perfectly frightful to a stranger to be in the middle of this sheet of water , the land every way at least half a mile _ollj and net knowing whether the next step might not be into deep water . The Board of Works offered to make a road , io avoid this strand ; theSIarquis of _Conyngham ' s agent , iu the name ofhis principal , opposes this , and will not permit the road to be made through his waste bogland ; anil the public must , therefore , submit to tlie delay ' ami inconvenience mid danger of this strand . But what must this be to a poor man or woman who has no horse or ¦ . ¦ ig-, and who is thus compelled often to wait hours for tho title , and then to wade a mile in water a yard deep ?
Wore , however , I leavo the Marquis of Conyngham's estate , with its thousands of acres of land capable of profitable cultivation , and its everywhere apparent nc ; , 'li * ct , mismanagement , and misery . Ills rents arc probably not high , considering the capabilities of thc land , but they are high considering tlieir actual state of ca ' tfra ' _nrt ' . _^' tenants are not helped or put in the way of improving ; and it is evident that every shilling beyond bare subsistence is extracted from them and spent elsewhere . ' It is not a capital realized which ever benefits them . Some may say that tho Marquis of Conyngham has a i igh t to do as be _lilt's with his property . Grant that he has , but he litis no right to
anybody ' s approval , if thi * is what he likes ; and lhe empire has a right to complain if he so manages his large estate , that he produces general destitution and misery and discontent—if , iii fact , he helps to make Ireland that scene of poverty and wretchedness and disturbance which makes it a shame and a source of weakness , instead ofit * being a pride and a source of strength to the empire . It is possible that the Marquis of Conyngham may be ignorant of tho condition of his Irish toiiauts * , but " _quifuit peralium , _fsxitper se ; " to him who permits it , the odium of having such a teuantry , aud an estate so managed , rightly attaches .
Ay , and thc RESPONSIBILITY , as well as tlio odium ! We shall have to try soon , whether K _)> SPONSIBILITY , as attached to the " owners" of the soil , is , as it is with _flfcnisters , a pure f ; 11 ' _' . , it be , we shall know what to do ! Jl lb it ba not-thc " Marquis" of Costxgium _«'•¦ - * jaTe ** feel it ! Potatoes and seaweed for the workers , that Ac may enjoy "yachting" and escape " _Tiiotin-E ! bay on the floor for a bed , with an ola rag as covering for bed-clothes ; and this to give a " Ma' _'*^ ' _* " the means of spending without " _Cwinm . _' " _^' _,, a . often heard the aphorism that " property has i S duties as well as its rights . " We arc in a fair * _«•* ¦ " ' S
ascertaining thc amount of truth contained in tbe assertion : and if it turn out that there really are duties to perform by thc _"OWiNEil" of a " = estate , " what account will this same Marquis be ublc to give of himself ? Great as may bc his " _dUlnito for business , " he will have to apply himself to tins " account , " or give up his estate ! If he will _ciyo . IC rights , he must perf ' oim the duties . If he won t , nc must make-way for those that will . _Maugre alt _tao cant about " he has a right to do as he likes with Ins own , " he will have to RECKON UP ! ' _^ ' c is ° " _° short answer to all such cant : " no man has a rig _^ to do WRONG cither with his own or anybody else ' s .
Has he , Mr . " _Mabquis" ? Let us hear _jw e 0 " " tend that ha has ! Then wc shall know not only what answer to give , but what measures to apply m your case . . Admit the truth of ottr ap horism , and then wc go into your case . Is it not witoxo lor } 0 l so to manage " vour" largo estate , as to produce _t I- 7 TllS general destitution and misery and discontent ¦"' not society " the right to comp lain oi this ? _* h more ; has it not the right to apply - _'i _cuituKcnv ;' . Have a cure , Mv . _Mariicis ' . Yiniryaciiiiui : _^ _' ! ' _^^ tevfered with , so lorg as it intevi ' eros with " •' _¦ '• . _' •'' . " . _''"_ toes _andpaper-iv : Ucr" of tlio co :: x-i _""' _-- """ - " ' " ties and A'' ..
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Citation
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Northern Star (1837-1852), Sept. 13, 1845, page 4, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/ns/issues/ns3_13091845/page/4/
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