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and that 4 THE NORTHERN STAR. October 17...
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Sow ready, Trice One Shilling. THE SECOND ZDITIOS OF MY LIFE, OR OUR SOCIAL STATE, Part I.
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THE NORTHERN STAR SATURDAY, OCTOBER 17, 1846.
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SUMMARY OF ABOMINATIONS. GOVERNMENT. By ...
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SCHISM IN TIIE CHURCH. The Archbishop of...
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WEEKLY REVIEW. Ireland still occupies th...
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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.
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And That 4 The Northern Star. October 17...
4 THE NORTHERN STAR . October 17 , 1846 _^
Sow Ready, Trice One Shilling. The Second Zditios Of My Life, Or Our Social State, Part I.
Sow ready , Trice One Shilling . THE SECOND _ZDITIOS OF MY LIFE , OR OUR SOCIAL STATE , Part I .
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a mem , by ERNEST JOKES , Barrister at Law . Wc hope tbe author will be encouraged by tbe public to continue his memoirs . —Literary Gazette , _Annne quivoeally strange and evcntfulhistory— _Ossinnic inits _qnalitj . —Morning Herald , I _^ idy Caerleon and her Lord are portraits true as any that _Lawrem-c ever painttd . Beautiful in deseri _ptioti . tender , pathetic and plowing in the affections of the lean , tlie author ' s pen is not without a turn for satire . — _JSaral and Mlitarg Gazette . It bears forcibly and _pujmentlj on the existing : state of society , its vices , its follies , aud its crimes . —Court Journal . ' Published by Mr . > 7 ewby , 72 , Mo ; tinier-street , Cavoniish-square .
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"THE GREAT ROOT OF ALL OCR _NATIONAL EVILS . " This day , second edition , price reduced to 5 s : bound in doth ., TIIE ARISTOCRACY OF EXGLAXP : a IHstory for the reop _' e . By Jons _Hahpdes . jun . " Their history is one conti _.-. ued series of spoliations committed on the people from the time of the Xorman Conquest downwards , and well i * that history told in " the work before us "—Brighton Herald . We conscientiously pronounce this to be one ofthe best works ever issued from tbe press . Since * Prtine ' s Rights of Man'there lias not appeared so formidable an assailer
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_IMPORTANT TO PHOTOGRAPHISTS . AN application was made on the -22 nd September , to . tbe Vice-chancellor of England , by Mr . Beard ( who , acting under a mostextraordiny _delusion , considers himseif the sole i _* _ttentec of the Photographic process 2 ) to restrain MR . EGERTON , of 1 , Temple-street , and 118 , Tleet-street , from taking Photographic Portraits , which be does by a process entirely different from and very superior to Mr . Heard ' s , and at one-hnlf the charge . His Honour refused the application in toto . _35 _oli < ww _£ .- _rcqtwva w _jtracllct : d _. _la process , _WlUCh IS taught by -Mr . Egcrron in a few lessons at amuderatu eharge-AU the Apparatus , Chemicals . Ac , to be had as usual at his Depot , 1 , Temple-street , Wliittfriars .
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LITHOGRAPHIC ENGRAVINGS OP THE DUNCOMBE TESTIMONIAL . MAY still be had at tbe Office of Messrs . M'Gowax and Co ., 16 , Great Windmill Street , _ITaymarket , London ; through any respectable bookseller in town or country '; or at any ofthe agents ofthe Nortitem 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 up _. _oiit . PRICE FOPKPENCE .
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A GOOD FIT WARRANTED . UBSBELL AND CO ., Tailors , are now making np scomplete Suit of Superfine Black , any size , for £ 3 ; Superfine West of England Black , £ 3 10 s . ; and tbe very best Superfine Saxony , £ 5 , warranted not to spot or change colour . Juvenile Superfine Cloth Suits , 24 s . ; liveries equally cheap—nttlle Great Western Emporium , Nos . l and 2 , Oxford-street , London ; the noted house for good black cloths , aud _patenttaade trousers . Gentlemen ean choose the colour and quality of cloth from the largest stock in London . The -t . i of cutting taught .
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The Society is in divisions for the Members to receive benefits according to these payments in Sickness , from ISs . to 7 s . per _wctk . Death of a Member from £ 20 to S . 2 10 s . Death of a Wife or Nominee from half thebeforestated gums . In Superannuation from 4 s . to Cs . per week , with arious other Benefits . Monthly Payments from Is . Id . to 2 s . 7 d . for Sickness aud Management . Admission Fee according to age .
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This Testimony to the Rules was given by T , S . Dcncombe , Esq ., M P ., who honoured the Society by taking the chair at its first anniversary , on Monday , July 6 lll , lSlC ;—The Cuairman . —The next _tentimentl have to submit to you is the toast of the evening— " The United Patriots'and Patriarchs'Benefit Societies : and prosperity to the branches . " I assure you it is a subject in which X ieel a _deep interest , having introduced a Bill into tlie Bouse to remedy certain defects in the existing laws ; and I feel a ; ieculiar interest in your so iety for on turning
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TO TAILORS . XONDON and PARIS FASHIONS FOR AUTUMN AND WINTER , 184 _G-47 . By READ and Co ., 12 , Ilart-iHreet , Bloomsbury square , London ; And G . Berger , Holy well-street , Strand ; May be had of all booksellers , wheresoever residing .
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CHARTIST POEMS , BY ERNEST JONES . Price Three Pence . The wish having been expressed iu several quarters for the author to publish in a collected form his Poems that have appeared in the Xbrthern Star , he begs to announce that a revised and corrected selection under the above title is now ready to be issued . A fine edition , printed on thicker paper , and" in an elegant _biudiiijr , will presently be published at Oil . Agents arc requested to send their orders to the author or to Mr . Wheeler , at the office of tbe N . C . A ., 83 , Dean Street , Soho , London , or to M'Gowan & Co ., Printers , 16 , Great Windmill Street , Ilayniarket , London , whei _* copies may be procured .
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NOTICE TO AGENTS . AH agents who have had their accounts transmitted , and do not forward the amount forthwith , will be handed over , without distinction , to our solicitor . We will not be fooled by the pretext that the noverfy ofthe people obliges agents to give them credit . We don ' t believe it : it is false , and if they did , they must not speculate upon our property . The people all pay for their papers , and we must be paid .
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MALCOLM M'GREGOR . In onr first page will be found No . 1 , of the narrative of Malcolm M'Grcgor , a Scotch traveller , now on a tour in Ireland , to be continued in each successive number of the Star , until the En « lish public shall be put in possession of a familiar , true , and unadorned , history of Ireland and tire Irish , and from which we pledge ourselves they will gain more sound , _T-luable _, and interesting information than from the Times Commissioner , the Devon commission , and all the Commissioners and Commissions and writers that have ever volunteered to write Ireland ' s history , to suit the taste of their emplovgrs .
The Northern Star Saturday, October 17, 1846.
THE NORTHERN STAR SATURDAY , OCTOBER 17 , 1846 .
Summary Of Abominations. Government. By ...
SUMMARY OF ABOMINATIONS . GOVERNMENT . By Government is meant the delegation of power tO the chosen few of that party which a majority of the electoral body shall have selected under the representative system as most fit to be entrusted with the management of state affairs , and with the appointment of the necessary machinery for the adjustment of domestic regulations and forei gn arrangements ; and , therefore , as all persons of every degree—but more especially the weak ami impotent —have an interest in those several matters , it becomes the paramouut duty of all to struggle for a participation in the selection of the Government .
Upon the Government for the time being devolves tbe responsibility of enacting laws , as with it rests the power of doing so , from its command of that majority of whose will it is the executive . The ministers are the government ; and the executive , whether elective or hereditary , or howsoever appointed , is their servant , bound to affirm their acts ; and , although possessing a negative power of refusal , yet seldom , if ever , daring to use it . Indeed , the executive may he justly compared to a hangman , whose only duty is to obey . When the Government of a country possesses such vast and irresistible power , ITS greatest dancer , as well as the greatest daueer to the state ,
consists in the limitation of its appointment to a class or section , who may have interests antagonistic to those of the commonwealth , while ITS greatest safety , and the general welfare of all , consists in its responsibility to all , universal approval , or , at least , the sanction of the majority upholding it , against sectional dissatisfaction and factious complaint . Under such a svstem the laws would be vieldim ; to mercy and stern against oppression , with an executive exacting an implicit obedience to their mild authority . Upon the other hand , when Government is a mere emanation from the capricious will of the powerful few , it becomes an object of distrust , contempt , and resistance to the many , who recognise in their rulers a surrender of mind to the fascinations
of patronage—the barter of national justice and universal rig ht to class necessity . The many struggles that have disturbed the peace of this country from the period ef Harry ' s plunder ofthe poor down to the MURDER OF THE IRISH
WHO ASKED FOR LABOUR TO BUT FOOD IN DUNGARVAN , have been one and all consequences of the responsibility of Government being confined to that class who have the power of making and unmaking it . Hence , for centuries the Whigs , as well as the Tories , were tbe slavish Government of a landed aristocracy , in whose hands was placed the power of appointment ; and since manufactures became the active competitors of sluggish agriculture , that class has now assumed the ascendant ; and thus it matters not whether the Government is Whit ; or Tory , Peel and Russell must equally bend
to the new control . The Reform Bill was the last great struggle for the transfer of irresponsible power from the few to the many ; but so great was the obstructive influence of the land party in the upper House , that the Commons were compelled to barter the principle of the measure to insure the acquiescence of the Lords , by the enfranchisement of 108 , 000 of their agricultural slaves , or more than 25 per cent , of the whole rural constituency ; a circumstance which emboldened Peel to fight the battle of resuscitation in the Registration Courts , and the
result of which was the anomaly of a majority of _ninety-three Tories in the eighth year of Reform , a much larger majority than Mr . Pitt could command in the rampant days of corruption and boroughmongering . Russell , Lord Palmerston , and Sir Henry Parnell , very speedily discovered the effects of the Reform Bill upon the rural constituencies , in their unceremonious ejectment by their old friends , and the necessity of taking refuge in small boroughs . The effect—the inevitable effect—of this reliance of Government upon class approval is the source of the master
grievance—CLASS LEGISLATION ; and it is , therefore , for the entire , not the partial , destruction of this grievance , that the NOW weak and impotent contend—not weak and impotent in numbers , skill , and industry , but weak and impotent in resistance to class-made law ; too weak and impotent to resist the most unjust or tyrannical exercise of the law , but sufficiently strong and powerful to change the source of law from the narrow channel of class caprice to the boundless ocean of universal progressive thought . The waste of the popular strength in mere pigmy assaults upon the
breastworks of corruption has been the great , and indeed unpardonable error , of most popular leaders ; they have contended locally and sectionally against laws which judges have told them MUST BE OBEYED , HOWEVER HARSH , while the same strength that has been vainly spent iu these sectional crusades , if wisely directed against the system from which the g rievances emanate , would have been irresistible and long since triumphant , The Reform Government being the bond-slave of the manufacturing interest , and still bound by the Chandos ; _650 tenant-at-will clause to the landed aristocracy , very speedil y
disco" THE NATION" AND " THE CHARTER . " " We have received a printed address from the Chartists of England to the Irish people , with a reguest that we should insert it in the " Nation . " We desire no fraternisation between the Irish people and the Chartists—not on account ofthe bugbear of - ' physical force , '' but simply because some of their Jive points are lo its an abomination , and the whole spirit and tone of their proceedings , though well enoughfor England , are so essentiall y English that their adoption in Ireland would neither be probable nor at all desirable . Between us and them there is a gulf fixed ; we desire not to bridge it over , but to make it wider and deeper . " From the "Nation" of Aug . lb , _18-1 C .
Summary Of Abominations. Government. By ...
vered the impossibility of serving two masters and hence arose the anomalous necessity of satisfying the double cravings of represented land avid machinery by the plunder of unrepresented labour and parings from the clerical board . The English people were sacrificed to the Malthusian policy , which would secure cheap labour for the manufacturer , a nd diminished poor rates for the landlord and his serfs and in each the unrepresented poor were sacrificed to the represented rich ; hut , as we foretold , the monopolists are now compelled to disgorge , when the policy of their Government lias subjected their properties to Ihe unscrupulous re-assumption of the famishing sufferers .
We have said that the greatest danger to the state , consists in the limitation of the appointment of . ts government to a class or section , who may have inercsts antagonistic to those of the commonwealth . And as the two rival interests which are now placed in deadly antagonism are machinery worked bv unbounded capital and credit , and protected by its owners government , and laws ; and unrepresented
labour , limited by the laws of competion , capricious speculation , and uncertain demand , the forthcoming struggle should be solely confined to the realization of such a representation , if not a government , as will make labour a dangerous rival , and ultimately a successful competittor for representation and a iepresentative government . "We have great confidence in the machinery of trades unions for the regulation of trade affairs , but we have no confidence whatever
m those who would urge them as a substitute for governmental protection ; but on the contrary , we have ever , and ever shall , look upon such men as the O'CON NELLS OF LABOUR , who would preserve wrong and misrule , that a few may fatten upon the promise of redress . Landlords , merchants , and manufacturers , although protected by their own government , nevertheless see the necessity of associations in the arrangement of their several class affairs , and upon the same principle we have contended for the necessity of Trades' Unions , even with a Chartist
government , while in the present struggle for the achievement of labour ' s rig ht we brand the limitation of their exertions to the mere arrangement of trade affairs , as treachery , treason , and fraud , of the blackest die—treachery , treason , and fraud , the more vile and _damning , because it entails the perpetuation of labour ' s wrong for the benefit of labour ' s idle deceivers . And , truth to say , we should wish to see the whole machinery of Trades' Unions conducted and managed by men who worked by day , " and met , IN TURN , hy night , to concoct the means
of speedily healing the fresh wounds and blisters from recent toil . The idea of telling slaves whose fetters are forged in the political fire , that they must steer clear of politics , is dignsting in the extreme , and only reminds us of the new version of moral force , which says , " stay not the hand that is raised to shed your Wood , hut console yourself with the Christian revenge of assuring the assassin that he is WRONG , VERY WRONG . " When did remonstrance ever stay the tyrant ' s vengeance , or when will suppliant labour . ever wrench the grasp of
capital from labour ' s neck , or humble its proud oppressor ; or when will Trades' Unions ever secure for labour that protection which representation and a representative government alone can give . The charm of government should consist in the equality of the laws , and the assurance of obedience from respect rather than coercion ; a blessing which , however , can only spring from so large , so just , and so untrammelled a representation of the whole people as will make disobedience of laws a national insult , instead of meritorious daring ; that will secure a
just punishment instead of vindictive revenge for the offender , and that will leave the minority of malcontents so small that their opposition will be contemptible , because the nation ' s will would be backed by the strong executive of national strength . Much a better system than that by which the caprice of faction is cuabled to outlaw a nation , and would lead to a more strong , respectable , respected and moral government than the present tool of faction , which lives upon popular licentiousness aud dissipation , and should bend or fall before a virtuous , moral and reformed mind . We believe that even in Russell there is more of good than of evil , and therefore , even in justice to him and those of his
class similarly situated , we call upon the whole people from the Land ' s End to John _O'Groat ' s , to apply the magic wand of virtue to the human mind , to develope the good in all , that evil may be subdued , and thus establish such a government as may ye , even yet , make England the envy of the world and the admiration of surrounding nations . This can only be accomplished by the PEOPLE'S CHARTER , and therefore do we now appeal to tbe virtuous and strong to seize the hour of faction ' s weakness to secure for labour a RESTING-PLACE , for the monarch a THRONE , for the Government RESPECT , for the laws OBEDIENCE , and for the whole people PROTECTION by the enactment oi
TIIE PEOPLE'S CHARTER A Charter strong in its entirety , but incomplete if shorn of any one of those points which the Nation has characterished as abominations . And now , having developed and analysed the several points of the People ' s Charter , and having shown the inevitable necessity of such a government as can emanate from its enactment alone , we call upon the Nation to convince us of our error in supporting it , or to retract its error in having denounced it .
FAMINE . When the grim monster FAMINE stalks through the land , the Peer feels COMPASSION FOR HIS TITLE , the landlord for his DOMAIN , the money lord for his TREASURE , and the Minister for his RESPONSIBILITY , but none really feel sympathy for the sufferers . Hunger is the great leveller of distinction , and in its progress stays not at the law's bidding or at authority ' s command . The bullet of the soldier may mow down whole ranks of the enemy , but every gap is speedily filled
up by an unconquerable reserve , until a thinned population shall no longer press too hardly upon the remnant of subsistence allowed to the industrious from the store-house of their own produce , and then vengeance is satisfied with its triumph . How often have we told the working classes that , however laws may free the wholesale article from restriction , yet the poor consumer would fail to recognize his share of the change in the retail article , when checquered with all the profits of speculation and risk . Ten shillings increase in a
quarter of wheat cannot be arithmetically distributed upon its produce in quartern loaves , and as aU to the baker will secure his profit upon the rise , the retail article becomes nearly double in value , or , at least , in price , when placed on the consumers board . Thus we find that , however the government of a class may sincerely desire the improvement and protection of the people , that , yet , the power of class will absorb to its own kindly U 6 e all the proposed relief . When gaunt hunger is fast threatening the Irish people with extermination , and when the enemy is weekly nearing our own door ,
we cannot bring our minds to bear upon any of the minor grievances which affect society . We may abuse the government , which , by the acceptance of power , incurs all the responsibility aud dangers consequent upon the calamity , but abuse of the government will not feed the hungry or arrest the destroyer ' s march . It becomes the duty of every man of common feeling ; aiid humanity to aid by suggestions , even the most ridiculous if they are the solemn convictions of _xcas-in , in the hope that out of a multip licity of advice , _wlialesoine action may spring . We have done our share , ; _uid yve modestly but proudly assert more tto _aig- _jlivtog man , to
Summary Of Abominations. Government. By ...
provide against the possibility of famine , while we have attached more dignity to the Chartist cause than the allegation that its advocates consist ofthe desperate , the needy , and the idle . Chartism has been denominated "A hungry howl " , and , truth to say , the apathy of the labouring classes in seasons of prosperity in part sanctions the charge ; but yet we cannot war with a nation even in error , if error bespeaks the national character . We ascribe error to the law ' s oppression , or , as the result of misplaced confidence in tbe continuance of delusive and capricious , and only partial prosperity . If rulers undertake the responsibility of governing , and surrender the calm of private life for the pomp of office ,
tbey are morally , socially , legally , and equitably bound to administer the whole national property for national purposes . We shall not now clog our observations with the general principle of " equitable destribution , " but we aver that a contingency like the present demands a prompt and instantaneous relaxation of all the ordinary rules of government , and imperatively calls for a religious and moral , rather than a strictly legal and constitutional administration of the national wealth . The English will not tamely submit to be butchered in the streets for the crime of hunger , and as the uni . versal epidemic is fast approaching to THEIR doors , we ask in time , whether a seasonable
surrender of a portion of the existing wealth , or the loss of all , is preferable . Let it be borne in mind that a kindly disposition to meet the calamity will considerably augment the scanty store , or , at least , make it go' much farther than if it is capriciously divided or recklessly destroyed by a starving people . Famine , when partial , is not unfrequently increased by the improvident consumption , destruction , and waste of ttiose wuo Yielp themselves in Vhe general scramble , and to avert this calamity , as well as to insure some safe estimate by which the worst may be discovered and the most may be made of the
present amount of provisions , we would strongly urge upon the government the propriety of taking stock of every man ' s store of food , and , in defiance of the laws of political economy , to assess the price at which it should be sold and the mode of sale , assign _, ing to each his rightful share , neither committing waste nor sanctioning any improvident use . This , by parochial valuation , could be done in a week ; in another week government could be in possession of the amount , and could calculate th necessity and , ' should feeble resistance be offered , the people would cheerfully act as the "posse comitatus "
to aid government in this truly useful commission . It is worse than childish folly to undertake the farce of the slow process of baronial assessment , or of talking just now to a famishing people of next season ' s prospects ; which in truth , increase in gloomy anticipations . Food , existing food , is the thing wanted , is the thing existing , is the thing visible and convertible into immediate relief , and a scant supply may be much augmented in amount , if , by some process , the starving can be assured that THIS is NECESSARY , and that ALL ABOVE HIM PARTICIPATE IN THE CALAMITY ; hut the producer will not tamely consent to be the only sufferer , while the idler
increases bis wealth by his necessity and want . A thorough knowledge ofthe ulterior results , as well as the immediate consequences of the failure of the potatoe crop , is indispensable to a fair adjustment of tlie question ; and as no portion of the press lias handled the subject otherwise than as an immediate and pressing necessity , to be met by political device or the laws of political economy , we shall lay bare the whole significance , import , and importance of the potatoe failure . There are many wiseacres who confine their estimate of loss to the mere value of the lost commodity , without note or comment upon the collateral contingencies . We have laboured incessantly to draw the distinction between
PRODUCTIVE AND NON-PRODUCTIVE LABOUR . We have shown that the erection of huge mansions and colossal railway stations , of palaces and gaols , and poor houscs _. and what are called public works _. are UNPRODUCTIVE Labour—while the rudest cultivation of tbe soil is PRODUCTIVE labour , because the busbandnian can live upon his own produce while he is reproducing ; but not so with the operative , mechanic , artificer , or artizan engaged in unproductive work . We do not mean to say that all unproductive labour is useless labour , far from it ; but we do mean to say , that the most productive , useful , necessary , and indispensable , the means of providing sustenance , should not be the least encouraged and protected . The Irish Landlords appear to have learnt this lesson
tardily , as we find they are now . petitioning to have the pauper labour expended upon the cultivation of the soil , instead of being foolishly lavished upon " unproductive" public works . We shall now furnish an illustration so plain and simple of the consequences of the failure of the potatoe crop , that neither Editor _, minister , or political economist can refute or deny . We have frequently reminded the working classes of the simple fact , that they must sell their labour before they can _Iray food at any price . This then is tlie present Irish difficulty . The food upon which the Irish usually live is goue , and its failure renders it . impossible for them to procure a substitute at any price . The usual operations in this particular sea son of tbe vear , in those districts where distress has
become most imminent and appalling , are digging potatoes , and thrashing a sufficiency of com to pay the Michaelmas rents , and the partial collecting of manure for the ensuing season ' s crop . Now oil these resources are closdd , there are no potatoes to di g , and the farmers g loating over the famine , and prospect of a rise wont thrash ; but prefer lugging out some of the OLD GUINEAS , of which , as Lord Stanley told their Lordships , there is still an inconceivable quantity in Ireland , while the two successive years failure of the national crop , and manure being solely applied to that crop as a preparation for wheat , has so
paralysed the agriculturist , as to render all preparation for its further growth so much labour lost . Iu passing , we may observe , that not one part in every hundred ofthe manure made in the south of Ireland , where distress principally prevails , is applied to any crop save potatoes . A potatoe crop is always the preparation for wheat . There is no such thing known as your " clover lay , " your fallow , or yonr turiii p crop . Having said so much , we now proceed to our sum of the loss contingent upon the potatoe failure . In the most distressed counties one seventh of every farm is invariabl y under
potatoes ; that is , a farmer renting seventy acres will . have ten ' . acres of potatoes ; an acre of potatoes requires thirty men to dig tbem , and fifteen women or boys to pick them . We are informed that at least two-thirds of the crop has been ploughed up , or will he allowed to rot in the ground . It would require three hundred men to dig and a hundred and fifty women and boys to pick ten acres of potatoes , and allowing two-thirds to be left undug we find that two hundred men , or two-thirds of the required number , and one hundred women and boys , are deprived of this source of employment upon every seventy acres of ground ; that is , of course , two hundred men and one hundred women and boys
lose one day ' s employment upon every seventy acres , or about twelve individuals lose a month ' s employment . If , then , we estimate the loss so low as six hundred thousand acres , we find that twenty-seven millions of people bave been thrown out of employment for a day , or ONE MILLION ONE HUNDRED AND _TWENTY-FIVE THOUSAND FOR A MONTH ; now ordinary years this would not be so material a grievance , inasmuch as nineteen in every twenty Irish labourers grow a sufficient quantity of potatoes TO PUT THEM OVER CHRISTMAS , till the spring work begins . This calamity cannot , therefore , be estimated by any arithmetical rule , the result is PERFECT STA - VATION . Add to this the fact that the farmers
Summary Of Abominations. Government. By ...
will not thresh , another of the usual operations at this season , and the further calamity that they will not go to any expense in making manure , which means the collecting of old earth and bog stuff to put in the farm yard and up to every door and window of the house , and the still -greater calamity the stoppage of the usual credit when a partial failure only occurs , anil the Teader has a simple sum of the calamity , present and future , of the potato failure . In those districts where the system of renting " con acres" prevails , the calamity will be still worse , as there the tenant of the mere potato
crop will not even dig two-thirds , or any portion , lest he should be charged rent for the whole . The amount of wages thus lost to the people is as nothing in comparison with the value of money , but becomes incalculable in value as well as considerably increased in loss , when the increased price of provisions and the impossibility of procuring any sum to purchase them , is estimated . When the potatoes fail in Ireland , the people have no market for their labour , and they are _unaccustomed to live from hand to mouth . We asserted last year that the full effect of the failure could not then be
estimated , while we now caution the government against the folly of presuming that national habits and national customs can be changed by any jerking process , and that a whole nation , however susceptible of that pliancy which may be occasionally turned to the most opposing policy , while living upon potatoes and hope , can be as easily reconciled to starvation and despair . The Repeal of the Union can be kept within tbe bounds of individual cunning and caprice , and will be kept alive by hope ; but hunger knows no such capricious limits , and will break through stone walls , and the most stringent acts of
Parliament by which power can hope to fence its possessions . Let the Government , then , understand in time that it has as yet but seen that miniature , of which next season will present the monster painting of a starving nation , and that its only safe remedy is in productive labour , sweetened , encouraged and increased by the assurance and guarantee that the husbandman shall be the first partaker of the fruits of his own industry , and secured 'n possession of the land upon which he shall expend it , beyond the power of tyrants or class-made laws to eject him _. The land is God's gift to man , bis existence is his title-deed , his strength is his capital , his industry distinguishes him among his fellows . The land
furnishes everything that man lives upon and lives in , wears and sleeps upon and exchanges , its loss has made him a slave , its possession alone can make him a FREEMAN , and therefore what we counsel is , an immediate and impartial assessment of the amount of food in the country , with a view to its use and necessary application to a pressing demand , and the restoration of the land to its Creator ' s original purposes , to serve man ' s necessities instead of bis tyrant ' s cupidity and lust . Let speculation wait upon surplus after an abundance for all , and , in the name of justice , let us recognise our country ' s greatness in individual happiness instead of mercantile speculation .
At present distress would appear limited to the south and west of Ireland ; and yet , those who undertake the management of that countrry's affairs , and the press which enlightens them , are ignorant of the reasons why the people of those parts should be first affected by tbe national calamity . Upon several previous occasions we have described the peculiar habits , manners , customs , and mode of life of the several provinces . We have explained that while the people of Connaught and Munster for the most part , if not wholly , live upon potato diet , that those of Ulster and Leinster live upon oaten cake ,
stir-about , bacon , eggs , milk , and butter . Again , Leinster and Ulster being thinly populated , as compared with Connaught and Minister , the poor of the two latter provinces flock to the two former in droves , to reap the harvest and di g the potatoes . The Galway , Roscommon , Cork , Kerry , and Limerick poor especially , migrate to tbe interior or midland counties , to perform these works . That channel is now closed—and hence we find Skibhereen , Clonakiltry , Youghal _, Galway , and those very remote districts against whose poor this source of living is closed , have become the scenes of the most appalline
distress . To meet such a calamity as this , the Government obeys the economic dictates of ihe Morning Chronicle , by raising the price of food . its speculators iu famine should be baulked of a portion of their plunder ! while its new ally , the Times , invokes the religious aid of the " SURPLICED RUFFIANS " whose mission , authority , and power , the trembling sycophant now recognises and acknowledges ; while it has been wont to ascribe ev _.-ry uational want and grievance to that source to which it now submissively prays for protection . We , too , trust , that the shepherd will exercise bis influence to
protect his flock from the ruthless hand of the assassin ; but , wc also trust that he will fulfil his holy calling , which the Times now acknowledges , by teaching tbe people that their suffering is the dispensation of class-made laws , and has been increased 13 $ per cent , by a class-made government , iu deference to tbe laws of political economy , which are the devil's edicts , and not God ' s ordinances . We trust that the Catholic priesthood of Ireland will make the distinction between God ' s dispensation and
mau ' s monopoly , and that they will speak to the people thus— " Behold , my children , the land which the Lord your God lias given you , see its produce gathered , harvested , _granai-ied _, stacked , and stored , and fenced in by the laws of man , and withheld from the kindly uses fo which the Great Giver hath assigned it . Get the land , my children , and fence it with an equality of power , live upon it , cultivate it , harvest its produce in your own storehouses , and if you have surplus after comfortable subsistence , barter it in the commercial market for those nccessarv
commodities which machinery can supply at a cheaper rate than individuals can produce . "
Schism In Tiie Church. The Archbishop Of...
SCHISM IN TIIE CHURCH . The Archbishop of Canterbury charged with blasphemy , by the Archbishop of Dublin . ' The Archbishop of Dublin protests against the form of prayer prepared by the Arch bishop of Canterbury , and agreed upon by her Majesty in Council , as well as to that settled by the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland , humbly imploring tho Almighty God to ivert from these countries the impending calamity of famine . Tho objections are of a two-told _natureeiral and spiritual . Dr . Wliatelv denies the
constitutional n <; lit to issue such a command ; and , as he considers the visitation a direct judgment from God , he looks upon any attempt at propitiating the Divine wrath in the nature ol a blasphemy . His Grace preached a sermon upon flu ' s subject on Sunday in the Episcopal Chapel of St . Stephen , in which he expounded his views , political and religious . Copies of ths form of public prayer , as it appeared in the Gazette , were distributed _throughout the church , but were subsequently removed , and the praver not was read—orders , as it was 9 a ' _u ! , to that effect havin _" been issued by the Archbishop . "
This is a precious go . We presume that his Grace of Dublin , rather than have no prayer at all to avert famine , adopted the prayer of the Archbishop Chartism , which was no doubt more to his taste , as his Grace is the head of the Malthusian tribe—and , therefore , in that prayer , which recommends increased labour with INCREASED PROFITS , he sees the realization of the true principles of political economy . However , when Archbishops fall out , it is hard to expect tbeir flocks to agree , so that , accordins ; to the
oid adage , we may expect that HONEST MEN WILL COME HY THEIR OWN . We should be g lad to know if either of their Graces have suffered from the famine ; and if not , how it is iliat such high and mighty vice-gerents have been overlooked in the dispensation . However , we have supplied a prayer , and we shall now supply a grace for their Graces . " O Lord , we thank thee for these thy gifts , and all the good things of this life , _jybich tiiou hast been
Schism In Tiie Church. The Archbishop Of...
p leased to furnish for our use , and we pray that thou wouldst be pleased to ALLOW thy servants to share this , thy bounty , with thy poor and famishing people . Amen . "
Weekly Review. Ireland Still Occupies Th...
WEEKLY REVIEW . Ireland still occupies the foreground among hometopics , but there are scarcely any new features in its condition . The step taken by the Lord-Lieutenant , of advancing public money for the improvement of the soil , seems to have met with universal approbation on both sides ofthe Channel , as a common sense and practical measure in itself ; although we find that many of our contemporaries take the same viewas we did last week , as to the impropriety of
allowing the landlords to reap the entire ultimate benefit , which the expenditure of national capital and labour will inevitably produce . Even the ultra-economical Chronicle has been driven into something like ordinary reason on the occasion , and advises , that if we are to employ the unemployed people of Ireland io improving the partially cultivated lands of thafc country with the money of the public , it shall be on such conditions as shall ensure to the labourers soemployed , the ultimate possession and enjoyment of the soil thus reclaimed and rendered fruitful .
But the difficulty of dealing with a powerful body of landowners , who would almost universally unite to resist what they would call an aggression on the privileges of a position , the duties of which they either do not know , or are unable , to fulfil , seems to frighten the Prime Minister now at the helm of affairs . He looks on silent and inactive , at the very time when of all things promptitude , decision , and comprehensive measures , are imperatively demanded . The Irish branch of the Executive are actively , if not always wisely , employed in the endeavour to avert or alleviate the calamities of the sister Island . The
Home Government give no sign of life save in the occasional holding of a Cabinet Council , the results of which are- nil . This conduct has not escaped animadversion in Ireland . The papers speak out on _thesubject . Mr . O'Connell " 'danma" the Whigs" with faint praise . " His copious and exaggerated eulogiums on the bravery and wisdom of Lord _Besborough are only so many left-handed hits at Russell . In truth , the crisis demands far other Statesmen than those who now administer the affairs of the country . From the details we have given , as to the state of things in Ireland , it will be seen that the southern , western , and some of the midland counties , are the scenes of serious and _increasing suffering _.
and its concomitant outbreaks . The shipment of provisions is obstructed , and their inland transit prevented . Provision shops and stores are plundered . Com is carried from the haggard and openly thrashed by the road-side , In some districts the tumults have almost assumed an insurrectionary character . Dungarvan may be said to be in a stateof _siejre . At Cork arrangements have been madefor the military defence ofthe town ; troops are concentrated at Atlilone , ready to act as _oct-asion may require , in repressing risings in the adjacent counties ; and both the naval and the land forces at tbe _disposal of tlie Irish Uovcrnment , has been greatly augmented .
In the very midst of this appalling state of things , the empty puppets who play Punch and Judy at Conciliation Hall , are squabbling amongst themselves a 3 to who shall sit for this and that borough , evincing by their conduct tho callousness of their hearts , and the slender degree of real interest they feel in the fate of their unhappy country . If the calamity which has stricken it , be only of service enough to open the eyes of its population to the rascality , venalitv ,
selfishness , and vanity of those who have so long misled them , it will not have occurred in vain . Such disgusting scenes as those enacted between Messrs O'Neil and John O'Connell ; Shea , Lawler and the same worthy descendant cf the great humbug , are surely enough to exhibit these worthies _i-. i their true character of traders in their country ' s miseries . Until Ireland gets rid ofits quacks , it will never be in a healtliv state .
One gleam of sunshine has broken athwart the formerly unrelieved gloom which luui _^ over the fortunes of Ireland . It U reported that in -cveral cases , where the potatoes had been given up as hopeless , tbe fine September weather has restored tl . eni to health ; _ac-3 That , though small in size , and an inferior crop Li : ¦ ¦ : _< _Quantity , tbey will yet be fit for food . Should - : n > " : * vrae ; o _f-ny great extent , it wonld mitigate % , _i-i _distress , _b-. it by no means affor . l any excuse for _rdsxiar those continuous and comprehensive efforts , _whk-h must noTK made to rescue that country from . " Ming evfron ibe verge of starvation . There is land enough , and labour enough in it , to produce abundance for all . Whatever obstruction stands in the _wov of the union of these two primarv elements of all
wealth , and their consequent offspring plenty and fertility , must "ire way . If the Chinch is the obstruction , remove it ; if the landlords are the barrier , clear them out . " W hat is sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander . " When the poor are _dri-en by thousands from their humble homes and holdings , it is justified on the plea of state necessity and the public good . We only ask that the same measure may , at this emergency , be meted out to those who bave urged that argument . Tlie objects of all human institutions are , or are assumed to be , the happiness of those who live under them . When , as in the case of Ireland , the existing institutions are confessedl y an utter and hopeless failure ; it is time that they should no longer be permitted to cumber the ground .
The new _membsr for St . Albans has launched a somewhat showy and imposing scheme under the title of the National Anti-Poor Law- Union . The objects _| of this confederacy , at first sij _.-ht _, appear desirable and most philanthropic . It is true , there is no great novelty in them , nor in the machinery for carrying them ont . Friendly Benefit , Benefit Building , and Life Assurance Societies have long existed amonst us . The new features of Mr . Cabbell ' s _society seem to be simply their agglomeration into one association , the somewhat queer condition , that nobody shall be a member "
unless recommended by a parson of some sort , and that all benefits shall he forfeited if the members " cease for three months , ( not being siek or otherwise legitimately prevented ) from attending some place of divine worship . " This last is certainly a novelty and one of such a character as will , we are bold to say , deprive Mr . Cabbell of any support from the independent and mentally free industrious classes . They have had enough of priestly domination in times past , without voluntarily running their heads into a new parson-trap , however cunningly disguised .
Mr . Cabbell we believe to be a very charitable man , but it is clear he knows nothing whatever of the task he has taken in hand . The very constitution of his society implies that the existing Poor Law , with all its abominations in principle and practice , is to be let alone , as fit for , what he calls , the idle and vicious classes of society . But there are some preliminary questions to be asked before we agree to his premises . What made these classes idle and vicious ? The vicious and _niOBt immoral institutions of society , which , as it were , predestined them to poverty , ignorance , and the influence of bad
example . Society having mado them thus by its own neglect , has no right to take advantage of its own _Iftches , and condemn them to the Limbo of poverty , vice , and its attendant retributions for ever . In the next place , why should the industrious and prudent ofthe labouring class be called upon to piovide by means of a voluntary association , relief in cases of sickness , old age , accident , or want of employment , while they are at the 9 ame time taxed for the support of the idle and vicious by law ? Mr . Cabbell has made a mistake at the beginning as many a better man has . lie must ' * hark back" and try
again . Meetings to memorialise tho Government for the opening of the ports have been held at Dundee ; and Manchester . At tho latte r _, place speeches were made in support of this measure , which are quoted by the Chronicle in an approving leader , as being the
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Citation
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Northern Star (1837-1852), Oct. 17, 1846, page 4, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/ns/issues/ns3_17101846/page/4/
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