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Northern Star (1837-1852), 19th September 1846, Edition 3 of 3, Page 1, '. r ^^^w^f- - -' T^r^bk- ¦ A ' If' /,£^...

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    • TO THE IMPERI AL CHARTISTS
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      To The Imperi Al Chartists

      TO THE IMPERI AL CHARTISTS

      My Dear Friends,—As Your Safety, My Safe...

      My dear Friends , —As your safety , my safety , and , what is of much more importance , the safety of the Democratic party and principles all over the world , must mainly , if not entirely , depend npon our wisdom , onr prudence , and courage , during the ap preaching winter and elections , I hold it to be my duty , as one of your leaders , to lay the simple past before you , as a simple guide for a boisterous and complicated future . I am now sitting in a room of one of labour ' s new houses , and writing my thoughts myself , unobstructed by the city ' s bustle , and unimpeded by the measured rule of dictation . I write much better when I write myself than -when I dictate my thoughts to another .

      The letter I am about to write will be long , and mnst be preserved , if not for yonr guidance at least for my justification , when the interested shall scan my conduct , and measure my judgment by the folly « intemperance of others ; as I have been invariably made the peg npon whicb faction and desertion have hung their every complaint . Faction , charging me with its own tyranny , rendered necessary by my guilt ; and desertion , charging me witb the failure consequent npon its own treachery . Tbis address should have been a little book , entitled— « Reminiscences of the Past , as a Guide to the Future . " Now , follow me , and mark me as I lead yon through the political maze of faction , for the last thirteen years and a half .

      On tbe 4 th of February , 1838 , 1 took my seat in the House of Commons , for my native county , the largest in Ireland , and I was returned by the largest majority that any member ever bad in a contest , although I never asked a single man to vote for me , io propose me , or to second me . "While I was in fiie House of Gammons I proposed several measures for the improvement of the condition of the Irish people ; and I resisted all assaults npon tbe remaining liberties of tbe English . I shall not now stop to recapitulate then ) , bnt merely observe , tbat tbe measures I proposed for Ireland were laughed at , at the time , but many of them have been since adopted . I proposed a system of Poor Laws , based upon

      agricultural improvements , and labour premiums but NO WORKHOUSES . I proposed that landlords should be compelled to make leases for ever , at a rent varying ACCORDING TO THE PRICE OF CORN—a plan that mnst now be adopted . I proposed that in all cases where lands were now held upon leases at war or overhigh prices , thatthe _real-ralue should be estimated by a jury , in like manner as government , corporations , or chartered companies , can now compel individuals to sell property for national , pnblic , or , indeed , individual benefit . I proposed that all Irish Clergymen holding the commission of the peace should be suspended . This was received witb a laugh , but was ADOPTED

      AND PASSED IN THE FOLLOWING TEAR . I drew np a bill for the consolidation of the various _stamp acts , in which I incorporated several improvements in our local courts , such as giving to them an equitable jurisdiction in all transactions between landlord and tenant , and constituting a land of district registration court , whereby tenants may be spared the expence and vexation of Chancery and other ruinous equity suits . I proposed to take away tbe power of distress altogether . And I also proposed the very best of those measures now offered "by the "Whigs , and lauded by Mr . O'Connell , as to

      ihe mode of establishing the landlord's claims for rent , and the tenant ' s set off—but of themselves insignificant , they are bat a small part of a great whole . Now , many of my propositions , then laughed at , have been since adopted , and before twelve months all must be conceded , although I "WAS THE ORIGINATOR . In 1835 , 1 was ousted , upon the plea that I bad not a sufficient qualification ; "While about £ 420 , the very worst property I had , was allowed as part . The required amount is £ 600 -a year for the life of the member , and in landed prorje ' rtv . I had onlv . £ 420 for life—I had , and STILL

      HAVE , mv splendid domain , ana splendid mansion , ibr 9999 years , of which I made about £ 900 a year . I had about £ 700 a year for three live 3 , renewable for ever , in whicb I purchased a life interest for £ 3 , 000 and the reversion of Fort Robert after ray death . I was making about £ 2 , 000 a year , and more , of my profession , and I owed a mortgage of - £ 1 , 000 . Now , such was my exact position when I was unseated by a Committee of the Honse of Commons , a majority being Irish repealers—Major

      Macnaniara , the member for Clare , and other repealers , voting against me on every question the most ridiculous , Maurice and John O'Connell undertook to strike the committee for me , and left me a tribunal of rank Tories and Irish repealers . Mr . Maher and Mr . Parker , M . P . for Sheffield , alone advocating my cause , while Mr . O'Connell watched the door of the house during tbe ballot , and prevented Mr . Bodkin and other Irish Hlierals from attending , observing , that THEY COULD DO WITHOUT ME .

      During the whole time that I sat in Parliament I voted for all liberal measures and spoke too liberally even for the English people : my votes and speeches and motions are npon record , and will one day rise in judgment against my enemies . However , I was ousted , which cost me about £ 1 , 350 , my constituents paying a small portion of it , and Mr . O'Connell had the insolence to say that I had sold the county io my cousin , who was my successor , and to whom I had never opened my lips till the committee had -ousted me , and whom I never saw since . From 1831 to 1833 I marshalled the whole county and

      boroughs , and registered the county at my own -expense , travelling at my own expense , and defending every man charged with political offences at my own expense . In the autumn of 1835 the two Houses were likely to be brought into collision upon the Municipal Reform Bill , the thing which , of all -others the Whigs dreaded and the thing which , of all others , I thought indispensable to the full and liberal developement and future working of the Reform Bill . The Commons had passed a _sweeping measure of Municipal Reform , and the Lords made various prunmgand damaging amendments _.

      I commenced an agitation in tbe hope of _emboli bing the Commons to persevere , and had a tremendous meeting of over 10 , 000 at Brentford as a commencement , where we adopted an address to Lord John Russell , encouraging him to persevere with the measures of the Commons , and we also passed strong _, resolutions condemnatory of the Lords' proceedings I attached paramount importance to a complete opening of all the local channels to power . On the following day I saw Dominick Ronayne , "M . P ., for Clonmel , who had given notice of a series of excellent resolutions _condemnatory of the Lords ,

      proceedings and urgmg the Commons to persevere . "When I saw Ronayne and told him of our first blow at Brentford , he replied with a sigh , " Ab , my dear fellow , it ' s all up , O'Connell has forced me to abandon my resolutions , and they mean to accept the Lords' amendments . " I went to dine at the Westminster Club , and the first person I saw at dinner was Mr . O'Connell , he invited me to join him , he said " Well , my dear wild Feargus , and how are you . " I replied , " O'Connell . you have sold us

      again , but > ou shall never sell us more . I will now fall back upon the power outside the house , and I will marshal the non-elective influence against tbe electoral power . " Ile used a good deal of blarney , but I was resolved , and I instantly set about my work , and upon the 18 th September , 1835 , I established the Great Radical Association in Marylebone , which is fhe parent of our present gigantic movement . In the autumn ofthe year , Mr . O'Connell made a tour of Scotland and Ireland , his chief topic being abuse of the BLOATED BUFFOONS—THE OLD _AVOMEU Hi _PAflTALOOflS-THE LORDS . The object of this agitation was to show the necessity o

      My Dear Friends,—As Your Safety, My Safe...

      a Reform in the Lords , to carry out the Reform in the Commons . He traversed the whole country , the whole press reported him ; he returned to London , and might have proclaimed any description of Reform or even CONSTITUTION he desired . The middle and working classes were with him to a man , and the _leadine , Whies were perfectly acquainted with his object , which was , under a more exciting topic than mere Whiggery could furnish , to strengthen the hands of that party hy weakening those ofthe enemy . After his tour he returned to Ireland and wrote a series of letters to " Lord

      Duncannon , then Secretary for the Home Department , and now the Earl of Besborougb , Lord Lieutenant of Ireland , and the whole burden of which was an offer of Irish support to the "Whi gs upon the condition of Whig patronage being conferred , through him , upon the leaders . When he returned to England in the following year , he hoped to hold a succession of Whig meetings in London , but I was determined-to face bim in the outset . He attended a crowded meeting in Theobald' s-road , with a number of young Whig friends , and had been invited to take the chair , and came with that intention ,-however , the

      people * bad srael t a rat , and , just as he was going to take tbe chair , Augustus Beaumont proposed , and Henry Hetherington seconded , me as chairman and I was elected by an immense majority , so large , that O'Connell ' s friends were paralyzed hut did not dispute the election . I opened the proceedings by reading him a lecture which he has not forgotten and never will . When he got up to speak he was very coldly received , and , as is his custom , he attempted to feel his audience . He said there were 150 Radicals in the house —( no not one was the response . ) Oh , yes , said he , there is one at any rate , for I am one ( no you

      are not ) . Well then , what am 1 ? ( A Whi g ) . He then began to laud the Poor Law Act ; this was the sig nal for general revolt , all hissed . Dan tried the old dodge . " I wish some one would cram a hot p otatoe in that fellow ' s mouth" ( roars of" that won't do here , Dan" ) , and after a long and ineffectual _attempt at blarney a lane was opened and the Liberator and his friends passed majestically through the dense body amidst general laughter , but were not treated like the Chartist delegates in Dublin . This was O'Connell ' s last appearance at a legitimate

      public meeting in England . The session of 183 G was one of compromise within and discomfiture without . He returned to Dublin , having made his terms with the Saxon Home Secretary , and , with the loss of English popular support rankling in his heart , he denounced me to his creatures as " unmrthy the confidence of the Irish people , '' and said that " when the battle of liberty was to be fought , that I should be found in the enemies ranks . " This denunciation produced my pamphlet of 1836 , and , since its appearance , his name stinks in the nostrils of everv honest man .

      "So much of my narrative , though indirectly connected ! with your cause , bears immediately upon my own history . Now I proceed with the consideration of those incidents with which recapitulation will familiarize yon , and very slight reflection will enable you to make one connected narrative of the transactions of the past eleven years , the most eventfnl period ot yonr country ' s history . From the moment that I set about tbe Herculean labour of merging all sectional movements into one great national struggle for independence , and as 1

      proceeded on my mission through the populous manufacturing districts , the great difficulty which presented itself in whatever direction I turned , was the deadly resolve of those that WERE TOO IDLE TO WORK AND TOO POOR TO LIVE WITHOUT LABOUR , to arrest all progress , which did not secure them the means of comfortable idleness , together with some little notoriety and distinction . This tribe of locusts beset me on all hands , and ever had a ready-made Drusus to set in authority over me in the-hope of perpetuating their rule of profitable _dleness .

      The orking Man ' s Association was called into existence and the leaders cast around or some influential and wealthy directors , with whom popular support was to be bartered for the necessary supplies , and Hume , Leader , War . burton , Roebuck , Grote , Frank Place , and a host of Malthusians , became the pocket-piece and directing power of this incubus . I met their first experiment of monuments for the Scottish martyrs upon the threshold , and defeated them . This , if successful ,

      was to have been followed by meetings forthe ballot , and all was done in an under-hand way to support the Whigs . This resistance paralyzed the faction for a season ; but still determined to live and idle , they proposed details for our Radical principles , and once more voted confidence in , or at least another trial to , Daniel O ' Conuell and those who cunningly attached their signatures to the People ' s Charter . This was the reason for changing our name from Radicals to Chartists . It was the Morning Chronicle christened us CHARTISTS .

      Then came the Canadian question , upon which they again tried to sell us to the Whigs ; and then the Glasgow Cotton Spinners question , which they proposed absorbing to themselves , when I had done all the work . The professed object of this party was to form the working classes into one body , and to exclude all save tbeir own members or nominees from taking any part in public meetings . In short , to do without John Bell , Bronterre O'Brien , and Feargus O'Connor , the three leading Radicals of the day . However , in spite of all , I took the movement out of their hands , and as proof of my every charge against them , we have these two striking indisputable facts on record—not oue of the leaders have done a

      day ' s work since they become politicans , and every one of them have deserted our ranks since they discovered that they could not sell us to the Malthusian Whigs , for they are one and all supporters of the DAMNABLE ACT , or at least tbey never joined in opposition to it . Those gentlemen once tried the dreadful alternative of preventing my speaking upon the question of the Glasgow cotton spinners at the Mechanic ' s Institution , but the audience would hear me , and I spoke till half-past twelve , and sent them all home with their speeches bottled for another

      occasion . I have now brought you to 1837 , when this section was utterly routed , and Attwood and thc Brummagens sought to occupy their ground . Attwood proposed a sacred holiday , and Mr . Salt and the other emissaries of the merchants and bankers infested the manufacturing districts to pusli tlieir NEW MOVE . 1 met Salt at Manchester , and npon the part of the people I consented to the

      project , upon condition that Attwood and the bankers should cease discounting bills , that the merchants and shopkeepers should refuse their consignments and profits during the holiday , and further that a sufficient sum should he placed at my disposal to support the indigent poor pending the bankers' and merchants' struggle . I was not in love with the Brummagens , because they had presented a most beastly complimentary address to William IV . just then , in whicb they had lauded Whiggery . How-

      My Dear Friends,—As Your Safety, My Safe...

      ever , my rider to the sacred holiday smothered the project for the present , and the Brummagens were outrageous . In 1838 the election for _delegates to the ensuing Convention came on , and Attwood , Douglas , Muntz , Collins , and , I believe , Salt , made a tour of Scotland to secure support . Douglas travelling with prospectuses of the Birmingham Jvurnal , and Muntz taking orders 'for RIFLES , at £ 1 a piece ; and all recommending the establishment of RIFLE CLUBS as the ONLY MEANS OF CARRYING THE CHARTER , while they had simultaneously concocted the celeberated Calton Hill moral force

      resolutions , in conjunction with Brewster , Fraser , and Abraham Dunkin . The tour was made in a most gorgeous manner , travelling with four horses , living like fighting cocks , draining cellars , and all at the expence of . the funds of the political union ; while , throughout the march , abuse of Feargus O'Connor was the staple commodity . Meantime the Cobbettites were active in the manufacturing districts in canvassing for the support and return of their friends to the Convention . The Londoners inundated every district . with their missives for alike purpose , while I never wrote one line , or canvassed a particle of support through the Star or otherwise , leaving all to the discretion of the people .

      The result of this unconstitutionai interference was , that the three sections actually mustered a majority of the Convention . The Brummagens having secured 8 , the Cobbettites 9 , and the Londoners 8 , being a majority of the whole Convention ; a circumstance you may be assured that cost me no small anxiety , and required no small amount of prudence and anxious watching to meet . I dreaded the Whiggery of the Brummagens , the individualism of the Cobbettites , and the money grubbing of the Londoners , and in turn each developed its ruling passion .

      James Paul Cobbett made the first assault , in his cunning resolutions , which were , however , defeated with no further loss than the retirement , of the disappointed INDIVIDUAL from the Convention . Thc Londoners made a more successful assault upon the funds which they appropriated to an expensive mission . Tbis I endeavoured to resist , hut was compelled to submit to the pecuniary loss , rather than leave the people ' s cause to the mercy of growling , dissatisfied patriots .

      The effect of this was , firstly , to drain our-exchequer ; and , secondly , as they travelled in couples , it had the effect of sectionalising the country once more—the very thing that I had struggled to undo —as each couple made their prescribed district the future scene of their own popularity , aud no two agitated alike . The effect of this tour was to divide the Convention into couplets , each pair relying upon their peculiar locality for countenance and support .

      Lastly , the Brummagems came out for their ruling passion—PATRONAGE , and they sought the most cowardly and unjust course of secession from the Convention . Their real motive was hope of municipal patronage , while their declared reason was some ridiculous physical force speeches made by Mr . Sankey and others at the Crown and Anchor . However , as a proof that the object of one aud all was division , we bave the fact , that three sections have sought refuge in one species or other of patronage . The Brummagems in solid coin . The Londoners in a kind of show box speculation , hiring jugglers for the illustration of metaphysics .

      And the Cobbettites have sunk into a kind of telescopic reveree , from which they can see only , and therefore only contemplate , their own im . portance . Prior to the first general rupture , all tried to force the Convention into a discussion upon the merits of the physical force question , which , however , I successfully resisted to the last , and so far saved the body from the general charge , while the effect was to saddle upon me every torch and dagger expression of all .

      Then came the consideration that was paramount to all others , as far , as our own very existence as a party was concerned : —the discussion of ulterior measures , the object of which was to force me into approval of Lovett ' s foolish and illegal proposition . There was not one soul in the Convention with whom I conferred upon any of those subjects , and I saw no safety except in removing the sittings from London to Birmingham , in which , after a long , angry and protracted debate , I succeeded ; and , finally , was enabled to reject a scheme which was concocted for the * mere purpose of catching tbe enthusiastic mind of those exciting times , and of placing the Londoners in the ascendant .

      Then came the question of the sacred holiday , and the anxiety and responsibility consequent upon a mad freak , the failure and disaster of which I was well aware would fall upon me , and at the same time the _exhaastion of the Exchequer , which set all about preparing themselves to meet their constituents with exaggerated accounts of their own courage , and the fact that , but for Feargus O'Connor _, thev would have had the Charter .

      When we returned from Birmingham , I saw no alternative but to divide the remnant of the plunder amongst the cormorants , and dissolve the Convention , retaining a managing council to wind up the affairs and pick up tbe few remaining crumbs , and by which I was enabled to _lessen-the horrors of the Attwood holiday , and saved thousands from starvation , transportation , and death—and thus ended the session of the Convention of 1839 ; which cost me many a sleepless nigbt , and the country many a

      thousand pound ; but wliich , nevertheless , has more than repaid the cause , from the fact that it was the first notice to the working classes , that if their work is to be done , it must be done by themselves . Next came the sectional struggle for local approval and supportofwhatthedelegateshadindividuallyproposed , and all of whicli would have succeeded , but for Feargus O'Connor ; but , thank God , it did not . This ripping up of old sores was a heavy blow , and always recoiled on the assailants . Mad Dr . Flecther commenced it .

      Then came the Herculean difficulty of satisfyingthe people with what had been done . I made my first tour with this view in Scotland , and the first enemy that presented itself , was the establishment of secret associations—the members of which were to correspond in invisible ink , to hold secret mid-night meetings , and enter upon a full system of proscription . At Glasgow , I met Mr . MASON , NOW of BIRMINGHAM , as the herald and propoundcr of this bloody conspiracy , and the result was that , though in very ill health , I was compelled to make a lengthy tour to caution the Scotch people against this blow at their cause—nay , at their lives .

      Thus broken up , and the country disappointed , we _became an easy prey to the government , which dreaded our power , while we had even tbe semblance of union . The treacherous and weak and silly speech of Attwood on presenting the National Petition- —wheu he attempted to sacrifice the popular movement to

      My Dear Friends,—As Your Safety, My Safe...

      his o _^ e ' pound note crotchet , disheartened the working classes , and made us appear _noxious in the eyes of all Europe , from the notion that , after all , the one pound note mania was the paramount principle of Chartism . So much have leaders in their power , that this silly man ' 9 sill y speech had all but destroyed us . Reference to the proceedings ofthe Brummagems , during the winter of 1838 , would have been more in order in a previous part of my narrative but will

      not lose its effect by being thus displaced . The Muntz ' s , Douglas ' s , and Salt ' s strained every nerve to preserve Birmingham as a mere section ofthe movement , to he under their own controul ; and , in order to get rid . of me , they were driven to the alternative of denouncing me as an Irishman , and for having tolerated the mad rubbish of Parson Stephens—when , to their utter astonishment , j challenged them to a public meeting in their own town , and broke up the whole clique , without a soul , but their own friends , to back me .

      However , when we were divided , government picked us one by one , and dealt as they pleased with the Mattered array of Chartists , dealing the heaviest _blow-at Frost , who had made himseff obnoxious to Lord John Russell personally , and to the Whig cabinet generally . Frost was the victim of five persons , three of whom are still in this country , and was forced into his position against his own better judgment ; while , upon the whole , the transport , the gaol , the workhouse , and frightened public opinion ,

      and consequent apathy , bespoke the triumph of Whiggery over Chartism . In perusing my several letters upon physical force , then a fruitful topic , I defy any man to find the slightest intimation of recommendation to resort to it , or one mysterious sentence , whereas it has been the incessant theme of O'Connell , the _Sturgites , the Whigs , the old women , and has especially received the marked condemnation of those who most strongly recommended it— -while I , who have stood my ground , am saddled with the vituperation of its several denouncers .

      I suffered , in common with many poor fellows , who were , like myself , victims to the treachery of knaves-In 1841 , the idle gentlemen were again put to their shifts TO LIVE AND BE GREAT , and they formed a new alliance with Hume , Place , Roebuck and others , to recruit the ranks of Whiggery once more under a more liberal principle—the principle of household suffr age , which one of the

      _distingushed"GREATIDLERS "—HONEST JOHN COLLINSassured us was universal suffrage . A very ridiculous little book , compiled by Lovett and Collins whilst in Warwick gaol , under the patronage of Brougham , Roebuck and Place , was the foundation of their PLAN , and it was ushered into existence by copious prospectuses , inviting untrammelled labour to support its GREAT IDLE labourers . The first gathering of the vermin took place in Marshall ' s flax-mill , and , if successful , was to have been followed by similar demonstrations in all the populous towns in England . I met this move in the outset , and

      chalked out the Fox and Goose plate on my prison table . Resistance to this move cost me in every way nearly - £ 100 , not one single fraction came from any pocket but my own , and , shame to several districts , I purchased the tickets as fast as they were printed ; they were dispersed to leaders to dispose of in their several districts ; but I never was repaid . Yes , I beg pardon , I was by the signal triumph of the . glorious Chartists , who waded up to their middles in snow in a bleak January day to fi g ht for their principles . This was the best battle we ever fought . Moir and the brave men from the nortli

      beat Arthur O'Neil , HONEST JOHN COLLINS , and the idlers from the south , and we annihilated the enemy . A horse died under Dan ' s carriage , wliich detained him TWENTY-FOUR HOURS , and he was spared the humiliation of participating in the defeat of his brother Whigs . After the battle , honest John Collins melted into bacon fat at the expence of Mr . Sturge , and has since become one of the middle class shopkeepers . O'Neil took refuge in the pulpit , while Lovett embraced the wider range of manager of the National Hall , where all but Feargus O'Connor may exhibit , but not one has worked a single day since .

      I spent my 16 months in a felon's cell , and came forth from it with the arduous task before me of rescuing the party , not only from the olden foe , but from the OLD FRIEND , THE GENTLEMEN WHO WERE TOO PROUD TO WORK AND TOO POOR TO LIVE WITHOUT LABOUR , aud every one of whom fancied that imprisonment had given him a prescriptive right to introduce his own peculiar notions as the rule of our future guidance , and with a patent to live henceforth in idleness upon the move ment , and each in turn renouncing his former errors and leaving upon my shoulders the odium of bearing them .

      From the time of tbe general gaol delivery o 1842 , we lingered on , and again the people reposed confidencein another Convention—a better representation tban the previous one ; but still defective . I had learned the tactics of the League in the event of their favourite measure being refused , and I had mapped out to my mind the disasters that must inevitably follow tlieir disappointment ; and I used these words in the Convention : Believe me ,

      my friends , when you return to your localities , your principal difficulty will be in separating tbe excesses forced upon the people from the acts of the Chartist body ; for , rely upon it , that every particle of violencc created by the League , and their attempts to gain their esd by starving the people , will be saddled on the old hack , Chartism . You must keep tbe people apart from their movement and their machinations . "

      When the Convention was dissolved , and after our glorious chief bad presented our petition in the ri ght way , I made a tour of Lancashire and Yorkshire , aiul the midland counties , for no other purpose than to caution the people , and put them on their guard against the projected outbreak of the League ; and my words everywhere were : " They will try to make you figlk ; but do you fold your arms this time while the two dogs are fi ghting for the bone ; and if you remain quiet and laugh at the squabble , you may step in , and run away with your share when they bavedoue . " Now , this brings me to the awful year of Chartismthe year 1842 ; the year that the heartless millowners turned out their hands , in the hope of accomplishing by blood , devastation , desperation ,,

      starvation , and anarchy , what they had failed to secure from the fears of Parliament . This outbreak for the Repeal of the Corn Laws was concocted by a few desperate speculators , who hoped to _mce-l their _engagements by the SPONGING system . They foolishly supposed that Free Trade would ! either make tbem rich , as if by magic , or that a revolution for its accomplishment would save them from bankruptcy and the odium | 0 f investigation . However , by the good sense of the _peojle , and the wise policy adopted b y tbo Convention assembled at Manchester , the origiuators of the REVOLUTION were driven to the alternative , not of Free Trade , or a revolution for Free Trade , but the Charter , or a revolution for the Charter ; and Chartist wisdom having thus changed the battle oi _¥ iee Trade into

      My Dear Friends,—As Your Safety, My Safe...

      a war for the-Charter , the millowners were but too happy to open their shops once more , which they never would have done till they bad carried " Free Trade , " if they had been able to confine the war of hunger to that one point . The employing classes in this _oauntry have the power at any given moment to create * a > revolution by stopping labour . However ,. whew they were baffled in the open fielaVthe party , honing to take

      advantage of our discef lafiture , cunningly attempted to rally the people once- more for a moraT force Free Trade demonstration ; and , to . effect their purpose , they called a Conference of Free Traders * to assemble at Birmingham , in December , 184 _? under the more specious pretext of COMPLETING' THE SUFFRAGE , which they consummated by abandoning their posts , when they eould not CAJOLE TIE MAJORITY , and declared that sense , not numbeiay constituted a majority .

      This was another proud proof that Chartism was . invincible and invulnerable . The Lancaster trials _, were-hanging over us . Dismay was supposed ; to _> have paralysed every limb of Chartism . lit wa * December , 'in the . depth of ' wiuter . The beasb Abinger had given a fearful const-ruction of the law of conspiracy . The Defence Fund had exhausted the poor and zealous . The weaEbh _* the influence , the power of station , and _professson of principle , werejjall opposed to us . Our own ranks were disorganised by the League Revolution of 1842 . The

      Executive was suspected , and erroneously supposed that I had sanctioned their denunciation ; and they and their friends hated me more- tfean they hated the common enemy , whom they wooiM have joined against me . We had nightly meetings , professedly to adjust , but really to increase , our own differences . But hear it , all you who vainly hope to strangle Chartism , our FOUR HUNDRED labourers , the representatives of PAWNED SHEETS and UNBLANKETTED BEDS , flew to . the cry of "The Charter is in danger I "

      After our support of Sturge , at Nottingham , and my suffering for him as I did there , his conduct was cold-blooded and unmistakeable . Like the Brummagems in 1838 , prior to the election of the Convention , Sturge and his friends perambulated Scotland prior to the Birmingham Conference , and openlv declared that one of their chief olyecls waa to

      GET RID OF FEARGUS . GOD HELP THEIR FOOLISH HEADS ! Here again the GREAT JOHN played us false . Sturge charged Lovett with having betrayed and deserted the complete suffragists ; and he and Tom Parry , failing to convert the reduced Conference to FREE TRADE principles , would have terminated the sitting by recrimination , and ripping up the past , but for the good sense of the delegates . Roberts may he said to be the leader of the Chartist party at the Conference , and most nobly he discharged the duties of his office . I- was resolved to do as little as needs be , although the disappointed COMPLETES bellowed through the

      country THAT FEARGUS HAD PREVENTED A REAL UNION OF THE CHARTISTS . Tbis conference above all other trials assured me of the deep root that Chartism had taken . The main object of the promoters of the Birmingham conference was , a resolution to be in a state of preparedness when the Lancaster jury had consigned us all for three years , at least , to the dungeon .

      Then came theLStfeaster trials , and our squabbles about being ACQUITTED after an EIGHT-DAYS STRUGGLE , with the whole strength of the legal staff of Toryism , led on by the Attorney-General , and before a Special Jury , BUT A JUST JUDGE . —GOD BLESS HIM ! Had we been convicted , and imprisoned , then , Chartism would have had many severe struggles for resuscitation , but I would have RALLIED IT ONCE MORE , EVEN THEN , FOR I HAVE SWORN THAT IT SHALL NEVER DIE , but shall kill all the weeds that would destroy it . After this signal triumph , Chartism was allowed

      to luxuriate in the apathy caused by desertion of leaders , good employment , partly consequent on railway operations , and the thinning of the stocks by tbe turn-out of 1842 , tbe opening of the China market , and abundance of spare money , until the winter of 1844 , when another extinguisher was proposed , under the childish specious guise of stopping the supplies . Shannan Crawford was the wise projector , not of the plan , but of the time , and the Sturgites were the ready instruments . Sturge took the flame , and poor Mason burned with the desire of doing SOME PRACTICAL GOOD FOR HIS

      ORDER , which always means a cessation from labour for the leader . This was likely to gain great favour , and few , very few , have yet understood the meaning of this dodge , which was , to depose Duncombe , as the popular leader , and to substitute Shar . man Crawford—a change for which THE PEOPLE WERE NOT PREPARED . All novel questions are to be heralded by . conferencns and demonstrationsso the' stop the supply' gentlemen had an extensive and a very expensive conference sitting in London for a week previous to the grand demonstration , wliich came off on the eve of the meeting ' of Parliament ,

      at tbe Crown and Anchor , and where the Completes , under Sliarman Crawford , anticipated a COMPLETE and glorious victory . Tliey bad it all tbeir own way ; no preparation was made to test them upon any principle until about 48 hours before the action , and once more the noble army of Chartists , under their . _*' old , their honoured , their brave and unflinching chief ( Duncombe ) , were led into hasty action , and gained another signal victory over the combined forces of Whiggery , Free Trade , and 1 humbug , led on liy Crawford , Dr . Bowring , and G . llindley . This victory taught the enemy the folly

      of encountering a conquering army , and never shall I forget the appearance of chop-fallan . faction , when resting its whole hope upon Mr . Wincent ( Vincent ) , it saw their renegade puppet met with a storm , of groans and hisses , and " off , traitor ,, off'"' Mr . Wincent will settle it , —call on Mr . Wincent , —Mr ; . Wincent , Mr . Wincent , but alas , the charm- ] waftgone , the spell was broken . The stem front of Dunconabe , his manly bearing and cheering , countenance ; ishen the building rang with cheers for the Charter , will

      never be forgotten by those who had the-pleasure of witnessing it . This was our last struggle ; , _owr next will be to resist the acceptance of Complete- Suffrage Candidates as CHARTIST * CANDIDATES at the next General Election . We mus . i . _g-iardl against this , and wherever we are- strong enough to command sufficient influence-to warrant a contest , that influence must be given , to THE PURE , THE UNSULLIED CHARTIST CANDIDATES , _leaving preference for a _Comj-lete , to Whig or Tory , to tbe chapter of local accidents .

      I am now comiag to the material part oS my letter . The Reform Bill was but the _machiivssy- by which Whig ascendancy was to be secured ,,, but its working was a thing wholly lost si g ht of b y the people . They , and not unnaturally , supposed that , according to Whig promise , the measure was to work favourably for them , and that the reformer ' s motto—taxation without _repreticiiitaUoii is tyranny , auw _auovud . be _iMpvtw \ d be tha rotej of _^ _'blg

      My Dear Friends,—As Your Safety, My Safe...

      ction . The people , however , were soon undeceived they discovered that reform meant nothing more hand * 116 _*** transfer of P owerfrom Tory to Whig Ihe sins of Whi ggery became so palpable " , manifold and glaring that a section of that body made a Sham revolt from the Whi g camp . Hume , Warburton , Grote , Roebuck , Ward , Leader , and others , denounced their measures , but nevertheless made

      "keep the Tories out" their rule of Whig support . The Whig Government was always sure of a sufficient amount of Tory support to carry its unpopular measures , and the more coercive the more voluntary the aid ; while , npon the other hand , the rump that would have eworted popularity by mere frothy denunciation , were * ever ready to fly to the rescue when Whiggery _wsjs- in danger . Now , my friends , aUtend well to th & eondosion to wbich I mean to

      lead you from the / past . Tree Trade has been accomplished , but _that s * only tbe * machinery by which Free * Trade policy is * to- be- practically carried out . You were deceived in _t & _epradueztresult * that' you _anticipate * " } from reform-, , take care * tha * yo _» do not fall into'the deeper Free Trade put _ABe-w me to repeat my three primary _objection * to- the measure . Firstly ,, it points to a Fre eTrade cabinet , 80 B _** rined by a Free * Trade majority , whose- view , whour only view , is , na *? ,. whose _triumpH-consiBt > im- the subjugation and ! controul , of _laliaurto-its-ew n' gain and profit .

      ! - Secondly ,--5 have told yew that ' it will' require ; three years , ** the very Iea 9 t , ft )> adjust _the-aeverai | interests that will be affected ! by / the- measure ; , in ; short , that we * " shall have three- years- ' of nervous _jhippishness before anything lilep health * can-be re' stored ; and that all the burthen e _£ chance ,. casualty , [ doubt , and uncertainty , will fall Heaviest on _ffoose | who are least able * to bear the loadi . You _w-ffllhave _iperiods of uncertaint y caused by-high _pricesy and ' periods of uncertainty caused by row prioes _.. The

      _fnimiers are now too- busy about other avocations thai cannot be postponed , to glut the _markets-with tlie-present year ' s produce ; while , in- _A-merica-,. all other business has beemlaid aside to prepare-for the exportation ofa superabundant harvest to-this-country . Nations will not- , be guided , aa- journalists suppose , either b y wholesome speculation or domestic requirement . The rioh market is- _operand all will ! prepare for the first out at the new * traffic—for the- first scramble in the new god-send ;

      Thirdly , —I have told ; yom that as long as-you had to sell ! your labour before- you could buy bread , that not price affixed by legislation to the- _wholesale article would be discoverable- by the consumer ,, when it wa * placed as a retail commodity on-his-board . Suchihave been my principal ! reasons-for resisting the ascendancy of Free- Trade principle _^ while , I think ,, it will appear that onr- policy of December last , in- discontinuing that resistance ; , was an act of inspiration : for , had we succeeded in arresting the Repeal _oITtho Corn X . awo th » _-plngiir »; _poaf'liwvoo .,. onil famine , which has now overtaken Ireland , would

      have beea joyously saddled * upon , our back , and would hove made such a " gulph- between us" that no hnman power could ever BRIDGE OVER . What a fruitful theme Chartist resistance to a measure that would have fed the- Irish and showered blessings upon the whole people _,, would have been tor the Jugglers of Conciliation : Hall _? and what a different impression the wonderful' and conclusive letters of O'Hi ggins would have then made upon the minds ofthe Irish residents in England . However , thank God , we escaped that gulph ; and let us now not fall into a deeper still . I tell you , that free trade without free representation ; ,, is as sure to lead to a revolution as day is sure-to- follow nig ht . I

      have , therefore , written the past as a guide to the future . I have shewn you , that upon all former occasions you have erred with your eyes open ; and I am ready to confess , that it was impossible for you to have avoided the error ; and my only wonder is , that so little damage resulted from , so much provocation . It is easy to write cool philosophy in the closet ; but it is hard to recoucile- the unwilling idler to starvation . I have told you before , and I now repeat it , that the great evil of the present system is that it compels you to live from hand to mouth and that it has hitherto left you ready , but unwilling , instruments iu the hands- of faction , to fight its own battles .

      The next struggle is , then , what I am now preparing you for ; and I will guide-you in that also by the past . I have reminded yon that we stopped the free trade revolution of 1842 , by turning the stream of speculation into tlie Chartist current . They wil only use you when they can do so for tlieir own purposes - , but they never create a popular excitement which they cannot turn to their own account . If , then , they shall attempt , which they assuredly will , to persuade you tbat tbeir political ascendancy is necessary to tbe working of free trade principles ; and if , to achieve that object , they should hazard

      another revolution , through starvation and their control of tbe labour market , let tbe shout of THE LAND ! THE LAND !! THE . LAND I !!—and the CHARTER ! THE CHARTER tt THE CHARTER ! . ' ! resound throughout this sea-bound dungeon I The Land , at a fair price—at a high price , with a lease for ever—that youi may work job work , and at a corn rent , that your render—that is , of the year ' s produce—may be a fair proportion of the season ' s yield . Heed not the moanings of the landlords , whose _estates are encumbered by tbeir own laws -. tbeir necessities are- of the year , and should

      be supplied from the year ' s- render of the producing thing . If they have entangled themselves with family settlements before birth ,, or even before marriage _; if they have hampered themselves with mort . gage debts to pay gambling speculations ; if tbey are unnaturally bound by the harsh . laws of their unnatural parents , who wereLAAViVLA . KE . kS ; tbey must l > ear tbeir sorrows witliout murmuring ,, or , at least , they must not saddle _thnni . as _sins-upoiiitheiniioceiit , who have been the gi-eatest sufferers . Let tbem fight their battles with , tlie Jews and money-mongers and their own relatives ,, and their , own government , but you must no . longer bear the blows .

      I advocate tbe Charter-as- man ' s inherent right and I also _advocato-it- as the- means of taking the political mask off the- agricultural face oS the Land . Land has hitherto , been kept asa mere article of political power ; but God !*? , younger children have become sonumerous _. _that'he-remHrcs- anwccipiitable exercise of the trust ,. which thc first born , nave unjustly executed . Yoa have nothing-to do . with ihe landlords suffering _frorarfh ' _elawsof-primogeniture , of settlement , and entail ; _youihave - n » ' concern- in- the debt which they _ineurreii'to . pay soldiers-and saitors for protecting their _cat-ates . fronv the foreign invader , BUT TO PAY it . " rou- derive no . inters-st from their mortgages , tlMir -gambling , debts , or their strained splendour . AH ; . one aad all , were taxes upou you ;

      andtherefo-je ,. do not now assist them even m cheating the Jews . Let _titem . for once fig ht tlieir own battles but take-care tohave at teast TWELVE UMPtRES in _Hietmg , t _& see-that you d _& not bear the blows . Tha . next struggle will be in St . Stephen ' s cock-pit ; ttiqy will no longer trust to popular excitement , which will not fi g ht tbe battle of . LOW WAGES or HIGH RENTS , so be * prepared for LABOUR'S " ¦ MAIN . " Have 12 cocks for a shake and wonderful will be the revelations , the tricks awl disappointment , of faction , when the _bclli _^ rcuts fin d that tbey must henceforth light their wra battles , and bear each other : blows .

      Beware , then , bowyouare eajob d into suppoi of _apnrtvslong enoug h to cany out "bee _rade principle ! for LABOUR ' S BENEFIT , and beware 5 _TS vou do not _cboose foryour OWN TWELVE men wbo will make a feint for liberal measures , but ( Continued on tne Eigldli . _lty * ' _- _>

      '. R ^^^W^F- - -' T^R^Bk- ¦ A ' If' /,£^...

      ' _. r _^^^ _w _^ f- _- _- ' _T _^ r _^ _bk- ¦ A ' If' / , £ _^ te / / AND NATIONS , TRADES' JOUKNAL .

      Vol. Jx . No. 462- London, Saturday, Sep...

      VOL . JX . NO . 462- LONDON , SATURDAY , SEPTEMBER 19 , 1846 . _^> _% _^ _uW _^ kww ! _moir _^ _^^ " i _& _gigfefa :- : ¦ _* " - e . a _*? , _M" * _k' _* - Sixpence per Quarter

  • Citation
    • Northern Star (1837-1852), Sept. 19, 1846, page 1, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/ns/issues/ns3_19091846/page/1/