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4 THE NORTHERN STAR. December 26* 1846.
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¦500KrPUBLlSH15G-BY'BrD.-C0U*3tNSr 18, DUKE-STREET, LLVCOLN'Sr INA T -FlELDS LONDON.
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THE PLATE OF THE O'CONNORVILLE" ESTATE.
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By next week specimens ofthe above plate...
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IRK A'ORTHEKN STAR SATURDAY, DECEMBER 26, 1846.
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THE QUAKER COTTON LORD AND HIS WHISTLE. ...
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TO DANIEL O'CONNELL, THE LIBERATOR OF IR...
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WEEKLY REVIEW. Tlie day for the re-assem...
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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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4 The Northern Star. December 26* 1846.
4 THE NORTHERN STAR . December 26 * 1846 .
¦500krpubllsh15g-By'brd.-C0u*3tnsr 18, Duke-Street, Llvcoln'sr Ina T -Flelds London.
¦ _500 KrPUBLlSH 15 _G-BY ' BrD _.-C 0 U * _3 _tNSr 18 , DUKE-STREET , LLVCOLN'Sr INA -FlELDS LONDON .
Ad00409
The Shepherd , by the R * r . J . E . Smith , M . A . Vol . price 5 s . 6 d . Vol . II pr ice * 3 s . _Y- _* l . III . price 6 =. 6 d ., doth boards ; or the three volumes In one , ha ! f-bouii _« i ia « _aif « _n-I _lettere-3 _, price _I _6 _« . _Befutathm of _Owetusm , bv G . Redford , of _Worcester ; _teit * * a K _> ply . bj the R * -v . 3 . E . Smith . M . A . ls . Hew ChriMiar . it } ; « . r the rWi . ; * on of St * Simon , with n Colmre . l pom-hit of a S _» - S'monian Female ; translate . ! bv the R-v . J- E Smith . M . A .. Is . _TfceL _' ttie Book , _addrt-ssed to the _Bishf-p of Exeter and R .. _"* -rt On en , by the Rt : v . J . B . Smith , M . A . 6 d . ; by _pOft _, _ie-i . leg-mis una MiraclcB , hy the Rev . J . E . Smith , 11 . A _Cluih boards . It . 8 ii . The 0 _? jiver .-: irChart , containing the Elements of Univer-
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LITHOGRAPHIC ENGRAVINGS OF TIM DUNCOMBE TESTIMONIAL . 1-ft / TAT etill be had at the Office of Messrs . M'Gowan J JVi and Co ., le . Great WindrnUl Street , Haymarket , _"I-London - through . any respectable bookseller in town or l _^ untrv : or at aByoflheagentsofthe A _ortftema « r . _ _Thecn-naving Uon _^ arse scale , is executed in the IBOStfiS Style , is finely printedL « itinted paper and _Krivesa luiuutc _descmsuon of the _Testoomal , and has _,-VwInscription , & c ., 5 _« 7 engraved upomt . 11 *** " - * - *** ** pB . FOURPENCE .
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IMPORTANT TO _PHOTOGRAPHISTS . , AN application was rnaABon tbe 22 nd & t Umber to i A thl . _Yiee-ChanceUor of England , by * r . Beara " ¦/ who , _^ _Lluld _^ _niostextraordiny dehm * _** . considers _UfaSelf ae j * j * i 0 tf « of the _*««* -S _*^ S _**" - _? _S 148 _reestrain MR . ESERTON , _« f 1 , ** ° _P _^* _^ _i- _& FFIeet-street , rom _fcildngPhotog _^ p hici ftrtu * _, J _^ hbe does by a process enbrely differ « _*¦»**»* " _^ wwperior to Mr . Beurd _' s , and at one-half _tfco rf _« ge . £ _& If ouonr refused fhe application 1 U tOtf . X 7 W , required to practice thiB process , which is ¦ _aSaugatb _^ Mr . _Egertoa in a _* w lessons at _amoderate ** AlHhe Apparatus , Ch « ucals , _t . _^ be had M usiul
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_^• : _-- YNowrea _dfr Price OaeSWllhig . - - _«« TnK 8 BCO »» _EJOIHOW « , MY LIFE _^ OlVdTJR SOCIAL STATE _^ PiM I a Poem ,
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CHARTIST POEMS , BY ERNEST JOKES . Price Three Pence . FOUR IH EDITION , BE VISED AN !) _COHBECTKD . ¦ Replete . with the fire of genius , and poetic powers ofthe very highest order , for eloquence and destructive power , 1 hey appear , to us , almost unrivalled . We say " destructive , " for their tendency is " worse than Democratic . "New Quarterly Reviac— f Tory . ) These poems have earned for tlieir author the admiration of thousands . They may be classsed together as stirring and truly poetical appeals , which must commaud the response uf tlie mighty multitude . —Northern Star . These poems may very _.-ippropriately be styled the outpsuring of a soul inspired by a devout love for labour ' s anse , and intent ou the achievement of the emancipation of industry . The poetry will come home witb poirer to many a careworn heart , produce an influence . 111 the mind of millions , and 'do its part towards keeping alive the flame of hope in the souls of the toiling . _—Nottingham Review .
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WEST RIDING OF YORKSI 1 IRE . CHRISTMAS SESSIONS . J
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, DOMESTIC MONITOR . On Saturdhy , December the 12 : h , and every _s-ucceeding Saturday , wili be published , price One Peuny . THE DOMESTIC MONITOR , Or Literary , Seieiitifi _' .- , Legal , and Medical Adviser . Edited by Hermes . Contents—1 . Poland and Italy . 2 . Don Rodri « oi the Forbidden Wsdding . 3 . Nosegay , _ili » ceila-. y . 4 . The People ' s Corner , "Emancipation of White Female Slaves . " 5 Answer * to Correspondents , Scientific , Lite . ra _. y , Legal , aud Medical . 6 . Medical Adviser . New Practical Observation on Consumption . 7 . _Reviews . S . Legal Adviser . 9 . Domestic Herbal . Published by E . Mackenzie , 111 . Fleet Street , and tobe . iad of all _Bouksellers and _Newsvenders . Letters to be addressed , post paid , " Hermes , 31 , _Tonbridjrc Place . New Road ,
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Now Publishing iu Weekly Numbers , Price One Penny . THE CO-OPERATOR . A Joubsal of Social , Moimj _* ,, and Educational Scienck . This work , which is published in Supe-Royal Octavofurnishes weekly reports uf every movement going forward in the country of a co-operative character with or _i- _'inal articles on education , aud all social and moral questions involving the interests aud huppiuess of the people . Published by S . G . Collixs , Holywell Street , Strand . ' Also Publishing in Weekly Numbers , and Monthly Parts . THE FAMILY JOURNAL . Beautifully illustrated , as large and elegantly got up as Chambers' Journal , price Oue Penny , containing a variety _oforigiual romances , tales , and literary , and scientific Essays . C . Dippib , Holy well Street , Strand .
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IMPORTANT TO MINERS . rRosTFcrus OF 1 _IIK MINERS' ADVOCATE AND MANX INTELLIGENCER . To 'be published every Fortnight , and delivered free by post throughout the United Kingdom and the British Colonies . Edited by Mr . William Daniels * THE above Periodical will ro appear early in 1817 , in its orig inal form and siz _? , viz ., 10 pages royal octavo , price as usual , l _$ d . It will in future be printed in Douglas , Isle of Man , and will be published ( fortnightly ) in the above form , until , a sufficient number are printed to complete a Volume of the late series -twelve numbers having already been published , after which , should it meet the wishes of tlie Miners gene _, rail v . « will appear weekly , as a general Newspaper .
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_-- ——A GOOD •¦ _FlW _^ _RAOTEii ! _rf _^^ 1 TBSDELL AND CO ., Tailors , aro now making up a \ J complete Suit " of Superfine Black , any size , for £ 39 Superfine West of England Black , £ 3 Mb . ; and the very best Superfine Saxony ,- £ b , _warranted nottogpet or change colour . Juvenile Superfine Cloth Suits , 24 s ., _Liberies equally cheap—atthe Great Western Emporium , Nos . 1 and 2 , Oxford-street , London ; tlie noted house for good hliickcloths , and patent made trousers . ' ' _Gentlemen con . choose the colour and nuiility of cloth from the _lai-Kest stock in London . The •<' . 1 of ortting taught :
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TO TAILORS . . ., „ , ; . ; ., _' LONDON ind PARIS FASHIONS FOR AUTUMN AND WINTER , 1916-47 . ¦ _., ; . , _L ¦ . ¦¦' " . By READ and Co ., 12 , Hart-Mrect , Blo ' _orasbury square , London ; And G . Berg . r , Holy well-street , Strand ; May be had of all booksellers , wheresoever residing . NOW BE * Dr , By approbation of her Majesty Queen Victoria , and his Royal Highness Prince Albert , a splendid print
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un ine 1 st er January win ue _puonsnea _. No . 1 , ( price 6-1 . ) of . THE LABOURER , A Monthly Magazine of Politics , Literature , Poetry , & c . Edited by Feargus O'Connor , Esq ., and Ernest Jon eh , Esq ., ( Barrister _s-at-Law . ) CONTENTS Or HO . U 1 . A Christmas Carol , by Ernest Jones . 2 . New Year ' s Greeting . 3 . The Insurrections of the Working Classes . 4 . Ireland . 5 . The State of Parties . C . The Romance of a People . 7 . The Trades'Unions . 8 . The Confessions of a King . 9 . The Land and the Charter . 10 . Reviews , He .
The Plate Of The O'Connorville" Estate.
THE PLATE OF THE O'CONNORVILLE " ESTATE .
By Next Week Specimens Ofthe Above Plate...
By next week specimens ofthe above plate will be in the hands of our agents ; and numerous applications having been made by agents and parties who subscribe weekly for a Star , to afford all an opportunity of possessing this uiugnih ' cent and interesting _engraving , we havedecided thatall who shall subscribe to the paper from Saturday , the 9 th of January to February the 6 th , when it will be ready for delivery , shall be entitled to a plate . The plate is far superior to any thing that has ever been given with any paper , as will be admitted on inspection . The price of the _plateand paper will be one shilling ; [ the price of those coloured in the best style will be 2 s . 6 d . ;] and we request that agents will transmit their orders as early as possible , in order that we may print accordingly , as no subscriber need take the plate if he does not wish .
Irk A'Orthekn Star Saturday, December 26, 1846.
IRK _A'ORTHEKN STAR SATURDAY , DECEMBER 26 , 1846 .
The Quaker Cotton Lord And His Whistle. ...
THE QUAKER COTTON LORD AND HIS WHISTLE . We had always anticipated that those who have realized fortunes by slave labour _wou'd sooner or later be driven into open opposition to the Chartist Co-operative Land Company ; and it has fallen to the lot of the most griping , most cruel , and most lying of the whole fraternity of the coldblooded tribe of political economists to hire a very suitable tool for the accomplishment of his very laudable purpose . Some short time ago , upon our return from Manchester , we were informed that a very inquisitive traveller had paid a visit to Herringsgate estate , and who professed himself to be
an acquaintance of Mr . O'Connor . It now appears that this individual was Mr . Somerville , a person who has assumed the cognomen of " One who has whistled at the plough . " Now , had we been aware of the person who thus honoured us with a call , the former services of that individual to the cause of Bright and Co ., would _haye led us to expect a furious denunciation of our system in the outset . But the " OLD SOLDIER , " aware of the humiliating position of his old masters , adopted the
more insidious , but less ingenious plan of buttering us first , that we might be the more easily swallowed at a gulp . Of course there is a deep and sensitive interest displayed in the comfort , condition , and protection of the working classes , by one who will doom * himself to a four hundred miles journey , and a three hours' trudge over BAD ROADS , inthe dreary winter season . A sympathy which , if sincere and paid for by the tourist , would naturally carry with it all that conviction which properly belongs to the sympathetic and kind-hearted .
The GENTLEMAN who whistles at the plough distinguished our operations at Herringsgate by a very fascinating notice , in which there was no mention of the " drunken plasterers , " " shavings " benches" and " apprentices" that were doing nothing in the school-house . There is much in the first introduction of a stranger , and fatal _consesequences not unfrcquently follow a _hastily-COUceived impression . Our enquirer , selected no doubt upon many occasions for his sagacity , was aware of
the effect that a first impression produces , and was _therefore lavish in a description of that ocular delight which has been dispelled by a most praiseworthy , and of course DISINTERESTED , investigation of the means of carrying out the objects of the society . In the first place we shall deal with tbe fallacies of our fr ' end , not to call them by a harsher name , and then wc shall chronicle all those lucubrations which may be properly classed as warnings to those who are the supposed dupes of the management , or tbeir own fervid imagination .
Thc first important announcement ot our friend is , that when the windows were open , the ram blew in , and , wonderful to say , wet tbe floors and the plaster . < No . 2 . —Our friend ' s observation was so minute , that the act of closing the windows drew his attention to the description of timber used , and that his guide informed him that it had grown upon the estate . This is false . utterly false , not a particle of timber in the doors , windows , frames or sashes , is _othsr than the best seasoned old oak , hard as stone , and
two hundred years old , and the best foreign timber . No . 3—Our friend informs us of the neglect of the plasterers , ( of which we were the first to complain ) , and adds the falsehood that there were others in the school . house idle , in consequence-of their dissipation . Now , what ' s the fact ? there was not an apprentice employed upon the estate , and the only parties at work in the school-house were most attentive , honest , hard working plasterers , who had taken that part of the job and executed it well , according to contract ; and , in passing , wc would request our friend , when he next honours us with a
The Quaker Cotton Lord And His Whistle. ...
, _* vi 6 it ,, n 6 t . _toJake _. _ou _^ idle them there for a considerable time . No . 4 . —Our friend tells us that ' he ; GUESSED , by the sound of a loom , that a weaver was at work in one ofthe houses he visited , but he tells us that the Lancashire man was too busy at his trade to enter into conversation witbhLa ; but that he dis . covered ,. from the wife , that the roads were so bad that she could not go out after dark . If such was the cause and effect , we have no doubt her husband would have an interest in bad roads * but the woman told him no such thing , as we assert , without fear of contradiction , that there are not as good roads upon any farm of the same extent in England .
No . 5 . —Our friend tells us that near the weaver ' s house is a draw well , sunk 126 feet , and with very little water in it at present . It is sunk 166 feet , and he shall name his own price , and select his own companion for emptying it during his life . This man talks of the difficulty of getting water , whereas , not a house on the estate is 120 yards distant from the best spring water , while each house has the best galvanised-iron spouts and pipes for collecting soft water . There are three splendid wells , conveniently situated . And whereas , of old , the occupants and neighbours had to go a considerable distance for water , now the neighbouring farmers will have to come to the Chartist Estate for their supply .
This bagman of the League takes us to task for having imitated the Socialists , in our disregard of political economy . We trust he has heard of the intention of the free trade masters of Lancashire to stop their mills for a period of ten days , after Christmas , during which lime , as a matter of course , the hands will be fed on . Christmas fare , and will be excused from the payment of rent . No . 6 . —This economist charms us , and actually puts us out of conceit with our plan , when be assures us that those who were disappointed at Harmony , instead of breaking their backs and toiling and sweating at spade labour , might have earned two guineas a week by merel y GUIDING MACHINES at Manchester ; but he has not told us of a single CRIPPLE , DWARF , or HUNCHBACK , made by this back-breaking process .
No . 7 . —Our friend tells us that the socialists at Harmony , if they wished to read and learn , had the very books from which Mr . O'Connor had compiled his work . We don't think lie has ever read a page of it , for if he had , he would have discovered that every line was original , and taken from Mr . O'Connor's own experience . No . 8 . —Our geologist concludes his series of white lies , with a comment upou the original rules of thc society , and of the alterations in which he appears to be totally ignorant , and then he winds up his two column thunder in John Bright ' 6 League paper , as follows :
But of far greater importance , nay ,-of painful interest , are the questions which will arise after this has got its solution , namely , how are the 6 , 000 shareholders to bepaid tlieir capital and interest for having provided sixty persons with prizes in the land lottery ? 1 } they are not to be paid their fifty shillings of capital , or have it rendered into a bond legally saleable , how shall additional classes of tl 000 each be prevailed on to put into a lottery which gives them only the one hundredth chance of a prsz :, and that the prize of being doomed to the harde-t toil known to human hands , with a millstone of debt around tbe prizeholder ' _s heck for life ? How , _supposing it possible for the scheme to go on until all
the working population of the kingdom have become shareholders , is the supposed plenty and contentment to be diffused and enjoyed , when no more that one hundredth part , if the farms be of two acres each , or one two hundredth part , if the farms be four acres each , of the population has got the allotted land ? How , if tne land is mortgaged when tenanted by the Chartist prizeho _' . _ders , to raise money _t-i purchase more , will the tenants and the original shareholders be protected if the mortgagees foreclose and _si-ize on all houses and other property for the mortgage money ? What will be done if the estates are sold to a landlord who would evict the
tenants ? How , if thc tenants are to have leases for life , to protect them from eviction , are such legal documents _, to be paid lot * out ofthe £ 15 which is already _engaged to the performance of so matiy duties between February and August ? How , if even with such a legal protection the tenants should fit !! into an arrear of rent , or the trustees into an arrear of the mortgagees' per centnge ? How , if there should be such things as very dry summers or very bad harvests ? How , if in the best of seasons the land should not yield more than a half of thc miraculous products predicted for it in Mr . O'Connor ' s book ? How , if the trustees and directors should not be all honest , and sell
un estate without rendering up the money ? How , if the society , not being chartered by incorporation , not being certified under the Benefit Societies' Act , and hot being legally registered under the Joint Stock Companies' Act of last session , though professing ho to he , should be out of the pale of the law , ( living its shareholders no protection from its defaulters , or from one another ? How , if the society ' s directors should be capable of saying in the balance sheet of 29 th September . 1846 , that " your officers cannot conclude without expressing their I'ratificatior . that , notwithstanding the many obstacles thrown in the way of procuring the enrolment of the society , they
have at length succeeded in placing it under the protection ef the Jaw , by procuring the registration of the society under the Joint Stock Companies' Act ; this will give increased _confiden-e to persons about joining the society , and secure due diligence and honesty on the part of the officers . " How , if the said officers said this knowing that the society is not legally enrolled , and coanot be under that act , so long as they withhold any one ( of wliich they have withheld many ) of the documents published by the society—bow , I say , if directors , using one species of deception on the shareholders , should , to get in large subscriptions of ready cash , use other deceptions and be still unpunishable l"y _] law ?" Of all the imputations implied to those queries I shall give affirmative proofs . In sorrow 1 shall do
so . When I first heard of this society , I was full of hope that at last working men were associating together to acquire property for the benefit of thera selves , and for tbe attainment of that political and social status which honest industry entitles _tliemto look to . ' But , on getting such of the publications of this society as could be obtained after much difficulty , I have carefully studied them and the rules , and can come to no other conclusion than this , that of all the bubble joint stock companies of recent times the Chartist Land Company is the hollowest and most unstable bubble ; that it has begun in a delusion def ying all the rational principles of honest business , and must end , cither in an early swindle by some of its members , or in the ultimate ruin of all its property .
There is reall y such a jumble of insolence , fallacy , presumption , and miscalculation pervading the above , that one is at a loss how to deal with it in any reasonable space . This calculator presumes that there is an end lo the society when sixty of the six thousand shareholders are located ; precisely we presume as he would argue that there would bean end of friend Bright's mill , the employment of his bands and his profits as soon as the stock in hand was worked up , wholly forgetting a slight principle of political economy called buying and selling—that the manufactured article , which represents our allotted ground , is disposed of for the purpose of _purchasing fresh raw material .
How will the shareholders or the occupants be protected if the mortgagee was to foreclose , or the landlord to evict ? Why , booby , by the title under which they hold , and beyond the rent or rent-charge in which , neither mortgagee or proprietor could exact a farthing . As far as the shareholders , or occupants and shareholders are concerned , sale or mortgage would simply imply transfer of payment from A . to B . or C , without any power in B . or C to increase the rent , or alter tbe conditions under wliich the occupants derived their title from A . ; but the wiseacre who seems to have taken great pains with the investigation of our affairs , has overlooked the fact that the company ' s estates are neither to be
MORTGAGED NOR SOLD . The legal documents conferring the estate in fee upon the occupants , are not to be charged out of the £ 15 ! they are to be paid by the society , and the cost price charged to the occupant as rent charge , at the rate of £ b per cent . ; the ad valorem stamp for conveying the two acre allotment to the occupant in fee will cost £ 2 10 s ., and the occupant will pay 2 s . 6 d . a year for it ; the stamp for conveying the four acre allotment will cost £ 3 25 s ., and tiie occupant will pay 3 s . 9 d . a year ; this is the value of co-operation , as the Whistler will see that no poor
The Quaker Cotton Lord And His Whistle. ...
man could accomplish this for himself , if he had the chance , added to * _wnictTa ciearlind _indisputablcTtitle is madeout for him . '/¦ ¦ ¦ " ¦ ' ¦ - . ' -- _% . . ' ¦ ' _* . '"' How if the tenant could not pay his rent _?^ and how if the trustees should fall Into an arrear of interest ? and how if the summer should be hot ?—In the middle of tho day , when the sun doth shine , What the devil shall I do with this loom of mine ? In the middle of the day , when the ' sun shines hot , ' What the devil shall I do with my two acre sput ?
Hit these economists high or low , there s no pleasing them . In winter the occupants will shiver at home for want of roads to go out after dark , and in summer they'll melt for want of water . How if the men who guide the machines at Manchester should not earn a fourth part as much as stipulated hy ( he "Whistler ? " and how if they should earn three times as much as guaranteed by Mr . O'Connor's book ? How if the tyrant cotton lord couldn ' t have their labour at his own price ? How if he couldn't eject them from his own house without
conveyance or lease ? How if he couldn't stamp them as conspirators to protect his own monopoly ? and how if ten masters were obliged to court the one free labourer , instead of a swarm of the idle reserve being obliged to solicit the stai vation pittance established by the caprice of a grinding monopolist ? How if the master manufacturers should be all rogues , and buy an' estate without rendering up an account to those from whose blood and sweat it was extracted ? and how if the producing band should be consigned to the bastile , while the idle speculator is revelling upon its unrequited labour ?
How if the deed for complete registration should be completed , and should be in process of being engrossed ? and how if , ere long , Messrs . Clark and Doyle should be upon a t our to witness the signature of every shareholder ? and how if a trustee or director should whistle himself _^ across the water by any fraudulent act committed against the Company ? And how if the trustees and directors themselves were the most anxious for this legal protection ? and how if , without any legal interference whatever , we should have sufficient confidence in our own integrity not to abstract from , or injudiciously apply a farthing in a million of the poor man's funds ?
How , if the Directors should not have withheld any document for the complete registration , and how , if the " Whistler" should be a League spy , employed by his heartless masters to try his hand at breaking up a combination which threatens destruction to their rule and his office ? When our friend first heard of this _saciety , he was full of hope I Bab ! at whose expense did he travel from Manchester to Herringsgate , and back in the depth of win . ter , and for whose gratification did he receive two columns of friend Bright ' s paper to send his lucubrations to the world ? Now , as we are shortly to
be better engaged than exposing the sophistry and hypocrisy of pretended friends , and as it is of all things necessary that the working classes should be enlightened upon a science to which alone they can look for redemption from their present state of slavery , and as we have looked to discussion before a free audience as the best means of arriving at the truth upon a disputed subject , we challenge the " Whistler" to meet us in Manchester at any time most convenient to himself , for one , two , three , or six nights' discussion , when we will give him all the aid he can enlist , and when we undertake to prove that ' , with the aid of the Bank , we can locate , not
six thousand members in six years , but ten thousand members in five years , and that when the Company ' s affairs are wound up not a farthing will be missing or misapplied" that conies to _^ Treasurer ' s hands , and that at that period every located member , from the small sum paid as his share , will be nearly , if , not wholly , in possession of their respective allotments , and in the enjoyment of a field for the exercise of their free labour , without any rent at all . We always knew that the co-operation of the many would be met by the conspiracy of the few , and , therefore , the " Whistler" must meet us in discussion , and must not shelter himself under the pretext that he
CANNOT WHISTLE WITH HIS MOUTH OPEN . He may write his queries , every one of which we will answer , and we will give him half hour for half hour , until an impartial Jury has heard enough to enable them to decide for themselves . How , if the sky should fall , and we should catch larks ?
To Daniel O'Connell, The Liberator Of Ir...
TO DANIEL O'CONNELL , THE LIBERATOR OF IRELAND . Old man ! behold the picture of your country after a long life ' s abuse of its confidence . It is a bitter draught for any : if you have a heart , it must be gall and wormwood te you . Behold the even stream of Ireland ' s prosperity . Stand on the brink of it , dissolute man , Think of it , drink of it , then it you can . A letter addressed tu the Duke of Wellington by Mr . N . Cumming , a magistrate of the countv of Cork : — " My Lord Duke , —Without apology or preface , 1 presume so far to trespass on your Grace as to state to you , and by the use of yo ur illustrious name to present to the British publh , the folio wing statement ot what I have myself seen within the Jast three days . " Having for many years been intimately connected with the western portion of the county of Cork , and possessing some small property there , I thought it right personally to investigate the truth of the several lamentable accounts which bad reached mc , of the appalling state of misery to which that part of the country was reducer ) .
" I accordingly went on the loth inst . to Skibbe reen , and to give the instance of one townland which I visited , as an example of thc state of the entire coast district , I shall state simply what I there saw . It is situated on the eastern side of Castlehaven harbour , and is named South Reen , in the parish of _Myross . Being aware that I should have to witness scenes of frightful hunger , I provided myself with as much bread as five men could carry , and on reaching the spot I was surprised to find the wretched hamlet apparently deserted . I entered some of the hovels to ascertain the cause , and ilio scenes that presented themselves were such as no tongue or pen can convey the slightest idea of . In the first , six famished and ghastly skeletons , by all appearance dead , were huddled in a corner on some filthy straw , their sole
covenns ! what seemed a ragged horsecloth , their wretched legs hanging about , naked above the knees . I approached with horror , and found by alow moaning they were alive—they were in fever , four children , a woman , and what had once been a man . It is impossible to go through the detail . Suffice it to say , that in a few minutes I was surrounded by at least two hundred of such phantoms , such frightful spectres as no words can describe . By far the greater number were delirious , either-from famine or from fever . Their demoniac yells are still ringing in my ears , and their horrible images are fixed upon mv brain . My heart sickens at the recital , but I mus _' t
goon . " In another ease , decency would forbid what follows , but it must be told . My clothes were nearly torn off in my endeavour to escape from the throng of pestilence around , when my neckcloth was seized from behind by a gripe which compelled me to turn . I found myself grasped by a woman with an infant just born inker arms , and the remains ofa filthv sack across hor loins—the sole covering of . herself and babo . The same morning the police opened a house on the adjoining lands , which was observed shut for many days , and two frozen corpses were found , lying upon the mud floor , half devoured by the rats .
" A mother , herself in a fever , was seen the same day to drag out the corpse of her child , a girl about twelve , perfectly naked , aud leave it half covered with stones . Iu another house , within 500 yards of the cavalry station at ; _Skibbeteen , the dispensary doctor found seven wretches lying , unable to move under the same cloak . One had been dead many hours , but the others were unable to move either themselves or the corpse . _VTo what purpose should I multi plv such cases ? _Jrthese be not sufficient , neither would they hear who haye the power to send relief , and do not , even ' though one came from thc dead . ' Let them however , believe and tremble , that they shall one day hear the Judge _olal the earth pnnounce their tremendous doom , with the addition , U was an hungered and ye gave mc no meat , thirsty aud ye gave mc uo drink , naked and ye clothed me not '
But I forget to whom this is addressed . Mv Lord , you are an old and justly honoured man . It is yet in jour power to add another honour to jour age , to fix another star , and that the bright
To Daniel O'Connell, The Liberator Of Ir...
est in your _galaxyfof glory . * _j-You have access to oar _-young . and gracitmaQ _^ W She U- a womanr- SSe _wft ' no _^ _llfc _& S to be outraged . * She . ha * at her command the means ot at least mitigating the ' sufferings of-the wretched survivors in this tragedy . They will soon be few in the district I speak of , if help be longer withheld . . _; ; * 'Once more , my Lord Duke , in the name of starving thousands , I implore you to break the friaid and flimsy chain of official etiquette , and save the land of your birth , thekindred ofthat gallant Irish blood which yon have so often seen lavished to supportthe honour of the British name , and let there be inscribed upon your tomb ' Servata IliWnia
I have thc honour to be , mv Lord Duke , ' Your Grace ' s obedient humble servant "N . " M . _CUWIIM . „ . „ . . . *' Justice of the Peace * Ann Mount , Cork . December 17 th . "
Weekly Review. Tlie Day For The Re-Assem...
WEEKLY REVIEW . Tlie day for the re-assembling of Parliament has been announced by royal proclamation , and within four weeks from tliis time , St . Stephens will be again tbe arena of debate " on divers urgent and important matters . " Last session was commenced at an unusually early period , on the 21 st of January . The forthcoming session will lie earlier hy two days , lieing summoned for th _« . l 9 th . Looking at the way in wliich , of late years , the sessions have been lengthened , we should not wonder , ere long , to see them extend from Christmas to Christmas , with only
a few days allowance of holiday . The only cure for these protracted , wearisome , and , to a considerable extent , useless sittings , is for the Parliament to divest itself of its anomalous functions as respects private bills and local improvements , and to confine itself exclusively to imperial business . A Local Legislature in Edinburgh and another either in Birmingham or London , to which all private bill business , railway , harbour , municipal , and other improvement Acts should be referred , would not only do the work better and more cheaply , if such bodies were properly constituted , but would leave the superiol- Parliament more free for the consideration
of all matters of national importance . The rapid extension of our colonies , and the growing importance of our foreign relations , not less than the additional labours which Legislative interference in sanatory , educational , and other similar matters will require , demand that the time of the Imperial Legislature should not be occupied hy any but questions of a general character . Of course it would still act , when necessary , as a Court of Review or Appeal on decisions in the inferior Legislatures ,
The cause for the early assembling of the two Houses is , no doubt , ; to be found in the present ali rraing aspect of affairs in the sister country , It is rumoured , that the Ministry have prepared a series of measures for that unhappy country , of which a Bill for the reclamation and improvement of the waste lauds , as well as a better cultivation of the land already under culture , is to form a portion . We shall wait anxiously to see the truth of this statement . We have no great faith in Whi g promises or Whig statesmen , but if they fairly and honestly take up the Land Question and grapple with it upon intelligible and honest grounds , they will go far to reconcile us to their stay in office .
Time will try whether they are " up to the mark ' Or not . In the meantime we reiterate that nothing short of a Radical and complete Land Measure will be of the slightest use to Ireland . The commencement of such improvements as are involved in both these announced measures would administer immedi . ate relief where distress is now most severly felt , and contribute most effectually to prevent the recurrence of the present frightful state of things . They opea an almost boundless field of permanent _emnlovment
to the able bodied population . By creating new capital upon a secure basis by the application of equitable principles to the ownership of the reclaimed wastes , and thereby giving the sense of an immediate and permanent interest in the soil , a change almost magical would be effected in Ireland . She has all the natural capabilities that the most sanguine could desire . Just institutions are all that is wanting to convert what is now the disgrace of the British Empire into its glory .
It is said that the means by which Government intends to carry out its views is , by advances from the public purse . Such sums will be advanced as may be deemed most advisable , under the peculiar circumstances of each case : the usual rate of interest will he charged , and the amount advanced will , after the lapse of a certain period , be repaid to the State by easy instalments , Power will be reserved
by the Government to put up for public sale those lands which have been improved at the public ex-Tense , should the interest or instalments not be duly paid . In short , in its leading features the rumoured Ministerial scheme is founded upon the Chartist Land Plan , and will aim at effecting , with the machinery and _appliances of the State , similar results as those which the British Chartists are
effecting by voluntary efforts . If the present appalling condition of Ireland has the effect of forcing a Whig Government , and a Parliament composed of landlords and capitalists , hito the adoption of a measure which will really give the people a proprietary interest in the soil on which tbey live and labour then indeed will this calamity not have occurred without leaving salutary effects behind it . While we caunot help feeling deeply
and painfully for'the immediate sufferers—those who perish from cold , hunger , and disease—whose uncoffined and emaciated corpses cry aloud to Heaven against the foul system by which they have been murdered—yet we may take consolation , that out cf this evil , permanent good is likely to be educed , and that ignorance and selfishness will at Jast be frightened into the adoption of that policy , which knowledge and benevolence have long advocated hut in vain .
Our columns , this week , show an increase , of the misery which devastates Ireland—the whole country seems to be suffering . Famine has spread everywhere—the victims , by hundreds , go _ravin-j mad , or die in dozens , in hovels destitute alike of good , fire and clothing . And the mountebanks of Burgh Quay all this time keep squabbling with Young Ireland , and talking sublime nonsense about " physical force . "
At home , the inclemency of the season is begin _, ning to tell upon our own poor . In the columns ofthe daily journals the heading " Another Death from Starvation" is _beaming far too familiar to the eye . But there is something so awful involved in the fact ofa human being dying from starvation , that it should never be suffered to pass from the mind as a mere piece of news , to be read and forgotten—while such horrible events occur they are emphatic protests against the institutions under which they take place The blood of our murdered brethren rises to heaven
against us . Great Britain possesses ample means for employing , feeding , clothing , and sheltering all its population , If any perish for want , the blame rests with the laws and the false system of distribution by which such cruel results are produced . It is strange that nearly nineteen centuries and a half have passed away since the light of Christianity was first shed on the world . and yet we have not learaed to practice its primary and simplest precepts . TkS carols which announce _Christmas _. and the rejoicings which hallow that commemoration of the introdietion of a new system based on the great and g loriout principle of broth erl y love , —hand down to ut traditionally the u . eai _dimentof the " Good
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Citation
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Northern Star (1837-1852), Dec. 26, 1846, page 4, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/ns/issues/ns3_26121846/page/4/
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