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PROCESSION AND PUBLIC fiNTRY OF FEARGUS O'CONNOR INTO BARNSLEY . On Friday , the 5 th in jL , one of tbe most numerous , spirited , and orderly meefcingB ever held in the MSgfebonrbood of Baro > frr , bx * place in the Odd Fe&wx' Hall , of that toxn . The following are the jstknl&rft under which the meeting was convened . Tae spirited inhabitants had heard of the realisation « f tie Birmingham delegates , who were backed fty t&eir Mend Daniel O'Coaaell , in one of his rboda-Jnootade harangues , to the Precursor staff , in winch fee declared tkat the bretth was ont of the Ctfnventioiv , indnced them to tend a deputation express to Leeds , requiring the [ presence oi Mr . F . O'Connor , ¦ who had but jnst retsrned from Birmingham , and to
^ rbo instantly consented accompany "the deputation to Bare sley . Ttie procession met that gentle-3 nsn within a mile of that town , and proceeded to * he place of meeting in the folk wing order : —In femt was the Northern Union Sag of-green silk , fringed wilh . whif , npon one ride of which was inscribed "FeargutfO'Connor , fouader-of tke Northern Uejob ; " and upon the other , the " rree great principles at full length . The Bamsley hand followed , ~ wnich was ~ sneeeeded r » y a larpR -conoonrse of well--dressed , lemaks walking th * ee and three . Then « me Mr . O'Connor , and the Committee , fire and ¦ five a-bre&st , followed bT a procession of at lens
¦ e j dOO persoas , suitable batnpre being tastefully - * £ sper * ed ai&ong the group . When they reached the town , the spirited population , who have contributed more , according to their numbers , to the Dorchester llabonrere Fmnd—to the National R « et Fond , and to the Stephens ';* 'Fund than any other town in EEgland , seemed to have assembled to -a ? B&n . We say that over 6 , 990 'were present , because theOdd bellows' Hail , which isbniit by the people ^ tkemselves , and which was capable o ' f contaiBJng « yer 2 . & 80 persons , could Bot accemmodate o » e"tbird ol the numbers . There were frequent cries Hot an adjournment , bnt in consequence of -the ¦ Snow f&Oiug den ^ el ^ k was rejected .
y Mr . John Valajjcs , one of the convicts of the Tories of 1819 , who was transported under tbt-ir 'Woody spy system , but wio , thank God , has Heed to fee- its auwntal , was unanimously called te tho chair . He saiii—Ti > is is the naost Mumerous meeting I have ever attended . You well know my ¦ principle * , and therefore ii will not be necessary for Die to detain you Ion ? . You have cftcn said you ¦ would obtain equal rights with otlers , ani now is "the time to shew your capability for exercising those ^ rights with judgment ana discretion , the principal of ¦ which i ? . to choose representatives to genre you in
ParHfimt-Et ; apd -should any be opposed to' your "caostitMtionalrigfcc , let himpresenthimi » elfbefore Trou , when 1 base no doubt of your wiliisigness to . hear bun , and jour power to cot voice him . ( Loud cheer * . ) Tbe ^ e » rw the few observations which I shall ofiVr . and 1 si all now introduce Air . P . Hoey . Mr . Hqet then c « ne forward and » aid—I do not ? eel di * -po * ed to occnpy much of your time , as our long-tried frwncrFtargus O'Connor is here to address Ton , and as the doctrines contained in the resolution liave been toe well promulgated in Barnsley to require any wcanem from me —( chew . - * )—I shall "Jijexefore simpiy move the resolution .
Mr . Amos Mgselet rose to second the resolution . He said—Laaie * and gent ' eiaeu . it is with no small degree ef p 5 ea .-Tire U ; a . t 1 rise to s-ccad this resolu tion ; bf casse it tell * the oppr «?> sor thatjou will eo longer submit to Lis dominion—that jou have ions feit the waat-of Universal Suffrage , acd that you are now deUrmkied toha ^ en ; and 1 trust thai every tand held ap for it , -aill be euided by a heart determined to . obtain it . ( Cheers . ) The ' resolution way then put and carried unanimously . Mr . Joe . ^ LABTKEE . of Barnsley , sune forward to move the second resolution , and was received widi loud cheers . He said—Mr . Cbairmaa , Ladies , and Gentlemen , ] trp > t you -are aware that 1 can muve this leioiarion with pleasure aiid eoesistencvas 1
, lave always endeavoured to teach the people how to artain lie principle * -which it contains . ( Hear , tear . ) That the Convention was appointed with a iope of success yon can truly testi y ^ not that There was any expectation tbat the aristocracy would manifest a moie kindly feeling ; ha » -ever 10 their slaves , but in the hope tbat the Convention would expound and make clear the rights which , as citizen * , they were entitled to enjoy s and the Convention having thus set them forth . ' that the people tfaem » t-li « s would take instant means for iheir establishment . ( Cheers . ) There is no property except labour which is not protected br legislative enactment
, end we are resolved ro ensure an equal protection for labour , with every other description of property , and it is for you to naiae the hour when that protection th&ll ccmiEeace . ( Cheers and ^ nowv V We do cot wan t biood . If they have i&ed biood , we shonld not follow bzA example bf ¦ washing our haDtis in blood al « j . ( Loud chetrs . * ) But -siiocld all moral means fail , much , as wc abominate tke foul stain , we must bear the only brand , which they have le ! t us , to wash out the staii ef slavey-. ( Very loud cheers . ) You mu > t be piepated to act as freemen . If yoa bow to the < kanimon of your rclers . jcu < = re a / iiw from freedom aaever . < Hear , hear . ) The resolution tells us that
we are to act upon a pian to be recommended b > - t&e Convention ; we do cot know that plan , but we xnow that they are Ci-rii-riaiis , and tkat they are selected iroin < , ur own rauk- —that they have macy « f them starved in company with o>—that they hav ' f ieelipgfi hke ourselves , ana with such < jnaliti * es we are in doty bound to act cpon acv deUberate and soaad pl * a which they shonld seggest . ( Loud cheers , and We will . ' ) iluch has U ? en said abost Radical violence ; but we have sever evinced any practical dispoiddon to riot . However , we are resalved not longer to see our brethren sacrificed at the « hnne of avarice , monopoly , and ambition . < Cheers . ) See your naked children , on a cold irostymorHing , turned blue with tke chill blast . » nrl
ttiensaj whether you would not risk everything even Iiieiisdf , torescue them from such a state of squalid wretchedness . ( Cheer * . ) If you fail this tune , I canaot name the day for the lulfilaient of jour hopes , but if yon persevere for yet a little longer , jea will , ere long , enjoy the greatest blessings of neemen—xiz ^ liuit ^ nominating jonr own Mj > re « entadv-s . ( Cheers , " and we will lad . ") * bat can the philosopher know of the pains of hanger if he has never felt it ? < Hear . hear . ) Suppose , then , that in the pnjK-cution of ihis your -boly cause , balls of lead should enter the breast * of joy teilowg , what then : f" Why , pick them out , * ad aend them back again , " and loud -cheers . ) A * oend « ay « , jiiok them out and send themiack again do sot but
I say so ; [ say , rnsh upon the foe , wrench toe deadly weapon from hi * p&iv , and . return the « OTnpliment through the channel which it came < Yery loud cheersj Mr . Jobs W « eoD , in seconding the resolution , « nd , « usis . thepieasantest sight I ever saw in mv Me , Wr . Chairman and fellow-men , we have ofum i » ard of the Whigs being ocr greatest «* snies , and tnea of the Torie * being our greatest enemies , and thea of the army and the police being ready to Assist oer enemies in their tyranny ; but i tell you at u all nonsense tfei * . Our namby-pamby luke-» ann kiends are our greatest pnenues alter all < Lood cheers , and - " right lad . " ) Now let the wamai « y to their husbands , go and list in tbe Chartist let
army— tke * irl * say the same to their * weetbeartg , and then we * hall hear no mote of the snuted tyranny of Whig and Tory , even backed bv tbe army * ud the police . ( Loua cheers , aad " w ' e ^ IL J What can the tyranu ao iu their localitie * ? Ve can beat them there always . Then if we can teat tliem in sections , ars we not able , if united , to keatthemia the aggregate ? ( Cheer * , and " we are . ' ) Tf fl - maD ^ ^ e-f nion , and then neititsr the Maithnsums , nor tbe bloody Marcus , can stand iefore an united people , { Cheer * . ) No , but jou duty , cowardly scro b * , you are your own oppres « or # , Aad yon tnaw it . ( Loud cheers and clapping of nania . ) They « ay yon doa ' t vrant your ri ght * \« Vkej are alwaj * saying thatbat do show them
. ; you «» tti » e |^ has ^ ome , and then they'll soon atrike . •^^ vt ^*' ' besr <( and loflI condimsd chee « . > Me . WiLtiuf . dsaxoA , anwier of the Tory eonwicla , came forward to move the third re ^ olntioa , and »«* receired witi loud cheers , and clappin * of 2 * zAi . He naid , fellow towjumen , I am plSsed in ooe of my oid rituadoxu . 1 have been appointed iolay before yoa &e feeling * of oox local tyrant * , tws < -elected to xoSect for S-ephens ' s Defence fwkJ- e 7 ** * ° ° P portOEity of judging oi «« rfe ^ ng » and ii ^ poridons towards us , and not « afoftifi middle cla ^ exwp t Mr . Lewis and Mr . ¦ Bncks , contnbnted , ar-esen treated us with respect ( farowm , * ad « hame . > Mr . Topping and Mr . Sykes » re from oar own ra&ia , aad now ther are nr > Tx >** A
W * jr "" F f ?" ^ P *^ Woodruffa tajforiQ jeaMbeinflirmg upon our labom-, but latdoyoBdunkof cantiBg hypocrita * who go to «»» pei xmder pretence of pxaying for sinners , and xnca aaying that they waald ^ iye a guinea to iee t g ^ « fn haagei without « ren a ui&L ( Shame , *? ' < .- ^^ P ^ n * will be a . jaartTr unleM we rally awu * taa . < Hear , hear , and ' " We wiiL" ) I ^ led opon Trwia , the hatta , and he told me that j aewoaidgiTe Stephens his aort strennous oppositioa . aadnowwhoTlbnyahatiroHihim ? ( Swans aad ^ No OB £ , go 1 ure head first . " ; [ Amanmthe ^ ttng ** ui , Mr , Ashton , ToDpinf gave me a - *^ for Stephen , withoyt askSg . J ? Cheer .. i «¦ A of itThe
,: imgUd . whole of the draper . « e ** ed as wua contempt , and tkerefcre we will we oar only mean * to refaiiite , and those mesasjR mzdasue dealing . ( Cheers , and - We wflL , lad . 'T ^ Mr . Coatb seconded the resolution . He saidcoooerthan bnya pairrf shoes from Topping , I ? Tj ® V ? * 7 ' &fe ' ^ d «» ner than weaV a Si ^ j ^* *> he 3 Ld ^^ 8 ° ^^ a 4 » corer .-tuooL cfeawi . ) Tbe CaAiajtiH then uid , I will now introdnce 3 * " ^^ l «* -tned friend , Fearyns OConnor . .. f "; vUx » o » d » en came forward and was re-^ m with , cheerinf , and wanng of hatt , whieh J ^ J ^ eral miaote ,. He « ilMr . cSd nu ™ ? ££ * $ " *»*** hl ** i » t jwt arrived rrom &miaRham when I was summouea here to dispel W « eland of deipondency which th « renmation of
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the Bir « in « hani delegates , and the vapouring of tbe blockbettd O'Connell h » d cast over voot caHse . — ( Grows , and " D—n him . ") 1 shall fir * deal with Daniel , the most dangerous , if he coald , but the mart harmless , aa he is , of the foesi . ( Cheers . ) DAniel ^ aid to the iTaff of his Precursors in Ireland , tbat I bad «> oken S 3 times in one day at the Convention , and that I had knocked its breath out Now ,, I'll speak 60 , TO , or a' 106 time * , if necessary , hot before I ' ve done I'll knock his breath , out . ( Cheers , and to We wish it was . ") This Daniel is a most extraordinary animal . When he w speaking of finance , he foams out of tbe mouth like m tnad dog in tbe dog days . ( Cheers and laughter . )—When ke speaks of oppression , he sobs nke the
lore-sick girl . When be speaks of religion , he affects raoctity , and rums tip the whites * of his eves like a dock in thunder . ^ Roans of lauphttT . ) But when b « jingles the coppers from the poor man ' s labour in his pocket , he grins like a Che * hire cat for cheese / < Rencwed la « ghter . ) This beast call * me violeot , while he is in the act of enHsdog 600 , 000 fighting men to iavade this country , as a body jraard for the joong and rirtoo « ts Queen . — ( Groans , and " we wisli he'd come , ^ . ) So do I ; for if the 'brave paddies once landed o * t of the foal bn « a . of the hirwi staff of barrisVew and attorniefcof treasuring an £ trameking politicians—they'd desert from tbe humbug standard « f oppression , and rxl ) f round the standard of freedom , ( Loud cheers . ) Ves , they are bee inning to learra that grievances
¦ are universal , oot natiurial ; and that Daniel is the op holder of all their grievance * . ( Cheers , and " he ¦ ii * . "" ) This beast calls me wotent , while the lava from his ' crater has long cince ^ iDged every hair on Ms head . He is like a shaved pig . ( Loud cheery and ro . rs of laughter . ) Aye , he is like one in every respect ; his ^ rioience has tinged his head , and the Whigs have-so shaved and soaped his tail , that he'd be worth anything to a showman ; for the devil a one of them could ever caitch him . ( Cheem , and uproarious Ittughter . ) Now , ? ee how this fellow has got through the world , without any knowledge ol agriculture—without any knowledge of trade , commerce , or science oJ any kind—withont rny knowledge of lr gislation—or ot his favoarite system of political economy—he hw waddled thurugh the political -world with one single speech . -Read one , and you've read all . I'll muke it for vohbow . Mr !
O Connor then placed himself in Mr . O ' -Connell ' s fjvourite attnpde , and , mimicking him to tbe very life , « aiJ , vi We have borne wveu centsries of oppression—of d > irk opprej ? ion—imposed upon -ng by an-English'oligarchy—bnt we are now , thank * be to God , about to thrbvr back this oppretasion , and to bear it no loi . ger . We have the only ministers who erer dared to do justice to Ireland . Oh ! -we have gained some victories—glorious victories , b ^ canse they were unstained by blood . Thants W to God , and glory be to hi * holr name . Tbe Catholic religion has been a proscribed faith , and the people oHreland have been * proscribed people . ; but they will be scTlo longer . " Mr . O'Con&or continued in this strain , for some time , exciting tbe most indescribable laughter , and then said , Daniel always concludes by " sailing off upoi . the wave tbat comes unbroken irom tbe coast of Labrador , until it breaks at
the foot ol his n * ave mountains . ** Thanks be tD God lor the same . " Now , said Mr . O ^ Conuor , when Daniel speaks of hi * bluoolet ^ s victories , he means ttie blood was ail -shed on . one side \ «/ vz . upon the > ide of the poor Catholics , for he forgets Rathcormac , Wnistovoi , and CliUrchtowo , and the many other murders that have keen committed . ( Hear , hear . ) Mr . OHTocnor then exposed hi * viliany upon every- measure from disfranchising the feny stalling freeholders in 1829 . to bis dt-seiticn of the Canadians in J&J 9 . He said that Iiatiel was ciily fit lor one post , and that was Chancellor of the Ex chequer , without an auditor , and with a per centage , upon the income and the disbursements . ( Loud laughter , and "he'd do for lhat . " ) Mr .
O'Connor thec , at considerable- length , explained the conduct of the Birmingham delegates , and revived the spirit- " of the meeting by assuring them that the plnce of the seceders would speedily be filled op by working men . He adverted to the base , brutal , aiid bloody attack of the Tories at Devizes upon Vincevit and the Chartists . He commended tbe prudtnee of Vincent in saving bis li'e , and the lives of his followers , from tbe bloody crew , and pledged himself to recommend to the Convention the propriety of aoing down in a body to hold another meeting at Btv ^ zcs . Against tWo thing . * , said _ Mr . O / Connor , 1 have alleys cautioned the Radicals' ; the one is against any partial outbreak , where the rashness of some raignt endanger the
cause-of all—^ bear , bear , hear , aod loud cheen-yand tbe other i * . the utter End irreparable destruction which aLy countenarice o ! , or coalition with , the Tor ies , would bring upon our caufe . ( Chrer . * , nnd ' hear . ") Just mark the position in-which such a « tep wocld place you . For fear y ears we have been exhausting ourselves by eodtavouriiig to defeat the W hig « , and jest u we have so far subdued them as to make onr tritunph « = ure , you would let them oat of your gia > p in their last throe ? , and in tht .-irste « d you would establish a fresh , a vigor- ¦ u * , and a bloody faction , -with new prctenj-ii . ns -ender old fares . ( Loud cbeerc . ) If you join them 1 never will . ( Cheers , and " We nevrr will . " ) This thould be cur cotirse 4 if the Tories cun beat the Whigs without our
assiitance , well and good ; but any : v >>> i > tance upon our part , * culd be taniErootsnt " to an a ; pro \ al of thrir principle , and would brspeak a tj ; cit . "ubinissi on to their rule . ( Loud chter * . ) Mr . O'Cotuor then told the meeting that the necessity of living from band to mouth was the greatest evil tDey hao to contend against , and thatif e \ eiy man was his own wholesale provider , a * nature , intended he should bf , no tyrant could oppress them—no fee could successfully invade them . ( Loud cheers . ) He showed tbac the error of . the system originated in the usurpation of tbe land , when the eocntry -was so thinly populated as to ensure a redundancy of production rural ] the -demands upon it . But when the population increa « t-d , and when want and demand increased
with it , the system of expensive and unsettled exchange tLotsgh capricions dealers , together with low price * for . labour , left no comparison whatever between the original price of produce , and tie capridoes price in the retail market . For instance a good acre of wheat might be -worth £ 10 wholesale , and by rery inexpensive process , in its transition through the retail market , it would be rai-ed to the turn of from £ ' 25 to £ 30 . ( Hear , Lear , and sbanif . ) So with malt , and with butchers' meat , and so with every thing except the raw material wLich by their labour was converted into a marketable commodity the speculation and gambling upon which , reduced labour , and consequently the lelurns to the gambler from over production to io low an ebb as to threaten
all with bankruptcy as well tuase who have speculated , as those whese labor has been speculated ¦ QDon . ( Loud and long continued cheering . ) Mr . 0 Connor then explained the longing eye which the manufacturer-had upon Russia and the continent , while he calmly looked from kis mill top at his own unrultiTited and native soil , called for the labour of it # sons , and whic ^ labou r wouU speed ily restore that blush of which his cupidity has robbed so many thousand faces . ( Loud cheers . ) Why is it , said Mr . O'Connor , that the price of labour should be low and fixed ,-while the interest of money is variable and capricious r To one man money may not be worth 2 per cent ., while tben are scores of you to whom the-same money would be worth 20 per cent ..
and out of which yoa could earn an honest livelihood , sparing the parish the burden of your support , the schoolmaster the task of your education , and the country the expense of your coercion . ( Load cheers . ) itis because the small capitals has been driven from the market by the great gambler—it is because whereas the sum of £ 10 , 000 some 40 years ago wag an overgrown capital , to embark in the divided and general trade of the country , when supply was regulated by the demand . Now the sum of £ 10 , 000 is as nothing , and no capital will suffice except it is large enough to correspond with the increasing necessity of ekeing little out of many hand * , the aggregate making lortnnes a ? if by magic ( Loud cheers aad ^ bravo . " ) They tirow off an old
miiL and build a new one with all its expensive machinery with less thought than one of their father * would have thrown away an old hat . ( Lood cheerg . ) From whence has this store come ? Your pale fices , lank frames , and emaciated limb * , mmishes the melancholy answer . ( Load cheer * . ) Air . O'Connor addressed thp meeting for nearly two hours upon the questions of agriculture , free trade , commerce , labour , and capita ^ and fictitious money ; and concluded an address , which was rapturoosly and enth-uaastically cheered , by pointing ont 4 he mode by which Universal Suffrage was to be accomplished , and the btfneficial result * which would flow from it . A vote of thanks was then given to Mr . O'Connor
and canjed with hearty cheers ; after which there wa * & rote of thank * to the Chairman , three cheers for the Convention , three cheers for Mr . Stephens , and three -cheers for the brase working men of Birmingham . Mr . O'Coxxor then informed the meeting that as the sword of tyranny wm doable-edged , and as two bulg had , he understood , heen found against Mr . Stephen * , the people mu > 4 ahew that the resisting power was as great as vhe presnre ; and , therefore , the people siut commence and raise another fand . ( Loud cheers , aad " Aye , xoi another . " ) After which the vast awemblaga dknewed , making the hall ring , and tke streeto re-ee&o , three groans for Daniel O'ConaelL
The following are the resolution * which were cninuaotuly passed ;—" 1 st . That it i * the opinion of thi » sjeetinr that the working classes of this country will neper be able to protect themselves no til they poeseM the elective franchise ; and it therefore pledges iteelf never to gire ap it * exertions till the principles of the People ' s Charter shall become the law of the land . " 2 nd . That the . Con » ention was appointed in the hope that their labours would be crowned with «««» , bat should the Petition be ^ jeSe 4 , 7 bi ?**** & K" > 1 «* to act up to any plan which may be thought the best cakdated , by tl » membeSof
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the Convention , to carry out the object we have in view . " " 3 rd . That it is the opinion of this meeting that all individuals who are desirous of the present movement , in favour of Universal Suffrage , being carried into effect , should only srupport those ppTJOiw in trade who support the working classes in obtaining their long-wiiaheld rights . "
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MR . OASTLER AT SUTTON-I ^ -ASHFIELD . Saturday last having been announced b y placard as the day on which Sir . Oastier was to addre .-w the people of Sutton in behalf of Mr . Stephens , the people w « re very ( arly on tbe move . On arriving at Kirkby , eboKt two miles from Sutton , the carriage which -conveyed Mr . O . and the reporters was met by , « t least , 1 , 000 persons—men , women , and children . Thece formed into procession , about equally divided before and behind tbe carriage , two bands of music playing some very livel y airs , and two-er three banners waving in the air . In thi * masner the cavalcade moved on to Sutton , being joiaed at intervals on the road by additional spectators , until it extended to an immense length . On arriving in the town , we found the windows of the houses , the stone wails , and every eminence , affordiojr a glimpse of the procession , presented a very ¦ crowded appearance , Irom tbe number of spectators who had placed themselves there . It was , in fact
with considerable difficulty that ths carnage got safely through the crowd—so closely did they press around it on all sides . At last , we aimed at tbe place of our destination , where—it is but justice to the Sutton Chartists to add—we were treated with tbe greatest civility and hospitality . The meeting had been appointed to take place on a spot called k The Green , " bot prior to its taking p lace , a rumour was afloat that Mr . Unwin ( the Aiegistrate ) had refused the use of it . This caused the people to be on the look out for another place , and Mr . Keasou , a chemist and druggist , having offered the use ot his field , it wns of couree accepted , and was speedily resorted to by tbe assembled number * , amounting to about 5 , 000 person > . A Chairman was appointed and two or three persons addressed the meeting ( amongst whom was Mr . Woodhouse , of Nottingham , ) before Mr . Oastler vient to the ground . About half-past two , that gentleman arrived , accompanied by the reporters , and shortly before three o ' clock , corxmei ) ced his harangue .
Mr . Oastler said—Men and women of Sutton , before I adcress you on the subject of my present appearance here , allow me to correct a mistake which your Chairman has fallen into . [ The Chairman , in his address , had announced "Mr . Oastler , as a Conservative . ''J He has introduced me here as a Conservative , a name which , next to that of a Whig , I most utterly abhor . ( Hear , hear . ) I am an old-fashicned , Church-and-Queen ultra-Tory . The be ^ t proof 1 can gite you that 1 am understood to be such an one is this . I never appear before luy fellow-countrymen without having a Government reporter in attendance , to take dowa every woid 1 say , and troop * of hussars or dragoons , siatioued within a mile or two ot tbe place , te put you down if you dare to disturb a single hair of my bead .
( Laughter and cheers . ) Well , then , men and women of Sutton , right heartily do I thank you for the r < c ? y tion which you have given me to-day . 1 feel at Lome amongst you , as much as though I were addre < sing my own lads , and ruy own laf ^ e .-, in my own county . " ( Cheers ) 1 have Heard of you , and you have heard of me —( " We have , " and cheers ) —and 1 have longed for , and now am delighted in baviflg , the opportunity , before I retire from gublic life , ot meeting you tace to face . 1 csice , my Inend ? , as you well know , on behalf of an individual whose fame has reached your ear- —a Christian minister , who if traduced , and calumniated , and persecuted , for the simple facts , that he upholds the Word ot God to be the truth , and , in s-pite of all the infidel ? of the dav , he dares to maintain the rigl » tof the poor
man to live—to live , mind ye , in liberty , without the bastile lock and key —(•• aye , iye" ) -to live as happily and as securely as the proudest aristocrat , or tae crowned monarch . ( Cheers . ) Aye , to live in the company of her whum he has chosen out of all the human family for his own wife ; and to live in the company of those children whom God has blessed him witti as his own . For holding this doctrine , in this infidel country , your friend , and my friend . Stephens , has been accounted unfit to live . ( Shame . ) Tha . t is all his crime . 1 defy any one , to poiui to any otber spot on his character . He is a ^ pntleman , every inch of him—a scholar , well educated and duly appreciated by those who understand what scholarship is . He is a moral man in all his conduct—beloved in his owu household , in his own neighbourhood .
And , an idst all the persecution which tbe cotton lords have heaped upou him , thvyhave not yet dared to charge him with an immoral act . ( Hear , hear . ) I _ have been itt some time addressing gentle ana simple , young and old , rich and poor , in his behalf , and all ot them kiiow the man . ] have been addressing his congregations in his own chapel * , and in the Keighbouring town * , ano I have put these questions to the people ot his charge , when standing in hi . * own pulpit , and having before me his own Bible , ( which is Lone other than the authorised Bible ol the laud—the same Bil > le ^ thicn your Wocdhonses preach from : I shall sav a liule about him . by and Dy . ) I have said , " Co you love him ? " They have refpouded , "We do . " ' -Do you know any stain upon bis character ? " "No . " " Did you ever
hear ot a poor man going to his house , and leaving it without relief , if it were iu his power to relieve him ?"_ " No . " ' Is be not the best friend you ever bad , either as a private friend or as your pastor ?" •¦• He is . " "Did you ever find him refune , however black , and dark , and stormy the night might be , to go and give you advice , either temporal or spiritna ) , aud affurd you comfort and reliel ?' •* No . " " Are yon not , then , ready to go with him to the death , lfneed be ? " " We are . " And yet ( continued Mr . O . ) this good man—this talented scholar— this perfect gentleman—this true patriot— this genuine Christian , in persecuted with a degree of viliany and infamy such ax was never before exhibited , titherin civilised or barbarian nations . ( Cheers . ) 1 have no : time to go through every stage of tbat viliany ;
sntfice it to say , that every kind of spying , lying , traducing , tampering with the oaths of magistrates on the bench , has been practised toward * Stephens . ( Hear , hear . ) And thus , by a set of despicable scoundrels , who call themselves your Governor *—the infidel traitors who surround her Majesty ' * Council-table—men so cowardly tbat they dared not take him on any speech whieh they had seen reported by their own reporter , and who , therefore , absolutely bribed and hired a villain , ( the same who invited Stephens to tea on the very day he made the speech ;) this Judas afterwards became the witness against him . ( Shame . ) When 1 found that all the respectable magistrates' —the old magistrates—were resolved to keep aloof from tbe dirty persecution against him , I watched the business narrowly , and found it
put into the bands of two old " Huntites "two old Radicals—who had , since then , taken the sop , and become Whigs ; these were engaged to do that dirty werk . ( Hear , and " Shame" ) Yob do not like the Conservatives my more than 1 do . Bnt I will say this for them—I believe if they had taken Stephens , they would hate taken him in a John Bull , straightforward sort of manner ; and would not have degraded themselves so horribly as that , when Stephens whs produced in Court , the dock hud all the appearance of a bench of justice—the two scoundrel * whom 1 have mentioned being apparently the only criminalg in Court . ( Hear , hear , loud cheers , and much laughter . ) Bat so it was undftr the accarsed Whigs—that after having degraded themselves , after havin * tamnen » H
with the jurtic ** , they mad » the prisoner himself to appear the only champion in that Court . ( Cheers . ) 1 hey dared , also , to insult the army , by making them trample up and down the country at night without occasion . But the Queen ' s Bays have actually reaped honour from tbat circumstance—they have since boasted that they were Stephens ' * body-guard . ( Laughter and cheers . ) 1 wish we h * d the troops which oavp been this morning sent to Mansfield here to hear the old Tory talk a bit of sense to them I'd soon convert them . ( Laughter . ) They sent down « ix regiments into the North , —they are all converted . There is nothing I delight bo much iu a » to talk to the British Army . From the general to the private , they always like the principles which I preach , and to tell the truth the people like them & »
well . I hose princip le * are m a very short compass , " a fair day ' s wages for a fair day ' s work . " ( Cheers , and " That ' s ail we want . " ) 1 want also the Queen happy on her Throne , respectedandhonoBredbyher people , and by them secured from all treason , either abroad or at Some . I want the nobles and the aristocracy happy in their mansions , and respected aLso —if they deserve it , mind ye , —( cheers)—and" the people , the working , industrious people , as happy , as secure , and as much respected , in their cottages as the best of them . ( Load cheers . ) That is a creed which . alway « suits the people of England . The Boble and the aristocrats think you want to kill them . Fudge ! Amongst all the acquaintance I have amongst the working people , which is with some hundreds of thousands , 1 know not whom 1 dare ask to kill the wont enemy I have . If I wanted a man killiBg , I reaBy should not know whom to eo to ask
to oo tae Dioody oeed . The people at Notting ham said , we ( himself and the reporters ) were coming to Sutton to-day to be murdered ! Wby , if the rich only knew the poor as well as 1 do , they would neverbe siajd nor alarmed : for I can bear testimony to the people of England that they wish to hurt nobody , and tiey are beginning to be determined that noboby shall hurt them . ( Vociferous cheering . Ooe would have thought that poor Stephens might have been left as common murderers are before their trial—that there was no much honour 8 mongst people who think themselves better than their neighbours , tbat they would not have vilified and calumniated him before his trial . But the good man hag been persecuted all along by some part of the prem—by the Leeds Mercury ; the Manchester Guardian , ajid two or three more papers—who have endearourad to traduce kirn before the jnry w-a * im pannelled to try his case . Coaserratives and Whigs ,
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1 ask ye , is that fair ? Bainea , ( the editor of the Leed * Mercury ) b&a charged him since bis commitment with taking brandy and laudanum , as a drunkards—the feet tetfng that Stephens never took laudanum but once , ^ a nd that wa * about fourteen years ago , when he was a lad at school—to core the toothache ? ( Laaghter . ) And aa for brandy he happens to be a teetotaller—so much for "the Great Liar of the North . " I roust now require your patience , continued he . Here is another tradncerin your own neighbourhood . Shame ! eternal shame I to Simeon Woodhoase , the New
Connexion Superintendent Methodist preacher of this circuit . ( " We know him . " ) Some of yon do know him , and perhaps , also , yoa know the circumstances to which I am about to call your attention . How surprised was I , when I got to Nottingham , to find the following letter in the Journal of the week before last . I knew Woodbouae well , when he was a young preacher , and when it was naid of him in the Leeds circuit , that his eloquence ffaa always behind , and that he was always preaching in that way . ( Laughter . ) You know him , 1 supposp , by that still . ( " We do , we do , " ) Mr . O . here read the following etter r—
( To the Editor of the Nottingham Journal . ) " Sir , —In your paper of la . « t week , I observed it stated that £ 5 had been sent to Mr . Stephens , from Sutton-in-Ashfield , part of which was collected in the Chapel of the Methodist New Connexion in that place . In repl y to such a statement , I deem it necessary , through your medium , to inform the public , that the New Connexion have not any chapel in Sutton , but only a rented room , and which consequently is not under the management of a body of Trustees . Individuals in any religions community may err , but the community itself should not be implicated for the conduct of a lew of ita members . As tho senior Minister in the circuit , of which Sutton forms a part , I beg distinctly to disclaim , both for myself nnd my colleague * , any participation in , or approval of , the transaction to which you have adverted .
" I am , Sir , yours , &e . " S . WeODHOUSE . " ( Shame . ) As an honest man says , shame on him . It so happens that I rerc .-mber the beginning of the New Connexion Mtuhodiwts . M y father was oue of the first formers and founders of that sect . The reason given for the separation from th « old body was , that there was not democracy enough amongst the Old Methodist *; and that the poorpeople ought to have som « voice and rule in all religious matter ? . 1 knew poor Kilham very well , who was us much traducea by the Old Connexion Methodists in his day , as poor Stephens is by Pope Woodkcmse , at Sutton . Poor Kilham died from being choked by a mutton bone ; and the pious , lordlv , Bishous . oi
Methodist preachers said , that he died from the directvisitationof Almighty God , for having meddled with their power . ( Shame . ) And now I have lived to see a muck-worm , ( Woodhouse , ) whom my father assisted in digging out of 11 muck-midden—a representative of his Satanic Majesty , throwing a stone at Stephens . ( Laughter and cleers . ) I should like to see him * ay " muff" at Stephens when Stephens was present . I would recon . mend you , if ever he comes to pr ^ nch at this clup .-l of yours here , to take up your hats peaceably , and quietly walk out to church , or some chapel , or come iuto this field , if you will , and here pray together in the open air . \\ oodhouse i * in the wrong box , depend on ' t . The New Connexion MethodUts are & democratic body
, and if its members will use their influence throughout their diil ' erent circuit . * , , they will make Conference too liot for any fcelf-importance shufflebottom like tl . ut Woodhouse , whe dares to buff his malice iu a Tory or Whig journal against Stephens . ( Hear , hear . ) I was surprised that a respectable Conservative jounml should take in such stuff , from such a contemptible wretch as Woodhouse . ( Cheers . ) 1 have no more to say on that subject , excepting soh-niiily to call upou you seriously to look at the question of your owu religions . 1 am a member of eld mother Church ; (" right , lad ; " ) and I find , when I traverse through the country—whether you like me to tell you not—that we have more liberty ot conscience there than any where else , lean do
as 1 tkink proper about Stephens , and none of the clergy denounce me . But j ou see when one Methodist speaks for the poor , up " jumps a brother parson to put him tiown . J caiir . ot help contrasting the conduct ot Woodhouse , with tbe conduct of three clergymen of our own church . During the week of Stephens ';* arrest , 1 r « a » iwd only three letters from different friends in different parts of the country , asking me what could be done to help Stephens ? And from whom were these letters received . They were—I speak it proudly as a Churchman—every one of them- froia clergymen of the Church of England . ( Loud cheers . ) One is a clergyman in Yorkshire , an intimate friend of mini—Mr . Bull . The other two w re perfect strangers to me—one a
rector iu Rutlandshire , the otber in Herefordshire . And th = y wrote that if » n \ tbing could be done to s <; rve Stephen . " , they would be happy to doit . They were rather more like Christians than Woodhou . « e , I think . ( Loud cries ot ' They vfhs , they waa . " I am ^ roud that members of my own church did not ( ie . xpi . 'e him because be defended the poor . But thin knock at Stephens ' * door , is a knock at your own door . . Are you ready ? (" We are . we are . " ) You most always remember that Stephens was only apprehended because he was the friend of God nnd of the poor . Stephens might have gone on preaching Radicalism to never-ending , if he had not attacked capital , and sworn by God who made Irnn , that he would not rest till the factory children of
were relieved from the bon ^ H slavery , and till the working men of England were enabled to earn , by their own work , a sufficiency of food for them and their families to live comfortably npon , and that their wives might be the tutors and guardians ol their own babes at borne . ( Cheers . ) Because he required of the voracious capitalist ( to be content without fobbing the ^ labourers , and to enable them , by their industry , to live comfortably , and have something to spare—he has been thus persecuted . I demand of you all , therefore , that you resolve to stand by that man , let the consequences be what they may . ( " We will . " ) You have Deen liberaLand kind to him , and 1 assure you , when 1 wffcitting in his society , when he opened tbe letter fie received from youinforming him of
, your liberality towards him , 1 never saw gratitude beam from the eyes of any individual so brightly as it did from his . ( Loud cheers . ) He and I have often talked together about the boys of Sutton , and I now see , if we were defeated in our own county , we have Suttou to fall back upon . They say Stephens is violent—so he is—no doubt about it . It would be very odd if , in his country , a good man were not violent . When we see , as I have often sten , an able-bodied , well-intentioned , moral , and and religious workiDg roan , complaining that he had nothing to do ; and tbnt , as I have often known , his only employment has been in carrying his little babes to the mill—perhaps two miles from homeand fetching them back again at night : and this .
whilst almost worn down with the idea that he is killing them to obtain a bit of bread for himself : with all this staring one in tbe face , 1 say it would indeed be hard work for a man not to be violent and still harder for a man to be smooth-tongued in denouncing the system of tyranny and viliany that exists . ( Cheers . ) After detailing many of the most crying evils under the factory system , Mr . O . concluded that part of his speech Dy saying , that the curse of God must rest upon a nation , upon an Aristocracy , and upon a people , that will suffer snch cruel conduct to be continued , and even murders to be inflicted , in the name of honest labour . And we are called violent , said he , because we way that such things shall not be . But 1 say , if there be no
, law to defend the poor factory children and women from such monsters , we will make a law , and such things shall no longer be . ( Cheers . ) Stephens and I have also beea denanneed as firebrand * , because we are violent against the damnable and infernal New Poor Law . We are violent , and so we will be . _ 1 maintain , and I only wish all the Aristocrats in England were here to hear me—I have already said it in the presence of the Duke of Wellintton , and many other noble Lords— " That law shall not remain the law of England . " ( " No , no , " and cheers . ) It shall not be the scourge of tbe poor of England much longer . If a poor man has nonght to have relief from the ; soil of his birth , then has the rich no right to his rent . If a ooor man
hag not a Tightto be relieved from the national funds without having his wife torn from his bosom , and hi * children from under his care and superintendence—then I assertboldly , placing ray foundation on the word of God , and on the constitution of my country—the landlord has no right whatever to his withont subjecting himself to the same punishment . The law of England does recognise private property , but only on this assumption , that every honest man shall be at liberty , and be fed at liberty . Those cursed locks and prison dresaeu , thbae different wards for husbands , wives ,, and children , I cannot , will not , bear . Now mind , if they ore resolved to carry out that infernal law , I say here , in the pre sence of the Queen's leporter , that the time is come , when every Christian , and every loyal subject , must * cry , havoc ! and let slip the dogs of war !" ( Loud cheers . ) I have been called violent , not onlv
by the Whigs and Tories , but also by the Radical * bf Scotland and Birmingham , because I said every Englishman had a right to arm . Because I said so , they called me a blood thirsty fellow , nnd Stephen * too ! Shame on them . .-Why , they were the first that begun to talk of the same thing , some seven or eight year * ago , when they wanted to set fire to Eogland , to destroy the boroughmongers . Thank God 1 have not been denounced by a single Tory thought have b y the Conservatives and Whigg When the Birmingham youths were so •« up , " then treason was loyalty . Then men that conld bur the most muskets-insult the King the most-groan at the Qaeen th <* most—refuse to pay the tatfes the most—cause the greatest uproar—and say , aamany a Whig said , m those days « d ~ n old Billy , if we can ' t get the Reform Bill , we'll make him the head shorter very soou : ' Men , I Mj , alLthia wanlovalty
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Now , forsooth , asserting that I am a . traitor , for these same patriots say the people have a right to arm . But , remember , since that time the Whigg have got some " sops ;'' they have become Judases , and now wait to betray me . Now with respect to his arming—hear vats deliberately and coolly , and judge me fairly and honestly , aDd if I do not > me the strongest constitutional reasons for arming , why tfcen beat back your spears into pruning-hooka , and your swords into ploughshares . But , if 1 do satisfy you that your loyalty to your Queen-yew dooiion to the institution' of your country , and your determination to maintain inviolably the independence of your own cottage , demand you to arm , why , then , goonnrmiuir . and tn » rr » ,
( Lheero . ) 1 am a devoted admirer of the institution * of this country . 1 do think the Throne , the aristocracy , the squirearchy , the manufacturers , and the shopkeepers , and even the mill-owuers themsihes , ought to conduce to the happiness and comfort ot the masses of the people . 1 believe they are intended to do « o . I believe that , as far as human wisdom can devise , they are calculated to do so . But 1 do know that , instead of patriotism and Christianity being enthroned amongst what are called the higher orders of this country , of late years selfishness , covetousnesn , prejudice , and party spirit have taken the place ef that beautiful principle—patriotism , for which our forefathers were so much famed . Cheers . ) On the institutions of thin count ™ . ih »
to say that on no occasion have I altered my original impression . Some years ago , I set about agitating the country on behalf of the most defence ^ less , oppressed , injured , least-noticed , yet at the same time the most uceful part of the community I mean the poor little factory children . ( Loud cheers . ) Mr . O . then went on to say , that at one time he never attended a meeting which was not called and presided over by the proper constitutional authorities , viz ., the constables , mayors , boroughreeves ' , or high sheriff * , that no blame might be attached to kim for attending illegal meetings . In * o doing , said he , I thought 1 carried out the principles of the Constitution—in so doinj ? , I thought I shewed my devotion to it . But 1 will shew
you how the petitions « ot up at those meetings" were treated . The description of the treatment they revived , Mr . O . gave at Nottingham , adding , that the Duke of Sussex promised to present the York county petition , which was signed by 147 , 000 persons : tlmt was the only promise he had received from Koyalty , and he broke it . After animadverting strougly upon tie conduct of the Duke of Sussex and others , who had promised much and done little , he put the plain question—whether he had or had Hot a right to complain ? You remember , continned Mr . O ., the Reform mania , when all England went dizzy with its intoxication . You weie then told by the cursed and brutal Whigs , to crush the boroughmongers , and were made by them to believd that
roast Deei was to be picked up in vhe street . * , and plnm-puddiijg . s were to come down from the clouds like . hHil . ( Laughter . ) Then 3 on went to sleep : but I did not sleep . I said then the Whigs were humbuggiug you , and ranking you greater slaves than you were . You would not " believe it ; but my H udders-field boys believed it : they never fell into that trap . ( Laughter , and great cheers . ) I told them , and they believed me , that the-aristocrats might be great tyrants , but if they have got a rope round your necks they are a long way off , and you cau . tfeel it much ; but the Whigs—mind this—the n higs want to get an iron rim round your bodies , and that done , they never will be content till they squeeze the very life out of you . ( GToans . S The
first thing these reforming , canting , infidel , liberal Christians ( the Whigs ) did , was to sent out a Commission for the purpose of measuring your stomachs , to * ee what their coats were made of , and the nature oJ the juices which circulated round them , in order that seme means might-be dwised for making you live on coarser food and less of it . ( Tremendou * cheers . ) jvlr . Oastlerthen went on to recapitulate the manner in which the petitions Bgnin * t the New Poor Law had been treated by Lord Hcwick and others—11 similar account to which be gave in his speech at Nottingham . He then reverted to the subject of arming . I am not , said he . for disturbance , for anarchy , or for bloodshed . I received intimation from many districts tlmt the people . were arming in
secret . I did not like that ; but on some consideration and rettectiou , and examination ot works , particularly the Bible , I found that men—Englishmen—Christians—were justified in tmniug iu self-defence . I wrote a letter to Lord Haddington on this subject , m which I gave all my authorities on the point . 1 told tbe people , also , in another letter , that they must do as the Jews did , in the days of Nehemiah , when the oppressors were bearing h * rd upon them , as thejr now bear hard upon yon . He ordered them , under Divine inspiration , to humbl « themselves before God , to implore his protection , but each man to take care that he was well able to defend himself , in all my letters 1 told those to whom 1 wrote , that I wks actuated only by a desire to suve the
institutions of my country—to save the throne , the church , and the coronets * of the aristocracy , by obtaining a fmr dfey ' s wages for a fair day ' s work fur the poor . Mr . O . then introduced a variety of historical matter ( which , we really hnveiiot s * pnce to follow him through ) in justification of the people arming themselves . I took every step , said he , to obtain redress for the grievances of the poor , which the Constitution warranted me in taking , before I resorted to the last expedient of Englishmen—our own right arms , bright bits of steel , and bits oi lead issuing from long tubes . With these we shall be able to bring our enemies to their senses , without shedding one drop of blood ; and thus England will be saved ( Loud cheers . ) If blood is shed , let the Whigs thank Lord Howick
, who dared to laugh at the petitions of the people . No more petitioning , say I , until Voh are all armed . ( "That ' s it . " ) And how aw we met ? VV h y , by policemen—a cursrd set of crawling reptiles , whom the Constitution of England knows nothing of . According to the law—properly construed—the pt-ace officers should be our own immediate neighbours—men who curry as much ( or more ) authority by tlieir respectability and character , as by the staft and oath which they take on entering oflice . We are now spied about by a parcel ol fellows , sent—by whom ? Not by the Duke of Newcastle—thauk God for that ! But by a set of harpies , who dared not go to bed because they murdered the poor—by the New Poor Law patrons . ( heur After similar hili
Hear , . ) a p ppic against the police , to that which he delivered at Mansfield , Mr . O . concludwd that part of his speech by calling upon them to treat the soldiers well , and to be thick with them , if they came , as right good , hearty fellows . But , said he , if those accursed police come , hoot them wherever you see them ; if they come into a public-house , or any where else wheru you are , walk out . Let them be to theraselvec , and let Woodhouse be their chaplain . ( Tremendous cheering , and cries of w H «? s fit lor uou ' t else . " ) How strangely am I misunderstood by the aristocrats and the farmers of this county ! They think that I am their enemy—they know that I have good reason to feel any thing but friendship towards the aristocrats feeing that 1 have spent the best part of mv life in
the service of one of their order , and that my reward w ( as far as he--has the power to oppress me ) poverty and degradation . Thank God , however , in spite o ' f his malice and revenge , I can yet hold up my head in the presence of my countrymen , of ever ? grade and of every party . 1 am not , however , the enemy of the aristocrats nor of the farmers- I am the friend of both , —a » well as of their labourers . For ten years , I have been labouring to defend the aristocracy , in the very heart of the manufacturing districts , and to persuade the manufacturers and their operatives , that the only safe foundation for their prosperity was in the prosperity of the forming interest ; and now , having in a great measure succeeded—having braved many a storm in my own countryin * -
, espou lug the cause of the landlords and farmers—as soon as 1 make any appearance in an agricultural county , these very aristocrats and landlords fancy I am their toe , and actually require the troops to be in readiness wherever I attend , to put down any ebullition of feeling which may be caused by my addresses . Was ever any thing more unreasonable or inconsistent ? Yes . The conduct of the farmers is stiJl more extravagant . At my appearance , they transform their nags into chargers , their p loughshares into swords—and their pruning hooks into spearswhich they sharpen to mangle and cut up the very man who has been fighting for them for yeare , in the camp of their direst enemies , whilst they themselves were fast asleep in the arms of the atr unmet Reform
What infatuation ! But worse still ; these deluded farmers intend , as I understand , after having destroyed me , to march Northward to attack the manufacturing labourers ' , who have just defeated the fanaenj' most powerful foes , the cotton lords !—the Anti-Cora Law Convention !! Yes , my Sutton friends , it is absolutely true , that your farmers are now sharpening tbeir swords , at the bidding of their aristocratic landlords to destroy ihe very men whom the cotton lords have resolved te starve to death by throwing them ont of employment , merely be- ' cause , on a late occasion , in the manufactarimr towns of the North , these very operatives ( now iSr w - ? H bythe farmers > dared to *« Scotton lords , in their attempt to ruin the faraura !! How ^ monstrously inconsistent is tbia ! Yet , mv fnends , it is so—say what tbev mav—thJ- ¦ , - ' * hi the
E ^' hY fanning yeomanry have now P a i V mselve 8 * Let me adv »* tbe landlord * ?? v J ^ mer 8 t 0 ° P their e yw . The men of the North have no wish to harm them : but mind ye he Northerns ot well able to meet them , aSd to overthrow them , as well as their tyrant * and DUm ^ fS !* the / ^ ti Corn Law Convention I dismount , then , ye farmers—resume your rural occupations-and , if you will not aid the operatives and labourers , at all events permit them to conquer yourownmost deadl foes ! Oai that the farmer * would bat understand the signs of the times ! After a tew more remarks , he concluded by saying , Ithank jou for the honour yoa have done me inheanoK me ra , the way you have done . I now beg leave also to thank the honest individual at whose house I received such hospitable and kind treatment this morning ; and I cannot but express my gratification
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that he who lovea and befriends the poor , » KooH S ^« ?< % given shelter to the poor iW * king ... ( Cheers . ) Let me ask , then , before I leave you , shall treason triumph , or shall Stephens be acquitted ? ( "Acquitted , acquitted . " ) Yt * $ tepkea » v the man who stands by the Constitution ofEnrland and Christianity , and who is determined to Hgnt the battles of the people of England on whatever grounds their enemies may choose . But if we are to have victims , those victims ought to be the " base , bloody , and brutal" Whigs—those victims ought to betha Commissioners under the New Poor Law—every man who takes office under that ferocious law—and everyone who dares to help it lorward . ( Cheers . ) When shall you use your arms ? 1 hope never . But when vou have eot . th « m
ready , I shall then once more ask you to petition for your rights and liberties , and not till then . And , should that petition fail , then I should say , use your arms m defence of your own homes . Resist every encroachment upon your Constitutional rights , and ietit be death to any man who dares to lay violent wEiwv y ° arwive * , or your children . ( Cheers . ) 5 i ? nf ¦? £ ™ r given n 8 ht heartily from aTorr n Ia a , Rttaic . P eople , I wish yoH all good bye . ~ ( MrO . ' s i eechT ?** " ^^ ** ^ ° and o r ^ lt thett 8 eParat ^ in the most quiet from ttfi u **™? : * °£ Mr ' Oastler was escorted wChadli r ?' the rt > onsand .-of operatives
Original Correspondence
ORIGINAL CORRESPONDENCE
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TO THE EDJTOHS OF THE NORTHERN STAR . Sins , —In looking over the news of the General Convention , reported in your valuable paper of baturday week , I find a statement made there , by Jbat friend of the people , Dr . Macdouall , respecting lnomas Ashton ' s paradise of Hyde , rather incorrect , and hnding you ever , willing to correct any thins which may need correction , I take the liberty of f * " ? S , y ° a the following correct statement . In Mr . Asnton s paradise , leaden pipes were laid down from the water work * by Mr . Ashton ' s tenants , and through wages being low and provisions high , the Water Company have found it difficult to collect
their water rent , during the last winter . The result of which ha « been an agreement between the Water Company and Mr . Ashton for the latter to collect it , or them , or rather to sfop it out of their wage a erery fortnight . Consequentl y Mr . Asbton has had to buy the pipes , which beforetime he would not have any thing to do with , and the tenant that paid 20 g . for the pipe he-is . giving 15 * ., which will be a loss of 5 s ., ne , Mr . Ashton , considering them to be 5 s . worse than when put in , although they be his own houses , which every reasonable man must conclude to be a robbery of 5 s . from ev&rv tenant .
By inserting this statement in your next paper you will much oblige your readers in Hyde , and afriend to the people ' s cause . _ . S . Royse , Tailor , Geor , ge-street , Hyde , Cheshire .
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ADDRESS OF THE LEIGH RADICAL ASSOCIATION , TO . THE REALLY HONOURABLE THE REPRESENTATIVES OF THE WORKING MILLIONS , ' IN GENERAL CONVENTION ASSEMBLED . Reveiied and Patriotic Assembly , —The time is at Laud which will speedily decide the future condition of the working elates of this great empire . Long have we groaned beneath the cruel strokes of the iron rod of oppression ; and too long , too patwntly , and too servilely have we stooped ~ to receive the burdens which a baxe . mercile >« , and plundering oligarchy have thought fit to impose upon us . Our homes , instead ot being the favoured abode * of comfort and domestic enjoymenthave become tbe
, dwelling places of misery , and the receptacles of wretchedness ; tlie spirits of our wives are broken by reason ot continued disappointments , and repeated , but ineflectual exertions , to provide things honestly in the sight of all men , and to supply the necessary wants ami requirements of our families . Our children , th « pledges of mutual love and conjugal affection , are squalid in their appearance , and clothed in rags ; while the very limited produce of our unprotected labour will not permit us to make that provision for the development of their intellectual faculties , which the growing state of their mental powers so loudly deitaan
delineateJ , we ourselves are fast sinking into premature , untimely graves , the victims of broken spirits , protracted jftbonr , and scanty fare . All our exertions to- ameliorate oor condition , and to release onTselve » from the griping and devouring fangs of despotism , tyranny and oppression ; all our efforts to throw off tins unparalleled suffering , this monstrous wrong and injustice , instead of commanding the attention * and enlisting in our behalf the sympathy and apsistance of those whose first care shall be to defend the weak from the assaults of the powerful , have hitherto been treated only with "the rich man's scorn , and k the proud work ' s contumely . " When we have asked for bread , we have received a stone . A taxmaking and a-tax-devouring Legislature has
answered our prayers with contempt , and dismissed our complaints with mockery and derision . Our peaceful and constitutional meetings have heen broken upon by the staves stud bludgeons of a brutal k i . " cl 0 US P olic " ° < S trampled upon , and sabred by a drunken and : infuriated yeomanry cavalry , or dispersed by the muskets and bayonets of a ^ military , trained and 'disciplined for carnage . Lnder these circumstances , what remains for us ,, but to take our affairs into our . own hand ? , and u > accomplish that for ourselves which our ruUra have studiously and perseveringly refused to do for us . Once more , then , do we appear in the form of petitioners for our inalienable birthright—tbe right of our just share in th « making of those laws which
we are bound to obey , and by which our lives and property are to be disposed oj ; and which richt we have sworn on the altar of freedom t » obtain , be thecost price what it may . Once more , then , and once only , do we ask f » r justice . Over the interests of this our last petition , the working classes of Great Jtfntain Jiave appointed . you . to watch , and nobly have yon done your duty . To you do we point , with equal pride and satisfaction , a » the most substantial refutation of the base calumny and interested falsehood of which our enemies are guilty , when they aver that the great mass pf the people are unfit to be trusted with the choice of their representatives . By your prudence and discretion , your wwdom and courage , your firmness and determinationand by
, that admirable capacity to discharge , with honour ana credit , the high , and important duties imposed upon you , and" which has so brilliantly marked the whole course of your proceedings , yon have not only blasted the foul hopes of your self-annihiiatioD , which your and oar enemies so fondly cherished , but you have also endeared yourselves to the great body of the people ; your uamea ate engraven with the pen of heartfelt gratitude on tbe tablets of their heart *; you have won their confidence ; and richl y do you merit that bold and unflinching support which there is every reason to believe they are prepared to render y ° n- As you have , by the voice of the people , been called not only to the post of honour , but to that of danger also , so it i 8 the duty of the people to see
that their all-potent power be interposed between you and that danger . And to this end we , the Radicals of tke Leigh district of South Lancashire , hereby beg leave to express our most unqualified ' confidence in yon , and our warmest approbation of all yonr proceedings , and to assure you of onr &m determination to support you by every means in our power . And should the powers that be , in coh-? wtence with their crooked policy , think fit to jeopardise the personal safety of the members of the Convention , we shall deem that an open avowal of hostilities against the rights of the people , and . ^ al take our measures accordingly . Impossibilities we cannot accomplish ; nor most prodigies of valour be l f l ? l ? mu ?; > t whatlt iTin the Pow « r of
. . 152 ?^ * 'T ' t ^ aytfawi « ung voii ^ o carry asiTXR ^^/ Kfi / J ? ° ? V f tb 8 wretched , SonAl of consoiation to the toil-worn slave in political bondage , go °° - . An 4 » ay the blessing ofHun , who intended the happiness and enjoyment of all his children , rest upon your labours ; and may the live coal you haw taksn from the altar of nberty , be fanned by your exertions into a mighty flame , whose power shall destroy « wn the remembrance of corruption , tyranny and ' oppression , and whose blaze shall iUumine the minds , and gladden the hearts , of all mankind .
Ana should your exertions not meet with that peaceful and bloodle » termination which it is the first wish of our heart ) to accomplish ; if , when other resource is cut off , the working million * are com peued to declare the termination of their slavery « lb f day shall arrive , in which the banner of freedom shall be unfurled on high , and liberty ' s signal shall be calling her Him * from afar , then shall tfcanwnof Leigh district , in support of the Convention and tha Ptsople ' B Charter ^ be found at their post , and pre . pared to do their duty . .. ; - * ) f * W By order of the committee , , J&Mc Woon , fWn ^ ? H ^ '" ¦ Ml « f the Leigh , Ma . ch 30 tW 39 RadXC 8 i ^^^
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Thb Russian aRmy , &e .-The Bu&sian armv V % 2 ?* JWOWineni . fer Davy to 483 ^ 7 , 400 cannons , 36 , 000 sailo ^ , 11 ^ 000 marines , ^ Ko ?» /" ?" ? - If » a » ia pleased to invade England would the bandit aristocracy be able u defend that g U , every V . ch ofwhlch they L taken into their infernal clutches ?
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Citation
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Northern Star (1837-1852), April 13, 1839, page 6, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/ns/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1052/page/6/
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