Current:

Northern Star (1837-1852), 31st July 1841, Edition 1 of 5, Page 4, Untitled Article

Page 4
Page 4
4 of 8

On this page

  • Departments (1)
    • THE tfOETHEKN STAR. SATURDAY, JULY 31, 1841.
  • Text (8)
  • Transcript

    • Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.

      Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.

      Untitled Article

      RELEASE OF MR . EDWARD BROWN FROM "WARWICK GAOL . On "Wednesday evening , tke 21 st inst , the Cb * riists of Warwick and Leamington entertained . Mr . E . Brown ¦ with » supper , st Mr . Freactie's . Tf otwitbst& » aini > the abort notice given , there -vras & glorious meeting ; the room wag tastefully decorated , and the utmost harmony prevailed during the evening . After the cloth -was removed , Mr . Dosaldsos , the chairman , proposed the first toast , —" The people , the legitimate source of all power . " He addressed hia brother Chartists with feelings of great pleasure on that occasion . &s the numbers present , and the enthusiasm exhibited , furnished additional proof of Uie sterling r&lne of the great and glorious principles contained in the People ' s Charter ,

      and of their increased attachment to those martyrs who had suffered , and who "were enduring so much misery for advocating those principles . Every day ' s experience proved the folly of those aristocratic tyrants who sought by physical force to rivet those chains of slaTery which were forged-by antiquated tyrants , -when they -were in a comparative state- oi darkness ; but the intelligence and poBficaFtaowTeage of the people were now shaking the antiquated citadel of corruption ; they would no loager suffer themselves to be led by the nose , and deluded by either Whaj or Tory factions . Tne plunder of the people was the common object of both ? the onVy difference he could discover between them was , that the Whigs occasionally sacrificed their principles to

      expediency , and cheated the peeple by delusive promises ; while the Tories , like bold highwaymen , clapped a pistol to their breasts , and plundered them ¦ with a daring face of the most consummate impudence . ( Loud cheers . ) He would propose , as a toast , — " The people , the legitimate source of all power , " but assure them that until the People ' s Charter became the law of the land , they must calculate on being plundered by the aristocracy of both Whig and Tory . The battle was now between the Chartists and Tories ? , for the Whigs , as a party , were defunct—peace be to their remains . Let but tie working classes be united , and they would soon proTe to the world that the people are the legitimate source of all power . The toast was drank with great enthusiasm .

      2 dr . Phice responded to the toast , and drew a clear and masterly sketch of the principles of the People ' s Charter , and was loudly cheered . The Chairman proposed a toast , " Civil and religious liberty all over the gl * ba" He deplored that ¦ while most of the religious world would respond to the sentiment , they were ignorant of its valne , and opposed to the sublime principles it contained . Every differeat sect set no bounds to their own religious views ; and yet , with a one-sided consistency , they sneered and hooted every other sect who happened to differ with them , forgetting that true religions liberty consisted in freedom of thought , charity to all , envy to none , bnt leve to the wiole human family . Mi . Gbeaves responded to tbis toast in a delightful speech .

      The Chairman next proposed the health of Mr . Edward Brown , The presence of ilr . Brown prevented Mm sajicg many things that would be necessary to do justice to his character . 2 fo man in England , except Mr . Feargus O'Connor—iloud cheers here iatemipud the Chairman )—had worked with more zeal in the people's cause than Mr . Brown ; no man bad been more unjustly persecuted . The Chartist movement had been carried on far enough to answer the purpose of the "Whijjs of Birmingham : tbe Government threw certain hungry dogs of that town a bone to pick , by granting the Charter of Incorporation ; but certain he was , that Little Johnny Finality and his " chums" sent down the Caarter of Incorporation to Douglas and Co ., with an

      understanding that they should assist in putting down the Chwust movement It was at that crisis Vkat Mr . Brown manfully came oat , and told the peeple of Birmingham that they were sold ; and , by his extraordinary exsrtioas , aided by a few others , he rallied the ¦ working men , and tkat saccessfttUy ; until , at length , the Whigs set future Tory Governments an example to put down freedom of discussion by physical force , and they sent their bull-do ^ into the Bull Ring to break the heads of the inoffessive and peaceable working men of the toirn . The Chairman , at considerable length , dwelt on the pernoioos conduct of the Whigs at that time : he also added that they were equally indebted to the bloodthirsty Tories for tbe scenes of brutality which followed those events . |

      The toast was drunk with three times three hearty cheers . Mr . B&O"srs acknowledged the toast in a splendid speech . * The proceedings were continued for some time ; aeveral other toasts and sentiments being proposed and responded to ; a spirit of union and good fellowship prevailed ; and at the close a vote of t&anki to the ^ faTrman was carried by acclimation .

      Untitled Article

      COUNTY SHERIFF'S COURT . A Sheriff ' s Cjurt was held at Leeds , on Monday last , before J . H Hill , Esq , Barrister-at-Law . There ¦ were only four cases tried , with which the court was occupied till nearly midnight . The following are the only cases of publie importance : —

      PlMiSET r . BOOTH . Thi 3 was an action bronght to recover £ 6 33 ., for work and labour done , and os- for travelling expenses . Mr . NE"VTto >" , barrister , of Bipon . appeared for the plaintiff , and > Ir . John Hope Shavt , c' Ireeda , for the defendant . Mr . Pininey , the plaintiff , is a small farmer acd cattle doctor , at Sharow , Dear Bipon ; and the defendant , Mr . Richard Booth , is a gentleman , occupying a large sheep farm , at Warlaby , near Xorthallfcrtou . In June . 1 S 39 , the defendant had a large number of sheep sM cted with a disease called tbe scab , which the plaintiff was employed to cure , by washing them with a iiqnor prepared for the purpose , for -which the plaint'ff is famous . The evidence showed tint the

      defen-danfs shepherd west over to Shaiow on the latn of June , to see the plaintiff , whom he found at the house cf a Mr . Woodhouse , at Bridge Hewick , on which occasion a conversation took place , which ended in the plaintiff agreeing to send his two eons to wash the defendant ' s sheep . The sons went to Warlaby on the lS ' . n of June , and were employed until the 22 Dd , watering 245 sheep , which it was agreed should be paid sixpence each . Tbe defence set up was , that the agreement was " no cure no pay , " and the sheep , so far from being cured , bad Borne of them died , and consequently the plaintiff was not entitled to recover . In answer to this it was shown that strict orders had been given that the sheep shonld be taken proper care of . but neglecting this , they had been left in a . field all night , whilst it was raining , by which the preparation was washed off .

      The action ha ? been previously tried in the same court , when a verdict was given for the plaintiff for tbe amount sought ; upon which a new trial was moved for in the Qu&en ' s Bench , on the ground that the verdict was net in accordance with the evidence . Tbe motion was granted , and an issue was directed to have the case re-aigutd . Tae evidence was of great length , and in some points contradictory . The court was ocenpied from eleven o'clock in the morning until ne . irly Beven at night ; andthejary , after a short deliberation , relumed a verdict for the plaintiff for £ 6 7 s . —damages , Is ., the whole amount sought

      CHilLiSD r . BBAT . This was an action to recover back 3 Etaie of £ 15 , deposited by the plaintiff in the hands of tte defendant , upon an illegal race . Mr . Bo > d , for the plaintiff , stated that the facts were in ananow cou > pass , and the ca- > e would probably resolve itself into a question of law for the court above . The plaintiff was the owner of a black mare , and in MaTeh last he deputed a person named John Eastwood to make a match for her to trot four miles against another mare , belonging to © ne Benjamin Eistwo » d The match was made on the 22 nd March last , for £ 2 b a-siie , and was to come off on the 5 th of May . Two pounds a-side w . re paid down to make tbe mzteh , into the hands of the defendant as stakeholder ; on the 3 rd of -April £ 13 a-side more were deposited , and the remaining £ 10 a-side was to be made good on the day cf tl-. e race . On that morning , however , the plaintiff

      was informed that the defendant was fatber-in-lffw to , Beujamin Eastwood , and he then objected to bis continuing tbe rffice of stakeholder , but offered to go on with the match if arjy respectable indifferent person wer « named in his stead . The parties ultima ' . tly could ' . not agree as to another stakeholder , and the plaintiff ; then declared the nntch off , aad gave defendant notice to pay back his money , which notice he repeated in ¦ writing the same evening . Xow , in point of law , if either party to an illegal wager gave notice to the stakeholder to pay him tetck his stake before he had ' handed it orer to the other party , he was bound to refund it , whichever won or lost , or forfeited his ; ¦ wager . That this was an illegal wager was clear of ' all doubt . By the 16 th Cbarlts II . horse races were all ' declared illegal . The 13 th Gte . II . legalized horse races for sums of £ 5 » or upwards , if run at certain plices named in that statute , and the 15 th Geo . II . made £ hem legal whereTer they might be ran . Bet it \ tnA Vumn Ae . iAAe . A- in & ease t&fore Lord Kidon . that

      the two latter Acts only applied to real horse-racing npon the turf , and not to a trotting match upon , the Queen ' s highway , and that case had been confirmed by a later one before tbe Court of Common Pieas . Witnesses were then called who proved the facts stated , and upon the agreement being produceJ , it appeared on the face of it to have been made bttween John Eastwood and Benjartin Eastwood , and not between the plaintiff and Benjamin Eastwood . John Eastwood , however , swore distinctly that he . made it as the agent of the plaintiff , and that all the money deposited belonged to the plaintiff .

      3 ir . Shaw , for the defendant , submitted first that the ¦ wager was legal , and attempted to distinguish this case ; from that decided by Lord Eldon ; and , secondly , that ; the evidence of John Eastwood , that he actrrd as i pla . nUff " 8 agent , was not admissible to contradict thai agreement . Mr . Hill ( ihe Sheriff ' s Assessor ; , refused to stop j the case on either point , but reserved leave to the j defendant to move to enter a nonsuit if he should be so j advised- j Mr . Shaw then addressed the Jury for the defendant , j eon . ending that John Eastwood had made the match on his own account ; that be had not mentioned the plaintiff to Benjamin Eastwood ; or that he was at ail events -a partner in tbt viger with the pl ^ iti £ j J j i

      Untitled Article

      Three witnesses were then called , who swore that they had not beard Challand mentioned exoept as the owner cf the mare ; but they admitted , on crossexamination , that they were flot present during the whola time-Mr . Bo . vd , in reply , conteaded that there was no ground for imputing perjury to John Eastwood , who had expressly sworn that be made the match as plaintiff ' s agent , and that he no doubt mentioned the plain tiff to Benjamin Eastwood , before the defendant's witnesses came . Besides , his client had made the deposits , and had been throughout treated as the principal in the matter . The Learned Assessor summed up , telling the Jury that if they thought upon the evidence that John Eastwood made the match on behalf of the present plaintiff , and so declared at the time , and that he was not a parter in the wager , then their verdict most be for the plaintiff ; otherwise , for the defendant

      Verdict for the plaintifffor £ 15 , subject to the points reserved- F 1 NK . E ? r . BOOTH . The plaintiff wa « the same sa in the former case ; and the defendant , Mr . John Bootb , of Killerby , near Catterick , brother of the former defendant The action was brought to recover £ 3 15 s , for sheep washing , and 5 s . for travelling expences . Mr . KEinox was for the plaintiff , and Mr . Davi-SO . n , of Northallerton , for the defendant The Jury gave a verdict for tbe defendant . The ease did not terminate till two o ' clock on "Wednesday mernine .

      Untitled Article

      " The Chartists have proved themselves more accurate calculators than the middle classes . Whether their kovtrum would have me . nD £ D matters is xot now the question * , but thk result has stie"w . \ that thet weee correct 1 jt theib opision — that is the present state of the represe . ntation' , it was vals to th 1 . " < k op a repeal of the corn monopoly . ???*** * Political power in this co « ntrt , though it resides in a cohparatitely small class , can only be exercised by the eufferancu of the masses . " — Morning Chronicle ( organ of the Whig Ministers ) , Fndov , Julyim , 1841 .

      THE WHIG BUDGET BARRICADES . Ous " moral force" readers may believe it or not , just as they please , but we beg to assure them that with our own hands , vre selected the following precious morsel of "morality" from the Morning Chronicle of Saturday last , the 24 th of July , 1841 , and tenth year of Peace , Retrenchment , and Reform : —

      • ' There are many things in the present posture of r affairs which are nrjjthin ± j but symptomatic of a Tory ! millenium . ; " The rain falls , and the price of corn rises ; trade \ does not improve ; and , should the harvest fail , Sir i Robert will have a winter to encounter as disagreeable as that of 1 S 30 , from which he fled , i " The Whig budget has been defeated by monopolists ' and ecclesiastical activity , and Tory taxes must be the ' substitute . ! " The army must be increased , because the Tories ¦ have no tenure but the bayonet in Ireland . The navy ¦ cannot be diminished , because foreign powers , know-; icg the hatred of the working classes and of the Iriih nation to the Tories , will not fail to look around for ' opportunities of indemnity from the late triumphs of : Lord Palmerston .

      ; " France , in 1830 , according to the orasle of Tam' worth , by an trample of physical force , disturbed j the slumbers of the English oligarchy . Is n » t France I disturbing at this moment , the prospective success of a I Tory Budget ? [ " ' We must have money , ' says M . Eumann , — : Toulouse answers by a barricade . \ " We must have money , ' says Sir Robert PeeLu Manchester and Birmingham may answer any budget , ' but the Whig one , with a barricade . i " * We must have money through new taxes , ' repeats ; the oracle . —Money you may have , but not new taxes . j So new taxes for the people—no new taxes for the ' middle classes—no new taxes for any or for all .

      " Snch will be the nniversal cry of the British empire ; and many an elector whoro folly , or spite , oi bribery , or intimidation , has led from his duty at the recent contests , will declare against new taxes—roaDy a merchant , who has hitherto sacrificed bis trade to party spirir , will repent hia groveliing infatuationmany a manufacturer will have the film of ignorance taken from his eyes , and will wonder , as he wakes , at his transendent degradation . " The Budget gave relief . Sir Robert gives new burdens . The Whigs depart with tbe

      unpopularity of wisdom . Sir Robert enters office with the popularity of folly . Walk before him , O ye tax-; . gatherers ; for verily he will augment your daily '¦ labours . Walk before him , all ye corruption ! sts , oligarchs , and others , who find your accounts in ! the augmented burdens , and the increased miseries of 1 people- Welcome to him who grinds the poor for i the sake of the rich . Welcome to the demure , phari-1 saica ! Sir Robert—to the comely and decent Jesuit—to , the plausible champion of the Caandos gang . Welcome , ; I say , to the hero of the pivot , and to him of the I sliding scale .

      j - " Bat , men of England , look to your pockets . If i you will not have the Whigs , make Peel give yon I their Budget If you are tired of Melbourne , extract i bis good measures from your enemies . " I Of coarse the above is from " a Correspondent , " I that is , from the Editor to the Editor ; as all of I our mottled tribe have a vast privilege , not only ' , of using both ends of the " stylus , " as Horace says ,

      but there is also vested in us a kind of prescriptive right of selecting the exact degree of relationship in which we choose to stand towards our children , whether as legitimate parent , putative father , father by adoption , or god-father . The striking likeness , however , of the youngest son of the Chronicle to his eldest brother , Master MassaROM Reform Easthope , born in 1831 , leaves no doubt rapon the mind of those who have seen both that they are " par noVde fralrum . " In very truth , we feel unequal to handle the above with any degree of moral courage . We fear touching the pitch lest we may be thereby defiled ! but we must e ' en at tbe Barricade , as no doubt some notice "will be expected from us .

      Well , then , it will be in the recollection of our readers that when " plain John , " now Lord Job John , announced the death and burial of Chartism , we shed no tear over the empty grave ; we heaved no sigh over thecorseless tomb . We watched the giant in ids slsmber , which the foolish old man mistook for the repose of death ; we examined the limbs and felt the heart , and finding them warm and animated we said ihat when the giant again ro 3 e refreshed from his slumbers , that he would start from that very point of his journey at which , before resting , he kal arrived .

      Our readers will recollect that we then argued that however persecution , intimidation , and " physical force" mi ^ ht , for a season , arrest the progress oi Chartism ; yet , upon its resuscitation , would it be sure to start from that very point where oppression made its last assault . We announced that not a step of the old ground would be gone over again ; but on the contrary , what was gained would be kepi , and fresh ground would be broke . That we were right in our conjecture is fully proved by the extraordinary and rapid strides made since the incarceration of our best , our wisest , and ablest leaders ; and that this is a principle in politics , may be inferred from the fact of the Whig organs having

      finished the campaign of 1831 with fire and sword , and now ( after a deep not far short of Rip Van Winkle ' s nap ) proposing to open the campaign of 1841 with barricades and circumvallations of bread , thus starting from the very point where the " Reformers" left off in 1832 . If any fatality could haTe occurred more propitions than another , to aid the class " Reformers" in moulding the Reform Bill to their own party purposes , it was that state of things which the senseless and then uninstructed people created at the bidding of their task-masters . " Reform" was literally snatched out of the fire , and cut into party dresses before tbe smoke had subsided .

      Those who applied the details to the principle knew full well what the effect of those details would be : not perhaps that one would hare been the mean

      i of transferring power to Tory hands ; bat they knew ; that the general effect would he to create a more ] slavish and dependent constituency , if possible , thin that which it destroyed . They knew full well that all the people's share vras ( notwithstanding the " vigilant " popular controul under which our institutions were to be placed ) still to rest upon the clemency , whim , or caprice of the party which might bs in the as « endant . In fact , they knew that the change was but a mere change of masters . The people did not expect so bad a return as they have received . In every speech they recognised the

      Untitled Article

      admission of some great principle , one and all tending to the one great professed end of making taxation and representation co-extensive ; and the great error committed was a blind renunciation of all further popular interference with the details , when the principle had been gained by fire and sword , and threats of extermination of royalty itself . Such was the gTeat error in 1832 : such , a 8 we have over and over again stated , has been the great error in all physical revolutions- The people , generally successful in the physical struggle , rest satisfied , and suppose that victory follows the last shot , or the last crash cf thefired building : when the soldiers repose , leaving to their officers the disposal of the triumph and the possession of the spoil .

      Our readers will further bear in mind that wo were alone in noticing the new Whig tactics so loosely cast before us in the war print , the Globe , under the significant heading " Bread or Blood . " We stated that the country would be roused upon that cry , and further insisted that the hungry Whigs cou d not pass through the dog-days , without becoming rabid , if once whipt from the mess . D ^ es not the following sentence from the Chronicle fully prove the truth of our assertion ?— " We must hare money , says Sir Robbkt Peel . Manchester and Birmingham may answer any Budget but the Whig one with a Barricade . "

      Isow , that is from the Clironicle , and we have emphasised the may just as we find it in that journal ; and will any man of plain common sense read it thu 3 emphasised , otherwise than—Manchester and Birmingham ought to erect the Barricade ; Manchester and Birmingham we trust will erect the Barricade , in resistance to any Budget , other than a Whig Budget : that is to say , the people of Manchester and Birmingham should risk their lives

      the peace of tbe country , and the very existence of society , for no other earthly purpose than that of whipping the Whigs back again to the mess ! for that is the plain meaning of the thing : because the Whigs know full well that they " would have to toss up some other hasty pudding of a Budget for next year , and so on ; annually looking out for windfalls and God-sends for the " surplus population" of idle paupers , which " presses too hardly upon the means " of the industrious man ' s existence .

      But is it not curious that , in the tenth year of Reform and retrenchment , the Whigs should still claim credit , not—for reducing taxation , but for experimentalising to avoid further direct taxation ! They require £ 2 , 400 , 000 for the current year ; and as " a penny eaved is a penny gained , " we could very easily relieve them from all the trouble , anxiety , risk , and loss of office , by nipping just that amount from the burden of the state , and [ barring the precedent !] the

      morsel would not be felt ! We could do it for them , and more , without even one act of aristocratic injustice ; but upon their preservation of the mesa full , entire , sud intact , ( which are the terms Of their trust ) , depends their support ; and therefore they prefer walking out for a bit , to living upon short commons even for a season , in the hope of returning to the uadiminished mess at some future day . About the Barricades .

      Let us just suppose that O'Connor had appeared in Court , as proprietor of the Northern Star , to plead to an indictment framed upon the very article we have copied from the Chronicle : nor indeed is he Eafe from this , as he was actually con victed twice for matter copied from other papers , and was also extensively denounced and held up to public reprobation by the said Chronicle and the Whig press generally , upon a third occasion , for the crime of the Xtrthern Star having copied from the Tyne Mercury a Bketch of a " cat " , and which the Tyne Mercury gave as a description of the sort of bed upon

      which it desired to see the said O'Connor reposing . Wegavethearticle from the Mercury , " cat" and all ; and at no distant period we found the whole of the Whig and Tory Press teeming with abuse of O'Connor for having given a sketch of a cat for injuring the horses of dragoons , with a recommendation for its adoption . Nay the infamous and lying slander was actually repeated to the cheeringrepresentatives of the people , by that greatest and meanest of ail tools , PJain Joii . v , and ur ^ ed as a reason amon g others for his persecution of O'Connor and the Chartists .

      But to the Barricade . What is it for , and what is to be the amount of the promised victory ? A republic ? No . The establishment of the universal rights of the whole people , under a limited and responsible monarchy ! No . The annihilation of the Tory party I No . The means of affording to the Whigs a power of completing" Reform , " in which they have been hitherto bafEed by Tory opposition ! No . The remission of some heavy burdens , and reduction of taxation J No . Some temporary means of helping the system-made paupers through their present distress , until permanent steps shall be taken to

      prevent a recurrence of the evil ? No . The Repeal of the new Poor Law Act ? No . The repeal oi some bad law i No , no , no ; no such thing The Whig Bitdqet ia the acknowledged " casus belli . " In decency , the Chronicle should have spared us the disagreeable and thankless office of taking it to task before the battle commences ; for although we and the unrepresented people cannot be expected to give to Toryism another " fair trial , " yet we do think that , inasmuch as the mere difference of locality ,

      whether right or left of the Speaker ' s chair , constitutes the sole and only difference between Whigs and Tories , the Chronicle should , in common decenoy , have waited for some better pretext , and more practical reason , for erecting the Barricades in Manchester and Birmingham , and thus have spared us the trouble of cautioning the people against the " revolutionary and treasonable" recommendation : aye , " revolutionary and treasonable" ; there is no use blinking it—it amounts to that .

      Mr . Easthope's life and property will be just as secure under a Tory , as under a Whig Government ; and he has not the same justification for his violence , as an unrepresented , neglected , despised , persecuted , and starving out-lawed people have . Surely , then , if the Whigs cannot wait for a month for a trial without talking about Barricades , the sentences of poor "ignorant" working men , for no other crime than merely meeting , as ia the case of Hoev , Ashton , and Cbabtree and hundreds of others , were most egregiously severe , and their crime was very venial compared to that of the Chronicle , who cannot state any better cause of complaint than the mere change from one side to the other of the House of Commons .

      We have some recollection of a denunciation of O'Connob and O'Brien by the Chronicle , by George Henrt Ward , by Macaula y at Edinburgh , and more recently by that respectable pauper , Mr . Oswald , at Glasgow , for having recommended tbe people to resort to " physical force , " and then deserting them . This we never thought it worth while to contradict as the whole people were aware of its falseness , and indeed as the bankrupt M . P . for Glasgow was very significantly and flatly told upon the hustings by a large portion of the said people However , had O'Connor and O'Brien , even by insinuation , ( which they never did , ) told the people to make a physical resistance to , or physical aggression upon , tyranny , the people would have

      been justified in insisting npon those two gentlemen taking the command of the troops : and in the same way , should the Whig Barricades be erected in Manchester and Birmingham , and should it not be convenient to send a deputation from either of these towns to London , for Mr . Easthope , Lord Palmeesto . v , and tbe Proprietor of the Globe , to take the command ; and should the rage extend to the metropolis , which is very probable , we hereby insist upon the Chronicle and Globe offices bting respectfully searched for the Editors—no , for the Proprietor !; [ this is another privilege of ours , so long as our writings are not objeated to by our employers !] and upon Mr . Easthope being compelled to take the chief command of the " Budget Bar-

      Untitled Article

      ricade" which may happen to be nearest to his office . We think this a good moral doctrine for our psace-loving Chartut friends ; and we beg to assure them , that the very same result as was produced in Nottingham , Newcastle , Bristol , and Dorchester , by " firing" the Whigs into office in 1831 , wonld be produced after they wero Barricaded into office in 1841 ; that is , the foremost men would be some hung and some more transported , which are the usual rewards of Whig soldiers after the battle .

      But can anything more fully prove the injustice of class legislation than the impunity with which a set of trafficking politicians , destructives , and hired and common disturbers of the peace , are allowed thus to excite the quiet people to treason and rebellion ? Why is not Easxhope prosecuted J Why wM he not be prosecuted ! Because , as we stated the week before last , a Jury that would hang a Chartist for half the crime , would acquit Easthopu and honour him as a champion and a martyr .

      We are fona of giving sums to our pupils ; and now suppose the second Whig campaign to have commenced with Barricades , how is it likely t » end ? Answer—in the establishment of the Charter , a Republic , or anything else which is found indispensible for Whig restoration to the mess if the Chartist garrison only holds out . However , they will try to acaomplieh it constitutionally if they can ; in short , " morally if they may , physically if they must . " For ourselves we ever have been , and ever shall be enemies to excessive punishment , and more especially for political offences ; and the most

      that Mr . Easthope and his violent friends can now expect at our hands , if worsted in the campaign of the " Budget Barricades , " will be to insist that the critical standard for the punishment of poor political offenders , established by the Whigs , shall not be violated . If there appears a strong point of law in Mr . Easthope ' s faveur to save him from being half hanged firstly , and then to have his bowels torn out and thrown in his face , and then to be the other half hanged , and then to have his head cut off , and then to be quartered and disposed of according to her Majesty ' s pleasure ;

      and if all the best and ablest of the judges are in favour of that point , and if Mr . Easthopk ' s crime appears to consist in resisting tyranny and advocating justice for all ; in such case we will take care , as far as we have the power , that he shall suffer no greater punishment than transportation for life to a penal colony . If any Whig is discovered walking with a rusty old sword , or other warlike instrument , such as a pike handle without the pike , or having combustibles under his bed furnished by ahired Tory spy ; and if the said Whig is convicted upon the false evidence of a self-acknowledged perjurer , who

      admits that he was hired by the police and government authorities , we will , in such case , take care as far as we can , that such Whig suffers no greater punishment than four years upon the tread-mill under the silent system : and if any Whig shall attend a meeting for the purpose of declaring his grievances , WHILE OUT OF EMPLOYMENT , or being badly paid , and if no disturbance of the peace shall take place at such meeting , and if tbe said Whig or Whigs can get any respeotable person , or persons , to give him , or them , agood character for honesty , industry , and obedience to law , we will , as far as we can , take

      care that such Whig , or Whigs , suffers no more than two year ' s imprisonment at hard labour under the silent system : and if any Whig journal shall publish illegal speeches or proceedings , we will , in such case , take care that no heavier punishment shall be inflicted than eighteen months solitary confinement , with heavy recognizances to keep the peace for three years ; and a complete and entire violation of all prison rules , for such others as the then Secretary of State for the Home Department shall , in his wisdom , be graciously pleased to substitute . Such is the very best that we can promise to do for the " Whig Budget Barricaders . '

      We feel some astonishment that the torch , found to be so pre-eminently successful a Reform weapon at Bristol in 1831 , should now be abandoned for the heavy , the cumberous , and more expensive Barricade . Will the Chronicle have the kindness to transmit to our office a wood-cut , wheels and all , of a moveable Barricade , and also of a Reform " torch , " so that we may lay the same before our readers , with a hope of inducing them to remain at home , while the Whigs are " all abroad . "

      Perhaps Mr . Steele , the pacificator General of Ireland , would at the same time have the kindness to famish us with a cast of one of those " one million Irish pikes , " which he assures us can be manufactured in less than a week ! Ah , we said that it would come to this .

      Untitled Article

      that ' s in danger ! The English people will heap coals of fire upon the heads of the Irish , by carrying a Repeal of the Union in spite even of the Liberator himself ; and when we have , by our moral strength , and without a blow being struck , or an " aristocrat assassinated , " or the Queen ' a dignity even impaired , procured , as with God ' s blessing and the aid of our blistered hands we shall do , FOUR MILLION SIGNATURES for a Repeal of the

      Union , ( valueless , perhaps , from a want of the accompaniment of 2 s- to each name , making the small total of / our hundred thousand pounds ;) we say , when we have done this , the odds are Lombardstreet to a China orange , that the answer from Dan ' s " tame associates" will be : No ; we won ' t have it now ; it must be bad , poison , rank poison , when offered by our deadly enemies , THE PEOPLE of England . "

      Just think of the folly of this man telling his gaping audience that the people of England must be hostile to Ireland , because the county constituencies had returned a large majority of Ireland ' s enemies to the present Parliament ! Is this not a melancholy perversion ! Why not honestly tell the Irish people that , of the batch , the English people would not have returned a single one of those enemies of Ireland if they had a voice in the selection .

      This attempt to divert public attention from the fallen state of Ireland , prodsced by the Liberator's" truckling expediency policy , shall not do . In self-defence , and in defence of the English and the Irish people , we shall next week perform the unpleasant duty of enquiring how far the Irish people have even endeavoured , in the late struggle , to rescue their own country from the bloody grasp of the " proud invader" and the ruffian factions ;

      and how far the question of questions has been advanced by the blood , the sacrifices , and the glorious , but misapplied , exertion of the brave Irish people . They are a brave and a noble people , and the greater our sorrow that their Milesian blood should fertilize the land of their forefathers now held by the right of conquest , which waa only achieved by the very disunion so sedulously attempted to be kept alive by Mr . O'Connell .

      Untitled Article

      THE LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT OF LORD JOHN RUSSELL . Impressed with the same jealous feeling as the Noble Lord whose name adorns our frontispiece , of the equal importance of " watching details as Of maintaining great principles , " we have perused his " Will " more than once , in the hope of discovering in its details some substitute for '' great principles , " the disposal of which , in the excitement of so awful an

      undertaking , the noble testator has wholly omitted . Whether the omission proceeded from a want of such a description of property , or whether it was already disposed of by previous settlement , oif mortgaged , or otherwise pawned , or encumbered beyond redemption , we cannot undertake to say ; but certain are we , that we felt strong disappointment as expectant participators in what we had a right to consider as national trust property , to find that there were no assets .

      The press has given to the Noble Lord ' s production a multiplicity of fine names , some calling it" a great state paper ; " others" an important document ; ' ' others " the plain , straightforward , and manly address , bearing the % ignature of the Noble Lord ;" others a " luminous Manifesto . " All these high-flown terms raised our hopes to a great pitch , for a week , as state documents and all state affairs generally do ; bat at the end of that time , wo find that the greatest importance now attached to the great document , is " the time at which it made its appearance . "

      We regret exceedingly that the Noble Lord did not , as is the usual custom with testators , commence by assuring us that he was of " sound and disposing miud , " and then return "thanks to Almighty God for the same . " We really regret the absence of this usual form ; because if we were to decide upon the state of the testator ' s mind , by comparing his document with those documents which have recently appeared from the pen of working men , as members of a representative body

      not recognized by law , or as individuals struggling for their just rights , we should undoubtedly declare that either Lord John , or the authors of those national documents , were" non compos mentis : " and inasmuch as the latter State Papers not only express and define , " great principles , " but likewise propose the most eimple details for their arrangement for use , while his Lordship's will makes no bequest of the one without which the otker is inoperative ; we therefore pronounce his Lordship " non compos . "

      Now , let us just take the most important portion of this document , and see wherein its statesman-like character is to be found . The testator , in the three first paragraphs , according to the arrangement of the Examiner , from which we take it , for it has been variously subdivided , says as follows : — " LORD JOHN RUSSELL ' S ADDRESS TO THE ELECTORS OF THE CITY OF LONDON .

      " Gentlemen , —I request you to accept my sincere and hearty thanks for the honour you have conferred upon me by electing me one of your Representatives in the Commons' House of Parliament . I should have made this acknowledgment at an earlier period , bad I not been desirous of explaining to you the course which the general state of the returns will make it my duty te pursue . In order to do this the more clearly I must refer to some past events .

      " In the early part of last year , when a resolution , declaring a want of confidence in the Government , was brought forward , I distinctly announced the intention of proposing additional taxes to meet the increased expenditure of the country . In the present year , so aoon as the estimates had been completed , and the probable amount of the revenue c » uld be calculated , her Majesty ' s Ministers took into their scrions consideration the disparity which still existed between the income of the country and the cost of its establishments . We found that the new taxes were not sufficient to supply the deficiency . We were of opinion that we could not , with due regard to the honour and safety of the nation , reduce its naval and military forces .

      " But , upon a careful view of our commercial imposts , we Ciiue to th « conclusion that , by removing prohibitions , and lessening restrictions , it was possible to replenish the Treasury . " Now , what is there valuable in all that beyond the strong analogy , between the procrastinated compliment to bis Lordship's constituents and the procrastinated announcement of his Lordship ' s " great commercial reforms , " so frankly , but so foolishly avowed 1 His Lordship concludes the second paragraph thus : — " We were of opinion that we could not , with due regard to the honour and safety of the nation , reduce ita naval and military forces . "

      Now this is unfair as well as untrue ; the sentence should have run thus ;—" We were aware that we had produced a state of things which could only be upheld by brute force , and therefore we were compelled to overtax those whom we had starved , for the pay of more soldiers and sailors , and officers , and policemen . " But in the third paragraph we find , that after all the expence , the anxiety , the risk , and the inconvenience to which the country has been put , his Lordship only calculates upon the mere POSSIBILITY of replenishing the Whig Exchequer by means of the " Great Commercial Reforms . "

      Well , the Noble Lord labours through the remainder of a very dull and heavy paragraph of this " important and luminous State document , " and thus opens the fourth paragraph . He says : — " As soon as the new Parliaments meets , we shall take the first opportunity of asking for a clear and decided judgment upon the policy -we have pursued . " What , more last words ! another last judgment , and a further dig into another quartern loaf ! Man alive I has not judgment been passed three several times ? First , out of the House , by a clear verdict of guilty ; second , in the House , by a clear verdict of -insanity and imbecility ; and lastly , upon appeal to the REFORM MADE PEOPLE , a clear verdict of guilty ; and now , not satisfied , the Noble Lord U resolved upoa pushing the people , his too

      Untitled Article

      — ' —^ .. - —— ^ i lenient judges , to pronounce judgment . No , no we have given his Lordship and his Lordshi p's party a very lon £ , and a very fair trial ;_ and ia the discreet and excellent language of tfia Morn ing Advertiser , which , throughout , has kept the lead of the Whig pre . s , we entirely concur . Our able contemporary , thua weeps a tear of joy over the improved but melancholy fate of the Whi g ^ " The atmosphero of the opposition benches is , after all , the atmosphere in which Whigs can breathe

      freely . The oppasition is their native element . As an opposition , they have from the time of Fox and Sheridan downwards achieved their greateat victories-and gained their brightest laurels ; and there can be no question that new triumphs aafl fresh trophies await them in the new sphere on which they are about to enter . In the ranks of the opposition , they will , no doubt , redeem the character they have lost , and restore the confidence which the people of England have for some time ceased to repose in them . "

      How the Whig epicures may relish the free and- pure air upon the Opposition side of tae H « use , as a substitute for the "fat dabs" of office , we are not prepared to say ; but in every word of the above , which we have one hundred times impressed upon our readers , we fully concur : and of the Whig Opposition , after so high an euio . gium , we would say , " Esto perpetua . ' * We must now come back to the noble testator . After the above passage , from the fourth paragraph , he goes on to complain , in bitter terms , against all those details which in the " great principle" of Reform have acted injuriously to Whig interest . Here we shall only ask , who supplied those "

      important details" to the " great principle" f There does not appear to have been attached by his Lordship , IN TIME , that great importance •( " watching details , " which it now appears bis party ' s interest required . Well , is not this just what we have been hammering at for years I Have we not said , a thousand times , that the measure was lost from a neglect of its proper detail moulding to its proper uses , aud according to the spirit of the " great principle" i In fact , we and the people were , and have long been , before the Noble Lord ; and now the stupid press begins to praise matter and , assertion which merely proves the ignorance , incapacity , and backwardness of his Lordship's ignorant associates .

      The Noble Lord then proceeds to tell us all about the elections , and all about what every hand-loom weaver was perfectly cognizant of . He complains of Lard Chandos ' s £ 50 tenant-at-will clausft ; of the dependency of county voters upon their landlords , and so forth ; and then the Noble Lord says a something about the " certainty of the cause of civil and religious liberty triumphing at last . " Yes , in faith ! but it would have been at long , long last , had it not been for the spiteful prod which the Noble Lord promises in the sixth paragraph to give , in opposition , to the poking hack which he rode while in office with so "loose a rein" and " careless seat" that he was thrown . In the sixth paragraph he says : —

      " Out of power we obliged out opponents to abolish those tests by which political office was made exclusive , and a religious sacrament profaned . Out of power we forced our adversaries themselves to free the Roman Catholics from those disabilities which they had declared indispensable for the maintenance of the Constitution , and the safety of the Church . " Bravo , Lord John ! Then in opposition , ia God ' s name , remain ! as in truth you appear to n to plead eloquently for the privilege and place , and as eloquently to show cause why you should never again hold office , without a committee of sane Chartists to " watch all the important details" of your " GREAT PRINCIPLES . "

      We now assure our readers that we have gone through this " great state paper ; " this "important national document ; '' this "luminous manifesto , *" this " statesman-like production ; " and we ask our readers to contrast it with the luminous manifesto of the late Convention , which we published in May laBt ; or with the Address of the Executive , which appeared in our last number ; or with any one of the numerous and spirited addresses which hare come from female Chartists' Associations , and saj which is most in accordance with the great principles required by the present generation ; and which , if moulded by proper "details , " would be most calculated to arrive at that result which the Noble Lord vainly hopes to persuade the people he aims , namely , " civil and religious liberty . "

      The press , as is its custom , has treated this " important and luminous document , " each according to their several interests ; while the only importance which we attach to the piece of incomparable folly , falsehood ,, blarney , sycophancy , and sophistry is the opportunity it affords us of exposing to our yirtuons and intelligent readers the sort of bait with which golden fish are caught . Positively , if such a communication was sent to us for insertion , bearing the initials of J . R ., we should thus dispose of it in our notice to correspondents : —

      " J . R . has been received , but we decline publishing it ia pity to the unfortunate contributor , who must be sadly afflicted with delirium tremens . We would , of all things , recommend him to try chasgb op air , where he may restore that tone and confidence , and self-possession , of which he appears to stand so much in need . " The Noble Lord has not yet hit upon the proper bait to catch the mess . Black wings , blue bottom , and steel body is not the fly for the dog-days . A fly found in abundance , in fact swarming about factories and bastiles , called the "Chartist stinger , "

      is the proper fly for the mess fish . The angler knows whore to look for them , and will hear th « m buzzing like-a swarm of bees , at an immense distance upon a summer ' s evening . They are a thin , lank-looking fly , like a "daddy long-legs ; " all limbs and no body ; and the golden fish , are very greedy after them and will take them freely , when they won't rise at a "horse-fly" or "blue-bottle . " The Captain and first Lieutenant of a liae-ofbattle ship once got into a very warm argument

      as to the proper fly for the season ; the Captain insisting that the " horse-fly" was then the best bait for mackerel—the Lieutenant denying that there was any such fly : whereupon an Irish sailor , who happened to be at hand , and who was an acknowledged angler , was appealed to as umpire . The Lieutenant asked him " Pat , did you ever see a " horse fly" 1 " No , d n my eyes ; " replied Pat— " but I tell your honour what I see , just as quair a thing—I see a cow jump down a

      precipice . " We have just told the anecdote to relieve the tedium of the consideration of the " mighty , great , and importantly luminous and statesmanlike" new moonshine ; While we live in hope that a codicil will be added in the noble patient ' s next attack of spleen , to cure all defects , and making suitable disposal of all the great principles held in treat by the noble testator .

      Untitled Article

      THE PEOPLE'S TACTICS . The elections are now settled ; the New House is returned ; the Whigs have been taught their propel lesson . They have been , in fact , made powerless for evil , and the next best thing for the people ' s attention is , the use to be made of their victory ; &c a popular victory over the base Whigs , their ungrateful oppressors , we hold the result of the general election to be a steady unshaken adherence to their Own policy , an absolute refusal to be drawn , cajoled , it

      bullied into any agitation for any thing short of the entire Charter , must be joined to a careful improvement of every means by which our offensive operations against the citadel of corruption can be carried on . We have always told oar readers that there are only two media through which they can look for the restoration and establishment of popular right- " physical revolution , or an Act of Parliament . Htf farmer it has been the studied carefulness of ourliTW to avert by all means : we have been contuiiuUJ

      The Tfoethekn Star. Saturday, July 31, 1841.

      THE tfOETHEKN STAR . SATURDAY , JULY 31 , 1841 .

      Untitled Article

      DANIEL AND THE MISCREANT CHARTISTS AGAIN . The nasty fellow has been spitting his venom upon Chartism in his tour of reimbursement . We just give the following specimen of this gentleman ' s love of truth . When addressing the people of Kilkenny , the other day , he said : — " England never was in a greater state of jeopardy

      than she is at present : her artisans starving—her manufacturers complaining—her commerce declining—her revenues exhausted—and Chartism bursting over the land . And if Irishmen joined the physical-force Chartists , and assisted them in their maddened career , why , before this time , the aristocracy of England would have been reduced to howling beggars , if not assasinated by the Chartists , and the throne of our young and lovely Queen would have been overturned . "

      Was there ever such unpardonable folly as this ?! But is there not something to deplore even in the folly \ Do not the wise discover in it the foregone conclusion , that in Chartism alone the " Liberator" recognises perfect freedom , and consequent free trade and total destruction of all monopoly in humbug 1 Do they not also see in it full proof that , so long as he can help it , no union shall take place between the people of the two countries ? But we defy him ! Knowledge is more powerful than sophistry , bombast , or blarney , or than all three put together ; and we have now before us not a few cheering communications from different parts of Ireland , assuring us of the rapid progress of the good cause made through our humble instrumentality .

      " The aristocracy of England would have been reduced to prowling beggars , IF NOT ASSASINATED BY THE CHARTISTS ; and the throne of our young and lovely Queen would have been overturned . " Good God ! is the man " clean daft" ? Has he gone quite out of his wits in anticipation of Ireland ' s howl when she comes to ask for her 42 Repealers that voted for her resurrection in 1834 ! Ox does he hope to turn the curious from an investigation into their own affairs , by creating a greater curiosity about ours . ThiB is a counter irritan ' . " The Chartists assassinate'' 1 Was

      ever a more base and malicious slander \ \ But this is not all . The disinterested Liberator , in one of his recent phillipics , at Cork , stated the terms of his future support to a Whig Government ; and what do our readers suppose those terms are ? " Repeal , of course . " No : guess again . Justice to Ireland ! No : Total Abolition of Tithes \ No . Extention of the Saffrago 3 No : guess again . Do you give it upl Yes . Well hear , Daniel O'Connell will not again

      support a Whig Administration which " refuses to give Places to Rjspealebs . " You don't believe it ! don't you t Well then , have his own words from the correspondent of the World newspaper , corroborated by the press generally . " Mr . O'Connell said , that , should the Whigs resume power , he would not support them if they refused place io any man because he is a Repealer . " Now , do you believe it 1 " Aye , I do now ; and it bangs Bannagher , and Bannagher bangs cook fighting . "

      Thus has Chartism been merged into " assassina tion " , and Repeal into " situation" ! Ah ! Dan , sold the people , body and sleeves , to Lord Duncannon and the Whigs in 1835 , and now he offers them a cheap bargain of Repeal : but we have better hopes for Ireland . All is not lost

      Untitled Article

      ¦ 4 THE NORTHERN STAR . ________^ ====== — ^

  • Citation
    • Northern Star (1837-1852), July 31, 1841, page 4, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/ns/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1120/page/4/