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THE HOETHEEN STAR SATURDAY, OCTOBER 23, 1841.
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ANOTHER TRAP FOR THE PEOPLE.
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8To lfoea,xw$ ani* €om#ponlr*ntg
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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PUBLIC £ NTRY OE FEARGUS O'CONNOR INI"O C 0 MNOCK . Monday , the 18 i October , will be a day ever aemorable in the annals of oar Tillage history , it is neatly fire years since O'Connor first visited ns , and when we heard of his intention to be amongst us © nee more , every Chartist vied with hi 3 brother to sake his reception such as we deemed him worthy « £ Oar Association has a splendid band and a resolution waseotne to to torn them ont in first rate « tyie . Accordingly new dresses of rifle green were procured , and made gratuitously by the patriotic tailors who are members of the Association . The cloth is ricb , and the trousers and jackets being also richly braided with scarlet lacing ,- and each man
being provided with a new military sash and blue bonnet , gave to the patriotic musicians a very imposing appearance . It was agreed that the whole population shoald proceed ia procession , to Aoohioleck , atbou ; & mile from Cumnock , and where we met O'Coacor upon his first visit , Tne day was the first £ ne one we had been blessed with for a leBg time ; and great was the delight of the female Chartists , and all , when everything seemed to give earnest of satisfaction . Three o ' clock was thehourappointed for meeting our friend ; and , although O'Connor had coma from Glasgow , by Irvine and Kilmarnock , a distance of nearly fifty miles , yev so punctual was he , that all met at the very spot , withont a haft . Many true and zs&lous Chartists from Sa . nqub . ar and
New Mills , each distant seventeen miles from Cam- nock , joined ia the procession ; and four of the most respectable laiies of New Mills case for the purpose of doing honcsr to Mr . O'Connor . Abou ; ten labiates afitr three , the cavalcade began to move under their own banners . The old Brumclog flag , tinder vhich the Covenanters of old ieught and conquered , and nnder which O'Connor had frofaentty addressed tb , ioated in tho fereeae .- The Associa--tion band was in front of the carriage , followed by the committee—then ease the Scotch bagpipers sod drummers , music te which- the deseendants-of Wail&oe are particnlariy partial . In tbe rear followed the village band , 6 splendid set of musicians , and the whole population ef the district 4 and in this
• erder the procession aarched , with 4 light step and keany cheering , over the bridge to the Sfluare , where a bastings was erected foe the speakers at the back of the Market -Place , and tastefaBy carpetted rer . When Mr . O'Connor mounted the platform , the cheering was deafening ; the nmUiiude flocked to the front ; the day was -serene and calm , with a summer bub , and every window in the Square was instantly thrown np , and crowded with well-dressed ladies , and the middle class sten of the place . Only one master , who , * y qviB ^ drwing «* d banking , is « nibled to employ ten slaves in a pottery speculation , refused a holiday to his men ; and never did we witness more sincere sorrow than that whkh was evinced by these whom tyranny cooped -up , when
they would have gives worlds for a days freedom . Jir . Crawford , one of the Cumnock Association , was « alled to the chair . A truly patriotic and spirit-surring address was presented to Feargus O'Connor . A resolution was passed , approving of a great National Petition ,-&ad a determination to sign it ; and a 2 so one of nnboanded confidence in Mr . O'Connor , who addressed - the meeting at considerable length , yxstiag oat Ae general remits which mart flaw from site Charter to ail classes of society , and especial ]/ to the middle classes , whose very existence depends upon the conEBBting powers of the working men . The whole of our middle class neighbours were in Attendance ; and it was remarkable that as Mr . O'Connor warmed in his subject , they pressed
onwards to the hustings . He speke of his own position as a leader , and asserted that there were better men than himself at the the bead of the movement . He entered folly into the grievances « f his « wn country , and showed what the oppression « f Ireland cost Scotchmen and Englishmen . ^ He soade some smashing bits at the finality Whig ? , ad rally exposed the fallacies of the Corn Law Repealers , who would move all means to arrest tile present agitation . He ridiculed the idea of the existence of such a thing as a Whig party , and said that now the battle was between Torie 3 and Chariots only ; and , after a glorious display , concluded &n address which gave general satisfaction , by obscrving that ha had pledged himself to form an
honourable union with the middle classes , bnt not such a one as the scbtle and wily require ; bnt one , in which the people should give up not a fraction of principle , bnt for which the middle classes should surrender their crotchets and opposition ; and he begged to have ft understood that in that union the nuciaie f JarepB should know that their places were in the rear , and the people with their Charier in the front . They had led the people into conflagrations , destrnetion , violence , physical force , and plunder in 1831 ; bnt they never should do so again . He rejoiced that tt » " blood-thirsty Chartists" tad not shed a drop of human blood—that the ** destructive Cliartists" had not violated the rights of properly or destroyed a particle belonging to any human
being . And now , said he , I will put this question to the middle classes around me : Has not the great opposition to the Charter arisen from the strained opposition that the people would become licentious sad unmanageable , in short , a kind of freeboeters 1 while I point their attention to the fact that even they and their servants in parliament admit that never was there a period of equal distress to that Which the whole people have calmly and peaceably Adored for two long years , and until the philosophers can prove to me thai more danger is to be apprehended from a well housed , well clad , we ll fed , and ontented people , than from a houseless ,
xaked , starring , dissatisfied commanily—until that paradox is solved , I , at all events , shall contend for the house , the clothes , the food , andthe contentment . In fact , said he , those whom we have too . long trusted with pernicious power , which they knew not how to ase , now refose to the people the oaly power which can save all classes . He made a home charge upon those who wonld trump up the ghost of physical force , for the mere purpose of disorganizing oar rank 3 , ¦ with the intention of marshalling a tail of moral force working men as an appendage to the middle elass Whigs , to force their own political party eneemore into office npon a elap-trap administration question , or npon the general principle of
" GREA . T COMilERCIAL REFORM . " This portion of Mr . O'Connor ' s speech has gone further to disarm a party in this town who was actually laying the foundation of each a onioB , than if he hid spoken for a month . At the close of Mr . O'Connor ' s address a vote of thanks to our excellent Chairman was carried by acclamation , and after three cheers for O'Connor aad the Charter , tho procession again formed and proceeded to the liaad ian , the " Dumfries Arms , " where an excellent dinner was laid out in the largest room in the hotel , and whieh was crammed . Our opponents say that ws have become aristocratic , as tie present is the first occasion npon which we could £ et access to the haunt of the aristocrats ( the head inn ) , but now oar friends are beginning to discover that the ready pence of the million * is preferable to the stray pounds of tho nobs , which , like angels ' Yisits , are noi only few and far between , but are also , like angels , hard to be caught .
THE DINNER . Nothing could have been more creditable than the Banner in which the poor men arranged their repast , which consisted of everything that the season afforded . Not only was everything serred in the best style , but , what seldom occurs at the aristocratic feasts , the attendance was unexceptionable . After graco was said by the Chairman of . the meeting , the noble " workiss" began the fea-t ; and . with the exception of a good appetite nninjured by dissipation and the nightly revel , they ate with knives and forks , and carved very like ether men , none either catting their throats ' or poking out their eres . One thing which might be said ip distinguish tne banquet from those of the aristocricv , was not the total absence but tjje very moderate use of wine =, * pirit 3 , and intoxicating drinks , the greater number being teetotallers ; and those who did indulge , doing so with the greatest moderation .
When the cloth was removed , i hanks were returned to the beneficent donor of the feast axd all ether things , by the ikfidel Chaktists , as the most religious people are designated ; and the comnany , again headed by the basd , proceeded t-j the Cnartis ! Ball , to spend the evening in the enjoyment cf rt the feast of reason and the flow of soul . " Sa great was the desire of the middle classes to hear Mr . O'Connor more in detail , that when the door ? were opened they for the most part appeared to have provided themselves with tickets . The hall was crowded to suffocation . Mr . Crawford again resumed the chair . The first toast was ** The people , " which was ably responded to by one of one Association . Tab next was ¦ The health of Feargns O'Connor , " whose services having been briefly spoken to and eulegfsed by another of our body ,
Mr . O'CcKttOB presented himself , and was greeted with & cheer that made the village ring . He opened a hot and hitting battery npon the fortress of corruption , and finding the middle classes present , he made the most powerful appeal we ever heard to theii love of justice , love of country , love of peace , and Jove of self-interest , on behalf of the mi ? geverned people . He traced from them , as the Bource , everj grievance under whieh the people laboured . He adverted to the present position of Spain , and the par ! which France and Russia wonld tako in the Europeaa straggle whieh the revolution now threatened to provoke . He also referred to the proclamation oi
lite Freadeat of the United States , for the purpo : « f ^ oppressing that hostile feeling which the arqur tel of M'Leod might engender towards Eoglant and which promised to end in retaliation upon th Canadian frontiera . He pointed out the dinger i stopping tho expression of public opinioDj which ws » ciety ' s safetj-valve , and adverted to the cons < qaenee of tyranny in France , and other cocntrie where the people were not allowed w assemble ft de purpose of discussion . There (* aiU he ) ir peaceful eomsranity may go to bed in conscious peac and rise in reroln ; ion ; a club , a school , a coiieg « fi fteoaa&p ., can provoke an emeute ; but , s
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Burke said of English agitation , it ; as the "Hue andCVy , " which alarms the inhabitants , and proclaims ihe thisf s approach . / After a most shocking and heart-rending account of the operatives of Lancashire , Yorkshire , and Eng ' iand generally , which drew tears from many an eye , he laid a plain and simple statement before the middle classes , not having mach , n « ry themselves , o f the effects which it muss ' jaevitably have upon all persons with small car Mtals of real money , who being driven from the large gambling table , weee compelled to vest their ail in banking speculations , railway speculations , mining speculations , foreign fnnds , and small gaabiing , and ever which tfcey had no oontronl ; ar A the first intimation of profit
and loss which they received , after having paid np their shares and c arasiitted their management to directors , was , th tt , the speculation had not been successful ; and t jeir coital was divided between attorneys , assign' jes of the concern , commissioners of bankrupts , aa < i » u the tribe of vultures who thrive upon man s conf , deooe and his inability to make profitable traffic v / ith a small capital of real money , wnen obliged '» contend against the Leviathan of fictitious wea . th . In speaking of the Whigs and their support ? a-s , he said how paltry , how despicable , how deceitfu J , after tea years of unparalleled profligacy and r seless expenditure ; after tickling every risible featcje of royalty aad the aristocracy ; after having ex ] lausted the Exchequer ; after having
voted £ 30 , 000 , —having proposed £ 50 , 01 ) 0 a year to tfie Qur jen ' s husband ; after having given £ . 78 , 000 to royal horses ; then to ask that the Parliament should n o * be prorogued until the cause of tho prevailing distress had been ascertained . Why , said he , open the Whig ledger , even to the secret service money , and therein you will find the cause of dis"te"ess . You will find compensation to idlers for loss « of office which was a sinecure ; you will find com'pensation to the lordly butcher and aristocratic tyrant ; but when machinery displaced man from his natural position , we heard not a word of compensation lor the deposed , the starving , the systemmade , the virtuous , but unwilling idler . Mr . O'Connor spoke for nearly two hours in a rapid
strain of the most brilliant eloquence , and was rapturously cheered all through , the middle classes Joining in the applause , and paying the most unwearied attentioa . At the close of his apeech , three cheers were called for , and three times three were given ; aod thongh considerably . exhausted and overpowered by the heat of the suffocating meeting , he started for Kilmarnock in an open carriage in the dead of night , a distance of sixteen miles , through a cold bleak country . The band and procession accompanied Mr . O'Connor out of the town over the bridge , and followed him with ch&ers which echoed from our hills through the stillness of night , and roused the sleepers from their repose , telling them
that while they took rest their friend was working for their country ' s regeneration . The effect of O'Connor ' s visit will be long remembered ; and the result has been even already an anxious inquiry among the middle classes , whose rancour is not only abated , but has actually softened down into promised co-operation . It would be impossible to attempt a description of the delight of the working classes which Mi . O'Connor ' s visit has caused . Kilmarnock demonstration tekes place to-morrow ; and so great is the enthusiasm at New Mills , that the whole people &ro determined so go in procession , a distance of eight miles , to do honour to their friend .
The Hoetheen Star Saturday, October 23, 1841.
THE HOETHEEN STAR SATURDAY , OCTOBER 23 , 1841 .
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h the early part of the present week , a fine exemplification of the tricks resorted to by the enemies of Chartism and the people was brought to onr office , in the shape of a very large and attractive placard , printed at Manchester , and purporting to be a convening of two meetings in Carpenter ' s Hall , for furthering the objects of u The Daily Bread Society , " an infamous conspiracy lately set on foot by a section of the " Plague" men to entrap the people into an illegal combination , and so lay them open to the rakiDg fire of a " 6 tro 3 g Government . " The placard in qneBtion was most gorgeonBly " displayed , " and the following is a copy of it : —
" A PUBLIC MEETING of the Men op Manchester will be held in the Carpenter's Hal ) , Garratt Road , on Thursday evening , Oct . 21 , 1841 , and a Pablio Meeting of the WOMEN OF MAMCHESTER will he held in the same place , on Friday evening , Oct . 22 nd , 1841 , on the former of wkich occasions an address will be delivered on the beet mode of obtaining the repeal of the Focd Taxes , as the road to the PEOPLES CHARTER , or to something better , accompanied by some statements respecting the conduct and proceedings of the Man Chester Anti-Corn Law League , whica it is hoped they will attend and hear .
" On the second occasion will be delivered an Address on the Political and Social Rights of Women , pointing out the means to their attainment through the Repeal of the Bread Tax , by MR . HtLL , Honorary Secretary to the Nation *! Daily Bread Society , Author of Diily Bread , the Bread E-iter ' s Advocate , & . c . &e . " Admission to the body of the hall , One Penny ; Gallery , Twopence ; Platform , Sixpence , to defray expences . u Geo . P . Jennings , 5 , Blue Boar-court , Manchester . "
The tricks to which these Anti-Corn Law gentry are compelled to descend to get an audience together to hear their fallacies and sophistries , is good evidence of the progress of sound and honest enlightenment on these subjects among the working men . In this placard , the words " Public Meeting , " M Peoples Charter , " and " by Mr . Hill , " are printed in the largest type that could possibly be got iato the breadth of the Bheet ; doubtless with the idea of inducing parties to attend , from the supposition that it was a Chartist meeting , to be addressed bj the Editor of this paper . We have not heard the result of this palpable ruse ; but it requires
not much penetration 0 see that it is eminently calculated to defeat itself ; because parties who might have een thu 3 entrapped were not likely to be long in discovering , or slow in resecting , the cheat practised on hem . The people are not now to be led by men . Past services and established reputation are not now received as substitutes for principle . If the Editor of the N ~ erthcrn Star should presume to prate the nonsenso of the " Daily Bread Society" to any meeting of the men and women of Manchester , he would b 3 very deservedly treated with aa littls ceremony as we dare say was bestowed upon this pseudo " Bread Eiter ' s Advocate . "
The tail of the placard tells us , that the " Mr . Hill" therein referred to , is the author of " Daily Bread" and the " Bread Eaters Advoeate , " &o . &c-Two numbers of this "Bread Eater ' s Advocate" have been sent to us by some friend , whom vre thank ; and their contents induced us to buy the book referred to under the title " Daily Bread . " We find it to be a rascally insidious plot to take advantage of the
extensive unpopularity of tha corn laws for bringing tho people into collision with the law . That we may not be suspected of misrepresenting the character of this "Daily Bread " pamphlet , and tho society to which it has given rise , -we give its eh&rac + . er from its own champion , the Leeds Times , as quoted in large type , and with no small air of triumph by the Bread Eater ' s Advocate himself . The Leeds Times then says : —
" There need be . ' no mistake' about the Daily Bread Society . It is AN ORGANISED PLANoerft . cly legal , and justifiable we think , in amoral pomt 01 Vieiv—FOR BREAKING THE LAW J I " And this , too , from the chief organ of the " philosophical Radicals" ! the " Moral philosophers" !! the "Rational Chartists ' ]!! the inveighers against the " physical force doctrines of Feabgus O'Connor and his wild associates" !!! . ' We say nothing about the logical consistency of a " legal organistd plan to break the law 1 ' ! We leave that plume to adora the cap of our "learned " neighbour , " along with his bells !
This " organised plan for breaking the law" has been also highly spoken of by the Morning Chronicle , and other Whig papers . Thus it has ever been that our greatest task is to combat the incitements to violence of the lying scoundrels , who are ever ready to ^ iecry their own doctrines , and to hand over their dnpesto punishment . In his introduction to . " Daily Bread , " the Author
s&ys , that he " is in no way connected with the persorfs who have taken the name of phyiical-force Chartists . " To what " persons" does tho " Daily Bread" man allude ? We never heard of such persons . We have heard much outcryand much denunciation of physical force from " vendible sconudrels , " " ruffian slaves , " " conspirators , " and " members of revolutienary clubs , " such as they of ' theMorningChronicle , the Globe , the Leeds Titnet , and ib . 9 Bread Eater ' s
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AdvocaUi bnt we have seldom found more direct incitements to physical violence than those which abound in so many of the missives of this "Daily Bread Society , " as have come under our notice . The object and purpose of the " Dally Bread Society" as stated by its founder , is to " resist , " to " evade , " and "break through " the law ; and the following is a brief sketch of the mode in which they propose to do it . :
Societies are to be started in all the large towns , having for their object the abolition of the Corn Laws . These are to be called "Daily Bread Sooieties . " Everybody who contributes one penny is a member : he receives a printed card , or ticket , which constitutes his membership ¦ and these pennies are to be employed in sending out ships to bring over foreign corn to our shores , to be 1 landed nolens volens ; and the people are gravely advised , if the Queen should object to repeal the Cora Laws , to march np to the water side is companies of ten or twenty thousand , armed with " empty bags , ' * for the purpose of defying the preventive service and landing their corn without paying the duty I
Is there a mooncalf in existence so foolish as not to see that the author of this atrocious plan means one of two things ! He either means to organise an armed resistance to the law , or he means to lead the people into , collision with the authorities , for the purpose of having them slaughtered ! We care not upon which horn of this dilemma he may choose to hang himself ; from both he cannot escape . We guess his ten or twenty thousand " empty bag "
bearers would find something harder and heavier to carry than corn , after but a very 6 hort altercation with the military . And hear the cool manner in which this fearful consideration ib disposed of by the Bread Eater's Advocate . In No . 1 . is an article containing an enumeration of " objections which might be urged against the National Daily Bread Society , with answers : ' one of these objections is the very natural and obvious one : —
" That if the people took the corn out of the ship , or out of the bonding warehouse , by force ; there might be loss of life . " This objection the writer , " who is no way connected with the persons who have taken the name of phyrical force Chartists , " and who considers it " a mistaken course to stimulate the people to actB of violence , " replies to in the following terms : — " That the Corn Law could not be imposed without bloodshed , nor continued without bloodshed ,
was not admitted as a reason why it should not exist ; for be it recollected there was Corn Lxw blood shed in Westminster in 1815 . and Corn Law blood ehed at Peterloo in 1819 ; so that even if it were certain that it could not be repealed without bloodshed , it by no means follows that it Bhould be suffered to exist . England has some noble 1 Romans' who would willingly lay down their lives in such a holy cause .
" Oh she has Sons that never , never Will stoop to be the Landlord ' s Slaves , While Heaven has light Or Earth has graves . " " When Barbaroux sent a message to Marseilles that they were to send him' six hundred men who knew now to die , ' the call was quiokly responded to ; nor would such a call to Manchester be long unre&ponded to , though it is hoped it may not be necessary ! I "
After this sample of the " moral force" teaching of this Bread Eater ' s Advocate , it is quite unnecessary that we should caution our readers to have nothing to do with any such perfectly legal" enterprises as that of the Daily Bread Society . We have always counselled the people to regard as enemies those who would bring thorn into collision with the law . We do so still . And we tell them that the founders and abettors of this " Daily Bread Society" are either the most incorrigible fools , or amply deserving of the mild epithets , " vendible scoundrel s , " " ruffian slaves , " ' * conspirators , " and " members of revo ' utionary olubs" which they belch out by wholesale against the peoplo who have more
sense than to be gulled by them . We strongly suspect , indeed , that their vocabulary is the result of a somewhat close acquaintance with their own characters . But , in either case , whether knaves or fools , they are unfit to be trusted . And that they are one of the two , can be doubted by no man who has read the Bread Eater ' s Advocate and its grave recommendation , that an indefinite number of starving men shall put their pence into the fob of some " Daily Bread Collector , " without any guarantee for Seeing or hearing anything more of their money ; and that if perchance it Bhould be rightly appropriated , they should march in groups of 10 , 000 or 20 , 000 , with " empty bags" upon their backs , to ask the military to shoot them 1
We should not have noticed this contemptible abortion of the Plague , but or the trick to which it seems they are resorting , of attempting to pass off their illegal " conspiracies to break the l aw" as modes to be adopted by the people for obtaining the People ' s Charter . Of course we need not say that these " Daily Bread" men , have no more intention to do any thing for the attainment of the Charter , than
they have to bring down the moon in one of their " empty bags . " Lest , however , there should be any doubt upon this matter , the Bread Eater ' s Advocate has very kindly put it beyond doubt . In No . 2 , is an article be-praieing Col . Thompson , not for his support of universal suffrage , f or which he really deserves praise , but because " Col . Thompson had the judgment to Bee the advantagesof a repeal of the Corn Laws befo re most other men . " From that article we
give the following extract , which settles the question of what the Daily Bread men mean to do with the Chartists , if they can hook them into an unition : — u If the operatives and the Chartists of Lancashire and Yorkshire , the men of Birmingham , and tho men of Scotland , want to kill two birds , the Corn Law and the restricted Suffrage , they are acting wisely to choose for their leader the best man for shooting-woodcocks . He will be a good man to decide , too , whether we ought to try to kill two birds at one shot , or if we are to have two shots , whicu WE SHOULD BRING DOWN FIRST . " The question needs not the talent or the shrewdness of Colonel Tmompson to decide it . Let the
Chartists do one thing at once , and that witn all their might , or they will assuredly find themselves unable to do any thing worth doiug . Let them keep on the high road of Chartism , and beware of byepaths . And , above all things , let them eBchew the " empty bags" of tbe "Daily Bread Society" ! Let them adhere to their own legal and peaceful agitation for their own Charter . Let them—we again reptat it—spurn from them , as a poisonous viper , the wretch who counsels them
to break the law . Never were so many cobwebs spread for the poor flies as now ! The oppressive hand of faction has heaped upon the people misery and destitution almost beyond bearing ; the grasping hand of Capital has folded in its vile embrace almost the whole media of production ; the labourer , supplanted at his hearth and become a surplus drug , must be got rid of ; and the soil must be rendered valueless that the " merchants , who are princes , " may tell their countless hoards and revel in their luxuries without the presence of the hated competitor in the pereon of the landlprd , , or the still more hated drawback in . the person of tbe breathing , starving , but not needed slave . To accomplish these objects many have been the efforts of the
monster ; crafty and subtle his devices , but all cruel and relentless in their nature ; and of all these the crowning one ia this same "Daily Bread Society , " which literall y seeks , in the crafty language of its founder , « to kill two birds with one stone ! " There can be no doubt that the intention of the " empty bag" processions is to accomplish two things at once : to obtain a large thinning of the " surplus population , " by the musket , the halter , and the transport ship ; and at the same time to create a popular demonstration which shall intimidate the Government and compel them to elevate the commercial upon the ruins of the landed interest . 'Tis a deep devilish plot , and well laid ! The rascals well kuow the character of
those with whom they have to deal . They know that a strong Tory Government nay not be trifled with ; that it will tt * nd no nonsense ; that it will bear but little badgeriEg before it " shows fight ";
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that any demonstration of physical resistance * will at once bring the well-trained and organized physical force of the ruling power into play , and the people will be shot , sabred , hung , and transported , with brief shrift and little ceremony ; while they know also the character of Sir Robert Peel ; they know his conduct on previous occasions ; they know his connection with , and dependance on , the Money-Monster—the funded and cotton-spinning interests ; they are quite aware that if they c » n successfully organise such a rebellious display of physical violence , a 3 this they hint at , Sir Robert ' s Government will first quell the outrage" and then
repeal the Corn Laws . True ; it is all but certain that a repeal of the Corn Liwa under each circumstances would be attended with further measures for the more perfect knee-banding of the people ; most likely by a restriction of tho franchise—and certainly by some measures of oppression which would make the condition of the people oven yet more unbearable than it now is . This is what the money-monster ? , the masters of the "Daily Bread" men want . They want to see the social slavery of the people perfected ; and this vile concoction of a scheme—a "legal " scheme—to break the law is hit npon , as a hopeful means of accomplishing it .
Chartists , beware ! there can be do such thing as a "legal" society whoso object is "to break the law . " "The Daily Bread Society" is an altogether illegal conspiracy . As an illegal society , its public acts involve all its members in their consequences ; the possession of one of their penny tiokets makes a man a member , and exposes him to all the consequences of belonging to as decidedly illegal a society as ever
existed ia this country ; every member is liable for all the illegal acts committed in the name of the society by the self-appointed committee of this conspiracy against the law . No man , therefore , who has common sense will be a member of " The Daily Bread Society ; " whatever difference of opinion may exist upon the merits of the " plague" question , " TUERK MEED BE MO ' MISTAKE * ABOUT THE DAILY BREAD Society . "
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u SAVE US FROM OUR FRIENDS . " It is our maxim always to nip an evil in the bud . Elsewhere we have given a caution to the people against a new trap laid for them by a section of the anti-Corn Law men . We have now to caution them against over-zeal , or that form of treachery which is often bard to be distinguished from it , in our own camp . Wo have suffered severely from this cause in former times . Lot us " stand away" from the beacon which has been erected . Let not all we have done , and all vre are doing , ba rendered useless by the treachery or folly of a few individuals .
We have been induced thus to write from a perusal of the speech of Mr . Black , at Sheffield , reported in our last number . The hurry of business paused it to escape our particular attention last week ; but , on deliberate perusal , we find it fraught with most misohievous sentences ; such as , while we doubt not that they emanate from a very honest and good feeling in the speaker , are capable of being wrested by our enemies to the damage of our
cause . After speaking of tho state of Wales , and the necessity of Iecturer 3 , he goes on to say : — " That men , like Harney and himself , must not be employed , for ( hey were not fitted to preach patience to an oppressed people burning fob vengeance and FREEDOM . " Again , speaking of the Welsh mountaineers , he says i—
" Aye , they have sworn to die rather than bear with injustice much longer ; and their ardent hope was , that the day would Bpeedily come when they would hear that their English brethren were risen to a man to demand their rights ; and when that hour c » me , Englishmen might be assured that Welshmen would not be found in the back ground . " Further on he says : — " Should the Tories attempt to do the same as the Whigs , and seize our Champion , O ' Connor , I trust the people will proclaim their resolution ; and act upon it , too , to have max for man .
Now , we ask , seriously , are we to have the follies , absurdities , and denouncements of 1839 over again ? Are we to lay ourselves open to prosecution merely to pander to tho self-conceit of persons who , like Mr . Black , suffer their z . al to outstrip their prudence ! And if we permit the honest and well meaning thus to " run riot" in imprudence , and cheer them in it , where are we to stop ? or how are we to distinguish a simple honest man , which we think Black to be , from a mouthing , designing knave—who has a point of treachery to serve t
The history of popular agitations in England show this remarkable faot : that whenever they attain a powerful position , the Government always tries , by means of spy instigators , to entrap the people into ' premature outbreaks , / or which the honest and enthusiastic are always sure to suffer , and the spies to bo rewarded . The * ' Cato-street conspiracy" for which Thistlewood , Ings , Davisoic , Brunt , and Tidd , were hung and beheaded , and for the getting up of which Edwards and Castles , the spies , wero rewarded , is an instance in point ; the risings and outbreaks in Yorkshire , Derbyshire , and Lancashire , in 1817 , for which ho many hundreds
were imprisoned , Bbandreth , LvDL 0 W , and Turner were hung , and many were transported , but for which Oliver , the spy , was sent out of the kingdom by the Government , with a snug commissionership , is another instance in point ; the career of Richmond , the spy , in Scotland , is another instance ; and wo tell our readers that the late disturbances at Newport , and Sheffield , and Bradford , and Dawabury , for which Frost , Williams , and Jones , so nearly lost their heads , and for . which they are now banished their country and forced to herd wilh tho veriest outcasts of society , and for which so many good men
and true have been imprisoned , is another instance . The truthful and honest were there punished ; but the instigators—the getters-up , where are they 1 Have they been sentenced to foe hanged and beheaded 1 Have they been transported 1—Have they been imprisoned eighteen months in York or Lancaster Castles 1 No , no ! not they , indeed J Have they not rather been suffered to slip off the political stage into retirement as effectual as if the broad waters of the Atlantic rolled between some of them and us ! Yes , we heard not of those who planned the whole affair—who proposed " secret societies : "
who entrapped Frost ; and who would have sent hundreds more to the gallows but for our discovery of the hellish plot and instant note of alarm ; we heard not of these parties being apprehended and prosecuted for " high treason , " though we happen to know that evidence was in the possession of the " authorities , " which would inevitably have convicted them , had the govarnment dared to prosecute . What , then , with these instances beforehim , isMr . Black about \ He must surely be demented ! Does he not know that his " mighty myriads " ( if they resorted to physical forco ) could all be routed by a regiment of soldiers
?—Has he not seen enough of 1838-9 , to witness how the palsy of weakness comes over as the moment we outstep the law ! Any how , if he does not , tt ) e must show him that such follies Bhall not be tolerated . We are astounded at the men of Sheffield cheering such sentiments . Where has our cause suffered more from tho ' talk" of physical force than at Sheffield ! We implore the people , for the sake of Ireland , —just beginning to see our principles—; for the sake of the thousands who will be plunged into
misery , if men like Black be listened to , resolutely to set their faces against all allusions to force and bloodshed . Good God ! are we again to reach the very threshold of freedom , and again to have our hopes blasted by the treachery or madness of onr own party t What good will the Star of last week do in Ireland ? Will not the O'Conkellites point tr umphantly to Black ' s speech at Sheffield as a proof that we are torch and dagger men ! How can Higoins and Brophy disprove them when they have sedition in black and white ! These tirades must
BE . DISCOUNTENANCED ; OR EVERT GOOD AND V 1 BTUOVS MAN WILL FORSAKE US , AND ALL OUR EFFORTS WJLL BE VAW . Nothing on earth can stop us , ip we only keep within the law 1 The middle classes of the towre
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will very soon be Chartists to a man . The Spectator and Noncomfdtmist are coming out : everyth ng around ns is fail of hops and promise . Shall all this be blasted bv tome foolish outbreak ? Heaven forbid I , What would Pbel give for another Newport ? Let us beware , then . Let us be as cautious of ourselves as of the enemy . Let prudence govern , and determination actuate , and nothing can resist onr efforts .
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- ¦ WJ ^ i ^ ftrt /^ f ^ I ^^^ THE LEEDS HOUSEHOLD ' SUFFRAGE MEETING . We have had many glorious triumphs to record in the onward struggle for the Charter , but we never remember to have witnessed a more decided defeat of the most deep-laid piece of sophistry- ever attempted by the Fox and Goose Club , than that obtained over them , in their own meeting , held on Monday evening , in the large room , Commercial Buildings , Leeds .
The meeting was professedly got np for tho purpose of agreeing upon such grand principles for agitation . as should have the tendency of uniting all grades of Reformers ; but , unfortunately for them , although the first resolution , which attributed all the misery in this country to the want of the Suffrage , aud was allowed to pass ; the second , which wai to the effect that the Corn Laws was the greatest evil resulting from the defect in the Suffrage , and ought , therefore , to demand our immediate consideration with a view to their repeal , appeared at once to have let the cat out of the bag ;
for long ere the mover and seconder had finished their harangues , the ire of the meeting was kindled ; and as if to arrive at the climax of dissatisfaction by design , a Mr . Curtis , as American , and professing republican opinions , added fuel to the fire of discontent already kindled , by inflicting the usual rigmarole bo much in vogue among the Corn Law repeal hireling agitators , and speedily brought down upon the whole tribe of tricksters a well-timed ' and judicious Chartist amendment , to the effect " that this meeting pledges itself to agitate for nothing short of the People ' s Charter . "
Much good speaking was the result of this amendment , and whioh , on the part of the Chartists , deserves the highest praise ; but wo cannot deny ourselves the pleasure of congratulating Mr . Frederick Lees on the noble stand which he made , and the able manner in whioh he exposed and refuted the sophisms of the repeal party . This is the more pleasing to us , because we have long had to lament—shall we * ay the apathy!—nay , not only the apathy , but the determined opposition of the teetotal body generally , in Leeds , to the principles of the People ' s Charter . Latterly , however , a great change has been working among that class Of men and we trust that this noble example of the great
and clear-headed champion of Temperance , will be the means of bringing into our ranks many of these sober self-denying and practical revenue destroyers and Government , Reformers . We have long known that truth with righteousness must unite ; or , in other words , that teetotallers must become Chartists aa well as that Chartists will become abstainers from intoxicating drinks ; and we thus picture , to ourselves a phalanx of musole , might , mind , morality , and voice , by the exertion of which , the old rotten systems of tyranny and despotism shall tremble and fall . Let them kick and writhe and flurry as they may , our will and power will then be irresistable , and our triumph speedy and glorieus . :
. The majority in favour of the amendment wa 3 at least three to ono . Every shift to avert this denoument was made by Mr . Plint , the Corn Law Repealer ; but to no use . The meeting was divided , and the majority was so great that the Chairman immediately declared the amendment carried . It is worthy of remark , that no preparation whatever , was made by the Chartists to obtain this great victory ; the whole affair appears to have been entirely spontaneous , and done at a time too , when every effort had been made by the Foxes to assemble their friends from among the working men ; proving at once their real insignificance as a party , and the influence and spread of Chartism .
Surely James Garth Marshall , E ? q . Mr Hamer Stansfeld , and their admirers , will see by this time the utter inutility of wasting their energies in attempting to satisfy the people with mere segments of Reform and class crotchets . The people are far a head of all such men and measures , and may no longer be tampered with .
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[ Omitted last week . ] David Ssiith . — We fear nothing can be done in the matter : the payment of the annual rent of four shillings , and afterwards the increased rent of forty shillings , was an acknowledgement on the part of your father and brother tluit the property was not their own . Punter ' s case was altogether a different one . D . N . —His communications shall always be attended to provided we receive them in time . J . P ., Camberwell . —The assertion that Mr . W . ~ is shut out from the columns of the Northern Star is utterly untrue . His communications are ^ subjected to precisely the same scrutiny and discretion as those of every other correspondent . One or two drticletfrom him have been omitted when
our space was full , and one which we thought exceedingly injudicious was refused insertion . But this by no means warrants any one to say he is excluded from the columns of the Northern Star . The columns of the Northern Star have always been , and while under their present management shall always be , fully and freely open to the advocacy of Chartism , by any and every one , so far as may comport wilh our circumstances ' and honest judgment . Did John Conroy , of Monlmellick , Ireland , receive a letter and six postage stamps from Rochdale ! Mansfield . —// the friends have read the notices to correspondents in our last , they will see why their nominations to the General Council are omitted .
Bristol . —We do not thxnkxt would be well to publish the letter we have received from ** two members of the committee . " Let every possible means be tried to restore harmony and peace . ¦ ' . .. Mb . Micuael Hyland , foreman mason , Cashel , county ofTipperary , Ireland , will please to state , through the medium of the Northern Star , whether he has yet received the parcel of TSotihetu Stars , tracts , ^ c , from W . Russell , Nottingham , through Deacon and Wade ' s effice , and for which he paid carriage through to Cashel , 5 s . 2 d , near two months ago 1 If not , claim will be made for value . . - Thomas Easton . —The letter the alludes to were never published separately . Mr . George Ellis , of Sheffield , requests the Secretary of the Chartist Association , or agent for the Star , at Stratford-upon- Avon , to favour him
with their addresses through the medium of the Northern Star . Edward Burley , the North and East Riding District Secretary , wishes to have the address of some one of tlie Chartists of Burlington and Driffield , being desirous to correspond' with tfiem on business of importance . Address No . 19 , Billon-street , Layer thorp , York . Ip Mr . Nicole Bradford , Wilts , will f orward his address to Redruth , his request shall be answered by letter immediately . We have received a notice of lectures to be delivered ' "ty Mr . Knowles , of Keightey , in Halifax , but without any specification of the day . The report of the District Delegate Meeting was not received . . H . Beal . —His letter has been handed to Mr .
Sketngion . C . W . T . —It depends upon the terms and the nature of the agreement . - A bbaham : WHiTBH £ AD .- - # i * letter , to Mn O'Connor neat week . ¦• ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ - ¦ ¦¦ ¦• ' - ¦¦ + ¦¦¦• ¦ ¦¦ - . ¦ >¦¦ . - ¦ ¦ -. ¦¦ . ' ¦ An Iwsh CH * atiST . —We have no room * A Tbob Brother m ihe Good Fight for the r . Charter . —y / ie statement m Mr * KyHiggxnt ' s letter is correct ; We-have not the date just at hand , nor can we afford timeto turn ovsrParlia--. ¦ : ¦ mentarp filet for them . ¦ ¦ ' ; .. = ..- , ¦' , -. The March of Tarns . —W * have no room . The Polish Exile ' s Lahekt . —We have no room .
Peter M . Bropht , of 12 , Beresford-ttteet , Dublin , ha * received a parcel of tracts , Circulars , and Stars , in weight about 60 /** , tthich cost him 6 s . 9 d ., and which he supposes to be the one sent by Mr . Jamet Walker , of Leeds . P . M . Brophy takes this opportunity ot informing the readers of the Star , that he has it from ¦ official authority , that any tteivspapcr- published tw Qreat Britain or Ireland ean be sent through the post-office , free , from any town in Great Uritain or Ireland to any other town in the same countries ; but that such newspapers cannot be sent to foreign countries without charge after they are seven days old .
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A . SuGGESTiOK . —A correspondent writes thus : ' - -a " In order to unite the people we must first unite tij $ press , which I think may be done by destroying the competitive principle amongst thy editors and proprietors , of the Chartist press in the following way t—To esUbliBh a daily paper to be called the ' Seven Stan , ' and to be printed at seven different parts of the empire , each to be the private property of the different proprietors , and each employ thei * own editors ; but t « employ their reporters jointly to attend both House * of PAriiamenW and to pay them jointly , exactly- according t © their different circulation . This , plait , wonld secure to the peopb the whole Chartist editorial talent of the nation ; the reporters In'Tjonffott to supply-t ^ em with the Parliamentary wtieHigeaoe , aeeevdlri ^ to their data of ctrenl&tlon . " ¦ ¦ - ¦">!< ....: ¦> :. > ' ¦ ¦• < " -
Punctuautt . —We think the fo ! toMng : letter worth * of attention : r ~ " . "V . . . / ' Lowdoi ^ C ^ ber 8 , 18 « . " SIR , —The Northern Star of the last wtak stated thai Mr . Clancy would eoatinne his lectures at the room No . 65 , Old Bailey , on eaoh Thursday evening , at eight o ' clock . Not wlthoatisoma inconvenience I attended last evening ; bnt at ialf-psst eight o ' clock there was no indication of business : not * creature about . the ' premises . 8 opp 6 sing that thj exact time of eommeccrag the lecture had beei necessarily postponed , ' I called again at half-put nine o ' clock , but still no symptom of a meeting .
and again at ten o ' clock , with a similar result : and I then returned home , mortified and disappointed , Ought we not to have in London some daily organ of communication with one another ? Really tin want of order and of organisation is too palpabh indicated by the circumstance to which I hart taken the liberty ; to . direct your attention . A no tice of this may be serviceable to our ChartisJ brethren of the metropolis . I have heard nothing recently on tse subject of a daily Chartist new * paper . I trust that the project has been onij temporarily relinquished . With tbe sincere * wishes for the success of tbe people ' s paper ,
"I am , Sir , yours respectfully , "A CHA . RTIST OV THE SCHOOL INDICATED BY THE MOTTO" Snaviter in modo , Fortiter in re . '" "A Word to Tyrants . "— We have no room . Scraps for Radicals received , and shall appear . A Lover op Truth , Justice , ajm > Eo . oahty . — Wt have no room for his "Letter to the aristocracy « f all Nations . " J . B . Smith will see that hit letter U answered iy the petition itself , which is now published . James Stewart . —The advertisement , if inserted , will be 3 * . 6 d . .
Mr . O'Brien requests us to announce for him that ht will not deliver any more lectures or addretsa whenever the charge of admission to the body cf the hall , or assembly-rooM , exceeds one penny ; but he has no objection to managing committett making an additional charge forreserved seatt . Whenever this rule has hitherto been departs from it was without Mr . Q'B ' sprevious knot * . ledge , and against his well-known and oft-declared wishes . He particularly requests h » over ssealousfriends to attend to this . John Thomson asks— "Are 'Afembers , of the Horn of Commons paid while silting on committed and , if so , wliat is the rate of their remuneration V' They are not paid * We suppose that i «
must have , answered this question more thn twenty times . J . D . Deyohside . —Yes , Mr . Hobson can supply Aim , He has but to send , either by post-office order » in postage stamps , the prise of the box , and twpence for the postage of it , and the pillswill k sent to him by the reluming post . This ansuer will also apply to several who have enquirti respecting Parr ' s Pills , advertised in our & lumns . Samuel Wilkinson . —His communication shall appear ; but we are at present crowded . Wm . Tillman . —His communication shall appear . A Coventry Christian Communionist . —His cmmunication shall be used . A Radically Honest Reformer . —Ffe have w
room . A Friend is desirous of sending a small sum of money to Stockport for the benefit oflhedistresud operatives , and asks us to furnish the secretary ! address . Will the friends of Stockport send it tw ? The Edinburgh Committee for the O'Brien Testimonial Fund mish us to notify to the Chartisttm that city and neighbourhood , that subscriptim for the laudable object they have in view are ttifl taken in ; the books having been allowed it remain open for some time further , in order thtt such as have not already subscribea \ may havem opportunity of doing so . Mr . Blackie , secretary to the Chartist Association ; the secretary torn O'Brien Testimonial Committee , at 114 , Highstreet , or any of the members , will receive subscriptions .
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The National Petition . —We announce with pleasure that our publisher , Mr . Hobson , has printed the National Petition for 1842 , on a neat sheet , for the purposes indicated in our short leader of last week . He is ready _ to supply them to the associations and to individuals at the following charges : —100 copies for 2 s ; 1 , 000 / or 15 s . Pt > tition theets , of good strong paper , ruled in four columns , and holding two hundred names when filled , may also be had , price Id . each . Secretaries and persons who need them hsve onlj to send an order addressed to Mr . H ., enclosing a post-office order , or stamps , to the amount , and they may have sent to their address any number they require .
Our numerous Correspondents will oblige us , w all cases , if they will for the future write on one side of their paper only . We wish thit to be adopted as a general rule , in no case tote departed from . Joseph Hornblowbb .-- ^ i « acrostic is not tuffi ' cientty poetical for publication . A Fsmale Chartist , ABERDEEN . ^ -Zfer stanzas aft not sufficiently correct for publication . S . Tonats . — -Hislines will not do . General Council . — We have received several T \ sb of nominations to the General Council , mm of which contain the residences of the parties . We have again to repeat that they cannot be inserted . The Christian name , smiame , aid address of each member must be given at full
length . In the Northern Star of October 9 th , the addresstj Richard Marsden was desired by some person & London . It is No . 27 , Back-croft-street , bottm of Marsh-lane Preston . All Communications intended for the West Biday Secretary must , for the future , be addressed to Wm . Mosley Stott , hair-dresser , under the Cooperative Stores , Market-place , Dtwsburg , Mr > Slots having removed from the Town End . Chartist Addresses from different bodies have we * received . They are unavoidably omitted . The Address to Hugh Farker , Esq ., from w prisoners confined in Scotland-street Gaol t Sty ' field , shall appear next week . ,. Arbroath . —Air . O Connor is requested to vuittM Chartists of this place on his tour .
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Mr . SimpcON . — We do not know anything furatt than what has appeared in the ^ Scar . Some Pekson at MeHhyr-Tydvil sent w . flf *' office order last week , and the letter acemf anf ' it has been mis / wd . Wilt the person send < tg ®* \ and sny what the money was for , andaU ° amount sent . t i Will the Committee for sending SUrs to Irelf * send a few regularly to " Dan Daly , W * > Leilrim , Cork . " ., Mr . A . IVKmzie , of Bristol , has sent us at . 3 * F Nonhtiru Srurs , to be seat to Mr . O'Hiygtw ? the Irish Universal Suffrage Association , •» Dublin . , . „ , T . W . H ., STROUD .-Send word what thefifly ^ stamps were for , and we can then say ho * aw when they were applied . R . Watson , lor H . M . G . —Received .
FOR THE WIVES AND FAMILIES OF THE I » ciV CKRATED CHAUTISTS . . £ *• 4 From Mr . Coltman , pianofoite-tuner , Leicester 0 * . „ Mr . Kiches , Brightlingsea e 5 „ Newcastle-upon-Tyue — collected by . Mm . J . Mason and Miss Wilson 0 19 '
FOR MRS . PEDDIE . From a fa * Flax-dress&is , at Boulogne France ... ... ... ... 0 « FOR KB , RICHARDSON , SALFORD . From John Seal , Leicester ... ... ... & 1 „ a few friends at Rochdale , per John Leach ... ... ... ... ° \ ! „ Ledgard Green , per Mr . Aldereon ... 0 7 « . the Amateurs of Sutton-in-Ashfield , ^ per J . Tomlinson ... ... ® " ,, FOR MRS . SBOS * . From a few Flax-dre « 9 er » , at Boulogne . . France ... ... .. «• « '
FOR O BRIEN S PRESS . From a few Flax-dressers , at Boulogne _ g France ... ... — ^ Edingburgh , ( in part , all the books _ Q ( not being made np ) ... "' a i * „ - George Htckett , Leeds FOR THE UNEMPLOYED AT STOCKPOBTFrom Messrs . Cms , Cramb , and a livery } t servant , Ramsgate , one shilling each . • » FOR THE EXECUTIVE . . fl From Finsbury , per J . Watts .. Camber wall , par J . Parker , being one , month ' s moiety ... ... •••¦
Another Trap For The People.
ANOTHER TRAP FOR THE PEOPLE .
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8 To lfoea , xw $ ani * € om # ponlr * ntg
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4 , THE NORTHERN STAR . - ;¦; : . .. , ,.,,, ¦ . ... ; . . ... . - .
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Citation
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Northern Star (1837-1852), Oct. 23, 1841, page 4, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/ns/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1132/page/4/
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