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THE NORTHERN STAR. SATURDAY, APEIL 1, 1843.
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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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¦ aCCRINGTON . A Ptbltc MxErae was held last night , Monday , March 27 th , in the large weaving shed belonging to Messia . Dixon and Co . to adopt a petition to the Hoose of CsmmoEs against the bill now before Parliament for the better regulation of the factor !?? , and for Escuring an r dncalion to the infant labonrers employed in the mills , Mr , Harbottle , baptisi minister , w ^ calj ed to the chair . He opened the bnsiness of th <* meeting by stating that they had met that night to petition against the Government scheme of education in connection -with the factory bill now before Parliament , He wosld not take op the time of the meeting , but -would introduce to their notice Mr . Gr'Ses , baptist ^ minister . _
Mr . ^ rriffes aid that the hill now before Parliament was one of a mo : * atrocious chare i * er ; it w ?~ -calculated in time Qf allowed to pass ) to steep the people in ijjnoranes , and establish ssatn the desp otic power of a Jesuitical priesthood over ihe minds of the people , and destroy those feelings of lova and heaerolence which existed between the dissenting minister and bis congregation , and also bstwon the Sunday school scholar and his teacher . He believed thai this bill had been brought into Parliament by the Government for no t > ther reason than to endea-Tonr to causa a division amongst the Corn Law repealers , for they were now afraid of them , and their professed friends had astnaliy turned round and baseiy ^ jalumniated a body of men who" were
endeavouring to benefit the condition of the poor ; but all would not doj they could not came any'difference amongst them ; they wonld not quarrel Vnongst themselves ; no one had ever heard them accuse each other , or erer would , although Lord Brougham had spit forth his v « nom . He remember * d thai some time ago it was in contemplation to make a wooden pavement round St . Paul ' s Cathcaral , when the Bishop of London opposed it . Sydney Smith told the Bishop that they might soon do it with little expence if the clergy woald lay their heads together , He ( Mr . G . ) thought their head 3 would be as well there 83 any where ; bHt he was sure that those who got np this bill were not wooden-headed . He had read of a political
economist ( Dr . Godwin ) -who had recommended the destruction of children , and that was worse than Socialism , that wanted to separate man from wife , children from parents , scholars from teachers ; but he knew the people of ibi 3 uart "were not of this description , -JJow , some philosopher had said that it was necessary at certain times to shave the head , and recommended that Godwin should ; and he ( Mr . G . ) had heard that Lord Brougham was mad ; but he thought to shave his , would do him little good , for ae thought he had a hole in his head that allowed all his senses w > escape . After a good Tigging of th 8 established clergy , he sat down bj moving that a petition against the education clauses of the bill be adopted .
The Chairman introduced Rev . Mr : Lings , who said this bill should have all the opposition he could give it . It was a measure that the Government was bringing forward to destroy that most intelligent class of dissenters . It was calculated to break ¦ np the Sunday schools , in connection with their religions places of worship , and place the children of the poor , under the guidance and tuition of the fat parsons of the church ; they would be oompelled to hear the liturgy and catechism of the Church , and thus wonld the parsons of the Church gain s control over the minds of the young ; besides
this , threepence would have to be taken from their wages whether they attended the school or not . He hau no objection to children being educated ; hut he objected to class # dueation ; besides paying three * pence from their earning , the schools were to be buiit and supported from ihe poors * rate , which now lay so heavy upon the middle- classes . This measure was founded in robbery ; it wonld have to be supported by robbery , and it was robbery all through ; he would , therefore , oppose the education clause altogether . If a system was to be established , let it be on liberal principles .
Rev . A . Taylor aid that he viewed this measure with the greatest indignation . The parsons of the Church had no feeling for the poorj he knew that not ten miles from Blackburn , a clergyman of the Church had refused to bury a corpse because ihey were too poor So psy the fees . He wonld ask ¦ were there any of the ministers nptm that pisiform w&n'd do sol He would say no . Rather than allow any of his children , ( and he had seven ) , to be under this act , and governed by church parsons , or hear them say " ampn" to those bloated men , he wonld rather see the slave-driver fetch them from his house and work them like beasts .
Mr . Dixon next addressed the meeting . He said that this bill would arouse the people , for they viewed it with alarm , It had been said that they were not wooden heads that drew up this bill . He thought so ; he opposed the laying on a tax for the support or education of a class . If a tax must be laid , let it be for a general system of education and upon the most liberal principles . He would not occupy their time as it was cold . The rnimttn read over the petition again , and was about to put it to the meeting , when
Mr . Beeslty rose , and said , Mr . Chairman , I understood thai no allusion was to ber made to any party , but th » t had not "been adhered to . He Should oppose the petition " before the meetirg , and intended to move an amendment . He was astonished to hear so much Baid about the expence of educating ihe poor factory child , but he believed that was not the intention of the party -getting it np . He was one who wonld speak his mind . Here be was interrupted by one or rwo individuals , when he said if people could not come and keep their temper , or listen to both aides of the question , they had better Stop at home , for he ( Mr . B . ) had as much right to speak as any one , and he wonld tell them he was Dot to be pnt down . Speak he would , for he had
wanted a long time to tell the dissenting ministers what he thought of them , and be had never had an opportunity before , but he wonld do it now . f Aye , that is what yon come for Q Yes , he wouM rather tell them to their face whit he thought about them , than , Berpeat-like , do it behind their backs—{ hear , hear . ) He believed Yds dissenting ministers neglected their doty as much as the church parsons , and he suspected xhem upon this occasion . They had always been found upon the side of wealth . -If the -middle classes or manufacturers got np an agitation , or mentioned any crotchet calculated to benefit them hut injurious to the poor , the dissenting ministers echoed the cry—they gave them their- support , approved of . their plans , and assisted them in
iheir agitation , bnt if the working classes wanted their asaswace , they looied upon ^ hem with contempt ; they spurned them with ubolenee and upbraided them with ignorance ; they had never yet , * o his knowledge , lent their assistance to obtain for the producing millions their rights . They had not taken the orphan by the hand , or provided an asylum for the destitute j bnt they raised their voices for a measure calculated to benefit the money-mongers ; and now they were crying oat ygyinct the best Bill ths * had ever been brought before Parliament , beftanse it wonld not be for the benefit of the masters ( hear , hear ) 5 and they pietended they wanted the people educating . If bo , why oppose the only measure likely to secure them
that education they so much deplored the want of ! In his ( Beesley ' j ) opinion , it was not the edncational elanse that was the cause of their opposition ; but it was the aMeld of protection it threw over the infant slave . They talked about the expense that would be incurred for the edncation of a class ; it eamewith a very bad grace from such men . Who needed instruction more than the children of the poor , who were at the mercy of the tyrant cotton manufacturers \ Was there not more justice in framing money to educate the children of _ the poor , who were too poor to send them to private schools , than to grant large sums to the colleges of Cambridge , Oxford , and Majaooth , to educate the sons of the wealthy , who were able to pay for their
own ! Yet they called no meetings to petition against this . Were it not better to grant it for such a purpose , than for the support of the naval and military schools ! Yet they said nothing against this . Were h not better that this Bill should pass , that would compel both parents and masters to provide for the instruction of the children , than to leave them to the mercy of the manufacturer , who had evaded the Act that was now in force , by assembling the children in fire holes , and teaching them from scraps of old newspapers , sot more than three inches square , and so black that the children could not Bee the letters upon them 1 They had talked about the power placed in the hands of the bishops and clergy of the Church , If that was
what they objected to , why not word the petition so that the Hesse of Commons might know what part of the bill they did object to , and not have it in its present form than oppose the Bill altogether . He did not approve of the toner placed in the hands of ihe parson of the church . He Relieved that the dissenting ministers ( from what he had seen of them ) if they had the same power would be equally as tyrannical as the others , though they had railed against them this night most pitifully . They had held up the parsonB of the Church as being the greatest tyrants 3 but he , Mr . B > , thought they were not the only tyrants . He believed no greater tyrants ever lived than the factory masters ; and , strange to my , the ministers of dissent were always found going hand and glove with them , even upon the present
oecasoQ—( hear , hear ) . Had they sot driven the able-bodied labourers from the market , and compelled them to Bend their wives and helpless offspring to their mills to coin for them , from their hearts ' blood , immense and princely fortunes . Had sot children been taken from their beds in early morn , and carried upon the backs of their parents throogh the pitiless storm on the winter ' s -morning to those dens of vice , zmtil their constitutions had been destroyed , and thousands sent to a premature grave ! Did they not work in these mills front their cradle , as it were , amongst the most abandoned characters , tJuir tender ears insulted with the most obscene Ianjraage , —and was it not necessary thai they should i * ve an education given to them io eonniersct the elect © Jodnfled by being in such company I and wosld ifcej object to » bill that would secure this ,
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because too much power was placed in the hands of a certain party ? They talked about their being members of the K ~ tab : i !< hed Church that were to be the teachers and inspector . " . This ho did not as re a with , bnt he b die veil that if the ministers who were upon that platform had the same power , the Baptisi miBister woold look amongst his own congregation for the teachers ; if a Mvthodist , the same ; and a New Church minister , the same . In order to show the Government that we were not actuated by factious motives , and believing ako that the best way * > make menhonest was to keep it out of their rower
to become rogues , and also agreeing that taxation move sn amendment , to the following effect : — and representation ought to be co-equal , he would " That we highly approve of the Bill now before the House of Commons with resptct to the protect ion it gives to the infant factory children , and for the shortening the hours of labour , and a so for providing for the means of their education , but believe the power of appointing the trustees ought not to be placed in the hands of any party , bnt onght to ba exercised by the ratepayers , and that no deduction should be made from the miserable earnings of the pejr for such education . "
After many more observations , Mr . B . sat down amidst the approbation of the meeting . This brought Messrs . Dixon , Lings , and others upon their feet again , Mr . Bcesley again replying , when they agreed to both motion and amendment together , and to strike out the objections in the petition Mr . B . had made , and that Mr . Beesley and the Rev . J . Harbottle should meet in ; the morning , and draw the petition up as Mr . Beesley bad stated . Thus ended the meeting upon the Factory Aot . The following iB the petition 1—To the Honourable the Commons' of Great Britain and Ireland , in Parliament assembled . Th * Petition of the vndersigned Inhabitants Of AccrittQim ,
Humbly Shbweth—That your Petitioners being duly sensible of thB important benefits of education , and having made and encomoged efforts for the extension of that invaluable blessing , cannot view without considerable alarm , some of the provisions of a Bill intituled fee . That the part *) of the aforesaid Bill against 'which w » object , are those which give undue inflaenrD and irresponsible power to the Clergy at the established Church in the appointment of trust : a , masters , and inipectora — -wfeicb . exclude all but such as are of tixat Church from the office of schoolmaster , or Inspector of such schools
—which takes a portion from the hard-earned "wages of the poor , and in addition requires the expenditure of public money , apparently to advance the Interests of one clfisa of religions professors . To these and similar regulations we do most decidedly object as being likely to impose new grievances on Protestant Pisc 3 ntin , Methodists , Koman Catholics , and others—to throw into the hands of the clergy a power of taxation , constitutionally belonging to none but the chosen representatives of the people , and to produce a spirit of domination on the one hand and of resistance on the other , thereby increasing those religious animosities already unhappily too
preralfciit-Thatyonr Petitioners , approving of the details of the Bill for shortening the hours of labour and giving due protection to the factory child , humbly pray that you will erase from the Bill the above mentioned clause or clauses , which give such undue power to the Bishops , Clergy , and Churchwardens of the established Church , and substitute a clause empowering the ratepayers to elect the Trustees , choose the schoolmasters , and adopt such rules for the eoTernment of the schools as may to them seem most proper , and also to fix the rat * of salary to ti paid te e&eh schoolmaster within their respective Icnlitiea ; and further , that no deduction be made from the hard-earned pence of the poor to pay for an education which ought to be gratuitously afforded . And youi Petitioners , &c
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MONOMANIA . 5 n ? CB Oxford " poppefl" at the Queen , the times have been most prolific in the breed of monomaniacs . With the proverbial fecundity of ill weeds and vermin , they have sprung np so rankly that they seem to be becoming rather " the rule" than > ' the exception , " and the London papers " look not like themselves" unless we have some of their exploits duly chronicled . This insidious disease , like most others , has various forms and phases . It manifests itself in many different ways . Latterly , the decided preference seems to have been given to
ihe homicidal form of developement , in its direct aspect . This aspect of the disease has at least one advantage ; that it is easily dealt with . The patient exhibits symptoms of physical determination to homicide ; knives , pistols , pop-gnus , to . appear upon the snrfaoo ; a woman is fixed at , and a man is shot : by these symptoms he disease is at once detected , and the u unhappy sufferer" is taken care of , and prevented from going longer at large to do more miBchief . Bnt there are many forms of monomania besides this ; one of which is an inordinate and irrational desire of fame .
There are some men whose ambition seems to be of a kind distinctly and exclusively their own ; at once insatiable and unscrupulous ; caring nothing for the sort of fame they may acquire , bo that they may but Uve in memory—so they may but do something to be talked of . Thus we have heard of a sailor who , from mere love of notoriety , ate a large quantity of mustard , with which his messmate fed him from a table gpoon . A like strange anxiety to become posthumously the " table talk " of gossips is believed to have been the incentive to one or two of the recent fatal leaps from the Monument fi and , in a previous matter , the evident pleasurable emotions with which the * lionising" of the
thing inspired poor Jonathan Mabtih , induced many to snppose that his was an instance of this form of the distressing malady . Disease , like death , 13 most impartial in its visitations . It is an effect which surely visits every subject who may have put its cause in operation . Hence wealth , and " rank , " and " station , " form no barrier to its ingress . It seats itself with as little ceremony on the judicial bench as on the eobler ' B Btall . We lately had a lamentable instance of its freaks in this line in the vagaries of " the modern Jeffries , " who made up his mind to atone for a long life-time of mere muckworm wriggling by a last dash of the uncommon , ' which should get him
u Damned to everlasting fame . " He sucseeded , as such unfortunates do always , in producing , in some minds execration , in others pity and contempt , but in all a conviction that it was requisite for public safety to "take care of him" ; and hence his Special Commission was his last commission ; and the dotard will snoosa oat the remainder of his days in the " retirement" which may shield him from public indignation , while his memory passes away among the eddying bnbbles which the torrent of events discloses but to hide . Sic transit gloria mundi ! " Alas I poor Judge ' J We were in
hopes to find this a solitary instance of this form of Judicial Monomania ; an aspect far more repulsive than the directly homicidal one of the Macnaughzeks and the Oxtohds ; because combining all their ferocity with much more of cunning ; and extending its sphere of animosity from individuals to whole classes as the representatives of principle . True , however , to their morbid instinct , like a flock of sheep pressed to a pass , no sooner does one take ihe leap than the rest follow in succession , and each vies with the last one ia ihe spring . The Brmined Dissenter has treated himself to a
"Baptism by immersion" in the pool of profligacy that leaves the * sprinkling" of "Brother Abctisb . " for in the shade . Abixqsb did oontent himself with pouring off the acid from his stomach into the big cup of the Grand Jury , and emptying the filthy residue npon " convicted" prisoners ; while Mb conduct during ihe trials bore at least some show of deoencj ; but Gtjbkby out-Herods Herod . His conduct on the trial of Jones , reported in oar present paper , is the . most perfect specimen of rampant rabid malignity that we have ever seen . We have
certainly seen nothing in our own time to equal it , and we know nothing in history to surpass it in atrociiy . It is unique . We know of no category in which to plac « ik . It is . itst generis * We refer oht readers to the report , as we have taken it from the Morning Chronicle . It admits of no comment : it speaks for itself . We were astounded when we read it ; and could scarcely credit it . We thought the reporter must have had some purpose to malign , or must have strangely misconceived nis Lordship j we looked , therefore , for the report 0 ! the trial in other papers , and found
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that , on the contrary , the fellow feeling" of ' Dissent" and " Liberalism" had greatly softened matters in favour of the » ' Baptist Jndge "—the first jndioial fruits of Whig ascendancy—the grafting of "the Reform crab" upon the ancient bitter stock- Wishing always to present every man in the best light of estimation that his character will bear , we adopted the Chronicle ' s report in preference to that of other papers , in whioh the glossing brash ' had been used more sparingly . To shew , however , that we do not over-state the case , we give here the Ttmef version of the same proceedings so far as they relate to the brutal interruptions by the Judge of the defendant , while addressing the Jury and
cress-examining the witnesses ! In cross-examination : — Thomas Agar—Was a sergeant of police . Had been so for a' year and a half , and in the force for threo years . Was in the Pasture on the evening of the 28 th of August , at about Beven o ' clock . There were about 2 , 000 people assembled , chiefly of the lower class . He corroborated the testimony of the former witness as to the language uttered by the defendant . "Crost-examined by the defendant—Did you think you were morally justified ! " The Judge —Stop , stop ; what have we to do with that ? "The defendant—My Lord , I
think"The Judge—Yon may think what you please ; bat we'll have no Buch nonsense as that about * morally justified' here . ' ** Cross-examination resumed—They were rather orderly . He meant by that , that there was no actual breach of the peace . There was no disturbance ; but the people were elevated . Meant by ' elevated ' that they were wrought upon b y your expressions . There was injury done to the policemen before you came , and not since . "The Judge—Why they took you up you see ; that's the way they quieted you . If yon turn a dog down the street , and cry out * mad dog , ' there ' s no need to tell ihe people to knock him on the head . There ' s no occasion for it , it is not necessary ; they will do it without .
"The defendant—I ' m quite aware of that . my Lord ; I , and those like me , have painfully learned that by experience . " In defence : — u He had said that the Government was tyrannical , because he thought——" The Judge—Then you hare done very wrong . You have no right to hold out that the Government is tyrannical . You need not give yourself a bad character . We know nothing of you but what you said and did on the occasion that we are inquiring into . Confino yourself to the present charge against you . "The defendant resumed—What was there
inflammatory in his language as compared with that which was to be found in a speech lately delivered by the Worshipful the Mayor of Leicester , which he would read to them f " The Judge ~ You cannot be allowed to do that ; it has nothing to do with the present charge ; and besides , we don ' t know anything more of it than what you tell us . " The defendant resumed—What would have been said of him if he had uttered such inflammatory language as that ! f He then proceeded to read some very strong passages , and afterwards told the Jury that such had been the language of the Mayor of Leicester , recently addressed to a popular assembly . He then directed their attention to a speech recently
delivered , also to a popular assembly at Leicester , by one of the Learned Counsel for the prosecution , to the language of which he Beemed to desire to convey the impression that his own would , by comparison , be found to be not unlike * Hyperion to a Satyr . ' He began to read , ' Will you , the people of England '—[ Here , to the apparent disappointment of many , and the utter chagrin and discomfiture of the defendant himself , he wag summarily stopped by the Court . } The Learned Judge now presiding had sat at the trials of M'DouaU and Vincent , and be ( the defendant ) might with impunity express his opinions respecting that Learned Judge ' s course of proceeding . [ The Judge—That depends upon the manner in which you do it . ]"
" As to the words * the day of boiling will come , when woe to the unboiled , ' they were used only as a figurative mode of expressing his hope and oonviotion that the rood time would come when the state of things would be so altered as to supersede the necessity of a police force . * The Judge—I shall order those persons away , if they keep pumping . [ The defendant had been hitherto receiving the assistance of two persons ( Chartists , no doubt ) sitting by bia side . ]
u The defendant complained , with som « warmth , of the interruption that he said he had received from the Court , and e&id that he felt that if he had been allowed to conduct his defence in the manner in which he had marked it out for himself , and as he thought most advisable and proper for him , he should have been able to satisfy the jury that he had done only what was conscientious and right , and had not been guilty of the crime charged against him . He then said , ' My Lord , may 1 beg that 1 may not be further interrupted , but permitted to conduct my defence , according to the best of my ability , in the mode in which I have designed it !"
M Judge—That will depend upon whether yon confine yourself within proper limits , and to the subject 01 the charge which y . u have to answer . u The defendant proceeded—* He felt it useless to address them any further . '" Let any man read these statements ; let him compare them with the Chronicle ' s repoTt , as given elsewhere ; let him believe that those antagonistic papers are not in league for the destruction of Judge Gormbt ; let him read the whole report ; let him mark the character of the evidence against Johkrand the offence ih&t he was charged with ; let him remember that Jokes is a poor cobler lad—that he stood there , unassisted , to contend with Counsel learned in the law and backed up by the nation's purse ; let him remember that by the principles of the British Constitution—that constitution whioh our
Judges are sworn to uphold—the Judge is to be at all times the undefended prisoner ' s Counsel ; that the law leans always to the side of mercy and gives every doubt to the defendant ; let him take all these circumstances into the account , and then let him believe , if he can , that Judge Gurnky is not a miserable Monomaniac , seeking , in infamy and in the exeorationB of society that u being talked of whioh the estimable qualities to be looked for from his years and station do not furnish .
This is by no means the first evidence of Baron Gubnby's utter incompetency either of mind or character for the high station to which he was elevated as the first proof of imbecility , or something worse , which characterised the whole career of Whig aaeendaney . In 1834 , before he had been two years a Judge , his name rang through the country as a disgrace , morally or mentally or in both respects , to the judioial bench . At the Newcastle Summer Assizss of that year , among other samples of judioial equity and mercy , he exhibited the following : —A lad who had . obtained a hat , value 8 s . 6 d ., by false pretences , was adjudged by him to be " transported
for life" ! Two loose women , one of whom had filched , and the other received and run away with , two sovereigns and some silver , belonging to a profligate faimer , -where both transported for life ! and a young man , tn the potstssion of whose mothert a mad woman dependant on him for support , were found some pieces of Bait pork which were said to have been stolen , was sentenced also to be transported for life ! 1 ! and the mother , apparentlt not henelf ( as the report Bays ) even at the trial , was ordered to be transported for seven years !! While
at that very same assnas , an atrocious case of bigamy was tried before his Lordship , where a Captain of a merchant vessel had deceived and ruined an innocent girl , under pretence of marriage , having also defrauded her parents of their child ; this hardened scoundrel , who well deserved the severest penalty the law allows , was adjudged by the human * Baron , to no more than six month ' s imprisonment J !} These things excited much observation at the time ; but he was then young on the Benoh and it was hoped that experience wonld teach him something of wisdom and discrimination .
We rejoice to see , from Mr . O'CouNoa ' s letter ^ that he has determined to take up the case of JoKct , and demand for him a new trial . We trust fervently that the people will see to the providing of the funds forthwith and amply . These matters are really jekes . " They cannot bo borne . Jsdges most be taught that in England people know the law and know the extent of their authority ; and that no man is to be thus immolated by maudling , doting , ignorant , malignity ; though he may even be a cobler and a Chartist .
Can any body Bend as a list ] of " Vaq names , weights , and ooloura" of the Jury in Jones ' s easel Tnat Jury onght to be ashamed ever again to look Englishmen in the face . The contact of the Judge ,
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without any other evidence , onght to have secured a verdict of acquittal , even if there bad been any evidence worth Galling such against Jones , which there was not . If this trial do not drive Baron Gurnet into " retirement , " then there is either no virtue in the English people , or no power in public opinion .
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ORGANIZATION . MR . O'CONNOR'S NEW PLAN . We refer with great pleasure to the plan of Mr . O'Conmob for a New Executive , detailed in his letter . It is well deserving of publio attention and consideration . Let the people read and ponder well upon it . Let them exercise their judgments freely . It is a matter of vital importance to our movement and Mr . O'Connor will not , wo are quite sure , regard any section of the people as paying him any compliment if they should adopt it , simply because it his , without examination . He wisb . 69 only that some mode should be adopted calculated effectually
to serve the object of concentrating our energies and of preventing the people or the cause from being sacrificed by any folly or treachery that might possibly arise among those who , as the Executive , would be entrusted in a great measure with the keeping of the people ' s interests . Without at all reviving or wishing to revive any matter of discussion on the conduct of the last Executive , we may advert to the fact that many circumstances have combined to evince the necessity of some such
regulations a 9 those whioh Mr . O'Connor here proposes in the Council of thirteen and in the publio Treasurer . We think also that past experience has quite sufficiently demonstrated the necessity of some oheok upon the amount of "responsibility , " which so small a body as an Executive Council of five might be disposed to assume in the putting forth of documents by whioh the whole body might be compromised , and the liberties of our beat men endangered .
We have read with some degree of care T iVir . O'CoNNon ' s plan ; and we have no hesit ^ t' an in avowing our oonviotion that its arrange ^ Pntg ^ admirably adapted for the remedy of Bome very serious misohiefs from whioh we ha ^ before suffered ; and for which remedies n > rfyt ^ provided before the Orgauiiation can be e ^ ut iato tnat state in whioh the people eitb ^ or 0 UgHt to have confidence in it ; while ^ game t { me we think there are parts of it wh j ^ require to be carefully reconsidered ., and , per . fcapg , to be considerably modified . We think also that there are some
matters for whioh it is a jeolutely necessary to make provision , and for wb j ^ his plan of Mr . O'Conuor's does not prov ? ^ _ We fear also that some of the arrangenV jQtB ' contemplated by this plan might , beoause r / the stringent character of the law , be att '^ d ed wj ^ g ^ g considerable difliculty , if D . dt doubt . And though it might be thought that , we are stepping off our proper ground , and invad ' xig the "legal territory" whioh comes more nat orally under Mr . O ' Connor ' s own inspection , w a are yet certain that he will take kindly
our solicitude that any new effort which the people may now make may be quite sure to be "all right and safe . " Upon all these matters , we shall , in r , Q probability , speak more fully hereafter . We now point attention to them as proper subjects of deep and anxious consideration for the people . We would gladly hear the people ' s own thoughts upon them , before we enter into details . We have never been disposed to Bet up our own opinion with any undue prominence , though we have always conceived the people to be entitled to its honest expression whenever we imagine that we can thus serve them .
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The spirit in which Mr . O'Connor has put forth this " Skeleton of a Plan , " —bis anxiety that it should be canvassed and sifted by the peoplehis wish to receive the suggestions and assistance of all , that the plan may be improved , if possible , may be correoted , if in any point illegal , —and made in every respect practically effioient—cannot be too much admired : It is the very spirit in which all propositions for publio acceptance ought . to be made , and which the importance of the subject especially demands in this matter .
We rejoice to see the care with which Mr . O'Connor seems ) to regard the M legality of every point . " We think with him that it is mo 3 t important to make Chartism a thing of which none need be legally ; afraid . There can be no doubt that our cause has derived an impetus , especially in certain quarters , from the proceedings connected with the late trial . That advantage is owing not more to the exhibitions of talent which were made than to the proofs which were afforded of the earnest determinanation on the part of most of those who have led the movement , while they took every opportunity
of asserting and enforcing their principles , to abide by such means as might comport with and conduce to the peace and good order of society . We have made thus an advance in public estimation 5 our cause has received an advantage , bat it has been purchased at a dear rate , and we cannot afford to repeat the purchase . Besides any further exhibition of the same kind would only tend to lessen the advantage we have gained by this . We must now , therefore , endeavour to proceed safely . We must tike care that our organisation be within the law , and we must take [ care to abide by our organisation , when established , and to see that it is enforced on all ;
no more tampering with it by our own officers—no more involving of the eause and the party in the " responsibility" which individuals choose to take upon themselves . ' Each man must now learn to know his own place and keep it . It is quite possible so to direct our movements as that the law shall be compelled to work with ds and for us ; and this must be done . Every public act , every movement of the body , must be made conformable to rule , while the rule is made conformable to law . We shall then , as a body , be safe ; our onward progress , at whatever speed , will be onward ; and not as it has hitherto been , circular , coming baek always to the same point whence we ) started . We see much ia tQJ 8 " skeleton of a planY' that will co-a loag way towards
securing those desirable objects . We wait anxiously for the filling-up of . the skeleton , " which we trust will be found to effect it fully , and also to lay before the people something in the shape of an immediate and practical application of our own principles , to cheer and aid us in oar [ straggle , to make tbem ultimately triumphant on the broadest scale . We are most happy to see in several of the master-minds of the movement acraving * simultaneously , manifested after something practical—some present embodyment in useful results of our principles and energies . We claim attention on this brad to the following extract of a private letter , written in February last , from one of the most intelligent , as well as honest , of oar leaders , to a person whom it will be seen he wa& wishful to put in nomination for the Executive : — .
" Mt dear Sir . r-With the contents of your letter I am highly gratified . It tells me that if yott can bo prevailed upon j to accept the office of one of the Executive , and if ; the people will only elect you , that the best results will How from your appointment . [ " I have for a considerable time past been of the opinion that Chartism needs reformation- —that nearly all we are ! bow doing is labour lost . We appear to go the round of one circle over and over again . Behold the round we tread : agitation—EXCITEMENT — OUTBREAK — PERSECUTION—APATHY }—and then , when the imprisoned get free , we-have
more agitation , more excitement , until we finish off with persecution and apathy again . We are doing nothing practic&l . Why should we not ! The Socialists , if they move slowly , are doing something . We are doing worse than nothing * I am not quite so wild as I was four years ago ; and though equally as good a democrat , I now see ,, what I could not see then , that roaring multitudes will not of themselves ever bring ; the Charter . As yet we ( as a people ) have j neither the virtue to get the Char er by moral means , nor have we the courage nor means to take the Charter by force . It is circumstances , backed by the increasing
intelligence of the masses , to which I look for the carrying of the Charter . Could we not , thea , ( without leaving anything undone we are now doing calculated to accelerate the obtainment of that measure , ) do something practical in the meantime ; something , whioh would ebevr . the world we would know how to apply legislative rights when we got them for the removal of the social misery existing I I believe we could , j I believe we must come to soiasthiog of the sort ; and the sooner the better too .
Now , I believe you are just the man calculated to commence that reform of the movement , ; atd so , thinking , it is my earnest desire to see you at the Executive Board . ! I am weary of Chy . nism s& at present conducted . Let us prove by ao ts and deeds that we are fitted ] to legislate , and defend upon it , so far from retarding , we shall grea tly accelerate the triumph of the Charter . " More I cannot say now ; when the gods permit I will , on these matters , by letter or otherwise , say something more . "
Anent the same matter , we h ave also , this week , received a letter from a gentler * an whom , though he be not very prominent in the m / jvement , W 0 k . now , and feel proud to know , as one * * hose strength of mind and sterling honesty deser fe much attention . He writes as follows ) : — " Sir , —I hop © jtou will allow me a email space In the olumns of the people ' s papert it is the first time I ever e-dted you the favop P > and the reason I do so new is . beoause I believe tha « , the time has now arrived fox n » , fi cnartuts , toi ma' further advance , in order to accompli * that jWh' jj yoa ana i , j n common with the rest of our Cha- rti 8 t brethren , have so much at
heart—that is , equa' justice to all , and happiness to all the humaa family . ; | fcei convinced that our long and arduous agitation jmust ^^ proved to every rtflecting individual , as w jU as to the world at large , that when the people are property united , their pewer Is omnipotent Who is he { that has beheld , and has not admired , the uoWe con' j Uct of our unwashed and illiterate artisans * vllywp f rlQ from tneir workshops , and mounting the bustinp 8 for the purpose of discussing out glorious pnaoiples with the classic and refined aristocrats , and proving ' jut ,, them , and to the world , that our principles aw , based upon justice , and therefore they are iBamuf aDie ? ;
1 am not aware of any meeting having been pro-P& * ' . y convened for the purpose of discussing our prin-CJ' plea , where they have not been always triumphantly 1 , arried , save and except in that small market-bouse of , iucurablea situated upon the banks of the river Thames , ! where they make ' erron by hundreds , and squander the I peopte ' s money by millions . I " As Chartists ( we do not profess to have the gift of prophecy ; nevertheless , we always knew that certain causes woald produce certain effects , and knowing , as we did , that the maladministration of class legislation , aud the improved and still improving state of machinery would ultimately bring on national distress ; knowing this , we r ^ ked for our political rights tor 3 conceded unto as , in order to empower us to alter the
institutions of our country , to as to enable us to prevent so dreadful a calamity ; but instead of our just rights being conceded unto v \ our petitions have always been treated with contempt by a large majority of the members of that Houae whioh « s falsely called the people ' s Souse ; and also most of thoc 9 out of that House , who move in rather a higher sphere of society , aa they term it , have treated us and our principles somewhat nncourteonsly . The reason why some of them have done so , I I rfieve , is berause they have been quite ignorant what our principles are ; others have misrepresented us , because they thought It were tLeir interest to do so ; but , if I { am not greatly mistaken , such individuals are finding it out that they reckoned without their host . >
" Well , let oa persevere onward , and as sure si two and two make four , if we only uni * 3 oar r ^ i ^ tion with a firm eo-operation , we shall prove unto the slanderers and the waverera that we are still progressing in the right coarse . " Now , Sir , for our onward movement Daea not our great champion , and virtuous patriot , O'Connor , ciy out " THE LAND , " and you echo to the cry , and I fellow in the train , and say " THE LAND ; " but the question which new arises ! is , is the land Co come unto ui , or we are to go unto the land . I say vx must go to the land . Well , then , if we are to go t * tbe land , some plan must be adopted to come at the means .
" Well . Sir , we all know that many pence makes a pound , and one million penc 3 a weak will reallre a sum of four thousand one hundred and sixty-six pounds , thirteen shillings ' and fourpence we : kly . " Now then , brother Chartists , if this sum could be placed in tbe bands of an Executive , every week , for the purpose of being judiciously laid out , Would it , I ask , weaken our present position ? I unhesitatingly say It would moke us doubly strong ; but anxious aa 1 am to see either this or some more improved plan carried
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into operation , I kuow it cannot be aceompllshed in one week ; H will bare to be tbe work of time ; but if h be taken « p in the same spirit that the Trades' Union was , the time will ba short , and I say he that hsi it in bis power to- mibttsriba and dese not do so , I r- . nnot I olieve him to I j aincgre -when I be « him wishing that society we * regenerated . Talking is very good In iM pie" }; bat , ia my opinion , tbe time has no w arrive 1
when it fcahoves us to act a « well ?¦? talk . Now , if it ba adviceable that an experiment should ba tried , some plan most t ) bit upon in order to set i £ agoing . I would beg to suggest tbe propriety at ealliig a small conference ; such , sonferenee to be composed of » fe ^ of the 13 st minds tbat can be selected from the-cimtK s ranks ; say one from Yorkshire , ena from Lantatfrre , and one from each of the other counties ; the said dele , gates to meet in some central placa .
" We , your fiiends at Keigbtay , were amongst the foremost to form a political union previous to the pr- ^ ing of what was falsely called the Reform Bill , and we are now ready to assist in placing Chartism upon a more solid br ~ ta than it hitherto b ? t t ? 3 u . Let n h 2 « fdo to plf ? 3 ourselves in this formidable position , and then if we kn « ck at the door of St . Stephen ' s , whether Feel or Rcusell be the gate-kc 3 per , they * 3 ] politely let us in . " I remain , " Yours in the cause of Democracy , " Joseph FiExa . " Keighley , March 21 , 1843 . "
These sentiments are worthy of earnest consideration , coming , as they do , from one of labour ' s nobles . These are evidences of the turn the public mind is taking . We rejoice to see them : they are proofs tnat our labour thas not been in vain—that the seed which we have sown is showing itself already fa the blade , and will yet ripen in the fail ear . We have yet much to say upon this subject of remodelling our movement . We shal 1 return tort again an d again , and lay our own thoughts before the people . Meantime we commend it to the careful consideration of Mr . O'Coxxoa in the filling up of hi »"
skeleton f we have had no communication with him on the matter , but should be glad to have . We fed earnestly desirous that our new Organisation-should be perfect ; that it should embrace every advantage , and guard against every disadvantage ; hence , we advise the people to take time , to deliberate , to weigh well every point , to give , through the Star , the benefit of their opinion , to those who may be occupied in preparing measures for their consideration and acceptance . Let , it however , be noUd . that whilst
inviting from all the expression of their opinion , we do not offer general-license , and premise general indulgence ,, to every man who can spin out a letter of a column or two in length * What we want are not writers and essays , bat hints and observations j short , pithy and to the point—telling what the letters mean , without waste of words . Unless this caution be observed , our space may be unduly occupied , and we may be obliged to offend many by suppression or curtailment .
We think no steps should be taken for appointing an Executive until the re-osganicauon of the peopls has been agreed to and determined on .
The Northern Star. Saturday, Apeil 1, 1843.
THE NORTHERN STAR . SATURDAY , APEIL 1 , 1843 .
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THE CHARTISTS AND THE MAGISTRACY . The length at whioh we have this week given the trial of Cooper and the other Chartists , at Stafford and elsewhere , have precluded the possibility of our giving the debate on Mr . Dwjcombe ' b motion , most important as it is . We regret this exceedingly , but have no alternative . To have given anything like a decent abstract of it would have occupied more than double the space that we had left , and to murder it we had no inclination ; feeling sure that however strong and just may be the objection to " old news , " the people would be reasonable enough to know that the paper can but be filled , and , on so important a matter , would prefer waiting till next week for tha entire , to having a murdered sorap of it .
As we oannot give the debate now , we shall reserve the bulk of our remarks on it till they can be read in juxta-position with the speeches upon which we comment , as we think that the fairest way . But we oannot permit the fact to escape notice , that the " House" and the Government absolutely refused to meet the motion of Mr . Dukcoxbe at all . There can be no doubt that if they could have prevented his making the motion they would have done so ; for they were evidently not a little "bothered" with it . The Attobnet-Genbbal , as defender of the
Magistrates , showed infinitely more of the lawyer and less of tbe man than on the trial at Lancaster . It must have been a galling task to his honourable mind , if his bearing at Liverpool and Lancaster have not left on us a perfectly erroneous impression of his individual and personal goodness of character . He Was compelled to have recourse to the mean and dirty subterfuges of his craft . To blink wilfully and resolutely the question at issue , and to conjure up a phantom of his own with which to ence , instead of meeting Mr . Duncombe ' s facts and arguments , mo 3 t of which he entirely passed over ,
and some of which he grossly—we hope not wilfulry —distorted and misrepresented to eke out his owa case . Mr . Duncowe complained , on the petitions of the parties , of the hardships inflicted on a number of individuals by the illegal conduct of the Magistrates before trial . The Attorney-Generai replied by rehearsing his own very fair and courteous conduct to the same parties at trial;—aa though the two cases bad anything in the world to do with each other ! aa though 7 » i * fairness could be taken to exouse their illegal stringency ; as
glaring a non sequilur as could have been urged Another portion of the Learned Gentleman ' s defence of the " unpaid" was , that the petitioners had several of them been convicted ; as though a man who may have been convicted could not by possibility have suffered any hardship or ill treatment before conviction ! True , he said the law was open to them ; and that if they could persuade Grand Juries to return a Bill , the Magistrates might be indicted for any offence charged against them , or that they might be civilly prosecuted for damages .
But coald the ArroRNBT-GeNKBALbo ignorant of the fact that ihe Grand Jury before whom the bill of indictment must have been preferred , would be made of the accused parties themselves , aud of the folly , therefore , of any body dreaming of so acting f Did he not know tbat poor men cannot prosecute for damages ! Would he , as counsel , undertake a cause for any man who was neither able to pay his fee , nor to pay an attorney for preparing brief for him ! How contemptible then to offer these men the alternative of the law ! with
the case also of O'Neil upon bis lips ; in whioh tbe law was appealed to , and , though the guilt of the Magistrates was admitted , redress was denied to the injured party , and the Magistrates were actually commended by the Court in the same judgment which pronounoed the subject of commendation to be an illegal aot !! The sum of the whole matter is this ; that the refusal of this inquiry stamps the condemnation both of the Government and
the League . It brands the Government with partiality and cowardice ; and it shews tbs League , of whom the Magistrates complained against are part and paroel , to have been ' * the real Simon Pures " whom though the Government perfectly know all about it , they fear to meddle with , even when a good and fair oase is thrust into their hands by those very Magistrates themselves .
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EMIGRATION . —WHERE TO . —AND HOW TO PROCEED . It is well known that we have not been advisers of Emigration . We have not been of those who have advised the people to forsake the land of their birth , to seek in other and ( oft-times ) inferior climes , that comfortable living and free position which the ; ought to enjoj . at HOME ; ami- for th& enjoyment and securement of which we possess such ample , means . We have rather advised that tha people should remain in- their father-land , and learn to use common sense in the application- of the illimitable means of comfort and well-being at their disposal .
Yet we know there are those who-are heartsickened ! at the present position and . prospect of ;' thiDgs in England ; and who deem ii . prudent to scrape together the remnants of their shattered i " fortunes" and all bat absorbed savings , and betake themselves to distant lands , thereto seek , for that protection and freedom denied them by THE , SYSTEM at bome . To such it is important to , know where to go to , for the best ; and how io proceed I in their arraagementa , so as to secure themselves from the gr « sa- impositions and oppressions ^ prac * , tised upon them by hordes of hungry vultures " v * ho hover round emigrant ships , at botui ends of the passage , and Seece the unknowing most on * mercifully .
Some mouths ago , we announced that a firm and undeviating friead of the working classss , Mr . Pitkethue , of Httddersfield , had : made ii Ms business to inquire int » these matters j and had undertaken a voyage to the United Statm-of Nonaa America , to see with his own eyes , and judge for- himself , as t » th » truth or falsehood of the many glowing npxesentations that have beaa made to induce Emigrv ikm to that quarter ef the world . For this purpose he has traversed over several of the States ,
particularly those of Massachusetts , New You , Rhode Island , Penstlvania , Ohio , Michi « a $ % Illinois , Wisconsin , and New Jersey . He his been to look out , and ascertain the actual state of c things in these places , so as to judge of the dear * ;; ability , or otherwise , of Emigration ; andtoasoer- j tain the beat and moat economical mode in which" J Emigration , if determined on , can be accomplished J He has returned to England from this mission ; and we have made arrangements with him to publish tha " Notes of bis Tour" in weekly portionB in tto ,
Star . % We should have given his introductory letter this week ; only that the trials at Stafford and Leicester have pre-occupied our apace . It shall be given «« ' week ; and the following week we Bhall commenM to publish the "Notes of the Tour . " The introdofr § tory letter is to put the reader in possession of tS * reasons and inducement * Mr . Pitkkthlt had to ? undertake the labour he did undertake ; while tha j
" Notes of the Tour , " will , as may readily be infe ** red , give the particular items of information the , ; traveller picked up by the wayside , during his IM " i journey of thousands of miles . The " Notes" vfifl 1 be followed up by a number of general obsefrsfaW * detailing the impressions made on Mr . ? & kethly ' s mind by the facts he has made himself conversant with , and the reasoning and opinions ii has heard from persons on the several spots he hti
vmted . Wemay state now , to those who may be intend % to Emigrate , that it is Mr . Pitkethlt ' s stroBg deal * M that no one should depart their native land , unle 5 i >; under complete arrangements for entering upon »» j land at the place of their intended destination . H ° Btates that from the immense numbers that flock ** -A to the United States during tbe last and two p » J | vious years , there is a great redundancy of handa in every department of labour ; so that when labour J j | obtained ( a thing now next to impossible ) »* f 1 uniformly followed by a reduction of wages . This jf j also tends to reduce wages at home ; for if we ate W f compete with the foreign manufacturer , " we mm as a matter of course , produce cheaper than he does 1 m and we shall net be able to produce cheaper if «* I
wages of labour are higher . 1 Under proper arrangements Emigration nW > W 1 conduce to the advantage and benefit of the Effli" grants ; and we believe a scheme by which this c »» be accompliahedwill be developed during tha coursft or at the end , of the publication of the informatios and advice we shall bo shortly be enabled to W J before the public . But the crowding tog * ther of such vast heaps as have been thro *» into the several States of North Aherica , without system or plan , or defined object , has worked to th « great disadvantage of all concerned ; both tht Emigrant aud native workman .
We also learn from Mr . Pitkethly , that & a people will de well not to listen to all * 9 glowing tales contained in letters from " / rfen * who have already gone out ; as they are likely to w greatly deceived ^ they do . He mentions that before he went out" he saw in the" Weekly Dispatch , some letters from a person of the name of Coift dated from Wisconsin territory ; and whioh , fro " the glowing descriptions therein given , induced gre »
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A THE NORTHERN STAB .
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Citation
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Northern Star (1837-1852), April 1, 1843, page 4, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/ns/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1206/page/4/
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