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THE NORTHERN STAR. SATURDAY, JANUARY 20, 1844.
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PORTRAIT OF W. P. ROBERTS, Ee*.
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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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Specimens of Mr . Robert ' s Portrait are now ready , and shall be forwarded to the Agents in tbe most convenient way possible . On the 10 th of February it will be given to oar Lancashire and Yorkshire readers ; and on the 17 th to those of Scotland , London , and other parts .
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•» ' ¦! nrfr » tfi . , - . , . . I ,,, -Lr _ ij _ ri . mf / j . mi . Jjjj . T . | -. j u-ri * u _ . j . TBIAL OP MRS . GIIMOTTR . ¥ BlGH COCBT 0 * JTJSTICIAST , EDIJSBtJXGH . —The trial of Mrs . GOmoni , charged iriih the murder of her husband , came on before Ibis conrt yesterday ( "Friday ) . The prisoner pleaded not guilty , in a low but firm tone cf-voice , and the cue "went to triaL The evidence for the Crown having been coocfcided , and the declaration » f the panel read , & eonsnSta * i » n took place between the Judges md tin counsel , * fter which the Lord Justice Clerk addressed the jury , « cd Intimated that in consideration of the lateness rftfce hour , and the impossibility of their giving the case feat fall and calm deliberation "Which it was so desiraWe it should receiTe , it would be adjourned till to-morrow ( this day ) . After warning the jury not to communk&te with each other on the merits of the ease as brought out by the public presecutor " a evidence , and renewing the injunction against the
publication of the report of the trial , as tar as it proceeded , "in any newspaper , or anywhere / ' the jury were handed over to the custody of the raacera , and afterwards conveyed to Macqneen ' s hotel , with injunctions to appear again this morning at nine o ' clock , when the trial would proceed . The court adjourned about seven o ' clock p . m . The interest excited by this trial surpassed anything that we hare witnessed sinee that of the Glasgow cotton spinners , in January 1838—the court itself , and &H the avenues leading to it , being densely crowded . In the Parliament-square hundreds were to be seen , coming and going , anxiously inquiring as to the progress . Mrs . Gilrooar was dressed in deep mourning , and when she took her place in the dock , her face was entirely covered from the general view of tie spectators , by a large thick crape veil , which she partially raised when Bested at the bar . The trial was continued on Saturday .
The jary , after an absence of about an hour , returned with the following verdict : —The jury , after a careful snd matere coxmdtratim of the evidence brought before them in this case , are unanimously of opinion that John Oilmoar died from the effects of arsenic : but . find it not proven against tie prisoner at the bar , as libelled . This announcement was followed by very decided expressions of approval by those in court , which were rebuked by the Lord Justice Clerk . The prisoner was then dissmissed from Hie bar . — C-cilfffonifri Jfercsry . J Perhaps a greater romance in real life , than the circumstances connected with the fate of this extraordinary woman , never occurred ; and to a certainty all the inventions of fiction never promulgated circumstances so very uncommon as those which have taken place between the subject of our notice and her affianced bridegroom , after they had been united as one , by the ceremony of marriage .
Prom statements which have already gone the round of the press , most readers will be aware that Mr * CHImour and her husband were the > on and daughter , respectively , of two neighbouring wealthy and comfort-« ble farmers . Both of the farms on which this young couple were brought op are situated in tbe parish of Dunlop , Ayrshire , and both of the unfortunate individuals had little more than entered on life , which they did with the fairest prospects . For nearly five years before her unfortunate marriage with Gilmour , Miss Cochran had formed a warm and devoted attachment to another young farmer in the neighbourhood , referred to in evidences-John Anderson . The attachment was reciprocated on bis part , and he had got settled on a farm *> t his own , dose to her father ' s ,
but circumstances intervened which prevented him from marrying Hiss Cochran for a time . In the interim , Hiss Cocbran ' s young neighbour , Jean Gilmour , gol most devotedly attached to her without having the satisfaction of bis love being returned , and he having resolved to settle in life , first took the farm railed the term of iwf hinnonj and then used every influence in his power to secure her as his wife , both by exercising the warmest persuasion with herself , and by craving the assistance of her parents in his favour .. Under these circumstance we are assured by the most credible authority that the parents , in accordance with the solicitation of Gilmour , urged the marriage on their daughter , notwithstanding her most determined opposition . Before the union took place , she frequently urged her parents to let her live as she was . She even
begged of them to permit her to live single for life . She never could he attached to G 3 mour , she said , while her heart wu with another . A short time before the marriage took place , Hiss Ceebrao and Anderson formally declared their attachment to each other , and we are assured separated both deeply bathed in tears at the cruel fate whiclt awaited her , and which neither of them seemed to have the power to avert . We have xnquestionable authority for stating that though they lived together for six weeks , and regularly retired to the ame bed-room , Mr * . Gilmour never undressed during the whole time . She wu frequently found bathed in tears by her busbamd during tbe day , and when spoken to about grief by him , she generally endeavoured to compose herself , and assured him she would redeem her promise ; she would live with him , aiid work with Mm as a servant , but she was unable to do anything
more . In her demeanour lira . Gilmour is mild even to simplicity ; her manner is as unaffected as a child , and under all tha difficult positions abe had been placed in prior to her being placed at the bar , nothing rwed her countenance , and she was always to be found the most cool and unaffected person present , or who took any part in the proceedings .
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this town with his father , for the purpose , as we were informed , of registering his name ; and when returning in the evening on a cart , about five o ' clock , they arrived at a place named Drumbad , or Cornacnllen , about three miles below Drnmlish two or three fellows started tip from the ditch on the road side and discharged * gun at him , which was heavily loaden with siege , several of which entered and lacerated his arm from the shoulder to the elbow , and some also entered his belly and groin , after which they decamped . In an almost d ying state he was takes into the next house , and a messenger
was immediately dispatched to tbiB town for Surgeon Ellis , who deemed it prudent not to make any attempts at extracting the sings , he found the man so low , exeept one he took from bis arm . Next morning , Patrick C . Howley , Esq ., S . M ., went to see the dying man , and took his statement ^ and he survived but a very short tine after . The cause assigned for this outrage is a dispute about land . On the night after his death , two men , named Owen and James Hagas , and a man named Jordan , were arrested and committed for farther examination to oar coanty gaol , under suspicions circumstances .
The Northern Star. Saturday, January 20, 1844.
THE NORTHERN STAR . SATURDAY , JANUARY 20 , 1844 .
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THE IRISH TRIALS . The Reader will find a copions and luminous Report of the proceedings in tbe Court of Queen ' s Bench J > ablin , np to the latest period we couldeompass before going to Press . He will find that the first day was consumed in an unsuccessful attempt to set aside the Jury Panel ; and that tbe . second and third days were entirely occupied with the Attorney-General ' s opening speech , after tbe preliminaries of Bwearing tbe Jary and giving the traversere in charge . Tbe examination of the witnesses would be commenced on tbe fourth day ( Thursday ) .
Of coarse all is yet speculation , as far as tbe public is concerned , concerning the nature of tbe evidence that the Irish " GmtFiNs" have to offer . Time alone can let us know what tbe horrid revealments are , about which the Attoehet-Gemebal speaks bo confidently , and tries to excite alarm . One thing however seems certain t these akb some ** Gbjptik *" : and in due Beason they will be used in the endeavour to pat down the Repeal Agitation by the imprisonment of its Leaders .
Some particulars , with respect to these traitor * , will be found in another column , extracted from our honest contemporary , the World . With him we cannot bat express great surprise at tbe total silence of tbe Repeal Press u to tbe important fact o > the tbattob ETiBXKCK . That silence ? is , indeed , wonderfully strange . We shall , in succeeding editions , bring up the account of the later proceedings , to the latest possible moment . We find , however , that we shall be u&afeleto give in the third Edition news as late as we last week promised . However tbe best shall be done that circumstances will permit . tg ^* The Times of Friday has the following : —
" I have just learned , on what I consider competent authority , that an application will be made by the Crown , at the sitting of tbe Court to-morrow morning , for an order prohibiting the publication of tbe evidence until it shall have been entirely concluded . Although such may have been tbe determination of tbe law officers of tbe Crown at the adjournment of the Court to-day , it is difficult to oonjeotnre what may be tbe result of their deliberations on It this evening . "
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LIBERATION OF | THE STAFFORDSHIRE COLLIERS . TRIUMPH OF THE LAW AND TRADES '
UNIONS . It will be in the recollection of oar readers , that at the close of the Miners' Conference recently held at Manchester , that body directed Mr . Roberts , their solicitor , upon the representation of one of the Staffordshire delegates , to proceed forthwith to that locality for the purpose of investigating the case of some of the Master ' s victims then lingering in Stafford gaol . Mr . Robebts , in consequence , proceeded to Stafford ; and having furnished himself with the necessary documents whereon to ground an application to a Judge for a writ of Habeas Corpus ,
proceeded onward to London . Time being precious , and his leading counsel , Mr . Bodkin , being unfortunately absent from London , Mr . Roberts appeared in person before Mr . Justice Patteson , from whom , after stating bis case , be received the writs of Habeas , ordering the persona appearance of the prisoners before him . Being thus provided with his legal ammunition , the indefatigable gentleman again proceeded to Stafford , and in company with the gaoler brought his clients to London . Mr . Justice Patteson did not sit in chambers on Saturday last , the day on whioh the case was to be argued : therefore the
parties were obliged to appear m the Bail Court , before Mr . Justice Williams ; Mr . Bodkin being Counsel for tbe Colliers , and Mr . Valentine Lee , of the Stafford Circuit , being retained for the masters . When tbe Judge had heard the case , and perused the several documents , the validity of which Mr . Ro » eht » challenged , and tbe legality of which he contended against , he insiamtlt discharged the PRISONERS FROM THE 8 U&TODY O » THE GAOLER ! Thus has a second English Judge awarded a triumph to the law ! and affixed tbe stamp of ignorance upon the H great unpaid" of a second county .
These triumphs of the law will most assuredly give inoreased confidence to the working classes . But then a question arises as to the mode and manner in whioh they can avail themselves of the law ' s protection . In the Thornley case , where six men were illegally committed by tbe magistrates and liberated by the Judge , the expence , though insignificant when compared with the value of the triumph achieved , must have been large ; say £ 140 . The six working Miners might have rotted in gaol before they could have procured such an amount for legal purposes ; and tbe law would have suffered great
injustice in publio estimation from their inability to avail themselves of its protection . The expenses in tbe Stafford case were much less ; but bad they amounted only to a tithe of the lesser snm , the three Staffordshire colliers could not have met them . So far the difficulty of poor men availing themselves of the law ' s protection in their individual capacity is fully apparent ; but that fact , added to the triumphs gained by legal combination , tends to the incontrovertible establishment of another fact : that mr union , and by Wnion alone , « aN thk " P 00 B op / bbssbd " CONTEND ASAIKST THE INJUSTICE OF THE " HIGH
OFWESSOK . " It is hard to say whether the poor fellows who have felt tbe benign influence of the law , or eooiety , that would have suffered from the injustice if onredressed , has most reason to rejoice at the result" Times change , and we change with them , " saith the proverb ; and no doubt the change from sultry heat to grim and chilling frost will have considerable effect upon public opinion in its judgment upon tbe present case . But a abort month since , when we read of " bndding roses , " " spring vegetation , " and ** birds' nests , with young in them , " we might
have been apt , as we eat over the almost empty grate , to look with disreaptct , if not with contempt , upon those to the production of whose labour we now owe our greatest comfort . The chilblain ; the chapped-skin ; the sand-bags ; the closed windows ; the additional blanket ; and the blazing fire , now teach as the Talue of those services , with whioh , but a month since , we vainly thought we might have dispensed . There have been some , and amongst them we are sorry to be obliged to number a "liberal" newspaper , who contend
stoutly against protection being conceded to the working classes . From that » rotkction they would deduce great injury , if not the total dissolution of the social bondB . We however argue very differently upon the facts and the result ; knowing that tbe Globe , with its usual condensation of vision , has merely squinted at the subject with one eye . Indeed it is not wonderfal that the scented Paa » erston , " stinking with perfume , " should tarn ap his nose at unsightly aud unsavoury " blacks ; " but how he can hire minions to scribble stuff like the following , in to us matter of no small wonder . In the Glsbe
of Friday , the very day previous to the bearing of the Stafford case in the Bail Court , we find tbe following petite morceau " , indicative of the " petite possible" of the " petite maitre ' who writes for the M petite" journal . The Globe says : — " A circumstance ia connexion with the Northern Union has recently occurred , and 1 b worthy of note . It has been the immemorial custom in the Staffordshire iron-coal districts for a fortnight ' s notice to be given , either by masters « r men , previous to tbe termination of an engagement Within these two or three weeks ,
a number of men refused to work in a pit belonging to Messrs . Williams , Darlaston , because one of the men employed on the same works was not a member of the Union . Messrs . Williams retained the nonunionist ; the consequence was , all the rest left their employ . Three of the ringleaders wete apprehended and committed to Stafford Jail . An attempt is now being made to Bet aside tbe conviction as bad in law ; and should the Judges refuse to commit , the consequences will be very serious in the Staffordshire iron districts . "
Now , the above paragraph commences with falsehood , and concludes with ignorance . The " Union '' had nothing whatever to do with the " commitment , " however it may suit the purpose of the Whig editor to seek to rouse public indignation against a onion of the working classes . The Judges could neither * ' commit , " nor " refuse to commit ; fob thb PRISONERS HAD BEEN ALBEASU COMMITTED : and the Judge had merely to decide a question of law . Did it never strike oar contemporary that if justice had
been refused to the colliers , they , whose importance is now considerably increased by the promise of a long and chilling frost , would have said to the trembling Bcribe : ** Go ; and scribble in your cold garret , or work to warm yourself ; for as the law has refused its protection to ny labour , I will cease to work rather than slave 'for that society from which I receive neither benefit nor protection . " And would they not have been justified in so saying , and
in so acting I Are men to be " committed" to prison , and retained there , with all the forms of law trodden under foot , merely to serve the convenience of the masters , and gratify the malignant feeling of the hired scribe of the Globe t " Serious" may » e the " consequences" to the Masters , if they will set law , and reason , and humanity at defiance ; but for those " consequences" they have only themselves to blame .
We have only quoted the last paragraph from the article of oar little coteniporary—that which appears to deprecate the conduct of the men ; let us eee what the little fellow says of Vnion , when speaking of the Masters . He Bays : " Tbe usual iron-masters' quarterly meetings have taken place during the present week at Walsall , Wolveihampton , and in this town . The assemblage in our Town Hall to day was numerous , the great majority of the most extensive iron-masters from the surrounding districts , and many from Wales , being present , and , as a matter of course , taking great interest in the business proceedings of the meeting . "
Yes , yea ; the capitalists " from all the surround * ing districts , " and " even from Wales , " of course take " great interest" in the " business proceedings " of THEIR UNION meeting . And why should they not ! Theie UNION is for a purpose . That purpose must be " interesting" and important , when it can draw attendance from all " the surrounding districts , " and " even from Wales . " It is PROTECTION that the interested" seek ; and strength from combined exertion : protection against the demands of the labourer for living wages ; and itrenath to put down counter-combination J What
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a lesson to the workejis is here read ! The Masters dread your onion . To break you up ; to disjoint you into units ; to place you , individually , at their sole will and pleasure , ihbt combine themselves ! They attend their Union meetings most " numerously " , ' coming to them from all the " snrrounding districts' * and even "from Wales . " Then why not you follow their example ? If onion be good for the employers , will it not be good for the employed ! If it be calculated to give the masters strength to resist the just demands of the men , is it not calculated to enable the men to withstand and defeat the unjust aggressions of the masters ! Aye ! truly is it ; and well do the employers of labour know the fact . Their knowledge of that fact is
only out-topped by their dread that the workers should know it also t Else , why do they and their tools in the press constantly try to promote disunion in the ranks of the working people , by exciting and feeding suspicion and jealousy among the badlyinformed ; and urge on the persecution and proscription of the " leaders , " who placo themselves at the head of the Movement ! There is nothing the employers of labour fear so much , as a firm Union amongst the workers ; and there are no means that they will not resort to to break such Union up , when it once obtains . Of these facts , the very article in tbe Glebe , from whioh we have already quoted affords convincing proof . Speaking of the Union of the Men , he says : —
" At the present time there are delegates from the neighbourhood of Newcastle-upon-Tyne prowling about Staffordshire , and daily and nightly employed in enlisting recruits into the Union ; sixpence is paid upon the receipt of the admission , and twopence per week && a subscription to the Union . The general turnout la threatened to take place when adequate funds have been raised to meet the crisis ; bat it is scarcely necessary to say that . little of the money finds its way out of the hands of the parties by whom it is collected . "
Aye , aye ; the poor fellows to pbotect their labour , are obliged to " prowl about" M by night and by day , " and to meet where they can ; while the Town Hall , built with their money , is at the service of the heartless , griping , bindebs who have grown rioh upon their sweat , and fat upon their decrepitude and deformity ! In conjunction with the Globe , these men would withhold even legal protection from their victims ! " Prowl about , " indeed ! what right has this hired scribbler to write absurd
folly and nonsense for the purpose of prejudicing the judgment of the law ! His ravings might have had there due effect upon tbe weak minds of servile jurors , factious town councillors , and party-coloured parochial officials ; but they savoured too much of the " firework" of Malthusian Whiggery to affright a Judge of thelandfrom his propriety . We have received several communications from bodies of working men , as well as bodies of trades , requesting our opinion upon matters connected with their interests , as to how they should proceed for legal protection . Our answer to all is , send your
" cases" under cover to W . H . Bodkin , Esq ., M . P ., Temple , accompanied by a fee of £ 2 4 s . 6 d ., and you will receive from that gentleman the best " opinion " that can be procured . It was with him that Mr . Roberts held his various consultations respecting the Lancaster triale , as well as upon the several colliery oases ; and we but reiterate Mr , Ro » ert 3 ' # opinion in stating that" if there is a hole in the net for escape , Mr . Bodkin will thrust his client through it . " As it is all important that the working classes , no matter of what shade of politics , should have a thorough reliance upon tbe honour and integrity of their legal advisers , it may not be amiss or out of place to state , that although Mr . Bodkin differs
widely in politics from Mr . O'Connell , yet the case of the Irish traversers has been submitted to Mr . Bodkin to advise upon . The encouragement afforded to the working classes generally by the recent triumphs of the law in the miner ' s cases , has induced many other bodieB to form themselves into societies for legal protection . In this move we recognise a legal and constitutional establishment of Trades Unions . Those useful bodies were annihilated , because they sought to achieve by Strikes , what they might have more successfully accomplished by the less expensive mode of legal enquiry . The Government will always range itself against Combinations to raise wages by the cessation labour , while the law will alwats raoiECT
THE LABOURER IN A FAIB CONTEST WITH THB EMrLOYEB . Chartism has suffered all that it has endured , not from Chartists , but from designing knaveB who joined our ranks and attached odium to our principles by their own profligacy , treachery , and venality . So with Trades Unions . The several bodies incorporated for the rsoTECtioN of their order have suffered damage from the treachery , the impetuosity and folly of some of their overheated associates . Let them now begin at the right end . Let' them work upwards instead of downwards .
Let every trade in the kingdom become incorporated for the purpose of procuring legal protection ; and when the machinery of all is complete , let them have a Conference of Delegates ; wise delegates ; shrewd , honest , delegates , from each trade ; to meet at Birmingham , to devise a legal planfor the mutual protection of the working classes of all denominations and orders . And let not the Hlook printers , if well paid , suppose that any injustice commited against the tailors , if badly paid , will not sooner or later come home to their own doors ! Let not
the spinners , if better p&vd than the hand-loom weavers , lose sight of the fact that a " surplus" of hand-loom wearere will constitute a reserve for the masters to fall back upon , as a means of reducing the wages of the spinners . Let not the bricklayers imagine that a reduction in the wages of their labourers will not be followed by a reduction in their own wages . A blow sucessfully struck at one order tf labour will as succesfully wound all others ! Let not the " West-End" aristooratio tailors suppose that they are secure against the contagion from the " sweating ' room ; for even their wages , like the waters , will find their hvel at last .
It has hitherto been , that the M top-sawyers , earning £ 2 or £ 3 a week , have looked with contempt upon the poorer of their order who were condemned to perpetual" sweating , " for the means of preserving a miserable existence for another hour of misery . The ranks of the " chosen , " however , are being daily thinned ! while the ranks of the " condemned regiment" are hourly augmented ! This fact has caused the most unthinking to look at the question ; and the result is , a manifest determination on every hand to unite for Labour ' s Protection . In this good work , the Colliers have
led the way . Though commenced but some fifteen months ago , their Union already numbers 40 , 000 members ! The flag around whioh so many of Labour ' s Sons have rallied , and under which they hare foight suck good fights , was hoisted at Wakefield , for the first time , on the 7 th ef September , 1942 , by a Working Minor who had beea discharged from his employment for locally advocating the right of himself and bis fellow-workmen to " a good day's wages for a good day ' s work . " To the standard then raised , have the Miners of the North , the East , and the West flocked . They have an
Ei « outi ? e to guide their exertions ; and no lees than fifty advocates , ** prowlers about " , constantly employed , carrying the glad tidings of labour '! determination into every nook and cranny of the mining distriots , and sounding labour ' s call to Union . And for this , do not the Colliera deserve ' well of their country t In their own darkness they have taken tbe bandage off labour ' s eyeu ! They have conducted tbe most forlorn and oppressed through the intricacies and dark labyrinths of the house of oppression , and introduced them to the palace of Justice . Who , then , will refuse to follow their noble example !
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rally ask ourselves , whether complaint arises from a desire to expose the act , or merely to stamp the perpetrators with odium . We come into Court with clean hands ; and therefore we can fire right and left at the perpetrators of injustice , no matte * to what party , class , or creed , they may belong . It is not so however with our valiant Whig contemporaries . UpOn every occasion that the Whig press has made a " feint" in favour of" liberality" we have been compelled to contrast their former acts with their present performance . The tribe are now lusty loud , consequential , unanimous , and unique jn their
magniloquent denunciation ot the mode and manner of conducting : the trial of the Irish Catholics ; while their own course during their ten years of unhappy away was marked by injustice so palpable and striking , cruelty so revolting , and disregard of public opinion so indecent , that the good man looks with suspicion : upon their every profession . What could surpass their malignant persecution of the Anti-Tithe agitators in 1832 , urged on by themselves as a portion of the skirmishing force of Whiggery , until faction found it necessary to destroy the power by whioh it had been raised to office 1 What could
exceed the injustice perpetrated against the Dorchester Labourers , another section of the Reform army in 18331 ; What act could surpass their mode of administering ; " justice" to Ireland through a bloody Coercion Bill in tbe eame year ! Has their attacks upon Trades' Union , instruments so fitting to their hands in time of need , been forgotten f Has the prosecution of the Glasgow Cotton Spinners fed from memory ! And has the publio forgotten the description of evidence upon which those Whig triumpns were achieved i Was not the . Iriah Coercion Bill mainly supported by the recital of
some doggerel lines by a Whig official ! And did not the Crown upon the trial of the anti-tithe agitators makes most extensiro and unscrupulous use of the right of challenge ? Have we not ourselves heard the words , " stand by , " follow every Catholio name that was called upon juries to try the Anti-Tithe Agitators ! But now that a Whig use is to be made of Tory perfidy , we find the" Liberal" press valiantly standing forward to denounce those very acts , whioh , when committed by their own friends , were indispensable to the ends of justice . The acts we have enumerated were portions
of Whig Justice to Ireland . Let us now cast an eye to the Whig administration of justice in England . What could surpass the bloody and heartless Whig persecution of the Chartist body , or their disregard of public opinion ! Did they object , that is , while their party were in power , to the " hasty trial * —the "constitution of the Jury "—the "heavy sentence ; " or the "bard labour , " to whioh Chartist prisoners were ; subjected ! No ; these were Whig viciiib , and , therefore , not entitled to the protection of the Whig press . When Cooper stood out for a fair trial , that his whole case might be brought before the Jury , the Whig leading Journal , having first prejudiced the whole of tbe Jury class , teemed with continuous assaults upon the
Chartist prisoner , and chastised him for wasting the public time ; but now that a long trial may serve the purpose of Whiggery , the same journal ohaokie ? at delay ! And have we not had Special Jury trials in thiB country ! Has not the proprietor of this journal been subjected to the tender mercies of four Bpecial juries within a very short period ? And , I to mark his opinion of such a tribunal , in all oases where h » has been individually concerned , he baa refused to perform the mock ceremony of striking off twelve of the forty-eight ministerial tools : and has not Georab White , a working man , been tried by two special juries of bankers , merchants , and manufacturers ; as deadly enemieB to labour as Protestant are to Catholics .
Tbe Tory press still continues to justify the injustice perpetrated by some one in making out tbe special jury panel for Dublin . In fact , their very defence amounts to suspicion . It appears evident that not only neglect , but suspicious neglect , has takea place at a most suspicious time , for a most suspicious purpose . In fact , to call things by their proper name , a gross and manifest fraud has been committed ; but because Mr . O'Connell has not the power of swearing who did commit the fraud , therefore the fraud is allowed to stand good against tbe traversers . Now , in case of an enqniry as to the mode by which death was produced , if a man is found dead with marks of violence and undar
Buspicious circumstances , the verdict would be wilful murder against some person or persons to the jurora unknown : and we contend for it , upon every principle of justice , that the same rule should hold good in the case of the Irish Catholics ; and that although the names of the parties who committed the fraud may be unknown , and although the fraud itself may be called by the mild name of culpable neglect , that yet the parties [ liable to be affected , whether by neglect or fraud , Bhould have the benefit of the
negligence or cheatery of their opponents . We have before entered fully into a consideration of the moral effect likely to be produced by a conviction of Catholic Ireland ; but then we had not the whole case before us . iln addition to what we have previously urged as to the moral effect , we may now add that a verdict of guilty must further appear to have been procured by fraud , committed by some person or persons in the employ of the Protestants but to the Catholics unknown .
Under these circumstances the constitutional Prime Minister may cheerfully rest satisfied with the powers of the ; "okdinabt ut" for the preservation of the peace . We know what the " ordinary " Irish Tory law means ; and now the English public may form some judgment upon the reliance to be placed in this " negligent , " •* fraudulent , " ordinary Irish law . In faith the Right Honourable Baronet , who is said to have kept up bis reading better than any man of his years , also appears to have preserved a perfect knowledge of the nicnackery of the **
ordinary" Irish law . It was either Lord Chesterfield or Sheridan—we mean the polished Lord , not the " Harkaway" peer—who said that " the children of England ruled the nation , because the children ruled the mamas ; the mamas rvled the papas ; and the papas made the laws . " S » precisely with the boasted safeguard of trial by Jury—that tribunal in which the essence of British liberty must ever exist . The ministers appoint the Judge ?; the Judges appoint the Sheriffs ; the Sheriffs appoint the Special Juries ; and the Special Juries appoint the law . Ergo , the law is the ministers .
The great error : into which tke English workingclasses have been accustomed U fall is now relied upon by the Whig press , as the Means of restoring the Whig faction to power . Tke people have been in the habit of looking oalf at existing abuse , and have been over negligeit and eareiess ia the mode of its destruction . Hitherto they have failed to calculate the profit and loss . Tkey have attached all importance to the destruotion « f an existing grievance without bestowing even a passing thought upon the eabscquent danger likely to ocour from the machinery to whiih they look foe correction . We
are the more particular Hpoa thi s braach of « ur gubjecfc jast now , in oonsequeaee of the invocations and appeals of the Morning Chronicle . As if the present crisis was | unparalelled , the Whig Journal invokes the spirit of a Fox , to infuse " liberality , " and the ghost of an Ebskinb to dispense justice ; and in order that ] spirits may eone from the vasty deep , our cotemporary loudly calls upon all to rally round the descendant of the great Rcsskll , and the namesake of all the Resells ! forgetting in the
exuberance of editorial enthusiasm , that even " The Russell" who died upon the scaffold , was , in his day , as great an enemy to the Catholic religion as any member of the "fraudulent" Jury , or even Lyndhurst himself . But we can well understand the game ; and although we have not tasted the sweets of Whig patronage , we can calculate upon the extent to which thote who have tasted of the sweetmeats would go for another dip Into the honey pot . We would beg to assure our non"liberal contemporary , thai even the fraud of " some person or persona unknown" to Danisc
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O'Connell ; the persecutions of [ the traversers ; the reprobation of the country ; the longing * of faction ; the pinings of the unemployed officials ; the ravings of the press ; the denunciation of Chartists ; the amalgamation of all the sections of Whiggery ; and the hot-shot , the grape-shot , and the chain-shot coming from the batteries of that faction , shall never toss us" out of the frying-pan into the fire . " The oppression is not in the Tories more than in the Whigs ; it is in the system : that syg . tern , ia the support of which Peel , the leader of the Tories , and Russell , the leader of tbe Whigs , are as united as the Siamese Twins . No : much as we hate oppression ; much as we love Ireland ; and
much as we long for the hour of redemption , we will not allow passing events to seduce us into an unholy union . For once the people will try their combined strength against all the united powers of faction ; and when the hungry Whigs have appetite to swallow those principles , upon a pledge to support which their Reform Bill was carried , then thk people are theirs , but not till then ! The people are the mountain . They will not budge to Mahomet , Mahomet must either come to them to destroy Whiggery and Toryism , or he must remain shivering in political purgatory until the chilling blast from the bleak side of Downing-street convinces him that all must have a promise of warmth before the sun of popular favour shall again reanimate his cold blood .
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^^^^^ ' ^'^ v ^^^ ' ^^ P ^ ' ^^ ' ^ v ^^ ' ^ v ^ tf ^^^^ P ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ PtfBV ^ P ^^^^ r ^ V ^ P ^^ P ^^^ rf ^^^^^^ fl ^^ S ^ A ^ d ^ tf ^ v LABOUR SEEKING ITS RIGHTS . It is cheering to the heart ot those who have borne the heat and burden of the day , in maintaining , against all odds , the right of the labourer to his due reward , to see , bo unequivocally , that their efforts have not been spent in vain . To turn the tide of publio opinion on political and social questions , is a work of such magnitude that it might well have appalled even the most stout-hearted : but yet such a task was not only attempted , bat has been successfully accomplished , by a few of the wellinformed labouring people . The gratification arising from the fact that they have been so successful ; that they have awakened the spirit of true inquiry , and roused to energetic action the sons of toil , is ample recompense for the exertion made .
How ehort a time is it since tbe labouring people showed every outward sign of having imbibed the accursed and blighting principles of Malthusianism , and appeared as though they were to beeome as infatuated as their rulers ; partners in the enormous folly that has worked bvin to all . 'Tis but the other day , as it were , when the delusive cry "cheap bread" was as sure to procure the shouta of the manufacturing operatives , as the scent of
profit and usury is to set a Jew to work in loanmongering and infernal stock-jobbing . When all other means failed , that cry vr&a certain to procure the " sweet voices" of the "unwashed "; the mob . " But now how changed ! A derisive shout of laughter assails the ears of the poor thing who now ventures to try the Buccess of the stale clap-trap ; and the dealer in delusive wares is soon sent , " pedlab ' s " pack and all , to the right about .
What has wrought this change ; this complete change ; this truly wonderful change f The spread of correct principles . The inculcation of the truth , that the " Labourer ought to be the first partaker , of the fruits . " Tho drawing attention to the fact that precisely in proportion as we have extended oar foreign trade under our present commercial and monetary arrangements , in precisely the same proportion have the hours of labour increased , and the wages of labour decreased . The simple illustrations of the present workings of machinery that have been adduced . The bare reference to existing , palpable , undeniable facts . These are the workers of the change above pointed out .
Labour has discovered in Malthusiamism its most deadly enemy . It has found that the principle of freedom of action , wherever worked out , has worked to the disadvantage of Labour . It sees in the development of that principle , its own utter prostration ; and it therefore not only «* repudiates ' the bad principle , but seeks to embody in practice & better one . Have the Tailors not found out the benefits , the manifold and blessed benefits , to be derived from the " free" " cheap" system , in the use and effect of
the damnable " sweating machines" ! Have not that body cause to bless the day that ushered in the reign of Unbridled Competition ? of free trade ? trade free from all considerations but that of money-getting for the heartless conductors of it ! Are Moses and Sons the best employers in the world ! or is tbe system now so rapidly obtaining likely to prove more advantageous than the one formerly existing , whioh did , in some measure , recognize the man-worker as a being to be cared and provided for !
The answer to these queries is best given by the fact that the Tailors , as a body , are moving from one end of the land to the other , to rid themselves of the blessings wbiob fbeeism has already introduced ; and to guard themselves from the threatened onea in its train . They are following the good example set them by the hardy sons of the mine ; and a very short time will see them united as one man to PROTECT themselves from Unprincipled Competition . The work has more than begun . It has progressed to a good end already . Of this out pages have beforetime given ample proof .
During the passed week a most numerous and important meeting of the Tailors' body has been holden in London , at which a determination to join in a general Union for mutual protection was most enthusiastically come to ; and the body of the Tailors ia the Metropolis is no mean one . They number , within the BilU of Mortality alone , no Ies 3 than 14 700 ! It is also
well known that they are a numerous body in every large town : and if these join firmly and cordially together for their owa protection , and seek to raise the value of their labour , as the Colliers are deing by making that labour scmree in the market , by reducing the supply somewhat below the demand , what is there that can withstand them ! What can prevent them from bettering their condition !
In reference to this Tailors' move , we have received the following letter , which we give thus prominently to make amends for former disappointment : — TO THB EDITOR Or THB XORTHSBN STAB . Respected Sib , —The present movment amongst tbe Trades speaks , trampet-tongted , that the days ot over-reaching Capital in numbered . Tbe poor enslaved
and Dnta « ght Miners hare set an example to their fellow labourers whioh has been nobly followed by th § metiopolitaa and provincial Tailors ; likewise that very aseful body of men , tke Ship Carpenters . Ib feet , when the mind takea coaniaance of the events which have elosed the year It 43 aad commenced the year 1844 , the conviction is , that lasovr . is about tt make aaether graad straggle against the wionga it has endured .
Bmt , Sir , whilst so much baa beea said abeat the metropolitan Tailors thr »« gh the press , tbe piblfr believe that that body in tha important town ot Mmcbeatr are resting on their omi , and taking no part la tbia great national x&ovsment . Such is mot the case ; ta they aie at wotk ia good earnest , both in the town and in the ¦• ighbosrhood . Sir , ay reason for treibUng yon with thif abort letter ia , ia the first place , to do an act of justice te you ; secondly , to exculpate two worthy gentlemen belonging to tbe Tailot ' a body from blame , respecting the nou-apfearance of a report of a Delegate Meeting wbiea took place in Manchester , on the 1 st of January last ; and thirdly , to place the aaddle on the right horse's back . / am the only person to blame in the matter .
In New-Year ' s week , two gentlemen from tne journeymen Tailers waited upon me at my own house , and kindly furnished me with a report ot the proceedings of that Delegate Meeting , and asked me if I thought that you would insert it in tbe " Star . " t answered in the affirmative . They left it with me for transmission ; but owing to the bustle of the Miner ' s Conference , which was sitting at the time , it got mis * placed ; and that la the true reason why it did sot appear . The following is the report of the meeting : —
" A Delegate Meeting of journeymen Tailors , employed in the Bale department , was held at the Wittea Arms Inn , Mary-street , Manchester , on Mon day , January 1 st , 184 < f , to take into consideration tne best posaible means of preventing the future encroachments of unprincipled competition on their labour .
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g ^* Since the foregoing was type , we have received the following : — ABKE . DBKS , Jas . 16 . —1 have jurt returned from bearing Messrs . Cobden and Moore , -who lectured this evening in tbe Temperance Hall , before a crowded audience , chiefly composed of middle class men . Although I took notes of the speeches , I cannot now transcribe them to meet the Star in time for publication , I write , therefore , merely to say that Mr . Cobden has declared that " HE "will not ME 2 T Mb . O'Coskob in public Discussion . His words were , " That HE COULD MAK . E A BETTER USE OF HIS TJME THAU WASTE IT DISCUSSISG WITH SUCH A MAN AS MB .
O'Cosxor ; " though , he added , "It there is a DJFFICULTT MORE THAN ANOTHER THAT WE ( meaning the League ) have to coktesd with , it is Mb , O'Coshor and his FOLLOWSH « . " These declarations were brought out of Mr . Cobden by Mr , J . M'Pherson , ¦ who found it necessary to question him on several statements which he made during the evening , as well as those in different places where he has been . I may mention that when Mr . M'Pberson evinced a desire to address tbe meeting , the League became somewhat fidgety , and their tail became uproarious , as they seemed
io grow alarmed ; tbia did not binder Mr . M'Pherson from doing his duty in a manly way , amidst tbe cheers of the oartists , which were mingled with the hisses » f the middle * class freebooters . The meeting having been ealled at an early hour in the evening , and there being tickets for admission , few of ± he working classes were enabled to attend ; notwithstanding thia , however , the meeting gave three cheers for Mr . O'Connor , and three fot ihe Si * r , and these were so loud as to drown all opposition , -which wa * more or leas evinced throughout the Hall—Correspondent .
So , then ! Co » des was trapped 1 He did not intend to discuss" when he gave tbe challenge ! It was all" bounce 1 " He did not expect that his ckalknge would be accepted ; and be gave it , therefore , in the hope of being able to ride away on the high horse of " hot dabiks to -wirer ant . " Cob » ek tried to come jockey over us . He has been out-jockied ! He is thrown down in the mud , at the time he expected to be Boaring aloft . CoiDiS had better Etand to hiB owh oSer . We tell him so in all kindness . It will be the safest
course for him . He had better " come to the Ecratchf willingly we were going to say ; bnt that is impossible ; bnt as willingly as his fears will allow him . At all events , he had better come ! He shall be brought to book . That he may confidently rely on . He shall not be allowed to sneaJe out of his vapourik * » aALle 5 « b so easily as he seems to calculate on . Indeed he shall not sneak out of it at all . He shall keep his ^ ro engagement : or be shall have tbe heartiesl trouncing that ever poor mortal received . We will have a word with him , and for him , next week .
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Tke Koss-shibs Riots . —In the High Court of Jnstidary , held at Edinburgh on "Wednesday and ! rbursday , several of the parties implicated in the Rossabire Church riots -were tried . Some of them were convicted on evidence , and others pleaded guilty . The principal offender , "Orquhart , was sentenced to nine months' imprisonment , and the others to six months .
ExecdIIOS op a MT 7 XDBBZS 5 . —Sarah Westwoad was executed at Stafford on Saturday , for the murder of her husband . She poisoned him "with arsenic in gruel , alter having been 20 7 ear * his / wife . The chief evidence against her ¦ was that of her own children . Her tiro youngest children visited her on Thursday tor the last time . The interview la stated to have lasted about an hour , and on their parting % scene presented itself of a most affecting character , such a one as not to be wished for again to occur vithin tbe trails of the prison . The same day she expressed a wish to see her lister and her hu'tand , irho were instantly sent for . On their arrival , however , from circumstances made known to the governor , it * was found -that , instead of file man being the husband of the "wretched woman's sister , it was Phillips , hex guilty paramour ; consequently the meeting vaa refused in the meat positive terms . At * T »« disappointment zhe manifested deep
regret . On Saturday the unhappy creature partook of the aacremeat , and evidently Sell the deepest anguish at the airiul position in -which she was placed ; in fact , she _ fainted twice or thrice during its performance . Uotwithstading she still avowed her complete innoceuc of tbe murder of her husband . Her age Is stated to b 43 ,. She appeared deeply distressed as she approached the scaffjld , and when placed under the fatal beam trembled violently . The preliminaries having been quickly arranged , and the repe placed round her neck , the bolt was drawn , and the sufferings of the murderess ceased in this world . Alter the body bad hung the usual time , it was cut down , and subsequently interred ¦ within the boundaries of the prison , thus making no less than nine murderers—six men and three womenthat have been buried within the precints of the gaol since thtt comparatively recent enactment came into operation .
A Scotchman nur Cotxd" 5 T Eat Beef *—At ihb Thames Police Office on Monday , Bruce Janson , a Treatherbeaten Scottiih seaman , beloEging to the Ore , lying in the hermitage tier , Wapping , complained to Mr . Broderp that he bad been forced ashore by the master before the voyage bad terminated , and ¦ wanted to gat b * ck to Galway , in Ireland , -where be shipped . —Mr . Broderip—Where did yon ship , and for what -voyage ?—Janson—Eh , your Honour , I ken it was at Galway , on a voy&ee Srae I > unsun and back to Gteiwsy or Limerii . Te ken I ' m a Scotsman ; but my wife and
bairns are a * in Gaiway , weel , Sir , on the voyage up there was apiece of beef too fat , and we ditoa like it , and so there was a dispute , and -when I came here tbe captain ordered me ashore . —Mr . Broderip—What , do jon complain of ship beef being too fat ? We have had many complaints of its feeing too lean , bnt I neyei bend of its being too fat . It -would be a hard rase for the man to be left here , and be directed Fox , a Thamespolice Inspector , to siake inquiries , and see the captain on the snbject . —The master consented to take the r ° t" back to Gaiway .
A «« FA > eT" Xad is Trouble . —At Cleikenwel ' , on Monday , James il'Grath , the noted prs : fighter , John M'Donald , and George Hopkins , were placed at tiie bar , before Mr . Greenwood , the former-prisoner charged by George Fiik , a respectable-looiing young juan , residing at No . 2 , Foster-buildings , St Lake's , with having committed a violent assault upon him ; and the two latter were charged with iceitisg the mob , and M'Gr&th to assault and resist the police in the execution « f their duty , fcc . On tbe charges being proved , Hi . Creenwood sentenced ii'Gratb to one month's imprisonment in the Boose of Correction for the assault on fce policeman ; and for the assault on Fuk , he coDvictsd him in the penalty of £ i , or to be imprisoned two calender months , leavixg him liable to be prosecuted by other parties -whom he had assaulted He convicted JCDanald in the penaly of £ 3 , or one raonth ' B imprisonment ; aud Hopkins in the penalty of 2 ts ., or ten days'imprisonment . Hopkins paid his fine and was liberated , but the other prisoners were taken to prison
COkKISSIOIf OT lUSACT OK A BXSSIA * PRUf-C £ JH . —A commission of lunacy was last -week opened before Mr . Commissioner Barlow , and & jury of freeholders , at the Oanonbury Tavern , Islington , to inquire into the state of mind of tke Princeca Elizabeth Catherine Louisa Maria Frances Bariatinsky , daughter of Prince Bariatinsky , a Russian Kobleman , when , after due inquiry , the jury found that the Princess -was of unsound mind , and had been incapable of managing her jfiaan nneeJSiO . MvBDVM seaB . BiT . T . TKurecx . —The Longford Journal contains the following : — " A brntal mnrder took place t > p > t BaUinamnck , on Monday evening last . On that day a Etout young man , about Jiioeteep- years , nWBeOlicbael M'Ramee , came into
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THE COBDEN CHALLENGE . We are still without acknowledgement from Mr . COBDK . N of the receipt of Mr . O'Conkob ' s letter , accepting Mr . Cobdkh ' s challenge on hit ovm terms . His silence , we own , does much surprise us . Some people will be apt to say , that it is tminous ; that it indicates that Mr . Cobden was in a fit of valoitb when he gave the challenge ; and that since bis u hot blood , " cool " discretion" has come to his aid . We own we &hall be loath to entertain such a notion respecting the " lbadeb" of a party , who have set themselves the hard task of carrying a measure in
spite of tbe will and power of both Parliament and People ; and whose only means of success are force of face and lskgtb oa rcr . ro . For the leader of such a " set" to shew the white feather , in a case where his own daring has fetched np an antagonist * angnrs but poorly for nltimate success . If courage fails at each a trifling difficulty as is now presented ; trifling according to their own showing—for they boast that Mr . Cobden , if he should meet Mr . O'Connor , will annihilate him , and utterly destroy his influence with the working people : if courage fails to encounter such a task as this , pray how are they to compass the great end of their exertions 1
No , no ; it cannot be . Mr . Cosdeh is not afraid ! He does not shrink from his own daring ! He does not withdraw from tbe contest he has provoked ! He does not intend to sneak out of his own en « a « bxk 3 t . His silence hitherto arises from hiB active and time-engrossing occupations . The first moment of leisure he has , will , no doubt , be spent in signify - ing bis intention to stand by his own proposal . Let us hope that before the next Star reaches the eye of tbe public we BhaAl Ve in a position to put this matter beyond the possibility of doubt .
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"THE GLORIOUS , " THE "PIOUS , " AND
" IMMORTAL" PROTESTANT DOZEN . There is nothing like coming into Court with clean hands ; and whsnever we find the sticklers for right , for justice , and equality loudly contending against some peculiar aofe of injustice , we very natu-
Portrait Of W. P. Roberts, Ee*.
PORTRAIT OF W . P . ROBERTS , Ee * .
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. JL __ _^ . = _ JTHJB J ^ O R TjERN STAR , Jauuabt 20 , 1844 ,
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Citation
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Northern Star (1837-1852), Jan. 20, 1844, page 4, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/ns/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1248/page/4/
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