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THE NOfiTHEEN STAR. SATURDAYJUNE 291844.
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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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Bristol . —At a meeting of Delegate * at * ' q Cro ^ n and 3 > ave Inn , Bridewell-street , the aecoffl ' ^ jauyiBg address was adopted , and ordered \ o be _ se Mi to ^ e y ^ .. Eton Star requesting the Editor to i ' j 8 srt the same , into Hie unanimous thanks of the delegates , for the attention fee has paid to their comr jmueationa . The delegates meet every Mo- jday eTening at eight o ' clock , as a Dancombe ' a Testi * ^ qj ^ Committee . Sbcoxd Address or thi " ^^ istol United Trades Dki . ega . ixs , t ° iHEir ^ sespectite bodies , and TO THE TRADES OP ' / hb TJjaiED KlSGDOM GENBXAiLX .
Bkotheb Opeb jjites , —We , the delegates , having concluded the gr " j&t -work to -which -we were deputed , fit- the drawing xtp a plan for tbe uaion of all the Trades , and opsratives generally of our city , andihe nation at Loge , for the purpose of assisting <» Kfo other vhen ib . any-way oppressed by the employers of labour , and to relieve as far as possible , the sufferings ef out class , in times of trade depressions , and panics , with ffae iiltim&te view of elevating our order to their former respectability and comfort , now proceed to draw you attention to the fruits of our deliberations .
In pursuance of the above objects we have from time to time investigated our present position compared with that of former years—have sought out the causes of the strange anomalies that present themselves to our senses , in abundance and poverty ; bnt so conflictinf 1 F 2 JS the mass of evidence with which we had to deal , that it was found to be no ordinary labour to trace « ut the chief cause of the ixummszable ills that s £ 9 < ct us , bb fo « jritnuTy y . ^ Tiuft of our degraded position . After much mature deliberation , we came to the conclusion that over-production was an evil , with which we should immediately grapple—over-production itself being but an effect of a negative cause , the want of regulation in supply to meet the demand . The business of regulation belongs of necessity to the operatives , and should t « fie primary object of all trade societies . This ¦ regulation cannot be effected by single trade exertions , but only by the conjoint labours of every trade society in a general union .
The first step of such a union must be the prevention of any farther reduction in the price of labour , or increase of the hours of labour , as the direct tendency of wtiaV mnfpnmi'hTntrnbR on OTLF JJT *> perty , 28 to ZfiC 2 * 6 a 86 jsicdnction nrirl decrease tke rfcr ^ nnS for labour b y impelling the workman to produce more is the m-n ^ p ffma to m&ia wages , or compelling him to do so by longer toil—consequently increasing the surplus hands , and thereby supplying the mentis for effecting reduction . This has been the continuous downward course of the last half century ; and we are- of opinion that these encroachments must be stayed at all hazards and any expense , else where , and how will it end ? Perhaps In the annihilation of the great mass of the ¦ wealth producers , by starvation , or some other more horrible conseq uensa .
The second step of regulation ( and conjointly with fije first } will be to discountenance the sale or purchase of trashy goods of every description among the working cLra , their friends , or tboBe of whom they may claim sympathy . As the chief aim of the venders of such articles is to obtain large profits screwed from the just reward of labour , furnishing a pretext for respectable bouses to follow their baneful example , one means of thwarting this source ef misery will be to make all . acquainted -pith the fact that those goods , though called cheap ., are generally dear in the « ad ; and by directing their attention to those houses where good article are sold at a fair price and fair wages paid for producing
The third step will be , wherever practicable , to raise Yh& pries of labour to a jvsl reward , and aherten the bturs of labour to a fair day . ThiB latter course will fcsve the beneficial tendency of increasing the demand lor labour to supply the deficiency , and consequently to increase the price of labour . By this third step we shall cause a continuous upward action , by increasing Qte demand for goods in the Home Market , through greater numbers bsing employed and a greater amount of wages being in existence to spend in household GOXUlOltT . - -
Fenrthly ani lastly , if we find through the vast in * crease of machinery or asy other causes that we cannot sufficiently regulate our own affairs , we must gradually torn our surplus labour into other r ^ B ""^" , to increase lor ourselves the first necessaries of life , and , if needs must , fcseome masters of machinery , and live by the boi arintsndHice thereof , as do many of the other classes of sod % ty , some of whom have sprung from nothing and tetDmexich through us . But you will farlnim , " We cannot begin with nothing . " No , sor are we reduced to so hopeless a position ; we have all something valuable left—pur will to labour . This is the geim whence all wealth hath sprung . Our labour hath hitherto been dissipated for the want of regulation . Let us stay this source of mutual injury , and seek our Tnnfrmi good .
To effect our noble purpose , we must have funds . To obtain the necessary funds , we must unite our pence . "With the funds 'we must employ our-members who leave their work on account of unjust encroachments , and thus furnish our oppressed fellows with a living ; increase our funds by the profits ; maintain our independence , and mend our position in society . Fellow-countrymen , these are the chief stages in the work of regulation and regeneration , which rach a union that we proposs would have to pursue : there are many secondary steps that will present themselves as the work progresses .
E " aw , brothers , to the work . ' It is worthy of our order . We have drawn up a plan of otg acts and details lor the governance of the Association we purpose to establish , ¦ which , -when agreed to by our respective lodges , we shall have printed In a cheap form , and . for * ¦ wsret copies thereof to all trades' bodies that may desire t&em ; -which plan , if you simultaoEouEly adopt in your respective bodies , and energetically carry out its provisions , we feel assured will lead us to the great end we alike hope to establish—freedom and happiness .
Lrjtly—We would point out to yon the late attempt made in the House of Commons , to subjugate our order completely to the unbridled tyranny of employers by deans of the defeated Piasters' and Servants BilL Let essh of us ponder ob this , and ask ourselves , is not t >>« -a sufficient reason for the establishment of a great asso--dation of trades ? Happily this new trick of faction iss been thwarted by the energy of the trades and ? heir friends in the Bouse ; but it is only thwarted . It will assuredly be again attempted . Put your-• dvea therefore in a better position to oppose its progress , by a real union of all the sons of industry .
We remain , devoted to the canse of liberty , On behalf of our respective bodies , " £ . ° ?| L \ union of carpenters . — Jon-es , operative wood sawyers — Loft , saddlars — Strawbridge , union of masons — Hfcf cer , coik-cntters — SoSf 1 } VJsl ° «^ n- * - ™*«" ESSU , tailors' rTiymrmTi — Evde ^ \ corQ'waillEIi ? » eci 2 tsnes . Committee-room , Crown and Dove , Bridewell streetj Bristol .
p . S . —We have been encouraged in our work by letters from ¦ various influential persons and bodies , and ¦ regret that we were sot able to p ? y that attention to their desires that they were entitled to , but are happy -to state we shall shortly be prepared to supply , fully , all T * ie information they require . We continue to meet every Monday evening at eight o'clock , to forward the work for enrolment , and as a T > rrncombe Testimonial Committee for Bristol .
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Plymouth—A public meeting of the Plymouth , DeTonpon , and Stonehouse United Tailors Protection and Mutual Benefit Society , was held at the Mechanics Institute , on Tnesday evening , June 18 th , The meeting was called by placard , and was held more particularly for the purpose of giving an opportunity to the respectable employ era and the-members of the trade generally in the three lowns , of discussing the objects and rales of tbe above society . Mr . Loekwood ihe secretary , opened the business of the meeting by reading a aote received from Air . John Symona , of Devonport , a highly respectable master tailor , "who had been solicited to act as chairman . The note siaied that Mr . Symons mnch apppoved of tbe rales Jko-. but that as he should not be in to vm
-oh Tuesday , that he conld not posably attend . Mr . Thomas was chosen to the chair instead , -when the Tales ' of the society were read , and three excellent resolutions -condemning the slop-selling and sweating system , and approving of the objects and rules of the Protective Society , and pledging it their sappprt , were passed ¦ unanimously . After the business of ihe meeuE , g was over , ten new members were enrolled , making in all above ninety members that are now belonging to this section . We are progressing steadily , and adding to our numbers -every week : we doubt not but lhat fey perseverance wesball secure -he support of the majority of the trade in this locality ; for although * he work I 3 mostly given out , still there is a great ¦ eitUk e to the system . The destructive effects of onprincipled eompeiirion have not been felt here to so
great an extern as ihej have in the metropolis and those other towns where lordly capitalists have . subjugated laboar j but wfe know , that like causes beget iike * ffeots ; and we also know that we have tb&same cause for evil at work here . It is bnt a few months snee that one of these "devil ' s dust " establishments , under the nane of Lazarus and Co ., opened at Plymomh ; and up to the present time there is a great splutter amongst the gentry of the earns kidney , who carried on ihe game prior to the eoming of Lazarus , to endeavour to convince the public what honest men they are . A great deal of . tailoring is done by the drapers here , and the master laiiorB are aware of this , and are at a loss for a remedy to prevent it . This we have offered to them by a Union , « nd it is but iair to state that they subscribed £ & IU < Sd . to defray tbecJtp § cs « B of the pafelic meeting , ;
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MONIES RECEIVED BY MR . O'CONNOR £ . a . d . SUBSCKIWIONS . From Hanley and Shelton ( Potteries ) ... 0 12 6 yos . colliers . Prom Chelsea ( last week ) ... ... ... 0 3 9 Mr . Dixon .. 010 _ Reynolds ... ... 0 6 6 „ Richard Bowling 0 0 6 „ JshnDowling 0 9 6 ^ Chippendale 0 6 3 « Jago ... ... ... 0 0 S ^ Ballibar ... 0 0 3 - &uthrie ... 0 0 l £ GLASGOW . Cards ... . „ ... 150
MISSIONARY FDND . R . Semple 0 2 6 J . Semple ... 0 2 6 J . M'Pherson 0 0 3
SUBSCRIPTIONS RECEIVED BY MR CLEATE VICI 1 MS . Mt . Winter , Bristol 0 11 Miss a Williams , dt 0 2 2 Miss K . Williams , do « 2 2 MISS 1 ONAB . T PUND . Miss K . Williams , Bristol ... 2 2 EXECUTIVE . Greenwich and Deptford ... 6 5 6
FOB COLLIEES . Mr . Brett and friends 6 19 Friends , per Mr . Linden ... ... ... 051 RECEIPTS BY GENE-1 a . d . RAL SECRETARY . W . Xaind 0 6 CABDS . J . Craig 1 6 a , d . J . Jones ... ... 1 6 Bermondsey ... 1 0 { Maidstone 0 9 South Shields ... 3 0 Bolton , after Dr . Sunderland ... 2 3 M'Donall ' s Lee-Shotley Bridge ... 1 6 ture ... ... 4 0 Newcastle-npen- SaSronHUl ... 3 6 Tyne 4 0 sobscbiptions . Royten 7 6 Mansfield 10 0 black qtjarbt , neab Rochdale , per Mr .
Glasgow . Sharp „ . ... 7 2 Joseph Bowrisg ... 1 0 Bolton 2 6 W- M'Kenzis 1 0 Wea- » eis' Aims . „ 1 W . Cameron ... 1 0 WhiteHoMa . „ 1 5 A . Robb 1 0 Preston ... ... $ A . Ried 1 0 Hammersmith ... 2 0 T . Browring ... 1 0 victim fukd . A . Carwell 0 6 Preston 5 0 A . Davidson ... 6 6 T . M . Wheeler , Secretary .
The Nofitheen Star. Saturdayjune 291844.
THE NOfiTHEEN STAR . SATURDAYJUNE 291844 .
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ENGLAND—AND THE REPEAL . Whes will onr rnlers learn wisdom , —or will they for ever continue in the old and fatal error of their predecessors ! the error of believing that they have discovered the exact , the critical , the very and the only means by which the success of an important project may he achieved . Have not aU previous failures to suppress pablio opinion , —and thereby cheat man of what by argument , deliberation , and discussion , he has learned to be not only hiB natural bat his convenient , jast , and inalienable rights , — taught living experimentalists the wholesome truth , that Resistance fertilizes ihe soil of Agitation , and oppression converts Sceptics into Believers , and Believers into Enthusiasts ?
As in all former cases of a like character , the present Minister has discovered , or will shortly discover , that the means whereby he hoped to cheek the growing Epirit of Irish nationality and the demand for a repeal of the ZJmenJhas furnished Mr . O'Connell with new and vigorous elements of agitation , which , hat for the unjust means resorted to for his persecution , would have still remained neutral : or , if active , deficient in that enthusiasm now produced by the consideration for what he sujfers for , on the one hand , and how he has been convicted on the other . It is the boast of the Minister , and the echo of the Tory press , that Mr . O'Connell compelled the Government to assume its present position ; and
indeed it is urged that the Ministers hate acted with discretion and forbearance by accepting the most constitutional and lenient of his challenges—that of battle or j > f law . We admit that Mr . O'Connell did dare the Government to Igo to battle or to law with him ; but we deny that the Government has done either the one or the other . The terms upon which Mr . O'Conkell spoke of war were ; provided the Irish people were attacked in the moral exercise of a constitutional right , that then he , Mr . CPCoJOfELL himself , would stand foremost at tbe head of the teetotallers of Ireland , and die for the liberties of his country , rather than allow her degradation to be perpetrated through the presumed cowardice of her sons .
Suoh were tbs terms , hot or his challenge , but of Aw defiance * given , be it remembered , not as the herald ' s proclamation of war , but as the chieftain ' s answer to the declaration of Wellington , that " Ireland should he reconquered . " " But he challenged the Government , " says the Press , " to go to law with him . " He did so j but did the Government go to law ! No . With a thorough knowledge of the valour of Irishmen , they waged no battle ; and with a thorough knowledge that Mr . O'Connell
had committed no offence , they waged no law . They neither went to war , nor to law with him 1 but , as has been the practice with all former Governments , when Ireland has demanded justict , they went to CHURCH with him . Mr . O'Connell did not challenge the Government to appeal to the Protestant Church ! Mr . O'Consell did not challenge the Government to give him a Protestant Jury ! Mr . O'Connell did not challenge the Government to ** Iobs the Catholic lists" 1 Mi . O'Connell did not ask the Government to admit inadmissable evidence .
He did not ask the Government to bar all his rights of being heard in his defence , as long a time as was required for the illustration of his case . He did not ask the Government to retain a Chief Justice as its Counsel ; nor did he anticipate that the Judge who passed sentence would have declared that he was not onlg innocent of the offence charged , but lh « t he had prevented others from committing the offence . Thus we prove , and we think unanswerably , that the Government waged neither war nor law , bat prejudice and the Protestant Church against Mr . O'Connell . And now let us tor a moment consider
what the result of his persecution has been , while Ireland was carrying on her unopposed struggle for a Repeal of the Union , the English people , although favourable to the measure , had not fully discovered the value which the English Minister and the English aristocracy attached to the preservation of what is called the Union of the two countries . The position of Ireland could be learned but by two modes : either from a knowledge , of the history of the country , or from the opposition of the Minister to the demands of the Irish people . The English people have , fox the last eight or nine years , been
making rapid progress in the first coarse ; but the belief that what a people unanimously demand , and what a Government pertinaciously refuses , must be just and righteous , has led the English mind by a short cut to a knowledge of that fact which otherwise might have required a progressive course of study to have discovered . Hence we find that Birmingham , Edinburgh , the Borough of Southwark , and numerous other important localities have unequivocally pronounced in favour of a Repeal of the Union . Upon Monday next , the important and influential City op Westminster , with the High Bailiff in the chair , will be called upon--to declare its opinion . Aye , Monday next , the first of
July , ihe anniversary qf the Battle of the Boyne ; of that battle the result of which was , the establishment of the blood-stained law-Church standard , and to support which has , from that day to tbe present , oost England , Ireland , and the world , oceans of blood , and countless goldi a standard » t which we tnist public opinion in Westminster , will , on Monday next , strike a heavy blow and sore discouragement . " Then the English people , having unrivetted the fetters placed upon Irishmen by the English aristocracy , will have given the best , the proudest , and most conclusive answer to those who shall hereafter assert / that Irish oppression is a consequence of English woiking-elass apathy . We feel assured thai no alien i « ianguage , in BEU 6 IQS , ob . . in jlood , " within twenty miles of
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Covent Garden , will absent himself upon Monday next . And thus will the Minister learn that what is sedition and conspiracy in Ireland is even yet free discussion in England . We learn that three deserters f rom our ranks are to make active attempts to reinstate themselves in pablio favour , by proposing the Charter as an amendment to any pro * position that may be submitted to the meeting on
Monday : and we further learn that active steps have been taken by the most despised man in England to get up , a " paying opposition" to Monday ' s proceedings : but we have further the cheering intelligence , that tbe whole Chartist body , without one single solitary exception , have resolved upon joining with their Irish brethren on Monday next , in furtherance of their wishes , their objeots , and their agitation . No , no . Attempts to sow division
between any section of the working olasses will signally fail . The cause « f the Irish people is the cause of the Eaglish people ; and the cause of the people of both countries has been materially damaged by those unhappy differences which the meeting of Monday next will go far to obliterate and destroy .
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THE POST-OFFICE SPY . The poor Home Secretary is doomed to have no quiet , now that his spying propensities have been discovered . Gallant Tom Duncombb has long been a thorn in Mb side ; but now that he has got tbe " descendant qf John with the bright sword" run tip into a corner , his pokes at him are tremendous ! Sir James has too much reason to address his antagonist , and say— It may be fun to you to treat me as you do : but it is death to me" !
In another part of this sheet will be found a long report of Duncombe ' s last thrust , which will amply repay perusaL Sir James was fairly nailed I beaten down ! He made a most miserable exhibition ; and even he , with his face of brass aad powers of endurance almost unmatched , must have writhed under the oastigation administered . Let the reader con over the excellent and judicious opening of Mr . Dcncombe ; the pitiful whine and dastardly confession of guilt by the Head Spy ; the terribly scathing reply of Mr . Macaulay ; the lame and impotent " defence" by Sir Robert Peel ; the cfosmof Messrs . Waklby , Wysb , and Howick ; and the terrifio summing-up of Mr . Duncombe : let the reader con overall this , and then let him say
whether he would not even continue to be a Hand-loom Weaver , starving on four shillings a week , rather than be " Sir James Graham , of Netherby" M descended from the Earls of Monti eth , in Scotland , " having-for ancestor , in the reign of Henry the Fourth of England , John surnamed " John with the bright sword- " w son-in-law of the Bevenfch Earl of Galloway , K . T . " : let the reader say whether he would not rather perform the most menial service , for the lowest possible remuneration , rather than be all this , and her Majesty ' s principal Secretary of State for the Home Department , with a salary of £ 5 , 000 a-year , for prying into people ' s letters at the Post-office . If there be a thoroughly despicable and a justly despised man in England , surely it is the man of Netherby /
It was well for the liberties of England , that this power of opening letters should , at last , have come to be exercised by the present shameless and nnsornpnlons Secretary of State . Had it not been so , the power itself Would have remained almost unknown , and therefore unquestioned . It turns out to have boen possessed by Secretaries of State for nearly a century-and-a-half , and to have been occasionally used by the different holders of office , as the peculiar circumstances set ferth as the only justificatory reasons for its existence , have presented themselves . But it
remained for our man ; oar present Secretary ; he of Netherhy ; he , who was , "in 1785 , married to Lady Catherine Stewart , eldest daughter of John , seventh Earl of Galloway , K . T . ; " it remained for this man , to use the power confided in his hands , —for state-purposes , but only to be used when certain state-reasons existed ; it remained far the n descendant of John with the bright sword" to use the power to the perfection of a system of universal ESPIONAGE , and thus to call forth indignation and disgust unequalled , and a determination to abrogate the power itself .
That this will be the end of Mr . Duncombe ' s exposures , there can now be no manner of doubt . On all hands the cry is : " repeal that portion of the Post-office Act which gives such men as the Head Spy the power to open letters at all : for any supposed advantages that might be derived to the state from the exercisse of suoh a power in times of great internal danger , cannot at all weigh against the monstrous disadvantage , the unbearable tyranny , that all oar letters should be liable to be seen by the prying eyes of Sir James Graham ' s secjjet tools , in the secret room of the PoBt-office , either to serve the purposes of foreign gorernments , or even more
unworthy purposes at home . " And before this feeling and the consequent determination , the power itself must give way . On thiB account , it is well that Sir James Graham has been Minister , to let Englishmen know what the meaning of such a power in the hands of a Minister really is : and alBO what the worth of Ministerial Responsibility " is . Sir Jakes has taught us the meaning of both : the one is to spy-oat family and other secrete from letters , when , where , and how he pleases ; and the other is , to refuse all explanation to the " representatives of the people" ; to take his stand on " his own responsibility " , and bid the injured and the deceived to go to law with him !
The last exposure of Mr . Ddncombe is more valuable than his first , inasmuch as it went more into detail , and let the world know something of the ' means resorted to in the secret room to get at a knowledge of the contents of letters without exciting suspicion in the breasts of their owners . Seals are ioeced , according to the statement of Mr . Dcncoxje ; bo that when a letter has been opened it may be dosed again , and the party to whom it is addressed not know that his confidence has been -abused , and a dirty , sneaking , cowardly march ttolen upon him by well-paid officials of a " cheat" and M free" country ! If this portion of
the allegations of Capt . Stolzman be true , it is time that Sir James Graham ' s challenge was accepted , and the law gone to ! Whatever power to open letters the Post-Office Act may have given the Home Secretary , it certainly does not give him authority to imitate , or forge , seals : and this we fancy the law would tell him , were it to be applied to . That this is not overstrained , may be gathered from the following denunciatory speech of the Lord Chief Justice , Denman , in the House of x , ords , on Tuesday last ; delivered too , after more than a week ' s reflection on the Bubjact , and therefore not an hasty opinion hastily given .
The occasion on which it was spoken , was a motion by the Earl of Radnor , for " a return of all the warrants granted by the Secretary of State for opening letters at the Post-office" motion evidently made for the purpose of elioitir g tke •;>' nions of the Peers individually on the disgroct f » n hateful practices of the Home Secretary , with a tiew to the abrogation of the power itself , than any int « a ton of carrying it in the particular form in which it was made . In introducing that motion , the Earl of Radnor spoke as became an Englishman , with horror and disgust at the circumstances that had been made known ; and he made a strong persona appeal to ? thb Ddke , " not to be the person to countenance such proceedings , whioh made this country ¦ ¦ the police-nffice Of the other states of Europe * ThiB called up " the Poke" immediately , and after thanking Earl Radnor for some personal < omplimehts paid him , he made the following oharacteristio speech : —
My Lords , Parliament has thought fit to intrust the Secretary of State with a certain power to JSTtSiTpKni ** ° 8 f . ^ « lettera of individuals « Ti « & ? ^ . ffi 0 B- This is a power Which has long SJ ?* h ^ ? i , ? ^ m l Btated on the la 8 t o ° casion when this subject was discasaed . It is a power granted during the reign pf Queen Anne , and
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it has existed and been exercned ever since . This power was revised a very tear years ago—in the last year of the reign of his late Majesty , and the first year of the reign of her present Majesty ; this power was renewed in the act then passed ; and there is a very curious circumstance Connected with it—the Postmaster-General makes a deolaratioa that he will perform his duty strictly according to the regulations , and that all letters shall be forwarded and delivered p , s directed , except when required by warrant from the Secretary of State for the Home Department to send the lettera according the terms of the warrant . Therefore , there can be no doubt whatever of the power . It is a power
vested in the Secretary of State , whioh I venture to submit to your Lordships the Secretary of State is bound to carry into execution whenever his sense of duty renders it necessary that the power should be carried into execution . Under these circumstances I conceive that your Lordships should well consider this matter before you enter upon any inquiry , particularly in this House , on the subject of the exeroiso of this power ; and you should be very certain the power h& 3 been abused and used for improper purposes before you make any inquiry into it . My Lords , it is very true there have been questions , remarks , and discussions in another place on this
subject ; bat I don't know that there has been any proof whatever that any of these letters have been opened , excepting that a warrant was issued for the opening of one letter . That is all of whioh there is any proof , and I have no knowledge whatever on the subject . AU I can say is this , unless your Lordships are convinced by evidence before you , that there has been an abuse of this power intrusted to the discretion of the Secretary of State , your Lordships ought to resist the motion made for papers to throw any light on the subject . Under theue circumstances , I earnestly recommend your Lordships not to consent to the addreSB the Noble Earl has now moved . "
A smart debate followed , in whioh the Earl of Tankektille , the Marquis of Clanricarde , the Earl of Haddinqton , Lord Campbell , Lord Brougham , and Lord Dbnman took part . During its course , the most remarkable faotj that both the Duke of Wellington and the Earl of Haddington , Ministers of the Crown as well as Sir J , GrKAHAM , should plead utter [ ignorance of all the faots and circumstances connected with the letter-opening beyond the fact that" one" had been so treated ; and that they rested their defence of their colleagues eolely on the ground that the law gave him a power to be used when circumstances seemed to call for
suoh use , was strongly commented on by several of the Peers : and indeed not without reason . That fact , coupled with the othtr fact , that both Sir R . Peel and Lord Stanley pursued precisely the same course in the Commons , amounts to proof positive , that THE MANNER is which Sir James Gra HAM HAS EXERCISED HIS MOST ODIOUS POWER , IS ONE utterly indefensible on the part of his colleague : and the only chance that they have of getting him out of the filth in which be is laid sprawling , is to plead that the Act gave him some power ; refuse all information and inquiry as to how it has been exercised ' , and trust to the spirit of abject submission so lately evinced by the Treasury supporters to enable them to set publio Opinion at defiance .
That this course will fail , the speech of Chief Justioe Denman , to which we have before alluded , assuredly affords sufficient ground for belief . It is not often that a Judge speaks so strongly in Parliament , and so unqualifiedly condemns the practice of an official , as Judge Denman has on this occasion : and we may rest satisfied that the occasion appears truly great in the eyes of this asserter of constitutional right , when he , in his legislative capacity , opens his mouth and speaks thus : — ¦ Lord Denman said he was not aware of any circumstances which would lead him to say that the Seoretary of State had acted improperly in the exercise of this most odious and perilous power ; but
he thought that oircumstancen had appeared , and were at present the subject ot publio discussion , connected with the exercise of that power , which made it imperative upon Parliament to inquire into the mode in which it was exercised—( cheers)—for the purpose of seeing whether or not , hereafter , there should be proper limits applied to that power ; whether certain restrictions should not be imposed upon the exercise of it ; and whether rules should not be laid down within which alone the pewer could ever be usefully , beneficially , or consistently with honour , exercised at all—( hear ) . It appeared that a letter had been opened from an
individual who did not appear to be involved in any treasonable concern whatever . He did not mean to deny that the Seoretary of State might have been bound to open that letter ; for one of the unfortunate circumstances of the power he possessed was that the Secretary of State was compelled , in a measure , te exercise that power in the dark . Talk of his responsibility—was he responsible to the House of Commons t No : it was a matter of secrecy , which he could not disolose . Was Le responsible to the Houjse of Lords 1 No : the House of Lords must suppose that the Seoretary of State had done what he felt justified in doing . Was he responsible to the Government \ No : because the noble Duke and the Other
membera of her majesty b government had no know * ledge of the circumstances . ( Hear , and a laugh . ) But the question was , whether , upon the words of the Act of Parliament , it was intended that this power should be exercised to such an extent 1 The statute of Anne declared that the Post-office authorities . should be subject to certain penalties for the delay of any letter , except the delay was made under the warrant of the Seoretary of State—( hear ) . That was the extent to which the statute went—( hear ) . Then as to the warrant , he should think that the wartant would flow not from the Secretary of State alone , but fhosi all the Ministers , acting upon the necessity of the case , which might be so
overpowering as to form an excuse for the exercise of such extraordinary power . But that power appeared to exist without the slightest responsibility , and in such a manner , that he did not think ths English Parliament or the English . people would any longer endure—( cheers ) . He did not consider this a question of expediency ox inexpediency , but a question of right and wrong —( hear , hear , hear ) . He should no more believe it necessary to show that it was wrong for this power to exist in tlie person of one individual than he should think it necessary to conteud that . it was wrong to pick a pocket—( hear ) . It might indeed be necessary , uuder some extreme oiroumstances , that measures of personal restriction ,
or affuoting a man ' s property , should bo resorted to ; but that there should be this feind of irresponsibility in the exercise of the power he never could agree . A high and dignified character would keep a man from abusing a power to the extent to whioh it was now : supposed to have been abused—( hear , hear ) . But undoubtedly it never could be exercised without great pain to any honourable mind called upon to exercise it—( hear , heat ) . But , then , beyond the possession of it , the acting upon it , and the using of it , THERE WERE CIRCUMSTANCES OF CONCEALMENT , AND : SOMETHING VERY LIKE FORGERY —( loud Cries of hear , hear ) . Those things had a tendency to demoralize the public miud ( hear ) . It was well known that many of the subordinate officers and servants
of the Post-office unfortunately were too much in the habit of overlooking the obligations whioh honesty ought to impose upon them ; and he could not think that the knowledge that the great heads of that department , and persons of superior positions , used suoh a power , would be any check upon the improper and dishonest desires of suoh persons when letters were intrusted to their oare—( hear , hear ) . It appeared to him to be much , that when the Government of this country imposed upon all its natives , as well as upon those of all parts of the world , the necessity of paying them a large revenue for doing the duty of letter-carriers , that they should at the same time retain in their hands the power of opening all the letters they were entrusted to convey —( hear ) . The Duke of Wellington—Repeal the Act .
Lord Denman thought it might be a very important question whether or not the Act should be repealed ; or , at least , whether restrictions might not be imposed whioh should leave a certain degree of power much more definable and responsible than that existing at present—a power subject to the revision of Parliament—( hear , hear ) . He apologised to their Lordships for detaining them with these observations ; but this subject not having occupied his mind until these transactions were recently brought under publio notice , ho had considered it and thought it necessary to declare his conviotion that there ought to be some restrictions put upon the exercise of this power—( hear , hear ) .
" Something very like forgery" ! Let that comfort the soul of the Head Spy , who so boldly challenges those who complain of his doings to go to Jaw tuith html " Something very like forgery" in the imitation ot seals ; in the opening a letter , and sealing it up again with a seal imitating the original one so closely as to impose upon the recipient of the letter ! And yet Sir Jambs Graham dares people to go to law with him J We truBthis " challenge" will be accepted , and that Lord Denman may be his Judge ! If it ehould happen bo , the Model Prison , " —Sir James ' s pet t —will not be likely to be without an inmate for a considerable time to come !
. And the question is not to remain where it is . The majority of forty-four whioh came to the rescue of tIi 8 ^ i& ' oMETHiNG-rEaY-LiKBFoaGERY " couat « nancer ,
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will not save kitn from further assault : nor will it save him from : the indignation of the people . He is in the hands of a man who is not to be diverted from his course by a vote of tbe Ministerial timeservers . Sir James is in the clutohes of a man Who is not only determined to break-up the spy-system as it exists in the Post-office , but also drive the " descendant of John with the bright sword" from the sweets of Downing-street , ] for having had the meanness , the baseness , the immeasurable baseness , to practice
ESPIONAGE in the Post-office , and countenance ' something very I like forgery" for the accomplishment of his designs . And the " son-in-law of the seventh Earl of Galloway , K . T ., "—[ never forget the K . T . !] will find that his antagonist will succeed in both his objeots I The majority of forty-four will prove but a poor defence ! Sir James will be " stuck to , like a leech . " He has had two bites already , which have played havoc with his system : and that a third is ; in store for him , the following notice , given on Wednesday too surely shows : —
SECRET DEPARTMENT OF THE POST-OFFICE . " Mr . T . Duncombe gave notice that he would , on Tuesday next , move for a Select Committee to inquire into the Department of the General Postoffice , commonly called the Secret-office , the duties of the persons engaged therein , and the authority under which the { functions of the said office are discharged" —( hear ) . There ; that ' s the way ! Will Sir James still refuse all explanation 1 Will he again take his stand " on his own responsibility V We shall see I and we shall also see what the House of Commons , after Judge Demman ' s strong denunciation of the
" SOMETHING VERY ] LIKE FORGERY , " Will Say to the revealments to be made by Mr . Duncombe , when he moves the above motion . The House and the country will learn something of the nature of the machinery used in a pablio establishment , for the perfection of BPYisj * and espionage ; and it will rest in their hands , Whether , an Judge Denman happily puts it , such an odious and perilous power shall continue in the hands of one man , responsible to nobody ! If" the House" votes suoh continuance , we fancy the people will vote "jthe House" to be a nuisance as " perilous" and as unendurable as the Post Office ViDOca !
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And this from the Bishop of London—the spirftaal guardian of a population , among which , according to the Rev . Baptist Noel , there are not less than •* five hundred thousand * human souls living without God and without hope . ' "—nntottnna , te Pariahs ; , who have never , the mighty mass of them , read a lino of " Don Juan" in their lives f —outcasts , who , too many of them , cannot read , and probably none of them purchase the "irreligious" and "immoral " poetry of Byron 1 " This is the age of cant : " and never did oven priest cant more consummately than his Grace , Charles Bloomfield , of London .
Byron was " irreligious" : that is to say , he despised creeds , and hated priests . He felt that the former were the manaclos of thought , and he knew that throughout the world the latter were the prop 3 and guards of despotism . He scorned the sectaries who have cursed mankind with their feuds and divisions , and of course earned for himself the hatred of all sects , for his denunciation of their presumption in "dealing damnation round the land" on all who differed from $ hem . Bat his poetry is " profane " . Yes , here is a specimen of profanity : and we havs no doubt Bishop Bloomfjeld had the following lines in his mind ' s eye , when , like the living ass , he gave his cowardly kick at the dead lion : — " I know this is unpopular ; I know
"Tia blasphemous ; I know one may be damn'd For hoping no one else may e ' er be so ; I know my catechism ; I know we're cramm'd With the best doctrines till we quite o ' etflow ; I know that ail , save England ' s Church , have shamm'd : And that the other twice two hundred churches And synagogues have made a damn'd bad purchase . " Churches and Conventicles were not for him . The Alpine height ; the eternal forest ; the mighty river ;
the roaring cataract ; the boundless ocean ; naturein her beauty and her majesty ; under Italy ' s blue skies or ' midst the tempest and the whirlwind ; in scenes and sights like these he poured out the aspirations of his soul , fraught with admiration and veneration of nature ' s magnificient works—ever pitying the lot of human-kind and panting for their regeneration from slavery and wrong . His religion was that of a man and not a slave : and theiefore was he hated and persecuted by the priests .
But his writings are " immoral . " Precious objection to come from the Dean and Chapter of Westminster ! Let his witings be compared with those of any other poet ; and even in the supposed vulnerable point he will shine in comparison—the exceptions being confined to one or two , who , like Milton , have stuffed their pages with tbe not very edifying speeches and doings of Gods and Devils ; « r like Cowfer , lost their reason in giving way to the phantoms and insanity of religious delirium . The pages of the greatest of our poets , Shaksfere , may
be said ( in comparison with Byron ) to be filled with inuendos and broad expressions a thousandfold more immoral than those attributed to Byron . TLe same may be said of most of our illustrious poets-r-CoNGREVE , Priob , Dryden , Butler , Pope , Ac But Byron was no apostate . He did not trumpet the virtues of "Wat Tyler" and then write the apotheosis of a Mad old Kong . Had h done so ; had he " Turn'd his coatj and would have turn'd bis akin ; ** Had he degenerated into
A hacknfed Laureate—A scribbling , self-sold , soul-hired , scorned Iscariot , he might have enjoyed his apotheosis in " Poets ' Corner" ! But he was none of these . His first notes were sung in Freedom ' s praise : and the descendants of Leonisas , Miltiades , and Efaminonpas saw him , —true to the last , —offer up hi ? latest breath struggling for Greece and liberty ; for the overthrow of the despotism he had through Ufa abhored , and for the triumph of the principles which through life he had cherished .
Therefore , is he now , though his dust be mingled with its mother earth , still persecuted ! Were the " fluukie " , the thing , who now enjoys the title of " Lord Byron " , to die ; were it wished that he&hoild repose in Westminster Abbey , there would be no objection : for doubtless he has been guiltless allhia life of penning sense either in prose or verae , and is moreover a "Lord of the Queen ' s bedchamber ''! What a satire upon hereditary honours ] " Byron , and his successor" !
A suggestion of the Bi . 'hop of Exetir ' s , tha only one of the Bishops who exhibited anything like sense or good feeling in the course of these debates , deserves to be kept in view until realised } as we fondly hope it will be , —viz . ths erection op a National Gallery , worthy of the name and of the country , fob the reception 07 the " statues and m 0 nument 3 in honour of the illus-TRIOUS dead . It is disgraceful to the country that this suggestion should have to be made so late a 3
the present : and even though now made , we hard no hope at present of seeing it carried out . Democracy must first , we fear , achieve her triumph . The people must first reconquer their sovereignty , ere so noble a projeot as this , is likely to be carried out . Perhaps it is well this should be so . The National Temple will then not be disgraced by the presence of honours paid to martial cut-throats ; tha parties who usually , under the present system , monopolise posthumous honours .
Though , to the disgrace of Scotland , Burns died in a state of almost destitution , with the fear of a jail racking him even on his death-bed , still something like a partial atonement has been made by the magnificent monuments subsequently erected to bis memory , and the other proofs whioh have been given to the living members of the poet's family , that the country glories in the man who to its soil and language gave an undying immortality . Bat
where is the monument to Byron ? Where is the record of England ' s admiration for her noble poet Alas for the humiliation that compels us to acknowledge that there 13 none I It is true that no marble memorial could do him a fraction of the fame bis deathless writings , secure for him . To him this neg lecfc of his country matters nothing ; but to us it matters all . Let it be the task of Englishmen to efface the stain .
On the lOsh of July broad Albyn will pour her sons and daughters in hundreds and thousands , from highland and lowland , to do homage on the " banks 0 ' Doon" to the memory of her ploughman bard . 'Tia well . Speed the day when the land of Byroh shall follow the example of her noithern sister , to pay a like homage to her poet I It has been the fashion with a set of ignorant , envious , snarling critics to deny . that Byron was a poet in the true sense of the word . What these yelping curs mean by their "true sense , " neither themselves nor any one else can tell . The millions
know , because ithey feel , that Byron was a poet- ** great poet ; yes , we will add the greatest pom England has seen since Shakspbbe j and vain are the efforts of those mean and miserable detractors to write him down . No great mind was ever mow fiercely assailed ; none of earth ' s ohiefestsons were evermore slandered while living , or denounced when dead ; but his name shines only the more refalgent * and is destined to live for evei—the glory and pride of his fatherland . Of him in bis own " immortal
verse" it may be truly said-Peace to bis Injured shade I 'twas his In life and death to be the mark where Wrong Aim'd with her poison'd arrows ; bat to miss . O , victor unsarpass'd in modern sang t Each year brings forth its millions ; but how long The tide of generations shall roll on , And not the whole combined and counties * throng Compose a mind like thine I though all in one Condensed their scatter'd rays , they would not ( om a ran .
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THE " DURHAM CHRONICLE , " AND THE INJURED COAL MASTERS . It . is a maxim with politicians as well as irith scullery-maids , " not to throw away the dirty water till they get clean . " Politicians prefer riding an old broken down horse that they know , rather im venture their bones upon a skittish . munansgeaW « colt . Knobstick carpenters generally chop away wi « j great vigour at a soft piece of wood , avpidingJ ^ cross and knotty grain a 3 maoh as possible * # ?"
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I BYRON ! ; " On that name at * nd The tears and praises of all time . " Press of matter j prevented us last week noticing a very edifying discussion which took place in the House of Lords on the 14 th inst ., on the subject of the Bishop of Exeter ' s Bill for the Suppression of
Brothels . On this occasion the Earl of FitzhardiNCE charged the Dean and Chapter of Westminster with conniving at the existence of brothels in a place called the Almonry , within almost a stone ' s throw of the Abbey . " There was , " said the Earl , " in this place ( the Almonry ) twenty-four notorious brothels , all the property of the Dean and Chapter . of Westminster being in the proportion of two brothels to one prebend . "
" In the Orchard-street district it was said that there were thirty brothels ; in the Pye-street district , that there were forty brothels ; and all those in the Almonry , and most of the others , were the property of the Dean and his Reverend associates in their corporate capacity . " In answer to this assault , the Bishop of Gloucester came to the rescue . He said " his attention had been called to this subject about two years ago ; and on enquiry he found that the whole of the property was let on lease , and , therefore , not under the immediate controol of the Dean andiCHAPiER ; but that steps had been taken to prevent a renewal of the leases . " The Bishop added , that . a still stronger step had been taken : —
" Out of the money , which the Noble Earl supposed they were sp fond of , they purchased the remainder of the leases ; and he had last year the satisfaction , from ] the testimony of his own senses , of knowing that the houses had been pulled down . " Here this delectable discussion ended . On Monday last , on the Bill going into Committee , the delicate matter was resumed . The Bishop had stated that from the " testimony of his own senses " he knew that the houses had been pulled down . " It turns out that the Bishop had no foundation for this assertion ; for on Monday list , the Earl of FiTZHARDiNGE again reiterated his charge : —
" He would now bring an accusation against the Dean and Chapter , and he would produce the authority whence he had received the information , that Nob . 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , and 8 , on the left of Dean-street , Almonry , Nos . 2 , 3 , 5 , 6 , 7 , and 8 , in Jeffrey ' sbuildings , and Nos . U , 15 , and 16 , New Waybuildings , in the Almonry , were notorious brothels . He ( Earl Fitzhardinge ) had been determined to see whether this information was true or not ; and he had received an answer from the party he had applied to , that , with the exoeption ot No . 16 , the houses were brdthels of j the worst description . This information was given , not by a Dissenter , or a writer in a newspaper , but by the vestry-clerk of the parish of St . Margeret—Mr . Rogers . "
The Earl very properly added" They ought to legislate fairly , and not attaok consequences without examining first into causes—( hear , hear ) . They should not be satisfied with knocking off the twigs , but lay the axe at the root of the evil . If they passed that Bill , knowing that the Dean and Chapter had been breathing the air of prostitution , and sharing the very wage ? of publio infamy , he would { tell them that they would not deal out eren-handed justioe unless they brought in a Bill of pains and penalties against the Dean and Chapter of . Westminster . "
This of course called up the Bishop of Gloucester again , who , a la Sir James Graham , "higgled and haggled , " and complained of "lack of courtesy" on the part of the Noble Earl , in not giving him M notice . " The Bishop , however , in the course of his speech , made tbe singular admission that that very dap ( Monday last ) the Dean and Chapter had given the tenants of some of these brothels notice to quit ! and this , too , after the Bishop ' s positive assertion , ten days previous , ' that " from the testimony of his own senses , " he ¦ ' knew ihat the houses had been pulled dowh" I \
It is known to our readers that for several . years past a statue of . the immortal poet , whose name heads this article , executed by that mastersculptor of his { age , the lately deceased Thorwaldsen , has been lying amidst dirt and rubbish , unseen and almost forgotten , in the warehousecellar to whioh it was consigned on its arrival in this country . The cause of this ignominious treatment of this magnificent statue , was the refusal by the Dean and Chapter to admit it into Westminster Abbey where it was intended to have : been placed , on account of the ^ alle ged " impiety" and
" immorality" ofj the poet ' s writings ! How pitiful upon such a pretext to deny to the immortal bard those posthumous honours whioh have been awarded to all our other great poets , under pretence of a regard for the interests of "' morality" and •* religion , " and denied too , by a set of canting priests who , it appears , have for years and years past been deriving a portion of their enormous incomes from the letting of brothels !—hypocritical black-slugs who have been ' | breathing the air of prostitution ' and sharing the jvery wage 9 of public infamy / 1 ! " O for a forty-parson p » wer , To aing thy praise , Hypocrisy I "
This exclusion ! of Byron ' s statue from " Poet ' s Corner" was alluded to by the Earl of Fitzhardinge , in the course of his speech on tbe 14 th , when , of course , ! the immaculate " defender of the faith , " the Bisho * aforesaid , defended the conduct of the Dean in excluding the statue . Lord Brougham , who | seldom talks sense now , diverged for once from his usual path of mountebankism , and denounced the exclusion of the statue as
disgraceful to the country , and a blot upon its history . This called np the Right Rev . Champion of the New Poor Law , the Bisbop of London , who charitably expressed his hope that M the statue would never findjadmission into the Abbey . " " The national religion ) was at Btake . " " Lord B t eon ' s works were calculated to Bap the foundation of all religion . " " His , insinuations and inuendos must be taken as a disqualifioa for a niohe in a sanctuary consecrated to w orfihip of Clafrt »
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' * _ . # ¦ THE NORTHERN STAR . j June 29 . 1844 .
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Citation
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Northern Star (1837-1852), June 29, 1844, page 4, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/ns/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1269/page/4/
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