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THE NORTHERN STAR SATURDAY, OCTOBER 5, 1844.
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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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OYERLAND HAIi .. —INDIA AND CHINA . The India Mall to the 27 th of August has arxived , bringing letters and papers from Bombay to ihat date . Sir Henry Hardinge arrived at Calcutta at" eight o ' clock in the evening of the 23 rd of Jnlj , and was immediately sworn into his high office . His first act was to continue Mr . Bird as GoTernor of Bengal . On ihe next snd subsequent days he held levees and
durbars , and has thus far gained golden opinions from all parties , although there are some who appear to doubt his future proceedings , as being nearly connectc-d with Lord Ellenborongh . Prior to his departure , Lord EIlenDorongh was eotertain&d pnblicly by the officers of the army at Calcutta , and then declared that his chief regret on quitting India arose from his separation from the military service , which he highly prized . He emharked on the 1 st of August on board the steamer Tenasserim , andimmediatelystaried for Suez .
The mutiny « f the t > 4 . ~ . h Regiment > of Bengal Inifcirrj , which bad been repressed by the decided measures of General Hunter , had produced the mo 3 t stringent proceedings « n the part of Sir Charles J ^ apier , the Governor of Sinde . A small expedition Bent to attack a fort called Bnrsboxee , thirty-six miles north-west of Xhangtaur , had been obliged by the great heat to retreat back to Khanghur . Sheer Mahommed was still at large in the mountainous districts , but he was not able to eollect forces sufficient to do injurv .
The news from the Pnnjaub represents that conniry as a prey to anarchy and confusion , and the lowest Imrignesofassassinatlon and plunder bj the chiefs , Beera Singh does not appear to be fixed in his power , and expectation was afloat of the great commotions agitating the Shiekhs in the month of Oct . next , at the time of the great Hindoo festival-of the Dosserrah , when all the native States are in the practice ef making war against their enemies . The Sritfsh Indian Government is the chief lobject of the Shiekk ' a hatred ; and if credit can be given to
ihe rnmouTB current on their frontiers , that spirit Df hatred is fomented by intrigues that take their Origin from Persia and Russia . Dost Mahommed and his son , 'AkbaT Khan , haje formed alliances ( the latter a matrimonial one ) with Yar Mahommed , Xhs n ^ Tirperof the soTereignity of Herat , while they art- - - ? o making arrangements with Beera Singh ior a > - "i "he Shiekhs in case of a conflict with the i > - ^ rith a large army , in the hope of conquering si- - ¦ . iadering the north of India . These inmgues are well known and cannot fail to influence the
future policy of Sir Henry Hardinge ; for however pledged he may be to avoid a dispute with the Sheikhs , circumstances more powerful thanjiis promises are likely to force him into a war . In Gwalior there were some intrigues respecting ihe command of the Jhinsee troops , who had mutinied against ibeir chief , Balevunt Bao , on account of his great oppressions . It was said that an uncle of the yoong Maharajah wonld obtain tVfl command . Bundlekund was tranquil , and great praise was I > estowed on the police battalions , and especially
on the portion of them under the orders ol Major Penis , for their activity and energy in putting down the disturbances , and arresting the numerous Dacoits that used to infest those districts , before the measures introduced by Lord Ellenborough led to those favourable results . The succession to the throne of Holkar , at' In-« iore , has been settled by the elevation to it of a son of Bhow Hoikar , who had married a daughter of Hurree Sao Holkar . The young Maharajah has assumed the name of Tookajee Hoikar , and promises well . He is described as a manly boy , and ias conciliated the geod-will of the people .
The arrival in Bombay of Sir Henrj Pottinger from China has been the signal of great rejoicings . He was welcomed with addresses , and with dinners , tails , &c . Sir Henry Pottinger eabarked at Bombay on the 27 ih of Augnst , on his return to Europe . The ship Royal Admiral , which sailed from Newport on the 16 th of March , with coals for Aden , being forced by stress of weather to come to Bombay , was ¦ wrecked on the rocks at the entrance of that harbour en the " 25 ; h of July . The new 3 from China does not come down later dan the 21 st of June , and was bronght to Bombay by the steamer Driver , on board of which Sir Henry Pottinger arrived there . Great dissatisfaction was expressed at the meddling of the French and Americans in the now settled affairs with China .
The fall of rain during the monsoon wa 3 scant in that part of India , but hopes were-still entertained fifa heavy fall . SPAIN . Batoxmb , Sept . 26 rH . —The news which reached here the day before yesterday of the discovery of a Elot ia Mataro { only three leagaea from Barcelona ) y the B&ron de Meer , in which even the employes in the pay of the Governmentare found to be agents , is a proof of the machinations going on against the -Government .
The director of the Post-office , who is amongst the arrested at Mataro , was during and previons to the u pronouncement" of last year against Espartero the direct enemy of the Regent ; bnt , like the others , bitterly deplored his fault afterwards . The officers of the Custom-house , who are also amongst the prisoners in the citadel of Barcelona , are those who had replaced The men dismissed for taking part -with Ametler and Ballera on the famous question of the Junta Central These events , and the symptoms which hare appeared at Carthagena and "Valencia , though as yet not followed by any serious result ( at least as far as the latest news inform us ) , prove the existence of a formidable combination .
The Captain General of the Basque provinces , whose head-quarters are in Tittoria , is , it is said , sang active , though rather secret , efforts to discover whereabout Martin Zorbano is sojourning ! at this moment . Zarbano had been quietly residing on a property given to him by the nation , which he possesses in the Bioja , bordering on the provinces of Ala" ^ a , and consequently not at any great distance from the head-quarters of the general . He had , it seem 3 , received secret , but sure information , that he was about to be arrested , or otherwise annoyed : asd he was well aware that his name inspired too much terror not to induce his persecutors to get rid of him ,
even in the Boncali and O'Donnell style . He thought it best , then , to get out of harm ' s way , and reserve himself ior better daya . His disappearance about the same period when the rumours of an approaching and formidable movement reached the ears of the government , has created considerable alarmj and an active search is being made . But I doubt if they succeed . Martin is too old a fox to be easily caught . He will , it is highly probable , issue from his hidingjplace , and show himself to bis friends , a 3 well as to bos enemies , at the moment when Ik will be most wasted by the former and least desired iy the latter .
ITALY . Letters from Bolsgna of the 24 th uU . state , that the utmost anarchy pervaded the Legation . Every day fresh accounts of robberies , murders , incendiary fires , and collisions between the people and the military , reached the Legation , from various parts of ihe province ; no less than five assaults occurred in ihe streets of Bologna during the night of the 22 nd ,
ALGIERS . The Scmophsre , of Marseilles , states that a snd den and unexpected attack was made by the natives upon the French troops , at Dellys , an important Preneh station , at only a short distance from Algier ? . ** The Pharamond , which arrived on the 26 sb at Marseilles , which she left on the 24 th , brings infoEmation £ kat our troops have been attacked at Dellys , "Myrsh&l Bnge&nd had invited the principal chiBfs of ihe environs , and of the newly-sub
jected tribes , to be present on the 22 nd at a grand review . They attended , but the review was hardly over when the Marshal was informed that the tribes , profiting by the absence of their chiefs , had proceeded against BellyB , where they attacked our troops , and massacred a portion of the inhabitants after plundering them . The Marshal instantly sent off two steamers laden with troops to Bugia in « fder to punish the offenders . On the following -day , two companies of engineers and artillery were also sent off for the same purpose . "
TAHITI . The Times of Wednesday contains two leDgihy letters from Tahiti to the 25 . h of April last , detailing the particulars of the affray between the French and the natives , of which only partial accounts have iiflieno appeared . We give the following extracts : — "Tahiti , Arm 24—In my last I related some of the causes which led the natives of these islands to stand np for their country and liberties . Doaouneed asd outlawed by . the invaders , driven to a last dire extremity , they assembled to the number of about 1 , 000 , preferring death from the guns of their enemies to dragging out a weary existence as miserable slaves . The French , - thirsting for blood intent upon nothing but the destruction of all who lukd the spirit not to submit to their infamous conduct , pursued ; and the '^ esult has been a bloody fcattle , of which I shall proceed 10 giro you Borne particularsj and as it tout place at a place called Mahaena-lpit it >» ^ mniolwi in historr as " The
3 attleofMah » ena . " , The French war Bteamer'Phaefcm , and the frigate * Jranie , sixty-four guns , came to anchor in the harbour of Papeeti , the former having the greater part of the wounded on board , last night , and the latter this-day , bringing intelli gence of a desperate engagement between 800 marines , soldiers , and artfllery , of-the French forces in the Pacifio , and abont L . 000 Tahitians . Both parties Buffered se « Terelj , bat the Tabiwans remain masters of the field -of- battle . The Tahitians had shown considerable judgment in the selection of their enca mpment ; where nature had failed to supply a defence , large embankments of sand and earth were raised , with ¦ deep trenches on either side . In their rear was a ^ hirfr and almost impenetrable bush , in case of their beiAg compelled to retreat . On their fortification were mounted six gain , and altogether it , wa 3 wel
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calculated to stand a regular sie ^ e . The lines of da < fence extended aboul lh * ee hundred yards ; a solid embankment of earth and sand , supported inside with large logs of wood , cufc into lengths of about six feet , the earth being on a level with the tops of the logs on the outside , and abeut ten feet thick . About five o ' clock on the morning of the 18 th , the French commenced landing , protected by the guns of the steamer and frigate ; and as there waa some diffionlty in this , it was past ten before they were in motion for the attack , with a number of fieldpieces , and led on by Governor Bruat in person . An individual of the name of Henry , a son of a missionary here , and who is indebted to the natives of the island entirely for his subsistence , pointed ont the French a path by which they could reach a hill whioh commanded part of the encampment ; and although a strong party with muskets could do little damage by being in possession of this soot .
yet when a few field pieces were stationed there the havock was great . "When the main body of the French saw that this ^ pot had been gained , and which the Tahitians neglected to defend , the attack commenced , and the slaughter . The struggle that ensued was dreadftil , the Tahitians fighting man to man with their spears against the bayonets ot the French soldiers ( for not above one half of the Tahitians had fire-arms ) . Their desperation and their mortal hatred of the French told volnmes . Had they been armed with muskets , not a Frenchman would have been left to tell the tale . When the least opportunity offered the thundering broadsides of the Uranie , and long guns of the steamer , never ceased to assist in the fierce conflict . Grape shot and shells were abundant as hail in December , still the contest was maintained ; the trenches were strewsd with the dead . Wounded on the part of the Tahitians , there were none ; for , infuriated to a degree , they fought as if a Bpirit possessed them .
The guns on the hill had continued to tell fearfully in the ranks of the brave Tahitians , and a retreat of a few yards into the wood in their rear was advisable . Thither they marched , and the FreDch , glad , no doubt , to purchase a respite en any terms , judged it by no means prudent to pursue where the contest wonld have been so unequal for them ; and here ends the second battle between Tahiti and Tranoe . The French have suffered severely , at the very lowest , x should say , 100 men j while on the other side it is almost impossible to ascertain their loss , iut as they only acted on the defensive throughout , it may reasonably be presumed that the loss on both sides is about equal .
Offers of peace have been proposed by Governor Bruat to the Tahitians . The answer sent back was characteristic of the Tahitians : " Before any propositions would be considered , the French Governor must restore the life of their murdered countrymen . " Numbers of natives , who have been living here , and been quite passive heretofore , and those who have been bribed by the French , have gone up to the scene of the late action to search for their relatives who may have been killed , with the laudable intention of giving to their bodies at the least a decent interment . These , too , are now loud in their execrations of the
French . The Tahitian custom , after battle , was always to bury the bodies , not only of their friends , but also of their enemies ; and nothing could be more insulting than the way the French abased the bodies of the slain . They piled up the dead bodies in heaps , as a trophy of their victory . I blush to tell it , but truth requires it . The reason the French Governor assigna for this murderous affair , according to the statement of his secretary , was to avenge the blood of their countrymen who fell in their first battle , and for the honour of France . These were his very words .
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IRELAND FOR THE IRISH . Ths question of a Repeal of the Union involves so many lofty as well as startling considerations , that we shonld hold ourselves justified in discussing it even to the exclusion of all other topics . For Englishmen , not less than Irishmen , the whole subject is one of paramount and surpassing importance : one in whioh not only the interests , but the very passions and nationality of the EngliEh people had been long enlisted upon the side of prejudice , by Parliamentary fabrications , newspaper falsehoods , and Anglo-Irish calumnies . No party had
a more direct and selfish interest in the fonlest misrepresentation of the Irish character , than the one hundred Irish representatives elected as Ireland ' s share of Imperial representation . Many of them had sold their own country , and all , with bnt a few solitary exceptions , had acquiesced in the bargain ; while some of nobler bearing , who had made a bold stand against the Union , were not proof against that extensive patronage which the measure confeired upon the British Minister , By degrees we find the hostility of Plcsiieti , Bushe , and Saurik yielding to the fascinations of patronage ; while many lesa
powerful , but not less ardent spirits , became victims of despair , afid fushionaWj sunk into the new order of things . From the termination of the civil war in 1798 , to the Union of 18 C 0 , opposition to the measure was treason ; resistance , death . During the interval , Ireland was overrun with a licensed , regular army , with a prejudiced and pandering English militia , an execrated Protestau' Irish militia , and an armed host of banditti , called Volunteers . Thus situated aiid coerced , with every Irish voice silenced , and every Irish patriot imprisoned , under no better pretence
than suspension of the " Habeas Corpus Act , " a union was accomplished and defined in eight articles , to none of which , however , the Irish people were parties , and every ohb of which was violated in less than ten years sfter their ratification . The present case of Ire l and then is—that she was not even then a consenting party to the Union ; that every article of the Union has been violated ; that there is no statute of limitation by which the rights of a nation can be barred ; that while England has advanced in wealth , in commerce , in arts and soience , beyoud any other European nation , since the Union , Ireland has retrograded in one and all .
One of the leading conditions of the Act of Union was that Emancipation might be discussed upon the boards of St . Stephen , unii-fluenced and unobstructed by national prejudices . In short , that Emancipation should be the immediate fruit of the Union . Suoh were the most substantial reasons assigned by Mr . Pitt and acquiesced in by Mr . Cannikg ; * nd yet , in twenty-nine years after , was Ireland obliged to frighten this tardy act of paltry justice from her English oppressors . A change , from which however , the Cathslio people of Ireland have not to this hour received a single particle of benefit ,
inasmuch as they are still liable for the support ef a hostile church . The very tightest and most galling fetters of which church were imposed upon them by an Irish Parliament , and not taken off , or in the least degree mitigated by those boasted heroea , Chahlsmoat and others , as the people ' s share of any of iheir party triumphs over the English cabinet . It has been the invariable practice of newspaper scribblers to point atteation to the corruptness of the Irish Parliament , thereby to establish proof that the restoration of her legislature would be rather an injury than a benefit to the Irish people .
To such wild and wholesale reasoning we answer—Firstly , Ireland never had an independent Parliament ; and , secondly , if the argument is good against Ireland , it is equally valid against England , whose legislature in 1832 voted itself venal , corrupt , and nnfit to live , as not representing the English people . Ireland never had an independent Parliament . Firstly , because the English Minister possessed an undue influence in ita councils ; and , secondly , because although the electors were for the most part Catholics , yet Catholics were not eligible to sit in Parliament , although the struggle for their emancipation constituted the great national contest . Hence , we show that Ireland never had an independent Parliament at all . while we may
fairly presume that had it not been for the actof Union , that national Bpirit which achieved Parliamentary Reform for England , would have done likewise for Ireland . In fact , when Fox was tinkering for reform in 1781 , Ireland at that period had progressed upon the question far beyond England . With Ireland it was a national question ; with Fox , it was a party question , and always abandoned upon the achievement of an individual triumph . Roused for party purposes , and abandoned upon its triumph , Fox gave np Reform for patronage precisely as did Chablehoht and the volunteer offioera : and hence , we naturally infer , that any compromise of a great principle is intended by the leaders to have a mere pimii ftr result . As the increasing prosperity of Ireland has been attempted to be based upon the con-
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cessions wrong from toe British ' Minuter by the Irish Volunteers , and as we have now contended that the Catholic people never did derive one particle of benefit from those concessions , we shall g o at once to the proof . In 1735 , the Irish House of Commons , composed of Protestant graziers , passed a resolution , exempting their own grass land from the payment of tithe ,
whereby they were enabled to offer up their untaxed prayers in ; their Protestant Churches , built by rates levied upon their poor Catholic tenants , and also supported by their sweat . Tithe was imposed upon everything grown by the small Catholic farmer , for the ostentatious support of a pampered Orange State-parson ; and heavy Church rates , for the building , beautifying , and repairing of Protestant Churches .
Now , let who may have imposed the galling penal code upon Irish Catholics , no party could have inflicted a heavier burden than that laid upon the people by their own Parliament . But some one says that was before the Repeal of Sir Edwabd Poining ' s Act , and antecedent to thoBe great national triumphs achieved by improving Ireland , and especially by Lord Charlemoht and his Volunteers .
True , quite true , we admit it all . While the supporters of Chaelejiont , and the boasters of national improvement must admit , that notwithstanding the several triumphs achieved by the Boroughtnongers over the Engli&hminister , yet was'the great question of relieving the Catholic people from the heaviest of all grievances imposed by the Parliament in 1735 , never once even discussed by the more independent Volunteer Parliament . No , not one single particle of impost was taken from the shoulders of the poor : while the leader , Lord Charlemont , after having
increased the value of Irish Parliamentary property by the arms of the Catholic Volunteers , and when invited by the Catholic soldiers to press on after his victory for Parliamentary Reform , magnanimously replied , " O no ! WE have got enough , and any change made in the constitution , must be BASED vtoh PROTESTANT ASCENDANCY . " We may then fairly ask whether ChaRlemont and Fox did not play the same game with the Irish and the English people , that the Federalists of this day would again play , if the people allowed themselves to bo used to fight the battles of faction !
It was not the Government , as asserted by Mr . O'Coitnell , who laid the plan for the Irish Rebellion . It was the Catholic people , headed by ninetyeight lead « rs , ninety-five of whom were Protestants and Presbyterians , who , disgusted with Irish liberal perfidy , and to curb the growing licentiousness of the independent Parliament , and the corruption of the British Minister , resolved upon ridding Ireland at once and for ever of both nuisances—domestio treachery , and foreign connivance . True , the tactics of the United Irishmen were long known to
the Government ; and , equally true , the Government learning from the expedition , under Roche , that Arthur O'Connob , npon behalf of the United Irishmen , had entered into conditions with the F / ench Directory for the invasion of Ireland , did hasten on the rebellion , but did not originate it . Hot it was the disappointment occasioned to the people by their share of the faction ' s triumphs bein ^ blows , that led to the Irish revolution . Every advantage extracted by the Boroughmongers from the Minister enriched the gentry by rising the price of their Parliamentary
subserviency ; until , at length , demands ran so high that Pjtt hit upon the expedient of purchasing the lot in one lump : that is , wholesale , at a cheaper rate than he could buy them retail . The Beresjobds and the Hutchinsons alone required an amount of patronage which frightened the British Minister . Children in the womb were placed on the army liBt , apon the prospect that " Qod might send u son . " Infants , before their eyes were open , were placed upon full pay . We had , in truth , Bucking Nelsons and puking Wellingtons , as the following anecdote will fully illustrate .
When the C ^ mmander-in-Chief was upon tour of inspection , he made the house of one of the beforenamed noble Lords his head quarters , and being familiar with the names of the young noble Boions as holding prominent places on the army list , he asked the noble hostess after dinner if he was not to be honoured with an introduction to the rising warriors , whereupou her ladyship , who was herself a major in a dragoon regiment , upon full pay , replied , ' * Oh , certainly my Lord ; " and thus addressed the Nurse , M Nurse , take the Captain ' s cradle out of the major ' s room , as he ' s teething , and when the Colonel wakes bring him down in his uniform for the General to see him . "
This story may appear Bomewhat extravagant , but when we have it on record that Lord Townsend , while Lord Lieutenant of Ireland , deolared that , "if the Hutchiksons and Bbbesfords got Ireland for a domain , they would ask for the Isle of Man as a potatoe garden , " it will be quite reconoileable . Judging then , from past circumstances , we come to the conclusion that the end of Federalism would be faction ' s triumph and party patronage , while the Irish people would be as far from possessing
Ireland as the Irish Volunteers , and the English of Fox ' s day were from Parliamentary Reform , which was the cry of their leaders . We , therefore , repudiate Federalism . And , agreeing with the Volunteers and Foxitbs out of office , and debarred of power , that a " full , fair , and free representation " of the whole people in the Commons House of Parliament can alone insure the realization of the people ' s hopes , wishes , and just demands , we shall , in spite of all opposing influences , continue to fight the battles of the English and the Irish peoplo under
their own banners . Any change produced by briefless barristers , petty-fogging attorneys , and disappointed Orangemen , will be for their own sole use , behoof , and benefit . They never have , they never will , fight any battle in whioh the people ' s only share will not be the blows , while they run off with the pelf ; and however Mr . O'Connell may consent to place
himself as a tool in the hands of the new Irish faction , we tell him , and we tell him plainly , that whatever quirks or quibbles , whatever twistings or turnings fresh martyrdom may sanction , that the people of the two countries are resolved upon advance by the Democratic road , and not by the bye-ways of patronage and path-ways of faction . Unite with the Irish Protestants and Orangemen ,, deed u Fudgk ! " rank nonsense , hollow duplicity : —
"As well may the lamb with the tiger unite , The move with the cat , or the lark with the kite . " The sophistry of the Times , the apprehensions of the Chronicle , the twaddle of the Herald , and the sentimentality of the Post , cannot guide the growing mind of England upon the subject of Federalism , Repeal , or separation : and we have never yet heard any good reason why the people of Ireland should start at the idea of being separated from a tyrant rale . Ireland is old enough to walk alone . Ireland ib large enough and sufficiently populated to
be a nation ; she ib too proud , too powerful , and too independent , longer to remain a degraded Province , chained to the wheel and tied to the apron-Btring ] of Britain . If she wanta a market , and if Britain will cut her out from the trade of the world , let the stomachs and backs of her sons and daughters become the mart for Irish produce . She grows what England cannot procure at so cheap a rate elsewhere , and therefore , self-interest would accomplish what a parchment Union has failed to effect .
Nineteen in every twenty of the English people are in favour of a Repeal , even should it lead to a separation , from which the English working classes wonld derive an incalculable blessing . Their own Parliament they could more easily deal with , divested of a set . of Irish place-hunters ; while their own labour would be individually advanced in value by reducing the competition , which wonld cease when Ireland was fob the Ibish . If Repeal means separation , we are not afraid of it . Federalism means humbug , and therefore we denounce it .
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A PERAMBULATING COURT AND PARLIAMENT , The proposal to hold the Court and United Parliament of the " United Kingdom of England " gains ground every day . The cool and passionless Spectator has oftentimes reverted to it , and cunningly put it forward as the only means by whioh the Minister can even hope to deal with the question of Repeal ; a question whioh , as the Spectator shrewedly hints , will , some day or other , present itself in the phase of a demand for separation . The other day a motion was made in the Dublin Corporation , by a Dr . Maunsell for " an humble address to be presented to the Queen , praying that
her Majesty will be graciously pleased to hold her Court , and to summon an Imperial Parliament to meet , at least once in every three years , in her loyal city of Dublin ; also , that she will recommend to the consideration of Parliament the propriety of making suoh provisions as shall secure that the same Bhall be done in future times : " and though the motion fell to the ground for want of a seconder , —the Repeal members of the Corporation being so «» - compromising" that though they can merge Repeal into Federalism , wheu the " Libebatob" leads the way , yet they dare not touch a proposal as far superior to the one of Federalism , as that of Repeal is to the one of " perambulation , " yet the bare fact that
it has been made , and that too by a Conservative , shows that the question is going round , and that politicians are turning their attention to it as a means of satisfying the demands made by the Irish and English people for "Justice to Ireland" through Repeal . Tbo proposal , therefore , is one that the readers of the Northern Star ought to be made acquainted with : know with whom it emanated , and the reasoning adduced in its support . It is to impart that knowledge that we now advert to the proposal . It was made by the late William Cobbett , and was put forward by him when he canvassed the borough of Manchester , as a oandidate
for its representation . So let his views of our political condition be known , and his opinion of the causes of national distress , and the remedies to be applied , be fully understood . He delivered in the town of Manchester , a course of lectures founded on his famous series of fourteen propositions , indicating the measures and steps whioh he deemed necessary to bo adopted and taken to set this old England right once more : amongst them was the one that follows , which he supported and recommended to the understanding of his hearers by the reasoning below . It is right that this fact should be known—that Cobbett is the author of the scheme . It is only an act of justice to the dead .
The reader will judge for himself of the cogency of the reasons adduced by the great political teacher of his day ; and will , no doubt , as he goes aloug , imagine the desperate efforts that would be made by interested parties to prevent such a scheme from being acted on . The following is Mr . Cobbett ' s proposition : — To cause the Protestant Hierarchy to be legally repealed and abolished in Ireland ; and to cause the Parliamerit of ihe whole kingdom to hold its session , and the King to hold Ms Court , in Ireland once in every chree years ; and to cause the same to take place in the city of York once in every three , years , and also in the ciiy of Salisbury once in every three years .
If all or any part of the former propositions were " wild and visionary ; " if tbeae epttheta were justly applicable to them , where will you be able to find epitheta descriptive of the wildness of this proposition ? I am , however , fortunately circumstanced here : I have to do with a patient that the dootors have given up ; with that sort of patient of which the sons of the healing art eay "Nothing mote cau be done ( or him : let him have just what he fancies . " In short , such is the state of Ireland , according even to the confessions of Government itself , that no suggestion relative to
measures for making it batter off than It ia can be d ; med presumptuous , be they what they may , and come from what source they may . Every one says that some great change in the affairs of Ireland Is necessary ; but no one attempts to say what change . Those who pour forth tbe complaints in the name of Ireland , howevei just tuose complaints may be , and however able the organ of putting them forth , invariably confine themselves to making the complaints , to describing the injuries and the sufferings of Ireland , to suggesting evils to be remedied , but seldom , or never do they suggest the remedy .
A . 6 to toe Government , it acknowledges , both in its words and its deeds , that the state of that put of the kingdom has become , in their hands , as bad as it can pesBibly be : that nothing can make that state worse ; that any change may be for tbe better ; that no change can be for the worse ; so that , as that which I propose is a very great change , it cannot be deemed presumption in me to propose its adoption . If Ireland were indeed a bunch of rocks like tbe Scilly Islands , or » pitiful province like one of the Cantons of Switzerland , the inhabitants of which are suffered to exist in their present state in order to breed butchers to be hired by those despots to be watchmen for the persons of the despots , and to cut , when need
be , the throats of their subjects : if it were a beggarly buach of rocks , with here and there a valley , affording juBt food enough to rear up wretches who go and sell themselves to fight , brother against brother , and father ogains * , son , in tbe armies of tbe contending despots ; if Ireland were a thing of tbis sort , I should think it extremely unreasonable to waste a moment of your time in listening to observations respecting it But Ireland is a really great and fertile country , though Us fertility has been , in some measure , rendered useless by misgovernment . At any rate , it is a country separated
from England by nothing more than what the Americans would call a river ; in dominion and resources it is inseparable from Eagland ; it is , in fact , apart of the very same conntry , and a part of it it must always remain , though it appears to have been the policy of the greater part of our rulers , for a series of ages , to consider it and treat it as a colony . Such being the importance of this part of the kingdom , and such its close connexion with England , no man of common sense will talk of anything to promote the greatness and prosperity of tbe kingdom , -without including Ireland in every measure which ho has to recommend .
Hero follows Mr . Cobbett ' s arguments in support of the first part of the above proposition , viz ., the abolition of the Irish Protestant Hierarchy . This portion of his argument we omit as being unnecessary to our present purpose . The following is his argument in support of the second portion of his proposition , viz ., the holding of " Perambulatory Parliaments : — It remains for me to speak of tbat part ef my preposition which contains , I must confess , a suggestion perfectly novel : I mean . that part whioh proposes that the Parliament of tbe whole kingdom should bold its sessions , and the King hold his Court , in Ireland , once in every three years ; in York , once In every
three years ; and in the city of Salisbury , once in every three years . With regard to this removal of the Court from London to York and to Salisbury , the object simply is , to pat a stop to the Bwollings of the enormous Wen , and to place it under the process of gradual dispersion . When it is considered tbat that Wen and its environs now draw up to themselves , to be expended uselessly , more subsistence than is expended in the nine counties of England which stand first in the alphabet ; when it is considered tbat there is more human food actually wasted in and about the Wtn , aotually Sent down the common sewers , flung into tbe dust-holes , and otherwise destroyed , than
would support all the people in one of the considerable counties 7 when I assure you tbat a very-well-informed and very . great dealer in cheese and in bacon has assured me , that there is more cheese suffered to rot and more bacon sent to be melted down by the soap-boilers than , as he believes , is consumed in a county equal in population to Wiltshire ; when you consider these things , and leok at tbe people of tbe Wen , as useless consumers of food and clothing , brought together by tbe unnatural means of taxation , you must agree with me , that a dispersion of this monstrous mass must take place , before the nation can again know anything Worthy of the name of prosperity .
And we are by no means to leave tha injury to morals and to public liberty , occasioned by this unnatural collection of human beings ; Peel ' s gendarmerie police is a thing enough to make our grandfathers turn in their graves . Yet the prodigious creation of thieves and of prostitutes , coming from this collection , demands these frightful means to repress the disorders which are its natural consequence . Vices , at which our fathers would have shuddered with horror , are rendered familiar to the mind , by their frequency in this grand scene of everything tbat is villanons . A great military fores becomes necessary , in such a case , to prevent tbe destruction of life and tbe devastation of property . Tha
murdering of human beings , as objects of sale ; and the murdering others , for the purpose of obtaining the teeth as a vendible commodity ; the receiving of tbe carcases , and of the teeth , with as little ceremony , and without any more horror , than the cuttlng-np botcher receives tbe carcase of a sheep , or than the toyman receives the bits of bone , obtained from the butcher or tbe skinner ; these things , which , related in fabulous stories , would have filled our fathers with honor , now excite not the wonder of a day , in that scene of laziness and of all sorts of villany , which , through a thousand channels , daily sends forth its corruptions , bodily as well as mental , to every part of this kingdom . And where is the man , then , who will hesitate a moment to
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Applaud any measure which has a tendency , without any act ot cruelty or Injustice , to disperse toiff diabolical collection of infamy ? It has been the policy of ail wise legislators to pro . Tent , as far as possible , the unnatural increase of tbe population of towns . The American Congress removed from the greatest cities in the Union to a place comparatively a village , and which it knew could not , from the nature of things , become much other than a village . It saw the injury that must arise from drawing to a great commercial city the taxes which would naturally be brought to it , by its being the seat of the Government . The separate States themselves , which have great cities in them ; have lone ago removed the seat of _
government far away from those great cities . From tbe city of New York it has been removed to Albany , a distance of 150 miles ; from the city of Philadelphia the seat of government was , long ago , removed to a mere village , about j 200 miles further to the west A great part of tbe business of the legislature , in both these cases , might ! have some connexion with these great cities ; but , sober men , who do their work by day-light , and have' no Bellamy ' s boozing shop under their roof , thought : it much better to put themselves out of the reach of those debaucheries , and of that bnstle and hubbub , and of those temptations of all sorts , which great and opulent cities could not fail to cause to be of some degree of influence .
And why should the King not see the North of Eagland . and the West of it ? Salisbury is in about the middle between Dover and Penzince ; and York may be very well considered as the centre of the North of Great Britain . I should see no barm , for my part , in holding tbe court sometimes at Exeter also , and sometimes at Norwich . This used to be tbe fashion . Parliaments have been held at Northampton , and why should they not again ? The presence of the Ktug makes a court , and , as to the trouble that this would give the King , it must be a strange king indeed , and he must be very different from all other human beings , if the variety would not give him pleasure instead of barm . This is sheer nonsense , however ; and as to tbe
expense , suppose it to be fifty thousand pounds a year , in consequence of this moveable court , what is that , when compared to tbe immense advantages of it ? amongst whieh advantages we must by no means omit the great addition of respect which it would bring to tbe kingly office , when the king came to be known to all his people , instead ef being merely heard of , as running backward and forward between Windsor and St . James's , except ; when occasionally posted down- to Brighton , and there lodged in a sort of guinguette , surrounded by swarms of keen-looking stock-jobbers , and their flaunting wives . When Cardinal Pole landed at Dover , on returning to England , after the persecution of
Henry fill , and bis son , tbe historian of his life says that he was preceded by two thousand gentlemen of the county of Kent , who went before him on horseback . Ten thousand will ride before the King into York . And has any king of Eng ' and , since the time of Elizabeth , experienced an honour like this ? The very circumstance of his going to a particular place for the purpose of making tbe . laws would add weight to those iawa ? and how much better would it be , and how much more honourable to tbe king , to be escorted to his parliament in tbis way , than to bo drawn along , surrounded by guards , amongst the shoutings , though of hundreds of thousands , of people !
With regard to England , this which I here recommend would be greatly useful ; it would be beneficial iu all sorts of ways ; besides tbat of dissipating the Wen . But , with regard to Ireland , tbe measure is absolutely necessary . Burko talked of orders of nobility being " the chief defence ] of nations ; ' and if he had lived to witness tbe hundreds of thousands of our meney bestowed upon Wellington , be would , I daresay , have said we had made a monstrous good bargain . This measure that I propose is , however , tbe chief quieter of Ireland ; tbe chief means of effecting in reality , that union which now exists only In name . The act of union was a most miserably bungling job , quite worthy of a pack of pettyfoggtng peliticisne . Any man of sense would at once have swept away the names of Great Britain and
Ireland ; have called the whole tbe Kingdom of Eagland ; havo pat all the counties in the whole kingdom upon the same footing ; I h » ve made one and ihe same law prevail everywhere , and would have made all conform to precisely the same authorities , in all civil and political affair * . Instead of this , a totally new name was given to the kingdom , and the sensible parliament graciously bestowed upon their sovereign a new and rigmarole title , taking from him at the same time one of his titles worn by his ancestors , and worn by them for 400 years ; making him cast behind him ( from the motive of the hunted beaver ) , the title of the King of France ; and making him at the same time , in quality I suppose of the head of the Protestant Cbarch , . retain the title of " Defender of the Faith" of the Pope .
Nevei was so clumsy an aff ur as this ; but it is not too late now to make a real union with Ireland . jThe meeting of the Parliament in Ireland wonld ocoasion twenty thousand English noblemen and gentlemen to go to Ireland , sonic one or other of whom wculd have his foot apon every square yard of the country in tbe course of six months . Let any one imagine tbe inevitable effects of this species of communication . The impudent Castlereagb , when be proposed to bring Irish militia to England , and send English militia to Ireland , pretended to believe that this interchange of bayonets would cause an interchange of kindfp feelings between tbo people of the two countries . Tbe kind fellow de-Berved a blow on the mouth when he ottered that at
once empty and insolent sentiment ; but , in the measure which I propose , we see the wise means of an interchange of kin «' . ly sentiments . Endless acts of benevolence would and must arise from the holding of the Court and the sitting of the Parliament in Ireland . Ireland , with all its resources , would become well known to numerous persons of wealth going from England ; and this is the way to introduce capital and improvement into ] Ireland ; and not tbe r - sing of money in England by taxation , or by subscription , to be sent over to be pocketed by the agents , or to be doled out in gallons of potatoes and pounds of oatmeal . The presence of the Court and the Parliament would overawe petty tyranny . Tbe King ' s Ministers would be there ,
to see tbe condition and hear the grievances of bis people ; and the king and the Parliament would be there upon the spot to redress those grievances : then the two countries would become cne in deed as well as in name : ui . til then some one or other will alwajs be able to stir up , in a great part ef tbe people at any rate , a disposition to effect a separation from England ; which , though it can never succeed , must always be attended with infinite mischief , j Until this course be adopted , the Irish people , snd not without some show of reason , will always be hankering after a distinct legislature . The adoption of this measure would put an end for ever to even the thought of such a thing ; and as to the em pente of holding a Court and a Parliament in Ireland ,
this is a pretty objection to start , when it now coats us four millions of pounds sterling a-year to compel our fellow-subjects of Ireland to submit to what . they but too justly ! deem our unjust predominance . Tbis measure would almost instantly produce a total cbange-io the manners of tbe people ; the behaviour of the hnglish gentleninu would shame out of fashion the brutal treatment pf the working people by the squirearchy ; it would introduce English agriculture , EugliBh plantations , English orchards and gardens ; and the making of bread , j and tbe cooking of meat , and the brewing of beer , snd the wearing of clean and decent clothes , would very soon supplant the use of tbe wretched potatoes , the whiskey can , and the rags halfsufficient to cover their nakedness .
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news this week an account of the troubled agitai ing a portion of the State of New York , where the watchword of the people is , " Down with the Bent" ! These troubles are showing themselves in other quarters , and must speedily spread over the Union , unless the people can be induced to join the ranks of the National Refobhebs , and thus achieve , by constitutional courses , those changes whioh wo shonld be sorry to see accomplished by force and violence .
But come how those changes may , come they musi ! The people of the United States , doubly armed as they are , first , with the franchise of freemen ; and secondly , with arms to defend their rights as men and citizens , cannot , will not , for any length of time , be content to remain the slaves and helots of a system which allows one man to usurp the soil to the exclusion of thousands , forced to live in pestiferous cities , there to toil for any pittance the gods of mammon may please to fling them . Such a system cannot last . It would be blasphemy against human nature to believe in its continuance . The LAND is the People ' s , and must , —at least in ihe United States , —be restored to its onlt
BIQHXFUL OWNERS . The imprisonment of Governor Dorr by the landrobbers and usurpers of Rhode Island , is creating a tremendous stir in the " Empire State ; " and the excitement seems by the latest accounts to be spreading rapidly through the Union . We have already , through copious extracts from the People'e Press of New York , made our readers pretty well acquainted with the Rhode Island question . Any lengthy detail is therefore now unnecessary . We may simply remark , that up to the present time
Rhode Island has been governed by a corporation of lanci-usurpers , in virtue of a oharter granted to their body by that precious sample of profligate Kingcraft , Charles 11 . Under this charter , the Suffrage was exercised by those only who were possessed of a certain quantity of laud . To all others the rights of citizens were denied . The unenfranchised demanded a new constitution : the usurpers opposed the demand . TheSformer then formed a new constitution , which gave to all th rights of citizenship . This constitution was adopted
by the majority , who thereupon appointed Dona Governor of the State . It now became alquestion of arms : but the unenfranchised were comparatively unarmed and undisciplined ; while , on the other hand , the usurpers had the whole of the armed force and treasury of the state at their command The patriots failed , as the asserters of man's rights have too often failed . The result has been the relentlessjpersecution of the patriots , and the imprisonment for life of Thomas Wils « n Dosr , the man elected to the highest effice in ihe State by ~ the Suffrages of the people .
Governor Dour is imprisoned under an act of the Rhode Island Legislature , passed in 1838 , which sets forth , that'if any person or persons , except such as are duly elected thereto , Bhall under any pretended Constitution for the State , or otherwise , aesome to exercise any of the Legislative , Executive , or Ministerial functions , such persons shall be deemed guilty of treason again t the State and shall be punished by imprisonme n t Tor life .
This assumption of treason against a State , as contradistinguished from the United States , ia not allowable by the Federal Constitution . The States , in the adoption of the Constitution of the United States , surrendered to the General Government many attributes of sovereignly . A State cannot levy wa or contract alliances ; cannot appoint or receive Foreign ministers ; cannot adopt any but a Republican form of Government ; cannot raise or maintain armies ; cannot establish a judiciary independent of
that of the United States ; cannot punish all offences committed within her jurisdiction . The States have parted with all these powers , and merely retain the power to legislate on all local matters : and reform , alter , or change their own Constitution . There can be no treason , except against : the United States , * and consequently , in cases of treason it ia the United States Courts only tbat can have jurisdiction . Governor Dorr has therefore been unconstitutionally tried and convicted . The law of the Rhode Island
Congress is a violation of the Federal Constitution ; and Dorr's imprisonment is a gross outrage on the principles of American liberty . The immediate object of the movement in Governor Dorr ' s favour is to bring his case before the United States tribunals , with a view to his liberation , in which we have no doubt his friends will succeed . It appears the land-pirates would set him at liberty , provided he would petition for " pardon , " and would swear allegiance to the present infamous Constitution . This , Dorr gallantly refuses to do , declaring that he will rather die in prison than renounce the oath he took to the Democratic
Constitution . We refer our readers to the great mass meeting holden in support of " Dorr and Free Suffrage " at Providence , Rhode Island , which will be found in another column . Wo trust that the report of that meeting will be read at every Chartist meeting in England ; and that while the pledge is renewed to stand by our glorious Charter , and our expatriated patriot John Frost ; that at the same time the cause of Free Suffrage in America , will be remembered , and a cheer , a hearty cheer , the echo of English hearts , ringing from English lips , be sent up for the gallant Governor Dork and the Rhode Island Democrats .
The lying New York correspondent of the London Times , represents the meeting at Providence as being composed of the " scum" of New York , and Rhode Island , their object being " riot" and " bloodshed . " Thi 3 lying caitiff ia best answered by the account given of the proceedings by the reporter of the Sun , which , by the bye , is not a Democratic paper . Thero is one fact admitted by the lying correspon-1
dent of the Times , which he considers very alarming but which our readers will rejoice to hear ; namel / i that although General Jackson , Mr . Van BtmsNi and others of the leading minds of the Democratic party were not present , they one and all countenanced and approved of this demonstration . This is a great fact "; a fact proclaiming the sure and speedy triumph of Governor Dorr and Free
Suffrage . We make no apology for troubling our readers with comments on these topics . The cause of the oppressed is the same throughout the world ; and it ia the duly of the lovers of liberty in every clime and country to sympathise with and aid each other in promoting the onward march of Democracy , and the triumph of the Rights of Man .
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DEMOCRACY IN THE UNITED STATES . The good cause of real Demooracy ia advancing . Tho efforts of the landlords and profitmongers to nullify . the glorious institutions bequeathed by the men ol , 76 are producing results exaotly the opposite of those intended . The working men aro beginning to find ont that Universal Suffrage , though a very good thing , is like everything else , valueless unless rightly direeled . Accordingly , they are turning their attention to those' social reforms , the adoption of whioh , through the instrumentality of the Suffrage can alone render them freemen , in fact , as well as in name , and ensure to them the fruits of their labour , without which , mere forms of government , no matter how seemingly democratic must ever prove a mockery and a delusion .
In pursuance of this object , a great Convention of the Representatives of the industrious ctassesi from the New England States will shortly assemble ; when , doubtless , some plan of operations will be devised by whioh the labouring masses will be enabled to achieve pbotection for themselves against the vampires who now fatten on their industry , j The National Reform Association ( Agrarian League ) continues itsjmeetings , and , though slowly ,
appears to be surely and steadily gaining strength and influence , i The best proof of tbis is , that the hireling press of the landlords and profitmongers is at length beginning to find out the existence of this party ; and , as ' a matter of course , to denounce it But this denunciation is a step in advance . The corrupt Press-gang of New York , tr ied first to damn the movement by their silence ; but finding that fail , they have now recourse to shameless falsehoods and brutal denunciation . But this move will fail them too . 4
1 " E'en let them clash ; An auld wife's tongue ' s a feoklefts nrottcx ] To mot ane fash . " The National Reformers have not organized a bit too scon . We only fear lest they have started too late . We fear lest the rascally tyranny of the landlords should drive the people to take at once that justioe by force , whioh more slowly , bnt more safely , may bej obtained through the medium of the baUot-box . Oar zesuUxa will see ia the American
The Northern Star Saturday, October 5, 1844.
THE NORTHERN STAR SATURDAY , OCTOBER 5 , 1844 .
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< - MURDER . As " one marder makes a villain , and m illions * hero , " we have but little hope tbat our protects Government will yet see sufficient eause for m * quiry into the frequency of those » visitation « God , " by which poor men ' s lives onlt are sacri&w ' If the inspection of pits by a Government pensioners belonging to some of the numerous tribes of cor " ruptionists , was a portion of that functionary ; duty , and if a single life of that order was ssw ficed , we should then have a searching inquiry , tolowed , perhaps , by a grand inquisition , and a verdio of manslaughter , if not wilful murder , against , w owner of the colliery : but withja surplus P 0 Pu ™ J to bo disposed of in some way or other , what way « consolatory to the suffering survivors and to wewwi
as the visitation of God . " . Nearly one honored of the VonW «» W lived aad worked not a week ago , have bee i pr » turel , consigned to the ^ « ff * gf h "JuBMURDERED ; aye , RUl'HLES bLI » DERED , by . the system of «™ £ > & ^ tolerated , but encouraged by our uo . Merciful God ! All-wise Dispenser of ^ ^ how blasphemous to suppose ihat tby w , visitation should fall upon W f *^ j creatures whom we are told are thy ^^^ whitedlthegoodthingsof thjs life . o the ^ ^ are too abundantly possessed by the idle
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4 THE NORTHERN STAR . | ^ October 5 , 1844 .
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Northern Star (1837-1852), Oct. 5, 1844, page 4, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/ns/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1283/page/4/
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