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Northern Star (1837-1852), 11th July 1846, Edition 1 of 3, Page unpag, Untitled Article

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  • Departments (2)
    • NOTTINGHAM ELECTION.
    • TO THE IMPERIAL CHARTISTS.
  • Text (6)
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      Untitled Article

      My Beloved Fhiekes , —Much that I should hate . said in my letter this -week yon will find in my -speech at iLe nomination of candidates&tNotting-I ham . I find that , as was the case when the Whigs I before relied upon the Irish place-hunters for power ; tc crash the English Chartists , the trig teggarrnan , who has been the bane of freedom for the last quarter of a century , has commenced his new career by fresh abuse of the Chartist party , at Conciliation HalL This doating , place-hunting driveller , had

      net the candonr or the courage to tell his dupes that nearly 400 , 000 English Chartists had petitioned against the Irish Coercion Bill . Was I not right in designating the fusion Ministry as ' a coalition of English capitalists and Irish place-hunters , and am I not now justified in proclaiming it as my determination , and what should be your policy , to oppose the Whig faction on every hustings by all available means at our disposal , " and to prefer a Conservative , Protectionist , Tory , or the devil himself , to a fusion "Whig ?

      Wheat has already fallen 10 s . a quarter in Liverpool , and a great majority of the growing corn is irreclaimably lost , and let us ask how the Whigs and the place-hunters can contend against such a catastrophe and our registered enmity . Had it not been for the resolution of the men of Nottingham that I should proclaim our principles before Sir John Gain Hothouse , I should have met Macanlay at Edinburgh . However , my pledge was to meet him

      at the next general election — the present skirmish is but a stolen march of the Wnigs , and the unopposed return of their Cabinet bespeaks neither increased confidence nor diminished hostility . I glre yon the following notice of my speech at If ottingham fiom the old bung-hole ( the Jbrmny Advertiser ) , and from if you will learn that the liberal portion of the press meditates another crusade against what it is pleased to call inflammatory

      language . Ur . J-EAKGUS O'Cohso * then ros » , and was greeted by bis adherent" : with thundering applause . He commenced his oration by attempfiag to refute the various allegations of Sir Jonn Hobhouse , that the Whigs had done good ; and , after continuing in a strain of the extremest litaperation for about two hours , in -which he dealt out much language ofabighly inflammatory and seditiousnature , he concluded bj delivering a variety of messages to the Hon . "Baronet , charging Mm strictly to convey them to the Caj , jnet the purport of whieh was , that the people looked upon them as "base , brutal , ana Woody , " and would not hare themfor rnlcrs . Sir Jons promised to do the bidding of the Agitator .

      The Sheriff ( Nathan Hurst , Esq .. ) put both candidates to the vote , wben tke show of hands was immense ' y in fcyour of Mr , O'Connor . "Without waiting for a poll to be uemanaeOj Mr . O'Gonuor -withdrew from the contest , and Sir John was declared to be duly elected . The Sun is more tolerant , the Times is awed into silence ; my speech did not suit the Book of the Post , and in fact they hope once more to crush us by insolence or by silence , but I hurl defiance at the whole press gang ; and with you at my back I will drive the

      Whigs and the Irish beggars into obscurity once mor e . They hope , forsooth , not only to govern the country without us but against us , and while they are drasging every channel of corruption for adherents , they had not the courage to be h onest , or even to pretend to be honest , by appointing the one man alone in whom the people had confidence , to a place in the Cabinet . Not that I imagine that Dancombe would have defiled himself by associating with such a crew , but they might have paid the people the compliment of inviting him .

      I have been asked to attend at the opening of the People's Hall , at Manchester , on Sunday week , the 10 th instant , an invitation which I accept with pleasure , as I trust it may be the means ot inspiring the faithful with conidence , and of retrieving the waverers . A great press npon our space this week precludes the possibility of addressing you at greater length just now , and therefore I must conclude by assuring you of my unaltered and unalterableattach ment to your principles , and my continued devotion to your cause . lam , my friends , Tour faithful fricuil ana servant , Feabges O'Coxxob .

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      Sir John Cam Ilobnouse , having accepted the office of " President of the Board of ControuV' the Ri . sht ; Honourable Baronet was subjected to the disagreea-) hie necessity of appearing before the constituency ' of the Borough once more , to ask them to confirm his appointment , by returning him again to Parliament . He has long been unpopular here , owing to his close alliance with the Whigs , who are thoroughly detested by the people of Nottingham and from " the moment it was announced that he lad become , " part and parcel" of the Russell Administration , every one asked— " Will he not be opposed ? " "Is it possible that he will be allowed to walk over the course ? " Up to Monday . it appeared that the Wkia minister , would not meet with any

      opposition , as all parties seemed to think that it would not be worth while to incur the expense of a contest just now , seeing that the General Election is so near at hand , when both Sir John and kis colleague ilr . Gisborne , are sure to be sent about their business . Late on Monday evening however , a stir was observed amongst the active members of the Chartist body , and on the following morning , large posters appeared notifying that Mr . Fear » us O'Connor would be nominated in opposition to the Whig placeman . A second bill shortly afterwards announced a public meeting , to be held in the market place at seven o ' clock in the evening , to be addressed by Messrs . P . M'Grath , T . Clark , and C . Doyle , of the Executive Committee of the National Charter Association . Mr . O'Connor was also expected to be present and address the inhabitants .

      THE MEETING . Long before the hour of commencip . g business the people were to be seen wending their way to the place of meeting , and shortly after seven o ' clock there were about ten thousand persons present . Mr . James Sweet was unanimously called to the Chair . He commenced Us address by declaring his deadly hostility to the intended reiga of Whiggery , and his determination , as an elector , to offer it all the opposition in his oower ; he had been persecuted by the Whigs for the annoyance which his conduct had caused that faction , but still he was determined to persevere , and if his vote could have any effect upon their existence , they should be again consigned to that obscurity which they were so eminently calculated to adorn . He had the pleasure to introduce to their notice Mr . Thomas Clark , who on coming forward was loudlv cheered : he explained the reasons

      which had induced the Directors of the Chartist movement to appear before the people of Nottingham in oppositiou to their late candidate , Sir J . C . llob-Jiouse , and contended they -would l > ave failed in tlie performance of a great public duty had they not met the Whi" Ministers on the threshold , and declared their determination to oppose the domination of the party who had not left untried any means for the extermination of the Chartists . Mr . C . alluded to some of the acts of Sir J . C . Uobhouse , as a justification for the opposition which he and his friends liad resolved to offer him , and retired to make way for Mr . C . Doyle , who was cordially greeted ; he proceeded to analyse the creed of the uewly formed Cabinet , and adduced historical facts to prove that . the Whigs had never been more than mere expediency managers , always persecuting the real friends of the people .

      Mr . Dotle dwelt at length upon the misconduct of the llussell party when last in office , and concluded an energetic and powerful address by appealing to tlic electors of Nottingham to reject Sir J . C . Jlobliousc . The chairman nest introduced Mr , Phillip M'Grath , vrko was received with loud applause , lie congratulated the working men of Nottingham upon the spirit which they Lad evinced in assembling together in such large numbers with such short notice , lie was sure they would on the morrow at tlic nomination , sustain their high character for independence and intelligence . Like his brothers of the Executive , lie had tlie most unbi / undtd confidence in them : so

      much so , that they were ctrtam of success . Air . O'Connor ' s object in meeting the Whig knuJit , was not so muck to find fault with him personally , as to strike a blow at the party of which the inconsistent Baronet formed a part . Sir J . C . Uobhouse hud once been a" Radical Reformer , " but for reasons , which , from motives of delicacy aud chastity he would not mention . Sir John had retrograded , but the penulthad jirogrcs'ed . ( Cheers . ) " Finality" would not do in tho e days of improvement when knowledge was ' . sprcadijjp al-rcad w « b a celerity that was as antoundi in */ , as it was grati ' yijijj . ( Cheers . ) 0 » wa , i < l must f be " tlie movements of ibe new . Ministry , ortki-y v . ouiu be iiiirlc-a frova power Iiy sn indi = nr . jit and justly « caaeK i td Fo ; Je . ( Mr ^ M'Hrat n s stores wns here who reached Nottingham by thecidn . owttran ., an . who mis met and fc-eorted to ike meeting by t . ou-Znlsof the working men . ) After the encermg waich

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      greeted his appearance had subsided , Mr . O'Connor stepped forward and assured the meeting that his only object in being amongst them was to plead the canse of labour , which had hitherte been left out of the calculation of statesmen , but thanks to tho increasing intelligence of the aye , Labour ' s Sons were now able to advocate their own rights , in such a manner that tyrants trembled at their growing power . _ Sir J . C . Hobhouse was not a friend to the rights of labour , and therefore he would oppose him . ( Cheers . ) He would meet him on the hustings in the morning , - ( loud eheers ) -and as Nottingham had been the sceneof someof his former triumphs , he doubted no that he was once more on the eve of an additional triumph . ( Cheers . ) His victories , however , were for the neonle . not for himself . ( Hear . ) He had no

      personal iltfeeling towards the gentleman wnoni Be was presentto oppose , but he detested his politics and his party , and he would therefore struggle against them to the last . As it was not his intention to become hoarse by speaking too much in the open air on the night previous to the engagement , and as they had already heard good speeches from those who had gone before him , he would take leave of them for the nightand promise them to renew his acquaintainship with them in the morning in the most friendly wanner imaginable . ( Loud and continued cheering . ) Mr- O'Connor was then accompanied to his lodging by a number of the working men , and the meeting broke np . Mr . O ' Connor ' s appearance amongst us once more has created the greatest possible-enthusiasm and excitement . It seems like old times I

      [ The Whig committee of Sir J . Hobhouse had been busily engaged in reprinting and distributing thousands of Cooper ' s infamous letterfrom Lloyd ' s Refuge for Renegades , and the fact having been communicated to Mr . O'Connor , and a copy handed to him , he said " The Whigs have been circulating the mad poef 8 letter . " Shouts of laughter and cheers answered this announcement . It was well for Cooper that he was not present . This fact of printing his ' filthy letter" for the purpose of damaging Chartism ,

      settles the question of Cooper bewgnow a Chartist , " since the enemies of Chartism claim him for their own . We wish Cooper joy of his new friends . He may rejoice that his "filthy" letter has been printed and circulated at the cost of Whig gold , but let him not natter himself that his Whig friends have succeeded in damaging Chartism or Mr . O'Connor ; they have however consigned the moralising slanderer to a still lower depth in the " Purgatory of Suicides . " — " Alas poor Yorick ! " !

      THE NOMINATION . WznsESDAT . —The nomination took place this morning , and as we all anticipated , Hobhouse was quite unpopular , Mr . O'Connor's reception was everythingthat we could desire , and he in return acquited himself so far exceeding everything in the shape of public oratory that ever we heard , that to some other pen must be left the task of pourtraying its effects upon those who had the good fortune to hear it . After the usual ceremonies had been completed , Frasc s Hart , Esq ., proposed Sir John Cam IJobhouse as a fit and proper person to represent . the borough of Nottingham . ( Cheers and groans . ) Thomas Herbert , Esq ., Mayor , seconded the nomination . *

      Mr . James Sweet proposed Feargus 0 Connor , Esq . ; aud Mr . William Moit seconded the proposition . Sir Johs Cam Hobhouse , on rising , was greeted with partial cheering and tremendous groans and hisses , which having subsided , he addressed the electors , saying that had not his Honourable opponent requested for him afair hearing , he had no doubt the electors would have granted him one . He was pot astonished at Mr . Feargus O'Connor conducting himself so handsomely towards him , as they had sat side by side in the House of Commons , and he ( Sir John C . Hobhouse ) had had the honour of being his coadjutor on questions of great importance and reform .

      —( Hear , hear . ) The Hon . Gentleman proceeded to defend himself from the charge of being a " renegade , " advanced against him by the proposers of Mr . O'Connor . He cited his labours in the Liberal cause in aiding in carrying the Reform Bill , the Catholic Emancipation Bill , &c . He continued : — Having said that it is my boast to be one of those who , long -iivftre reform ; was ponufar— Jong before reform was the watchword of Ministers—long before reform was the favourite word and sentiment with monarchs—I now declare that I and my much-lamented friend Sir Francis Burdett —( groans)—and Mr . O'Connor can tell you it is fact—that we belonged to the persecuted band who moved onward

      and earned reform . —( A voice , "What are you now ? " ) I am twenty-four years older than I wa * then . —( Laughter , and a voice " Older and worse . " ) But 1 am telling you what I was at my first setting out , and the principles I then espoused I have never for a moment ceased to act upon since . —( Hear , hear . ) I have been accused of being what is called a party man : it 5 s perfectly true , as my honourable friend the seconder of Mr . O'Connor has said . I did find fault with the Whigs , and I would now if they were to do as they did then . But I beg leave to say I did not go to the Whigs , but the Whigs came to me . —( Applauseand Hear , hear . ) When I went into Parliament in 1819-20 , the Whigs were not friendly

      to Parliamentary reform . But when they proposed to bring that great measure ( the Reform Bill ) forward , I became incorporated with that party , and 1 have never seen any reason to desert them . He proceeded to vindicate the past measures of the Whigs since 1832 , and eulogised their good intentions for the future , ne retired amidst the cheers of his friends and the overpowering groans of his opponents . [ We have merely indicated the purport of the Whig Candidate ' s speech ; for a fuller report we must refer those who wish to see the speech to the Times , Clironicle , Post , Herald , Daily Newt , and M . Advertiser—all these papers report Hobhouse ' s speech , but give not one word of Mr . O'Connor ' s . ]

      Mr . O'Connor upon presenting himself was received with loud cheers and waving of hats , which appeared to astonish his opponent . When the applause had subsided , he spoke as follows . Mr . Sheriff , electors , and non-electors of Nottingham , the only triumph that I seek to achieve from this day ' s proceedings is that of reading such a lesson to the right lion , gentleman who claims your support , as may induce him to abandon his new course of error and return to the advocacy of those principles which he held dear in former days , and which would yet render him dear to the working classes . ( Cheers . ) My desire is to exhibit to him such a manifestation of popular improvement as shall convince him of the

      hopelessness of longer governing this country by factioH . ( Cheers . ) There is no office more valuable than that of censor , and its loss has received but a poor substitute in a corrupt and venal pres 3 . ( Cheers . ) When a candidate presents himself for the suffrages of the people , it is due to him , and justice to them , tbat his opinions and pretensions should be searchingly canvassed , and with that view I shall now proceed to examine the qualification which the right honourable gentleman's proposer and seconder have endeavoured to establish as his title to your support . First to the gentleman who proposed him . He based the right honourable gentleman's pretensions npon the fact that he had been a consistent

      ind strenuous advocate of . ' civil and political liberty . This branch of the subject I shall consider in its proper place . The worshipful mayor , who seconded tho nomination , ingenuously , if not prudently , confessed that some differences of opinion upon various subjects existed between him and the right honourable gentleman . He told us , however , that , as another op . portuaity would shortly occur of canvassing those differences more minutely , that the present time was neither fitting nor appropriate to the purpose . He further told us that the differences were immaterial , as between the present time and the right honourable gentleman ' s next appearance no public business would be transacted , while he told us in the next breath—and I am glad that he is not an Irishman , as lie favoured us With

      more than one bull — ( Cheers anil laughter )—lie told us that it was necessary to re-duct the right hon . gentleman that he might aid IMMEDIATELY iu carrying out those great national measures which were about to bo proposed by the government . As Jar as his friend is . concerned , he has committed even a greater blunder than this , for if I had been inclined to canvas the individual character of Sir John Cam Ikibhouse , he has placed it out of Kiy power , hy Leaping upon him such excessive tiilogiiun for those measure ? , in the acfwap ' -isluuwit of wl-idi he has informed you die right hon . -gentleman was a principal actor , —therefore , I am now justified in treating him iuhis corporate capacity , as a member of an administration which I mean to charge with euormoua crimes , in-

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      consistencies , and follies . ( Cheers . ) The right hon . gentleman cannot expect to reap ^ individual glory and escape censure . I now turn ttfifeconsideration of the right hon . gentleman ' s appeal . In commenting upon the harsh epithet applied to him by the friend who proposed me , he observed , that "HARD WORDS BREAK NO BONES ; " but from the tenor of his address I fear he forgot the twin

      adage"SOFT WORDS BUTTER JS O PARSNIPS . " In replying to the charges made against him by the friend who seconded me , he has told you , and truly , that to the Reform Bill to which he gave his support , he owes the power of nomination that he has exercised here to-day . I admit it—but is that an answer to the general failure of the Reform Bill . The queation is not , whether these two gentlemen have received aright , or a boon ; but the question is , whether it has been withheld from thousands and tens of thousands to whom the Reform Bill promised it . ( Loud cheers . ) The right hon . gentleman has told you , that he not

      only extended the suffrage to cities and boroughs , but that he also extended it to counties . Yes , it is true , he gave us a rural constituency of .. an hundred and eight thousand . tenants-at-will , slaves to " tnercaprice of their landlords ; and capable of overawing the bit of liberality that previously existed in counties . ( Cheers . ) And the right hon . gentleman has boasted , that the Government , confident in its measures , confident in popular support , and confident in its own integrity , has appealed—not to boroughs , not to small constituencies ; but to London , to Nottingham , to Edinburgh , Plymouth , and the West Riding of

      Yorkshire . Aye , but to whom do they appeal ? Faction knows where to lean , faction knows what to avoid . They have appealed to rotten constituencies , created by their own Reform Bill for their own purposes . ( Loud cheers . ) The whole tenor of the right hon . gentleman ' s address was confined to the laudation of the Whigs for measures in carrying which they had no share . He appears to forget that there exists a material difference between men looking for power , and the same men exercising power . ( Cheers . ) He has travelled far out of tlie record . He has gone into the old

      almanack , bufcl shall confine myself te the period beyond which the memory of man goeth not—the Reform Bill , with a mere passing glance at some of those changes for which the right hon . gentleman takes credit—the merit of which is not due either to him or his party . He has instanced Catholic emancipation , as if tho Whigs had carried or oven forwarded that measure . It was one of those conditions upon which the union between the two countries was effected ; and often as the Whigs were in power , from the period of the Union to the passing of that measure , they gave to it but a mere party , factious

      support , making it the war-cry of Ireland , and using it simply for the purpose of party ascendancy ; and even then it was not the Whigs , nor yet the Tories , that carried it ; it was carried by Daniel O'Connell and the Irish people , when it was dangerous longer to resist it . ( Cheers . ) The Test and Corporation Act , of which he has also boasted , was passed antecedent to the Reform Bill , and by a boroughinongering Parliament ; and the Municipal Act , for which he takes credit , was but a poor boon for so great a measure . A boon which transferred power from a bloated to a hungry faction , and imposed more taxes

      upon you to fatten the lean Whigs , whilst it excluded you from any participation in municipal affairs-( Loud cheers . ) The hon . gentleman has told you that the only change in him is that he is twenty-four years older than when he first advocated the great principles of Reform .. In mercy to . l » m ... and . in justice" to you , would lie had remained at his then age , and in possession of his then principles . ( Loud cheers and laughter . ) I now turn to a consideration of the fruits of the Reform Bill , which he has told you by his labours was made more Radica ] and sweeping than the Whigs had originally intended .

      Let us canvas its results , and the means by which it was carried . The government of that day , unable of itself to force the measure upon the boroughmongering parliament , had recourse to declamation nr . d popular agitation , never before witnessed in this country . A Minister of the Crown corresponded with the Birmingham unionists—the reform demagogues had so recommended their measures to the favour of the industrious classes , that the nation appeared to conspire in one general effort to effect the great change . The flame of reform , as was natural , traversed the country , and even reached the remote

      county of Dorset . ( Tremendous cheering . ) All the angry passions of an excited people were put in requisition , to balance the weakness of a faction . ( Loud cheers . ) So the measure was carried , and now for its results . The right Iioh . gentleman has told you that he and I sat upon the same side of the House , and were coadjutors in the supportof Reform-We did sit upon the same side of the House it is true , but we did not vote npon the same side of the question . Who carried the Irish Coercion Bill ? ( Tremendous cheering . ; Who voted for it ? You did , I did not . ( Loud cheers . ) It was a bill more a-

      trocious in character , more unconstitutional , less needed , more base , brutal , and bloody , than that by timely opposition to which you have succeeded to temporary power . ( Cheers . ) Your Reform Bill promised justice to Ireland , but have you governed the country by the ordinary law ? Did you keep your pledge ? Did you redeem your promise ? or did you not pack the House at the dead of night with your military supporters , flushed with wine from the Royal table , aad did you not exhibit your new Whig jurors in their military uniforms , the jurors whose finding was to become a substitute for that of a constitutional

      jury . Have you forgotten your Courts Martial , your domiciliary visits , your suppression of public opinion , and your law to transport Irishmen for being out of their hovels aftersunset . ( Tremendous cheering and waving of hats . ) If you have , Ireland has not , and I never shall . ( Loud cheers . ) Have you forgotten your starvation bill ? by which you hoped so to degrade the labourer as to compel him to sell his labour for any pittance that the proud capitalist may condescend to offer him . ( Continuedcheering . ) Have you forget that you separated husband from wife , and both from their children ? ( Great

      cheering . ) Have you forgot that-a Whig judge so far strained the ordinary law as to transport the Dorchester labourers , whose hopes you had raised , and whose passions you had excited , by straining an act of par liament enacted for suppressing mutiny in the navy ? Have you forgotten that you attempted to suppress tke Birmingham Unionists and Trades' Unions that helped you to power ? Have you forgot your protestations in favour of the free expression of public opinion , and have you forgot your inhuman crusade , not only against the conductors , but against the poor vendors , ot the unstamped press ? ( Loud and

      continued appfause . ) Have you forgot the war that you waged against the Chartist body for the mere expression , nay , in many instances , for merely listening to opinions which you in your youth had propagated ? Have you forgotten your £ 1000 bail before tri : il ? Have you forgotten your cropping of hair ofF your own disciples —their consignment to felons' dungeons and felons' fare , to the treai ! - wlieel and silent system , for two , three , four , and five years ? ( Uproarious applause , and "Take

      that , Johnny . " ) nave you forgotten the trial of working men by special juries ? Have you forgotten the spies , the informers , the lickspittles that drained your Exchequer , made you bankrupt in fawn , and Wliiggery a term of just derision throughout the world ? ( Tremendous cheering . ) Have you forgotten tho use you made of the royal prerogative , and has if . escaped your memory that while Louis Fhillippe , the tyrant of France , was seeking opportunities to extend amnesty to political offenders , you were abusing tho royal prerojrati- ,

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      you were tarnishing the brightest gem in the royal diadem , by searching the hulks and the prisons for objectsof royal clemency . ( Tremendous cheering . ) During ' , your rule we had a royal marriage , and royal f-babes , pledges of royal felicity , and none furnished you with sufficient pretext to liberate ' : ine of your own political disciples . No ! you allowed them to pine in dungeons , and som < . of them to breathe their last as victims of the ORDINARY LAW . ; ( Indescribable sensation and cheering . ) Wh ^ re was your justice ? Where was your mercy ^ , when you made one of those sixty , who ,

      after the most savage i-Vengeance had been taken by the law ^ otedifor a ' continuance of your triumph , and kept iis still in felons' dungeons ? ( cheers . ) Was it according ^ to the ordinary Jaw you sent me for eighteen months to a'feion ' s dungeon for proclaiming the principles which . you' had instructed me in . ( loud cheers . ) Ah ,, but I survived your tyranny ! My party , : notwithstandirig' the treachery of your j Attorney General , your , / Sco | ch auyenturer , yo « r political ' n § jtlari : i your tramping pauper , your Chan : l ^ & ^ 'iiPB i ^^ TSffirefmyeriul andfaererlrnined ^ toresistyour ' coaiition "

      of English Capitalists and Irish place-hunters than at any former period of our existence , ( loud and continued cheering and waving of Hats , ) and here from this spot I hurl defiance at your authority , and tell your Cabinet from me , that tlie world has never presentcd . in any country , a union organised for liberty such as that which now exists in this country , ( loud cheers . ) We may be less violent than we were , but our partial reaction has been occasioned by the fact that , for five long years the greatest statesman that ever the world beheld has conducted on incipient Chartist agitation , ( loud cheers . ) Sir Robert Peel

      ( renewedcheering ) has left you upon a bed of thorns , which your finality Lord , NOT YET STRONG ENOUGH FOR THE PLACE , will find it difficult to follow in the steps of that giant performer . And although you have succeeded him by a happy accident , yet I tell you nineteen in every twenty of the people of this country would vote to-morrow for his restoration to power . ( Great cheering . ) You live but upon sufferance , within your Cabinet are the elements of dissolution , you have three Greys , all holding the most important offices , with a Ponsonby for your Irish Lord-Lieutenant , and Charles Buller ,

      who is a disciple of Grey ' s , upon your flank . The difference between Brougham and Grey is this—that Brougham will agree with nobody ; Grey can't even agree with himself . ( Cheersand laughter . ) Do you suppose that the heated Protectionists , after their temporary spleen shall have subsided , will not rather coalesce with Peel than bear even your extensive pledges for the preservation of office . A coalition may destroy you , a thunder storm would annihilate you . ( Laughter and cheers . ) Aye , I request of the right hon . gentleman to look right and left on his way home , and throughout he will see the greatest

      enemy to Whiggery—he will see rcore corn irreclaimably lost than ever was known at this period of the year before . He will see twothirds of the wheat fields , not laid but flattened , all proclaiming the incompetency of an imbecile government to complete the great commercial policy of its predecessor . ( Cheers . ) The right hon . Baronet , after proclaiming what the Whigs did not do , raised our hope , by a promise to define the future policy of his government . You and I , and all of us , were anxious for such an important developement . But he began with lauding the commercial policy of

      Sir Robert Peel , the foundation of . which , he said , was . Ia id / 1 by the present-Prime Minister / and his party ;_ forgetting : the " noble Lord ' s 83 ; fixed duty , which was his lowest bid for free trade support , until lured by the tempting bait of a replenished Exchequer , ( Cheers and laughter . ) when he said , take all , perish every interest , for another suck at the old cow . ( Cheers and laughter . ) The right hon . Baronet and his friends will soon suck her dry once more , and then the haberdashers , the manufacturers , the clothiers , the bankers , shopkeepers , and speculators , of which our representative assembly is composed ,

      will call out for another clerk , another bookkeeper to sit behind the desk of the great counting house of the nation . ( Cheers and laughter . ) The right hon . Baronet , however , failed ; to gratify our curiosity further than by assuring us , that the thing would eventually be ^ done . What that tiling is , however , whether it is his thing , or Lord John Russell ' s thing , thnt is to be done , we are left in blissful ignorance . ( Tremendous cheers and laughter . ) I have no confidence in the right hon . gentleman ' s thing . I tried it before , and found it wanting ; it will not stand the popular scrutiny . ( Uproarious laughter . )

      The late Lord Chancellor Plunkett once observed , that we Irish barristers were frequently about the thing , and about the thing , but not a whit nearer the thing , and so it is with the present administratration . But as the right hon . gentleman-has so vauntingly boasted tho capacity and intentions o his present leader , let us canvas the meagre programme upon which he once more hopes to secure tke public con 6 denee . We have the test of his efficiency in an indictment . framed against himself , which his friends have foolishly paraded as his fitness for office . After ten years' uninterrupted ' possession

      of power we are told of tho social reforms still required . We learn that after the plunder of one party for the gratification of the most powerful , and after the adjustment of the ^ commercial relations of aetiva speculators , that now something must be done for the social comfort of the poor . And what is that something ? He tells us that the " sanatory condition" of the poor is in a deplorable state — that tho state of the " criminal law" is yet a problem to be solved , and that the system of " education" is lamentably imperfect—but not a word about the TEN HOURS '

      BILL—( Tremendous cheering)—not a word about the repeal of the Poor Law Amendment Act —( Renewed cheering )—not a word about tho extension of the franchise . ( Repeated cheers . ) Tell the noble lord , from me , that our policy of sanatory improvement is , every man his own ventilator of his own cottage—( Cheers)—every man his own sewerer , that we require no national system of education , that what we require is , every father of a family shall from the fruits of his own labour be able to educate his own family . ( Great applause . ) Wo require no repetition of the national farce , by which £ 30 , 000

      was voted for national education , and £ 10 , 000 for the comfort of Prince Albert's horses . ( Renewed cheering . ) The right hon . baronet , practised as ho is in the science of agitation , is not yet aware of the mine that is about to spring under the fragile fooling on Avhich faction stands . He has slept while we were awake . ' He does not understand that Glasgow and Plymouth . Newcastle and Bristol , Edinburgh and Bath , Manchester and London , arc now of one mind . That we have created a new public opinion and organized a new public opinion , and that the next demand upon the leaders of the movement party will be bravely and successfully to direct that opinion . ( Tremendous chcerm '' . ) While he and his parly ; irc

      clamouring for cheap bread , which means low wages—( Cheers . )—tho people have set their hearts upon tho . thhig that produces bread TilK LAND . ( TremendousCheering . )—He and his party may talk for ever about their commercial arrangements by which' the people arc led to hone for their miserable share , bufcl tell them that labour will be Siitisdeil with no change short of that which will make every man his own producer and his own consumer , regardless whether tlie surplus isworih 3 * . or . 1 : 3 per quarter . ( Gn : ; it applause . ) lias tlic i » hfc hon . baronet enjoyed' tho repose of Rip Van Winkle , ami has he been asleep while the universal movement has been going forward ? Whether we leok

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      to Russia with its despotism , or Prussia with its despotism , to Poland openly struggling , dr the Italian States secretly conspiring , to France in a state of ef fervescence , faction in Spain living upon periodical revolutions , or Portugal after her triumph , to Austria bending beneath the weight of the wrongs of her Italian States , or the republic of Switzerland struggling for more popular freedom , can he , I ask , for a moment , suppose that England , though less excited , yet upon occasion more excitable , will hang back in this universal inarch for freedom . ( Cheers . ) No , I tell him

      that , in spite of Whig coercion , of the strained ordinary law , of party and judges , packed juries , suborned witnesses , spies , perjurers ! ami informers , in spite ; of the dock , the dungeon , and the scaffold , the English mind and Englishmen will knock down and trample upon your boasted landmark of corruption ) and with an irresistible torrent sweep away every vestige of usurped rights and stolen privileges . ( Tremendous cheering and waving of hats . ) The right hon gentleman has named penny postage as a great boon : I admit it ' as a means of communicating grown opinions , and I ask him if he can contemplate the

      rapid progress of their transit , without shuddering for the reign of despotism . Can he think of our railways , and our steam navigation , and hope that tho science of legislation is alone to stand still white all others are rapidly hurrying on to the goal of perfection , ( cheers . ) Has he reflected that we can now shake hands with America , in possessisn of a republic , and kiss France panting for the same form of government , without coming to the conclusion that England is the great volcano in the midst of ocean , and that the free expression of opinion is the only safety valve that can save us from explosion . ( Great

      cheering , in which Sir J . Ilobhousejoined . ) I agree with Junius and with Burke , that agitation is as the hue and cry that prepares you for tho thief by announcing his approach , but once stop it and ho will come stealthily upon you in the night . ( Cheers . ) There is no dangei 1 of a physical revolution in England , so long as public discussion is permitted , but once stop it , as in France , and other countries , and you may retire to rest in peace to be roused by the war cry from your slumber . ( Great cheering . ) We have not hepn bohiiwl In me march of mind , wnen we find America , in possession of

      republican institutions for three quarters of a century , compelled to adopt our cry for the Land , as tho only means of completing her freedom . What- country with the wealth and the power that England can boast of , is so liable to combustion from apparently insignificant causes , and yet the death of any one of Mireo old gentlemen , might throw us into anarchy . andconfusion . If Mr . O'Connell , Louis Philippe , or the Duke of Wellington , die to-morrow , the wisest man would not vouch for ten days' permanency of our institutions . And thus your system must be bad , when it cannot stand the death

      of one old man , or a single thunder-storm . ( Great cheering . ) The right hon . gentleman felt sore at being reminded of his old opinions . I shall not torture him with further extracts from his juvenile speeches , not liable to the same charge of incorrectness as Hansard , the Mirror , or the press—the dread of hasty and intemperate speakers . This is a book written at his own express desire , lest his opinions of those days should be misconstrued or forgotten . Here are resolutions embodjing his opinions , and -testifying . his fitness as a represent ative for tho . radiciilism they contained . From this book I learn

      that he declared himself a Republican in 1819 . ( Loud cheers . ) He also declared himself for the extension of the Franchise , not merely to my two ftiendB , who have proposed and seconded me , but to the mechanic , the artisan , and the labourer . ( Cheers . ) He has declared himself for the fullest extension of the suffrage , for short Parliaments , and equal electoral districts , and yet while he was Minister , land others have been treated like felons for propagating those principles -which rendered him worth the purchase of his party . ( Cheering . ) Of all mea living I have a right to charge him as the author of all my

      suffering . "When I was allowed but half a glass of wine , the toast that my father used to propose was PROSPERITY TO IRELAND , when I was entitled to two , the second was " A DOWNFALL TO TYRANNY ALL OVER THE WORLD , " and when I got three the last was the health of Lords Grey and Russell , Sir Francis Burdett , aDd John Cam Hobhouse . We were four of a persecuted family , even of a persecuted race . I was the youngest ; it was my task to read the parliamentary debates and speeches of the reformers , and the room not unfreauently rung with

      cheers for Hobhpuse . My eldest brother's tasK was to read Cobbett ' s Register , and my ' second brother read the Examiner , and my third read the leading articles in the daily and weekly newspapers . Thus I was one of the pupils of the right hon . gentleman . And now , I ask him , how he can dare to look me in the face , having abandoned those principles , while the weight , the penalty , and odium of sustaining them devolved upon me . ( The most indescribable scene ever witnessed upon a hustings followed this appeal . Mr . O'Connor keepinghis eyes sternly fixed upon Sir John Hobhouse , whilethevastmultitudecheeredandcheored

      again ; those standing behind the right 'hon . gentleman stooping forward to get a peep , while he blushed and turned pale , attempting , but in vain , to look his opponent in the face . ) Ah ! Sir , continued Mr . O'Connor , I am too faithful a disciple to be converted or intimidated by your dishonourable coalition , or your unnatural fusion . ( Cheers . ) You boast of Whig consistency , while you arc obliged to appeal to the Tory Duke to be your Commander-in-Oliief . You boa-t of Whig honour , when the consistency of Sir Robert Peel alone saved three juvenile statesmen , Lord Dalhousie , Sidney Herbert , and the Earl of

      Lincoln from falling into your patronage-baited trap . ( Cheers . ) Do not , however , mistake me , this fusion is what I have long expected , and now hail with joy . You have now destroyed all political distinctions as tar as name goes—you have marshalled the rich oppressors of all classes against the poor oppressed , and therefore do I hail it . A great charge against the Chartists was , that they sometimes allied themselves with the Tories against the Whigs , but now you have destroyed the right to repeat that

      charge . You have had your fusion , we'll have our fusion , and perhaps out of the two fusions , wo may have a confusion , too strong for Whig liberality or tho ordinary law . ( Loud cheers . ) How coiues it that you boast of what the Reform Bill baa done , when we fiud you relying upon Catholic Emancipation , the repeal of tho Test and Corporation Act , and other changes effected by a borouglmioiigering Parliament , » nd now basing your pretensions to power , not nwv . what the reformers have done or will do , but upon ivliat the Tory Peel has effected . You shuddar like

      ; i guilty man at the recollection of your own acts , and would vainly cover your misdeeds by stripping tho honoured carments from your opponents . ( Cheers . ) How , in the face of truth , of practice , and of acts , can you presume to eulogise the Reform Bill , when it is a known taut , that whereas' Mr . Pitt and his successor * never calculated upon a larger working majority than 30 , tho same party were enabled in the teeth of your Reform Bill to secure a majority of one hundred . ' ( Loud cheers . ) Is that a proof of progress , or is it not a tact that whereas the Whig constituencies arc too liberal for their representatives , tho Tory representatives are too liberal for their constituencies . ( Cheers . ) How have you

      Untitled Article

      gained your majorities ? At first , by extensive pi- - mises from the Reform Bill , you secured a majority of over 150 , and in 1834 J you perished under the weight of your own profligacy . You supported youc government uv patronage and expensive commigsions ; , youdied a natural death ; you ; fell to pieces tromyour own rottenness , and then in the hope of propping the edifice by splicing what appeared sound , you got a vote of confidence in Lord Althorp , and every member calling himself liberal , with the exof

      ception myself , signed the degrading document . Aye , even the Irish pedlars , the prostitute place- hunters , voted confidence in the man , who , but the , year before , had coerced their- country . and deprive * her people of even the semblance of a ' constitution . You were expelled from ' office , ' . and ' in . 1835 you * ' came in upon no better cry thanV" the Irish Chuieh " , and keep tho Tories out . " You lingGredon till 1837 , f wasting of Whi jf consumption , when the death of tho monarch furnished you and your beggarly supporter ! with theory of the LOVELY young Queen and Reform , and from that period till ISil , you irent oa ' bribing , dissipating , corrupting , and betraying , till ' at last you perished to rise no more , except \\ pr 8 $ b / tho ruin of a man who accomlished what darei tuitvii iruv / viuUduvu

      p you - —••• v » * uvv | ' nllwv JVU UUlCfX npt propose . You exhausted the Exchequer , joa disgraced the country , you dishonored the name of whig , and made Reform a bye-word of contempt . ( Loud Cheers . ) When we raise tho midnight torch , once more , which we assuredly will , if yon will not redress our grievances , and admit ; us to a full , free and fair participation in the reprcgeutation of t"e country—will you again treat us to your ordinary law ? When we again rise as one man , will you prosecute us again for circulating the : opinions which you say you have not abandoned j ? If you Bhould attempt it , sir , give me leave to tell you that I have added a new element to Chartism .- Aforetime ^ we fought the battle with tho hand-loom weavers and

      operatives alone , but now I have added alarge section of the agricultural labourers to the main body of the movement . And when the price of com tumbles , as ifc assuredly will , not to the plentiful , but the starvation point —when bread is :, cheap' bufc labour unemployed , then . Sir , how will you resist the torrent ? Then you will learn that Sir Robert Peel kept the Irish Coercion Bill as a backdoor to walk out of when he- had introduced , and carried his great commercial measures . But even upon this subject I may boast a little . Our neutrality had no slight effect upon the carrying of those

      measures , for perhaps you are not aware that we who had successfully combated and beaten the League from its infancy , assembled in Manchester in December last , and there camb to the resolution that the threatened starvation of the Irish people , added to the dreaded scarcity in England , rendered it impolitic longer to oppose the measure .. ( Cheers . ) Nay , more , Sir , to show you that we weref ully alive to the merits of the question , during the period oftt . V > ° - i ^ itcat- » £ our resistance . - « eeilc&cne very terms to the , Cni-n Tax that Sir Robert Peel was compelled to adopt . This was the form of our resolution , that although the Corn Laws are UNJUST IN PRINCIPLE . th «

      working classes would not ' receive ariy | benefit from their repeal until , by the enactment of the People ' s Charter , they shall be able to direct the change to national instead of class purposes . ( Cheers . ) I ura now , Sir , drawing to a close . I have sought for no other triumph than that which my conscience tells me I am entitled to . But , before we part I must assign the proper reason to the only act of clemency of which your party boasts—I mean , sparing the life of Frost and his companions . ( Cheers . ) Sir , thai act was wrung from your fears , not from your clemency . In vain did Sir Frederick Pollock plwul , im

      vain did Lord Brougham plead , for a mitigation oC punishment ! Five times they implored , but were af often repulsed > ' until an express came from a military officer , high in command , threatening to publish , s letter received from a Whig Minister during the Reform agitation , wherein he was directed not to interfere if popular fury should break out in favour of a Reform Bill . This threat , Sir , had the desired effect , and to youv infamy , and not to your mercy , we are indebted for the lives of our companions . ( Loud and long continued cheering . ) You boast of having moulded your cabinet to the popular will ; hut I ask

      you , how it was that our man , Duncombe , was overlooked ?—the only one amongst you in whom ths People have confidence . ( Tremendous cheering . ) I ask you , if you are a liberal , and the friend of labour , how comes it to pass that you voted against his motion for reducing the labour of the lace workers , although demanded by a majority of the masters and their hands ; and with the knowledge of the fact that your leader had become the . champion of' shophoys , at Exeter Hall , who required relief from the monotony unA tedium of doing nothing behind the counter . ( Cheers . ) How comes it , if you are a libe ral , that you were one of those sixty who voted for

      keeping your disciples in dungeons , after the offended law was more than avenged . ( Cheers . ) How happens it , that if the law is pure , and not used for party purposes , that when prosecuted by the Whigs we selected Tory barristers to defend us , and when prosecuted by the Tories we relied upon the advocacy of Whigs ? How happens it , that with the exception of Baron Rolfe and Baron Alderson , that on the numerous Charti 3 t Trials simple justice was never extended to Chartist prisoners . ( Cheers . ) —and how comes it to pass now that you have formed an administration with only two members , who are not in the Cabinet , in whom the people have hope ok confidence—I mean Mr . C . Buller and Mr . Jervls

      —and even those , I fear , you will corrupt . ( Cheers and laughter . ) Now , Sir , mark me , and mark me well , [ arraign your errors as those of the head ; yoo are amanof powerful eloquence and capacious mind With one exception , during the whole period I was in the House of Commons , 1 never knew a speech that secured a vote or changed [ an opinion , exeen * one made by you . Upon that occasion you secured seven , my own amongst the number . Abandon you ? evil ways , therefore , and come from out that darkness which has so long obscured your vision into thffl daylight and sunshine . ( Great applause . ) Resume your position , not as a , Republican , but as a Chartist , and you will be the second man in the empire . Duncombe will ever hold the first place in popular

      affection . ( Tremendous cheering . ) The rock upon , which the system will split will be the ignorance of out- representatives . Public opinion has marched beyond your commercial policy , railway speculation , sanatory improvement , educational reform , and tlie problem of criminal laws . When you return , , tell your leader to grant those PRUDENT AND TIMELY CONCESSIONS mentioned in his felling letter , and then , we shall want no criininailaws as we shall have no criminals . But tell him there is danger even in the frown of four million unemployed paupers , who , we aw told , depend upon parochial relief , though willing to work . Tell him that the royal chaplain , the lion , and Rev . Baptist Noel , has charged him with a heinous crime and grave offence when he stated that there wero five hundred

      thousand perishing souls lingering within the precinou of tho royal palace , living without God and without hope . ( Loud cheers . ) Tell hint more , and tell it to your colleagues-TELL THEM THAT I AM IN THE FIELD AGAlN- ( trcmcndous and long-continued cheering ) at the head of a phalanx whose numbers will bear thinning by thousands , but . who will no longer submit to that disparity which exists , of starvation foe the industrious , while tho idle live iu pampcrcl luxury . ( Loud cheers . ) Toll him that 1 wnl rue equal to any emergency that his crooked policy way impose upoa me ; that I hurl defiance at his coahtimi and his fusion : and that , if necessary lor the

      achievement of tho People ' s Charter , I will dio m thcatten . pt to gain it . ( Tremendous cheering and wivinc of hats . ) Tell him that we are norther dead nor dyln " . Toll him thai / you have witnessed a hctt public opinion that i , irresistible ; that , hi spite * persecution , our flag till waves in the tawj ; ;« £ ou-, principles are : -ANNUAL PAJLIA ^ MS UNIVERSAL SUFFRAGE ; ^ 1 ^^ BALj NO

      lotVSS ^ ^^ ECTATION : PRO ( Continual to the Eighth Page . )

      Nottingham Election.

      NOTTINGHAM ELECTION .

      To The Imperial Chartists.

      TO THE IMPERIAL CHARTISTS .

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      VOL . X . NO ; 45 L LONDON , SATURDAY , JIJIYH , 1846 . - 'Wv ^ - > lvc 9 hi ™^™^^ " - ' ¦ - - . ¦ -.... ¦ . ¦ ¦;;; : ¦ ..:. ; , , > v , five Shilling * and Sixpence pev Quarter

      Untitled Article

      ¦ ¦ IA ' ' ' ^^^^ . ' . Si rv ¦ > - * »• - * - «¦ " - v' - ¦ - * - m x& AND NATIONAL TBiDiS' JMJINAL .

  • Citation
    • Northern Star (1837-1852), July 11, 1846, page unpag, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/ns/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1374/page/1/