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liy dear Friends ,--As your safety , my safety , and , what is of much moreimportanci the safety of the Democratic i » arty ; a | a princip les all over the world must mainl y , if not entirely , depend upon our wisdom our prudence , and courage , during the ap preaching winter and elections , I hold it to he m \
duty , as one of your leaders , to lay the simple past before you , as a simple guide for a boisterous and complicated future . I am how sitting in a room of one of labour ' s new houses , and writing ray thoughts myself , unobstructed by the city ' s bustle , and unimpeded by the measured ' rule of dictation . I write much better when I jpite myself than when I dictate mv thoughts to another .
The letter I am about to write will be long , and must be preserved , if not for your guidance at least for my justification , when the interested shall scan my conduct , and measure my judgment by the folly cr intemperance of others ; as I have been invariably made the peg upon which faction and desertion have hung their every complaint . Paction , charging me with its own tyranny , rendered necessary by my guilt ; and desertion , charging me with the failure consequent upon its own treacherv .
This address should have been a little booi , entitled— " Reminiscences of the Past , as a Guide to the Future . " Now , follow me , and mark me as I lead you through the political maze of faction , for the last thirteen years and a half . On the 4 th of February , 183 § , I took my seat in the House of Commons , for my native county , the largest in Ireland , and I was returned by ;* he largest majority that any member ever had in a contest , although I never asked a single man to vote for me , to propose me , or to second jne . While-I wasin
the House of Commons I proposed several measures for fiie improvement of the condition of the Irish people ; and I resisted all assaults upon the remaining liberties of the English . I shall not now stop to recapitulate them , but merely observe , that the measures I proposed for Ireland were laughed at , at the time , but many of them have been since adopted . I proposed a system of Poor Laws , based upon agricultural improvements , and labour premiums but NO WORKHOUSES . I proposed that landlords should be compelled to make leases for ever ,
at a rent Tarring ACCORDING TO THE PRICE OF CORN—a plan that must now be adopted . I proposed that in all cases where lands were now held upon leases at war or over high prices , that the real value should be estimated by a jury , in like manner as government , corporations , or chartered companies , can now compel individuals to sell property for national , public , or , indeed , individual benefit . I proposed that all Irish Clergymen holding the commission of-the peace should he suspended . This was received with a laugh , but was ADOPTED
AND PASSED IN THE FOLLOWING YEAR . I drew up a hill for the consolidation of the various stamp acts , in which I incorporated several improvements in our local-courts , such as giving to them an equitable jurisdiction in all transactions between landlord and tenant , and . . constituting a kind of district registration court , whereby tenants may he spared the expence and vexation of Chancery and other ruinous equity suits . I proposed to take away the power of distress altogether . And I also proposed the very best of those measures novr offered
by the Wliiga , and lauded by Mr . O'Connell , as to the mode of establishing the landlord's claims for rant , and the tenant ' s set off—but of themselves insi g nificant , they are but a small part of a great whole . Now , many of my propositions , then laughed at , have been since adopted , and before twelve months all must be conceded , although I WAS THE ORIGINATOR . In 1835 , 1 was ousted , upon the plea that I had not a sufficient qualification ; while about £ 420 , the very worst property I had , was allowed as part . The required amount is £ 600
a year for the life of the member , and in landed property . I had only £ 120 for life—I had , and STILL HAVE , my splendid domain , and splendid mansion , for 9999 years , of which I made about £ 900 a year . I bad about £ 700 a year for three lives , renewable for ever , in which I purchased a life interest for £ 3 , 000 and the reversion of Fort Robert after my death . I was making about £ 2 , 000 a year , and more , of my profession , and I owed a mortgage of . £ 1 , 000 . Now , such was my exact position when I wa 3 unseated hv a Committee of the House of
Commons , a majority being Irish repealers—Major Macnaiaara , the member for Clare , and otber repealers , ¦ voting against me on every question the most ridiculous . Maurice and John O'Connell undertook to strike the committee for me , and left me a tribunal of rank Tones and Irish repealers . Mr . Maher and Mr . Parier , M . P . for Sheffield , alone advocating my cause , while Mr : O'Connell watched the door of the house during the ballot , and prevented Mr . Bodkin and other Irish liberals from attending , observing , that THEY COULD DO WITHOUT ME .
During the whole time that I sat in Parliament I voted for all liberal measures and spoke too liberally even for the English people : my votes and speeches and motions are upon record , and will one day rise in judgment against my enemies . However , I was ousted , which cost me about £ 1 , 350 , my . constituents paying a small portion of it , and Mr . O'Connell had the insolence to say that I had sold the county to my cousin , who was my successor , and to whom I had never opened my lips till the committee had ousted me , and whom I never saw since . Prom
1831 to 1833 I marshalled the whole county and boroughs , and registered the county at my own expense , travelling at my own expense , and defending every man charged with political offences at my own expense . In the autumn of 1835 the two Houses were likely to be brought into collision upon lbs Municipal Reform Bill , the thing which , of all others the Whigs dreaded and the thing which , of oil others , I thought indispensable to the full , and liberal developement and future working of the Reform Bill . The Commons had passed a
sweeping measure of Municipal Reform , and the Lords made various pruning and damaging amendments ^ I commenced an ag itation in the hope of emboldening the Commons to persevere , and had a tremendous meeting of over 10 , 000 at Brentford as a commencement , where we adopted an address to Lord John Russell , encouraging him to persevere with the measures of the Commons , and we also passed strong resolutions condemnatory of the Lords' proceedings I attached paramount importance to a complete opening of all the local channels to power . On tlie
following day I saw Dominick Ronayne , M . P ., for Clonmel , who had given notico of a series of excellent resolutions condemnatory of the Lords proceedings and urging the Commons to peraevere-When I saw Ronayne and told him of our first blow at Brentford , he replied with a sigh , "Ah , my dear fellow , it ' s ah" up , O'Connell bas forced me to aVandon my resolutions , and they mean to accept the Lords' amendments . " I went to dine at the " "\ V 23 tniinster Club , and the first person I saw at dinner was Mr . O'Connell , he invited me to join him , he sairt " Well , my dear wild Fcargus , and how are vou . " I replied , " O'Connell , you have sold us
again , but you shall never sell us more . I will now fail back upon the power outside the house , and I n'iil Marshal the non-elective influence against tlnj electoral power . " He used a good deal of blarney , but ? 1 was resolved , and I instantly set about my work , and upon the 18 th September , 1835 , I established the Great Radical Association in Marylebone , which is the parent of our present gigautic movement . Ill the auJumn of the year , Mr . O'Ccnneil made a ' our of Scotland and Ireland , his chief topic being wase of the BLOATED BUFFOONS-THE OLD WOMEN IN PANTALOONS-THE LORDS . The bject of this agitation was to show the necessity o
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a Reform in the Lords , to carry out the Refc 7 the Commons . He traversed the whole conn ! .. ' the whole press reported him ; he returned to London , and mi ght have proclaimed any description of Reform or even CONSTITUTION he desired . The middle and working classes were with him tft a man , and the leadine , Whigs were nprf « tlv acquainted with his object , which was , under a more exciting topic than mere Whiggery could furnish , to strengthen the hands of that party by weakening those of the enemv . After his tour he returned to
Ireland and wrote a series of letters to Lord Duncannon , then Secretary for the Home Department , and now the Earl of Besborough Lord Lieutenant of Ireland , and the whole burden of which was an offer of Irish support to the Whigs upon the condition of Whig patronage being conferred , through him , upon the leaders . When he returned to England in the following year , lie" hoped to hold a succession ot Whig meetings in London , but I was determined to face him in the outset . He attended a crowded meeting in Theobald ' s-road , with a number of young
Whig friends , and had been invited to take the chair , and came with that intention , however , the people had smelt a rat , and , just as he was going to take the chair , Augustus Beaumont proposed , and Henry Hetherington seconded , me as chairman and I was elected by an immense majority , so large , that O'Connell's friends were paralyzed but did not dispute the election . I opened the proceedings by reading him a lecture which he has not forgotten and never will . When he got up to speak he was very coldly received , and , as is his custom , he-attempted to feel
his audience . He said tberewere 150 Radicals in the house —( no not one was the response . ) Oh , yes , said he , there is one at any rate , for I am one ( no you are not ) . Well then , what am 1 ? ( A Whig ) . He then began to land the Poor Law Act ; this was the signal for general revolt , all hissed . " Dan tried the old dodge . " I wish some one would cram a hot potatoe in that fellow ' s mouth" ( roars of" that won't do here , Dan" ) , and after a long and ineffectual attempt at blarney a lane was opened and the Liberator and his friends passed majestically through the dense body amidst general laughter , but were not treated like the Chartist delegates in Dublin . This
was O'Connell ' s last appearance at a legitimate public meeting in England . The session of 183 G was one of compromise within and discomfiture without . He returned to Dublin , having made his terms with the Saxon Home Secretary , and , with the loss of English popular support rankling in his heart , he denounced me to his creatures as " unworthy the confidence , of the Irish people , '' and said that " when the battle of liberty was to be fought , that I should be found in the enemies ranks . " This denunciation produced my pamphlet of 1 S 36 , and , since its appearance , his name sti-iks in the nostrils of everv honest man .
So much of my narrative , though indirectly connected ' with your cause , bears immediately upon r ay own history . Now I proceed with the consideration of those incidents with which recapitulation will familiarize yon , and very slight reflection will enable you to make one connected narrative of the transactions of the past eleven years , the most eventful period of your country ' s history .
From the moment that I set about the Herculean labour of merging all sectional movements into one great national struggle for independence , and as 1 proceeded on my mission through the populous manufacturing districts , the great difficulty which presented itself in whatever direction I turned , was the deadly resolve of those that WERE TOO IDLE TO
WORK AND TOO POOR TO LIVE WITHOUT LABOUR , to arrestkllprogress , which didnotsecure them the means of comfortable idleness , together with some little notoriety and distinction . This tr ibe of locusts beset me on all hands , and ever had a ready-made Drusus -to set in authority over me in the hope of perpetuating their rule of profitable dleness .
The orking Man's Association was called . nto existence and the leaders cast around or some influential and . wealthy directors , with whom popular support was ^ to be bartered for the necessary supplies , and Hume , Leader , Warburton , Roebuck , Grote , Frank Place , and a host of Malthusians , became the pocketipiece and directing power of this incubus . I met their first experiment of monuments for the Scottish martyrs upon the threshold , and defeated them . This , if successful ,
was to have been followed by meetings for the ballot , and all was done in an under-hand way to support the Whigs . This resistance paralyzed the faction for a season ; but still determined to live and idle , they proposed details for our Radical principles , and once more , voted confidence in , or at least another trial to , Daniel O'Connell and those who cunningly attached their signatures to the People ' s Charter . This was the reason for changing our name from Radicals to Chartists . It was the Morning Chronicle christened us CHARTISTS .
Then came the Canadian question , upon which they again tried to selKus to the Whigs ; and then the Glasgow Cotton Spinners question , which they proposed absorbing to themselves , -when I had done all the work . The professed object of this party -was to form the working classes into one body , and io exclude all save their own members or nominees from taking
any part in public meetings . In short , to do without John Bell , Bronterre O'Brien , and Feargus O'Connor , the three leading Radicals of the day . However , in spite of all , I took the movement out of their hands , and as proof of my every charge against them , we have these two striking indisputable facts on record—not one of the leaders have done a day ' s work since they become politicaus , and every one of them have deserted our ranks since they
discovered that they could not sell us to the Malthusian Whigs , for they are one and all supporters of the DAMNABLE ACT , or at least they never joined in opposition to it . Those gentlemen once tried the dreadful alternative of preventing my speaking upon the question of the Glasgow cotton spinners at the Mechanic ' s Institution , but the audience would hear me , and I spoke till half-past twelve , and sent them all home with their speeches bottled for another
occasion . I have now brought you to 1 S 37 , when this section was utterly routed , and Attwood and the Brummagens sought to occupy their ground . Attwood proposed a sacred holiday , and Mr . Sail and the other emissaries of the merchants and bankers infested the manufacturing districts to push their NEW MOVE . I met Salt at Manchester , and upon the part of the people I consented to the
protect , upon condition that Attwood and . the bankers Iho ' uld cease discounting bills , that the merchants and shopkeepers should refuse their consignments and profits during the' ^ holiday , and further that a sufficient sum should be placed at my disposal to support the indigent poor pending the bankers' and merchants' struggle . I was not in love with the Brummagens , because they had presented a most beastly complimentary address to William IV . just then , in which they had lauded Whiggerv . How-
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ever , my rider to the sacred holiday' smothered t ' project for the present , and the Eniimuageus \\ \ outrageous . ' ¦ . In 1838 the election for delegates to the ensnii \ Convention came on , and AttwootL Doiiglas . Mums ' . Collins ,-and , I believe , Salt , niflilu a tour of Secland to secure support . Douglas travelling y .- ' d . prospectuses of the Birmingham Jnn-na ' . aus Muntz taking orders "for . RIFLES , ai : £ 1 a piece and all recommending tile establishment o / PwFU ! CLUBS as the ONLY MEANS OF CARRYING THE CHARTER , while they had simultaueoiisl * concocted the celeberated Catton-Hi !) moral force
resolutions , m conjunction with Urowstcr , v ' raser , and Abraham Dunkin . The tour was made iu a most gorgeous manner , travelling with four horses , living like fighting cocks , drainirjjj * ye !! nrs , and sill at the expence of jthe funds of Ihe pulil ' iea ) uitwa j while , throughout the march , abuse of Feargus O'Connor was - the staple commodity . Meantime the Cobbettites were active in the manufacturing districts in canvassing for the support and return of their friends to the Convention . The Londoners inundated every district ' with tbelfinisiives for a like purpose , while I never wrote one line , or canvassed a particle " of s ' upportyhrough the Star or otherwise , leaving all to the discretion of the people .
The result of this unconstitutional interference was , that the three sections actually mustered a majority _ of -the Convention . The Brummagens having secured 8 , the Cobbettites 9 , and the Londoners 8 , being a majority of the whole Convention ; a circumstance you may be assured that . cost me no small anxiety , and required no small amount of ] rudence and anxious watching to meet . I dreaded the Whiggery of the Brummagens , the individual ! : m oi the Cobbettites , and the money grubbing of the Londoners , and iu turn each developed its ruling passion . . . ' James Paul . Cobbett made the first assault , in bis cunning resolutions , which were , however , defeated with no further loss than the retirement of the
disappointed INDIVIDUAL from the Convention . The Londoners made a more successful assault upon the funds which thev appropriated to an expensive mission . This I endeavoured to resist , but was compelled to submit to the pecuniary loss , rather than leave the people ' s cause to the mercy of growling , dissatisfied patriots . The effect of this was , firstly , to drain our exchequer ; and , secondlv , as thev travelled in couples , it
had the effect of sectioualising the country once more—the very thing that 1 had struggled to uudo —as each , couple made their prescribed district the future scene of their own popularity , and no two agitated alike . The effect of this tour was to divide the Convention into couplets , each pair relying upon their peculiar locality for countenance and support . Lastly , the Brummagems came out for their ruling
passion—PATRONAGE , aud they sought the most cowardly and unjust course of secession from the Convention . Their real motive was hope of municipal patronage , while their declared reason was some ridiculous physical force speeches made by Mr . Sankey and others at the Crown and Anchor . However , as a proof that the object of one and aU was division , we have the fact , that three sections have sought refuge in one species or other of patronage . The Brummagems in solid coin . The Londoners in a kind of show box speculation , hirine jugglers for the illustration of metaphysics .
And the Cobbettites have sunk into a kind of telescopic reveree , from which they can see only , and therefore only contemplate , their own im . portance . . Prior to the first general rupture , all tried to force the Convention into a discussion upon the merits of the physical force question , which , however , I successfully resisted to the last , and so far saved the body from the general charge , while the effect was to saddle upon me every torch and dagger expression of nil .
Then came the consideration that was paramount to all others , as far as our own very existence as a party was concerned : —the discussion of ulterior measures , the object of which was to force me into approval of Lovett ' s foolish and illegal proposition . - " There " was not one soul . in the Convention with whom I conferred upon any of those subjects , and 1 saw no safety except in removing the sittings from London to 'Birmingham , in which , after a long , angry and protracted debate , I succeeded ; and , finally , was enabled to reject a scheme which was concocted for the mere , purpose of catching the enthusiastic mind of those exciting times , and of placing the Londoners in the-ascendant .
Then came the question of the sacred holiday , and the anxiety and responsibility consequent upon a mad freak , the failure and disaster of wfoidh I was well aware would fall upon me , and at * the same time the exha « stion of the Exchequer , which set all about preparing themselves to meet their constituents with exaggerated accounts of their own courage , and the fact that , but for Feargus O'Connor , they would have had the Charter ,
When we returned from Birmingham , I saw no alternative but to divide the remnant of the plunder amongst the cormorants , and dissolve the Convention , retaining a managing council to wind up the affairs and pick up the few remaining crnmbs , and by which I was enabled to lessen the horrors of the Attwood holiday , and saved thousands from starvation , transportation , and death—and thus ended the session of the Conventioh of 1839 ; which cost me many a sleepless night , and the country many a
thousand pound ; but which , nevertheless , has more than repaid the cause , from the fact that it was the first notice to the working classes , that if their work is to be done , it must be done by themselves . Next came the sectional struggle fpr local approval and support of whatthedelegateshadindividuallyproposed , and all of which would have succeeded , but for Feargus O'Connor ; but , thank God , it did not . This ripping up of old sores was a heavy blow , and always recoiled on the assailants . Mad Dr . Flecther commenced it .
Then came the Herculean difficulty of saiisfyingthe people with what had been done . I made my first tour with this view in Scotland , and the first enemy that presented itself , was the establishment of secret associations—the members of which were to correspond in invisible ink , to hold secret mid-night meetings , and enter upon a full system of proscription . At Glasgow , I met Mr . MASON , NOW of BIRMINGHAM , as the herald and propouuder of this bloody conspiracy , and the result was , that , though in very ill health , I was compelled to make a lengthy tour to caution the Scotch people against this blow at their cause—nay , at their lives .
Thus broken up , and the country disappointed , we became an easy prey to the government , which dreaded our power , while we had even the semblance of union . The ^ treacherous and weak and silly speech of Attwood on presenting the National Petition—when lie attempted to sacrifice the popular movement to
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• ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ . ¦ ' ' note crotchet , disheartened the ¦ '' ¦ ' ' cs , and mule m appear ridiculous in , ¦ . ' ,.: '¦ ; ,. ' /• Eumpe , from l » e notion that , after ¦ .. / . ;¦ iwiim . note mania was the paramount ¦ ' „ ' ' ¦ ' '"'¦('¦ ' . iaviiMti . &o much have leaders in their t . •' - ' . -. ., ;; , ¦ ' tlsis siiiv roan ' s > i !! y speech , had all ¦ . ;• • ¦• . . .- ¦ . 'C . I !> . « . , ; " :-e io the proceedings of the Brummagems , , ' . .- . ¦ . o wisier of 1 S 3 S , would > jave been more in ¦ a previous part o my narrative bu * will
; e iw ^ ei-fijct . by beiuc aims displaced . The ,. ,. ; ; . s . DwirrFas ' s , and Salt ' s s . ' rained . every nerve to p- . ' . . ; ,, c Birmingham as < pmere . wction of the move ni * , fo be auder their own conironl ; and , in order Jo ., get rid of me , they wero . driven to the alternative ofvliJiioi'ncinEr me 39 mj Irishman , amiforhaving tolerated the mad rubbish of Parson Stephens—when , to iuevr ,. utter astonishment , I challenged them to a public meeting in their own town , and * broke up the whole clique , without a soul , but their own friends , to back me . .. _ ..
However , when we were divided , government picked us oric by one , and dealt , as they pfejaed with the scattered ' army of Chartists , dealing the heaviest blow at Frost , who had made himself obnoxious to Lord John Russell personally , and to the Whig cabinet generally . Frost was the victim of five persons , three of whom are still in this country , and was forced into his position against his own better judgment ; while , upon the whole , the transport , the gaol , the workhouse , and frightened public opinion ,
and consequent apathy , bespoke the triumph of Whiggery over Chartism . In perusing my several letters upon physical force , then a fruitful topic , 1 defy any man . to find the slightest intimation of recommendation to resort to it , or one-mysterions sentence , whereas it has been the incessant theme of O'Connell , the Sturgites , the Whigs , the old women , and has especially received the marked condemnation of those who most strongly recommended it—while I , who have stood my ground , am saddled with the vituperation of its several denouncers .
I suffered , in common with many poor fellows , who were , like myself , victims to the treachery of knaves-In 1841 , the idle gentlemen were again put to their shifts TO LIVE A . ND BE GRE ^ T , " and they formed a new alliance with Hume , Place , Roebuck and others , to recruit the ranks of Whiggery once more under a more liberal principle ^ the principle of household suffrage , which one of the
distingushed"GREAT IDLERS "—HONEST JOHN COLL 1 NSassured us was universal suffrage . A very ridiculous little book , compiled by Lovett and Collins whilst in Warwick gaol , under the patronage of Brougham , Roebuck and Place , was the foundation of their PLAN , and it was ushered into existence by copious prospectuses , inviting untrammelled labour to support its GREAT IDLE labourers . The first gathering of the vermin took place iu Marshall's flax-mill , ' and , if successful , was to have been followed by similar demonstrations in all the populous towns in England . I met this move In the outset , and
chalked out the Fox and Goose plate on my prison table . Resistance to this move cost me in every way nearly . £ 100 , not one single fraction eame from any pocket but my own , and , shame to several districts , I purchased the tickets as fast as they were printed ; they were dispersed to leaders to dispose of in their several districts ; but I never was repaid . Yes , I beg pardon , I was by the signal triumph of the glorious Chartists , who waded up to their middles in snow in a bleak January day to fight for their principles . This was the best battle we ever fought . Moir and the brave men from the north
beat Arthur O'Neil , HONEST JOHN COLLINS , and the idlers from the south , and we annihilated tjie enemy . A horse died under Dan ' s carriage , which detained him TWENTY-FOUR HOURS , and he was spared the humiliation of participating in the defeat of his brother Whigs . After the battle , honest John Collins melted into bacon fat at the expence of Mr . Sturge , and has since become one of the middle class shopkeepers . O'Neil took refuge in the . pulpit , while Lovett embraced the wider range of manager of the National Hall , where all but Feargus O'Connor may exhibit , but not one has worked a single day since .
I spent my 16 months in a felon ' s cell , and came forth' from it with the arduous task before me of rescuing the party , not only from the olden foe , but from the OLD FRIEND , THE GENTLEMEN WHO
WERE TOO PROUD TO WORK AND TOO POOR TO LIVE WITHOUT LABOUR , and every one of whom fancied that imprisonment bad given him a prescriptive right to introduce his own peculiar notions as the rule of our future guidance , and with a patent to live henceforth in idleness upon the move inent , and each in turn renouncing his former errors and leaving upon my shoulders the odium of bearing them .
From the time of . the general gaol delivery o 1842 , we lingered on , and again the people reposed confidence in another Convention—a better representation than the previous one ; but still defective . I had learned the tactics of the League in the event of their favourite meaaure being refused , and I had mapped out to my mind the disasters that must inevitably follow their disappointment ; and I used these words in the Convention : " Believe me ,
my friends , when you return to your localities , your principal difficulty will be m separating the excesses forced upon the people from the acts of the Chartist body ; for , rely upon it , that every particle of violence created by the League , and their attempts to gain their end by starving the people , will be saddled on the old hack , Chartism . You must keep the people apart from their movement and their machinations . "
When the Convention was dissolved , and after our glorious chief had presented our petition in the right way , I made a tour of Lancashire and Yorkshire , and the midland counties , for no other purpose than to caution the people , and put them on their guard against the projected , outbreak of the League ; and my words everywhere were : " They will try to make you fight ; but do you fold your arms this time while the two ( logs are fighting for the bone ; and if you
remain quiet and laugh at the squabble , you may step in , and run away with your share when they have done . " Now , this brings me to tha awful year of Chartismthe year 18-12 ; the year that the heartless millowners turned out their hands , in the hope of accomplishing by blood , devastation , desperation , starvation , and anarchy , what they had failed to secure from the fears of Parliament . This outbreak for the Repeal of the Corn Laws was concocted by a few desperate speculators , who hoped to meet their en-SDo-cmehts by the SPONGING system . They
foolishly supposed that Free Trade would either make them rich , as if by magic , or that a revolution for its accomplishment would save them from bankruptcy and the odium t of investigation . However , by the good sense of the people , and the wise policy adopted by ths Convention assembled at Manchester , the . originators of the REVOLUTION were driven to the alternative , not of Free Trade , or a revolution for . Free Trade , but the Charter , or a revolution for the Charter ; and Chartist wisdom having thus changed the battle of Free Trade into
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V' «^ ^ ^ ttn ^ lW ^^^^^^^^ Ht ^ to ^^^^^ a . war for the Charter , the millowners were but too happy to opeiv tfieir" j sliopsr nnee more , which they never would have done till they had carried " Free Trade , " if they had been able t& eoufine the war of hunger to that one' point . The employing classes lit this Qmtttry have the power at any given moment to creaftj a revolution by stopping labour . However , whsrr they were baffled in the open fidd ' ,-the party , hoping to take
advantage of our discomfiture , cunningly attempted to rally the people once more for a moral isree Free Trade demonstration ; arsdj . to ' effect their purpose , jthey called a Conference of Free Traders , Jo asfseinble at Birmingham , in December , 1842 , under ( the more specious pretext of COMPLETING 1 * HE SUFFRAGE , which they conssmmateds by abandoning then- peats , when they couf¬ CAJOLE TI ? fe MAJORITY , and declared that sense , not number ^ constituted ) a majority .
This was another proud proof tSsP Chartism was invincible and * invulnerable . The Bancaster trials were ? hanging a ^ er U 9 . Di smay wa ^ supposed to have paralysed ; every limb of Chartism . It was December ,, in tlie depth of . winter .-. The beast Abinger had given a fearful construction * of the law of conspiracy . The Defence Fund had-exhausted the poor and zeahus . The wealth , th& influence , the power of station , and profession of = ' principle , were all opposed to ns . Our own ranks were . disorganised by the- League Revolution of 18 * 2 . The
Executive was suspected , and erroneously-supposed that I had sanctioned their denunciation ; and they and their friends hated me more ' than the ; hated the common enemy , whom they would have-joined against me . We had nig htly meetings , professedly to adjust , but really to increase , our own differences . But hear it ,, all you who vainly hope to strangle Chartism , our FOUR HUNDRED labourers ,- , the representatives of PAWNED SHEETS and * ¥ NBLANKETTEI * BEDS , flew to the cry of ' -The Charter is in danger !"
After our support of Stnrge , at Nottingham , . and my suffering for him as I did there , his conduct was cold-blooded and unmistakeable . Like the Brummagems in 1838 , prior to the election of the Convention , Sturge and his friends perambulated Scotland prior to the'Birmingham Conference , and openly declared that one of their chief objects was to GET RID OF FEARGUS . GOD HELP THEIR FOOLISH HEADS ! - Here agaiu the GREAT JOHN played us false . Sturge charged Lovett with
having betrayed and deserted the complete suffragists ; and he and Tom Parry , failing to convert the reduced Conference to FREE TRADE principles , would have terminated the sitting by recrimination , and ripping up the past , but for the good sense of the delegates . Roberts may he said to be the leader of the Chartist party at the Conference , and most nobly he discharged the duties of his office . I was resolved * to do" as little as needs be , although the disappointed COMPLETES bellowed through the
country THAT FEARGUS HAD PREVENTED A REAL UNION , OF THE CHARTISTS . This conference above all other trials assured me of the deep root that Chartism had taken . The main object of the promoters of the Birmingham conference was , a resolution to be in a state of . preparedness when the Lancaster jury had consigned wall for three years , at least , to the dungeon .
Then came the Lancaster trials , and our squabbles about being ACQUITTED after an EIGHT-DAYS STRUGGLE , with the whole strength of the legal staff of Toryism , led on by the Attorney-General , and before a Special Jury , BUT A JUST JUDGE , —GOD BLESS HIM ! Had we been convicted , and imprisoned , then , Chartism would have had many severe struggles for resuscitation , but I would have RALLIED IT ONCE MORE , EVEN THEN
. FOR . I HAVE SWORN THAT . IT SHALL NEVER DIE , but shall kill all the weeds that would destroy it . After this signal triumph , Chartism was allowed to luxuriate in the apathy caused by desertion of leaders , good employment , partly consequent on railway operations , and the thinning of the stocks by the turn-out of 1842 , the opening of the China market , and abundance of spare money , until the winter of 1844 , when another extinguisher was proposed , under the childish specious guise of stopping the supplies . Sharman Crawford was the wise
projector , not of the plan , but of the time , and the Sturgites were the ready instruments . Sturge took the flame , and poor Mason burned with the desire of doing SOME PRACTICAL GOOD FOR HIS ORDER , which always means a cessation from labour for the leader . Tin ' s was likely to gain great favour , and few , very few , have yet understood the meaning of this dodge , which was , to depose Duncombe , as the popular leader , and to substitute Sharman Crawford—a change for which THE PEOPLE WERE NOT PREPARED . All novel questions are to be heralded by conferences and
demonstrationsso the' stop the supply ' gentlemen had an extensive ¦ and a very expensive conference sitting in London for a week previous to the grand demonstration , which came off on the eve of the meeting " of Parliament , at the Crown and Anchor , and where the Completes , under Sharman Crawford , " anticipated a COMPLETE and glorious victory . They bad it all their own way ; no preparation was made to test them upon any principle until about 48 hours before the action , and once more the noble army of Chartists , under their old , their honoured , their brave and unflinching chief ( Dunconihe ) , were led into
hasty action , and gained another signal victory oxer the combined forces of Whiggery , Free Trade , and humbug , led on ^ by Crawford , Dr . Bowring , and C . Hindley . This victory taught the enemy the folly of encountering a conquering army , and never shall I forget the appearance of chop-fallen faction , when resting its whole hope upon Mr . Wincent ( Vincent ) , it saw their renegade puppet mot with a storm of groans and hisses , and " off , traitor , off . " Mr . "Wincent will settle it , —call on . Mr . Wincent , —Mr . Wincent , Mr . Wincent ,-but alas , the charm was gone , the spell was broken . The stem front of Duncombe .
his manly bearing and cheering countenance when the building rang with cheers for the Charter , will never be forgotten by those'who had the pleasure of witnessing it . This was our last struggle , our next will be to resist the acceptance of Complete Suffrage Candidates as CHARTIST CANDIDATES at the next General Election . We must guard agaiust this , and wherever we arc strong enough to command sufficient influence to warrant a contest , that influence must be given to THE PURE , THE UNSULLIED CIIUtTIST CANDIDATES , leaving preference for a Complete , to Whig or Tory , to the chapter of local accidents *
I am now coming to the material part of my letter . The Reform BiU was but the machinery by which Whig ascendancy was to be secured , but its working was a thing wholly lost sight of by the people . They , and not unnaturally , supposed that , according to "Whig promise , the measure was to work favourably for tfliem , ami that the reformer ' s motto—taxation without representation is tyranny , and should be resisted- ~ wou ! d be ths rule of Whig
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action , the people , however , were soon undeceived thejr discovered that reform' meant nothing more than the nierb , tra » 5 fer of power from Tory to Whig h ^ ds . The siW of . Whiggery became" § 5 palpan . V . ™ xd ' fold and glaring that a section of that body nifidil- 'A . sham revolt from the Whi gcamp . Hume , WarbHfV ton , Grote , Roebucky Ward , Leader , and others , denounced
: their measur ^ y hut nevertheless made ^ keep ^ he lories out" the *^ nle of Whig support . The Wh , g G overnment was allure of .. sufiTcient amount of Tory support to carry its unpopular measures , and the more coercive the rm > re voluntary the aid ; while , upon the other hand , the rump tliafr would have courted popularit y by mere frothy denunciation , were ever ready to fly to-the rescue when Whiggery was in danger . Now , my friends , attend well to the conclusion to which I mean to
lead you from the past , me Trade has been ac complished , but that is oril ? the machinery' by whieh Free Trade policy is to he practically carried out . You were deceived in the practical results tllat you anticipated from reform , take care that you do' not fall into Ihe- deeper Free Trade pit . Allow me torepeat my three primary objections to the measure . Firstly , it points to a Free Trade cabinet , sustained by » Free Trade majority , whose view , whose only view , isi nay , , whose- triumph conswts in , tlie suu * - jugation and controuf of labour to its own gain afl # profit , .
Secondly , —I have' told you that it will require tTtree years , , at the very least , to adjtat the several interests that wilt be affested by the measure ; ill ' jaYvort , ths £ -we shall' have three years of nervous Ittppishnes ^ b ' efore anything : like health can be restored ; andJthatfalVehe-burtWsn of ' chance , casualty ^ danbt , and uncertainty , , will &U heaviest on those wltoare leas * able to bear the-load . You will have periods of unsertainty caused by hi gh prices , and , periods vt unartainty caused By low yrices . The
farmers ^ are now too bosy about other avocations that cannot be postponedS-to- glufr the markets with the present yea ^ s produce- ; : whifey in Amurica , all other business has-been laid- ; aside-to prepare for the exportation of a superabundant'hamest to this country . Nations will not be- guides !^ as journalists suppose ^ either by wholesome-specaktion or domestic requirement . The rich market is open , and all will prepare for the first cut at th&aew traffic—for the first scramble in th&new godi-send .
Thirdly , ^—I have ld'you ' -thafc as long as you had to sell ycur--labour before- you * could buy bread , that no price affixed by legislation' to tlie wholesale article would ibe discoverable by the consumer , when it was placed ; as a retail commodity on his board . Such have-been my principal reasons for resisting the ascendancy- of Efee Trade pr inciple , while , I think , it will appear that our poftey of December last , in discontinuing that resistance was an act of inspiration : for * . had we succeeded in arresting the Repeal of the Corn Laws , tlie-plague , pestilence , and
famine , which : ha * now overtaken ' Ireland , would have been joyously saddled' upon our back , and would have made such a " gulph between us" that no human power could ever BRIDGE OVER . What a fruitful theme- Chartist resistance to a mea-¦ sure that would- have fed * the- Irish and showered blessings upon , the-whole people , would have been for the jugglers of-Conciliation Hall ; and what a different impression' the- wonderful and conclusive letters of O'Higgins-would-have-then made upon the minds of the Irish residents-in England . However ,
thank God , we escaped-that gulph ; and let us now not fall into a deeper still . I tell you , that free trade without free representation , is as sure to lead to a revolution as day is sure to follow night . I have , therefore ) , written the past as a guide to the future ; I have-shewn- you , that upon all former occasions you have-erred with yonr eyes open ; and I am ready to confess * that it was impossible for you to have avoided the error ; and my only wonder is .
that so little damagBresmted from so much provocation . It is easy to write cool philosophy in the closet ; -, but it is hard'to reconcile the unwilling idler to starvation .. I have told you before , and I now repeat i :,. that the great evil of the present system is that it compels you . to live from hand to mouth and that it has Hitherto- left you ready , but unwilling , instruments in the- hands of faction , to fight its own battle ? .
The next struggle is , then , what I am now premring you for * , and I will guide you in that also by the pest .. I have reminded you that we stopped the free-trade revolution- of 1842 , by turning ; the stream , of speculation into- rhe Chartist current . They wil only use you when they can do so for their own purposes ; but they never create a popular excitement
which they cannot turn to their own account . If then , they shalt attempt , which they assuredly will , to persuade you . that their p 6 litical ascendancy is necessary to the working of free trade principles ; and if ,, to achieve- that object , they should hazard another revolution , through starvation and their control of the labour market , let the shout of THE LAND I THE LAND !! THE LAND !! ! -and the
CHARTER 1 THE CHARTER !! THE CHARTER 11 T resound throughout this sea-bound dungeon ! The Land ,, at a fair price—at a high price , with a lease for ever—that you may work job work , and at a corn rent ,, that your render ^—that is , of the year's produce—may be a fair proportion of tlw season ' s yield . Heed not the moanings of the landlords , whose esta t es are encumbered by their own laws r their necessities are of the year , and should he supplied from the year's render of the producing thing . If they have entangled themselves with
family settlements before birth , or even before marriage ; if they have hampered themselves with mortgage debts to pay gambling speculations ; if they are unnaturally bound by the harsh laws of their unnatural parents , who were LAWMAKERS ; they must bear their sorrows without murmuring , or , at least , they must not saddle them as sins upon the innocent , \ vli 6 have been the greatest sufferers . Let them , fight their battles with the Jews ami money-mongers and their own relatives , and their own govern- , meiit , but vou must no longer bear the blows .
I advocate the Charter as man ' s inherent right . and Ialso advocate it as the means of taking , thepolitical mask off the agricultural face of the Land .. Land has hitherto been kept as a mere article o £ political power ; but God ' s younger children liavfc become so numerous , that ho requires a more equitable exercise of the trust , which the first born have unjustly executed- You have nothing to do with the landlords suffering from the laws of primogeniture , of settlement , and entail ; you hare no concern in the ticht . which thev incurred to pav soldiess and sailors for
protecting their estates from the-foreign invader * . lill 1 ' 'IO FAY is . You derive no » interest front their mort--gages , their gambling debts , or their strained spleii * dour . All , one and all * , were taxes upon yon ; and , therefore , do not new . assist them even iu cheating the Jews . Let them for once fight their own battles but take care to hav . fr at least TWELVE UMPIRES in the ring , to sesthat you do not bear the Uows . The next struggle-will be in St . Stephen ' s cock-pit ;
they will no longer trust to popnlar excitement , which will not light ihe battle-of LOW WAGKS or HIGH RESTS , " so be prepared for LABOUR'S " MAIN . " lia \ e 12 cocks for a shake , aud wonderf ul will b&thfe revelations , the tricks and disappointment , of faction , when the belligerents find that they must henceforth fight their own battles , and bear , each other' blaws . Beware , then , 'how yon are cajoled into support 0 J a party strong enough to cany out free Truck principles for LABOUR'S BENEFIT , nnrtboware aUo that vot ! da not choose lor your OWN TV . ELVfi , men wlio viH make a feint for liberal measures , but ( Continuedon the Mjhth Page . J
, To The Imperial Chartists.
, TO THE IMPERIAL CHARTISTS .
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Citation
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Northern Star (1837-1852), Sept. 19, 1846, page unpag, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/ns/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1384/page/1/
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