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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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Chartists must be . I'd like to be a Chartist , QBrse—don ' t you think God will love them for assisting the poor ?'— ' Yes , my child , God loves everybody that ' s good to the pow—if it is not from a selfish motive . ^ ell , nurse , how did the Chartists do it : ' « . ' Why , my child , they took the people out of those large towns and hot places , and they built cottages for them , aod placed them on the [ gad ; and then papas and mammas brought up their little children in fear and love of God , and they all worked and supported themselves ; Chartists must be . I'd like to be a Chartist , ~ Ann ' t Will tTilnV Gnri will Us ft . am
and then when all were happy , there were no soldiers , nor policemen , nor detectives , nor hang , men , because thepeople were all good ; and now , my child , every fifty years there ' s what ' s called a jubilee , to rejoice at the change , aad tomorrow is the day ; and if you aregood children , you , and Fred , and Jane shall come out , and see the people bringing flowers and dancing and singing , and all so happy and comfortable And now it ' s time to go to bed , and I ' ll tell you the rest of my story another time—and if the Chartists didn't live happy—that you and I
may . 1 thankee , nurse , how nicely the story ends , God Almighty bless the Chartists !'
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bis attention ; and then he asked the witness to report what was just read . "No he could not . " "A part of it ? " "No . " "The sense of it ? " "No . " « Or something like the sense of it ? " "No . " And yet oi this mans testimony a judge and a jury have consigned their victim totwoyears' imprisonment , we give the facts as they are , without exaggeration er comment , and rather understating them than otherwise . The jury also found that the meeting at the Chapel was an unlawful assembly . We canhis attention ; H then he asked thn n . ! iZZj tn _„ ..,.- « . _ i- . . " ° " me witness
not acount for this . The Clerk of the Crown asked , « On which count do you find the prisoner guilty ? " and the quick response was , Un all the counts—on all . " What was there of an unlawful a ssembly ? It was held in a room hired by themselves—the Chartists ; no one need go who did not choose to go ; no one was hurt ; no one was frightened ; nothing was sworn to of a seditious nature . One witness , indeed , saw something which he thought loo ked like pikes , but he could not say for certain .
Our main object in calling attention to this trial , is to inform all who are interested in the Doctor ' s welfare , that if they support Mr Roberts in the attempt , he will , on the first day of next Term , apply to the Queen ' s Bench to set aside the verdict . Before that time , indeed , much misery must be endured ; the prisoner is now in the gaol dress , on prison allowance , in solitary confinement , and allowed to be out of his cell for one hour only out of the twenty-four . His last words , on leaving the court , te Mr Roberts were , " It is not for myself that I care
about it , but what are the children to do ? " Ah i what a bitter reproach is that ! What a / e the children to do ? Think of that working men and Chartists ; and don ' t think onl y—act 1 Any sums for the support of Mrs M'Pouall and her three children—we may add that she is at this moment on the eve of" confinement '—may be forwarded to Mr Roberts ( Essex Chambers , lissex-street , Manchester ) . We understand that Mr Roberts intends to publish a full report of the trial . The profits on which , if any , will be given to Mrs M'Douall .
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LOUIS BLANC . This persecuted patriot , and true-hearted champion of Labour ' s rights , reached the English shore on Tuesday . He left Dover on Wednesday morning for London , where he now is . Lamenting the cause of his presence in England at this time , we , nevertheless , give him that welcome he is so well entitled to . For Louis Blanc—let the vile Pressganjr say what they will—has more than "deserved well of his country ; " he has deserved well of mankind , without distinction of race or clime .
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PARLIAMENTARY REVIEW .
It will he remembered that , on the assembling of the present Parliament , one of the earliest and most important debates that took place had relation to the operation of the Bank Act of 1844 , the extent to which it had caused the bankruptcy which overtook some of the proudest commercial houses in England , and which—if it had not been suspended by a special discretionary order from the Governmentthreatened to produce general insolvency and ruin
. The Ministry asked Parliament , immediately on its meeting , for an indemnity in ordering suchajsuspension of the law , but were obstinately bent on maintaining it , though their own experience prored that ithad broken down . They proposed a Select Committee of Inquiry into the matter , which , our readers will remember , we said at the time was meant to cushion the question , and prevent its settlement at a time when men ' s minds were still fresh upon it , and the recollection of the mischiefs it had caused was recent .
As we anticipated , so it has turned out . The Committee of the House of Commons made its report too late for any effective consideration of its contents , and was followed shortl y after by that of the Lords' Committee , appointed to inquire into the same subject . Apparently , both of them would have been left unnoticed , had not Mr Herries—himself a great financial authority—thought it to be his duty to bring the subject before the Commons , in the shape of a motion , calling attention to the fact of these two reportshavinebeen issued .
and pledging the House to take them into ; serious consideration at an early period of next j Session . The Committee of the Commons and the ! Committee of the Lords have come to totally ! opposite conclusions on the subject . The i Commons report in favour of , the ' Lords j against , the Act of 1844 . When we coine ^ to ' examine the facts connected with the former j Committee , however , the weight to be attached to its decision is exceedingly slight . As Mr Hume truly said , the object in appointing if was to whitewash those who had a hand in
making that Act , and it was presided over by the Chancellor of the Exchequer , one of its most decided partisans . The Report , as drawn up by him , and agreed to bj a bare majority of two , was in favour of the Act , but directly in the teeth of the evidence taken by the Committee . Some secrets were let out in the debate , as to the manner in which this result was brought about , which—however it may tell in favour of Sir C . Wood and Lord J . Russell , as partisans—reflects little credit on them in other respects . The Chancellor of the Exchequer—accordiBg to Mr Herries—exhibited
great "dexterity and intrepidity * in pushing his case , and he complimented him ironically upon his accurate knowledge o times and seasons , and the admirable manner in which he worked the usual Parliamentary machinery for extorting a verdict in favour of a foregone conclusion . Lord John , it appears , was equally adroit and intrepid as his Right Hon . colleague . At the commencement of the sittings of the Committee , the Premier could not attend , in consequence of his other duties—a very fair excuse . But , as the conclusion approached ,
and votes and influence were wanted—both rendered doubly valuable in consequence of the crushing nature of the evidence against the Act which had been laid before the Committee —Lord John ' s " othes duties ** seemed to have suddenly ceased . He was&st in his place , and the last out of the d-oor of the Committee-room , and proved not leys zealous than efficient in his support of the Chancellor . Yet , with all this whipping and sr . tewing , the Report was agreed to by the bare majority we have named ; and , aa Mr Hump stated , if it had not been for the
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accidental absence of two of the members of we c ommittee , the numbers would have been K ! us leav" » gthe Report to be carried Dv tn ? casting vote of its author—in which ? f ? ! i ould have been still more indispuvl ™ f Dort ' not of t « e Committee , but of oir C . Wood . "W is / 1 nowever . we imagine its real yalue W 'ii j i y wel 1 unQ erstood . The country will duly estimate a document thus concocted , inere were twenty-four witnesses examined by the Committee ; eighteen of them declared m . tne most distinct and Dositivelaneuagre that T accidental ahsonna « P ? ,., « « f * 1 .. ^ . l . ^ .., ,.
they were convinced the Act of 1844 was a public nuisance / and ought to be abated . These witnesses were not ordinary men . In whatever way they were classified the utmost weight was due to their opinions . They were the representatives of the London Bankers , and of the Scottish Bankers—they were the delegates of the great commercial corporations , the leading men of the manufacturing and mercantile communities , the principal money dealers , and the men of abstract theory , whe have devoted their life to the study of the philosoph y of the question . All these men united in one opinion , condemnatory of the Act of 1844 , which was only supported by the
author of the Act , Mr Jones Lloyd , and those Directors of the Bank of England upon whom that Act confers special privileges , and a monopoly . Under these circumstances , with the failure of the Potato crop all but general , with the p rospect of a harvest under an average , and the Cholera approaching us , we think Mr Herries was . fully justified in calling attention to this subject , and that his premises , instead of leading him to ask that Parliament should pledge itself to give the subject its earnest attentionat an early period of the Session , led to the conclusion that immediate ^ precautionary measures should be adopted to avert , if possible , a recurrence of that wide-spread ruin which shook our commercial system to its centre , only a short time
since . The Chancellor of the Exchequer was ss flippant , as ignorant , and as incomprehensible as usual ; but * aided by the willing hacks ja the back benches , and the Peel party ( who , on this subject , are as hopelessly wrong as their leader ) , he succeeded in parrying any division on the subject . The motion is , therefore , left again to the contingency of an Order in Council , after the mischief has been done . A repetition of the old folly of " shutting the stable door when the steed is stolen . "
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S ° ° ur debt and burdens in a time of peace . Hut , then , what else can be done ? He does not know , and as the Government have still plenty of credit left , the easiest way is to chalk up . ' The whole of the eleven millions , inrouad numliers , which in two years Sir Charles Wood will have added to the National A > ebt , and charged upon posterity , are as utterl y sunk as if they had been thrown into the Atlantic . He professed to be hopeful as to the future financial prospects of the country . We confess there appears to our mind no ground whatever for that hopefulness . Clouds and storms are gathering on all sides of us , and the disasters of 1847 appear as ifthev we ™ »™ . t , . .
merely the heralds of still more fatal calamities in the succeeding winter and spring . Should our anticipations , prove correct , there will inevitabl y be an extraordinary demand and a driJtli ? ° ft Exche < l uer - This will drive the Finance Minister to devise other ex-ESS of , me etin their demands-and we JmJSS reil « ct" > n 8 being practicable only by hundreds of thousands , while additional expenditure goes on at the rate of million * t . w » ™ n
only be one termination of the affair-either in largely increased taxation , or in adding to o " Srif I f ^ addltional loa "s , and saddling pos-£ V IX S 3 me time with taxe 8 > ^ cause fteirferrfBthea were so silly as to have Sir Charles Wood for a Chancellor of the Ex
In a debate on the Bill for Reducing the Duties on Copper and Lead , Lord G . Bentinck exposed another of those fabricated and false returns which it is the custom of the present Ministry to get up , for the purpose of carrying their Free Trade measures . Lord George has a happy knack of finding out these things . On this occasion he showed up MrA . W . Fonblanque , one of the clever arithmeticians and critics of the Land Company and Mr O'Connor . Of this worthy Whig hack , Lord George said-t— . *
I do not know who he may be ; perhaps some plural " with those sfa secretary to the Board of Trade , aid if bo , the multiplicity of his business may account for the confusion of his returns ; hut if the minersof CornwaU we to suffer for bis blunders , then it becomes a matter of no small importance that the Board of Trade should produce to the country those representations on whish the happiness , the comforts , the prosperity , the subsis . tenee , and even the lives of lOC . OdO English people depBnd . The question is—these misrepresentations having occurred so often , and always in favour of Free Trade nostrums—whether they are blunders . Are they not frauds ?
We must reserve comment on several other topics , including Mr Disraeli ' s Review of the Session , until next week , when we shall bring up all arrears .
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J . Sweet acknowledges the receipt of the following sums for the defence of Dr M'Douall : — £ s d . . From Kvrkby . in . Aahfield 8 1 e MrOee M O ? . O 9 Mr Shepherd .. „ .. ., 0 e 3 From the Shoulder of Mutton , Barfcer-gate 8 2 0 Mr Robebts has received on account of the Defence Fund for Dr M'Douall , the following sums : — Wm . KUshaw , Elland M ,. ,. 006 T . Bjothroyd , Almondbury « „ ., o 4 6 James Sweet , Nottingham .. M M 0 3 B T . H . Simpson , Todmorden „ „ 0 U « From Mr Wallace , Burnley .. ,, inn
From Mr Carpenter .. .. ,, 0 2 0 W . H . Cufton ' s communication ig respectfully declined . An American Citizbn . —No room . Diseased PoTMoss * -Mr John Flint , of Derby , recom . mends our correspondent at Lowbands , to dig the po . tatoes out bb soon as possible , as the diseased ones will decay , whether in the ground or out , and to boil or steam , and mash them , adding some salt , and then store them away for feeding stock . Land Mbbtwos . —The Chartist trials and other important matters , compel the postponement of reports of several meetings of Land memoers . Mr J . Ironside . —The correspondence shall appear in our " IlGXta
Thi M'DoniiL Defence Fond . — The balance shee shall appear in our next . NEWcAsriB-oH-TrwE . — Press of matter compels the ex . elusion of the report this week . Manchesteb—Mr T . Austin . —Next we « k .
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PRESENT AND FUTURE STATE OF EUROPE .
Europe is in a state of anarchy and mental confusion , and evidently all parties are at fault , and know not what to do or recommend . They are in that state vV- - ' j cnow too much , or too little . Too much to * continue in the ignorant , divided , and oppressed condition in which they have so long been ; and too little to enable them to adopt practical measures , to relieve themselves from the evils of anarchy , into which this half state of knowledge has hurried them . They now require the aid of cool heads , i , ) I
and sound minds , to relieve them from the anarchy i » which they are , apparently , irretrievably involved . They vainly expect relief from pelijical changes , when these , frooi the extremes of despotism to the most liesntious liberty , with every phase between , have been tried again and again , and ever without suecess . No experienced and reflecting mind can be satisfied with any mode of goveraaaent , or of forming the character of any peopte hitherto practised . It may now be asked , what then i 9 to be done , seeing that these have all signally failed ?
The answer is , that it is amwal , intellectual , and social , ana not » mere poUiafcal change that I is required . The population of the wori / J , arising frwn a false fundamental princ ^ lb i on which alone their characters have beftftiotmed , have been made to become most ignorant and immoral , and their reasoning faculties so perverted , that they call falsehood , and deception truth , and virtue ; and there , are none ( owing to this falsehood ) that understand how to introduce the change ir Ao practice . In a forrr ier article ' . it was stated , that truth can alone . save society from otherwise interminable ., anarchy and confusion : and this l > l 4 jg , „ ktl if us
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S / tf % * mt } er > 8 ° that , if possible , it nnr inSSr ^ 0011 ' its iense in > hTnS \ \ lVhe human race so fully comprehended , that governments and people cannot fail to appreciate its overwhelmin g Vantages for themselves , and all future genmtions r n Zlft 6 leC l Ualj and social revolut on s now demanded by Europe ; andthis perplexing agitation mil not cease until the change from falsehood to truth shall be accompushed .
To effect this change throughout Europe —tor it is now an European question—it is necessary , 1 st . —That thejgovernmentsand people composing this quarter of the globe , should openly and . simultaneousl y acknowledge the great error on which all go vernments have acted , and on which the character of all has been formed , and agree to abandon it in principle and practice .
2 nd—That , in like manner , they shall acknowledge and adopt the unchanging law of nature , which is opposed to this falsehood , aad commence to arrange a new practice in conformity with this law of nature . And 3 rd . —This practice willconsist in creating new arrangements , all of a virtuous and good character—1 st , to produce wea lth abundantly ; 2 nd , to distribute it justly ; 3 rd , to form , according to natural capacity , a good and valuable character from birth for each within those arrangements j and , 4 th , to enable them to well govern themselves locally , and also to as . sist , when necessary , in the general government those
. To who understand the science of society , the science of the formation of a rational character , and the science of the influ . ence of circumstances over human nature , the above will be sufficient to enable them to have a distinct conception of the practice ; but , to those unacquainted with these three sciences and their application to practice , no words wilj enable them to comprehend such a new combination of physical , mental , and moral power , nor will they , from want of the requisite knowledge and experience , comprehend such scientific arrangement for accomplishing , in a very superior manner , all the business of life , until they see the whole change in practice . Yet
, when these arrangements shall be seen in practice , it will be discovered that they will perform , in a very superior manner , all the business of life , with far more ease and pleasure to the producers , and far mere economy to society , than have been experienced at any time in any part of the world , under any government , or by any people . The only real difficulty is to overcome the earliest and deepest prejudices arising from fin erroneous education from birth , and the constant inculcation of a false principle in childhood and youth , which , in after life , pervades every asseciation of ideas , unfits the mind to detect error , or to discover truth , when , except for that error , both would be most obvious .
This is one reason why no party in Europe can discover the cause of its present general anarchy , while all adroit that there is something fundamentally wrong in society . This is the reason why the only remedy for this evil is not perceived or even imagined , although the cause of , and remedy for , the evil , are most obvious ,-and the application of the remedy to practice simple and easy .
But , so irrational are all parties , that they cry out for the practical remedy , and refuse the admission and adoption of the only principle that can make the practice successful . Another difficulty arises from the transition , which is unavoidable , from one principle and practice to another principle and practicebecause it includes a change of almost all preconceived ideas , and acquired habits and prejudices .
It is , however , most important that this transition state should be well understood : its condition and the future state of Europe shall be explained in succeeding numbers of this paper . Robert Owen . London , 29 th August , 1848 .
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RECEIPTS OF THE NATIONAL LAND COMPANY POB THE WEEK ENDING THURSDAY , AUGUST Si , XOlDa
PER MB O'CONNOR . ( Him , £ » . a Mertbyr , Mor . Nottingham « 16 0 gan ., 19 0 Sleaford .. 0 IS S Portsea M 3 3 6 Thomas Hodges 0 2 6 Brighton , Arti . wm Bailey „ 0 2 6 choke M . 816 9 BTHallam „ in 0 Lambeth „ 6 15 TK Turner „ 015 0 Wahall „ 2 16 6 JA Smith .. 0 3 6 Chepatow .. 118 0 Chas Mewl „ 0 1 0 Westminster „ 0 5 6 Wm M'Mahon * 0 16 0 Uchfield „ 814 6 GHChatwin „ 0 8 6 S £ 2111 8 BXPBH 8 E PDND . « == Brighton , Artl- Lichfleld „ 0 16 choke .. 020 Nottingham , Westminster .. 0 3 0 Sweet „ 0 16 ' £ 0 7 0 Land Fund 2111 8 fc-xpense Fund 0 7 0 a u 21 18 1 »«> k 55 15 6 Transfers , Snig ' a End 45 0 0 £ 122 H 2 Wm . Dixox . Ohmstophm Dona , Tnoa . Cube , ( Cones , Soo . ) Philip M G » ATH , ( Fla . 8 eo . ) THE LIBEBTY FUND . Ring ' s Cnm Northampton , Locality , Mr W . Munday .. 0 10 0 Moshier .. 0 5 0 Gainshorougb , J Halstead , ptr B Man „ 0 6 0 Payne „ o 3 0 Sheffield , 8 Lincoln , J Sharp 0 7 6 Cavill „ 0 5 0 _ £ 1 15 _ 6 1 BEATUM . Two pounds , formerly acknowledged ' from A . Walker , Edinburgh , was from A . Walker , Hamilton . John AI'Cjue , Seorotary . FOR FAMILIES OF VICTIMS . BKCEIVED BT V . &IDBB . Hammersmith , ' Northampton per George per W Mundy 1 & » More ., o 11 4 Northampton , J Cropley , Crad- pep-J © ardner 0 O 6 ley , near Stour- Northampton , TJr id « e _ . ~ ° 1 ° BM » Clark .. 0 > & 6 J Thomas , Ditto 0 i 0 A few . Chartists , G Pearce , Ditto 0 0 6 HaEtlepool .. 0 * 3 0 — £ 1 IT 10
1 BCBIVBD MMUkHB . OFFICE . JHB .. 0 8 6 Mr T Williams 0 2 6 Worcester .. 0 l & Moses Tophanw o 2 0 £ 5 8 6 ! SECIITSa > OX J . H ' OBIE . heffieltti , e ® . £ Chartervillo Al-CavilL „ 0 2 * ft lottees , psr O Bubb ,. 6 5 0 £ 0 13 J ) FOR DP * WDOUALL'S DEFENCE , B . K 0 HYBD BT W . R 1 DSB . ffiansfleld , per T A few Chartisia , © Hibbardj „ 0 10 Bartlepool « 0 4 8 £ 0 5 8 I 0 K MBS LOONET . . UOHTID BT W . BIDKB , Neweastlcupon . Newcastlcupon . Tyne , I to 10 , Tyne , Mr Mul . Marley Hill , Una , per W per W . Dovroa 0 3 6 Downe » 0 0 6 £ 0 8 C , ' DEFENCE FUND . MOHYID AT UND OFFICR . MrT Williams , 0 2 S Mr Thompson .. 0 8 ( Worctster 0 017 ( £ l 8 ~ = BiMNCi o ? in «' 0 ohm « i ' j aiix itr miiaxint . Worcester . . . « 0 (
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*—^ - ™^ ^ m <^ MTifc THE CHARTIST TRIALS . " CENTRAL CRIMINAL COURT—August 2 & Robert Crowe , alias Crone , 24 , tailor , was { indicted for sedition . The Attorney-General , Mr Welsby , Mr Bodkin , and Mr Clerk , prosecuted ; Mr Parry appeared for the defendant . t The Attorney-Geneval , in stating the case to the jury , said that the present case differed in this respect from those which had preceded it ; that the words alleged to have been uttered by the defendant would not be deposed to by a professional short-——¦• n .. ¦* - - ..
nand writer , but by a police-constable . The jury must be aware that the Government had not always the opportunity to send professional short-hand writers to these meetings , and , therefore , they were compelled to resort to other means . In this case it would be impossible to deny that the laaguage used and although the fact of the speech being made would no doubt depend upon the evidence of one constable , he was instructed that that constable mo a very respectable man , s ^ they would bear ia mind he could have no motive for misrepresentation , ihei defendant was a journeyman tailor . He was aa irishman , and a member of what was called the Irish
Confederate Club , an association established in this country , and which was in correspondence and communication with other clubs , both in England and the sister country . On his room being searched , a card was found , on which was inscribed a harp with the motto 'Let every man have his own country , ' and' Mr Robert Crowe was duly elected a member of the Irish Confederate Association on the 15 th of May , 1848 , ' and there was therefore no doubt of his being a member or the association to which he had referred . The Attorney . General thea proceeded to state that the meeting in question was held on the 31 st of July , a few days after the rumour had reached England that Ireland was in a&tateof rebellion , and that the prisoner uttered the seditious
language imputed to him at a Chartist meeting-house ' in Dean-street . The prisoner was not taken into custody until some days afterwards , and on the- - constable telling him what he was charged with , be ' endeavoured to hand a paper to a woman , but the , constable took it from him , and it turned out to be an address or speech , probably intended to be made * by the defendant at some future meeting , and ' when the jury would have that speech laid before them , they would have no doubt of its daneeroug character and tendency . At this time Ireland was supposed to be in rebellion , and the jwy were aware that , a short time previously , a person named Mitchel had been most ri ghteously and properly convicted of felony . '
Mr Parry interposed : Surely the Attorney . General ought not to prejudice the defendant by alluding to other parties . This indictment had nothing to do with Mr Mitchel . The Attorney . General admitted be was wromr and withdrew the observation . At all events , there was very great excitement upon the subject of Ireland , when this meeting took plaee , and a police constable was directed to attend it , and after he had been there a short time he heard a read
person something from a newspaper , in which there was the expression to hell with the % een / This was received with cheers , and load expressions of approbation , and that circumstance would give the jury some idea of the character of the meeting and the persons who attended it . The defendant , after this proceeding , addressed the meeting and made the observations imputed to him , and which were received with marks of approbation .. The folio-wing evidence was tlien adduced
—Reuben Brothers , a police constable of thn C division , proved the delivery of a sptech by the prisoner , on Monday , the 3 lstof July , at 83 , Deanstreet , Soho . The defendant in the course of his speech said , 'The late insurrection in Paris has shown how easily a crown may be crumbled , and the time is now come for men to be brate and the game is their own . I do not care for those persons present who wear other people ' s clothes . I do not care if what I say is criminal . I , for my own part , shall do all m my power durinir . the next week to put a stop to trade , and urge the irishmen in London to rebellion . '
« re By Mr Parry . —1 swear I did not copy this state * mentfrommy deposition . I have been only six weeks m the police force , reckoning from the present time , and at the time this meeting took place I had not been more than ten days or a fortnight in the police . I had attended five other meetings ol a similar kind before the 31 st of July . There was a meeting every ni ght except Saturday . I was a druttgist ' s assistant before I became a policeman , and 1 occasionally made up prescri ption ? .. My salary m % £ 20 a year , but I did not * find mvself / My pay now is 16 s &d per week , and the commissioners do not board and lodge me . ( A laugh . ) I resigned my last situation at a druggist's , and was for twelve months out of employ expecting a situation upon a railway , but did not obtain it . During that time my father supported me .
vt u ° b i V * ( t Re-examined . —M y character and , testimonials wftre full y inquired into before I- tob appointed to be a policeman . I swear positively that I made the notes which heve been produced before I went to bed on the night the meeting took place , and gave them the next morning to Superintendent Beretiford . I was ordered to go to the meeting by one of the sergeants of my division . By the Jury .-I was not asked-whether I was a Confederate or a Chartist before Unas admitted to the meeting .
| ' ; John Gray , a police sergeant , deposed that he apprehended the prisoner on a warrant on , the 5 th , o ! August , near his residence , in Orehard-street , Camden Town . He told him , that he-was charged with making a seditious speech at the meeting m Dean-street , on the 31 at July . ;; andihe replied that he was aware of it , and he had heard' abeut it the night before . The prisoner then put hi * hand into his coat-pecket , and took out a paper , which he handed to a female s anding by him , and witness took the paper from her , andnow producsd it . Ss afterwards searched the prisoner ' s- lodging , an& found the Confederate Club card , wbiok he also produced . The Attorney-General then put the-doeuments in as evidence , and required them to be read .
Mr Parry objected to the written document being received as evidence against the prisoner . Thtsre was ro proof that it was written . by . him ^ aeither w » there any evidence that it had been written before the alleged seditious speech was . made , s& tbattft could not be taken &t > any proofr of the mind or intentions of the pri 8 anerat-- the time off the meeting . He was aware that in- a celebrated' ease , that til Algernon Sydney ,, aipaper- found upG » the prisoner had been receivediby the judge— Jidge Jefferies ^ e ! should state — - as evidence of , aa overt act ;« £ treason , but that decision ,, be beliffred , was now : universally considered to be an infamous decision , ! and he trusted 5 , that this paper : would not be admitted on the present occasion , upon tha grounds he had urged .
Baron Pbtt said , it appear ^ to him that «» paper was dtarly admissible ' .. Vibat were the facts * A man was taken into custody and told that he "was charged with seditian ; he- says in reply , thai te expected it , and pulJs , out a paper and endeavours to get rid of it by passing il to a woman standing by . Sarely , undsa such cijasmstances it wouldnot be said that the paper wa » not adm issible ; . bat , as to the effect or value of tba evidence , that was , t £ course , quiteasother pohjt , andwouldforn % a proper . subject of remark to the ory . The paper was then sead , it ended a&auptly and was signed ' Robert Ciawe . '
Ihe Attorney-General then said , ttetin conaescquence ol the line of oross examination adopted by the couiselfor tas defendant , he bad thought ft right t& sand for- ttw . Superintendent of the Division to whom the oonsUMe first made his ropatf , and ho should call him as a witness . MrBeresford was accordingly examined , andfci supported the constable in his statement respecting the report being made to him en the night of thl meeting , and also said that ha gave him paperto
make a written statement , and he said he belie-raU he saw the written statement bj the constable th » next morning , but ha did so at all erenta before tba examination took plaoe at Bow-atreet . Brothers was then re-called , and in aaswertoa question from Mr Parry , he said that tb . a , « prejitt » 4 To hell with the Queen , ' was read from some new * , paper , but he could not tell whether it waB part nf » report of a drunken person being apprehended in Ireland for making use of the expression .
Mr Parry aald ho watfDatrueted snoa wai U » fact , and that Ihe odioua expression bad nothing to do with the meeting . This was the case for the Crown . Mr Parry took ataobjeotion to the indiotment , ee the ground that the difft r jnt sentences were all ghna . as though they had been" oonseoatively delivered . whereas the evidence showed that there wereotture i sentences interspersed with them . This , he tug , : he apprehended wsa a f » tal variance . After some argument the objection was orarluled . ' Mr PMty then mnmi to jus ; for too 4 ita *'
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DR M ' DOCALL . We may not pass over the trial at Liverpool on Monday last , without special notice . One of the bravest and boldest In the people's cause , is separated from us for two years . True , indeed , the latest victim—but one of a large number . True that many as brave and honest bare fallen in the same contest , and many as brave and honest are , we fear , doomed to fall ; but their fate , speaking of them generally , although it grieves us as much as that of him of whom we now write , does not excite inJus exactly the same kind of sorrow as
his . Our straggle for political power for the people—to be actually exercised by them and for their own actual interest—has lasted now through many long years ; and through all this long period of anxiety Dr M'Douall , though even yet hardly advanced to the prime of manhood , hag been one of the firmest champions ef the cause of liberty . We will remind our readers of the broad facts of this case . A Chartist meeting had been advertised by numerous placards on the walls of Ashton-under-Iiyne , to be held at the Charlestown Meetinghouse , there to hear the Doctor give an account
of the occurrences in London during the last few months . The meeting was held accordingly , and the Doctor and other speakers addressed the audience , occupying the time from half-past eight in the evening till half-past ten . During the progress of the lecture two or three policemen applied for admission , but the meeting declined their presence stating that so many garbled and false reports of meetings -and speeches had been used against the
Chartists in London and elsewhere , by the police , that the meeting felt it necessary to exclude them . The determination " was expressed with mildness and civility , and ^• as resolutely adhered to . None of " these gentry were permitted to enter the meeting room . Their disappointment was extreme . Newton , their chief , waslwild upon the matter . Some say that his vexation caused tears to start from his eyes—but this we do not believe , nor does it matter .
After this meeting at the chapel , the audience , as has always been their wont at Ashton , and in most other places , determined to see their lecturer home , and so they did . They formed into a sort of extempore procession . The Doctor walked first , and more than four or five hundred Chartists followed him . They went through the town ; there was a cheer or two ; but it was admitted by the policemen , who were afterwards called as witnesses , that all was peaceable , and that though some of the inhabitants were averse to such meetings , yet that no one on this occasion expressed any fear or alarm .
Arrived at the Odd-Fellows'Arms , where the Doctor slept , he took leave of his friends for the night by delivering a short speech , from fifteen to twenty ^ minutes , from the window ; this done , the Doctor said , ' Good night / and retired ; the people then gave a hearty cheer , and went te their homes . These ate the circumstances forming the frame work of the indictment . The meeting at the Chapel was charged to be an unlawful assembly , —the walking from thence to the Odd-Fellows' Arms was , in the opinion of the police , ' a riot ; * and the speech from the
window was called sedition / and all of it together was called' a conspiracy / The sedition was the principal point of the evidence . The Doctor , it seems , had pointed out the necessity of carrying out the Chartist organisation , and had illustrated this necessity , and the strength derived from organisation , by alludia * to the religions and political bodies who have divided themselves into sec tions , classes , &c . ; he had shown that the discontent existing was general , and not confined to the unemployed , —that it extended even to the army , of whom some , it was said , had revolted , —others had appointed a committee to consider their grievances , and were about
publishing a pamphlet upon them . These and subjectsless interesting , were scattered through a discourse of twenty minutes . The Doctor warned the audience against being led into any violence , especially against drilling and training , of which he pointed out the heavy penalties ; andjie concluded b y most emphatically calling upon them to support the Chartist organisation . 'Organise ! organise ! or . ^ anise !' This was the sedition , and the following is the process by which it was made into a shape jfit for indictment . Three policemen stood at different parts of the meeting to listen to what < was said ; and it sd happened that all of them , without , of course , any prior arrangement , fell into a recollection of exactly the same
sentences . The sentences themselves were three or four—spoken far apart from each other ; but , by a most curious coincidence , it occurred that all { the policemen heard at the same moment , and all recollected at the same moment , exactly the same words , and then all went to the police-office , and , without saying a word to each other , wrote down these sentences . In copying them , too , it happened " that , though these policemen had no communication with each other , they none of them forgot , omitted , or added a word different from the others . And there was another most curious
< X ) incidence ; they all forgot every other part of the speech except those parts which were suitable for an indiciiLent ; their ears , both mental and bodily , all opened and closed at exactly the same moment , and took in exactly the same quantity ; and thi 9 without any previous or subsequent preparation , conversation , or agreement . The electric telegraph , or mesmerism , perhaps , would really seem to &ive had something to do with this . We give the story as it was sworn to in courtto
But the strangest ^ s yet come . TKese sent ences , it will be " recollected , were uttered * ith many sentences and many minutes between them . Between the first and the last ttere would probably be ten or twelve minutes . There w as cheering , swaying about , and much to disturb the attention . Well , we have told flow they collected , andVecollected , as aboves&tetl , and notwithstanding their difficulties , ? ° d notwithstanding the fact that the Doctor 13 ^ ery rapid speaker .
When they came into court , however , the ° of the lot was selected for an experiment , « see whether his mind at Liverpool retained £ > e wonderful power exhibited at Ashton . « e jud ge tried hard—it was painful to see n —to prevent this , but the prisoner ' s counsel Was inexorable . Mr Pollock read from another s Peech of Dr M'Douall ' s , half of a paragraph * j » ntau ? ing three or four sentences ; he read Jtoeo 8 jwl yt and was emphatically compelled £ > <«> so b y the judge , who really appe ared to K ln torture while the thing was progressing "• and warned the witness to ] listen with all
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On the same night that the Chancellor thus gave another proof of the financial incompetencyofthe present Government , an event occurred » the Lords which showed , in an equally conclusive manner , their general administrative incapacity . During the whole Session , the attention of Parliament has been directed to the subject of Corruption and Bribery at Election ? . Numerous Election Committees
have reported that seats , gained by such means , were null and void ; and these reports , both general and special , have been the subject of reiterated debates . Sometimes the discussions took place on the motion for issuing a writ for a particular borough Then the Government brought in a Bill , called the Horsham Borough Bill . After proceeding with that for some S ^ L ^^^ PPliV ^ ^ k up ^ John iiiiutt
u < » - » Duruugn Elections iiill , aa being su-§ S A l ? eirOWn ~" which wa 8 > certainly , ™ difficult thing to achieve . They carried that Bill through two triumphant divisions , and then dropped it for the Corrupt Practices at Ji-lections Bill , which they persevered in carrying through all its stages in the Common ? , where it occupied amain portion of June—four orfiveweek The Bill , thus forced through the Lower House at a late period of the Session , and which was itself a prominent cause of the protracted sittings of Parliament-was sent up to the House of Lords , and , on its second reading abandoned by Lords Lansdowne and Grey , the colleagues of Lord J . Russell , with an admission that it was so full of blunders that they could not ask their Lordshi ps to sit long enough to make it a feasible or practicable
Thus , the great show of virtuous indignation against bribery and corruption , which hasj been made during the whole Session , has turned out a mere farce . The franchise of several boroughs has been suspended during these debates , and at last , Parliament will separate without any further settlement of the matter tlan may be gained by some of the accused boroughs getting separate writs-as Derby has already doneand resuming the trade in votes , with the implied sanction of the Whig Government .
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The indefatigable Bentinck has had a parting fling at Sir C . Wood on the Sugar Question and his Custom-house blunders , which the Chancellor treated in what Mr Osborne calls his "jaunty" way ; and the House having been already sufficiently dragged through the dirt on this question , had no objection to take another dip in the mud , for the support of our Finance Minister ' s vagaries . [ The preceding remarks were excluded last week by press of matter . ]
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Sir Charles Wood commenced a fourth edition of the Budget on Friday night , by stating that he should have very little that was " new' ' to say on the subject ; and he followed that statement up by one which certainly was no news : namely , that he had made " various' ' statements on the subject already . Of that there could be no doubt , and as little that these speeches and the financial plans they professed to expound varied very materially from each other . In his last essay , this " comical Chancellor / ' as Lord G . Bentinck truly
styled him , played some strange fantastic tricks with figures , reminding us very much of the conjurors and sleight-of-hand folks who frequent fairs and races . First he gave a long rigmarole story , which led to the conclusion that the actual deficiency on the ordinary ' re « venue for the year would be about 300 , 000 / ., in consequence of the Government having reduced their original estimates by the sum of 800 , 000 f . Remembering that " at the commencement of the session the estimated defi < ciency approached somewhere tojthree millions and a half , and that Ian increase of the
income-tax , from three te five per cent ., was proposed to ^ meet it , we certainly breathed a little more freely when we heard that deficiency reduced to 300 , 0001 . We were almost abaut to repent for having lightly estimated the financial abilities of Sir Charles Wood . We were , however , speedily undeceived . It was only a novel way of looking at the figures , invented for this occasion by that ingenious gentleman . In the first instance , he looked at them , through , a diminishing glass , and then he applied the magnifiers ; the deficiency on the
ordinary ^ revenue under their [ influence , speedily mounted from 300 . 0 Q 0 Z . to 2 , 031 , 000 / ., -which , to make a long story short , Sir Charles proposes to meet by borrowing to the amount of 2 , 000 , OOOJ . ; in other words , in addition to the nine millions added to the National Debt last year by this eminent financier , we are this year to add two millions more ! The Chancel " lor , with a candour and naivete peculiarly his own , admits that this is a very objectionable course , being neither more nor less than adding
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¦ ¦¦¦¦¦¦—^—September 2 , 1848 . THE NORTHERN STAR . IT ^^ "'¦ ' "'»* ' " « "im ^ j — iL _ _ ,, > ,,,,,,, - ,, - ^ . ., - ^ rtnm _ __ ¦ 5 F t J _ v " " -= ^" -T ™ i mini i in nimm ¦ ¦
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— " ? THE VICTIMS . Want of space compels the postponement of comments we wer e prepared to offer on the trials at the Old Bailey , and the monstrous sentences passed upon the unfortunate victims of Whig malice and middle-class hatred . For this week we can only find room for the following letter ; in our next we shall have something more to say respecting these mockeries of " Justice . "
A VOICE FROM NEWGATE . m .... . . . Newgate , Tuesday Morning . What think yon of the dreaaftu and almost uparalleled sentences passed on the Chartirtpriaoners yesterday ! The poor fellows all complain of the very harsh sentence they have received , the mode in which they were tried , and the manner in which the evidence was summed up to thejary . and marvel where they ( being poor workine men ) are te either get £ 10 er £ 20 to pay to the Qae < jn , or procure friends as sureties for their good behaviour for jive years , even shonld they survive the twa years , to which they are doomed to linger under the b . orrible silent system . Verily , these atrocities cannot be too extensively known throughout the countryto riiow how
ins-, tice is administered to the poor , and how the laws of the land are strained and perverted forthe purpose of punish , jnc political offenders . I am convinced of the utter inn . tinty of such State prosecutions . You should be here and witness the firm determination of the men to strictly adhere to their principles , and hear their expressions of deep-rooted hatred to that system which punishes poverty and truth as crimes—nay , in fact , much worse ; for , i *? , Teff *? » qnesfion put to the court by Bryson , Baron ! PlattlUl he was indietedformiBaemeanonron « bad itbeen / etony , hewonld have been allowed to address the } I court . There certainly ia something terribly wrong in i the administration ot justice in the criminal courts of : thu country .
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We do not know whether the affair of Vancouver ' s Island is a job or a blunder ; Either way it is calculated to add to the discredit which already attaches to Earl Grey's Colonial Administration . The Hudson ' s Bay Company is by its very nature hostile to colonisation in the ordinary sense of that term . The nature of their principal trade , that of fur dealers , requires that their territories should be kept as nearly as possible in astate of nature . andbeoccupied principallyby wild beasts , and the almost equally wild races of men required to hunt and trap them . If , therefore , in viewof the futureimportanceof Vancouver ' s Island , as a commercial
station in these remote seas , it be desirable that it should be colonised at all , the Hudson ' s Bay Company are the worst parties in the world to cede it to . There can be no doubt whatever , we believe , of its importance in this point of view . In the recent negotiations with the United States respecting the Oregon territory and our North West boundary , the retention of that island b y this country was especially insisted upon ; and now , when we have secured it , to give a territorial supremacy for eleven years to this Company , is virtually to close it against colonisation ; besides , by the terms of the bargain , saddling this country with a pretty large debt if , at the end of that period we choose to take it out of their hands again .
In the Lords a " show debate'' on the subject of African Slavery was got up by Lords Denman and Brougham . From the report of the Committee of the House of Commons on the subject , it appears probable that that transcendant humbug is likely to receive its death blow at no distant period ; and , of course , all the pseudo philanthropists and dillelanti friends of humanity are ready to rush forward to the support of this venerable piece of deception . But whatever [ the
DenmansBroughamsWil-, , berforces and Buxtons may do , we believe the time has gone by for saddling this country with an enormous annual expenditure , forjthe purpose of maintaining an ineffectual blockade of the coast of Africa , and other equally costly and useless machinery for the Suppression of the Slave . Trade . ' The whole policy of the Anti-Slavery Society has been an utter and a signal failure . The millions of treasure that have been squandered on their hobby , and the thousands of European lives that have been
sacrificed to it in those pestilential dimes ef Africa , have , so far from suppressing the Slave Trade , only added to its horrors and abominations . Yet in the face of this fact , now universally admitted , we have such men as Lord Denman and Bishop Wilberforce asking for a stringent and complete blockade of the whole coast . They might as well ask us to blockade the Moon . The one is nearly as practicable as the other , when the extent of coast to be guarded is taken into consideration .
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Citation
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Northern Star (1837-1852), Sept. 2, 1848, page 5, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/ns/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1486/page/5/
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