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THE NORTHERN STAR. SATURDAY, JAMJARY 20,1S49.
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Co cromajpotttretttg*
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LITE1URV INSTITUTION, JOHN STREET, F1TZROY SOUABE.
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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.
Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.
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SUBJECTS OF FOUR ORATIONS ; to be delivered by Thomas Coor £ R , author of "The Purgatory of Suicides , " ' On Tue&lav Evenings , during Janutir , 1 * 19 . in aid of ¦ the Kathin . vl Victim Fcsi » . f . ir ivbich purpose Mr . Cooper Jiresents his gratuitous services . ¦ jaii . a 3 rd . —ihe English Commonwealth : Spirit of its Founders , and the eanses of their struggle : Lawless Despotism of Charles I .: Death of the Patriot Eliot , in the Tower : Charles ' s Last Parliament : Open Quarrel with it : the King erects Ids Standard at . Nottingham : Battles of Eckceuill and Chalgrave Field , : md Death of "Hampden : Baxtles of Murstou lloor and Xaseliv Field : the King a Prisoner , and Prej « rati'in for lus Trial . 30 th . —( Being the bi-centenary of "King diaries the Martyr" ) Trial and . Execution of Charles I .: Government l > v the Council of State : Cromwell in Irelaml : lus Victories of Duiitar anQ Worcester : Prot ectorate and ^ Character "f Oliver Cbomwell . . . To commence at eight o ' clock precisely . Admission-Hall id .. Gallery od .
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WHO WANTS A FRIEND?—The GA 1 K 1 IE 1 D OKTOR ^ . WS ^ that "The b .. v « and sirlsiiill I ** >» ; f t ,, " t- « ?^ f stories ; the voung ladies will like it for the sake of its = i ^^ & = s s ^^^ ra like it for it .-. ImuiiJs in n- ^" household receipts ; the men will like it . for it treats of ^ irdenmg and natural llistorv , and advises wives to lie kind to their husbands ; those who ' love amusement vrill like it , for it swarms -with conundrums ; everybody will like it , for it has a corner for evervbodv ; and nobody need ftsir to find any harm in it . " Pulifislied hy Houlstvn and Stoneman , Paternoster-row , London ; and may he obtained of any Wjkseller . l'rice l ! d . monthly . Thirty-two pages , in neat magazine form . The Resfkewbmhe Advertises says . ' -It is a literary miracle in regard to cheapness . ' Xearly one hundred newsjiapers have jilready spoken of it in similar terms . The work commences Hie new year .
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1 ' AIXE'S BIRTHDAY . A PUBLIC DINNER to Commemorate the BirtluV . iv of the above eminent patriot will take place on Holiday , the it'th iust , at the Seven Stars , Jluriifcr-gate , Xottin ^ hain . Tickets are now ready < O ne Shilling ~ cach > . and cm he obtained of Mr . Thornton , as above , or of Mr . Sweet . Xews-upetit Early application i * necessary as wily a limited number can lx- accommodated .
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EGYPTIAN DROPS , a Certain and . Speedy Cure f « r STOKE : md GKAVK ! ., . ~< -nt free to all persons , by enclosing seven stamps , to Thomas Wilki . sk >> ' , land Agent , Gainsborough , Lincolnshire .
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TO BE SOLD . A FOUR-ACRE ALLOTMENT , at Minster-Lorel For particulars , ( by letter , post paid ) , apply to Mr . Benson , ii , Kose-cottape , Brizent > rU > n-road .
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FOll -SALE , rpWO FOUR-ACitK SHARES in the JL National Land Company . Apply ( pre-paid ) to Mr . James Boothroyd , East-gate , " Worksop , Notts .
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TO BE SOLD , A PAID-UP FOUR-ACRE SHARE in the National Land Company . Pr ice , £ 5 . Apply to Mr . Savers , Hough Inn , North-end , Crayford , Kent
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ODER ROTy VL PATRONAGE . PERFECT FREEDOM FltOM COUGH , 3 n Ten Minutes after use , and a rapid Cure of Asthma and Consumption , and all Disorders of the Breath and Lungs , is insured hy DR . LOCOCK ' S PULMONIC WAFERS . The truly wonderful powers of this remedy have called forth testimonials from all ranks of society , in all quarters of the world . The following have been just received : —
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The extraordinary projierties of this medicine are thus described bv an oinineut physician , who says : —" After particular observation of the action of Pabe ' s Pills , I am determined , in my opinion , that the following are their true properties : — -First—They increase the strength , whilst most other medicines have a weakening effect upon the svstem . Let any one take from three to " four or six pills every twentyfour hours , and . instead of having weakened , they will _ be found to have revived the animal spirits , and to hare imparted a lasting strength to the body . " Secondly—Iu thtir operation they go direct to the disease . After you have taken six or twelve pills you will experience their effect ; the disease npon you will become less and less bv everv dose you take ; and if you will persevere in regularly taking from three to six pills every day , ¦ vour disease will speedily be entirely removed from the ' ystem . _ . _ ....... „ - ... * foundafter them fair trial
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== IMPORTANT NOTICE . NEW YEAR ' S GIFTsToit THE BENEFIT OF THE WIVES AND FAMILIES OF THE CHARTIST VICTIMS . TT TP PT ? FSE \ TS ALREADY EEr ^ iVFn t SwedSr in number and value what - ^ nrsS « w ^ 3 W ™ Se ^ S ^ f * ™^? f GtftS m MONDAY , FEBRUARY Win . n- i .- « vncnce each ( which will entitle the holders to Ticke , . SjM ««* k obtained of Mr . James Grasshy , an article of ^ ilue ^ £ j ^^^ . . Stallwood , iMcrsnuth ; Mr . GreensMe , 21 , Mtartmustwrt , BS " lUrn ; Mr . Grey , " Two ChaUer ,, » WhrdourctreVt Sobo ; Mr . Knowles , - 'Globe and Friends , " Morganstreet ' Commercial-road East ; Mr . Uirch , " Two Sawyers , " Minories-Mr Allen , ' -Crown and A nchor , " Waterloo Town - Mr- Merrhnan , i' 62 i , Strand ; Mr . Saar , " Olive Branch , " Old St . Pan . cras ' ro . vl ; Mr , Holmes , 1 , RuHng . house-lane , Portland-place ; Mr . Allnutt , Deadman ' s Coffee-house , Clerkenwell-green ; Mr . Collins , South London Chartist Hall ; Land Office . 1 « , High Holborn ; and of the Secretary , John Arnott , 11 , Middlesex-place , Soniers Town , London , of whom every information can be obtained , if by letter , pro-paid . " _ X . B . The local members of the Executive , sub-secretaries and others , are invited to forthwith solicit subscriptions from their friends , and forward the same with name and address , to the secretary as above , if by Post Office Orders , mnd- tiavable at the Battle-bridge Post Office , when tickets win be promptly returned , and th « amount received ac kno \ vledjj ; ed in the Star when finally closed . Friends who have tickets for sale , are requested to make a return as earlv as possible .
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npiIE PARTHENETJM CLUB ROOMS J- being closed for the present against public meetings , the members of the Westminster locality will meet on Sunday , the 2 < ith insL , at the Progression Coffee-house , 17 , Rider ' s-court , Leicester-square , at half-past seven precisely in the evening , when arrangements for securing a commodious pluce for future meetings will be taken into consideration . After the business is disposed of , Mr . S . Kydd will address the meeting .
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THE FRENCH REPUBLIC . THE FRATERNAL DEMOCRATS ln--L tend to celebrate the first auniversary . oftue Glorious Theee Dais of February by A PUBLIC SOIREE AND BALL . At the LrrEOAKT xsn Scientific Isstitbtion-, Jonx-sTBEHr , ToTTEXHAM-comT-BoAD , on Monday , February ' -itith , ISi'J . V Further particulars in future advertisements . i ~* The Committee of the Fraternal Democrats invite the attendance of delegates or friends from the several metropolitan localities to a committee meeting ( to make arrangements for the above festivnl ) on Sunday evening , January 28 th , at six o'clock , at Collivcr ' s Coftee Rooms , Holvweil-atreet . near St . Clement ' s Church , Strand .
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Kow Ready , a Kew Edition of MR . O'CONNOR'S WORK OX SMALL FARMS , THE CHEAPEST ED 1 TI 0 . V EVER PUBLISHED , ce Is . 6 d ., A new and elegant edition , with Steel Hate ef the Author , of PAiNE'S POLITICAL WORKS . VOLS . I . TO IV ., XEATLY BOUSD , Price 3 s . Cd . each , THE ' LABOURER 1 MAGAZINE . NOTICE TO SUBSCRIBERS . Any imperfect copies of the " Labourer" Magazine must l > e completed forthwith ; all the back numbers are now on sale ; but it will not be practicable to perfect copies unless imperfections are called for at once .
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LABOUR AND THE LAND . We recommend the letter of Mr O'Connor in this week ' s " Star" to theattentire perusal , not of the labourer , the mechanic , or the tradesman alone , but to the shopkeeper , the merchant , the banker , and the minister—as , gloss it over or nibble at it as they may , and however the Press of the dominant parties may seek to veil it over , the Labour Question , in its simple and legitimate aspect , is now the all-absorbing topic of consideration with all classes ; and just in proportion to the labourer ' s knowledge will be the legislator ' s practice .
The day has gone by when the means of accomplishing any benefit for the fforking classes shall be a sufficient inducement to the millions to rally around those who require but the means through power to accomplish the promised end . Emancipation , Reform , Free Trade , and all the blessings emanating from Reform , have been so many wholesome cautions to the working classes , who can no longer be fascinated by the most enthusiastic promises of those who use excitement for the purpose of achieving power , and power , when achieved , as the engine to suppress , not excitement , but the mere expression of public opinion .
It is an irrefutable fact , that the Whigs , when straggling for power , have most strenuously advocated every measure for seeking the accomplishment of which their dupes hare been made the object of their vengeance , This constitutes the difference between men seeking power and men exercising power ; while the justification of the tyrant resolves itself into this : "Yes yes ; we admit the justice of your claim , but we deny your tight to accomplish it by force or violent language , " while they appear to forget that this very plea of justification is an admission either of their own incapacity as Ministers to carry out their own principles , or that , as tools in the hands of trading supporters , they must surrender principle to party feeling :.
If the Chartist movement can lay claim to more than * ordinary shrewdness , discrimination , and judgment , it will ever be found in the fact that its propounded have enunciated not only a mere , political principle , but the social advantages which are to result from its accomplishment ; and if the English people cannot boast of the same traditionary or existing character for valour and heroism
as their continental neighbours , and however apathetic they may occasionally appear to the squinting eye of the casual observer , theylare , nevertheless , better instructed in the Labour Q uestion than the people of any other country in the world ; and in exact proportion to ' their knowledge of thfc Labour Question will be their ambition to achieve political power as the means to the end .
It is very amusing to read the several complicated Budgets of the several financiers , with the varied comments of the several jour , nals of the several parties . Mr C ' obden propounds an understandable Budget—a corruption-eiaying , because a patronage-destroying Budget , which the " Times' and lt Chronicle , " like larks flying at an eagle , attempt to weaken , while * they strengthen everyone of his positions . Upon the other hand , all anxious
to fly their own straw before the wind , accept as a set-off against Mr Cobden ' s Budget tie most airy and metaphyskal nothings that could spring from the brain of the most fanciful fairy . Thus , while all admit the necessity of considerable reduction , while fill disagree as to the point of attack , we find the ' Chronicle" parading a letter from Mr . ¥ m . Kay Smee to Mr . Cobden , in large type , proposing , as a substitute for his Budget , a tax of * 5 , 177 , 000 upon the very poorest and most
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strugg ling of all classes , namely , a tax upon the incomes of all persons having over £ 50 ayear . Now , as our maxim eyer'h as been (( Justice to all and Injustice to none ; " to make the rich richer and the poor rich by the most profitable cultivation of the national resources , measured by Btate necessity , and not class cupidit y , we would as readily resist such an act of gross tyranny and oppression in the case of the poor householder , as in that « f the poor labourer . This fascinating financier , Mr . Smee , proposes no diminution of patronage , but a mere transfer of burthens from the untaxed luxuries of
the rich to the taxed necessaries of the poor . And he appears to imagine that the Exchequer is like the HORN OF AMALTHEA ,-the more that is extracted from it the more still remains . Mr . Smee proposes to light the candle at both ends , as he appears ignorant of the fact that one of the great evils of direct taxation , when unjustly assessed , is the diminution of profit arising from indirect taxation , while , on the one hand , the injustice of indirect taxation , in many cases , amounts to a prohibition of the use of the taxed article , which may be a necessary of life , upon the other hand ,
direct taxation , when charged upon real property , spurs the owners of that property on to economy , and the desire to save by the abolition of indirect taxation an equivalent for the amount directly levied ; and thus , being the paymasters and caterers for their Offn whims , necessities , caprices , and protection , they would very speedily see our inordinate Army , Navy , Ordnance , Governmental and Patronage figures , through Mr . Cebden ' s telescope , which would then , as if by magic , receive an additional magnifier , instead of , as now , enjoying the view as presented in the Press kaleidiscope . ¦; ' . ¦
In the nibble at Mr . Cobden ' s Budget , on Thursday , the " Times , " while attempting to shake his position , gives us a most fearful catalogue of the increased extravagance of the present Government . The " Times" tells us " That there has been an increase of one million eight hundred and fifty thousand nine hundred and eighteen pounds upon twenty , eight items , since 1835 , and the first item in the Budget is 06 , 123 / . on Public
Buildings and Royal Palaces ; the public buildings constituting a very insignificant fraction in this item . " Nurseries for the royal babies in Buckingham Palace , 30 , 000 / . Additional expenditure on the Houses of Parliament , 55 , 534 / . " And with characteristic and unblushing effrontery , the "Times , " in its comment upon this item , illustrates the strength and stability of the British constitution , and the gullibility of John Bull , in these
words;" AND , KNOWING AS WE DO THE VALUE OF EXTERNALS , WE CANNOT QUARREL WITH ITS CHOICE . " There is the cocked hat on the barefooted man i There is the gilded external to mask the internal rubbish ! There is the gaping eye gratified at the expense of an empty pocket ! There is John Bull ' s gilded toy ) Next we have 131 , 000 / . expended upon Harbours of Refuge , with mere lives sacrificed than
ever 1 Then an increase of 193 , 149 / ., since 1835 , for Poor Law Commissioners , with more ^ 'paupers , more complaints , worse management , more deaths , infants huddled five in a bed , with male infants as their nurse tenders , and a human butcher receiving 3 , 600 i . a-year for the trade , while those tender Guardians , who have relieved their own charnel houses of the burthen , are more to blame than Mr . Dreuet , because it was their duty to see to proper accommodation for , and the proper treatment of , those children .
The next item is an increase of 40 , 268 / . for Coining Money in the Mint—that is , for altering the standard . The next is for Eailwaj Commissions , or , otherwise , agencies , and inspections for the wealthy , paid by the poor , 10 , 670 / . The next item is fur Parliamentary Priuting and Stationary , which the "Times" admits is colossal—302 362 / . being an increase of nearly 107 , 000 / . over 1835 . The next item is for the Commission ef Public Works in Ireland , 40 . 800 / ., being an increase of about 37 , 000 / . over 1835 , and the work being building bridges where there were no rivers , or
rather , projecting bridges where there were no rivers , and roads where there was no traffic . The next is an awful item—an item furnishing the strongest conviction of the injustice of the Government , the horrors of the system , and the increasing inducements te crime—it is 42 , 707 / . increase in law charges , which should be translated into fi Government persecution . " But this is but a small item , for it is followed by an increase of 238 , 000 / ., since 1835 , for prosecutions , prisoners , and Irish Constabulary , thrown upon the public in compliance
with the Report of Lord Devon s Land Commission . What a characteristic solution of the Land Question is the increase of 238 , 000 / . per annum for prisoners , prosecutions , and Constabulary . The expense of prisons , since 1835 , has increased by nearly 65 , 000 / . ; and the " Times'' tells us that , " If anybody will cut down this figure , he will earn the eternal gratitude of the nation . " We shall not receive the gratitude of the " Times , " but our plan for the correction of the evil is—locate the people upon the land of their birth , and you not only cut down but dissolve the figurd
The next item furnishes another strong proof of the guilt of the Government and the horrors of the system which impelled good men to the commission of crime ; convicts at home and abroad have 'mounted from 111 , 3061 . in 1835 , to 870 , 000 / . in 1818 , thus showing an increase of nearly 277 , 000 / . The Police of Dublin has risen from 16 , 000 / . to 36 , 000 / ., showing an increase of 20 , 000 / . per annum , and , of course , a corresponding increase of crime , as the necessity of the force depends upen the commission of crime , and the recipients of the funds are the greatest inciters to its commission .
We next come to the sunny side of the " Times" Budget , and it is most characterise callj introduced . The " Times" says , "We now come to more agreeable subjects . It has lately occurred to the Legislature that perhaps education may supersede punishment , and schools stand instead of prisons . So on English education we ' , have an increase of 95 , 000 / . ; on Irish an increase of 85 , 000 / ., and for Schools of Design a new item of 10 , 000 / . We can only say of the scheme ' Felix faustumque tit '
The Irish mode of answering a question is to ask another . and in turn we ask the " Times , " if the most subtle lawyer could supply stronger proof of the guilt of the Government ? We are told that it has «¦ LATELY occurred to the Legislature that PERHAPS education may supersede PUNISHMENT , and SCHOOLS stand instead of PRISONS . " It is the Whig maxim from beginning to end . " When the steed is stolen shut the stable door . " and instead of "Prevention being better than cure ;" the cure comes when the disease is incurable , but when its tardy and useless application may supply patronage to the physicians .
The next item is the charge for the British Museum , which is an increase of over 60 , 000 / . The next is for the Museum of Practical Geology , 10 , 978 / . The next is for New Zealand and our ether New Colonies , 45 , 130 / . ; this is only to nurse them in their infancy . The next is for Consuls in China and some expenses in Hong Kong , 49 , 400 * . The next is rorfMilitia and Volunteers in Canada , 16 . 000 Z .
i fie next is for Navigation and Drainage in Ireland , 32 , 000 ? . The next is Ambassadors ' Residences in Constantinople and Madrid 15 , 000 / . j while our ambassador has been kicked out of Madrid , and the amount would build 150 cottages for peasants at home . The asxt is Medals or the Army antf Navv 22 500 / , The finish is for Steam N avi «^ tioa to India , 50 , 0001 , aad the grand total o / W-rpase
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8 inc « 1835 , thirteen years of Peace , RETRENCHMENT , and Reform , is Z . mrmv EIGHT HUNDRED ° ANDF FTY ^ OUsTnD NINE HUN-£ red ! amd eighteen pounds ,
£ X £ V m 2 turn au annual rental of on hunlred and fifteen thousand six hundred and eShty pounds ; as no occupant would re-? ut topayfor be unable to pay , 1 « . j-yew fo h 8 hotting . In conclusion , we need onl y observe , that If the Budgets are 1 ntended j » purs for the electoral body , Mr . Smee t , nLw will receive but little favour in the
eves Of that numerous class of householdera who now enjoy exemption from the Income Tax but who would then come within its fanes . The Land , therefore , we say , and the nro | er app lication of domestic labour to its cultivation , is the only hope for Labour and cun be the only salvation of the Labourer .
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PRINCE LOUIS NAPOLEON AND THE | L A N D . Prince Louis Napoleon , like other exiles , when the prisoner of Louis Philippe , was sneered at and scoffed at by the adherents of that old woman , and , mayhap , like many other exiles , there was a latent genius and talent in the enemy which caused dread and eonsternation to his jailor . Our main objection to ,
and charge against , the present French President was , that while he encouraged the battle ef Labour against monopoly in France , he enlisted as a Special Constable in the ranks of the monopolists in England ; that was our ground of objection , and a justifiable one ; but , unlike other censors , if subsequent events should tend to alter our opinion , vre shall ever have the courage and manliness to confess our error .
Some subsequent facts and some previous facts have induced us to considerably moderate our suspicions of the character nnd capacity of the French President . The subsequent events are , that in defiance of the opposition of his Minister he has proclaimed a very extensive amnesty to political offenders—aH the brave men who fought for their liberties , and achieved his elevation , are designated—while the pretioua fact is , that while the French President was a prisoner in Ham , he wrote a little book , entitled
« EXTINCTION OF PAUPERISM , " and which , upon former occasions , we hate reviewed , but not to the extent to which its increased merit , by the increased ability of the writer to carry his views into practice , would entitle it . As a matter of course , none but a practical agriculturist can * be expected to'supply « practical treatise upon agriculture : while , upon the other hand , if a person having extensive power , advocates a theory of the
practical working of which he n ignorant , there is little doubt but practical men will be selected to carry out his theory . And while the question of the Land , and its more equitable distribution , is now becoming the allabsorbing topic , not with the Old World only , but in America as well , the opinions of the French President upon the subject cannot be considered without due and paramount importance beine attached to them .
We do not wholly acquiesce in the means proposed by the Prince for carrying out his agricultural operations , as the management smacks strongly of military discipline , and unequal and disadvantageous co-operation . Nevertheless , we acquiesce cordially in the principle , feeling convinced that , as with all other undertakings , time and experience will correct inaccuracies , fallacies , andjjad management .
But , then , shall we be obliged hereafter to refer to our old maxim , "That there is a wide difference between men seeking for power and the " same men exercising power when achieved . " If not , and should the Pr ' nce carry out the principle very fervently and very ubly advocated in his treatise of the appropriation of Land to the Peasant Popula tion , we shall hail the little production as a great Godsend . Next week we shall publish
this little Treatise , entire , in the " Northern Star , " and thus save the reader the price of the book , which is sixpence . With the statistical tables furnishing a calculation of the expences and receipts of an agricultural colonythe whole will not occupy more than about four columns , and its attentive perusal and study will amply repay the reader . And as we feel no email pride in our bantling , we feel no jealousy towards those who would dress it according to their own " Fashion Book . "
It was written in 1844 , and from its perusal the English reader will be able to form an estimate of the value of the reviled Land Plan , while we can proudly call his attention to the strict identity between our views upon the subject , and those portions of the Prince ' s which are practicable . However , not wishing to be monopolists of the subject , we luxuriate and revel in the conviction , that ere long every jour « nal in the kingdom will [ adopt our old principles , not as their new , but as their infant convictions , basing their heretofore opposition or silence upon the ignorance of the people , or that the time for experimentalising had only just arrived .
We will | cheerfully accept any change as proof of repentance , and will as cheerfully grant absolution to our revilers , when their influence is directed—no matter how late—to the accomplishment of Labour's emancipation , and the establishment of Britain ' s real glory , as eur rulers may rest assured , that , to the proper cultivation of our national resources , they must now look , as their only hope of redemption . from rain and national bankruptcy . Prince President , carry out your Land Plan . Turn the sword into the ploughshare . Surround your dignity with grateful hearts in .
stead of bristling bayonets , and then , rely upon it , that however the struggle u > ay come , between J Monarchy and Republic ; Pretender or Legitimists , that your pretension will be stronger , firmer , and more legitimate , than the right divine of him who would support his title under God by the slaying of Ged ' s children ; and that France , through you , will furnish to the world the true and just solution of the Labour Question ; and that the English Minister will find it very difficult to extract from John Bull the means of deposing one whose object is the elevation of his countrymen .
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MINISTERIAL CHANGES AND POLICY . The recent death of Lord Auckland , First Lord of the Admiralty , and the approach of the Session of Parlia ment for 184 9 , seem at length to have restored the suspended animation of a Cabinet , never too buoyant or lively As yet we have no definite indication of the policy with which Lord John Russell proposes to open the session . The official circular he has issued to Members sitting on the official Hide of the House , states that "business of great importance will be proceeded with in the open-If * !? . f se ?? , 7 ' his Lordsh " 'P therefore Lf to 1 l \ ° nvenient" ^ those Mem-February m eiF pIaceS On the first of
offJwh jr . paSt f perience the Propensity of the Whigs to palm off upon the country shams and trifles , M « busineL of great " m portance , " whenever they think they can I so successful we must wait until the Minit tenal programme is made public , before we can judge what Lord John considers « bXs « of great importance . " Heaven knows there is
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dentv of such business to be done , but as to & and the capacity to do it , that is quite ^ t he meantime ^ oine circu— have transpired which throw an inferential l » ght upon the Premier ' s position and tendencies if not his actual ^^^{ P ^ * !? he is by no means confident of his resources , or that he possesses the strength requisite to withstand the middle class opposition , both on financial and political questions , with winch he is threatened in the ensuing session .
Lord Auckland ' s decease offered an opportunity of providing additional emolument and patronage to some of the members of what Mr . O ^ borne so frequently called the " The Happy Family , " of which nothing but very strong reasons indeed could have prevented them from taking advantage . Had the Whig clique found themselves at all in an easy oosition , there can be no doubt , that the the Premierand
father-in-law oi , powerful chief of the lucky tribe of Elliots , would have been transferred from the snug berth of Keeper of the Privy Seal—to the better paid situation of First Lord of the Admiralty . Ihis would , of course , have made room for some other member of the " Happy Family , " and a step upwards to several , as the pleasant consequences Jof the vacancy . But Lord John , nn mustering his troops and recollecting the
wretched figure they cut last year , felt like Falstaff , ashafied of marching through Coventry with such a " shak y lot . However disagreeable to share the patronage , emolument * and influence | of office , yet , that is better than to lose them altogether , and , under this impression , his lordship sent last week to Netherby Hall for the assistance of Sir James Graham . That Right Hon . Bart . IorC no time in answering the summons . Within three hours of its receipt , he left Carlisle , by the first train for London . and had an immediate interview with Lord John . It is understood that the Premier then offered him the office of First Lord of the Admiralty . " This
offer , " eays a ministerial journal , " was made in a spirit of frankness and good feeliig , with a sincare desire to bury in oblivion all past differeHoes , which may have interrupted the harmony of men now holding the same opinions , and which are prejudicial to the permanent interests of the country . " It is not quite clear whether the " past differences" or the present " opinions'' of Lord John Russell and Sir J . Graham " are prejudicial to the permanent interests of tke country . " If our interpretation was to be depended upon , it would be the latter , and , at all events , whether it is the grammatical reading of the official sentence , there can be no doubt as to its correctness in
faet . Sir James , we are told by the same authority , received "the offer with a perfect acknowledgment of the public motives which had suggested the proposal , although , sifter some consideration , he declined to accept it . " The reasons why he is said to have done so , have oozed out throug h other channels . The
Netherby Baronet , whatever may be his defects as a politician ^ at all events a thorough man of business ; and he is said to have made as a condition of his acceptance of office , the kicking out of a few of the imbeciles and incapables who now cumber the Treasury Bench , and the substitution of Mr . Sidney Herbert , Mr . Card well , and others of the'Peel party in their places .
This would have amounted , in fact , to a coalition of the Whigs and Peelites , and that upon terms which , while it left the nominal Premiership with the Whigs , must , from the greater ability and administrative talent of the Peel section , have given them the real preponderance . It is now well known that Sir R . Peel lias a decided intention not to accept office again . What so natural as that his Home Secretary—a man who has served along apprenticeship to the art of governing , and who undoubtedly occupies the second place in his party—should aspire to the position of Premier ?
But Lord John , though quite willing upon public measures to aceept the assistance of Sir James Graham , so long as it might have the tendency to strengthen the position of himself and friends as occupants of the Treasury Bench , had his " private motives" for declining to be got rid of by a side wind in this dexterous manner , the negociation therefore ended in nothing , although tit the commencement of his
present term of office his Lordship offered seats to Lord Lincoln , Lord Dalhousie , and Mr . Sidney Herbert , two of whom he now declineto admit to power . It is clear he is sadly in want of the assistance of the party but wishes to keep them subordinate . It is equally clear that they have no intention of playing second fiddle to such a shabby and inferior clique of officials as Lord John has now about him .
Thus this chance for an accession of strength to the ricketty Cabinet has passed away ; nobody will imagine that the filling up of the vacant place with Sir F . Baring—the Chancellor of a former Whig Government , who will be known to posterity as having "fished for a budget in a bottomless sea of deficiency , " will add one iota of real power to the present Administration . We must be prepared to expect the same gross blunders in the commonest detail of every-day business , the same playing fast and loose with principle which has distinguished this most ignorant and most tricky Administration ever 6 ince its inauguration , ft came into office upon false pretences , ana it can only retain power by similar means .
One significant admission creeps out in these Ministerial negotiations , which must not be forgotten , Lord John distinctly avows that Sir James Graham and himself " now hold the same opinions ; " the inference is , that the parties , more immediately connected with these two leaders , possess an equal identity of opinion . We may , therefore , expect , in the ensuing session , to find them upon every great question in the same lobby on a division aad in every debate doggedl y opposing both fiscal and political Reform .
In fact , Lord John , by proposing this coalition , has indirectly but unmistakeably pro claimed war with the Financial Reform Association led by Mr . Cobden , and the Household Suffrage Movement under Mr , Hume . So far as he and his Iparty , backed b y Peelites and Protectionists , can prevent it , this country shall neither have cheap Government , nor such organic changes as will give the peoriea real control over the management of its Time will show who is to conquer- bu > meanwhile , it is just as well ' that there should beno mistake about the character and inten tions of those with whom we have to waee th <» approaching conflict . 6
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ciple i » acted upon . These authorities were B 9 ked the p lain question , " Whether establishments connected with Poor Law Unions , wherein the poor are farmed , came under the control and inspection of the Poor Law Board ? " , iV . . . One would have thoug ht this eo plain a question , that an answer to it would have been no difficult matter ; but the fear of being saddled with the responsibility which a direct affirmative would have involved , produced onlv evasive replies from the IBuard , until , at last Lord Ebrington was driven into the admissionthat '' upon a strict construction of , ~ These authorities were
, the Act , the Board may possibly possess some riaht of control over such establishments . " But / fldded his Lordship , " as the contractor and his servants ' cannot be held to be paid officers within the terms of the Act , t \ % Board could not . without great practical djfliculty , subject such establishments to its regu . tetwns " -ergo , the farmers oi juvenile and adult poverty may do as they like for the Board . Mr . Hall , the Poor Law Inspector for the Metropolitan District , who was examined at the inquest held on some ot the children belonging to the Holborn Union ,
repeated in substance the same opinions as to the non-responsibility of the Poor Law Board and its officer * with respect to these places . He had visited Drouet ' s Pauper Warren at Tioting , misnamed an Asylum , but it was more as an informant or spy for the Poor Law Board , than as one having authority to alter or amend anything he might see wrong . The only course which this official and his superiors could think of to ensure good treatment to the swarming hundreds who were crammed into an insufficient space , was to bribe Mr . Drouet with an annual grant of 250 ? ., for what was called " educational purpesei . "
Money-bribery is the great Whig instrument for evary kind of difficulty—whether it'is to keep a nation quiet by bribing its prie-ts , or to induce a farmer of paupers to do his duty to the helpless mass of orphanhood and poverty committed to his charge , the means are the same . If Drouet had taken the meney , Man they would have assumed a power over him which , according to their own showing " , would , even then , have had no clear foundation in law .
A much more direct and effectual method of dealing with the monstrous abominations generated in such establishments , was pointed out by Mr . Hall in the same evidence . He said that the Poor Law Board undoubtedly possessed the power of issuing a peremptory order forbidding the farming out of paHper children , and the withdrawal of all those so farmed out . If that had been done in November , when Mr . Hall paid his last official visit to Tooting-, and warned Dro « et that his so-called asylum was then over-stocked—that the children were
sleeping three in a bed , contrary to kw , which piohibits more than two dnldrea above seven years of age in one bed—that the ventilation was defective , and no means provided , whereby even the scanty dietary professedlygiven , could be ensured to the children—if , we say , Mr . Hall had then induced the Poor Law Board to issue such " a peremptory order , —it would have shut up the pest-house at Tooting , and 6 aved the lives of the children , who in January were stricken down in hundreds by the pestilence , generated by the causes enumerated .
The inquiry is still pending , and it is there fore improper to anticipate what tht verdict Ofj the Coroner ' s Jury may be , as to the proportion in which the culpability and the responsibility have to be shared among the Contractor , the Boards of Guardians and the Poor Law Board . There can , however , be no doubt that among them they have committed a gross and monstrous breach of the laws of humanity , and caused death upon an appalling scale of magnitude . Never , too , were death-beds of any kind attended by more disgraceful , deplorable , and disgusting circumstances .
For an account of the Bickening details , as supplied in an official report by Mr . Grainger , one of the medical inspectors to the Board of Health , we must refer our readers to the report of the inquest in our seventh page . It is impossible to conceive anything more in « famous than the facts disclosed in thit report Yet in the 6 ame report we find that , after a laps ^ of some time from his first visit , not one of the recommendations of Mr . Grainger were car
ried out for removing the more palpable and offensive evils set forth , and of mitigating in some degree the violence of the pestilence which had broken out among these poor children . These recommendations involved expense , and the Contractor could not afford to throw away his money for any such purpose . One surgeon , twenty-five years of age , at s salary of 501 . a-year , and twe nurses , were all that the calculation allowed to look after the health of thirteen hundred and fifty children . The
Poor Law Board are doing all in their power to get out of the responsibility . Mr Drouet will do the same ; the Board of Guardians will , no doubt , Jprove by minutes * and letters that everything they did was fall perfectly regular and in the way of b isiness ; and perhaps , the result may be a verdict of general censure , but inculpating nobody in particular . Should the inquiry end this way in this particular case , we trust the terrible mortality which the " farming system" has incontestibl y produced , will lead to its destruction , and the formation of arrangements for the children ef the po » r , at least as humane and healthy as those provided for felons and burglars .
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"i " THE COLLIERS OF NORTHUMBERLAND AND DURHAM . i-1 T e had P P arcd an article upon the letter ot Mv Hall , which appeared in the Star of last week , setting forth the present deplorable condition and hopeless state of the colliers of Northumberland and Durham , and the tyranny of the viewers and Coal Kings , and in which wo have shown the amount of gain accruing to the colliers uuder the management of AV . P . Roberts , and the amount now filched from them when deprived of the services of that
gentleman . We are glad when the working classes gain wisdom , from experience , and a * jo have received many letters from the mining districts , expressing an anxious wish for the rcougagement of Air . Roberts , we would also « ay to that gentleman— " Gain wisdom by expenencc ; don't be hast y again to embark ' in a cause m which your fame may be damaged by tools of the the Coal Kings , who have now ¦ become the greatest oppressors of those whose rights they so enthusiasticall y contended for , until they established their own comfort upon the destitution ofbthers . "
# article shall appear next week ; meantime wo are happy to find the Collier Movement reviving , and as" a preliminary step to its reorganisation , we would recommend the summoning of a District Conference , at which Mr . Roberts might be invited to attend . Martin Judc , also , one of the most honest and zealous supporters of the people ' s rights , has been victimised by the very men wlioso causa he so ably , so zealously , and disinterestedly advocated . "We shall astonish the weak minds of individual colliers , when we show them , both the individual and aggregate amount of loss they have sustained by the loss of their legal adviser—the destruction of their organisation —and the corruption and rascality of those upon whose honesty they rolied .
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The VicTixs .-Johu Arnott , SomersTown , acknowledges thereceipt of the following , on behalf of the A'ictim fund —From Mr , Sl'Gnitli , l ' cddiu ' s Dungeon ILivp , 15 i . -liOri '« Constitution of Suciuty ( throe cojiics ) , Children uf the Abbey , Fanner of Inglcwood Forest . Paul and Virginia and eight other books ; Mr . Thomas Clark , Burns' Works ' Uyron ' s Seleet Poems , Poetry for the Million , Bishop 1 ' Constitution of Society ( two coyies ) , O'Halloran the Ins sui ^ ent Chief , Commentary on the Military Establish incuts of the liritish Empire , and Sam Plick in Bnelavd Jli \ Sherman , Five Books ; Mr , SttWfiW , HoxtOD , jj
The Northern Star. Saturday, Jamjary 20,1s49.
THE NORTHERN STAR . SATURDAY , JAMJARY 20 , 1 S 49 .
Co Cromajpotttretttg*
Co cromajpotttretttg *
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January 50 1849 . * THE NORTHERN STAR ^^^^^ iaMr-ii 7 nn —
Lite1urv Institution, John Street, F1tzroy Souabe.
LITE 1 URV INSTITUTION , JOHN STREET , F 1 TZROY SOUABE .
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THE TOOTING PESTILENCE . " To shut the stable door when the steed is stolen is a species of wisdom With which we are familiar m this country . It does not matter how palpable and dangerous any inS ! tution or practice m 8 y be , so * long a / itS not take away hfe , or otherwise inflict matena injury . but the moment that takes Sace jvhich everybody might have foreseen asS inevitable consequence of not taking measure to prevent them from doing mischief—the whole machinery of our Courts , from the Cn .
roner s upwards , is put in motion to ascertain who is to blame in the matter . Would it not 06 much better , much cheaper , and more satisfactory , to prevent the mischief bein * r done ? 6 It appears , that the anomalous and disgrace ml nature of the pauper farms did not require to be demonstrated by such a fearful pestilence and appalling lo * s of life as that which ita \ eV ) la f ? % ? children " farmed put at looting-. The Poor Law Board had its attention called to the subject last year , with reference to the Peckfiam Asylum (?) for adults , in wh JC j , the gamo "farming" prin-
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Citation
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Northern Star (1837-1852), Jan. 20, 1849, page 4, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/ns/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1506/page/4/
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