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Co QrormuonUttUft*
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THE NORTHERN STAR SATURDAY, JA1YU1KY 4, 1851.
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PHE GENTLEMAN'S MAGAZINE.— JL The First Xumlier of ihe GESTLEMAXS MAGAUie late
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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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USE for 1651 is embellished with R Fortran ot rhomas Amjot . Esq ., Treasurer of the Society of Antfquaies . accompanied with memoirs written by two of iiis nostintimatefriends . A second plate represents a £ ry ughly ornamented Roman Sword recently discovered near Hayence . This number also contains The Stok of Xeu , Swis , Chapter I . bv Peter Cnnninrham , Esq ., F . S . A ., being the commencement of an oript" Work , which will be continued periodically in the Magazine . Also , amonp Mhtr articles . The unpublished Diary of John first Karl of Egmont , Part 11 L ; Farindon and Owen , th » Divines of the Cavalier and Koundhead -, Kotes of an Antiquarian Tour on the Rhine , by C . Roach Snrth . Esq ., F . S . A . ; Milton and the Adamc Caduto of Salandra ; the Barons of London and Ihe Gnqne l ' orte ; Effigy of a Notary ( with an engraving ) , &c , Ac llerietvs of Miss Strickland's Lives ot the Queens of Scotland ; Tols . V . and VL of Southey ' s Life : Ac , tc With Literary and Antiquarian Intelligence ; Historical Chronicle ; and Obituary , including Memoirs ot the Marchioseis Cornwallis , Lord Nugent . Kt . lion . Sir W . H . Freoantle , Mr . Raphael , Mrs . Sell Martin , ic ic Price 2 e . Cd . Kichols and Son , 25 . Parliament-street .
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NATIONAL CHAltTER ASSOCIATION . Office , 14 , Soathwnpten-street , Strand . THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE hereby announce tie following meetings : — On Sunday Evening next at the Rock Tavern , Lissongrove—Princess Itoval , Circus-street , Maryleboae—King and Queen , Foley-street , Portland-place—Bricklayers ' Arms , Tonbridge-street , Xew-road-Crown and Anchor , Cheshire-street , Waterloo Town —< 51 obe and Friends , Morgan-street , Comiuercial-road-east—and New Eastern literary and Scientific Institution , Morpeth-street , Greenstreet , Setlinal Grsen . On the same evening the late Whittingtoa and Cat Locality will meet in the large room at the Woodman Tavern , "White-street , Waterloo Town , ( where for the future this locality will meet . ) On the same evening Mr . Broaterre O'Brien will commence a course of lectures at the City Hall , 2 G , Goldenlane , Barbican , on' Universal Suffrage , Currency , Capital , and Exchange . '
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I ^ HE LONDON CO-OPERATIVE STORES are now opened at 76 , Chablotte Sheet , Fitzbot Sqciee , In connexion with the Society for Promoting Working Ken ' s Associations . 1 . —Object of the Stokes . To enable members of the above-named Association , and other persons who may defire it , to obtain articles , of daily use perfectly free from adulteration , of the best quality , and the lowest charge , after defraying the necessary expense of management , distribution , and providing for a reserve fund . Co-operative stores have been established with much . success in different parts of the kingdom . The benefit to the subscribers may be judged of from the fact that the subscribers to the Pioneer Store in Rochdale , divided in Ihe lastyear £ 800 afterpayment of all expenses , although the goods were charged considerably below the ordinary . price . 2 . —Operations of the Stokes . "Wherever practicable , orders will be taken at the houses of customers , and goods will in all " cases be promptly and carefully delivered .
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TO TAILORS . 2 y approbation of Her Majaty , Quten Victoria , and JLE . K Prince Albert .
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RUPTURES . EFFECTUALLY CURED WITHOUT A TRUSS VI BiR . BABSER still continues to supply the afflicted with the celebrated remedy for every varietj of Single or Double Rupture , the effieacy of which , in many thousands of cases , is tootrdlinownto need comment It is applicable alike to male or female of any age perfectly free from danger , causes no pain , incou-Tenience , or confinement , and will be . ent free by post , with instructions , &c . on receipt of 7 e . ; in poit ? ge stajni s or a Posfroffice . pajaMe at the General Post-office . Address , ALFREDBABKER , M . D ., 18 , Liverpool-street jung's-orcse , London . At home for consultation dailv from 10 . till 1 , acd 4 S 215 ( Sunday excepted . ) * ' A great number of trusses have been left behind by persons cured , as trophies of the immense success of this re medy , which Br . B . will be jhappy to give tc . any requirine them after a trial of it
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Setkbal coiliebs from Kilmarnock have been tored by the Hudson ' s Bay Company , to proceed to Tancower ' s Island , in order to work the coal
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ROBEBT OWEN'S JOem , Xo . IX . contains LETTERS TO THE CHARTISTS , AND TO THE CABINET 11 ISISTERS . No . XL will fee published next Saturday . Part IL , prw « 4 d ., is now ready . Published weekly by Clayton , 265 , Strand ; and Watson , Qwen ' s Hsad Passage , Paternoster Row , Price , lin and in Monthly Parts . ; ,
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| 1 NLAR&SENT 0 ? THE NATIONAL INSTRUCTOR . The Tost Number of the New Series , OF * m HATIOIAL INSTRUCTOR Is now ready . SIXTEEN LABGE ROYAL OCTAVO PAGE , Price One Fenny . II IS THE ADVOCATE 07 POLITICAL , SOCIAL . AND INDUSTRIAL PROGRESS . II CONTAINS A WEEKLY LABOUR RECORD . The Autobiography of Feargus O'Connor , Es ? ., M . P :, Original Articles on Social and Political Questions . Tales : R eviews : Poetry : Gleanings , &c . Contents of No . f . 1 . A Sketch of Factory Life , by S . M . Krai ) . 2 . Commercial Competition . 3 . American Juries . 4 . Adventures of Feargus O'Connor , Esq ., M . P . 6 . Romance of the Millocracy : Arkwright . 6 . Baroness Ton Beck's Personal Adventures in Hungary . 7 . Labour and Co-operative Record . The " National Instructor " is supplied by all iht London Agmti for similar publications : or by A . Heywood , Manchester ; W . Love , and G . Adams , Glasgow ; Robinson and Co ., Edinburgh ; J . Sweet , Nottingham ; J . Guest , Birmingham .
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CANTERBURY versus ROME , TWO LECTURES BY ERNEST JONES , Of the Middle Temple , Barrister-at-law . Now publishing in four weekly numbers , price twopence . No 1 , will be published on Saturday , the 18 th inst Cosiest * . —What is really the teaching of Christ !—How has he been obeyed ?—How did the church perish ! —The fire taints exemplified : ambition , avarice , usury , insanity , blasphemy . The 1 ' apal Chdbch of England . —British—Saxon—Norman—Anglican—Old Coifi—The Devil ' s messenger-Church piracy—How the Charter was got , and what it was worth . —The Lollards—Ficketfields—The fiery pit—Theprice of wood—Luther ' s letter—The church property —Did the church help science , freedom , or learning % — Papitt and state churchmen , Dissenters and democrats . Published by Mr . Oipple , Holjwell-street , Strand , London . ERSEST JONES nill repeat the two lectures on the above subject at THE NATIONAL SCHOOL-ROOMS , COWPER-STREET , CITY-ROAD , On Monday , January the Cth , and On Wednesday , January the 15 th , 1851 . Admission : —Hall , Id . ; Platform , 3 d . To commence at eight o ' clock precisely .
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OPENING OF A NEW PEOPLE'S INSTITUTION . A PUBLIC MEETING of the Friends of NATIONAL REFORM will take place on Toesdat , the 7 th Instant , at the Eclectic Institute . 17 a , Denmarkstreet , Soho , at Eight o ' clock in the Evening , on the occasion of opening this new Institution . Mr . J . B . O'Brien will preside ; and Messrs . Hart , Ernest Jones , Ellis , Lemo , and other friends of the Working Classes , will address the audience on the objects of the Institute , and on the duties of the people in raspect of the new year , and the approaching Session of Parliament . Admission , 2 d . each , to defray expenses . N . B . —Lectures , in future , every Sunday and Friday Evenings , at Eight
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NOTICE TO SUBSCRIBERS . Now ready for delivery with the Northern Star , authentic , highly finished , and beautiful STEEL ENGRAVINGS , UPWARDS OF TWO FEET LONG , From the contractors' ( Fox and Henderson ' s ) own Drawing of the Interior and Exterior of THE CRYSTAL PALACE : OB GREAT BUILDING IN HYDE PARK
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Portraits of patriots . The readers of the " Northern Star , " and the Democratic party generally , are informed , that there is now a re-issue of the various Steel engravings lately distributed with the "Northern Star . " They consist of KOSSDTH , MeAOHEB , Louis Blakc , Miichel , Erxest Jones , Smith O'Bbies , Richard Oastler , John Frost . These Engravings have excited the admiration of every one who has seen them . They are faithful portraits , and are executed in the most brilliant style . Price Fourpence each .
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POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTION . The galleries and lecture rooms of this establishment wece crowded on Monday for many hours witft visitors anxious to inspect the numerous models of in | enious inventions , and to hear the lectures on Chemistry and Natural Philosophy delivered by Professors Baebofiner and Pepper . The former of these gentlemen explained the nature of voltaic-electricity , and the latter lectured on fire and its antagonists . These lectures were illustrated by experiments , and were well adapted to a popular audieaee . A lecture , in whtet appropriate ballads were introduced , was given by Mr . G . Barker , en-
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^ tTZfrf ° if tempora Fy » ay « that Mr . Ser ^ tatnquo Lauren . The French parai-H announce Unwise the conversion to that church of Te S
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f" aTnsonAM . —J . Sweet acknowledges the receipt of the following sums ( sent herewith ) , viz : —Fob Honesty Fond—Messrs . Bulter Is—Brooks Is—Henson Is—Huds » n 2 d—W . Clarkssnls—Mrs . Perkins Id—Seven Stars 10 s . Macsajubi ' s Actiok . —Mr . J . Wall 3 d . — WmDiNc-up Fond . — Messrs . W . Clarkson Is—J . Thurman 6 d—S . Gregory 6 d—W . GouWerls—Chipindale Is R . Whitley Is—Francis Swan Is—John Jacques 6 d . Ue » ocee Fond . — From the Alderman Wood 2 s lOd . Second Collection for Honmtt Fosd from the allottees ot O'Connorrille . —Mrs . Dimmock fid—Mrs . Gambell Od —Mrs . Hoare ls-Mrs . A : Bradford Od-Mrs . Ford 6 d-Mrs . Mead 6 d-Mrs . Merrick Gd-Mrs . Barnett Gd-Mrs Heaton 2 d—Mrs . Smith 6 d . —MeSBrs . R . Avison Is—S . Blackbrough Is—R . Smith Is—Batts Is—T . Sturgeon Is —11 . Wolstsnholme Is—W . Dimmock Cd—W . Gambell 6 d-J . H ., Bradford Gd—T . Heaton 6 d-T . Bailey n _ p .
Ford 6 d—J . Barnett Is—T . M « ad Gd—M . Fitzsimon 6 d—Martin Grffiths 6 d—E . Whitmore 6 en . Is—G . Whitraore Is—S . Cole 6 d—G . W . Wheeler 6 d—Small sums Is . Ernest Jones ' s Lectures . — We learn that Mr . Jones ; in compliance with ageneral request , intends publishing his tiro lectures entitled " Canterbury tjewus Rome , " in four weekly numbers , as soon as he has ascertained that he , will have readers enough to cover the expense . He is therefore , desirous that all localities or individuals intending to have the lectures , will write to him to that effect , stating the number of copies required . Seeing the torrent of invection and folly that is poured forth on occasion of this " Papal aggression / ' it is highly necessary the people should learn what they have to thank the Established Church for , and what they have to ex . pect at its hands . These lectures draw the veil abide , and expose the huge deception . They come most opportunely as an antidote to the vertigo that is throwing the
people once mere towards the arms of a grasping and designing priestcraft . They unveil the whole kiBtory of our church , and give an exposure of its sins , its dupli city , its income , and its frauds , such as has not often been concentrated in one focus . Mr . Jones ' s address ii Hardwicke Lodge , Moscow-road , Bayswater , London . Ebbatom . —The 3 s . Cd . announced in the last week ' s 'Stab' from Messrs . Brooker and Patnam , Pottery Field , Leeds , for the Refugees , was intended for the Honesty Fund . S . H . H . —flrite to Mr . P . M'Grath , 144 , High Holboru , London . Mr G . Wilson , Alloa . —Received . Peteiloo . —Received 9 s . 8 d . Mr . J . Ddnw , Blue Quarries , Newcastle It is impossible for us to publish the names contained in every list . Thos . C . Ingram , Aberqavenky , begs to acknowledge as belew ( sent herewith . )—Honest * Fund—C . Beams 2 s fid ; T . G . Ingram 2 s 6 d ; R . Thomas bdj J . Folks Gd ;—Polish and Hungarian Retdoees—W . Griffiths , Abergarenny . 6 d ; Tolio Lewy Cd ; L , Berkley , Bobs , Is jJ . Williams
, Newcastle , 1 b . Polish and Huncariah Refugee Fond . —Collected tt the City locality , Golden-lane 4 s 4 d ; BIyth , Burdge and ; Baugban 7 d ; Friends of democracy , Oriental Hotel , Southampton , £ 1 . The committee meet till further notice , at 5 G , Golden-lane , every Tuesday evening , at sine [ o ' clock , and at the Crown and Anchor every Saturday evening . Thomas Ferguson secretary , 3 , Gays-build ings , Blizabetk-street , Hackney-road . J . G . —As the time for holding a Conference is near at hand , as as the question has been so fully discussed , we must decline the insertion of all further communications on the subject . Joseph Pickles , Gbeenock , expresses his sympathy for Mr . O'Connor on the decision of the judges in the late libel case , and having sent a subscription for the Defence Fund , advises in in future to avoid all courts of law . As an eight , 'Four acre shareholder' he eay § that if all the members of the Company had been of his opinion , and had acted up to the rules , there would have been no need of govermentalinterference .
The Northern Star Saturday, Ja1yu1ky 4, 1851.
THE NORTHERN STAR SATURDAY , JA 1 YU 1 KY 4 , 1851 .
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EIGHTEEN HUNDRED AND FIFTY . If the year which has just closed is remembered at all in history , it will be on account of its pre-eminent dullness . It was the antipodes of 1848 . In that year the nations of Europe woke up into -vigorous political action ; in 1850 they went to sleep ; the political pendulum swung to the other extreme . The ceaseless , insidious , and stealthy conspiracies and encroachments of the despots , who are forging new chains for Europe , has met with no resistance worthy of the name . Deep slumber has fallen upon the people .
Chartism is not the only public movement which has exhibited languor and apathy during 1850 . Every other question of Reform—Social , Education , or Financial—has been marked by the same characteristics . There was no " getting the eteam up . " The Protectionists became dumb . The Financial Reformers dozed over their figures . The voices of Sir Joshua Walmsley and his co-agitators for the " little Charter , " died into silence . Public agitation of all kinds waB awfully uphill work , and disheartened every one who engaged in it . JoHNBuLLwasnotin the humour . He wanted to be " let alone , '' and did not care a pin how much his pockets were picked , provided it was done quietly .
There was , and is , no want of real grievances requiring redress—of real abuses requiring to be removed . Six out of every seven adult males are excluded from participation in political rights , and endure all the consequences of political inferiority . They are plundered , in a thousand indirect forms , of the fruits of their industry , without having the power to resist the plunderers . In the midst of apparent freedom , they are really slaves . In the House of Representatives there is no representation of Labour . Capital speaks for itself in every shape . Land , Funds , Shares of every kind—Mills , Warehouses , Shops—all , have voices in Parliament , but the working man has none . When , occasionally , the one or | twomembers who understand his wants , and sympathise with his views , give utterance to them in the so-called Council of the Nation , they are either listened to with contemptuous indifference , or cut short by insolent and impatient contumely . The House of Commons , that sitB patiently for half a dozen hours three or four nights to discuss trumpery matters of detail , affecting monied interests , cut Bhort , in ten or fifteen minutes , a debate on the People ' s Charter . There was no end of legislation for the benefit of capitalists . The introduction of a bill for improving the condition of Labour was scouted as Communistic , Red Republican , and subversive of all the best interests of
society—m short , the wolves legislated for the sheep , and took good care there Bhould be no impediments in the way of devouring them . But the masses , who know all this , have been as supine and indifferent during the past year , as if the political atmosphere had been surcharged with chloroform . They left to a few men of principle the arduous task of keeping alive the embers of public spirit , which escaped extinguishing in the midst of this dreary and deplorable apathy , far more fatal to the cause of popular liberty than the fiercest persecution . Parliamentary Reform has nothing to thank 1850 for .
Neither has Financial Reform . The Whig Chancellor of the Exchequer found himself in the Btrange and unwonted position of having a surplus ; and , being ignorant what use to make of the money , he managed to squander it in a way which did the least possiblegood to anybod y . The Economists in Parliament had no heart in their work . They allowed themselves to be beaten , when the slightest spirit and determination would have insured victory ; and , out of doors , they allowed matters to sink into drowsy inertness . Yet in this department , too , all or nearlall
y , the abuses which drew forth the tracts of the Liverpool Association , and gathered together large public meetings , yet remain luatouched . The inferaoua window tax yet shuts out light and air from the dwellings of the industrious elasses . The income tax continues its unjuBt and unequal pressure on poor eJerfei , and others who are caught wiifein its net ; while owners of real estates , shop , keepers , and tradesmen , whose actual profits cannot be ascertained , escape with a far smaller per centage on the real value of tfceir income and its sources . Heavy taxes on tea , tobacco , and malt , limit the conaumDtion « f
taeae articles in the households of the labouring classes ; taxes on paper and newspapers create an artificial and injurious monopoly in favour of the capitalist , and prevent the diffu sum of knowled ge . We knew all this , and more , in 1850-but did nothing for the light emng of those burdens—nothing for the more equal distribution of taxation in proportion to the means of the various classes of society Educational Reform was equall y unfortunate in 1850 As Dickens , in his " Household Words , " truly reminds us , we are , in Educafaonal matters , on a par with Spain , Portugal , Souib . Italy , Turkey , and Russia . In other words , are rank with the most ignorant an « degreed nation * , in the amount and nature
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of the public provision made for Education . Every other country pretending to be civilised , has recognised the importance of Education , and the duty of the State , in its corporate capacity , to provide the means for instructing the young in such a manner as to enable them to grow up useful and good citizens . We are too fond of " liberty , " to impose any such restraints upon our untutored young barbarians j they are left to the glorious freedom of the gutters , or the almost worse fate of being
crimped by sectarian fanatics , and having the errors of superstition added to the darkness of ignorance . Year after year workhouses , lunatic asylums , and jails , multiply and expand , in order to provide accommodation for the augmenting stream of poverty , madness , and crime , which flows from this poisonous fountain ; yet we , who do not grudge millions spent in building useless ships of war , and then knocking them to pieces again , cannot afford the price of a single frigate yearly for the purpose of Educating the people !
On one subject only was any excitement manifested in 1850 . A very fat priest presented himself among us with a red hat , rather large in the brim , a red cloak , and purple stockings ; forthwith John Bull was roused to a state of fury , almost bordering on madness . That the people should be excluded from their own House of Parliamentthat those who usurped the functions of representatives should levy unjust , oppressive ,
and unequal taxes , and spend them for the benefit of the privileged classes—that the masses of the rising generation should bo left either to grow up in savage ignorance , or to acquire erroneous and superstitious ideas , almost more adverse to their well-being than ignorance itself—all this mattered not : John Bull was quite content to bear it all ; but a red hat on a fat priest was too much for him ; and so for the last two or three months oi
1850 , he spent his energies in frantic bellowings about" Papal aggression . " We repeat , that as far as actual improvements are concerned , we owe nothing to 1850 . Abroad , the retrospect is equally unsatisfactory . France groans under a terrible reaction . With a Republican form of Government , it is subject to a despotism as rigorous as that exercised by the Czar over the serfs of Russia . Liberty of speech , writing , and action are nearly as little known or respected in the one case as the other . The leading men are engaged in ceaseless intrigues and
squabbles , for the retention or attainment of powerthe liberty and welfare of the people at large is their last thought . A tyrannical and insolent majority makes popular representation a mockery and a sham . In Germany , Russia , through the instrumentality of its bond-slave , bankrupt Austria , has gradually woven a net of despotism , which threatens to enmeah the whole of the states of the empire . The barriers which have heretofore interposed between Western Europe and its barbarian hordes are thus being craftily and insiduously removed ; and the time approaches for the fulfilment of Napoleon's
irediction at St . Helena : — " In fifty years Europe will become either Cossack or Republican . " At present the odds are in favour of " Cossaok . " The nephew of the prophet , the nominal head of a Republic , is Cossack in his sympathies and policy ; and the political tricksters , intrigues , and adventurers by whom he is surrounded , however they may hate or oppose him , are equally reactionist and despotic . Prussia , the natural leader of German Constitutionalism , has betrayed the cause , and basely negotiated terms with the Autocrat , the object of which is to give added power to the dynasty of Hohenzottern at the cost of the liberties of the people .
The moderate , constitutional , and brave people of Hesse Cassel , have already been crushed by the iron hoof of armed tyranny , and the policy of Russia appears as though it would speedily be triumphant in Holstein—Italy has been restored to the dominion of the priests—the press is silenced—liberty strangled— " order , " as understood by tyrants , priestB . and generals ; is in the ascendancy . I 860 has indeed done little for the people anywhere . The darkest hour , it is said , is near the
dawn . May it prove so in this instance . In the year upon which we have just entered , may we witness the revival of public spirit and . vitality at home and abroad . The seeds of a sound opinion on all the questions we have alluded to , have been widely sown ; we trust , that under the influences of the coming year , they will spring up into a rich harvest of public good—and that 1851 will prove what we now cordially wish to all our readers— A HAPPY NEW YEAIt !
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THE CHARTIST MOVEMENT , THE NEW EXECUTIVE AND THE MANCHESTER CONFERENCE .
Those who will closely examinethe antecedents of all organic changes in the constitution of this country , and analyse the elements by which they were ultimately brought about , must come to the conclusion , that no one class of the community can effect such changes , That they must , and do in almost all cases , originate with the struggling and suffering masses , is quite certain ; but that they can succeed , unaided by the varied experience , the best qualities , and the avowed support of at least a portion of the other classes , is an assumption as yet unsupported by the facts of our past history .
t One indispensable preliminary to this combination and blending of the varied powerB and qualities of the different classes of society is , that the masses shall , in the first place , be thoroughly and universally in earnest . Whenever they are so on any subject , apart altogether from the power they can exert , they create a species of political magnetism which extends to and affects all the other portions of society . It is before the irresistible torrent of an al » embracing and hi gh-toned popular enthusiasm alone , that the weighty and firmlyconstructed barriers to progress are finally swept away .
_ Apply this to the Chartist movement , and it indicate at once what ought to be aimed at by all professing Chartists . In some way or other a national and well organised party must be created . At present it does not exist . No one will pretend that an Executive , for the highest member of which less than two thousand votes were polled , can claim either national authority or respect . Arguo the question as we may—turn and twist as we please—there is no getting rid of the fact , that for the Central Executive of the National Charter Association only some eighteen hundred votes could be mustered in the wihole of the nation .
If any other party waB to assume national authority , or claim to be the head of a National Movement , on such a . slender basis , there iB not a Democrat in the country who would not laugh to scorn such apreposterous ; asfiumption . Surely , then , we may ask Democrats to be -eonsistent and act upon their own principle * It is quite clear that , at present , the people at large , from some cause or other , do not take any interest in the existing Chartist organisation . We must endeavour to find out what theee causes are , aaul to remove them . It is well known that the working classes of this country are , almost to a man , Chartist in principle . How is it that we find them exhibit so lamentable and general an apathy on the subject ?
That should , to every earnest and honest advocate of the People ' s Chairter , become a paramount question , and one to which immediate attention should be given . It cannot be too frequentl y repeated that , the onl y way to induce the ruling classes of this country to make any great , or radical change , is for the whole people to pre ^ nt such
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an united and determined front as to render it dangerous for them longer to resist the popular demand . The British Constitution is composed of stubborn , but yet elastic materials ; however immoveable it may be when an insufficient force is applied , it will always give way when the requisite pressure is brought to bear upon it . Mere talk will not do it . The wild and foolish declamation about physical force , and violent revolutions , is as mischievous as it is contemptible . Whatever may be the case in other countries , there is with us no need for having recourse either to barricades , or bloodshed . If ever the necessity for them does arrive , they will be resorted to without previous babble or bluster about pikes , guns , or blunderbusses .
We can understand and sympathise , to a large extent , with the use of such revolutionary weapons in continental countries , because in them the patriots who struggle for political freedom , are | n a position similar to the Oalifornian gold seeker—they must work armed , or run the risk of being robbed and murdered . Force begets force ; and where at the outset deliberation , discuBBion , free speech , and free writing are denied , blows are the natural , though melancholy alternative . But we have never yet met with an intelligent continental democrat who did not deprecate resort to force in this country . We have what they are endeavouring to obtain as the
indispensable pre-requisites to self-government . There are ample powers given by the constitution of this country to enable us to form a legal and powerful organisation , for the purpose of amending whatever is defective in the constitution itself , or of extending its protection and its privileges to whatever class is at present excluded from both . If these means have not been , are not now , rightly appreciated and applied , the people have themselves to blame . Either they are ignorant of their existence , or are too apathetic and careless to use them . When we have done that to the utmost , and find them insufficient , it will be time enough to begin blaming other parties , and to look out for other weapons .
The result of the attempt to elect a new Executive must , we think , have convinced the most earnest and sincere supporters of that policy that it is a failure . To hold office under such circumstances can only entail ceaseless anxiety and difficulties , without any corresponding advantages , either personal or political . We presume that every Chartist is a Chartist primarily , because he wants to see the People ' s Charter become the law of the land . Whatever secondary and accidental , or personal motives may have subsequently
crept in to influence him , that must be the great and crowning object of his efforts . We may also assume as a proposition needing no proof , that to gain the assent of Parliament to that measure there must , in some way or other , be organized a powerful and compact Peoples' Party . We must have the masses with us—we know they are so in heart and sentiment ; but we must also have them in person and purse . How ? That is the question to he discussed at the coming Manchester Conference .
Whatever weight , then , may have been in the reasons formerly urged against that Conference , they have lost it since the election of the new Executive , and the policy it has adopted . The late Executive had the first trial to create a new movement . They appealed to the country to give a new Executive power to speak in the name of the Chartists of Great Britain , and to support that Executive while pressing forward the great object which , no one will doubt , every member of it has sincerely at heart . To that appeal as many persons have
responded as could be collected in an ordinary market town , to hear a lecture on vocal music , accompanied by illustrations , at sixpence a head . ThiB cannot be accepted as a national response . The Executive themselves must be convinced that something else must be done , in order to organise and fairly represent the Democracy of this country . To hold office under such circumstances , except temporarily , can , ' in our opinion , only entail continual difficulties on those who are saddled with large responsibilities without having any means of meeting them .
Another reason why we think all op . position should be withdrawn to the Manchester Conference , oh the part of the new Executive , is , that they have themselves abandoned the May Conference in London , upon which so much stress was laid by its advocates . Instead of that , it is now proposed to have a " Convention " in March Why , when the change was made , not change to January at onco ? There is not a single reason that we can think of why March
should be preferred to April , or February . Having onco shifted their ground , and given up all that y » s so strenuously insisted upon as to the superior advantages to be derived from a London Conference in May , it wo uld have been only a graceful and a brotherly act , for the New Executive to have removed all further cause for contention , by agreeing to meet this month , in Manchester . There mi ght have been something intelligible in the division that previously existed , but we confess ourselves totally unable to perceive any reason whatever
now . Of the tone of the address agreed to by the new Executive , at their firBt sitting , we have to express unqualified approval , in as far as it lays down a calm , constitutional , and argumentative policy . But we respectfull y put it to them , whether the state of the Chartist body , as disclosed by the appeal of the late Executive to it , and the small number of persons by whom they have been elected to office does not demonstrate that something more must be done to make Chartism a living reality ? °
\\ e earnestl y assure the Executive and the Ohartist body , that we have but one feeling and wish in this matter : —We desire to see all the advocates of the Charter lay aside personal difference , make mutual concessions on minor points , and unite together cordiall y , to devise the means by which Chartism may be made commensurate with the magnitude of Hb objects . We really see nothing whatever of a serious nature that stands in the way of such an union ; and we need not tell them how suicidal it is for them to be wasting their energies in squabbling with each other , when there is so much work to be done outside demanding all the powers thoy possess .
< We respectfully suggest to the new Executive and the localities which support it , the propriety of sending delegates to the approaching Conference at Manchester , to consult with those who may there assemble earnestly and calmly how the movement can be made a national one . There is yet time to do this ; and if all parties will but unite to pull together for the Charter , and discountenance any personal vanity , ambition , or ill-feeling which may stand in the way of that union , we may y et see , in the year which we have now entered a resuscitation of Chartism , and bri ghter DrU pects for the People ' s Cause than anyK efcone on the year that has passed away .
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TAXES ON KNOWLEDGE . Nothing need lie said at this time of day ™ t on ? S lqU 1 \ ° Dature » nd iD i *» <*<>• rahon of these taxes . Argument and discSslong since tried and sentenced . Execution has onl y been stayed because our Legislature and Government do not represent the People , XL ? ™ ac cordance with public opinion . To the able and masterl y Bpe ? ch of Mr . Mil ^ ER Gibson , last year , the Chancellor had Hteral ^ Y ^ ' « ept that he could not afford V awney , A this yearitis understood he wffl
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have a very considerable surplus , that exen ^ will not be a valid one . But , in fact , it never ought to have been accepted as valid Nq Government ought to be permitted , on anv ground whatever , to impose fiscal r estricti ons on the diffusion of knowled ge . Tax anything but that . . » It is of the utmost importance that anv movement , having the repeal of these impost / should be kept on the high ground of moral and political principle , and ako that it Bhould
aim at a total and complete abolition . On Thursday night a meeting was held in the London Tavern , for the single object of re . pealing the paper duty , which , however dei sirable , per se is comparatively insignificant compared with the repeal of the stamp duty on newspapers . It is true that the duty on paper largel y increases the difficulty of pro . Tiding cheap and good periodical literature * but the newspaper stamp has the wonderful effect of debarring t . hn wnrVin « . ni .. c * nn r effect of debarring the working classes from
acquiring that particular species of knowledge for which they have the greatest taste , and ia which they feel the deepest interest , because it it most nearly affects their co ndition and prospects . When we contrast the supply of newspapers in this country with the proportion they bear to the population in the United States , the dif . ference between a taxed and a fettered press and an untaxed and free one , is immediately apparent . There is scarcel y a little village of three or four hundred inhabitants that has not one , at least , paper of its own ; there are few towns of an ordinary size that do
not support several daily papers . To the English working men the dail y paper is an unattainable luxury at his own fireside . He must read it at the public-house , the coffee shop , or the news-room , at a cost greater than he would be required to pay for a paper to himself in America . It is true , that in appearance in getting up , in literary style , the British daily newspaper is superior to the American . But the superiority is on the surface onl y , ag far as the labourer is concerned . The immense capital required to set on foot and maintain a daily paper in this country , has made such journals virtuall y the instruments of the money , monger and the capitalist .
The real sentiments and opinions of the labouring classes seldom or . ever find utterance in them ; or if they do , it is only to be ridiculed or ^ denounced by writers who have been trained to look at every subject through the coloured spectacles of the capitalist . The removal of the Taxes on Knowled ge would create a new national press , give birth to a new school of political thinkers and writers , and tend more to rouse the people of this country to healthy and vigorous political action , than any single measure that can be named .
It was with great pleasure , therefore , that we found Messrs . HoLTOAKEand Colle * were resolved not to permit the movement to sink into a mere trading one , or , by permitting the divorce of the paper from the advertisement and stamp duty , to incur the risk of having these saddled for another eighteen years upon the working classes , after the wealth y paper manufacturer had succeeded in escaping from the trammels of the Excise-office . The tone and temper in which both these gentlemen advocated the simultaneous aboli . tion of the whole of these duties , and sho wed the impolicy of the one-sided and defective
movement contemplated by those who c alled the meeting , did them very great honour . It did more , it convinced the meeting , and produced a feeling of respect and admiration on the minds of those who came with contrary views ; which cannot fail to have a beneficial effect on any future proceedings with reference to this subject . They showed that strength is not violence—that powerful arguments are weakened , not aided , by an antagonistic bearing , or resorting to aspersions either on motives or character ; and the result was , the unanimous adoption of their motion , condemnatory of the stamp duty and the tax on advertisements .
The example shown , and the victory won on this occasion ought not to be forgotten , when occasions arise in future where the leaders of the working classes feol it to be their dut y to differ from the policy adopted bv any other party . They will at once create a feeling of respect for the purity of their motives , and of admiration for tne ability and gentlemanly courtesy with which they advocate what they believe to be true and beneficial for the community at large .
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O'CONNOR DEFENCE FUND . The response to our appeal has so far been of a gratif ying nature . The letters received at this office prove that Mr . O'Connor ' s position has excited sincere and widespread sympathy , and that with proper arrangements , that sympath y will show itself in deeds commensurate with the occasion . System and organisation , however , are necessary in such cases ; and , as this is one which especially demands nromnt exertion .
it has been considered advisable to issue a circular containing the facts briefly stated , together with directions as to the course to be pursued in the various localities . The circular is so brief , and so much to the purpose , that we subjoin it , merely addnig our earnest request , that its suggestions may be immediatel y acted upon , throushout the length and breadth of the country . " Northern Star" Office , London . By the recent decision of the Court of Queen s Bench in the case of O'Connor v . Bradshaw F . O'Connor , Esq ., M . P ., has been saddled with the costs of two protracted and expensive actions at law .
™ t « Committee of the House of Coramons after the most ample investigation into the affairs of "The National Land Company , pronounced its proceedings to have JSTiW througho * t " bonlfiJe , " added , that the personal character of Mr . »\ t IT' - 1 > 0 l \ tl 0 n toit ' * as unimpeachable and unimpeached . « £ ? p £ f ° / S ^ > Mr - Bradshaw , ( the Editor , of a Torv ionrnn . 1 t « , w ; oT , « j « i
Nottingham ) , accused Mr . O'Connor of personal dishonest y in relation to the Company An action for Libel was immediatel y commenced , which terminated in the Jury return-£ fd iJTS * \ ™ ™ tent ™ "self saartt = aai » ae SS ^ S ^ Ze ^ ^ of A » 2 > l l summin g up , acted the part l ? ni f K ? ' " « « J ^ y into V L- erdWt ' 5 t threw the entire coBtB of the action upon Mr . O'Connor . ltat gentleman tried the question again , bLT'V " a nW trial in the ^ ¦ oencn . u . he case was n > . < ir » n ^ „ * * »„_ t ™ W { is re-argued at great
nwuT'i , ex-To ill ^ ' u ? , ' ? * " expressly states , the Judges " shirked" the merits of the case in a cowardly" manner , and refused a new trial to 7 TS ™ * ctin S *• O'Connor dffwV ? S- a 8 t of a 8 eries of Proceedings , nlrf L r 1 Ddicate V germination ontho todPnv ^ TT 5 the law authorities Wm S , ^ ' ° 'Connor > ^ d to ref use * Z » X « t ^ ! ™»* ^>^' as ^ A ^ tO r " ruin «»* with expenses , " Hehi * & , Me »> ourne years ago . of th « J ? hlS } l and fort ^ e in the cauae nor fl 2 n ' andhas never travelled a mile nor eaten a meal at their exoense .
oddTIT Sym P athise " * th an honest but an SflS T' *? called * P ° to c ° for *
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4 __^ THE NORTHERN STAR , _____« --- __ January 4 , 1851 .-,
Phe Gentleman's Magazine.— Jl The First Xumlier Of Ihe Gestlemaxs Magauie Late
PHE GENTLEMAN'S MAGAZINE . — JL The First Xumlier of ihe GESTLEMAXS MAGAUie late
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Citation
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Northern Star (1837-1852), Jan. 4, 1851, page 4, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/ns/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1607/page/4/
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