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Northern Star (1837-1852), 18th September 1852, Edition 1 of 2, Page 8, Untitled Article

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      Justice—Immutable , Universal , Eternal ! THE EUROPEAN REVOLUTIONISTS AND THEIR NEWEST TRADUCER . Of late England appears to have absolutely renounced those generous sentiments , those lofty aims , and that great ambition that formerly entered so largely into the composition of the national character . The coercion of the Portuguese patriots , the shameful surrender of the guaranteed inpependence of Cracow , the treacherous complicity with theFreneh traitors in their assassination of the Roman Republic , the dastardly refusal

      oiaiatothe beleagured republicans of Venice , the Judas -like treatment and betrayal of ths Sicilians , the cold-hearted connivance at Hungary ' s destruction , the apathetic disregard of Germany ' s abasement , the direct participation in the compression of the brave people of Schleswig-Holstein , the Whig and Tory laudation showered upon the bandit-hero of the coup d ' etat ; in short , the unholy alliance with Europe ' s tyrants , and the crafty , cowardly , bloodless , but none the less fatal warfare against Europe ' s people during the past five years , prove , not merely the treason of that arch-traitor Palmekstox , the

      despotic tendencies of such as Deuby , Malmesmjky , and Russell , and the liberticidal character of the British government , but also the miserable degeneracy and degradation of the nation as a whole A serious , a terrible accusation , but one that can be thoroughly justified and completely proven . To all that concerned the treatment of other nations , the conduct of the English government , and the national honour , the great mass of the people have shown themselves absolutely indifferent . True , during a few weeks , in the year 1849 , a select number of lip sympathisers , and word-mongering cosmopolites did do the cliivalric on sundry platforms , and hurled high and haughty

      defiance at Kaiser and Tsar . But not a Cossack the less , not a Croat the fewer , mai'died against the sons of Arpad . Though Marylebone did " come forward , " and even Notting Hill threatened to join the moral pronunciamento , the colossal Autocrat , andthebeardless Neiio took no heed ; for well they knew that British brag was but bosh , and shop-keeping sympathy the mere swindle of sentimentalism . Italy fell without evoking murmur or sigh on England ' s part ; Hungary , still more unfortunate , was mocked with the mirage of British sympathy , as fleeting and unreal as the phantasms of the desert , as deceptive and rotten as the apples of the Dead Sea .

      Another and a crying sin proclaims the shame of our country —the treatment of the refugees . England vaunts her " hospitality , "—much abused word ! The semi-barbarous Arab is not content to merely allow the stranger thrown upon his protection to exist without attack on his part ; he understands " hos pitality" to mean shelter , food , oil for the wounds , and balm for the stricken spirit of the wanderer . But the Christian , civilised , freedom-loving Englishman , repudiates such antiquated ideas of hospitality . The exile is free to land upon our shores , and free to perish of hunger beneath our inclement skies . There is something monstrous and unnatural in the cruel , cold-hearted

      apathy of our countrymen , to the condition of the refugees . Nor is mere indifference their only crime . I have shuddered to hear of well authenticated instances of personal , disgusting insult offered to the most unhappy of these unfortunate men , — instances of mob brutality , which , though not going be ) ' -ond words , recall the memory of those hideous days when " George the Third was king , " and loyal ruffians burnt Paine in effigy , and consigned Priestly ' * house to the flames . Still more

      criminal , if not so openly disgusting , has been the conduct of the liberal ( I will not say the Democratic ) portion of the population . Only a few units among hundreds of thousands have remembered the claims of Humanity , and the requirements of Duty . Even the majority of their " leaders , ' who should at least have set a good example , have done directly the reverse . One has been intent only on filling his own pockets with the last coppers to be wrung by brazen charlatanism from brainless credulity ; another has taught the doctrine that the people of

      this country must first enjoy the plenitude of their own rights , before giving a crust of bread or drink of water to their fainting comrades , who have elsewhere fought the fight of universal freedom and justice ; another has said , " All effort is useless ; the people , sunk in apathy , are not to be aroused . I , too , will therefore wrap myself in the mantle of callous indifference . " Everywhere the gloom of moral death ; on every side the burning shame of Duty unheeded , aud National Honour trampled in the mire .

      The above sentences present , however imperfectly , a picture of national degradation more than sufficient to gratify the most rabidly prejudiced enemy of England . " Surely there is no lower deep of perdition ; nothing more shameful yet uncatalogued ? " If the reader thus thinks he is mistaken . It is nothing extraordinary to find the recognised organs of aristocrats and usurers libelling and slandering the friends of democracy and social right . It is well understood that the

      " ready-writers , " who make of journalism a " profession , " are iio more particular as to the cause they will advocate , or the party they will serve , than are the street-walkers of the opposite sex in the selection of their companions . A sensible person will expect to find as much ( or as little ) of virtue and honour in the one profession as in the other . Consequently , in reading the effusions of this class of writers , there is nothing that can surprise , however much there may be to excite disgust and indignation .

      But these loathing sensations arise with seven-fold force when compelled to contemplate the repulsive spectacle of men who assume to be guided by nobler motives than the love of filthy lucre , following in the wake and treading the slimy path of the unscrupulous " professionals . " To this blackest infamy and crowning shame I have now to direct the reader ' s attention . I little thought , when last week commenting on the tirade of the Daily News against the Red Republicans , there was at that moment passing through the press an article - published in last Saturday ' s leader , which would throw into the shade , and by contrast render almost endurable , the anti-Republican libels

      of the Times , Herald , Daily News , &c . I take up this subject with unaffected sorrow . I have always admired the talent exhibited in the Leader , and , while I have seen in its columns much I could not agree with , I have respected the right of free opinion , aud assumed that , however widely differing from certain of my own views , the miters in that paper were none the less honest , and as such deserving my esteem and the public's support . With no favour to solicit—with no reward to gain-1 I have , on more than one public platform , testified to the merits of the Leader , and urged its support as a duty incumbent upon the democratic public . And now I regard the position I must take as a personal misfortune—a painful duty , not to be avoided , but none the less to be deplored . I do not accuse the . Leader ; it stands self-accused . I do not denounce its conductors as enemies ; they proclaim themselves fo » foess

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      In last Saturday ' s Leader , the reader will find an article headed " Socialism ' and its newest traducer ; " being a comment on the article in the Daily News of the preceding Monday . The editor of the Leader seizes upon every admission of the Daily News in favour of socialism , pure and simple ; but seizes also upon every word of the Manchester organ ' s attack upon Red Republicanism , adopts that every word , and , with additions of his own , pours out upon the revolutionists of Europe a deluge of venom never rivalled by any single journal avowedly devoted

      to the service of our enemies . I remember the auti-KosstixiL libels in the Times ; I recollect the Herald ' s atrocious calumnies upon the French ' insurgents" of December , I have occasionally seen that vile sheet of slander the New York Herald : but these combined would be weak by the side of the Leader , if only for this reason , that men know how to estimate an avowed enemy ' s strictures and accusat i ons—but when the accuser and denunciator is a professed friend , the effect is widely different . Democracy , like Caesar , has received her most fatal wounds from the hands of her false friends . Struck

      down by the daggers of the despots , Democracy beholds the Leader advancing bowie-knife in hand . Et tu Brute ! But the Leader is mistaken . It took twenty-three wounds to despatch GsssAii , double that number will not dispose of much hated but yet living Red Republicanism , The writer in the Leader commences with a homily addressed to his worthy brother of the Daily News ; e . g .: —" When a public writer undertakes to make explanations and distinctions for the profit of his readers , he is especially bound , if not to attain accuracy , at all events to seokit . " If the editor of the Leader

      would only have abided by his own canon , he would have escaped irreparable discredit . His article abounds with inaccuracies , which the reader will presently see . But , in the first place , must be noted the significant compliments paid to the writer in the Daily News : — " We cordially adopt the sharp line of distinction he has marked out to sever that body of economical doctrine , comprised under the general term , Socialism , from those violent and SUBVERSIVE theories ( if theories they deserve to be called ) of professed political revolutionists and destructive demagogues . " After quoting its daily contemporary ' s

      description of the Red Republicans including the declaration that " with such men there is only one way of dealing , " namely , to crush them by force , the Leader adds : — " This may not be a very close description of the political sect , &c , but we are not the less disposed to acceptthe conclusion ? ' that is , to crush by force this hated party ! The writer in the Leader then proceeds to give " a more exact description of Red Republicans , " which shall be quoted presently . Further on he says— " Our contemporary , in distinguishing Socialism from Red Republicanism does well , and deserves our thanks . " The Leader adds , that

      socialism has nothing to do with political revolutions , &c . ; that orthodox churchmen and conservative politicians may make very good Socialists ; that Socialism is not destructive , but is , in the strictest sense , Conservative , &c , &c . How far even English Socialists will accept this account of themselves and their faith it is for them to say . A tory and orthodox socialist is a curious production , and decidedly limited to home growth . The mongrel socialism which is the delight of the Leader has certainly no existence upon the continent , where socialism is political and anti conservative . I affirm this ; and challenge proof of the contrary .

      I hasten to the Jjiader ' s " exact description " of Red Republicans : — They wore so-called from hoisting a red flag , which ( according to their own creed ) was intended to signify , that they would seek to defend " thtt Republic , " even at the cost of blood , in contradistinction to the peaceful revolutionists of July 1 S 30 , who had so done their work by halves , that , after eighteen years , it had to be done over again ; and to the " Moderate " Republicans of February , who had temporized with the Reaction , until a crouching phantom of treacherous compliance had become an amalgamated Party of Order , avenging panic by persecution .

      Supposing the above to be an " exact description , " is there anything in the creed of the Red Republicans for which they need to blush , and which should excite the ire of a professed friend to freedom ? If by hoisting the Red Flag they intended to signify that they would seek to defend the Republic , even at the cost of blood , they deserve honour and applause ; and shame upon that man who would make of their political stead fastness a pretext for covering them with calumny . Is it not true that the " peaceful (?) revolutionists of July" so did their work by halves , that after eighteen years it had to be done over

      again ? Dave the Leader affirm the contrary ? - And did not that justify the unfurling of the red flag ? Is it not true that the " moderate " republicans of February temporized with the reaction until a crouching phantom of treacherous compliance had become an amalgamated Party of Order , avenging panic by persecution ? Dare the leader attempt a denial ? And does not that demand that the red flag shall be henceforth the banner of foully-cheated and cruelly-wronged democracy ? I

      justify the red flag on the supposition that the Leader ' s " description , " or explanation , is " exact , " which it is very far from being . That explanation which is not full , is not , cannot be " exact ; " and I tell the editor of the Leader , in his own words , not only in reference to the passage under notice , but also other passages yet to be quoted , that " either he is ignorant of what , he professes to describe sc authoritatively , or he is informed , and deliberately sets aside his better knowledge . In either . case he disregards the Path . "

      Whatever the readers of the Leader may think , I am sure that no reader of this journal will for a moment hesitate to accept the testimony of Louis Blanc in preference to the reckless assertions of the anonymous writer in the Leader . From the illustrious French writer ' s "Historic Pages , " I quote the following in reference to : —

      THE RED FLAG . It was not from any savage disposition that the people demanded the Red flag . The sentiment was this . It may be remembered when in 1789 the tricolour flag was adopted , royalty still existed , and was not at that time threatened by the dark cloud that already appeared in the horizon Undoubtedly serious differences had occurred " between the middle class and the court ; but Louis XVI . had left Versailles to come and make his peace with Paris ; now it was as a token of . his reconciliation that the white , the roval colour , was added to the red and blue , already the Parisian colours Such was the origin of the tricolour flag ; which consequently expressed the idea of a compromise ; it bore traces of monarchical prejudices , and reminded the people that there was in the nation a sometime \ ri \ ich was -not the nation After the revolution of

      February there was no king ; why should the colours of royalty be preserved ? No sovereignty was any longer acknowledged but that of the people ; why , then preserve the emblem of a composite sovereignty ? From the nuns of all the old castes was about to arise the one family of the French nation ; why then have a flag which , by the diversity of its colours , seemed to revive the difference of classes ? The red Una , /•/« demanded as tie standard of unity . Besides , U was the ancient flag of the Gauls ; it was the historical standard under which our fathers fought against Bomo ; and at the time of Joan of Arc , against the English . Such were the fee ings that animated the people with respect to this flag , whatever images of bloody times might have been seen in it by some ; or however it mfeht have been revered as the flag of martyrs , by others . And ^ n moof of th s the people might be seen m every direction with the red roS fa ttad ? Sa ^ Ss applaudins the s — ** *^ 5 ' I beg special" attention to the next extract from tne LdMr t

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      Theie is , however , let it be avowed , another "Red" Republic to may suppose our contemporary alludes . Thai Red Republic is ™ v * sinister , a tatal anachronism . It ; is the impotent plagiarism of a r 115 ' ¦ magogues , who seek to cloak their isolation in turbulence , and tlie ' " - ' ? ° ^ '' " ness ^ of thought in revolutionary jargon . Lamartine , in the noblest ' en * of his life covered that flag with shame , and swept back into the / J f 1 n (! "t of crime the scum that had foliated for a moment the pure air of f ( T \ * ''is not , we rejoice to affirm most emphatically , in the columns of tu r ][ that the " Red" Republic will find a syllable of faint excuse or sv r We heartily abhor aid despise all that it worships and exalts ; its p >> ,- ' 1 atl . - symbols , its traditions , its organization ; its contemptible consucr ' r ' its sanscnllottism , its deification of monsters like Mm-o . t , its envy of . i , " " dignity of mind , its corrupt and greedy discontent , its covnrm" v In I- tr " ° after terrorism , its stale vocabulary , and its course and barren foVnii ' ii # li ' eagerly snatch this occasion to tell our extreme political friends if English writers , breathing English air , the present conductors of th > r as have no part nor lot with lied" Republics ; and this not that we \ v !' t \ er tism less , but that we love freedom and civilization more . It is oftei ' , ' " " to us to find our native English tongue , sullied by the mischevous slmL oVf '"!""' demagogues . In France , it is true , the - 'Reds" are a inisonibli '« !• •' and in England , they are at most a dozen or two of stage-struck ' si ! 't ' ^' but it is well to denounce the excesses from which liberty wnv . su jy ! ' Europe over ; it is well to separate the cause , which we , believe to ] k > . ^ and true one , from the contagion of a disastrous alliance . ' * < J () il

      To comment on the above atrocious libel , sentence by , tence , and line by line , would but be a waste of valuabl e kv ^ and an unpardonable tax upon the reader ' s time . Nor is J ° j comment necessary . Instantaneously there must aris e- ~ tlv- ! has already arisen—the strong feeling of unutterable india- !!" tion , mingled with inexpressible disgust , and indescriba W * scorn for the man who deliberately and " with malice afo- C thought , " has thus dared to vomit his venom upon his bettor- " men , whose shoe-latchets he is not -worth y to unloose . [ s * this neither knowing nor caring who he may be . I ju ^ him by that which he has chosen to reveal of himsdf , and fcomparing him with that which I know of those whom he 1 . ^ so foully assailed . Of course I speak of the continent-il ' v ' *

      , republicans , ' not of the " dozen or two of stage-struck ^) ar tans . " They can afford to laugh at the sneer , and despise ' it : utterer . By the way , is the Leader quite certain that tlicru are only " a dozen or two ? " Not to speak of those beyond the Trader's circle , it may be that the publisher of that paper will find that the article under notice has lost it more than a dozen or two of subscribers . The polished penman of the Leader k mightily offended at " the mischievous slang of foreign ilci ' m-

      gogues . " I venture to predict that the proprietors of that paper will discover , when too late , that of all the " slam * ' \\^ y ever met with , that of their able contributor will most mis cheviously affect the contents of their strong box . The man of " slang" rings the changes upon "barrenness of thought " " revolutionary jargon , " " state vocabulary , " &c , &c .. while his entire article proves that he could not have written it had he not been well read in the stale vocabulary and reactioimv

      jargon of the Bonapartists , Royalists , and O rdcrmonffers From them he has borrowed his " gang of dcma <* o ( rncs " " monsters , " " terrorism , " " scum , " "kennels of crime )' & It accords with his stale vocabulary to denounce Mauat as a | monster , "—Marat , the devoted friend of the people—the inflexible enemy and scourge of political impost 0 : 's . It accords with the Leader-editors mongrel liberalism to laud Lamartixf who ruined the republic of V 18 , and who , far more than any other man , is to be held accountable for the failure of tlipW ,

      lution , not merely in France , but throughout Europe . The editor of the Leader talks of " plagiarism , " and " stajje-strnck •" and when he attempts the sublime he rants , a la Elds , of the Victoria : " Not that we hate despotism less , but that we love freedom aud civilization more . " Very original that ! Alas ! poor Shakspeue ! He describes those ' who demanded the red flag as " scum , " fresh from "the kennels of crime . " "Wlio was the foremast man to demand the red flag ? Louis Bunt . Is he " scum ? " The Leader charges the red republicans ivitli

      " envy of all true dignity of mind ; " and " corrupt and crcedr discontent . " The answer is simple : The Red Republic numbers among its soldiers the elite of the mind , eloquence , and literature of France . As to " corrupt and greedy discontent . " it is enough to observe that Lamksxais has made voluntary sacrifice of the highest dignities he might have acquired had he abided by the church of despotism ; Raspajl has renounced the honours and emoluments of science , to pass his last years in the confinement and gloom of captivity . Bariies was possessed of riches , manl y beauty , every essential to make of this

      earth a Paradise , and this life a round of pleasure ; lie offered up all on the altar of his country to spend the best years ( perhaps the remainder ) of his existence in a dungeon . The Leader would fain separate socialism from red republicanism ; and asserts , that in France the " reds " are " a miserable minority . " A falsehood . Let the reader judge by the exiled . Leduu Rouis is red republican and socialist , so is Louis Blanc , Felix Fyat , Scikelcher , Thoke , &c , &c . Pierre Lerour is socialist and red republican , so is Cabet , &c , &c . These are " representative men , " and chiefs and guides of masses of their follow countrymen .

      Ihe sensitive and delicate editor of the Leader has a holy horror of "the coarse and barren formulas , " commonly known as "Equality Liberty , and Fraternity . " He adds : ;> Wc eagerly snaicli this occasion to toll our extreme political friends that as English writers , &c , the present conductors of Hie Leader have no part nor lot with ' red' republics . "" Who are Vl \ z prevmt conductors } To what section of the reaction aires has the Leader been sold ? It is well-known who was its editor twelve months ago ; it is as well-known who was very

      recently its nominal editor . The democratic public ought to know whether the writers alluded to have now any connexion with that paper . It is not many months since one ' of the then " conductors" of the Leade r sported the ribbon of the " red republic " at a democratic festival ; while another " conductor " has on more than one occasion given his countenance to the flag , and his applause to the representatives of the RedKepublic

      Have those writers ceased all connexion with the Leader , or are they included in the list of its present conductors ? Persona JT considered , the question is of no importance , but politically viewed , it assumes another aspect . The Leaded is at full liberty to become Bourbonist , Bonapartist , or true-blue British monarchist ; but let it hang out its real colours , and take up " position -with the enemies of democracy . That the pres * conductor-in-chief ( who speaks for the rest of the band ) dnsirch to find friends among democracy ' s enemies , is proved tyw \ simple but significant fact : last Monday ' s Times contained tw < following advertisement : —

      « T 1 .. S ADER ° RRU K 15 PUBMCAS 1 BM AS ]) SOCIALISM .- ^? JL "Leader" Newspaper of Saturday , September lltli , No . 129 . P ° Ohice , 7 , Wellington-street , Strand . Why single out the above-named article for special p « J « unless believed to be calculated to win the favour and patrons of the anti -republican readers of the " Times . " ,. The " Leader" accuses the Bed Republicans of " excc-Jfrom which liberty now suffers all Europe over . " The cnai 8 is a calumny . The only » excess" they were guilty ot ^ excess of moderation in allowing schemers and halt-re ^ tiomsts to take the management of affairs . Therein was w fault ana folly of the true patriots . It was the Lahaib * 18

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      83 THE STAR OF FREEDOM . September 18 , 1852

  • Citation
    • Northern Star (1837-1852), Sept. 18, 1852, page 8, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/ns/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1696/page/8/