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mt&$ JDf JFfctfrottt SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 6,1852.
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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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Publi SB shers O of the - starToF O fkeedom ^" NOTICE TO READERS AND THE TRADE . The following Booksellers and News-agents undertake to supp ly the London Trade with copies of the Star of Freedom ; jjr . Vikers , Holywell-street , Strand . Mr . Coulsou , Playhouse-vard wk-V ] bP * U * Compton-street , Soho . cross . stree ' gjgjj W . Wkita 3 lr . dements , Little Pultney-street , Uv . Sharp , Tabernacle-walk , City-road Soho * , Mr Harris , 9 , Dean-street wii . llr . Sw , Theobald ' s-road . Holbom ' * ' Hlgh = ^ 0 . roBLISHERStT BE-OTA »| , IMmo g
jrr . Truelove , John-street , Fitzroy- Mr Baker , Providence-place , Kent ish square . Town . Mr . Co * , Drury-lane . Mr , Steel , ClerkenweU-green . H wn **** ' ** * S ° merS Mr ^ owne , Charlotte-place ^ Goodge-H oS ^ n ^^ End > * "X » . Trafalgar-road , Greenwich ^ ^ ows George ' s Circus , Black- M , Peatherstne ^ Dut ^ lnfnars-roaa . coin ' s Inn Fields . 3 lr . Harris , Blackfnars-road .
NOTICE . In another week the Parliamentary business of the ; Session will commence m earnest . Great aitention will be paid to this department of the journal , and a faithful report of the Parliamentary debates shall be given in the Star of Freedom
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MACAULAY IN EDINBURGH . Great joy to Auld Reekie ! the orator she ostracised has returned to her Athenian halls , the statesman she divorced ia restored to her affections .. A true Whig , the brilliant rhetorician was in days gone by something too much of a political row , and , fascinated by the blandishments of place and power , was rather apt to stray from the strict line of duty prescribed by his lawful mistress . But all is vanity , saith the preacher , and Macatjlay , having tried and proved the fleeting of ministerial life
joys , and no longer dating his letters from " our Castle of Windsor , " returns to his first love a wiser , if not a better man , and will never more stray . He has given his solemn pledge and vow , and sweet Edinburgh believes . She , too , repents . She cancels the hasty divorce , and expunges the decree of exile from her archives . ; The fishwives cf Newhaven and Musselburgh may proclaim the virtue of " real natives ' as musically as they announce their far-famed " caller-herring ; " but never again will oystersbells be in request to mete to Macaulay the doom of TheiiisTOCLEs the unscrupulous , and Aristides the iust . %
^ B mr * ^ m mm * - _ _ V I Mr . Macaulay ' s speech in the Music Hall , Edinburgh , on Tuesday last , was just what might have been looked for—the speech of a master of " the art of speaking' * : showy but unsubstantial ; witty at the expense of the Derbyites ; laudatory of Peel , Wellington , and Russell ; eulogistic of " oar glorious constitution " ; and mixed up therewith considerable misrepresentation of the European Revolution , and revolutionists of 1848 . His ridicule of Minister Walpole ' s
absurd proposal to " draw the line" of citizenship at Militiamen was the most effective part of the orator ' s address . There was nothing either new or true in his praise of that wonderful piece of state machinery , the celebrated British Constitution—a fertile theme for the eloquence of the sophist and the drivel of the blockhead . We owed our escape from revolution in 1848 , not to the wisdom and justice incarnated in our institutions , but to the fact that unlike the continental Bourgeoisie our " middle classes ( for good and sufficient
reasons ) were practically conservative ; and our working men were too demoralized by the long-continued operation of the reigning system , to seek their rights through the rough process of revolution . His zeal for " our wise and noble constitution " impelled Mr . Macaulay to remarkable lengths in the way of assertion , for instance , the assertion that <( the Habeas Corpus Act had never in this island been suspended ! ' * An astounding declaration to come from the lips of a popular historian . If he had intended to speak of i 848 only , he should have avoided the word " never : " and even in 1848
there were acts of despotism perpetrated in the name of the Law , strongly savouringof the times of Pitt and Castlereagh —Mr . Macaulay may have a convenient memory , but our readers remember the Alien Act , the Act against < s open and advised speaking , " . police suppression of public meetings , the employment of spies , and the incarceration and transportation of men wfco demanded that " the wise and noble constitution " should be made a verity for all ; not a privilege for the few , a scourge for the many .
Mr . Macaulay discourses with carefully prepared eloquence , on the « ' democratic violences , " excesses" and wild theories / ' of 1848 . Remembering that Adam Smith and Gibbon had said that , •* there would never be again a destruction of civilisation by barbarism , " he adds , " It had not occurred to them that civilisation itself might engender the barbarians who should destroy it . It had not occurred to them that in the very heart of great capitals—in the very neig hbourhood of splendid palacesand churchesand theatreslibraries , and museums ,
, , , vice and ignorance ' might produce a race of Huns fieroer than those who marched under Attlia . Such was the danger . It passed by , and civilisation was saved ; bufc at what a price !" Why , here is a witness in favour of Bonapate , an authority for CassagnaC and Company ! if we are willing to believe Macaulay , the 2 nd of December stands justified ; and all the crimes of the European reaction stand excused . But he is not a true historiam of the present , whatever he may be of the past . Although civilisation—the civilisation so not
prized by Macaulay!—has engendered barbarians , it was by such that the Republic was enthroned in February , and the walls of Rome defended . We have not space to enlarge . Enough that we boldly and truthfully declare that Macaulay has beiled history , and calumniated the real friends of true civilisation . That he should speak of Socialism as " robbery " will surprise no one . If lie will distort facts , and ignore the truth of events known to his contemporaries as well as they are known to himself , the question will naturally obtrude it-
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X * * mV V ™ : ^ ' ' S atOt and chr ™^ » f *» iB ^^ jS ^ T ^^ better luck when next JJiOQENES-hke-sne looks around for an honest man ' , . =
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THE SINIGAGLIA SLAUGHTER . beeTheared ^ nln r ^ V ^ ° USand calumnies ** ** ve oeen heaped upon the names of the martyrs of the peoole ' s cause > Only the most wilfully blind can henceforth fail oTctn that it and PrierS ^ ¦ " rUffianly and bloodth -ty , but the Kbg nln ? are reigning now , and whom it is the mission of bvTv y PUU d ? Wn fr ° m their blo ° d-stained thrones . Day by day come new tales 6 < woe , of the sufferings of the down ' have IS fh ^ ^ CmeltleS ° f the inhuman monsters who nave usurped their sovereignty , and who remorselessly pursue their in nol TreSSi ° n ^ ° f Crirae' The men o ^ he y pe % Te when n power have sometimes punished severely the traitors whose
mtngues had endangered the common frek m / bu hey ha never sought blood for its own sake , or struck a defenceless and unresting enemy . On the contrary ; unfortunatel y for themselves , W they have been too generous . They have left unpunished SZ i \ ° Se pre T \ S lt WaS glarin&' and who only secretly laboured to promote the destruction of liberty , and t he restoration £ V ° v ; - nnI * ^ the r ub lican People of Italy cruel and blood-thirsty , n their day of power ? Yet now that the crowned fathers of the people , " the " vicegerents of the Lord / ' are returned in triumph to their palaces , scarce a spot ofltalian soil but is crimson with Italian blood .
Since LAmi du Peuple penned his letter last week , we have received L Italia e Popolo ,. containing farther particulars of the assassination of the martyrs of Smigaglia . From the account given by a Homagna correspondent of the exponent of Italian democracy , we learn that the victims died heroically , and full of faith m the ultimate triumph of that glorious cause for which they have so worthily lived , and so nobly suffered . The writer thus speaks of the martyrdom : Can I tell you with what a shudder of horror our population beheld these assassinations committed in the name of Christ and of order ! Can I describe the holy energy of the victims ! It requires only to have seen their grand and noble
resignation , their calm demeanour , and their looks , lighted up by what seemed to be a ray of the future of our dear country , to be convinced of their innocence , and of the holiness of the cause for which they died . You may judge what was the compassion that filled every heart that was made of other material than that of Antonelli and of Nardini , when I say that every person , even some priestsand that is saying much—shed tears of grief at the fate of these generous young men . Nevertheless , before setting out for the place of execution , they refused afl religious aid : " the absolution , " said one of the victims , to a priest , " that you would accord us , you give in the name of Christ , and it is also in the name of
Christ that you have condemned us to death . To accept absolution would be to recognize our sentence as just . We have a better religion ; we know very well that you do not * ish to distinguish God from he who pretends to represent him upon earth , and thus impose upon mankind . Leave us alone and tranquil . On the brink of the tomb man feels truth beating in his heart . We will find a holy prayer , a prayer which is not written in your books , but which is written in the human soul . " A noble reply , truly , and one that well became a pioneer of the future . Who would not joy in the fall of this disgusting , hypoitical creed
cr , whose priests offer religious consolation to their own victims ? The Swiss bandits of the Vatican , murder in cold blood at the bidding of the self-styled representative of Christ , the generous young soldiers of the Republic , and the accomplices of that same « ' representative of Christ affect to be solicitous about the future welfare of the murdered men ! Pius assumes to be the father of Christendom as well as of his own subjects , and he enters into alliance with all the despotisms , and spills the blood of the noblest children of Italy .
But this will have its favourable effect on the peoples and on the future . They will cease to bow down in grovelling superstition before the temporal and spiritual despotism of Rome . The bloody tragedy of Sinigaglia , will , so far from extinguishing the revolutionary spirit in Italy , only deepen the hatred of the people for the merciless priesthood that has sent so many of their noblest brethren to a bloody grave . One of those who fell , addressed the following letter to to his family :
Despair not because to the tortures of a dungeon succeeds the repose of the sepulchre 5 I am prepared for the sacrifice , and I do my duty . Perform yours . You have a country , honour it by good works , and defend it against its enemies . Doubtless they will do so , they will perform their duty to their country and to themselves ; and that duty will dictate vengeance for the assassination of their compatriots , and the deliverance of their country from the priests and kings who are pressing out the very life-blood of the Italian people . Our Italian contemporary gives the following details of the last moments of the gallant Simencblli : But' above all others , as a great martyr of our popular struggles , did our Simencelli distinguish himself in his last moments . You know him . There was
something divine in his soul . His was a nature composed altogether of intelligence and love . He was a valiant soldier , _ and an ardent and generous tribune . He was a true Italian tribune , as were those of our republics of the middle ages . Our people , eminently artistic , love in the men to whom they confide themselves , besides an easy and graceful speech , a robust form , and strongly marked features . Simincelli had such a head . He had that manly beauty so distinctive of our race , and which still exists amongst us , although the tyrants , the foreigners , and above all , the priests , have done their best to bastardise our beautiful Latin race He was beloved ; he had so much simplicity , so much generosity , so much virtue , that he won the esteem even of those who were opposed to him as a man
of the people . He ha 3 left behind him a work , which I have not yet found , but I will seek it with care in order that it may be published in your journal . He died bravely . He marched to the place of execution firm and erect ; his countenance was extremely pale , and his eyes , bathed in tears , were lifted towa . ds heaven . Who knows what holy thoughts of love and sadness came across that noble mind in a moment so solemn ! I will not seek to be their interpreter , since it seems to me that no words could reproduce them perfectly . He was silent for some time , and when he arrived at the appointed place , his person seemed suddenly to gleam with a halo of light , as he cried , viva VItalia , and tlundered the Marseillaise .
May that patriotic death-cry—may that glorious song of the Revolution reach the ear of every son of oppressed and downtrodden Italy , and be the signal of a new rising for liberty and nationality ! For the present , France , herself enslaved , can render no aid to any other nation , so that if Italy is to be free , she must work out her own redemption . And , in spite of her numerous oppressors , domestic and foreign , we cannot doubt that she shall be enabled to become free , What are a few Austrian and French soldiers in presence of a nation—a nation inspired with such heroic courage and love oi liberty as that displayed by the noble Simencelli and his fellow ' martyrs of Sinigaglia !
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The Pope s curses and assassinations will not lessen the hatred or the Roman people to priestly rule , but will only make Re ub ! L nt * aspirations for Uberty > for Mazzini and the « , I 1 SJ ^ , ! V ear t 0 ° wel 1 b ^ d experience the evil of oderation
m —the sacrifice of principle to expediency and personal ambition , to seek in the coming revolution for anything else rI ^ ki i \ T RepubIic ' one and indivisable . And when the Republic shall have taken the place of Pope and Princes , let not M f naH ° \ ^ t the honour due to the noble and valiant martyrs who have perished at Sinigaglia .
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THE FARCE OF PUBLIC MEETINGS ! Struck with horror at the contemplation of the Sinigaglia slaughter-that horror heightened by the apathy of the British press , and the suspicious attitude of the British Government , the thought occurred to us that at least an opportunity should be afforded to the British people to " protest" thrombi the medium of public meetings , But we minded the old adage of " second thoughts , and a moment ' s reflection showed the folly of the imagmed " protest . " Such a " protest" would be worse than useless , seeing that both the peoples and the tyrants of Europe would know that there was " nothing in it . " When Cracow was
annexed by Austria , Palmerston protested ; of course , that was a sham . But the public also protested , through the medium of " an influential meeting , " assembled in the Freemason ' s Tavern . Nothin « came of it Then there was some sympathy expressed for Italy ; but nothing came of it . " Large ' and enthusiastic " meetings were " got up" in behalf of Hungary ; Marv-le-bone pronounced , and Nottinsj-hill " came forward , " " and—Hungary fell , without so much as a pebble being thrown by British hands at isAR or Kaiser . Kossuth came , and was received with a frantic shout of " enthusiasm , "—there was " nothing in it . " blic
Announce a pu meeting at the Freemasons' Tavern , or St . Martin s Hall , " to take into consideration the abominable murders at Sinigaglia . " Announce too , that Mazzini will take part m the proceedings , and—after much outlay of money for advertisements . &c , a " good house" may reasonably be anticipated , Mazzini will be received with" much cheering ; " an eloquent speaker describing the last hours of the murdered patriots will create " great sensation ; " the resolutions will be "adopted unanimously ; " the meeting will conclude with "three cheers for Mazzini and Italy ; " " three cheers for Kossoth and Hungry , " &c , and all will be over . Visible effect there will be none , unless it be the marked contempt of Europe ' s oppressorson readinthe
, g account m the English papers ; and the ultimate disgust , minted with despair , which must take possession of European patriots waiting , and waiting in vain , for this nation of vain talkers to do . Ireland has been ruined by her orators and professional agitators ; and by her babbling patriots , arid political traders , England has been brought to impotency and shame . The SinUaglia slaughter is too serious a matter to be desecrated by common-place " resolutions , " expressing either sympathy " or " denunciation . " No ! let the martyrs sleep , undisturbed b y whining or Muster ; and let those who do feel for Italy ia her suffering , and England in her shame , find some better mode than public talk for giving expression and effect to their sentiments .
Public meetings would , indeed , be useful , if those who resolved on the one day would proceed to act up to their resolutions tho next day ; and day by day , advance in action , until the end proposed was accomplished . The " Lone Star" men of America are in earnest—they mean to have Cuba ; and , therefore , although they hold *• indignation meetings" when needed , thoso meetings are altogether subsidiary to their organisation , and those other more effective means by which , in advance of tht day of battle , they design to make a contract with Victory .
Home politics meet with no better fate than forei gn ; indeed that " glorious institution , " the true British " public meeting , ' * is rapidly assuming the character of an established humbug . People go to "lectures , " " political soirees , " and " public meetings , " to be entertained , and to indulge in that kind of mental excitement in search of which the denizens of the New Cut throng the "Royal Victoria , " and the elect of
holiness fill Exeter Hall " to suffocation . " One of the most disgusting sights to any sensible man , not unfrequently exhibited at public meetings , is to witness the evident enjoyment of the coarsest charlatanism : Ho matter how serious the question that may have caused the convening of the meeting , the antics of a- mountebank , or the language of a buffoon will be as keenly relished as though the audience were in presence of a pantomime ! No wonder the ruling classes can afford to such a people the cheap luxury of public meetings ; the right to grumble ; and the privilege to burlesque patriotism , and brinf the very principle of Freedom into contempt .
As «• the season (!) for public meetings" has re-commenced , these remarks may be considered not out of place . «• Mobs have their courtiers as well as kings / ' and the people , like princes , are never told the truth by those who for self-aggrandizement employ the base arts of falsehood and flattery . Our country ' s regeneration , Old England ' s good name , Europe ' s freedom , and the eternal interests of Humanity , are too sacred to be trifled , with—too important to serve as the mere raw
material of aimless , make-believe agitation . Better absolute death than the mere mockery of life ; better still the commencement of an earnest effort to have done with shams and to give to Truth and Honour the fruitful service of untirinff Duty . b
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WORKING- MEN'S ASSOCIATIONS ; The Society for Promoting Associations of Working Men has , as one of the results of the conference which wa ° s held in July last , put forth their first Report , from which we have during two or three past weeks given extracts . From this Report we are enabled to gather something of the present position of co-operators , their future prospects , and the means and mode of action which they are possessed of and intend to adopt .
The Council of Promoters are not to be looked upon in any sense as a commercial body . With the Rev . Mr . Maurice at their head , they are gentlemen quite unconnected with trade . The idea took its rise in some conferences which they held with working men , in order to ascertain their wants , and to gain some idea as to the best practical means of remedying them . The evil which appeared in the greatest prominence was the
Mt&$ Jdf Jffctfrottt Saturday, November 6,1852.
mt& $ JDf JFfctfrottt SATURDAY , NOVEMBER 6 , 1852 .
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dein No vember 6 . ] mirw "Lj » j _ » FREEBOM . m —fr == 7 " . .
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Northern Star (1837-1852), Nov. 6, 1852, page 9, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/ns/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1703/page/9/
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