On this page
-
Text (4)
-
Untitled Article
-
Untitled Article
-
Untitled Article
-
Untitled Article
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.
-
-
Transcript
-
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.
Untitled Article
O'CONNOR TO THE ENGLISH PEOPLE . <• Though Ireland is my country , the world is my ^ public . "—F . OCosaor * « Tf e mak « Feargus O'Connor a present to the Engg £ Badicali—BmiA CComeO . fO THB BLISTERED HANDS , THE FUSTIAN JACKETS , AND UNSHORN CHINS , Mi Political Childrek , —It is now nearly nine months since the palsied hand of tyranny removed me hciii you ; it is almost seven since ire have h&d inter-( pnrse ' eTenty letter . How glad I am oneemoreto pom out my feeling * into ears -where they are sure 1 to god s -welcome ; into hearts from which they are certsinof a response .
TMi letter will be long , bat yet it will be read or Bstened to by every Chartist in the land . It will be lone because I mean to ran orer the whole period of om acquaintance , which hai now stretched over a space of eight years , wanting only twenty days . During those eight years no man In any age or country ever haa been *) much before the public . I hare in that time attended more public meetings , and at more places , gun aijy man wfeolires , or erer did lire , erer attended tfjrougnout the whole of life . How I bare acquitted myself in the several situations which -UDder God I vjys called upon to fill , this narratiTe shall truly sketch —you shall say -whether the picture has boen faithfully drawn or oTer-painted , and according to your judgment , you will decide whether or not I am entitled to lie only fafour I hsfe tret asked of the working
g&sses . At starting ; let me remind yon , that the eight years te which my remaxii refer is a period which has been more fruitful in grants than any fifty years comprised within the time from the Rerohrtion ot 16 S 8 ; it was a time , in truth , to try men ' s soala , I begin . On ths 4 th « f February , 1833 , took my goi u an Irish Member in the House of Commons . I jroBght with me the strongest testimonials of fitness ^ d confidence from my natire county by which any pnblie man has erer been honoured . I rescued the Ingest , most aristocratic and priest-ridden county in the
United Kingdom , from the united grasp of Whig and lory , who bad alternately divided its representation to centuries . I sot only did that , but I so roused the jponty , city , and four boroughs , as to return wren upealers , which was then the test of fitness , learing mly the hell-bom town of Banden in the hands of the lories , I brought in with me , for the county , a person vtoBy unknown to the electors . I nerer asked a man to rote for me , to propose me , or to second ma I ggnt so meney on the election . Mr . O * Connell said at a tfmer , atDr , Baldwin ' s house , in October , 1832 : "Well , jtr , O'Connor , if you open this county you will have
flcne more than all the agitattrs put together for the h » t forty years , bat the Aristocracy is too gttoag tot you "; however , the Tery attempt will do great good . " I mention this fact more far the date th * " lor any Talne which I attach to the pinion ; obserre October , 2832 . That was the first time I erer opened my lips to , or sat in company with , Hi . O'ConneH , and then . I had the county secured . Bear in mind , for reasons which I shall presently explain , that I nerer opened my lips to , or sat in company with Mr . CGonnell , until October , 1832 . He was then m Cork ; and although it was his custom to rouse the
repeal electoa eTery where else , and though he was at the gpiyM of Cork at that time ( the assizes were adjourned to October , in consequence of the cholera npon -that Tear ; and for the whole period , yet he addressed n * meetfcg , and took no part in what he called a forlorn hope . Well , I beat the most powerful families of "Whig and Tory unitedly . The present Earl of King-* oa , then too Hon . Robert King , formerly rspresentatre of the coanty , and who roted for the Reform Bill , aid for erery reform , and whese family had dirided file spoils far time out of mind , was the Whig candidate ; Lord Bernard , Mr . Beecher , and Mr . Morris ,
were the Tory candidate * ; and I was the people ' s can * didate . I dragged all the titled liberal dubs and meeiatioss through the mire in spite of them . I elee teified the county with the non-electors , and after an cnparaQeled struggle of fire days , I was sent to the House of Conunoni by a majority of 812 . I opened the Ceonty , the City , Hallow , Ktnsale , and ToughalL and book Sandon by myself ; and the whole cost a mere nothing . This was considered as a political earthquake . t came to England with all the prejudices rf an Irishman , I looked upon T ^ ngH « h
Protestant , and Irish Orangeman , as terms quite synonymous , ant laid at Britain ' s door eTery grievance d which Ireland complained . The House of Commons I thought , as far at regarded Ireland , might be taken MS fair specimen of English feeling towards the land of my birth ; and , in consequence , I hated , abhorred , « d detested the rery name of England aad ererything foglifJi , Resolved , howerer , to confirm my hatred , or dispel the mist , I determined to think for myself;—Ban ' s greatest crime ; that is , if , after thought , be tfwcM act for himself . With this -new I attended
pabhe dinners and public meetings , and , above all , I attended the sober man '« Parliament from twelTe to t £ ree , who , the people ' s petitions were presented . From these amices I soon learned that St . Stephens was sot England , and that the House of Commons was sot the House of the peeple . My prejudices began to weaken ; my hatred was on the wane ; when the cure of ignorance was completed by the noble stand made , hastily , and of themselves , by the ^ ng Ti «^ Mid Scotch people , against the Coercion SilL
In passing , let me tell you , that I prophesied the Coercion Bill a year and a quarter before it was introduced , for proof « f which , I refer -the leader to the Cork Southern Reporter Ot the 6 th of December , 1831 , where , in a speech of mine , delivered at a Reform meeting in the Coctrt loose , will be found the following prophetic words : — " I support Reform for England upon principle ; but in Ireland I tell you that it will be the Tery worst measure erer passed , if not followed by a Repeal < & the Union . Because , the very first act of the Reformed Parliament win be to pass some gagging Bill , to ¦ mother the expression of public opinion in Ireland 111 '' Eas prophecy was fulfilled .
I shall now take a review o ? my conduct during the tat Parliament in which I sat , and which comprised fee Sessions of 1833 and 1834 . When my eyes became opened , I became an universal Member , yet not forgetting Ireland . Though Ireland was Hiy country , the world ! looked upon as my Republic . In those Sessions I became popular with the English and Scotch people ; they sent me their petitions . I presented and supported more petitions t >?* n any rn « p in the House . I Bt with the Speaker , and rose with the House . / tmxr * as absent
What were the questions , tnd how did I vote ? I tnced O'Connell to bring Repeal from under his bushel I opposed his tithe instalment scheme of moving ft » people pay 13 s . in the pound to the parsons , and Ita . in the pound to the landlord . I voted against trery clause of the Irish Coercion BilL I moved the injection of , and Toted against eTery clause , of the B &gated Coercion BIIL O'Connell opposed me , and « pported it aO . I roted against the fixed duty on •» being substituted for the more qtysTfr ^ restricts . In fact , I opposed a repeal of the Corn **** , unaccompanied by reduction of taxation ,
* fi other measures which would give to the fe * > instead of to the high , the benefit of the *» je . I Toted against the Ballot : for the same * srau I would do so again sow . I voted against « wy single clause of the English Poor Law Amend-• ttt-Act , as it la called ; aad I had the satisfaction 4 xeceirtng a letter from Mr . Cobbett , which was Visaed in the Try * ^ aw , saying , tta < " ifdlBitlrUk ** fers , aiBiafi ihemadmm Liberal , had ttooi by hiwtmt 1 , he wmld hmoe defeaUd flu memmrt . " I voted Stiast every giant ef money . I voted for the expul-** of the Bishops from the House of Lords . I fc * ght every abuse before the House—the transporta •* of the Dorchester LaboureM , for whose return I
« id the foundation ; the ease of Mr . Taylor , confined *¦ * bat the House termed blasphemy ; the liberation < 6 ort aad Bell , proprietors of the TrwSW , impri-*« in the Qaeen * i Bench for what a jury called libel , tt virieh the Attorney-General and the Whip cheered * jjkL coming from the present Earl Fitrwffliam and ** iim Brougham . Grant and Bell were imprisoned fr ptecbely the same thing which the otter two were *** edfce . I supported some proprietor of a Brighton * & * against his oppressors , and tome persona , * &Me names I forget , who were imprisoned for ** -p » ymeat -of ehn « h ratea . I defended the ^ des - Unionist u a legal and a useful body . I ** a for rrery measure ia fcrtmr of the Dissenters
Untitled Article
and slaves , aad all who were desolate and oppressed I endeavoured to tax the Irish landlords for a sweeping provision for the Irish poor , but in this , as in every thing else , Mr . OConnell opposed me . I made five fruitless efforts to get a House , to bring the case of the Irish poor before the country . O'Connell always kept the Irish members away , and the House was always counted ODt I furnished Mr . Littleton with the draft of a new Stamp Act , which I took great pains and trouble in drawing up , and also with the draft of a sew Quarter Sessions * Bill for Ireland , by which I scraght to bring speedy justice home to eierj poor man ' s door , by giving him a cheap court of equity as well as a court of law , in bis immediate locality .
By the Stamp Act , I sought to put it out of the power of the landlord t * distrain npon , or to refuse a lease , or stamped receipt to , or otherwise oppress , or capriciously remove his tenants . By the Quarter Sessions' Act , I sought to confine all cases bet-ween landlord and tenant , bnyer and seller , master and servant , debtor and creditor , to a cheap local court , and thereby sare the expense of the superior and more expensive courts of justice ; these Littleton promised me to support , but he broke his word .
Daring my Saturdays and holidays , I deroted myself to attendance at public meetings for instruction , and I refused all invitations to Ministerial dinners upon those days . I refused patronage and other indirect bribes . I opposed the emigration or transportation scheme . 1 Toted in a minority of four , in a House of 300 , against Mr . CobbetfB motion , for the removal of Sir Robert Peel from the Privy Council ; being struck off the records of the House . I voted for the admission of the Jews among the infidels ; and here let me say that that was the only vote which I would not now repeat ; not that I hate a Jew , but because I dread the influence of his money , upon a constituency
qu&lified by a money value . I would now rather see the devil than a Jew walking into the House of Commons . I wish most sincerely that the single-breasted Quaker , Durham Pease , this " marrow fat" member , was out of it Such was my conduct for the two se&sUns of 1833-4 , —my best efforts being marred by Mr . O'Connell . If the debate was upon an English question , he said , " leave it to the English members ; " if npon a Scotch question , be said , " leave it to the Scotch members ; " and if npon an Irish Church question , " leave it to the Whigs and the Tories ; " but he always spoke himself ; so did I ; except when he actually held me down , or sal upon the skirts of my coat
Thus ended the two first Reformed Sessions , and the Tories got into o&ce . A dissolution took place , and I was denounced by the whole liberal press of Ireland , and opposed by every one » f O"ConneIlfc friends and relations in the county of Cork . I was told that I never would hare a chance again ; that I had been a mere bubble upon the Repeal surface . Well , what did I do ? But , let me tell you , that at the close of each session I tendered my resignation in the Market-place of different larre towns ,
where I explained my differences with Mr . O'Connell , but it was not accepted . Upon the second election I took no trouble—I never stirred among the people—I only addressed the electors once . I was engaged till the day before mj otrn election in returning Mr . John O'Connell for YoughaU , at his father ' s request , who ordered the whole ceunty to attend , but made off himself , and forgot to leave even poll books ; here , as everywhere else , I paid my own expencea , and got no fee : but more of this in another place .
A second time I was returned , and had the county been polled out , my majority would haTe been orer 1 S 00 . I came again to England , and again proceeded in my straightforward course . My first motion was to bring the Rathcormae murder before the House . Mr . O'Connell and Mr . Hume got op , and asked me if I Would embarrass Ministers by such an untimely motion f I said I would—that 1 was pledged—bat no one would second the motion for an investigation into this most blood-thirsty affair , now slumbering as a thing forgotten . but which , though opposed by those of th « same persuaann as the slam , I will yet bring to light , and have blood tor blood , if justice is to be had on earth .
In 183 » I was ousted by aa Election Committee , an Irish repealer voting against me upon every division . Let me name one for curiosity : he voted that a printed paper found upon a file , which the High Sheriff , now . Lord Liitowil , admitted be had never seen , was a pood and nficieni terwice upon the High Sheriff . I dont impugn kis honesty , k-ut I do his law . I did not know the complexion of the House , and Mr . O'Connell Tery kindly sent his two sons , Maurice aad John , to strike
my Committee ; and , by aome unforeseen accident or another , my ease was submitted to six of the most iniquitous Tories in the House . Let me mention three of them—Baroaby , Jockey Houldsworth , and Sir Colin Campbell : in short , the whole House burst out laughing when they saw the Committee come to the table be to sworn . More of this , however , in its proper place , and which , I pledge myself , will make Englishmen ctare .
In June , 18 S 5 , I ceased to be a Member of Parliament ; and in July , 1835 , I stood for Oldbam , upon Chartist , Repeal , and anti-tithe principles . That is five years and a half ago ; and then did I form my first alliance with the English people . I was defeated at Old ham by a mistake of Mi . Fielden ' s . It was this ;—I was first in the field ; but requiring franks , and a knowledge of the leaders of the Radical party , Mr . Fielden , by an accident , enclosed my letters U Mr . oshoa Milne and Dr . Fitton , of Royton , the two principal members of Mr . John Cobbett's Committee , who , I was assured at the time , was not going to stand , but for whom those two
gentlemen were hard at work , and in correspondence with Mr . Fielden . I spent fifteen days at Oldham . I went there a strangtr—I left it a beaten man ; but my upright Committee , more than pleased with my conduct , sent for me after their defeat , and announced that my conduct throughout had given universal satisfaction , and that the Committee had come to the unanimous decision of paying all expenses , which were very heavy , and even asked for my own prirate bill , which I would not allow them to pay . A beaten man generally sneaks off . However , I received a public toner after my defeat ; and , no room being large enough to hold the guests , we were obliged te . have every 100 m in the hotel ,
and they were too few . I was honoured with a public entry into Aahton , Rochdale , and Manchester ; my Committee attending their beaten man in several carriages , and joining the largest public procession ever witnessed in Manchester . The cure of prejudice was then completed . I saw England for the first time with the naked eye . I saw a drunken manufacturer , as drunk as an owl on Sunday , wko took me very severely to task for calling upon that day on temporal matters . Mr . Ainsworth was with me . The elector could not be " reasonably deemed" in a condition to lie on the floor without holding , but he belshed out that he was for Church and State . I then f « the
first time saw the Rattle Boxes and their victims . I was up betimes every morning , and watched the pallid face , the emaciated frame , and the twisted limbs , wending their way to the earthly helL I saw the exhausted frame staggering home more ghastly still by candle light , after fourteen hours' toil : and I said , here ' s a field for philanthropy . From that moment I became the uiipaid advocate of my fellow man . Five years and a half have passed away , and were I asked where I am most popular , I should say where I haTe been longest known at eidham . When I returned to London , I racked inrentioti for the means of opening England , as I had opened
the county of Cork . The grand question of the session was the Irish Corporation Rtform Bill : the grand struggle « pon it , was the Lords against the Commons . I held meetings at Brent / ord and elsewhere to escoaraga the Commons in resisting the Lords' amendment * . The Irish Members were full of Talrar , and . In their pot-raliancy , had rasolred . to oppose them to a man ; but the incipient sweets of unpolluting , because not openly avowed , patronage , stepped in , and the fabric of hope , built by the Irish Liberal ! on Monday , was blown down on Tuesday , and , headed by Mr . O'Connell , they accepted the Lords' instalments .
Upon the evening of the following day , I saw Mr . ¦ O'Connell at the Westminster Club , asd said to him , " Yob have sold us at last ; I hare done with you . " I then « aw that Whigs is office were hungry Tories , and resolred that only two political parties should exist , till the struggle should terminate , in ths ascen dancy of the people ; and with this Tiew I established the great Radical Association of Marjlebone , on the 18 th of September , and which waa followed by the establishment of fourteen others is the Metropolis aad Greenwich ; the first fruit * af which were , the
Untitled Article
return of the Dorchester Labourers , and the reduction is newspaper stamps . ¦ Never was London so rgasised aa doling the winters of 1835 and 1836 . These two questions we rarer lost * ighf of ; we petitioned and memorialised , held public meetings and agitated , until we finally accomplished our aim and end . Is the autumn of 1835 , when I could no longer defend myself in the House , and haring no portion of the press at my command , Mr . O'Connell denounced me to his creatures In Dublin—said I was unworthy the confidence of the Irish people , and made me a present to the English Radicals .
I wrote two letters to know if he had been mureported , thus opening the old back-door for him ; but conscious strength , and ignorance of my resolutions , induced him to withhold a reply . So I addressed to him a series of letters in a pamphlet , exposing his policy and defending myself ; and from that hour to the present , he has nerer attended a single public meeting of the people in England or Scotland , while I was at large to meet him .
In December , 1835 , in the depth of winter , I received a commission from the Parent Radical Association , upon parchment , and under hand and seal of tbe officers , by order of a publicmeeting , to establish braneb / Associatlons throughout the country . They , like Englishmen , offered to pay all my expences : I declined , determined to pay my own way , and avoid the suspicion of wishing to prolong a profitable trade . I was received everywhere with open areas . I established numerous Associations , returned , and was honoured with the thanks of my fellow-labourers . I then wrote gratuitously for many London papers . In 1836 , I made another
tour , and extended my mission to Scotland , where I was received with open arms . I found that between the Durham and the O'Connell humbug , public opinion was at sea . I resolved to right it I established associations in Edinburgh , Glasgow , Paisley , Kilmamock , Leith , Dunfermline , Dundee , and other places , which shortly afterwards threw out their branches , as la Eng * land , and covered the land with the foliage of Radical " ism . I was honoured with a splendid pnblic entry into Glasgow , in Dec 1836 , and addressed an in-door meeting computed at 7 , 000 . The whole of the curious"for miles around were present , and every newspaper proprietor
and editor in Glasgow . They came to see the play damned ; but it so far succeeded that at the close I was presented with a flattering address , which awaited my desert ; and I was by acclamation voted the President of the National Association of Scotland , which was that night formed . I then became the national gaaette . In 1837 , I visited Yorkshire and the North again ; but the first blush of curiosity having faded , I found that tbe press was entirely mute , while I was working myself to death , and that a meeting in one town did nothing for another . I ordered numbers of different papers , and offered to pay for reports ; but . no , my principles werebeterodox ,. and tbe press was closed against mo , and thus were my expences doubled aud my toil increased . In June , 183 7 , 1 wrote to Leeds ,
to advertise a public meeting . I followed in expectation of finding all the arrangements perfected , but no notice was taken , and I had my labour and txpenee for my pains . Still aware of the danger to the man , but tbe success to the cause which must follow the establishment of a dissent paper , I called a meeting on Woodhouse Moor , by placard , with loss of time and much money which a single advertisement wonld hare spared , and I there announced mj determination to establish a paper if our meetings were disregarded . That threat was not sufficient ; our proceedings were passed orer with a sneer , and I ordered my publisher , Mr . Hobaon , to start for Sheffield , and to arm me with millions of little tongues , whose multiplied voices would speak to all nations . He went , and the type was ordered .
Upon the 18 th of November , the Star wu announced to come out Government threw every obstacle in my way , and , in the meantime , came the attack upon the Glasgow Cotton Spinners . I forgot the paper . I attended two and three meetings eTery night I never mentioned tbe Northern Star , but roused , without any journal to assist me , the whole of English feeling for those poor men . I went myself to the trial I toek some money , the fruit * ot my labour—much mare was subsequently sent As soon as I arrired , the cards were dealt ; I saw every hand , and that my profession had all tbe trumps , but that they would not play them . I
all but went down on my knees to persuade the committee , Hugh Alexander and others , te play tbe game out . and they were most willing ; but still the vultures saw the prey , and tbey would not lei go thai * hold . I told them that postponing the trial would but furnish , by delay , an opportunity to . amend the hand ; whereas the men must be acquitted , as at present indicted . I could not stop them . Tbey postponed the trial—the indictment was amended—the prisoners were acquitted on all the counts contained in tbe old and preserved in the fresh indictment , and were convicted npon the . new counts , which delay had given them time to furnish . I left Scotland ; travelled the whole of two nights ; arrived at Manchester on Wednesday evening , saw 3000 sheets stamped for the first number , and started by
the mail carrying the paper with me ; arrived at Leeds at three o ' clock on Wednesday morning , when the first side should have been printed ; roused up the men , set to work , wrote , bungled , put together , and got ont the paper ; ( never having tried the printing machine before ) - I saw it printed and posted , and west to bed on Friday night , for the first time that week , thanking God that my 3000 friends ware upon the watch while I slept E very one knows how I worked for the cotton spinners . I attended their second trial in January—They came home the other day with an injunction from Brougham , Wakley , and others , to take no notice of me , They were within an hour ' s journey of my dungeon , and they turned their backs upon me . I forgive them . If they are ever prosecuted again I will defend them again .
On the 18 th of November , 1837 , 1 established the Northern Star , the first paper erer established In England exclusively for the people ; a paper which has given a completely new tone to the whole press of the empire ; a paper which may be truly called the mental link which binds the industrious classes together ; a paper which has , for the first time , concentrated tha national mind into one body , now become irresistible . In 1838 , I established the great Northern Union , another powerful body . In 1839 , I became a member of the National Convention . In July , 1839 , I was tried at York for a libel , consisting of four lines taken
from another paper . There never was such a farce as that trial . Crown prosecutor , Judge , Jury , and all , were moved to laughter by its absurdity ; but , as I hare before informed you , one Patrick Ryall was hung in Ireland for laughing ; and , where the oppressor prowls , what is law in Ireland soon becomes law in England . The laughing hysenas laughed me ont of my liberty . Yea , tbe lying scoundrels , they found me " guilty ; " and one of them said that he did so because I bullied the jury . In March , 1840 , I was tried for another libel that I never saw . The principal charge against me was for the
publication of a raving rhapsody , delivered at Manchester by a fanatical wretch called William Taylor , of whom no one ever beard before or since . I am not here for any thing O'Brien said , or that 1 said ; I am here tor what " Bible Chartist" Taylor said . I was found ' gnilty" at York , in part to lay the foundation for O'Brien ' s being found " guilty" at Lirerpool . Tie Attorney-General laid most stress on the speech of Taylor ; ss did Mr . Justice Coleridge , at York ; again , In aggraTation of punishment , he laid most stress npon It ; so did tbe court . I serer » aw this saint , nor his wall of Jericho . I never knew a grain of good come of " Bible Chartism ; " I
nerer knew a sound principle hatched under the wing of fanaticism . They will leave 70 a when they get quiet sisters to pay bettor th > n the poor Chartists . I tell you , the question of civil rights should sever be mixed ip with fanaticism . Instead of forwarding , it will retard the end . See Ireland ! " O glory be to God , I gained emandpation without bloodshed , "isapalliatiTeforcivil restrictions asd a cloak for political inquity ; while tbe whole people are " emancipated" from the one-pound parson to tbe
one-poand-flre landlord , and from the civil power to a standing army of spy police ; from a Protestant judge to an over cautious Catholic one ; over cautious , lest by even doing justice to a poor Catholic , he should be suspected of partiality , and who , therefore , makes him the scape-goat of bis accusing conscience . And this is " emancipation without blood 1 " while the murders of Wallstown , Rathoormac , and a thousand other spots , crimsoned with Catholic gore , are yet unavenged . ' Howbeit , a time wfil come !! —we most bide it
Untitled Article
In April , 1840 , 1 pleadednot guilty at tivei . pool to an indictment for riot , conspiracy , sedition , t > lmult , and God only knows what ; never having seen the riot , beard the conspiracy , of witnesse d the -MottttoL ' . <* tumult In Mar , I was called tip to receive a receipt in fail for my many delinquencies , when Nottingham 1-Denman , the Chartist of 1819 , sent me to a felen's prison , which Phipps has turned into an inquisition ; and , ' thank God , here I am ; a proof of my power , of the strength of my cause , and the affection wbioh the people bear me .
In another letter I shall show yon that I was not fairly convicted ; that I kept within the precincts # f the law ; within the sanctuary of the constitution ; and that , sot being able to trap me into indiscretion , they assailed me within the very sanctuary which ehonld have been held inviolate . J mention this to establish myself in your judgment as a prudent general . I mention it to prove to you that , tot eight years , I have kept within the law ; while I have gone as far , or farther , than any other man in bringing bad laws into disrepute .
You would not have thought me sincere if I had not been victimised . This is an error of public judgment ; howeTer , we must sometimes respect even prejudices ; and , if anything was wanting to perfect your confidence , I rejoice at the fact of your prejudice supplying this requisite . Now , attend to me , while I state simple facts . From September , 1835 , to February , 1830 , 1 led you single , handed and alone . For fifteon months of that time 1
had tha most extensively circulated journal in the kingdom ; and , during that whole period , while excitement was at its height , no man was ever brought before a magistrate , charged with a single violation of the peace arising out of political agitation . I nevet saw a riot , disorder , or even a drunken maa , at one of the thousands of meetings I attended throughout the empire . We heard of no provocations , while I waa quietly undermining th £ Whig citadel , and forming the nation into one body .
During that time , not one single farthing was levied on the people for agitation . I paid all myself , out of my own pocket ; while the Birmingham wealthy Unionists were spending the poor man's money in selling him , and have never yet accounted for it ; but they shall , t > r I will sue them for my sixpence which I paid for my ticket I never travelled one mile at your expence . I wonld accept of no fee , favour , or reward , beyond your cheering approbation . And , in 1839 , when the nation was taxed agaioat my consent , —and when I was compelled to join bankers , merchants , brokers , manufacturers , barristers , lawyers , parsons , Members of Parliament , and , in short , tbe whole nest
of vermin , —from that moment the country has been in hot water . " You said this , " and " I said that , " and "but for you it would have been s * and so , " " we only did so and so , " and " you advised arming , " and "I was for one pound notes , " and " you got tbe people into scrapes of which I warned thorn , " and so nothing bat prosecutions , incarcerations , transportations , heartbreakings , weeping , wailing , and gnashing of teeth . Not one single leader who abandoned us having given a shilling to defend the people from the vengeance which they brought npon them , while it has cost me thousands ; and . guiltless myself , every slippery saint and
trafficking sinner who has slipped out of the noose , has left his share of the rope round my neck : but of this in its proper place . Always bear . in mind that the Star has been over- three years in the front of the battle ; that the leading articles , which are the index ef the proprietor ' s feelings and opinions , have been well watched , and not one single line has been seised hold of , even by the most anxious prosecutor . Mind that Original matter is that which alone thould be prosecuted ; all else is matter of news ; but that is matter of opinion . Bear in mind , that for eight years I have been in the very
vortex of politics ; friend and foe alike trying to rain me ; obliged to bear the desertion of tbe betrayer , and the disappointment of tbe betrayed ; and I have never yet got a shake , thank God : and why f Because I stand like a rock in the midst of ocean , against which the angry wave may dash , but part * in foam-Because , for eight years ; prying fame has dogged my every step ; and even scandal has not been able to aay " he is a profligate , a gambler , a drunkard , a tale-bearer , an evil speaker ; he leaves his bills unpaid , and dishonours our cause . "
No ! Where is the man who has ever heard a bad principle , a mean expression , ox even a doubtful word , escape my lips t Where la the man who has been so watched , and yet so free from slander f Where is the man who has sustained one ebAractCT-fn the great political drama , as I have done , for eight years , acting it all myself f Where is the trafficking politician who can say , or who ever could say , to the nation , " I am in bonds for yon ; and by account , stated and settled by your own auditors at Manchester , you owe me between
£ 200 and £ 300 , not counting the thousands not taken into account V Where is the man who has stood by you in the senate-house of tbe nation , at the table of the aristocrat , in the presence of insolent magistrates , and before the awful tribunal of a merciless Bench , as I have done f . If these things , then , be true , read my appeal in a shorter letter , and say whether or no my prayer shall be granted . I am , Your faithful friend , FEARGUS O'CONNOR .
Untitled Article
— ¦ ¦ ? TO HER MOST GRACIOUS MAJESTY THE QUEEN . Madah , —Having ascertained what are the ends for which seciety exists , and the bonds by which it is holden together , we are , in the next place , to inquire what , line of conduct is required , on the part of the Government , in order to secure the attainment of these ends . This ia , beyond all question , a subject of the greatest moment aud importance , both to those who govern , and those whose every interest is , not only remotely but directly , involved in the due administration of public affairs . It is not to the theory of
government that I refer . That may vary in different ages , in different places , and under different circumstances . But the practical application of the principles of what is called government are fixed ; and cannot be departed from without manifest injustice and injury to the parties concerned . We have seen that , in this mixed state ef society , men are congregated together for a threefold purpose , and are acted upon by a twofold agency . The proper line of conduct , therefore , which those invested with authority ought to pursue , is one which will , in the most efficient manner , secure tbe accomplishment of their purposes , by the
judicious employment of this double agency . This is , in fact , the line of conduct professedly pursued by all governments , however diversified in their form aid character . Bat I must take leave , from long and close observation , to conclude , that in no single case , hitherto , has the means accomplished the contemplated end ; and because of this , we find the world involved in confusion and disorder , and society , the true prosperity of which depends upon the calm and undisturbed tenor of its coarse , tossed to and fro like the restless wave of the troubled ocean , and the elements of which it is composed appearing destitute of every principle of
coherency , and threatening to return to their original disorder . Wrapt up in the sycophancy which fills your palace , and lulled into security by the golden glitter and the apparent prosperity which are alone permitted to meet year observance , it Is more than probable that you are totally unacquainted with tbe Indications of a gathering storm , which are every where so apparent to the eye of those , who , uodaaoled by the glare of courtly lunacy , are accustomed to see things as they really are . Yet be assured , Madam , that if by the Imbecility , recklessness , or selfishness of those whom yon bare called , or may call , to your councils , the
bonds of society become loosened , and tha just authority of the law superseded by a system of arrant despotism , which shall place lite and property in jeopardy—then , and in this case , the old eonstitn * tional axiom , the , Kin * can do no wrong , will be of no avail . It will be . found that the King must suffer And drink of the cap of calamity , as well as the veriest outcast of the people . There is nothing pleasing ia boob a scene as this ; bat it is the troth ; and the know * ledge of it , is , I conceive , alike necessary to the security of your Majesty ' s throne , and the peace and happiness of ( his great empire .
Tbe line of conduct to be pursued by the raleraof great people , divided into various classes , and embracing a vast Variety of conflicting interests , va ust , to be really beneficial , be in strict accordance vith tha
Untitled Article
fundamental principle of truth and justice . To secure the ends for which society exists , the legislative and executive powers most be so exercised , as to afford ample protection to the honest and well-disposed portions of the community ; it must also be so far restrictive aa may be necessary to prevent one man from unfairly trenching upon the rights of another ; it must , in the next place , adopt such a / system of criminal jurisprudence , as shall be of an efficiently corrective character ; and it must , lastly , be sedulously engaged in promoting the work of individual and national reformation .
I would most reapectfally crave your Majesty ' sserions attention to each of these points of consideration . Firstj I say , the line of conduct required from the Government , in the present state of society , must be such as will afford ample protection to the honest and well-disposed portions of the community . And here before , proceeding farther , let me premise that , by the honest and well-disposed portions of the community , I mean persons of every class and grade of society . All are , according to the theory of that Constitution which you , Lady , are sworn to uphold , equal before the law , consequently , all are entitled to the same degree , as
well as kind , of protection , from the state of which they are the common children , and which is supported and sanctioned bj their common contributions . In this view of the matter , it appears plain , beyond reasonable question , that not only every class , but every man , woman , and child in the nation , has a claim upon the Government for the protection of all natural and acquired rights ; and this involves in it , not only the protection of life and property , in the conventional use of these terms , but the protection from aggression upon all and singular the things which a man can call his own , including , of coarse , the means by which he acquires those things .
Thus , it ia the duty of the Legislature to provide that no class of the community shall combine together to the manifest injury of other classes , or of individuals ; and it is also its duty to prevent or controul the introduction of « uch means and powers as shall hare a certain tendency , direct or indirect , to increase the wealth and comfort of one or a tew , at the expenoa ot the comfort , morality , and life of tens of thonsands of the industrious population . Under this head , also , it is the duty of the public authorities to provide for such a remuneration of labour , as shall enable the able-bodied workman to procure good and
ample food and clothing , together with a comfortable habitation , and the means of a sound , practical education for himself and his family , to which I will add , that no Government does or can afford the amount « f protection which can justly be expected from it , till It provides that all this shall be within the reach of every man who engages in the pursuit of business , industry , or labour , eight hours in the day , for the six working days . I am aware that it has been calculated that four hours of labour , each working day , would produce enough for the comfortable and respectable maintenance of every individual ia the empire : in
allowing , therefore , doable that amount of time to be thus employed , there would be ample means provided for those who , by infancy , sickness , and old age , were rendered incapable of working at all . If your Majesty should think that eight hoars ef the day spent in toil is too small a portion , I would refer yon to an authority which should have some weight with royalty . Your glorious predecessor , Alfred , divided bis time into three portions , devoting eight hoars to sleep and the exercise of devotion ; eight hours to business ; and eight to stady and recreation . I think this royal apportionment of time cannot be too closely copied both by
the court and the country . Included in this duty of providing for the protection of all , is the provision for the poor , which must be made by law , and which every state , by the recognition of what ia called the right to possess landed property , binds itself to provide . Nothing can be clearer than the right , which every one born in the wintry possesses , to live by the produce of the land Of his birth , and it is therefore obvious that any one who should claim a right to appropriate more land to himself , than is sufficient far his own wants , including , of coarse , those of his family , or who should set up a
claim to the soil after his crops were removed , without , at the same time , taking npon himself , in some way or other , the burden of providing for those whom he had deprived of their natural means of support , would be guilty of an act of usurpation and robbery , which it is the bounden duty of the Government to prevent In the present state of society , the land is not common right j it has become the property of individuals ; bat to use a legal term , the whole people are in law s « iaed of the land , by virtue of the original grant , aud have therefore a right to demand a maintenance from it , which demand must be complied with in one or all of the following ways . —
First , one portion of the community must be fed directly from the soil , by being located upon it , and receiving a given portion of the produce , tor an equivalent for it , in money , ) as the wages of labour . Second , another portion of the social family most be indirectly maintained by the land , while engaged in the pursuits of trade , manufactures , and commerce . That is , the landlord spends his rents , and the farmer tbe profits of his stock , in some shape or other , amon the trading , commercial , aad manufacturing classes , who , in their tarn , become , as they prosper in their several pursuits , better tenants to the landlord and better customers to the farmer ; and thus tend directly to increase the value of the land , which otherwise would soon cease to pay the cost of cultivation .
A third portion of the people , those who are destitute and incapable of labour , have an equal claim for a subsistence out of the land of their nativity , and which ought to be furnished to them not as a boon but as a right ; for it is to them an equivalent for the fee simple of the land , of which the arrangements of society have deprived thorn . The provision for the poor , of which I have been speaking , should sot , I conceive , be made by a tax falling directly upon the land , nor do I think that the trading or commercial portions of the nation should be charged with any considerable share of this impost . It does appear reasonable that the burden should be borne principally by those who caused it , and however
tbe taking np the land as private property tended originally to give birth to pauperism , it ia plain that the increase of ontaxed machinery has given to it its gigantic stature , and that , while it remains unchecked , pauperism must of necessity go on and increase . The protection of a good Government will , therefore , be employed In securing the honest aud industrious from the ravage * of hopeless desperation , ( driven to madness by the pressure of distress , ) by a judicial system of parochial relief , the means for which it will derive from those sources which are most clearly pointed oat by the dictates of equity and justice . It will be neces sary again to revert to this subject as we prosecute our inquiry .
These and a thousand other matters are intimately and necessarily connected with the protectiveitunctions of civil government . Upon the due discharge of this importantbranchofits high duties depend the prosperity of arts , science , and literature . It is that by which tha weak is to be defended from the attack of the strong ; it is to be the watcher over publio health , the guardian f public morals , and the slumberless superintendent of public liberty . Without this , public interests would
be neglected , anarchy and confusion would supersede social order and domestic qmlet ; that confidence , which results from a sense of security , would give place to fears and jealousies of an nndsflnable character ; and while every nun wonld feel himself compelled to stand with a defensive weapon in his hand , the bad and vicious passions of men would obtain a fearfnl predominance , and rapine and disorder would soon be the order of the day . .
Intimately connected with tills subject , is the second point necessary to be attended to in the Una of conduct to be pursued by the persons that role , I mean those acts of the publio functionaries which are distinguished at restrictive . By these , I mean those wise and salutary provisions , by which one man is forbidden to invade the rights , destroy or misappropriate the property , impede the industry , destroy the character , injure the good aane , « take away , by tone or fraud , the life fo
Untitled Article
his fellow-man . Man , in his present fallen and degraded condition , is a being ef selfish , avaricious , revengeful , and tyranni « al propensities . His selfishness leads him to place bis own interests as supreme , and those of all others as subordinate ; hi * avarice is ever on the watch to obtain possession ef what be deems desirable , no matter how , or at whose expence , he can obtain it ; for arsrice is by no means confined to the inordinate , desire of getting money . Hi » revengeful passionr incite him to be , on all occasions , his own avenger 1 and his love of power impels him on to act the tyrant , whenever he can find a helpless
victim and a favourable opportunity . True , it is , that those bahef ul and noxious weeds , which disfigure and deform the face of God ' s moral creation , may be eradicated by the influence of a pore and genuine religion ; and plants of a far nobler nature introduced into their places ; By religion , here , I do not mean the external profession and reception of the creedsand dogmas of this , that , or the ther sect or party , calling itself Christian . ' I mean that principle of natural good which is of the divine mercy inseminated from birth into the heart of every man , be he externally Christian , Jew *
Mohammedan , or Pagan , and by which selfishness can be superseded by a noble spirit of benevolence ; tha coldest avarice give place to a glowing flame of generosity ; revenge retire before compassion and forgiveness ; and tyranny resign his throne to the generator rule of patriotism and philanthropy . This , Madam , b genuine religion , wherever found , alike honourable to God , and safe for man ; it U that , which , did all possess , rulers would be , indeed , nursing fathers , and subjects would be obedient children . " Earth would by angels' feet be trod , One great garden of her God . "
It is a melancholy fact , however , that this is not the case . In every social state there are some in whom those detestable passions are entirely destroyed by tba prevalence of the opposite virtues ; they are , however , but few , but it is impossible to overrate them . They are the salt of the earth , the light of the world , and with or without law , they are a law onto themselves . Besides these , * the mass of the population consists of persons of a mixed and varied character . In suoh , the better principles of their nature struggle to reject tha bad , and , aided by surrounding circumstances , they generally succeed . To such , the restrictive laws which publio wisdom and virtue have established , are of themoei essential importance . They confirm them in their
desires to pursue the path of rectitude , and by exciting their salutary fears , they restrain them when , from some supposed advantage , they are tempted to act wrong . As to those bad spirits , who can neither be allured into the paths of virtue by the prospect of protection and security , nor restrained by the enactments made for the good of society—to them the rod must be applied ; and for this purpose the other two functions of the executive must be brought into operation . These must , however , form the subject of a future essay . I am , Madam , Your Majesty ' s faithful and obedient subject and servant , London , December 31 , 1 S 40 . NTJMA .
Untitled Article
" MOTHER GOOSE . " TO THB EDIT 0 B OF THK NORTHERN STAB . Dear- Sib , —Lying is a necessary attribute In tha defence of a bad cause : hence has Mother Goose stolen away the wreath from the brows of " Neddy . " In a leader of last week , headed " The approaching Reform Demonstrations , " the " Gooss" labours hard to criminate the Star , or , rather , to nullify the effects-of your advice , evidently alarmed for the consequence * But mark the mode he takes : first , he breaks the heads of Chartists , and then , with " soft sawder , " tries hi * best to plaster them up again . This dust wont blind a real Chartist , though ; coaxing is too late , and gammon is only laughed at
How the shifty rogues change their tactics I " There will be no . opportnnity for proposing an amendment for Universal Suffrage , as no resolutions whatever will be put to the meeting , " says " Goote . " Indeed , who believes this f But , whether or not , tome business is to be done ; and I fancy Chartists knew how " to give an impulse to opinion on the great question of farther organic changes , " as well as the geese , with ail their gabbling . But , oh fie I you mgrakful wretcnos I Yes , Chartists , to attempt it ! Mother Goose farther says , "The Chartists . cannot be ignorant of the fact that , almost without exception , the strangers who are announced to
be present are ' friendly to their cause . " Friendly , Indeed I There , is oar very excellent "friend , "'Joe Home ; what do we think of Joseph f Why , he most be ground- over again before he is our "friend * —he smells too much like a part of DanV" tail . ' Now , Sir William may be our "friend , " and so may Roebuck , Buncombe , Bo wring , Ewart , Gisborne , Langdale , Thompson , and Crawford y bat not M * yet . Whether wo look prospectiveiy or retrospectively , the lynx eye of a Chartist can detect toe black speck on the disks at those luminaries , while travelling in their orbit ; and will never acknowledge them as "friendi , " until the Charter becomes their grand centre of attraction .
Let them talk as they like , and let the " GoomT talk for them if she choose , " words are bat wind , " so long as they seek ( or others seek for them ) to tail themselves upon the big political swindler , Dan . Out upon them 1 they are our enemies , and the Chartists , therefore , will find something to do at the " Demonstration . " But how , are these gentlemen the " friends" of the Chartists ? Because , forsooth , " Sir William Molesworth helped Lovett and Collins in their time of need ; no man has so fearlessly exposed the cruel prison
treatment of the Chartists as honest TomDoncombe ; Roebuck has gratuitously defended Chartist prisoners whenever called upon to do so ; Colonel Thompson has stood by them through good report and through bad report ; Sharman Crawford and Dr . Bpwring defend their principles ; and , in short , almost every one of the guests invited , have befriended , on one , or more occasions , the prosecuted of the Chartist party . " He then goes on to say , "Hew mad , how irrational , how ungrateful , therefore , would it be , were they to take measures which could only disgust their friends (?) without advancing their principles one single step . "
Here , then , are private reasons for the regulation of public actions ; more villanous reasoning , than this , I never met with ' ; and yet , Sir , I can give you a parallel case . " ' - . " .. ' ¦ " . ¦ ¦' . ' ¦ . ¦ ¦ -. " After we bad given John Ayreyhis discharge , as a candidate for the office of Councilman , for the North East Ward , on account of his " Household Suffrage ^ notions , he told a neighbour of mine that he and his friends had it in contemplation ( as I was at that time very ill off ) to send me a leg of mutton ; and that it was actually ordered , and a person appointed to deliver it ,-, and that something very handsome was intended to be done for mo after the election ; but now , that I had ceased to exert myself to ensure bis return , rather than help , he would do me all the harm he could .- which has been fulfilled- to the very letter . At this time ,
another of his . friends having given me , one evening , a piece of bacon and bread , value about sixpence , which favour I neither asked nor hinted at , in any way , but for which I certainly expressed myself grateful;—ye £ , Sir , when Js faithfulness to my principles , the Charter , I felt conscientiously called upon to render nugatory this new attempt at Whiggery , by upsetting the whole clique of" shams , " the little-minded , charitable (?) Individaal , boasted at the very next public meeting , what ffreai things he had done for me ; and , like this humbug Editor , denounced me as " mad , irrational , and umgratefai , " because I would not ( considering all thai he had done for me ) sacrifice the right of thinking and acting in bobalf of my own principles , and assist ia carrying the destructive measure of Household Suffrage . . ¦¦ . ¦ ; ¦ ; ' ; ¦ ¦ ' •• ¦ - ¦ . ¦ ' . ' ¦ ¦ ¦
What , then , is to be inferred when a Sham-Radical does a tmall kindness to an individual ? I answer , we may be certain the viper is only baiting with a sprat to catch a salmon—that in serving another , be is only striving more effectually to serve himself . And this base editor would have as suppose toot Uum gentlemen he mentioni , because they have assisted a fellow mortal in difficult circumstances , expect ,-say claim , eternal submission in all things—that henceforth the free expression of opinion by Lovett and Collins , and others , most be bounded by the principles entertained by them , or they are " mad , irrational , and ungrateful . " Will the gentlemen thank " Mother Goose" for thjsr I beg to say that Messrs . Doncombe , Thompson , and others , entertain no such feelings , much less such a gentleman as ^ Sharman Crawford ; and that this crawling sycophant , yelept a Doctor , tint drive * the Gtete , in thai maligning the character of honourable men , by bringing them to tbefevei of his own discreditable and
lowbred baseness ; is fitter far to hold the whip of slavery than the office he fills—is a real apologist for political plunder and oppression , and had he lived In the day » of therack and inquisition , would hate made an excellent heretic-Suming Bishop , or bull-thundering 'Pop * ' " ' - ' ¦ . ¦ ¦ ¦'" ¦ ' '¦ ' . '• . ¦ ¦ - . - ' ¦ . ¦ . ' " .. . ' • . ¦ . ¦ . ¦ What are we tei think of the present state of things , when every poor working man is expected to Mil bjs " birthright fora rrite * of porridge ? - When he most do this , or , at" 1 Ae man" said of me , at ooe of bia hoi * and corner meetings , "he o * ght not' to be tolerated in ' society . " Things must be altered , Sir , or . ma » w 311 never know how to perform a raof act of Hadnejfc Oar slavery is complete , when a graeiout look , or fammr don * 1 % a great man , ia expected to padlock ths . mouth , and direct the actions of others . Freedom , i *? but a name , until we get rid of this obligatory positloji . ^ This shall be done 1 Hurrah for the Start Hurrah for O'Connor I ¦ Hurrah for the Charter 1 Hurrah for ourselves ! Fompopmii , vomDH . . I am , dear . Sir , . - A real Cbartirt , WB . HUK .
Untitled Article
THE JNURTHEKW STAR . ^ T
-
-
Citation
-
Northern Star (1837-1852), Jan. 16, 1841, page 7, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/ns/issues/vm2-ncseproduct362/page/7/
-