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THE JTORTHEBN STxiE SATURDAY, APRIL 3, 1841.
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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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THE ANTI-CORN LAW LEAGUE . MEETING AT THE CROWN AND ANCHOR TAVERN . FBOH OCB LONDON COKEESPOXDEKT . Wednesday Evening , March 31 */ . This being the day appointed for the " great" one-Bided display at the Crown and Anchor , we made application lor a ticket of admission to the meeting , fee " rooms" of the League , 448 , Sirand , but were informed that ail the tickets the Society could spart had been disposed of : on stating that we were connected with the press , the factotum in waiting replied , that they had " sent tickets to the press . " " That is , " said we , to such of the press as yon ¦ wish to be present . " On thiB , a conference was held between the two worthies in attendance , and one of them— we are not quite sure if it were the gentleman who is so great an adept at knocking hats off , when parties differ from him in opinion—stated , that if we
would present ourselves "at the Crown and Anchor , he would recollect us , and admit us among the reporters . In a few minutes from this application , the representative of a London contemporary ( the Weekly Dispatch ) , made a similar application ; and we understand , was still worse gnubbed . " Are yon favourable to the objects of the meeting ! " was the preliminary inquiry ; the gentleman did not feel bound to answer that ; and as several other question ? of a similar character were asked , the " jacks-in-office" were told that they made too much " bother" to render it worth While attending the meeting at all , and the applicant left in disgust . Not so , however , with us : — we resolved to accept the proffer of the "jack inoffice , "No . I ; so , at one o ' clock precisely , we presented our proper person at the doer of the Crown and Anchor Tavern .
Mr . Ksock-ofp Hats lecturer secretary Std-KiT Smith , read the ( report ) of the committee ; and a ihnmper it is . Mr . Villikes , MJ ? . moved the first resolution , in a speech full of lamentation for the naughty , naughty Chartists , who wouldn ' t let the . Leaguers throw dust in their eyes without rubbing thfm . He was followed by the Rev . Dr . Ptb SkITH , who Was sadly ashamed of his brethren of the Clotn , for being so backward in eomiDg forward now , when snug quarters have been provided for them , by the « xelU 3 ion of the Chartists . -
At the moment when the Rev . Dr . Smith had ooncluded , and before the question was put , a Stranger in the meeting begged to ask if the object foagat to . be attained might not be achieved by growing more corn in our own country \ ' He maintained that there were other and vast questions commirjgled with this : —he particularly alluded to the currency ; and if he were called upon to choose between the oppression of the two , he would prefer that of the landholder to the wealthy aristocrat . A member of the Committee rose to order , and the Chairman decided that it would be inconvenient to allow the gentleman to proceed . Mr . Stswabt noved , and Mr . Ricahdo seconded , the next resolution .
These speakers were followed by & Mr . Fostxb Skits , a merchant , and Mr . Ewabt , who , taking occasion to denounce the Chartists , was stopped by a gentleman in the meeting , who claimed the right of reply , if the speakers were permitted to go on in this'strain . Dr . Wade came next . He eeldom attended publio meetings now , and he would almost s&y , he would attend no more , until he saw unanimity among the middle and working classes . It was not necessary to have at every meeting a cuekoo cry of " The
Charter ] the Charter 1 " aad he deprecated the hostility of the two classes . He preferred what was practicable and could be had , to "what was impracticable , and could not be had , or at Best was far distant . The Reverend Doctor , then —( amid loud crie 3 of " question , " )—referred to the Ckartist movement in favour of Teetotalism , and urged that men who coold take such a step , might be safely looked upon & 3 those who would not iong remain in error , and that they would soon see . that the course Jiiey were pursuing was not the most likely to conduce to their avowed objects .
Mr . Watklxs , from tae body of the meeting , said that tae light of the League had not yet . reached his Brind . He agreed with Mr . Villiers that nothing tended so much to the advancement of truth as a fall , free , and open discussion ; he referred to the recent debates in the Commons on the Poor Laws , in proof that the present House would nerer repeal the Corn Laws ; and maintained , that before this question could be fairly entertained , they must as certain what is the amount of the export trade , the productive power , and the amount of consumption m this country . Looking at the operation of Jointstock Banks , and other moneyed interests , he contended that a repeal of the Corn LawB would be productive of great evil to all classes of the oom-BiunUy . Mr . Palisb avowed himself a middle-man , and urged on the public to exert themselres in the terms of the resolution .
Mr . Thobaiet , M . P . for Wolverhampton , moved a resolution pledging the Association to continue its exertions . Mr . Milkek Gibson seconded it . Mr . Pj eabse and Mr . Wilson supported the resolution , which , after some able remarks by a stranger in the body of the meeting , was put by the Chairman to the vote , Mr , Wasbcktox ( the chairman ) eonld not let this opportunity pass 'without again ** harping" » n the tyranny of the Chartists : he regretted the positiom
they had takea up , and expressed his opinion , that if such a course be persev « red in , the gagging bills of Lord Castlereagh would be carried into effect to a Worse extent than they ever were before . In oontdnsioD , Mr . "Warburton said , " Don ' t let us bring this question before the House so unsupported by the people as to render our cause ineffectuaL Remember , the Corn Laws are like a game at nine pins (!!!) if you knock down one , the rest -will fall . " [ Q ^ ery—Would not the Charter act as s . floorer ?] Tne resolution was then put , and carried unanimcmslv .
A Mr . Coate » , ( who certainly did not look as though hx wanted bread , or beef either ; weighing , at a moderate computation , some twenty-two stone ) , moved the thanks of the meetiBg to the Chairman , for his exertions on this and other occasions , in opposition to the oui-dacioas , ( . twice repeated ) Corn Laws ; which being seconded , was carried unanimously , and the Chairman having again briefly touched on the conduct of the" naughty Chartists , " bv -way of admonition , the meeting ieparated &t Sve o ' clock . We obtained , sub rasa , a sight of a subscription
list , amounting to about £ 500 to begin next year ' s campaign with ; amongst tke names down , we noticed the following : —Messrs . Warburton and Alcock , £ 50 each ; Mr . Gibson , £ 25 , &c , &c . Mr . Francis Place , chairman of the Business Committee , was on the platform , near the chair ; and the report congratulated the meeting upon the decline of apathy in the middle class , and the cessation , to a considerable extent , of the hostility of the working class . This self-gratulation was not bad , considering they took tolerable good care to shut out anything like " hostility , " in the shape of working men .
Postscript , Half-past Seven , Since closing my report , I leaTn that Messrs .: Cleave , Watsen , and others , though possessed of ; proper tickets , were refused admission ; the former ; gentleman being told that , " if he weald , promise not to disturb or interrupt the meeting , the com- mittee would be happy to admit him . " This , of i aonrse , was indignantly refused , as unworthy of those who made the offer , and , if accepted , would > be still more unworthy of him who accepted it . } Mr . Watson declined going up stairs on similar ; grounds ; and Dr . Roberts Black , one of the very ; first at the formation of the Association , happening '¦ to come up at the moment , was so disgusted at the I ! ! [ ; |
conduct of the committee in refusing to honour ! their o , to tiekets , that be lefs the place in dadgeon . j AI th 3 time there was quite a troop of police , with i ¦ everai inspectors , lining the passages and staircase , I and a youth , who has lately received admission into eTeral Chartist societies , and partaken of public iobscriptions , was employed by the League to point oat the Chartists as they presented themselves . jj y _> orty mdiTidails were thus spotted , and not allowed to pass the bar . fortunately , these indiri- dnais enacedmore patience than their opponents exd prudence , or the consequences might have been a conflict * , On the whole , the affair is a fine ppeci-¦ hjnof free discussion , " and a new mode of promoting public opinion .
Pmnos Committee . —This Committee held their weekly meenng last evening , at the Dispatch Coffee House , Bride-lane , Mr . Murray in the Chair Mr . Parker having resigned the office of Secretary , » rote of thanks was unanimously passed to him for his xealous exertions and valuable services ; and Mr . Balls was elected as his successor . Upwards of 80 petitions , in behalf of Frost , Williams , and Jones ; f O'Connor , Peddie , Carrier , and others ; as well as f the Charter , were received , and this day forwarded to Messrs . Hume , Duncombe , &c . for pre-Mlltaiion to the Honourable House .
THB FlKSBTJET . ChakQSIS held "their' weekly aeeting on Monday evening last , at Lunt ' s Coffee House , Mr . Balls in the chair . Mr . Culverhouse addressed the meeting at some length , when the following resolution was agreed to : "That this meeting fully approres of Mr . O'Connor ' s plan , as recommended m the Northern Star ; and urge upon the Chartists ai the metropolis to take the most eficient means to carry it oat . " A vote of th&nkB to the Coalman terminatsd the business , of the evening , and the meeting adjourned until Tuesday aext , the 6 th of April .
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Ai ras Hcttkqdos Assizes , on Friday the 26 th Bit , James Inglett , aged ninety-four was found Jtoilty of jnMB&ughter . He was a cow-doctor , and ha had lgaoranilj administered to his wife an over * SfLJiL *?®!^ P ** 5 * " * He was therefore ¦ eoteaeed to be imprisoned for a fortnight .
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Zephjlniah Williams . We understand that Zephaniah Williams , one of the three Chartists , and who was employed as an overseer at the coal mines , has made his escape from Tasman ' s Peninsula , taking with him four men , one of whom , named County , formed part of the crew who ran away with the commandant ' s boat some months since . When the Tamar left , two of the party , County and Rooke , had been taken near East Bay Neck . —Hebart Town Courier , Not . 17 . Asothkb Noblb Blacegtjaxd . —At Marlborughetreet Police-court , on Friday , Lord George Loftos was brought into Court to answer for being drunk the overnight , and refusing to pay a cab fare . The policeman , as well as he could , being freouentlv in-- ..,..
terrupted by the noble defendant , said he found Lord George Loftus drunk , and creating a disturbance with the cabman , whose fare hiB Lordship refused to pay , and he then removed the drunkard to his wellknown quarters , the Vine-street Station-house . The reply of Lord George Loftus was , that the policeman 7 « a b—y liar . Mr . Dyer , in evident disgust , told Lord George Loftus he should be fined forswearing . Lord George Loftus told Mr , Dyer he had no business to believe that b—y thief , the policeman , befor « a nobleman . Mr . Dyer said every time Lord George Loftus swore , he would impose an additional fine . Lord George Loftus said the Magistrate , knew nothing about law . He had studied the law , and be was able to instruct the Bench . The cabman gave his evidence . Lord George LoftUB gwore he
he would giro the cabman a b—y good licking . Gaoler— " Be quiet , the Magistrate will fine you . " Lord George Loftus— " B—t you , who are you !' First Usher— " Pray don ' t use such language here . " Lord George Loftus— " Go to h—11 . " After a good deal more of the same sort of behaviour , Mr . Dyer told the Noble Lord that his fine for drunkenness and non-payment of the cab fare , amounted to eight shillings . There were also eight oaths , at five shillings each , for which he also fined his Lordship . Lord George Loftus— " You dare not fine me . If yon do , it ' s at your peril . " Mr . Dyer— "If the whole of the fine is not paid , I shall commit you . " Lord G » orge Loftus— " Commit me ! Oh , then 'Normanby' will let me out . " His Lordship was removed from the bar , and haviog paid £ 1 83 . he W& 8 released .
Extensive Plunder . —Christopher William Davis , a fine-looking young man , who wore the uniform of the Uth light dragoons , was charged at Worshipstreet police office , on Saturday , with having stolen property to a large amount from his late employers , Messrs . Savory and Co ., the fancy stationers , & . C ., in Cornhill . The father , mother , and brother of the prisoner , were committed last week , charged with having extensively robbed the same prosecutors , and they are now in 2 sewgate awaiting their trial . Mr . KnowlfS , the chief clerk to Messrs . Savory , stated that the prisoner had been in their service as errand boy , but he was discharged Bometime since , inconsequence of being detected in an act of embezzlement . At the examination of the relations of the prisoner
, for robbing the prosecutors , nothing whatever transpired to implicate the prisoner in the transaction ; but a few days after their committal a young person , named S&l&h Buiford , called at the prosecutors ' , and delivered up & quantity of property , consisting of work-boxes , dressing-cases , and a large assortment of elegant fancy articles , which she had received from the prisoner , and which were identified as being the property of Messrs . Savory . Having received information that the prisoner had enlisted in the Hth dragoon 3 , "witness proceeded to Honnslow barracks , with a sergeant of the Y division of police , who took him into custody : he would have
left the country ia a few days , his regiment being under orders for India . Sarah Burford , ft young woman , of deb ' cate and prepossessing appearance , the daughter of a warehouseman in the customhouse , stated that she had known the prisoner for about eight years , and he had presented her with tke articles produced . She had not the slightest suspicion that they had been dishonestly obtained , until about a week ago , when she happened to read an account in tke papers of the examination of his relatives at this court , upon whioh she immediately proceeded to the prosecutors ' , and delivered up all the property he had given to her . He was committed for trial .
The Jtorthebn Stxie Saturday, April 3, 1841.
THE JTORTHEBN STxiE SATURDAY , APRIL 3 , 1841 .
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CHURCH CHARTISM , TEETOTAL CHARTISM , KNOWLEDGE CHARTISM , AND HOUSEHOLD SUFFRAGE CHARTISM . We thk week give the promised letter of O'Consob upon all these subjeots ; and our readers will observe that the far greater portion of the letter is occupied with an attack on what O'Connor calls " Church Chartism . " We cannot think that Mr . O'Connor has displayed his usual acumen in the examination of this subject . He appears to us £ o have misconceived the whole matter . His reasoning goes entirely on the assumption that the advocates and votaries of what he calls " Church Chartism" rely on their religious services and ceremonies as an
exclusive means of carrying the Charter—that they adhere to the " Church , " and to the " Church " only , in distinction from , and in opposition to , all other means of diffusing political knowledge , and of establishing the people in possession of their eights , h ' ow , if any persona have been absurd enough to form such a notion of a " Christian Chartist Church , " we should be as ready to denounce it for a mischievous will-o' -th ' -wiEp a 3 either O'Connor or any one else ; but we cannot Buppose that , even in Birmingham , so stupid an idea can have entered into any b ody ' s head . Hence , therefore , the premises from which Mr . O ^ Connob starts being erroneous , hi 3 reasoning is necessarily all false , because all wide of the subject . It stultifies itself , too ; for he says : —
" The very essence of Chartism proclaims civil equality to lead to the universal right of religious worship as each shall deem fit . " Sorely , thsn , the Chartists , insisting upou that " civil equality , ' have a right te their own forms and modes of worship , either individually or collectively ; nor doe 3 it by any means follow that their claiming and exercising of that right is to be understood a denunciatory of those who may not claim and
exercise it . Mr . O'Connor asks : — " Ar e all Cha r tists , who are not communicants of your caurch , infidel Chartists ? and if your religion is so puie &a to be uniTersally adopted by all , you mus t differ in faith from all existing sects ; therefore produce your ankles of religious faith , because having founded a Church , which is even a more extensive term than a se c t , you must have some peculiar faith or yeu are humbugs .
'' Well , but you answer either that you haTe no creed , or that your creed is so universal that all men ought to adopt it If you have no creed you can have no church ; and , if yon bave a creed , and if that creed does not embrace Catholicism , Protestantism , Dissentism , Quakerism , and all the minute ramifications of those Beveral parent stocks ; do you not exclude all Ireland as conscientious Catholics , and all England as conscientious Protestants , Dissenters , Catholics , or Infidels ? So that if yon have no peculiar faith you have no title to the designation you have taken ; and if you have a faith , and if it is not a hodge-podge faith , & faith which conscientious Christiana will not subscribe to , you become an exclusive sect of politico-religious adventurers , ready with your pious loaf to pop into the Chartist oven the moment it becomes heated "
! i i We have no doubt that a little explanation will set ail this right . Mr . O ' Connor , shut up in his | dungeon , has not the opportunity of becoming so j well acquainted with the actual movements of the Chartist world & 3 we are . He speaks of the religious movement , or what he calls ChurchChartism , as though it were confined to the little coterie of a " Christian Chartist Church" at Birmingham ; the fact being that the " Christian Chartist Church" at Birmingham , is one of the very smallest spots upon the surface of ** Christian Chartism . "
That which has been , we think , improperly , called " Christian Chartism , " and which Mr . O'Conmob now calls Church Chartism , " is nothing more or Icsb than the assertion of the entire principle of Chris tianity ; its creed is to be found in the direct teachings of the Lord Jesn » Christ , which , while they interfere but little with speculative matters of opinion , insist always and entirely upon the practice of honesty , justice , and benevolence one towards another . Such of the Chartists as are conscientious , and sot merely nominal , Christians , find in the
doctrines of Christianity , as taught by the Lord Jesufl Christ , a full recognition of all the principles contained in the People ' s Charter ; they find those principles to pervade the whole of the teaching , and to be enforced by the whole of the practice , of the Lord Jesus Christ—to be the doctrine of the Bible throughout—while they find much apparent ground for many differences of opinion on mere opinionative matters ; they find that in almost all churches and chapels , appertaining to whatever utct , the principles of Bocial benevolence
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and justice , of civil cguality and of political ¦ right , though recognised by the Bible , are den 6 uneed _ by the priesthood ; and hence their determination to erect their own temples , and offer their own worship , to the God of Justice , whom they serve . They find the priests generally , both * of the State and Dissenting Churches , to be the bitterest enemies to civil freedom and social right ; and hence their wise resolve to withdraw their future countenance from the enemies of the faith , the wolves in Bhepherd ' s clothing , who devour the flocks under pretence of feeding them . They find the doctrines of civil
equality and social right universally disclaimed amongst those who are ' called Christians , and affirmed to be no portion of Christianity—they believe them to be the very life and spirit of Christianity ; they are told that Christianity and Politics are separate and distinct things—they believe them to be identical with and inclusive of each other ; under these circumstances , what other course is left to them , as honest and conscientious Christians , but that of boldly asserting th » whole truth , and maintaining the practical doctrines of Christianity unvitiated ? If they do this they are
at once expelled from the several religious communities to which they now belong , and cast forth upon the world ; coolly " delivered over to the destruction of the evil one , against the day of wrath . " The Christian Chartists do not choose to be longer thus treated . They adhere practically , as well as theoretically , to their own principles—they demand the right to worship God after their own fashion , and in accordance with the doctrines which they believe to be true . Their principles have been with one consent declared heretical by the Church ; but they still adhere to them , and " after the manner which is called heresy—so worship they the God of their
fathers ; " and , though they are quite prepared to meet persecution and malediction from the pillars of the Babylon out of * whioh they have come , it is a little too hard that they should have it also from Mr . O'CoNKoa , who recognizes all their principles and agrees with all their doctrines . But we are satisfied that Mr . O'Connor never did intend to denounce Christian Chartism when properly understood ; but merely that bastard form of it whioh he supposes to exist in what is called " The Christian Chartist Church" at Birmingham , and which sets up the establishment of a new religious sect , as a substitute f * r , instead of as an accompaniment to , a political movement .
Mr . O'Connor ' s whole letter does not contain one single argument to show in what possible way the preaching of the doctrines of Chartism on Sundays—the maintaining of those doctrines or Scriptural authority— and the proving of them to be part and parcel of Christianity itself , can retard the advancement of the people ' s cause . While , on the contrary , we hold ourselves prepared to prove that , under proper and judicious management , it is the most powerful lever ever yet employed by the people , for tho overturning of the mountain of corruption which stands across the highway of righteousness . No better proof of this can be offered than that which Mr . O'Connor himBelf offers in the successful establishment of Chartist Churches in Scotland . He
says : — " Now , In Scotland ; ( I make what I consider a fait and tenable distinction , ) in Scotland , the establishment of Chartist Church preachers establishes for them a great object , and , inasmuch as they have not a State church to the extent which it exists in England , they strengthen themselres by weakening the enemy in the v ital point—in the seat-money ; and , further , many of the interested supporters of the voluntary principle ars our greatest political enemies . "
Now we take leave to say , that Mr . O'Connor ' s " fair and tenable distinction , " is no distinction at all . That Chartist preaching in Scotland , and Chartist preaching in England , is ( at least so far as we can understand it ) precisely similar , and productive of precisely similar effects . The bitterest enemies of right which Bociety now contains , are those who bawl most lustily for that very " voluntary principle" which , pervading all the Dissenting preaching houses , draws on the pence of the oppressed labourers for the susUntation of the costly buildings and the pampered priesthood , in which , and by whom , their liberties are sacrificed , their
characters vilified , and their persons insulted . They do not choose longer to contribute their pence for this purpose ; they come out , therefore , from the camp of leprosy , and pitch their own tents in the open plain of truth , honesty , and sincerity . By this means they do just the same thing here as in Scotland— " they strengthen themselves by weakening the enemy in the vital point —in the seat money . " In England , as in Scotland , " the preachers assume no distinct religious bearing ; the funds go to advance the political principles , while no peculiar religious faith is preached or attempted to be enforced" beyond that of a distinct
recognition of the Deity of the Lord , and of the truth of the Sacred Scriptures ; without which no man can claim the name of Christian at all . As to the creed of Christian Chartists being sufficiently comprehensive to admit Catholics , Protestants , and Dissenter * , all to meet together—wo maintain that that is just what it ought to bo and just what it is . These are all matters of opinion ; and upon all these matters of opinion , persons may hold different and even contrary opinions , and yet all agree in the assertion of the great practical trnthB which constitute the very life aud essence of Christianity ^ and out of which the principles of tho Charter grow .-
We dissent in toto from the sentiment contained in the following portion of Mr . O'Connor ' s letter : — " Christian Chartism , though appp&rently all-embracing in its meaning , carries with it exclusion of all other sects from whom vre expect political aid . The Catholics "would become our bitterest enemies if you were permitted to establish your heresy ; they have suffered from all new aspirants , and they would dread you ; so with the conscientious portion of the Dissenters ; while those of the State Church , who would gladly go with as for dvll liberty , see religious tyranny , which is the worst of all tyranny , in tl \ u fore-ground of your Christian Chartism . "
" Christian Chartism" is as all embracing in its meaning as any general term ought to be . It shuts out none , of whatever religious creed or opinion , but those who are not Chartists ; and from whom e l se can w e " expect political aid " ? We think the call of Mr , O'Connob for a crcod of the Christian Chartiats is but fair , and we now aaswer that call by the production of
A CREED , which we recommend to the adoption of all Chartists congregated and associated together UBrp . ligjous bodies . Mr . O'Connob will gee that it is sufficiently comprehensive to admit conscientious Christians , of whatever speculative opinion , into the Churoh , and that it is yet sufficiently restricted to shut out every one , however pious he may be in matters of iaith , who is not prepared to go the whole l ; o # of social , civil , and political , as well as personal , right and virtue .
Here it is : — " I believe in one God ; the Lord God aud Saviour Jesus Christ . " I believe that good actions ought to be done ; because they are accordant with the will of God ; and because they are of God and from God . u I believe that evil actions ought not to be done ; because they accord not with the will of God . "Ibelieve that the Sacred Scriptures contain the revealed will of God , and that they net forth what actions are good and what actions are
eTil . 14 1 believe that the Sacred Scriptures forbid not only all personal vices and crimes , but allsocialopprt > &-sion and political inequality , which are their natural results . lf I believe that order and government amongst men , to be accordant with the will of God , as revealed in the Sacred Scri pt u res , must be equitable and righteous ; based on that great ptecept of tho Lord , ' whatsoever ye would that men should do onto you , do ye even so unto them . '
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"I believe that no state of society is governed in accordance with this precept , or with the revealed will of God , as contained in the Sacred Scriptures , in which any member being * "of sound mind ia excluded from a direct influence in the enactment of the laws . " "I believe that no state of society is governed in accordance with this precept , or with there * vealed will of God , as contained in the Sacred Scriptures , in which every one ' s right of partioipationin the legislative power is not protected , to the utmost possible extent , against the
force or fraud ot his fellows . " I believe that no state of society is governed in accordance with this pr ecept , or with the revealed will of God , as contained in the Sacred Scriptures , in which all possible care is not taken to give an equal voice and influence in the legislative power to all its members . " I believe that no Btate of society is governed in accordance with the precept , or the revealed will of God , as contained in the Sacred Scriptures , in which the legislators is net amenable , at stated and short periods , to the people ,
from whom Its power is derived . " I believe that no state of society is governed in accordance with this precept , or with the revealed will of God , as contained in the Sacred Scriptures , in which the possession of worldly w « alth , or property , is holden to be a necessary qualification for a legislator . "I believe that no state of society is governed in accordance with this precept , or with the revealed will of God , as contained in the Sacrtd Scriptures , in which adequate remuneration is
not provided for all services rendered by individuals to the state or to each other . " I believe that it is tho duty of every Christian man to use all his powers of exertion for the carrying into active operation of all those principles of equity and righteousness which accord with the will of God , as revealed in the Sacred Scriptures ; and that the first and greatest means of doing so , is to avoid all crime and vice in his own personal acts and habits , and to live honestly , soberly , and righteously , according to the precepts of God ' s Jaw . "
Such is the " creed" which we believethe Christian Chartists universally to hold in principle , put into such a form as we think would render it unexceptionable to all ; we recommend all congregations , forming themselves upon Chartist principles , to adopt it ; and we think it affords an answer to all Mr . O'Connor ' s objections about the shutting out of conscientious Christians of any speculative creed whatever .
We have as great an objection to the name "Christian Chartist Churoh , " as Mr . O'Cownob . We believe these to be the genuine principles of Christianity , and we wish to see founded on them a Universal Church , whioh , in its creed and formulary , shall continue to exist , the very . body and substantial form of the pure Christian faith , long after the Charter shall have been so long and so perfectly established , that the name Chartist as & distinctive denomination has been laid aside as useless .
Mr . O'Connor was never more mistaken in his life than in supposing that the Christian Chartists of England abate one jot of their political usefulness or determination because of their religious character ^ or that they have any desire to fritter away our strength by divisions , or allow others to do so . We believe that , on the contrary , he will always find them , as a body and as a whole , to be the most determined and the most consistent advocates of the
Charter , and of the National Charter Association , to which they serve as most powerful right hands ; and of which the proof is , that nearly all the most able and talented of the Chartist lecturers and missionaries have found it necessary to become preachers . Most heartily do we pray that Christian Chartism may run through the whole length and breadth of the land , and that speedily ; for we see in it the best aud surest prelude that we have ever yet seen to the permanent establishment of right .
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YOW HAVE THE " TICKET FOR SOUP . " HERE'S THE « TICKET" FOR BREAD . Let General Harrison talk of the Republics of old as he pleases ; let the Yankee poodles revile our Monarchical institutions as they please ; and let Master Froggy call us " a nation of shopkeeping c « sars ' as he pleases ; yet do we defy one and all to furnish any instance of philanthropy , patriotism , benevolence , and national greatness , comparable with what wo can boast of in free and happy England .
Here we have national cooks for the poor , and living in a palace ; here we have institutions for their sole benefit ; and here we have a fostering , humane middle-class , not like your griping money-makers of the same order in other nations , but men actually spending time and money with no other earthly view than that of serving their poorer brethren ; men so thoughtful that they lose all consideration of self , and bo fearful lest the poor should want , that they will cram large loaves down their throats whether they will or no !
The Somerset House cooks give the poor the "ticket for soup , " and our manufacturers , not to be outdone , propose to give them a " ticket" for bread . The Morning Chronicle , finding that the people have found out " what ' s what , "and that they cannot loader be gulled by the very men who have starved them almost to death , proposes , that henceforth , admission to " public meetings" shall be attainable only by " ticket . " This , from the leading Whig journal , in the nineteenth century , and tenth year of Reform , by which all our institutions were to have been " submitted to popular , vigilant controul , " is a step in advance backwards , that even wk were not prepared for .
Let us now examine the question of right . Is it not as much within the rules of propriety to move au amendment to any resolution at a public meeting , as it is to move an amendment to any publio question in the House of Commons 1 Is it not as much the right of the whole people to move amendments upon Whig resolutions , as it is the right of a Whig faction to move amendments upon Tory resolutions \ and when have they abstained when victory was calculated upon 1 What are speeches at public meetings made for , but to gain converts to certain opinions 1
Again , let it be borne in mind , that much abstruse law has lately been brought to bear upon the question of legality of public meetings , when called for popular purposes , and that Lord John Russell ordered the LonUon police to Birmingham , to obey the order of the Magistrates in dispersing constitutional nieetiu « 3 of tho people , to which he had himself invited them , even at the hazard of blood-shed and civil-war . Hence , then , the people made wary by subtle constructions of law , best evince their love of peace and obedience to " the powers that be , " by taking all and every opportunity of attending publio meetings called legally , because called by the lawmakers . Here , then , we at once establish the right
to attend those publio meetings , and , m fact , those who censure the course pursued by the Chartists , of moving amendments , do not deny their right to attendant merely their freedom of action , thereby establishing the moat slavish of all principles , namely , that public meetings are not for discussion , but merely for a declaration of assent to the proposed object . If this doctrine is to be upheld , it may , with truth , be said , that all " public meetings" are but so many representations of the same farce , and Committees may just as well publish the resolutions of their respective bodies , as go to the trouble and expense of bringing large assem bhes together .
Let U 3 now have one word upon the question of policy . While the Chartists met in tens of thousands , and hundreds of thousands , they were a " mere mob" the "outcasts of society , " an " infuriate rabble" and they were treated with scorn and con-
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tempt ; they formed no portion of society . We have heard more than one stinking rascal declare that they stank . Very well ; we upon pur own part , and the people upon their part , eaid , " We must show the enemy , for they have declared themselves such , that we * re somebody ; and the only way in which we can accomplish this , is , by showing our opponents that they are nobody without us . By this means we will force the world , through the enemies' organs , to acknowledge such a body as the whole people . " This object they have well and - — '" . ¦ ¦! - ' , '
nobly accomplished ; and , in order to meet its effect , the liberal Chronicle proposes that freemen , going to attend free discussion , for the purpose of arriving at just conclusions , are all to be labelled , " ticketed , " like lots of swine for sale . " 0 , but , " says the Chronicle ? they don't go to discuss , they go to interrupt . " Wereply—look back at-Liverpool , where the Chartists were actually bufletted and insulted ; look at Mr . Sydney Smith's insolence at Bermondsey ; look at the intolerance of the League , and their hired ruffians , wherever they have been able t * try the bully with success and impunity .
But how very marvellous it is , and what an ignorant set of beasts the people must be , not st once to comprehend the object , and be grateful to their benefactors . The sole object is to " benefit the working classes . " Now , how very mysterious that thousands should be spent , confusion created , publio meetings still persevered in , and agitation kept up in aid of an ungrateful " mob , " who thus frustrate the every benign intent of the disinterested masters .
The people reason thus : — Those masters say they have no hope of a repeal of the Corn Laws from a House of Commons constituted as ours is at'present ; let us therefore unite , and get such a representative system as will cure the evil . " Well , they meet , and propose Household Suffrage ; the people listen attentively , and say— " Go ye and get Household Suffrage ; you can do it ; but we will stand on the firm ground of the universal rights of man . " M , " say the patriotic masters , " perhaps you wouiP oppose us . " Now , here we find that the very anticipation of opposition is sufficient to affright the gentlemen from what they could of themselves effect ; wbilv the reality of substantial drubbing after drubbing won't deter them from the pursuit of what , for their own selfish interests , they require .
The fact is clear to the people , that if the Corn Laws were repealed , the masters wouUbrequire , aye and would soon acquire , a despotic House of masters , with a National Gendarmerie , to confine the whole benefit to capitalists . Does any man , in his senses , for a moment doubt , that the very first effect of a repeal of the Corn Laws , withont a nationa ] representation , would be a return to one pound notes
to an unlimited issue ot fictitious money to meet reckless speculation , to a depopulation of the rural districts , and a flooding of the already over-stocked manufacturing hell-towns ; to the erection of mills , as if by magic ; to a scene of gambling , unparalleled ; to a short gleam of sunshine followed by a Iong and dreary season of dark depression and servile despondency ? In short , in the Words of the old hare hunting
song" Merry for a moment , and dull for an boor . " This is not what the matured mind of England now looks for ; it is quite the reverse , they are content to be— ¦
" Dull for a moment , and . merry for an hour . " The Chronicle tried the " ticket" system recently at Leicester , and Messrs . Mabkhah and Seal repaid the proprietor and his tail , in a rebuke which insured them the thanks of millions ; and , even now , the Chroniclt , in its attempt to mislead , does not seem to be aware , when , in its own columns , it draws the veil from its own delusion . Tke Chronicle , while speaking of " ticketing" English freemen , thus lets the cat out of the bag , on Saturday last , in certainly the best and most spicy article we have seen for a long time , in that cold and seasonless dish . In referring to the publio auction for popular sapport , the Chronicle says : — "The poor-law stalking
horse has failed the Tories . The revision of the Bill has unmasked their hollow pretensions . In whatever mitigation could be effected the lead has beeu taken by their opponents ;" This is quite true , it only requires the proper moral to be attached , to turn the trick to valuable account . The Whigs did without any , even the slightest , hope of success , outbid the Tories , but merely outbid them in humbug , not in popular favour ; and Mr . Easthope ' s proposition is viewed by the country in the very light in which , in th ? few lines we have quoted , his vanity hassuggested it , to enhance his value , even by a trick , to a tottering faction .
We again counsel the people , by all and every means , to take advantage of every meeting , and when refused admittance to a ticket show , to meet in thousands outside , and pass resolutions for the Charter , and to exclude from their meetings all obnoxious persons , if the system is persevered in . In fact , if it is made general , we undertake to turn it to beneficial account , and to stop all meetings but Chartist meetings . They have their House ; the least the people can have is their talk . Some eighteen months ago , we had to pay the " Sun" from £ 30 to £ 40 a week for condescending to notice us ; now , we are the stock-in-trade of the whole " Establishment . " " That ' s the ticket" for bread and soup , and something more .
If we only stick together , in defiance of open villany and sham profession , Chartism may defy the Devil and all his imps . In fact , the question now is , When are we to have the change , as change is certain 1 But many , very many u tricks of the trades" will be yet tried to persuade us that we are not yet quite ready ; that we require some profitable freparation . In fact , all will try the old scheme of making the humbug " last his time . "
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CONFESSION OF THE BOY , MITCHELL , NOW UNDER SENTENCE OF DEATH IN YORK CASTLE . The confession of this unfortunate boy , which we give in our 8 th page , will , no doubt , be read with painful interest . We are not of the " whole hog " abolition of capital punishment party ; and it ia because we wish to see a controlling power , reserved for tho purpose of making examples in the most flagrant cases , that we can , with the greater propriety , and self-satisfaction , turn to the little of a redeeming quality which appears in the case before 118 .
MircHBLi , is but just seventeen years of age ; has never before been charged with any crime whatever ; his father and mother are most respectable and industrious people . They have , though poor , brought up a family of , we believe , eleven or twelve children , in virtue and industry ; there being either eight or ten daughters , many very respectably married , and all highly respected for their good conduct .
Robinson and Cherry are each some eight years older than the unfortunate Mitchell ; and , surely , if his statement be true , of which we have not a shadow of doubt , their crime is immeasurably more heinous than his ; and , hence it is , that we see the great necessity of distinction , if any distinction is to be made . u Malice prepense , " constitutes the gravamen of the crime of murder ; Mitchell could have had no malice , because he had never seen his victim before , neither had he received more than ten minutes ' notice
from his associates of the intended robbery in which he was designed to take part . If even , therefore , distinction in each cases becomes warrantable , or indeed justifiable , it is where a glaring difference is manifest in the parts of the several aetors in such a tragedy ; and , ia our humble opinion , the duty of the Secretary of State , is , by all and every means , to sift the oase to the bottom , so that if the more damnable wiokedness of those , hitherto screened from the laws' just vengeance , shall at all purge the crime , of the only one
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about to snffer , of any of its atrocity , that « , * course may be adopted aa will lead to that hoa result . " ^* Are the actnal perpetrators of the foal h ^ to remain at large , while their less gS accomplice , discharged of the " malice af ^ thought , " is to expiate the whole offence npon'J gallows ! May not the arrest of the real murdJl lead to a greater amount of legal and moral 2 ? faction , than the death of the least guilty , bwj J he happened to be most technically idental ? Surely , if there be not sufficient grounds W commutation of punishment now , there are ml reasons for delay , in hope that those grounds a ? be yet strengthened . ' ,, .
It is evident that Mr . Baron Rolfe eaw ft . guilt of the prisoners , Robinson andCHEBHr ( V « his observation , that , he did not envy the fe 2 of his companions . " Baron Rolfs appears , Ink short judicial career , to have entirely won the co fidence of the profession , by his legal acnm while his sentences , thouj& aufiieientl y WTere 8 ?' reclaim the criminal , are eminentl y distiapujj . ^ by a strong desire to act the part of a jnst j U ( j by doing the laws' duty and no more ; and , we ui confident , that those comparativel y mild senten have the full effect of preventing the criminal f " ** resuming his wicked course , while they are cal * lated to prevent the perpetration of crime by often " which should be the two great and undeviating Jn Bidersationa with all Judges . ¦
We have been furnished with a very interest ' narrative of the life of this unfortunate lad , whi l however , we wit h ho l d , not being desir 0 U 8 to nut a Newgate Calendar ot the people ' s paper , p the present , weshallmerely observe that , from theaa of fourteen to sixteen , he lived a roving life with thl Derbyshire gipsies , whose society he afeaidone d about a year since , being averse to their mode if mv and has since lived with one master , from whoa he never received the slightest reproach for ne * U . gence , or bad conduct . It is a remarkable fact thai the unfortunate BABDSLKT . who was hung at the Ust March Assizes , had been for a long time a company of the gipsy tribe .
It will be seen , that the confession of the convict is signed by the three prisoners apppointed * his companions in the condemned cell . Itisfot justice to Fox , to state that he bad no knowledge ^ or band , act , or part , in the transaction from tin beginning to the fatal close . It is also a great bl » sing that Robinson and Cheery have not escaped the mesh . es of the law , as they were not tried for tin murder , and therefore are still amenable to justice . and cannot plead ia bar M autrefois acquit . " " ¦ ' ¦ ' ? - »
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FASHIONABLE INTELLIGENCE , AND UNPARALLELED WHIG GENEROSITY . The Right Honourable F . Babino , her Majestj ' i Chancellor of her Majesty ' s Exchequer , has come forward , in the mest liberal and handsome manner and kindly borrowed John and Jddt Bdu ' j monies , deposited in the Savings' Banks ; md , further , to mark the Right Honourable Gentleman ' s especial regard for the said John and JcDt , he has been graciously pleased to cossoLiDin ( there ' s a fine word , worth half the mon « y ) tin same .
We trust the Bight Honourable Gentleman will not distress himself , by any over-anxiety to repaj the loan ; we are quite sore that Josxtad Jcmr , always so pliant , will take sheet bills , payable thret days after convenience . Now , then , we ask who are the poople ' s greatest enemies ; those who fight them with their own weapons , or those who furnish the weapons ! Hid the wise holders of Savings' Bank stock taken the ad < vice of the "foolish" and " plundering" Convention , this extensive fraud could not have been committed .
Will any man tell us that , in the age of unreformed abuse , any Government would have ventured upon so audacious and unconstitutional a step , without a single word of notice . No ; the plundering Whigs wonld have moved England to iti centre , if such a thiug was even hinted , at . Go it , Frank ! that's the ticket for soap ' . your race is almost run , when yon are obliged to borrow from the lazy poor to pay the industrious rich .
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THE "LAST KICK" OF THE LEAGUE ; THE LEEDS MEETING . Never was heavy blow and deep discouragement , " felt more severely than the League men feel their defeat at Leeds , the very central camp of Whiggefy , and the burrow of the new brood of foxes 1 Poor fellows ! we pity them sincerely 1 ani the more so , as we fear the wholesome lesson will be lost upon them . We doubt whether they have enough of virtue to repent , even nnder the lash of punishment . The Mayor of Leeds had a lesaon
read to him , on Friday , which should be serviceable to him ; it should bring to his recollection that a short time ago a »<«* respectable requisition was presented to him , requesting him to convene a meeting of the inhabitants on business of high moment to their interests , and that he refused either to convene the meeting , or fo give to the inhabitants of the town the use of their own room—the Court House—built , and sustained
continually , with their own money . He will recollect that he treated the deputation who then waited upon him most uncourteously ; and he will /«/ now that the people are such as maybe " reasonably deemed" to have some share of manly spirit mingled with their forbearance , when his second attempt at insult was repelled with the almost unanimous and firmly expressed , though subdued and wellgoverned , indignation which greeted him on that occasion Let other functionaries learn herefrom a lesson of
becoming modesty , and know their place and station when mingling with their fellow townsmen at a public meeting , or they will certainly , as we hope at least , receive similar admonitions to that betowed upon the Mayor of Leeds by the fustians on Tuesdaj last ; while the Leaguers will , we v enture to promise , never more rentore upon a publio roeetiDg , either here or any where else . The poor wretches are laughed out of every society of honest working men , in which they dare to dhow themselves . So should it ever be with dishonest tricksters I
, Our neighbour Mercury seems determined to low no opportunity of earning new laurels in hisprofession of mendacity . He has in this instance been too impatient of applause to wait for it » " course , but actually lies by anticipation in his neighbour ' s columns before his own can be got ready . In the Sun ot Wednesday , we find a most veracious report of the proceedings , quoted from the Leeas Mercury , in which the unspoken speeches of Messrs . Foxes Stansfeld and Punt appear at nm length , as they were no doubt intended to «* ' * beendelivered-ox more probably as the foxesvfoui
, , have been glad if they could have been dehverea Nobody knows , however , better than oTxtnf *™* Mercury , that the pertinacious love of disorder and confusion manifested by the league ft " ™" dered speeches out of the question , and wmw speeches were heard at ali There ware »* porters on the steps , and not one syllable eooio be heard beyond the steps-the speeches MWi therefore , clearly been handed over-cot « o dry—as even the Mercury himself admits toat n
no one could be heard-that no one was nearo and that the whole proceedings V ^ - ^ ' ^ T " show . The resolutions of the Leaguers •»* " *¦ £ have been put , but which never were pui at aU , coolly paraded as those of the m « «' ^^! resolutions moved by Mr . . Hill , and * ° P ^ least three-fourtha of the whole meeting ^ « e ^ o » afM »> w ( A ) God help the poor foUoWBjj » players in a farce we never before saw such Jong sorrowful faces , as the Leaguers pulled that day w * ever since ! We guess the fa rce |» . "W « which they will never again bespeak .
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4 THE NORTHERN STAR . ^____ W- - ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ , . »— .., ¦ _ - , - , , . , ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦'¦
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Citation
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Northern Star (1837-1852), April 3, 1841, page 4, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/ns/issues/vm2-ncseproduct373/page/4/
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