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THE NORTHES!* STAB,. SATURDAY. APRIL 17, 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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HAB&ATIVS 07 M 1 TCHEIA , THE BTTJ&DIIKEB 5 AS RELATED BY HIMSELF . I am the son of George and Hannah Mitchell , « rf Shamble-etreet , Barasley , in the West Riding of the county of York . I was born at Barnsley on the 12 ih of November , 1824 , and " am , consequently , now but just turned 17 years of age . I am one of fifteen children , though not all by the same mother , as sy father was married twice . I have three brothers aad eighi sisters bow living * Two of my brothers are marmd , and living at , or near Barnsley , and both are steady and respectable characters —would to God that I had followed their "worthy example , and my tender and virtuous parents ' advice !
My brothers are both masons . Two of my sisters are married , the n : st are residing with their parents j sad , although I hare been unfortunate , I mean to say that there is not a better conducted family , of a poor man ' s family , in Yorkshire . My parents removed to York when I was fonr years old , as my father found it difficult , in his way of business , that of a bricklayer , to get work in JBarasley . He cwna to the city to work under his brother , a master bricklayer , who still resides in York , and bears a most upright and honest
charac : er . We lired at ^ o . 1 , Hope-street , for about three year 3 and a half . Daring the whole of thai period I attended a Quaker ' s School in the neighbourhood of our residence . I acqnireda knowledge of reading s . nd spelling , but not of writing , at tha * place of instruciion . At the end of that time my parents returned to Barnsley , and I was then put out to a day school , kept by " a Mr . Knight , but I remained there only three or four weeks , being tnrned away from the school by thejnaster for bad conduct ; and ' . his , &s far as I can recollect , is the first act which has led to my unfortunate notoriety .
One d » y , before I was twelve year 3 of age , I was strolling about the neighbourhood of Barnsley , when I chanced to meet with a man who asked me ¦ where I was goicg . I told him I did not know , but that I wanted something to eat . The man said that if I -would go with him to » public-house he would give me plenty both to eat * ud to drink—I followed the man , when he told me that I should hare nothing to do but to eat and drink as much as 1 liked if I would only stay with him . _ I saw that the man was a gipsy , and at the public-house I got so drunk that the gipsy bad to take me away in his anas . I fell fast asleep , and , upon waking , I found myself in bed , under a camp , in a lane . Next morning I saw three little children with them , about three or four years « ld .
The gipsies told me that 1 was to do whatever they ordered m * to do . The party consisted of fonr men , fonr women , three children , and myself , so that we were twelve in alL I was first employed in stealing grass out of the fields to feed their horses ; that was what I commenced w : th . They divided , during the day , into three parties , and went about the country ; they always returned at night , and they never came back without a quantity of provisions with them , such as large pieces of beef and mutton . When I had been engaged for about three weeks in stealing grass for the horses , they took me with them to sell pots and giasa amoag the farm-houses and at vi lag « s . " When I was sent by mj self upon these occasions , my
instructions were to steal as many geese , ducks , and fowls , and things of all sons , as I could possibly lay hold of , while 1 wa 3 going about sellirr ^ pots . My plan was to throw a heavy stick at them , and so disable them , and afterwards place them in tLe panniers on the ass which was laden with pots . I placed them under the pots . I was exp ected to bring home three or fonr fowls , at least , every night , and if I fell short of tha : number , I fns much grumbled at and found fault with ; l > nt I generally coniriyed to keep them in good humour on that score , as I was always particularly attentive and successful . My living , in fact , altogether deptnded upon my success in thieving ,
beeaose if 1 brought nothing home to the camp at night , I fhovild beg , Btesl , or starve , as they made it an invariable rule never to give me a morsel upon sights that I returned empty-handed ; and there is the ^ rearest difficulty in avoiding detection , as , when a chap k ^ ows that he is to get nothing to eat if he brings EOihing , if he is imprudent , he will be apt , towards eveni » g , to run risks and chances , rather than go to bed hungry . But I had , even when I was hungry , after a l » ng day ' s tramp , always the fear of bringing disgrace on my parents and family , if I was found ont ; and many and many is the time thit that very feeling ba 3 made me prefer a hungry belly to the chance of injuring my dear parents .
The pot selling was but a mere cover for thieving without being suspected , but I did occasionally sell and always obtained good prices . Besides fowls , I was expected to bring home anything that came in my waj , such as little pig 3 , a lamb , or a sheep , if dark , and that I had mithing else and we were in a lone place and slack of provisions . Nothing came sinks to them , however it was procured , and 1 believe that the value of anything was very much increased by the danger that we ran in stealing it . At night , when it was quite dark , bat never before , the whole force of us , that is the men and myself , used to start oat upon a regular system of
plunder . When we were near a market town and met a person , whether walking or on horseback , we invariably stopped him and robbed him of everything he bad . We took care never to be less than three together , and we always hid pistols , knives , hand-staves , and bayonets at the end of the pistols —in sh ' jri :, -we could not be better armed , and were » lwav 3 ready , while the weight of . our arm 3 , in case of _ surprise , did net , in the least , impede our retreat . We always made for a lonely place , and would scamper across the fields , and along lanes and roads , in view of a person on a good horse , till we dogged him to some lonely place , and then we met him and robbed him .. I have never known one to escape .
Though I never taw a man shot by any of the party , yet I hava frequently seen men severely hurt by my companions , and left on the road for dead . They nsed to stab them with knives and bayonets and strike them with their staves , bat they were very camions of firing , for fear of giving alarm , and were very particular in never committing any depredations near the camp , where the women and children were . The exactness with which they fonnd'the way on
dark nights to strange encampments , in a lone country , struck me as being very curious ; but I found oat thit » aey used , at first , to hold horses and donkeys grazing on ; be Toad side , for a f « w days after they took up a new position , and thus became acquainted with all the lanes , cross-roads , and lone honse 3 in the neighbourhood . Being so light and nimble , I was always employed in picking the pockets of those we robbed , while they were on the ground , or as bes : I could manage to eei at them .
These robberies , upon a large seale , took place generally about once or twice a week , and the amount of money stolen was considerable . I have known £ 150 to be got upon one occasion , never more than , that , and the sum thus obtained varied in amount from iiOOto £ 50 , £ 40 , £ 5 , and down to £ 1 , just according to what the person happened to have about him ; for we always got all , and some of his clothes , if they were worth having . I have never , in any instance , known them fail of bringing home some ca 3 h , stolen in the manner 1 have described , from persons coming home from market . I have many times seen persoas so attacked , hurt and wounded to that degree , that I thought they were left for dtad . I cannot say whether or no ; any of them actually died . Sometimes a regular resistance would take place and a fight would follow , ihesn my companions a ] prays used their weapons without mercy , and struck without any heed or care of the consequences .
The master of the gipsies we always called by the name of " Dick Sellers . " There was another man among them we called " Brummisem Jack . " The women cohabited with the men ; they also went out hawking pots , as I did , aad returned home some with fowls and other booty , like myself . The three little boys , who I otten thought -were stolen , thon ^ h I never knew it for a positive fact , nsed to be employed m collecting Bticks to kindle the fire with . They nsed to be very cheerful , for the men and women took care always to give them plenty to eat , Bweets , and fruits , aad everything that wa 3 nice and
They never remained more than a week in one place , and when we removed we went about ten or fifteen miles , or sometimes twenty miles off , and then invariably began at the same kind of plunder that we had just left . The men used often to bring stolen horses home at night , which they could so disguise that it was quite impossible for any one to know his own , They used to fir © them , clip them , bore ft bole through their ears , shorten and pail their tails , hog their manes , and . disfigure them by other ? ontr ivances , bo that a man would bny his own horse without ever Bnspectrng him to be the same . Theee hones they would take oat of the fields at dark , and ssxt morning , very early , at three or four e ' clock , they would take them to the next fair or market , and dispose of them as early sa possibles I never knew any « f them to be token up , or suspected of stealing horses , or anything elae , although stealing was their regular trade . We have often had as many as seven good horses and some donkeys at once , Mrfallttelen .
The man would sojastuaas blacken their faces , and disguise themselves in other and various ways , so teat no one could ercr know them again . One max . ffH ^ tSfeWM a regular blackamoor . i ^ S ^^^ W ^* d Pkntj of money , and ased to jgyi * I | -: l [ fEJ freely when in town . I have every WMB setmak that they frequently-robbed geatle-¦« & ao « a « f plate and other valuable articles , as * 2 jJ ** raaisomi them to change Euch like " -SlBs ' china , pots , and other things , as * JZ * * 5 * * ^ ' 'u * Waere tbey got them I could 5 ? -J 5 ! 2 ^ ! . r * * ^ PPose they were afraid to take »«^ nieMiaperBon 8 to rob houses , for fear of being
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detected if the alarm was given , asd all were not able to retreat . The women were all evidently loose giila that had been on the town , and it never once struck me that they could be the mothers of the three children I have before alluded to , because the children appeared to be much better bred up than the women , and had signs of respectability in their usual talk , mode of address , fee , bo that I never had a donbt but they were the children of respectable parents , stolen , or enticed from their families by the women when strolling about the lanes and paths in lonely parts of the country ; which may be very easily done by taking them from servant girls , the one stealing the child while the servant is having her fortune told in a lone bye-way , by the other , of which , and by which mean ? , they make much money , and get a great deal of information about the neighbourhood . No one will believe how resolutely these gipsy women will stick to a point , and how stealthy and cunning they go about anything they have a mind for . When they are seemingly apart , yet two or three are always in sight of each other , aad as they are less suspected than other people , from their dres 3 and their forwardness in coming towards you , instead of turning away when they are Been , it makes them very bold . " They always appear to be doing something , and always have something to sell .
I have frequently pitied the poor little children , and often wondered what their pareuts must feel for their loss . Indeed , I wanted one of them to go with me , when I was about leaving my gang to join another party of gipsies , bnt as he would not come , I put off going also . It was a very common thing to see them come to the camp at night with a heifer or a cow ; they would burn letters on them for a disguise , and take them vo the nearest market next morning for sale , same as the horses , also sbeep and calves ; but we did most business in horses and blasts , as they travelled best . We went in various direction about the country ; at one time we were within thirty miles of Londou , and our farthest tiip to the noith was within about twenty miles to the north of York . We were also in
the neighbourhoods of Manchester and Liverpool , frequently where we did a great deal of business in the way of thieving ; but oar best trade was in the neighbourhood of Birmingham , as we found , in that town , a much readier quit for our stolen articles . At Birmingham , a thief may sell or exchange anything with safety . In thia war I spent about two years , in picking pockets , stealing and thieving everything I could lay my hands upon , killing fowls , and , in short , committing plunder in any way that opportunity offered . All that I received for this was my actual support among them , and that accerding to my activity and service . As to clothing , I was fitted out just like all the re 3 f , and upon the same terms , with the cloth that we used to steal from the cloth hawkers in country towns . So it was with our blankets and everything else in tho way of clothing
or coveriDg . In summer time the men would sleep at a publichouse , or at the most respectable inn iu a town , for they were well drtssed , and would pass for respectable foutmtn , servants , chaise-boys out of place , or various other businesses , which made the people cot suspect them . These houses they invariably robbed cf everything they could lay their hands upon , and , if met by tho inmates , next day , they never would know them . In the winter we all camped together , and the men and myself went out prowling all night long . ( To be continued in our ntiL )
The Northes!* Stab,. Saturday. April 17, 1841.
THE NORTHES !* STAB ,. SATURDAY . APRIL 17 , 1841 .
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THE YOUNG LIAR OF THE NORTH . It 13 now twenty years or more since tho immortal Ccbbett so appropriately christened our fallacious neighbour ** The Great Liar of the North f and , as ill weeds grow apace , we had every right to expect some produce from the parent stock . We knew that the Leeds " Now , " and the Manchester " Flanders mare , ' could not remain so long within reach of each other without producing a jennet of some sort or other . We are now happy to tell the naturalist that our hopes have been realized in the full development of its ancestral propensiti es ' by & little dirty brat yclep'd The Anti-Corn Law Circular . Indeed , if our friend doesn't look sharp , the child will beat its papa .
It is not only a shame , but a sin te " spare the rod and spoil the child ; " and , in truth , we take no small blame to ourselves for not having sooner chastised the little reprobate . In its musty tale of last week , " the Young Liar of the North" chatters something about Chartist leaders being hired by the bread-taxers , which , no doubt , the bread-eater had heard his parents , or guardians , or nursemaids talking about . See , then , how foolish to talk before children . The little rascal patches up a lamo story from the evidence of another Patche , who was examined before a
Committee of the House of Commons , upon the Walsall election , with reference to the slovenly manner in which the two late honourable candidates bribed , and committed sundry other aristocratic pranks ; and it appears that one Nightingale , from Manchester , in company with one PtiEE Wilkiks , ( another of Cojbetx ' s christening . ) was hired by the Tories to ? pout or them ; and then the brat says that KiGHTiNGii-E is a chartist leader , and he concludes his nonsense thus : — " Nightingalk is one of the heroes of its ( -. he Northern Star ) pages , and his exploits at Wakall were the theme of its loudest plaudits . "
You lying little monkey—you dirty little brat t Can you find the name of NiGiniNGiLB four times mentioned in the Northern Star in nearly as many years ? Can you find it once mentioned as a Chartist , or even hinted at by U 3 in connection with the Walsall election ! Answer that , Young Neddt- Jack-Tay-LOR ! You know , yon young imp , that Nightingale is not a Chartist leader—never was a Chartist leader , and never will be a Chartist leader .
You mistook the pages of the Siar for your papa ' s lying journal , wherein was published Mr . O'Cos-KEtt's " plaudits" of llr . Nightingale . You must go there , you cripple , to look for Mr . Nightingale ' s character . You know that no Chartist leader has ever been hired by Whig or Tory , without being instantly drummed out of the Chartist camp . Witness the " Russians . " You know that the
Chartist leaders , who have defeated your whole army , have been , one and all , working men , and you naturally feel the smart of your humiliation . You little cur ! your masters have tried to hire Chartist leaders , and they couldn't get one ! they picked up one Moslet from tie ranks , and what has become of him 2 That has been their only purchase , and they had a bob in Mm j We wish them joy of him and you !
You say that you know the exact sum of money that Nightingale got for his expences to Walsall . What do we care for that i Can you tell us how much Mr . Acland got te bear his expencea from Hull and Bristol 1 and what he will charge for a visit to either of those towns , or to Lteds , or the W est or East Riding of Yorkshire I He is one of your leaders ; and he will tell you not to throw stones from his wing of the house , at all events . You call Dr . Wade a Chartist—perhaps you call yourself a Chartist of the light sort . Your praise of Lovett , Yikcekt , and Collins is rather unfortunate , inasmuch as the Coavention , of which they were members , resolred that you should be opposed .
But , young cub , answer us just this one question . You are hare-hunters , whose practice it is to try back when they loose the game ; we are fox-hunters , whose custom it is to cast a-head . Now , in trying back , why miss & s ' wgle g » p through which the game has passed \ Why jump from 1841 to 1815 , and not try 18191 Can you answer that ? If the Corn Laws be unholy , and we admit it , what was Feel ' s Bill , which was to the moneymongers an equivalent for the Corn Law Bill of the land-mongers I Why pass that over ! There is £ 30 in every £ 90 at once , which requires no abstruse
calculation , no balancing of foreign and domestic interest , bat a plain question of pounds , shillingSj and pence , which every man can understand , and no man can mystify . Why not try th&t gap 1 Ah ! because it is too plain for humbug . Ought you to kill one of the Siamese youths and allow the other to live ! No , no ; kill the one , whose putrid carcase wQl soon kill the other . Kill Peel ' s BHl , and the other will soon die of stench ; bnt kill the Corn Laws , and Peel ' s becomes a hundred-fold evil . It leaves it in the power of every pensioner , taxeater , soldier , sineeurist , and state auper , and
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money-monger , to purchase just threo times as much of the po « r man ' s labour for his Be / tied income , as he could before . Begin at the pounds , shillings , and pence , and then see what the Chartist Leaders will do for yon . Now do this , or for ever hold y oar gab . There are two ends to the stick , the right and tho wrong end ; we have got bold of the rigb t end , and we are eo whacking aad thumping you , you poor wretches , that you don't know whether you Bland on your head or your heels , or . whi « h way to turn ; and while you are essaying to makv . the Corn Laws a religions question , you most religiously commence with a " Lie . " M Young Liar of the North , " we have taken bo much from one leaf of your book , and now we shall proceed to take a scrap from another leaf .
In the Jurenile Monster ' s Nursery Thoughts upon the duty of the *• Plague , " ( come , that ' s a good name for the League , ) we find the following ( f « r them destructive , but to our party ) most wholesome advice . In talking of singleness of purposa , the brat says— " They must avoid the error of the goodhearted , bustling Martha , who was ' careful and rroubled about many thiugs / They must seek to discover that especial task whioh they are fiited to discharge , assured that , by directing themsslves to that ' one thing which is needful , ' they are rightly serving that end for which they were sent into the world . " Thanks , great thanks , precocious yonth for thy juvenile approval of the identical principle open which the Chartists have acted throughout .
Now , then , it follows , as a matter of course , that the " one thing which is needful" is the thing whi « h should absorb our every attention . This limits our labours to the simple consideration as to which of the two questions shall b e given up by the Chartists ; as the agitation for one would damage the other , and reduce us to the sad plight of the * ' good-hearted , bustling Martha . " Upon this subject we faney there will not , at least among Chartists , bs two opinions . So far so good .
Now , just a word by way of reply , to the whole 11 Establishment" in genera ] , and the Anglo-Saxon and " Young Liar of the North" in particular , upon the subject of Chartist interference at anti-Corn Law meetings . In the commencement of the campaign , the Chartists attended those meetings , by whomsoever called ; they discussed the several questions and resolutions proposed , with tempeiaace and good taste ; they merely voted for the affirmative or the negative , aye or no ; but when the Chartists discovered that ten pair of kid-skin gloves , and ten gold rings , upon shop boy ' s fingers and
thumbs , under the nos « of a short-sighted , swiveleyed Mayor , counted for hundreds of blistered hands , too dark to be seen in the distance , the owners of those English hands began to call out " fair play , " " fair play . " In many cases , and particalarly in one instance , in Glasgow , where those systematic patriots counted their house , the people found that the ProvostB and Mayors were owls by candle-light , though sharp as hawks by day . Even this the Chartists bore for a long time , until it was discorered that the treachery of er qfficio Chairmen caused alarm and discontent in the minds
of some of the conscientious Repealers . To lull so dangerous a suspicion it then became necessary to bully the Chartists , which was successfully tried at Liverpool , upon a large scale , and as successfully retorted in London , Manchester , Leeds , aud other places , upon as largo a scale . The Chartists were not slow at discovering that this want of vision in Ex-officio chairmen , backed by the whole force of the " Establishment , " was calculated to give the
u Plague " a triumph at every meeting . Thus was Chartism to have bsen swamped in a Repeal of the Corn Laws . For a short period these very circumstances did actually intimidate our friends , and add to the insolence and intolerance of our rampant enemies ; until at length , ( dependants , spurred on by the rude example of their employer , ) Mr . Sydney Smith actually had recourse to knocking off hats , and other ungcntlemanly violence .
The Ex-officios refused the people the use of their own buildings , to take a negative or affirmative vote upon their own resolutions ; and in many cases , where an Anti-Corn Law meeting was divided , it was discovered that ten , twenty , thirty , and even as many as fifty to one have been against motions , eaid to be carried by the 2 ? x-o ^ icios . We require no proof beyond theunanimous testimony of working men to substantiate our charges ; but , should any be thought necessary , we saw with our own eyes , and heard with our own ears , at the recent Leeds Demonstration , the grossest .
most palpable , and ungentlemanlike cheat ever attempted to be practised . We subsequently saw published , as the resolutions of ameetingof more than 10 , 010 persons , a string of stuff that was whispered , amid a storm of hisses , in the ears of a man who was voted not to be in the chair . Thus , proof beyond the honest testimony of honest working men be required , we havs had oral and ocular demonstration of the fact ; add to this the declaration of Mr . Walteb , as Chairman , that a protest merely read was carried .
What alternative had we under such circumstance * , but to move an impartial Chairman , and declare our principles , not by a negative vote upon a clap-trap resolution , but upon the affirmative of those principles ? How were we to meet" angry feeling , " and passionate invective , " hut in kind ? Aye , and should the advice of * ' Anglo Saxon" be acted upon , we will meet blow with blow , moral force with moral force , and physical force with physical force , when unconstitutionally nsed . This system was also rCBOrted to by hired and unprincipled lecturers . Just let the " Young liar of the North " Look on this picture , And then on this .
Mr . Sydney Smith , that It was announced that fearless champion of the Mr . Sydney Smith was to poor man ' s rights , has beta deliver an address upon incessant in Ms advocacy the subject of the Corn ef the cause nearest every Laws , last night at Berpoor man ' s heart , the re- mondsey , and the working peal of the odious , unchriz- classes considering themtian , ungodly , inhuman selves as the parties most Corn Laws . This talented interested in the discussion , orator lectured every night mustered in great numbers , during the put week , to About eight o ' clock the crowded and highly de- lecturer arrived , when Mr . lighted audiences of the Barleycorn took the chair , working classes , in differ- and announced Mr . Smith
ent parts of the Metropolis , to the meeting . Previous and , in every instance , the to the commencement of lecturer waa heard with business , Mr . Wall , a tha great est attention Chartist , asked the Cuairtbroughout his able expo- man if discussion would sure of the infernal laws be allowed , to which he which rob the poor for the replied , " No ; certainly benefit of the rich ; and , not ; the bills announced a at the close of each meet- lecture by Mr . Sydney ing , the assembled thou- Smith mho has engaged the sands retired highly de- room . " lighted with the proceed- Mr . Wall : " Will Mr . ings , after giving three Smith answer questions times three cheers for their which may be proposed by indefatigable champion . the meeting ?"
Chairman : No ; decidedly not " Mr . Wall : " Are there to be any resolutions ?" € hairman : O , no ; Mr . Smith is of opinion that resolutions lead to argument , and it is quite necessary that the working men ahonld appear to be unanimous . " Upon the latter announcement , several Chartists about the chair expressed their disapprobation , -when Mr . Smith knocked one man ' s hat off sad commenced a violent attack upon the Chartists generally . Now , yon seape-grace I "how are you off for soap 1 " and Chartist leaders !
In conclusion , don't forget your assertion ; we pin you to it ; prodnoe your proof of the Star ' * " -loudest plaudits" of Nightingale , or wearyourname cheerfnliy as " Young Liar of the North . " In your own words , and directed , to with your own hand upon the wall , thus & » " We defy you . " The " Young Liar" thus ooncludes : — ( B- OurfriendB of the press will , we hope , give all the publicity in their power to the doings of these men , in order to put their deluded followers on their guard . " So say we , " Young Liar ! " Publicity is all we want to crash you to atoms . ' . -
As » matter of course , the Artful Dodger ( Chronicle J and the Golden Sun have taken the article , body and sleeves , from the " Young Liar . " Will they publish our answer J Js ' ot they t indeedthe filaves .
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THE CONVENTION AND THE EXECUTIVE . From the letter of the Executive , which we published last week , we fear they bare mistaken our previous caution for their protection , and that they mistake responsibility for duty . We object to any responsibility which may subject them to jealousy being imposed upon them ; but we would still more object to any fastidiousness in the discharge of an imperative duty . There is no responsibility ia drawing names from a bat ; but there is a duty which somebody must disonarge , and for the discharge of which the Executive is , we think , est qualified . We trust , therefore , that they will call a public meeting for the most convenient and earliest day , to reduce by ballot to the required Dumber the number of persons chosen to sit on the Convention , in order that we may give timely notice in pur next . While we would secure them from responsibility , we would expeot a fearless discharge of duty . This is the moRt simple that could be imposed .
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WAIT A WEE . We are near , very near , the beginning of the end . It is an old and not a bad saying , that "when poverty comes in at the door , love flies out at the window . " But , alas ! the Whigs make their friends even love by compulsion , for having foroed a little " sneaking regard" through the door , they now make their lovers build up their windows for fear of an escape .
Truly , Whig courtship is an odd thing . A rural ruffian forces " lumps of love" upon us , and JFkank Baring niches it up like the frail sisters of old ; so there we are , like a horse with a cart tied to bis tail , —no escape ; if he kick * he only hurts his hocks , and if he runs away he drags his load after him . Well , never mind . We have beard much of the grand effect of pressure from without , and now let us have a trial of the effect of pressure from within .
" It is an ill wind that blows nobody good , " tajs the proverb , and , in good faith , our kind rulers very much resemble some Irish liberal landlords , who , we have heard , enable their cottier tenants to pay high rents for low hovels , by placing them as " brokers" or " keepers , " as they are termed , orer the more wealthy . v The Whigs , for ten years , have tried the system of feeding one section of the community upon
another section . The landlords got a slice of the par * sons and the peasants ; the pavsons got a slice of the eolid , or ' consolid , " or "consolidated fund , " which literally means " the calf in the cow ' s belly . " The mill-owners got a slice , and a fat one , of their slaves ; the people got a slice of the sabre , and now the pensioners want ten per cent , of a slice of all ; and , in order to effect this , the joiners and masons will get a slice in shutting out Whig daylight .
Wo hear of nothing now but meeting the ten per cent ., and what may follow , so that presently , in good earnest , John Bull ' s house will not only be his castle , but his tomb . This is the pressure from within . Now , all thia works marvellously well for us ; every poor beggar who has been niched off may be numbered among the killed , or out off , of the enemy ;; while those who have been built out are sure to join our ranks . Our corps is getting very strong ; and why not , with such a recruiting service , with General Baring as our recruiting officer , the Treasury our depot , aud the honourable corps of pensioners our staff ] Good lack ! what a country of rogues and paupers ! !!
When Mr . O'Connob was defending himself at York , he said that if the reduction on newspaper stamps was uot actual repeal of the law of libel , it was , at all events , a virtual extension of license to all politic il writers , as they were supposed to write in plain language for a common sense community ; and he said , that the Stamp Reduction Act waa the beginning of Reform . We believe it sincerely ; but the misfortune of the times is , that the Whigs always put the horse ' s head where the horse ' s tail ought to be . They bring their produce into the world wroug end foremost . Now , if the people had got a cheap
press in 1828 , tho Reform of 1832 would have been a substantial , instead of an ideal reform , and instead of repairing the old road , in common with others , as we should have been engaged in doing , from 1828 to 1832 , we are now compelled to fight , single-banded , against the whole community , for a new right of passage . Instead of dragging a light load on a plain , and with help , we are obliged to drag an over-weight , in single harness , up an almost perpvndiculax hill , and in which we should utterly fail but for the kind assistance of Barimg and « Company .
Again , out of evil comes good . " In 1839 , when the Penny Postage was in high favour , Mr . O'Connor , in addressing the people of Newcastle , said , " You contemplate great things from the Penny Postage ; let me tell you what your share will be . Just the right to make up almost one million annually of a deficit saved to merchants , traders , bankers , and so forth , " Now , while the melancholy tale before us shows that Mr . O'Connor was not far wrong , let us endeavour to eke our share of good , certainly never intended , out of this evil .
Under tbe old system , then , we devoted about ten columns weekly to what is called looal news , that is , to mere matters which happen within the cheap circle of newspaper acquaintance . Men at a distance would not pay two shillings , and two and sixpence , for a double letter containing matter of the utmost importance , and we would not release it unpaid in utter ignorance of its contents . It will be borue in mind , that many notioes proslaimed those rejected addresses , the mer « post mark furnishing our correspondent with our only knowledge of him , and our refusal as our only apology . When the
postage waa reduced to fourpence , our circle of acquaintance became considerably enlarged ; and upon the " penny trumpet" being sounded , our office has been literally a little post-office , as we stated before , sometimes receiving more than a hundred letters by a single post , which hundred letters would not have been written undtr the old system , and which , if written , and paid for by us , would break us , horse , foot , and dragoons , in twelve months . Sixty pounds a week would fall far short of paying our present
receipts , acoording to the old rate , and now behold our paper . It is England , Scotland , Wales , and a peep at a bit of Ireland , at one view . Bradford , Leeds , Huddersfield , Halifax , and our nearest neighbours , are now but a portion of the great Radical world , while formerly they constituted neatly out entire circle . Many will now venture a penny , even upon cuanco , and hence we not unfrequently receive two or three reports of the same meeting , written the one in ignorance of the other .
Hence , then , the impossibility of ever again " gulling the natives ; " hence , th « proof that the knowledge was there , if not dammed up with » golden quicksand ; and , above all , hence our conviction that an organic change now , with such pioneers , sentinels , and telegraphs , must be a change of measures , and not a mere substitution of one set of puppets for another . : The penny postage is a national tell-tale ; a cheap di 9 &loeer of eeorets ; an alarmist ; as Junius Bays , " * hue and cry , which puts the neighbours on their guard , by announcing the thief ' s approach . " The penny postage has given Chartism * shove behind , whioh has nearly Bent it up " Constitution HILL ;" and now , we defy any designing knave to out the tight trace and let it down again .
Go it , Frask ; go it , yon cripple ! Ten per Gent , more upon windows , customs , and excise , by all means ; nay , why not twenty ! it is only a figure . Tax our livers as you have taxed our lights—nothing like it ; for every squeeze you get from the pressure from without , give your friends & squeeze rom the pressure from within . Mister Baring , the indirect magio of Exchequer harlequinism is . gone . Whoever the wand now strikes , he ia nailed for the reckoning . Poor John has no more—you cannot get at him , directly or indirectly , dead or alive—there ib no blood in a turnip
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Indeed , your only mode of taxing the poor , now , for the benefit of tho rich , would be by a tax on brains . Frank , be assured , that nature cut you out for a plonghman , but the Devil ran away with the pattern , and Dame Fortune passing by in a frolickeome mood , made a gentleman of you in fun . Go , go , to the Upper House ; go .
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REBELLION , SHIP-BURNING , SMUGGLING , AND RIOT , JUSTIFIED & RECOMMENDED BY THE CHRONICLE . " Wa give the following treasonable article from the Chronicle of Tuesday last , and we demand the Attorney General ' s interference : — "A pamphlet is in circulation , entitled ' Daily Breaa . ' which recommends to the industrious poor a new species of practical ptoteat against tbe bread tax , as a likely means of exonerating themselves from its severe and unjust pressure . The scheme proposed is for a penny subscription from bo large a number of the working classes , aided by the contributions of those who also
suffer from and are opposed te the food monopoly , as may suffice to freight one er more vessels with continental corn or American flour , and bring it into some English port On its arrival , a distribution amongst tbe owners to be formally claimed , and if refuged , as it of course would be , to proceed to the public destruction of tho caTgo . Without passing any opinion on this plan , we wish to fix attention on the fact that aueh a plan is propounded and entertained . " For ought that appears tbe process would be perfectly legal . There is no law against the investment of the smallest sums by hungry artizans in the purshase of food from foreigners . The vessel so freighted might
legally anchor in our ports . The petition of a thousand famishing families for leave to land and eat the food which they had purchased from their small and hard earnings might be a most unexceptionable document . The refusal by tne Custom house authorities , or by their masters on reference to them , would also be legal , and we presume inevitable . The right of the proprietary would be unquestionable to throw their cargo overboard , though the billows of Goolo harbour , or the waters of the Thames should be whitened with the spoil ; or though the execrations of multitudes ,
witnessing the waste while they were pinched with want , should be both loud and deep ; and if the hungry and augry thousands broke out into violence , It would then become legal to read the liiot Act , call out the military , and suppress the disturbance at whatever cost of human bloodshed . Whatever the wisdom , justice , or expediency , of any one step of the process , each is yet free from the charge of unlawfulness . The proposition is legal , and it ia entertained ; that is the gist of the matter , and the fact may perhaps be worth a thought "
A pamphlet has also been sent to our office translated from the French , by M . Thiers , in which the writer speaks of the anchoring , in several British ports , of a number of small steamers freighted with muskets , pieces of ordnance , ewords , and accoutrements of all sorts , on their way to America , and let the English people know "thatif they take them , they should , as loyal subjects , at once give them up to the nearest authorities . " Ah ! ah ! we were perfectly aware that the moral force Whigs , who set fire to Bristol , Nottingham , and Newcastle , and threatened the King with decapitation , and paraded pictures of the Queen in breeches , would never wait for the legal , peaceable , constitutional redress of their grievances , but that our forbearance would drive them into open rebellion .
How very , rery , very , disinterested of « ur contemporary , the Artful Dodger , to risk life and limb , treason and rebellion , arson and murder , with their consequences , for a people who request them not to take the slightest trouble on their behalf . Is this aot a proof that , without the people , violence alone must be the argument of tyrants ! We most seriously aud strenuously recommend the article in the Chronicle of Tuesday last to the
consideration of our Glasgow friends on Tuesday next , and we trust that some bold fellow will , in a peaceful and dignified resolution , propose a vote of censure upon that corrupt Journal , for thus attempting to jeopardise the peace ef the country , in order to ensure the success ef a favourite project . We trust that our Glasgow correspondent will favour us with an early report of Tuesday ' s proceedings , and that such a resolution will be among them . Who , we ask , could oppose it !
We thought il would come to this at last . Bat , no , no , Master Dodger ; we are not going to have a few more hangings of poor men , to carry any humbug measures for the rich ones . Will Easthope be one , if we get him a party 1 Will he lead them on to the righteous work of destroying th * cargo Will he do his own bidding ! If so , let him send as prospectuses for the Whig plundering recruiting service , that wo may distribute them among the traitor middle classes .
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THE FACTORY QUESTION . Tue mass of incontrovertible evidence collected during tho agitation in which the lamented Sables and the now cell-bound Oastleb were particularly distinguished , is not erased from the memories of our numerous readers . The horrid system was then unveiled to the eye of the world in all its hideous deformity , and the facts then adduced were bo palpable as even to silence the priests of Moloch themselves . Yet , notwithstanding the almost
superhuman exertious of the gentlemen above reforred to and their coadjutors , maugre the enormous expence unavoidably incurred in the struggle to emancipate the immature slaves of Christian Britain , and in spite of the prayers and demands of the people to have this stain obliterated from our national character , our merciful legislators , at the bidding of the avaricious proprietors of the " rattle-boxes , " cheated the people with a law productive of no real benefit to the enslaved operative , nor yet beneficial to the humane portion of the manufacturers .
The poor factory children were , in the first instance , sold by the Irish traitor , O'Conneix ; and the factory workers generally were subsequently sold by tho law makers , to the " bit of a Parliament . " Since the sale , " the humanity-mongers , ' as our neighbour of the Mercury would term them , have rested on their oars . Trial has been made of the Aot . It has been " weighed in the balance and found wanting , " , therefore , the enemies of the monster aro again preparing for the combat . We wish them God speed , and shall render them every assistance in our power , as we fully coincide with their views , namely : —
" That for the last four years , owing in part to the amazing increase of tho number of factories since 1834 , factory employment has become much more uncertain than it was before this increase of factories took place , and that , during these four y # ars , numbers that did work in factories have lost employment altogether ; numbers more have been put on shert time , and another portion have been working excessive hours , which has been injurious to their health , destructive to tbeix morals , and has left them no time , such as rational beings should have , for either education or recreation . "
" And also that it would conduce to the interest and add to the satisfaction of factory occupiers , as well as factory workers , if the labour performed in factories was better distributed than it now is ; and that no persons should be allowed to wort in factories excessive-hours , not longer than tea ia any one day . " It is well known that the present Act for regulating factory labour , is , in numerous cases , evaded and violated ; and did it possess any salutary properties , they are rendered inoperative by the cupidity of the employer , and the falsehoods of those parents who have a greater zest for the faw pence , called " wages "(!) than they have for the moral , pbjucal , and spiritual welfare of their children .
We contend that ten hours actual labour per day ia as much as human nature can sustain with impunity ; and , therefore , we pledge our assistance ia the efforts now about to be made . We hear that a petition is now Jn the course of signature , in this town , praying for . the enactment of % law restricting all pertont employed in factories to fifty-eight hours per week , there is no donbt of this petition being numerously signed : in fact , we are told that more sheets are required than can at present be supplied , all , or nearly bo , being already filled up . Exettiota are being made in various other town ? , to get up similar petitions , by Mr . Mark Ckabtree , a known and tried friend of the factory child . To those engaged in the good work we say—Go on AND PROSPER .
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THE PETITION CONVENTION . We have received intimationa from almost all parts of the country , of the resolutions of the various bodies and public meetings of the people , cordially concurring in the postponement of the meeting of this body antil the 3 rd of May . Lack of space prevented the possibility of our inserting the various resolutions , and this general notice ot . them is sufficient . — — fi ^ ne ^ nrin f ^ riKi ^ h ^ atf- J- Ci i ' i ^ i f I fi f 1 * ¦ * f ^ f
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O'CONNOR AND O'CONNELL . We were aware that tha letters of O'Connor to O'Malley , the spread of Chartism in Ireland , and the dread of its just principles by all humbug politicians , must , sooner or later , be met by theAichtraitor ; in proof whereof , we give the following bit from the Belfast Vindicator , and also the proceedings at a recent meeting of the " Royal JLoyals : "" CHAnTiSMiN Newry . . —Tho Right Rev . Dr . Blake , who is ever solicitous for the welfare of his people , addressed them , on Sunday last , on the evils and dangers of Chartism , and warned them strongly against beiseduced into countenancing it . in
ng people , we are convinced , will see the wisdom or attending to advice which can have no other object than their good ; and will avoid , as a pestilence , a system which , in England , has brought the working classes to crime and destitution . If the poor man would not be deceived and disappointed , let Jiim look for relief in the reformation of the landlord and tenant system— i * tbe encouragement of native manufacture—in temperance—in repeal—m * ™» let him look for it where it is to be found , but les him not put Mb trust in a system which Ms filled the jails of England with prisoners , and tne poor-houses with paupers . "
So much for the Vindicator . Now for Dan : — Mr . O'CONNELt again said—Mr . Ray has stated that the next business in order is to bring forward tbe report of the committee , on a plan for the security of the landlords j and the Bafety of the tenantry of Ireland , but before I enter into that I wish to allude to another subject . ( Mr . Lethbridge here entered the meeting and «» received with loud cheers . When the cheering taa subsided , Mr . O'Connell resumed . ) Wnenwe wereso agreeably interrupted by the entrance of ******» " £ */ . was stating that there was a subject which I visneaw bring before the Association previous to BabmittuigK > you the report of the committee in reference to thetonalords and tenantry of Ireland . I read , I must confess , with oraAh fftpiinffs of main , a naratrr&DU ¦ which appear **
in the Netery Examiner , and which was copied InW some of the Dublin papers , stating that some persow in Newry had recently held there a Cbartist meeting--that borrowing the designation ol Ch » rt » te ** " *• ! fr been a meeting of the trades of that town to establlsn Chartism there . If ever there was a period at wmea it was necessary for the people of Ireland to keep perfectly clear of any connexion with Chartam * W * J «» period . They advocate force and violence . The mean * we advocate areuifferent from theirs . We advocate u » u *> of moral force alone , and the concentration of uw opinion of the entire nation . ( Hear , hear . ) Itm » y «> held out by them , as a pretence , that they are averse v > violence < and many of the Chartists , I admit , « e no » involved'in the criminality of their leaders ); ww tPf dootatae of their leaders is to nave reconrw so " » UvyWiUv V * WMVI * 9 \ * 1 m \ w ^* 99 i * ¦ w w a ** v » w — — — - . « of
tpwsh and the dagger , and , by the adoption *«« means , they hare not only involved their f 0 " * " ^! , violation of the law , bnt they nave incurred tbe met of its violation ; they have inewtted imprisonment snu other punishments . ( Loud cries of bear , hew , s ^ We cannot overlook for ono moment thfa '¦««»*« » sow disunion among the Repealers of Ireland by «» introduction of Chartism amongstthem ; and I wo" * - remind them that when an attempt tr » a befow »*» "' introduce Chartism into Dongman . the men wVaagarvan rejected it , and they not only injected it ^_ »» published the letter of the English Chartist , solioW their co-operation . In tnat letter , the English Cb * rw calls binwelf a stern Republican . Now , we are w » republicans—we are opposed to republicanism ; we *» ( MtinflAd with % monarchy , and we love and revere » f
monarch that is placed over us , whom may God New ¦ = » preserve I < I « oud cheers . I W « get here , sometltw " » our own amusement , Feargus O'Connor ' paper , . *«» Northern Star , and I shall read an extract **>*» £ * you . ( Hew . ) It is headed " Glorious ™^ J **~ Z and fail of the humbug empire * and rUe of Cbartwn " Inland : " - " Ia Dublin , Newry , Droghed * , W" ** V ( where , I weuld wish to know , ia ^^^ J ^ many other parts of Ireland , the infant Chartism » being adopted and fondly nourUhed by the _™»* * " £ new-born Irish . ( The infant Chartism I I * £ !* £ recollect that phrase ) We give the toUoming ^ from a most re » pectable person in Loughcrea w »<« v
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ORGANIZATION : —ELECTION OP THE EXECUTIVE . The general Council of the National Charter Association of Great Britain being now elested , it is incumbent on them to take instant measures for bringing into existence the Executive Committee that the Aflwciatfda may W fully and fairl y ^ operation . These mast , by the new plan of organ ? , sation , be ohosen from the General Council . We have had several letters of eaquiry as to whether persons ware eligible for the Executive Committee , not being mambers of the General Council . iS fourteenth paragraph of the Plan of Organisation answers all these .
" EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE . " 14 . That the General CouneU of the AmocU « o » skall choose five Members of their own body to situ an Executive Committee , in manner as herein follows . ^ Every Sub-Secretary shall be at liberty to nominate ona candidate , on the Firfct Day of February in each . jm » and five persons from among those so nominated thin be elected by all the Members on the First dav v !» March following . " J w From this it will be seen that every Sub-Secretirr 13 at liberty to nominate one person and no xaote a Member of the General Council , as a fit and piowj person to serve on the Executive Committee . Tha exact form of nomination is given in the Northern Star of the 27 th of February , and to save any per . son the trouble of referring , lest some Sub-Secw . taries may not fill their papers , we here giy » it
again : — " To the General Secretary of the National Chart * Association of Great Britain . February 1 , 28-, 8 m . —I hereby nominate A . B . ( blacksmith ) tf ( 14 , High-street , Bath , ) a Member of the Geneal Council of the National Charter Assisiation of Gre »| Britain , as a fit and proper person to be elected a Member of the Executive Committee , ou the 1 st d » of JMareb next . Signed , CD ., ( Carpenter , No . 6 , Tib-street , Manchester . ) Member of the General Council , and Sub-Secwtarj of the National Charter Association of Great Britain . "
" A list of all the candidates so nominated , shall ba transmitted , per post , by the General Secretary , to every Sub-Secretary , on or before tho iota Day of February ; the elections shall be taken on the First day of March folio wing ; and the number of votes shall be immediately forwarded to the General Secretary , who shall lay the same btfore the out-going Executive Committee for examination , and by their order publish , within one week of receiving teem , the Whole of such returns together with the declaration of the outgoing Executive Committee , of the persons duly elected . "
These directions are so plain that we imagine they can need no explanation . It is the doty of every sub-Secretary , upon receiving from the General Secretary the list of all the names put in nomination for the Executive , to take care that every member of the society , residing in his locality , shall have an opportunity of voting for such five persons oat of that number , as he may think to be the most eligible * to count up the numbers that vote for each candidate , and make a return thereof to the Geaeral
Secretary , who will put all these returns together and publish them . Each place will then have anoppor * tunity of checking the accuracy of the return , because every sub-Secretary will , of course , keep a copy of his own return , and every member , knowing for whom he voted , will be able with very little trouble to ascertain whether the sab-Secretary has made s correct return . The voting for members of thi Executive , will , of course , be conduoted in pre cisely the same way a 3 that for members of the General Council .
We have several letters enquiring whether the Provisional Executive be eligible for election I Certainly : they are pro tempore , to all intents and purposes , the Executive Committee . The Executive Committee is , on the very face of the plan , part and parcel of the General Council : every membtr of the present Executive is eligible , therefore , to be nominated to take his chanca ol election on the annual Executive Committee . We trust that this business will be immediately proceeded with , and that we shall be able next week to publish the whole list of nominations for the Executive .
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THE NORTHERN STAR . ^ ' - - : : _ ^ W
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Citation
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Northern Star (1837-1852), April 17, 1841, page unpag, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/ns/issues/vm2-ncseproduct375/page/4/
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