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THE NORTHERN STAR. SATURDAY, APRIL 24, 1841.
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8T» McKOne a«& dTomswuW*11 <
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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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-CONTINUATION OF THE NARRATIVE OF MITCHELL , TflE GIPSY BOY . - ( Continued from our latt . ) Ax length I got tired of this mode of life ; par-Beularly as I £ ot nothing by it , except what I ttanaged toi thieve and secrete on- my own account , sad which I used to conceal in secret parts of ms trousers . Those gipsies used to make the sale of pots and Jp * ss a pretext for picking pockets , and it was not w uncommon thing for one of the women to ; be engaged in tolling a young lady , or gentleman , tear fortune , while myself , or some of the men , who Wire dressed up , stood by waiting to hare ours told
, while we were picking the pockets of the young people . We were once encamped alongside another gang tif gipsies , and the queen of the gang asked me if I woald like to have my fortune told , and I said yes ; and the moment ahe looked at my hand , she said , "Eh , lad . thee will surely be banged / ' In less than eighteen months , and before , or just about that time from the date , I was arrested for the murder of Mr . Blackburn . The gipsy pointed oat the lines in my hand , which I never observed before . Upon one hand , close to the butt of my fingers , there is a deep wide line running from one side of the palm to the other , And upon the other there is no such mark at all . I mean to tay that there is no ; in the world such despera : e people as a gaiiji of gipsies . I am sure they think nothing of k : ' img any man , or stealing Any gentleman ' s child . Servant girls should be cautioned against them , as from them we used to learn all the ways of the bouses in tbs
neighbourhood . At the time I left the gipsies , I had £ 25 with me , which I cheated them out ' of . I left them , finally , After being about two years with them , and I have heard no mor e of them since . I was then at the Other side , the south side of Manchester , and , with my £ 25 , I returned to Sheffield , having spent about £ 5 of it on my way home . When I left them , it is no wonder , after such training , that I entered with great alacrity into another line of thieving , upon my own . account , and that I was rejoiced to possess the fruits of my own industry .
On my return to my unhappy and disconsolate parents , I heard that they had given me up for lost , and that they had advertised their prodigal son in the public papers . I shall never forget the delight of my poor mother on the recovery » f her long lost child . I was very sensibly touched at the State of feeling she , as well as my father aud sisters , displayed upon the occasion ; but the effect was soon lost , the die was cast , and I must go . I mean to say that persons of my age , who are not caught till they become habituated to thieving , never can be reelaunad ; and I have ofUn known , thieves , young and old , to have committed robberies of which they laid plans the nigat after their release from Wake field . They are very true to each other , and never let one another want for defence and such like . Thieving , I conJd not help thinking , was much
easier than -working , and , from the security with which I saw the gipsies , my late companions , carry on their extensive and unlawful business , and the command they always had of money , greatly helped to fix me in the determination to follow a similar course . Besides those many . inducements , I was , by this time , quite expert in dexterity of finger , and in til the various tricks of a thief , and thought it really a pity that so much ability should be thrown away . Above all , working I hated with a mortal hatred , and was quite ambitious to let my- friends and acquaintance see thai I could live independently without it , and li ve well too , and like a gentleman . I mean to say that the same silly notion has been the ruin of thousands of youHg men . I was but a child , bat vanhy and a silly notion took hold of me .
" Gipsy Jack , " as I was called , was much admired for his personal attractions and many accomplishments . I was thought handsome ; and it Btruck me that so handsome a fellow as I was ought nut to work at alL Influenced by these and other such like notions , eqnally destructive of my future peace and welfare , I anxiously sought up all the notoriously vicious acquaintances I possibly could , and willingly allied myself in all their most desperate undertakings . In a word , I became one of a gang of the most desperate and determined robbers that ever infested any neighbourhood or any country .
I know they are all on the high way to the degradation I am now suffering , and to that gallows which I have , by the mercy of our most gracious Sovereign , so narrowly escaped ; and if this account of my own and their practices be made public , and , through that means , become the rooting up and destruction of the Barnsley gaug , I shall , by such course , render all the atonement 1 am now able to make , for my numerous ^ and heavy offences and sins , and perhaps it may be received as an acceptable Work of gratitude for the mercy whieh has been so graciously and unexpectedly extended to me ; and to effect &o desirable an end , I have made up my mind to conceal nothing that I can recollect , however it may tell against myself , and however scurvily my late unfortunate and misguided comrades may think I am using them .
I am now about to disclose a life , though short , not being more than sixteen or seventeen when I was sent to York Castle , which I mean to say has never been equalled for the number and atrocity of crimes committed . I have committed , and been concerned in , more thin oxz thousand robberies , and , at length , I was sentenced to death for murder , a ? if that crime could not be concealed , although I was never , to my knowledge , sven suspected before . Some of these robberies , particularly those which I assisted the gipsies in committing , and some that I afterwards committed with the Barnsley gang , whom I shall name , were accompanied with the greatest violence . I don ' t know , for a positive fact , that death followed in any case , although we have frequently left our victims dreadfully stabbed , beaten , and abused , and as we thought , dead on the road , of
• winter ' s night , and never heard of them again . After remaining with my father about a year , assisting him in his business as a bricklayer , I left him , and occasionally assisted him and other persons hi the same line of business , principally for the purpose of blinding people as to what I was really engaged about , I , aV Jirst , began to rob entirely on my own account , and committed many extensive robberies upon the market people at Barnsley . I carried on , by myself , about a year , and I seldom allowed a market day to pass without making many foccegsfol experiments on . the pockets of the market people . The sums I obtained ia this way varied from one to five , ten , and thirty pounds ; not more at a time , I mean , but the experiments were frequent . I do not know the names of the persons , or I would tell at once , but I can tell the pubiic what I alwavs fonad to be the ko ?* . convenient time for
Tabbing them : at the public house when they were getting drurJe , or vhen they left the publie house drunk to go home . One of the last robberies was Of this sort . Robinson , Cherry , and me , ( not the Cherry that was tried for Mr . Blackburn ' s murder , but his brother . ) watched a oountryjnan into a public-house , to get change , to pay for a new hat he bonght , and we followed him , and when he left to go home , at dark , he fell when he got outside the house ; and , when I aw him , I pretended to be drunk r too , and staggered against him , and helped him np , and aEked Him which was his road home ; and when he told me , I told him that that was my road , too ; and that I would go part of the road home with him ; so I took him under the arm , and led him out of tne town on the Sheffield road , and we had not got far , when Cherry and Robinson came up , and knocked as both down , and robbed the man of , I think , thirtyfive pounds in notes and sovereigns .
I then left off business , on nay own ' account , and joined ' with a yoongmaD , named Joseph Bentley , of Barnsley ; be is a bnck- * iaker by trade , and about the age of twenty-two years , middle-sized , and slim in figure ; John Hayes , ot Barnsley , a weaver , about twenty-one years of age , and about the same as Bentley in shape and figure ; Thomas Broadhead , of Barnsley , a weaver , about twenty-one years of age ; James Bates , also of Barnsley , though he came from Skelmondthorpe , about nine miles distant ; he was about eighteen years of age . These young men had long been . in the habit of robbing persons in the chapels and churches of Barnsley , and as they came oat in groups after the
services , especially in the door or gateway . Many persons were robbed on these occasions by us , and I know the practice siill continues , and by the same persons , as it is considered the most secure branch if the trade , though not the most lucrative . I have not known more than two or three pounds being got at one time from one person in that way . This plan we resorted to erery Sunday , and although I quitted it last summer , in order to devote my-time to a more extensive and larger system of plunder , yet ii is still carried on b y the earn * parties . It is not « nly at the evening and afternoon Berries , bat after the monuBR service , that congregations at Baratey are thus robbed .
I am quite convinced that it will be found that the persons whom I have named are known to be « onstvii frequenters of places of worship , and always the last in and first out . They frequently obtain valuable watches , snuff-boxes , p ieces of money and other things that people carry about with them . These articles they plant in a place up the waggon-road side , Topping ' s field , in a hole in a teall belortsfing to CAarles Topping ' s field . This field is just at the entrance of the town ; there is a public well there , and the hole , which is sufficiently large to admit a man , is just inside some steps , it is covered op with Borne stones , which they have to remove when they plant anything . To " plant , " is a slang word among thieves , signifying to hide stolen property , 90 that if discoverea , it may not be found boob the premises or person of the thief .
I am sorry that I do not happp « a to know of any person ' s same , in particular , who has been robbed on these occasions , or to know where any of the article * , wfHi few exceptions , happen to be at this t « qWftW ( Mnoni ; ai all events , 1 thought it a poor ¦ ¦¦' < _ ¦ _ . _ y
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business for me if I did not get more than four pounds a , week aa my share of this species of church plunder . The watehes and articles of that kind , we always took to Sheffield , where we were aiwayB sore to find a ready sale for them at the pawnbrokers ' shops . 1 come now to another , and more extensive spectos of thieving . About this time I became acquainted with Joseph Tatterehall , a weaver , about twenty-one years of age { Richard Slater , aged about twenty-four years ; Thomas Fenwiek , a shuttle-maker , about nineteen years old ; James Wells , a weaver , about twenty-six yean old ; Geo . Hartley , alias , Baoco Hartley , a weaver , about
twenty-four years old , and John Giliett , a weaver , about thirty years old ; and I mean to Bay that there cannot be found living upon the face of the earth a more desperate set of men than the persons I have just named . They were a select gang to themselves when I joined them , and were also so when I was apprehended , and were then ia full force and activity . The first robbery which I recollect to have been committed by them , after I first joined them , was upon a gentleman who had been putting np at the White Bear Inn , ( the head inn , ) Barusley . We followed him by design , seeing that he was drunk , and we overtook him at the top of the Old Milllane , in Barnsley . It waa on Saturday night the 3 d of October last . They knocked him down and robbed him of near £ 40 . We had seen him get change for some notes at a grocer ' s shop in the town . He was much hurt and was obliged to be taken to the inn by some persons who saw him on the ground .
I did not touch tie gentleman myself , though I was with the party and helped to rob him . Bacoo Hartley knocked him down with a heavy piece of w « od . It was quite dark ; he fell at once as if he was shot ; he hit him with ail his force on the head . After w « had got the money , we all went to a public house , kept by Michael Teenny ; I do not recollect the name or Bigu of the house , but we there shared the money equally among as . This house ia much frequented by thieves of the very worst and most notorious description . In fact , it wa 3 our head-quarters and the head-quarters of the several gangs of thieves in Barnsley and the neighbourhood . The landlord will admit any kind of company , however bad , and will receive stolen property of any description . We spent most of our time there . He bad many dancings in the house , whieh were always attended by girls of the town and the very worst of characters like ourselves .
I would advise parents not to allow their children to go to this , or to many other houses whioh I shall mention in the course of my narrative . The very best and most innocent girls will look in for change or a message , and , when pressed , will take a taste from one and a taste from another , and very often will remain there all night , and be ruined , and never care for father or mother again ; and they are denied when their parents think them long out , and come te look after them . There was no reward offered for the apprehension of the persons that robbed the gentleman of whom I
have just spoken from the White Bear , and who , we afterwards heard , imagined had lost his money . I was allowed an equal share of all plunder with them , because I had allowed them , on an occasion just before the robbery I have mentioned , to have a share with me in a robbery I had committed by myself at Doncaster Races . The robbery was effected by myself upon a gentleman in the street at Doncaster . In a crowd I picked his pocket of a pocketbook , containing £ 3 i . I did cot snow him ; nor was I aware he had any money about him . It was all chance work .
I also robbed a gentleman on the same day , on the race-course , of a pocket-book and a memorandum book . The pocket-book had in it £ 57 . in £ 5 notes and sovereigns . I did not know who he was ; I did the act just at the moment the horses were passing us in the race , which ia considered an excellent opportunity , by thieves , for picking pockets . It was a part of this money that I allowed to each of the gang when I met them after at Michael Teenny ' a pnblic-hoase , so that they all agreed that I had a moral right to share in the plunder of the gentleman from the White Bear . ( To be continued 4 m our next . )
The Northern Star. Saturday, April 24, 1841.
THE NORTHERN STAR . SATURDAY , APRIL 24 , 1841 .
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THE NEW MOVE . " Save me from my frlenda . " In another part of the Star will be found a long and interesting letter from Mr . O'Cohmob , in which he calls , and we think justly and fairly , for an expression of public opinion as to the " new move . " We l ast week showed that it was deficient in the principal ingredient , " Universal Saffrage . " Mr . O'Connok says it escaped nB , that it was also deficient in equalization of representation ; while it appears to have escaped him , that it is also deficient in the mode of election ;—that of self-nomination being substituted for " the Ballot . " ** Save us from our friends . "
We last week put a " kick in the gallop" of the project by showing Damkl ' s delight and co-operation . We have this week to notice the fact of the whole Whig " Establishment" being in extacies at the project . They say it is jost the thing— " the one thing needful f just the " Chartism for the times we live in ; " each and every one of onr cotemporaries , if they will allow us fhe familiarity , unhesitatingly declaring the object of the to new move" to be " to get rid" of Feabgus O'Connob . Before we begin to lay a few extracts before our readers from the " damning praise" of the Whig papers , just one word :
Our readers will recollect that when commenting upon Dan ' s plan of having " a body sitting in London , directing the country , and saturating the land with tracts , " he said that funds , —ample funds , — would be subscribed i and , in commentiag npon his scheme a 3 propounded in a letter to the defunct Fox and Goose Club , we took the liberty of saying , " Aye , faith , there would be no lack of funds to support such an Association ; the secret-service fund would bleed freelj . " Now , then , hear what the Morning Chronicle says , with reference to the " new
move : — " We see not why a pobtioii of the PUBLIC GRANT FOR EDUCATIONAL PURPOSES SUOCLD SOT PLOW TOWARDS THE PROPOSED SCHOOLS , AS SOON AS THET ARE IN ACTUAL OPERATION . " A word only will be required upon the above . Is the object to carry the Charter % If so , is a Whig Government very likely to give " grants of money " to effect an object , to frustrate which cost them millions of money and loss of character ! One extract might be sufficient , but the Sun , the Greena < jre Chroniele , the Spectator , the Examiner , and all , all , eTeu Mother Goose , are in raving delight with the project .
We shall give George H . Ward , M . P . for Sheffield , a distinct notice npon the subject ; while , as there is but a step between the ridiculons and sublime , having commenced with the Chronicle , we shall finish with Mother Goose . In a column for the curious , written in that most curious journal , by Mr . Hamer Stansfkld , and hitherto modestly placed in inner form , [ a kind of preparatory school for beginners , ] we find the following laudation of our friends' new project . Staksfeld says : —
" But the Chabttsm vvi forth in this Address is of a Kind with which no honest man can quarrel , and the plaw recommended for obtaining it might command the approbation of slr ROBEBX PBSL HIM 5 EU . " Now we ask if any plan , ( though it were fasting and praying , ) which was at all calculated to carry the Charter would be at all likely to receive the approbation of the Tamwortb Baronet ! No , no . They only object to physical force , " lest it should frighten something out of the old women ; and if fasting and praying were calculated to frighten more , ot even as much , they would equally object to that .
The Spectator and Examiner write in general terms of approval of the new project ; indeed it is quite to their taste ; but they pass as mere wadding in the political world . In fact , it is nothing more or less than a new mode ef canvassing for support for Mechanic ' s Institutes , and the Brougham system of making one portion of the working class disgusted with all below them ; and thus effect , for another while , by an aristocracy of labourers , by galling contrast , what has been hitherto effected by taxation and the cannon .
However , people who work sixteen hours a day from the age of nine to about thirty-five , when they are thrown into a bastile » 3 unfit for use , have very little relish for any protracted course of study or " education , " though it were certain ia one hundred and twenty years to gain the Charter for them .
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* ¦» = ¦ ' r . ¦ *• it * * In fact , " Ignorance , " * ' Ignorance , " ** ignorance , '' has been the « ry as long as we can remember , and long before we * were born ; and would , if knowledge were an electoral test , be a cry with the powerful few , who may well cry "ignorance , " bo long as a people are ignorant enough to let thorn lire upon their very heart ' s blood . Bat we waste time , as the will of the country , which we this day record upon the foolish attempt , puts the extinguisher for ever upon all hope of a wise people being galled by ignorant coxcombs .
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THE NOTTINGHAM ELECTION . Of a verity the Whigs are like the fastidious soldier ; bit them high , or hit them low , we cannot please them . In the unreformed times , when even Billt Pitt looked upon public opinion as ft requisite in the ministerial stock , Parliaments were dissolved upon questions , not upon the relative value of persons npon a fanciful arithmetical sum made of a candidate ' s whole creed and life . Thus , for or against the Malt Tax , the Emancipation Bill , the Dissenters' Relief Bill , or any other Bill upon which the Minister did not find himself quite secure . Thus were the labours of electors narrowed to the mere expression of opinion upon the one question at iBsue .
Bat now , alas ! dissolution being a thing never dreamed of , so long as the old crew can hang together , every single contest becomes a matter of wholesale canvass ; and whoever tells most lea and swears hardest to them , has the best chance , i provided he has a Lord of the Bedchamber at his back with the " needful . " In speaking of the Nottingham election , the Chronicle Bays that Lord John Russell has nothing to apprehend from u the eloquence of Mr . Walter " upon the question of the Poor Laws ; and the Wbi £ pre 3 S is outrageous at the starred-off of Nottingham making the vulgar question of food , raiment , and liberty , any part or paroel of an election contest .
Now , it is quite clear that" quoad" Mr . Walter ' s eloquence , Lord John would have nothing to fear ; but the fact of Mr . Walter being returned , ju ^ t now , " pendente Hie" upon such a question as opposition to the New Poor Law , would speak in dumb eloquence to the Noble Lord , a language of whioh he would comprehend the full yalue . It would be far more significant than my Lord Bukleigh ' s nod , and especially to a brother Minister of the Noble Lord ' s , Sir John C . Hobhouse , the other Member for Nottingham , and to whom it would be a very significant notice to quit , —or to have his traps , at all events , ready for a start upon the next rent day .
Now , we look upon the question of the Poor Laws as next in importance to eur Charter ; not that we expect any , the slightest , mitigation from the return of Mr . Walter , or from a whole Tory House . Bnt it being the very worst of the many very bad Whig measures , and this being the time for renewing the contract , we do , without cant , look npon the present opportunity , taken in all its bearings , as a Divine interposition of Providence , to afford the people of Nottingham ( so riotous and furious for"Refonn , " ) anopportunity of testifyingsorrow for their ignorance and repentance for their former reliance upon Whig tricksters , by which they were induced to have recourse to the torch for the destruction of property .
We take it , that if the Poor Law was a just reward for what the people of Nottingham did to promote " Reform , " that the return of Mr . Walter , just now , will be a fiir reward for the Poor Law . But let us come to the point . A merchant of the name of Trayers consults with a grocer of the name of Swithin , both of the city of London , as to the most fit and proper person to represent the poor weavers of Nottingham . These fellows Bay , " 0 * . T . P . G . Y . H . L . Z . Larpent , the French merchant ,
and Chairman of a whole parcel of Boards and Banks , is jnst the man to cook the weavers' dish ; so let us consign him to the starve-guts at Nottingham , marked ' To be kept dry , and this side up . '" " He is just the man , " says the Sun . Well , down comes this worthy to a Mr . Close and others , and they countersign the consignment , and they put the right side up , " Repeal of the Corn Laws and the Ballot . " About St . Mary ' s Church , and the Poor Laws , and all those trifles , pae is silent , but will think of them .
Now , then , pitching men over board and coming to a consideration of measures , what , let us ask , are the * ' Plague" just now endeavouring to accomplish 1 Is it not to make a repeal of the Corn Laws the only teat upon a dissolution— the one thing ] needful , " as the " Young Liar" has it 1 On this question , however , the French cook , Monsieur JFroggy , and his opponent are upon a perfect quality ; as Walter is for a repeal of the
Corn Laws ; but the people think that a repeal of the New Poor Law ia more neoessary than a repeal of the Corn Laws ; and , therefore , without reference to the rival men , they make measures their consideration ; and they say , " what do you want ! If a Corn Law repealer , you can have him in the person of a Poor Law repealer . " But no , as your wealth depends upon our poverty , you would prefer neither to both .
Now we like to be plain , and let u * take a fair sample for a plain argument . Walter and Easthops then , are proprietors of the leading Journals of their respective parties . Easthope calls himself liberal and Walter illiberal . Now , the repeal of the Corn Laws is to be the next test of liberality , and Walter , as well as Easthope , is up to the mark there ; and then Walter is beyond Easthope iu liberality upon the real question of cheap food , the repeal of the New Poor Law . Bat why mince tho matter t The Sun and the Whigs call all opposition to Whigsby the Chartistsan " unholy alliance between Chartists and Tories . " We ask , could au alliance be more unholy than with a bloody faction , who have consigned the beet friends of the people to penal settlements , to felons' dungeons , and to death ?
Again , Da » and his myrmidons have told the Chartists that they are no one , uo party , and have no power ; but as Sweet tells the Tories to their faces , we hold the balance of power ; and how can we show that power so effectually as by beating the enemy most immediately in our way , because in office I If the Chartists had a man of their own , and if it was a general election , then their duty would be to stand by their own man ; but here they must use their weight as the balance of power , and instead of being longer made tools of , they mast now make a tool of Walter to beat the Whiga .
The Sun says , Mr . Somebody was recommended ; but we don't want a Government hack . " Why , what is every Whig in the House bat a hack , so long as the Tories join the Whigs in' all their destructive measures , and the cry of " keep the Tories out" brings all the Radical tail to the aid of the Whigs , upon the slightest chance of defeat , no matter what the question is I Messrs . Whitehbad and Sweet have put the thing upoa its proper footing . They eay , " let them call this coalition what they please ; we have no dread of the Poor Law for ourselves , but we have witnessed its blasting effects upon our less fortunate neighbours , and as we . hold our votes in trust for them , for THEIR best friend they shall be riven . "
We look upon the result of the Nottingham election as of the last importance to the Radical cause . The return of Larpent , the Frenoh Cook , will add a joint to 'the oppressor ' s tail ; while the return of Waltsr must , as a matter of course , smash the knot and break up the old bundle of rotten twigs . They ought not to hold office ; they ought not to proceed with the Poor Law Amendment Bill , and they will know now to value Chartist power , if their man is packed up again and sent back to " Travebs and Swithin , " labelled This side up . " " Pooa Law Amendment Act "
If the opponent of this Bill is now returned , and while a dissolution is pending , how many votes will it convert upon the remaining portion , and when bringing up the Report ! It is all-important .
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-r--K « thto « 'ean ' ' ; be . abre " BiH ^ tbMtneWBi ^ ch " attw . of OifcrtiBtie * dwB fceing ; hired fcy th « Tories , and for thisre ^ HN ^ W * fat : prwe popular hatred against ihemseltfrs , because , though nothing averse to pay Chartist leaders , they cannot get one ; for it would be a dangerous experiment to advocate Whig principles upon a public hostiuga . The hatred to Whigfl w » d Whiggery has become awful and deadly . Unite , indeed i Perhaps Mrs . Fhost , Mrs . Cl atton , or Mrs . Pbddib , may feel inclined to onite with the Whigs 1
Now , one word as to the justice . Suppose , then , a contest for Nottingham to lie between Sir Robert Ingxis , the greatest Tory in England , and Fearous O'Connor ; and suppose Eas * hopb , or Mtodo Yotww ; to have tba casting vote ; for whom would they vote ! For Inqlis , without a moment ' s hesitation . Then , inasmuch as Whigs bate Chartists more than they hate Tories , why may not Chartists pay them off in kind 1 However , we have only to say that we highly approve of our friends' determination ; and we should be cowardly were we to
await the result and then give our opinion according to that result ; so we go in the boat with Whitehead and Sweet and our jolly Chartist crew , and say "down with the Whig . " Give Fboogt a touch of your training to take back to the city . Ask him about the £ 70 , 000 for horses and £ 30 , 000 for knowledge . " Ask him about Frost , and Clayton , and the Charter , and Peel ' s Bill of 1819 ; and ram the six points down bis ears . "Go the whole hog ; " and when you go about it , do it like men , at once , without being afraid of being taken to task by the
enemy . This is a great God-send for our cause . The Char * tiats should all poll early , to show that ( hey poll for the principle and not for the man ; and mind give it to Fkooov we ll , about poor Longley and the House that Jack built , and all the rest ol it . Thin io the first real opportunity the men of Nottingham have had since the Reform Bill ; and we say , go it Chartists . Mind you pack Larpent up , labelled " this side up . " "New Poor Law . " Indeed , if you have any time , yon should have a coffin carried through the town , with the Poor Law Amendment Act on it , and marked " This side up . " There is one circumstance which cannot be too
forcibly impressed upon the minds of the Chartists . It is this : —Having embarked in the project , they must now •? go in , over , or through {" neither turning to the right hand nor to the left ; braving everything , and afraid of nothing ; but least of all Of the paper pellets and senseless anathemas of friends Easthope and Murdo Young , Travbrs , Swithin , and the sugar baker , and " old clothes" ( Close ) of Nottingham , who most insolently presume to be better judges of popular feeling and popular opinion at
Nottingham , and what and who would best represent it ' than Whitehea d andSwEET , two menofgreat natura ] understanding , unblemished character , and well known kind-heartedness , who feel fur their neighbours and for their country . Let them beat the French cook , and leave the scribes to us ! They must take especial care that Mr . Returning Officer plays no trick at the nomination . They must have their own fugleman , dressed in their own colours ; and they must divide , if any unfair play is attempted .
Above all , go with their man , fearless , and nothing daunted ! Go with him , not as Walter , but as an emblem of English hatred to starvation , transportation , incarceration , and every thing that is base . This is the most important election that has taken place Binoe the Reform Bill . Blink it for a period as they may , the real question to be decided is , "BostHe , or liberty ; " " starvation , or plenty ; " "house , or no house ; " " England , or transportation ; " u virtuous poverty , no vice ; or vice preferable to virtue . " These are the questions at issue between the people and their oppressors .
Chartists 1 give the " base , brutal , and bloody " rascals a slight touch of that " power"' which they keep eternally teiliug . you "you hare not got f just let them feel it 1 Go At them like Britons ! Never mind old Beggar man , or the " Establishment" 1 Mind your homos ! your families ! and your wives ! and down with the Whigs !! 1
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—— ? THE CONVENTION . We ( his week publish a list of the several delegates nominated t > the Convention , to meet on the Srd of May . If any have escaped our observation , we most urgently press upon our friends the absolute necessity of forwarding the names , under cover , to Mr . A . Heywood , 60 , Oldham-street , Manchester , for tiie Executive , by the first post , in order that the business may be oompletod . It will bo the duty , then , of the Executive to transmit . at once , to each locality which has returned a delegate , the list of the ten chosen at a public meeting by ballot , and also to forward a list to our office .
It will then be the duty of our London friends to agree for a convenient , commodious , and respectable place of meeting , so that not an hour ' s delay will take place when the delegates arrive . When the treasurer is appointed , Mr . O'Connor will transmit to him the funds for the payment of the delegates , and places of meeting ; and as Glasgow has nobly resolved upon paying its own delegate , we respectfully submit the propriety of paying the three London delegates £ 1 per week each , which will be the £ 3 spared by Glasgow paying its own . This is for the delegates to decide upon .
This is a work which cannot be omitted , and no time must bo lost . Every locality that has elected a delegate must be prepared with means to send him to London on Saturday next , May 1 st , if chosen . We have already noticed the following as nominated : —M'Douall , Pitkethly , Cullam , Deegan . Collins ; Woodward , Brighton ; Dover , Norwich ; Skevington , Loughborongh ; Smart , Leicester ; Marsden , Bolton- ; Williams , Wales ; Arthur , Carlisle !; Gillet , Sheffield Sweet , Nottingham ; Martin , Birmingham , for Restoration Committee .
Any of those elected , who cannot attend , will have the goodness to advise the Executive , at once , of that fact ; and any whose names have been this week omitted by us will also advise the Executive . ' In balloting , of course the Executive will put in the name oft each candidate as many times as he has been nominated by different localities . Never , perhaps , was there a more propitious movement than the present for our representatives to meet . We shall expect a fair and full expression of opinion upon all questions interesting to our cause ; while their effect , and the effect of the National Petition , must be a sickener for those who hugged themselves into the hope that Chartism was dead . It is now going to rise from the tomb with a giant ' s strength . Let the petitions be feigned by every one in the kingdom . .- "
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~~ n ~~ ^~ - O — GEORGE HENRY WARD AND THE NEW MOVE . This uncommon booby , who will thrust his head into everything , has written a parcel of stuff upon the " new move , " He writes about what he knows nothing . He Bays that "Feabgus O'Connor is furious , because Lovett , Collins , and Vincent disoountenance the new Convention ; " the faot being that Collins has sought the honour of being one of the members , and , we think , indecently sought it .
But poor George has a parcel of Btuff about a man with one leg , and a man with two legs ; but he has not said a word about the man with two legs and two ^ axms not bei ng able to fill one bell y . He hints , as usual , about a bit of political economy , and then says he will say nothing more upoa that subject , but takes us to task for not saying what the Charter would do . ; Now , our principal charge against Reformers is for having told the people what Reform would do , and that Reform has not done one of the promised things , We hold it that nothing could be more
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despotic than laying down rolerfor the gweriraieBt of an enfranchised-body not yet in- * xistenc 6 . ( Whatever Universal Suffrage doei , ^ % lll 40 with th * concurrence of the majority . That ' s all we have ft right to expect . .... ¦ .. ¦ : ,... ¦ :. _ . .-. , , > ... • - . ; : But our reason for giving Geobgb Hswftt Wabd a separate notice ; is this : he is chief "knowledge" monger ; he says he will give the people a vote when they are qualified by ** education , " and that beingMs test , it beeomes our duty to compare his practice with his preaching , in order that we may judge of hi * sincerity . Wei take it , then , that reading his Chronicle is a good preparatory ?'
education , " at least bo GbobqeHbhrt Wabd must admit . We next take it that a tax upon «' knowledge' ' is the way to prevent its spread . We next take the last Stamp Returns , and find that the Chronicle is paying well at 4 Jd . We then take the Chronicle at 5 d . and we find that , Geobgb Henbt Wabb , E&q . principal" knowledge" -monger , has taxed his scholars to the small sum of £ 4113 s . 4 d . per week , or more than £ 2000 perannum , or to the amount of one-fifteenth of the whole sum proposed for " educating" the whole people ; or in other words , taking a leaf out of the Chancellor of the Exchequer ' s book , he has laid an increase of ten percent , on his lights . We think that will do for our friend !
While he is clamouring for knowledge , " as a test of eleotoralfitnesB , he has fobbed £ 2 , 000 ayear by non-electoral ignorance ; no , by electoral ignorance , for we doubt the people reading his jargon . ' How different with the Chartists . Maguire , the spy asks the Secretary of the Golden Lane Association for a Northern Star , and he offers 4 # d . No , says the Secretary , they are sent to us for circulation by our English , brother Chartists ; we will only take one penny to defray expences . How different that , from our friend ' s praotioe t
In fact , the whole press is mad about the new Convention ; and the Examiner takes the metro * politan Chartists to task for not returning more gen * tlemaniy men than Nsesom , Wall , and Boggis , and also states the proposal for a new Convention to be a failure . Poor , poor Examiner ; one half of the sum for its expences was lodged by return of post , and the Convention meets on the 3 rd of May under your nose , and just in time for the " plague , " who are about assembling at the fame time . Will they meet our men ! We give them the Examiner and Chronicle staff to back them . - ' . ' Our poor old croakers are all dead beaten . " Keep the Tories out" has lost its charm . What next \
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IRISH PROGRESS : DAN IN A QUANDARY . All things are going gloriously on in Ireland ; every post brings us new intelligence , aad every new batch of intelligence is more inspiriting than the last . The seed of Chartism , sown upon £ soil bo fruitful , cannot fail to-bring forth plentifully ; and it is doing so to the high discomfiture of the arch-traitor and his dupes and myrmidons . Dan is in fits , and knows not what to do ; the ghost of Chartism haunts his day dreams , and disturbs his nightly slumbers . He now repents bitterly , or seems to do so , that he attacked th » m . He is too old a general not to know that by so doing be ba 9 necessarily caused many to inquire ; and the
vilbin knows enough of man ' s disposition to receive the troth upon inquiry to know that all investigation , instituted by Irishmen , into the principles of Chartism , their connexion with repeat , and with the interests of the Irish people , must lead to comparisons between these unchanged and unchangeable principles , and the ever-flitting tortuousness of his career , consistent only in being perfectly inconsistent ; which comparison could ead only disastrously for him . Hence , at a meeting ef his staff on Tuesday week , the old Fox takes another trick out of his bag , and seeks to " gammon the flats" by affecting now to treat the Chartists with contempt . The Belfast Vindicator thus reports it : —
" Mr . Hubert M'Guire said that he had made it his duty to go to Golden-lane on Saturday evening last , aad had succeeded in procuring some information relative to the Chartists who met there . The first doe he bad procured to their discovery was one of the cards dated "Dublin , 1841 , " and bearing the signatures of two secretaries . He ( Mr . M'Guire ) had afterwards succeeded in making out their principalman or leader —( hear)—who resides in Golden-lane , and who gave him ( Mr . M'Guire ) a copy of the Northern Star for one
penny . He ( Mr . M'Guire ) offered full price for the paper , bat it was refused , the gentleman to whan be offered it saying that he got it gratis himself . He had promised to attend their meeting next Sunday , bat had since heard that they had merged into a trade 8 oeiety—( hear)—and had branches in the Idberty , Jamea's-street , Mary ' s Abbey , and elsewhere . It might or might not be prudent his doing so , but he ( Mr . M'Guire ) hwi resolved upon attending the meeting on Sunday next , and gaining as much additional information as possible .
" Mr . OCoknell—It Wftuld be much better for Mr . M'Guire not to meddle With these persons at all . They had deceived and deluded him with most unpardonable lies . Indeed , bo contemptible are these men , that to take any notice of them would be merely to raise them to fictitious importance . These fellows are really too contemptible . I implore of you not to believe one word they say—ia laugh ) . I know their shift well ; they fancy that we will make them subjects for discussion here , and hope that they will thus be protruded into notice . For my part , I will never saya word more about them . " J
We ask only of every one of Dan ' s dupes to place this affectation of contempt alongside the earnestness ot his long , laboured , and lying address to the operatives of Newry , inserted elsewhere , and we know then that they will feel his position as certainly as he himself feels it . Dan has become conscious that his end draws nigh ; he is dead beaten , and feela it ; n « r does ho feel it . the less keenly , as we guess , from not being able , with ' all his affected indifference , to prevent other people from seeing it . Thus , an Irish paper , which , it will be seen , has small love for the ¦ liberator , " commenting
upon this meeting , says : — " Feargus , we prophecy , -will be able to attend a meeting at the Corn-Exchange yet , and beard his persecutor even in that Sanctuary of hft ill-gained power . So terrified is the Agitator at the prospect —which , we admit , is anything but an agreeable one—that , notwithstanding his resolution to allow the Chartists to sink into insignificance by . never minding them , he could not repress the anxiety of his mind at Lusk , where , adverting again to these objects of his apprehension , he eagerly impressed upon the people the direful consequences of fraternising with meu who dare to eay what they want without i qiuvocation or evasion . "
Yes , the time is coming when Ireland shall open her eyes , and the film of interested humbug Bhail fall from them . The battle of truth against fraud was never seen to more advantage than in this conflict between O'Connell and O'Connor . Do but contrast the means at the disposal of the patties . One having at his back nearly fifty pliant M . P . ' s , the whole press of the empire . Whig and Tory , the whole of the old maohinery for humbugging Ireland ; Repeal rent , hig liberty , and an undertaking of non-interference from the Tioeroy , and the Attorney-General . The other has his pen , and is in solitary confinemeuti See , then , the power of truth' over falsehood—the advantage of principle over Bohemincl
Further onj , at the same meeting , the ; u five hundred thousand fighting men" miscreant , substituting the words •* physical foroe" for Chartism , says : — - - ' ; ; -- -.. ¦'¦ ¦ ¦ : . - .: ' - ¦ ¦ .-. ¦ ¦ : ¦ . '' .. ,: - . "If the doctrine , of physical force were introduced into Ireland , he would abandon the' agitation of Repeal . ( Hear . ) This , Mr . Feargus O'Connor and the Chartists knew , and they , therefore , preached the doctrine to defeat his purposes . He could not understand the man unless he was in the pay of the enemy —( hear , hear)—and this idea was greatly abroad in England . " Let all eyes be now kept upon Ireland .
We subjoin the following few lines from the Waterford correspondent of the WorW , in order to show the blighting effiwt which * hope deferred " and humbug has had upon the very best town in Ireland ; he says > . — "This city is as politically inactive as if aredress of the evils under which the country was said to labour had been effected ; and you would at this moment hear as little uttered about Repeal , ¦ thecollection of the fund , etc ., as if Daniel O Conn 61 ) , or Thomas Reynolds , aad never been amongst us . "
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- Sanw (** artha-BisdBeg ^ m O'Connor being in the pay . pf-the enemy , is a rumour gaining ground in England . He is in the pay of the enemy ; but , U ^ oft ]| m ^ emy , tp the obsljrnction ojf freedom , liberty , " and the Charter . ' He , no doubt is much in . X » A ? ji'i '' y $ S , but ^ are glad . to find thai Dan is about to be removed out of his way . Just let any man of unprejudiced mind review the manner in Whieh . O'Coiwda has * tood up against , and battled , this tyrant , from the hour he entered the House of Commons , in 1833 , to the present moment ; without acting like the tyrant ' s weaker foes , who always gave him a trramph by going over to the enemy in disgust ; but O'Connor has held to his every principle and tools country , and has beaten him fairly and consistently .
We intimated , before the Session commenced , whai the npshot of f Repeal" would be . Dan has to .. nounccd his intention of giving it up if Chartism succeeds . As further evidence that the power of Dan ia fast failing , and his blarney losing its effect , we give the following , from the Dublin Monitor , in reference to another and a later meeting of the " Royal Loyals " :-" There was a jabileo yesterday at the Com Exchange , in honour of a God-send from America to the empty coffers of Repeal . Three hundred
pounds were received from the American Repealers and great was the delight thereat . Thus the association is out of Mr . O'Connell ' s debt , and he stands in the position cf debtor to it for a while . We nndertake to predict , however , that before many weeks we shall have vouchers to prove that the above hundreds have gone the way of all their predecessors—spent upon a fatuity . " We have not paid the proper attention to the last auditing of' the Repeal accounts which the interesting nature of the subject required . We shall briefly do so now , and as the document has the great merit of brevity , we subjoin it : —
" We certify that we have examined the account * of Daniel O'Connell , Esq ., M . P ., as treasurer of tba Loyal National Repeal . Association of Ireland , np to this date , and we find that a sum of £ 72 18 s . id . hsi been advanced by Mr . O'Connell beyond the sums lod ged in his bands , and that said sum of £ 7218 s , Id . is bow due to him as sueh treasurer . •¦ Dated thia 14 th April , 1841 . "Signed by the Auditors , " Stephen Murphy , { A very eminent fiocfor , whose name don't appear among the ^ lieen ' tiates or members of either the College of Physicians or Sorgeona of Ireland . ) - " John Reilly , ( Tailor ) . Martin Cuban , ( Paid official of the Corn Exchange ) . " Thomas Abkins , ( Tailor ) . " Wm . Magennis , " ( Gent ) .
" Thus it appeared , that on the authority of the above distinguished ' auditors , ' the Association was in debt £ 72 18 s . Id . on the 14 th inst . But the receipts from America have converted the debt into a credit for the time being . " Would it not be more satisfactory to the poor people , whose farthings , and pence , and shillings find their way into the Repeal funds , if a detailed account of the expenditure was submitted to then 1 . Suppose no other useful purpose was gained , surely it would be an arousing gratification to them to read over the varied item * . ¦
"It is quite clear that , as far as the cash u eon * cerned , Repeal hi thia country is at a discount . The Irish Repealers are not able to keep their own treasury from bankruptcy 1 If their warm-hearted and sympathising friends in England , Scotland , and America , did not aid them , there would not be S farthing to di vide among the hungry officials ef Burgh * quay . This , certainly , speaks well for the popularity of Repeal in Ireland , notwithstanding tke great eloquence and indefatigable energies of its great apostle , and * the sanctified accuracy' of the audited accounts , to use the pious phraseology of Tom Steele .
, " Mr . O'Connell tells us that when he has £ 250 , 000 in his treasury he will repeal the Union ; bnt by what happy alchemy will he be able to raise thai sum ! Why , if all the repeal buttons in Tom Arkina' shop were to- bo counted as sovereigns , the treasury would still be easpty , owing to the perpetual drain upon it . ** We often wish the-honest and industrious men of Ireland , who earn their money by the hard sweat ol their brow , could see the sleek and solemnised com * placency with which it is squandered among a parcel of idle officials , who 'boo and boo aid ay keep boom ' , ' that '' thrift may follow fawning . ' Verily , Repeal is no delusion to them—it fills their pockets ; and dolts indeed would they be if they did not move heaven and earth to keep the ball in motion .
" But there will be an end to all this . Thepeopb are beginning to open their eyes . " Yea , yes ; there mil be an eud to it , and thehegiuing of this ' end is come i The glorious seed of Chartism is already shooting forth the bud of investigation , which shall terminate in the blossoming of satisfaction , and the full fruit of honesty .
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THE "« NEW MOVE / ' ITS PATRON , AND THE COUNTRY . Ova paper is filled to-day with the expressed opinions of the country oa the "New Move . " We have scarcely anything bat recantations of toe simple and unsuspecting , who have been hooked , bat are breaking from the anglers ( let thejetters of these men be read—they are worth reading , ) and resolutions of condemnation of the whole project . If there be any bodies or individuals , appertaining to the Chartist ranks , who have not yet studied the " New Move" in all its bearings—its origin , its purport , and its tendency—we must beg them to remember thai its ostensible and avowed object is
the carrying of the Charter—the extending , and making sure and universal , of the principles of the Charter ; to remember that this is the object of the new move—the most ardently professed desire of its eoneootors and supporters ; we beg them , then , to read the address of Daniel O'Conxxu to th » operatives of . Newry , published in our . third page , to note the ardency of Daniel ' s love for Chartism , and then , that there may be " no mistake ' as to the real object of this " new move , " we present them once more with the declaration of the arch-traitor , the avowed enemy of Chartism , respecting it . He is privy to the whole scheme , and he thus dilates upon its hatching and intended effect : —
u He understood that there was an Association about being formed , at the head of which were Messrs . Lovett , Collins , and Cleave—three of as good men as were in the community—having for its object HOUSEHOLD SUFFRAGE and SHORTENING THB DV'BAiion op parliament , and PERFECTLY UNCONNECTED WITH FEARGUS and his wild associates ; and instead of impeding reform in England , this Association might be made exceedingly u&M vnver proper management , and the guidance ol the men whose names he mentioned . " Need we insert further 1 Is aay one so blind as to be yet unable to discover the signs of the times .
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Many corresfoivients must remain unnoticed until nextvocek . EKBATUM .---2 n our last week ' s notices to correspondents , W . O ., Nuneaton ; should have , teen Vf . i . O ., Nuneaton . ' c . , Emuium . —In Mr . O'Brien ' s letter on the So ^ al . Power of the Middle Classes , ^ c , which appeW * on the first page of last week ' s Star , a mtsprtm occurs in the note at the bottom of the first cotv *" - , For "depreciation" of our currency , ^ Jtaa appreciation . Mr . OB . of cows ? , rtvdet ™ Peel ' s Bill , which , by making mom tcarce raised its value relatively to every other ¦ cofnwt dily , and thereby virtually augmented ™ - ™
iumal » £ > ebt , aswellas all private debt * «™ obligations incurred between 1797 ( thei / ear tne Sank stopped payment ) and 1819 ( the date oj Peel ' s Bill ) . ,. Mb . Wk . Mabtin wishes his name inserted t » «< Slur a * a teetotaller ; but no janatie or hum-Beiqhton . —Our Brighton friends niU see M & * letter of the Executive , that they haveacetP *? the duty of balloting for the members to consatute the Petition Convention . '__ A HARDwoBKiHG Chabtist . —TT «/ . at » fw < r » w » ; Obadiah BaoADBttiM . —We do not think the pm ^ ¦¦
cation of his letter advisable . ; ..,, •// R . Blight . —We cannot publish his letter ; but m > bear in . mind the fact , and may use ttanow ^ lime . . , .. f . Hbnky Griffiths calls emphatically upon W «* " !» ing men of London to aid him in breaking »« the attempt made by Messrs . Salter wt-f ™ stop the right of road which the Pf iujr * ahvays had across what is now called tne vy > , Park , in Notting Vale . From the ] **** % "' % . his letter , which is too long for •«^ r / £ (/^ think it a case in which the people are w ^? ^ assert their rights ; and we hope they w » 19 . ' . " ' '¦ t * i * i * £ » -
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4 T H E , N 0 B T 8-ES ^ STAtR-
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Citation
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Northern Star (1837-1852), April 24, 1841, page 4, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/ns/issues/vm2-ncseproduct376/page/4/
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