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THE NORTHERN STAR SATURDAY, MAY 22. 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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"FREE" DISCUSSION ! PACKED MEETING : ¦ ffM' TO GET " SUPPORT" FOR THE WHIG MINISTRY . ( Reported by a Stranger Present . ) Tr . e-Whigs of Manchester have this week held a mc ~ : ; n £ , for the purpose of supporting Ministers , n-i'l j r circumstances which bus too plainly proclaim t ] -. wretched condition to which the u bloody factk , "' i » reduced . They had tne impudence to ea ; l tt = ir meeting a public meeting ; while the measures thev rook were such as to effsctnally exclude the P ' i .-: ic . The meeting was called by the Mayor , in pnr < jance of a requisition , very nnmerously signed ; the maior portion of those signatures having been obiair . ed so that a trick mighx be played off upon the public ; wid that , by means of this trick , the p lace Of meet n # might be packed , and a favourable opinion rep .-c ^ sii Ministers thus secured . of
Jls inck was this : a lar ^ e number tickets yr re prepared , purporting to be addressed to the rt « ' sit >' . 'ni . « ts , and to them only . The following is a tt -py of this ticket ; first premising that the meeting wa 3 called for eleven o ' clock : — A 3 one of the r-q-j sitionists , you are requested to attend at a quarter past ten o ' clock on Tuesday morning . " The id tickets were extensively distributed amongst all prrsous , whether requisitic-nists or not , wherever the > e distributing them thought they were safe . Scon > were entrusted with them by hundreds , to ferre : cut those whom they could depend on- Waroho j .--. raen , overlookers , and hangers-oq of every
de-iTipti-jn , and even persons from a distance , totally on ? mnncied with the town of Manchester , had ih-rse tickets given to them . In fact the writer of ih ; - re'jvri . though an inhabitant of a town sixty mile- uisiant , aiid who was only in Manchester on pr . ra . e business , was presented with one of these tick-. : s ; aad he was accompanied to the meeting by four ith ^ r geniiemen , not one of whom " was a req'r .-dtionist , or indeed hardly ever saw the requisition even when printed ; but all whom h 3 d had tick-t * nrepeated to them as requisiiioiiisr-s , and they were ad nutted to the meeting by the private mu-rjitce in that character .
£ . . hali-past ten the public began to assemble , and © a aifcempting toenter by either of the usual passages the :, « ei <; repelled by parties who refused to give eixh-.-r ih ^ . r names or au thority . On further inquiry it vta > discovered that persons were in the meantime procuring admission through the police-office in * no ; h--r part of the building , and on proceeding to the spot , we found this passage lined on the inside ¦ with police on either hand , and ticket-bearers only admired , one by one , with the most jealous scrutiny ana :, Tec ° utioii . On one side was a person , slid to c f : he son of a well-known Whig and member of the Corporation , distributing tickets of admission to eppf-z-ea individual * who presented themselves unpruTMcd ; but most respectabl y Conservative gentleme- wjre distinct !* - and positively refused . One of
them , ; o our knowledge , asserted his right to enter as a Commissioner of Police , and succeeded . The writer of this report , accompanied by the friend ib-. ve alluded to , presented himself at the private entrance , and readily obtained admission on producing his " ticket . " On entering the large room , he found it about half filled with persons who had been admitted in the same manner as he had ; while lar ^ e enwds of persons were waiting in the portico and ia the street , in front of the building , every one being refused admittance if he was not possessed of a " tick "u" Indeed , the following fact , as given in the -Vuiwhester Chronicle , of Wednesday , will shew the extant to which this system of exclusion was carr i ed , and the resolnte determination to have ' none but ' .. iOr >; Qghgoing Ministerialists present .
" Mr . Koi > ert Gardner , an eminent merchant and manufacturer , of Conservative politics , and an ardent frienu tofree-tradeprinciples , had engaged , on thefaith that ths meeting wa 3 to be of a purely commercial and do : poiiticai character , to move the first resolution . Oi / nrst presenting himself at the police barricade b . e fortunately had his ticket with him , but meting a gentleman , of the highest respectability , who had been repuUed for want of a ticket , Mr . Gardner endeavoured to introduce him in his company . Fie ding thai the police were under orders sostringent that thev could not allow this , Mr . Gardner went in
alone , and remonstrated with the parlies assembled , on the extreme severity of the measures adopted to exclude the public He subsequently returned to communicate the result of his remonstrance to his excluded friend , but unfortunately left- his ticket behind him . Oa presenting himself a second time at the barrier , he wa 3 rudely refused admittance ; and on producing the resolution which" he h 3 d to move , as evidence of his title to entrance , the officer in command of the police exclaimed—* Take tha : man int" en 3 tody ; ' and he was , in point of fact , acrualiy ? j . cted—thrust ont—by the hands of the POV : C « !
w >> r rMirse the p" > l ee-offieer would never have presumed to h 3 Te acted thus , had he not received distinct and p ? si : iveordersfrom the presiding auihoriues ; so 'hat the case amounts to this . The Manchester Whi ^ s , with the Mayor at their head , first entrap a ConsenMtive gentleman into a promise of co-operation rri ; h them uuder false pretencea ; and whej he ventures to remonstrate aiaiast the ¦ unprecedented and unwarrantable steps they take to pack their meeting , they actually seize a pretext to get him turned out with insult and even violence ! It isorily of Manchester Whigs and Manchester Corporators that anything so utterly despicable , unmanly , and bnr . ish could be predica ^ d . "
By these nvans the room was fully three-fourths Hied wita " Requisitionhts" who had not signed the Inquisition ! As a sort of pretence for this trick , the Bommi'tee of arrangements went through the farce of submitting their resolutions to the "Hequisitioru ^ ts , " and taking a vote upon them . All this tim-, and until after the clock had struck eleven , ( the advertised hour for the business of the mettibg to eoainvjncej the doors were kept closed , and the publio excluded ! Before the doors were thrown open , the Mayor assumed the chair ; and he rose to open the business of the day simultaneously with the appearance ot the first batch of the persons constituting Xht public . Aft- r the doors were opened , not one word of what he said could be heard by the meetings for he spoke while the parsons who had been excluded ( until a
majority had beea packed into the toont ) were entering . He is reported , by the Manchester Guardian , to have . "aid , " He had taken th 3 chair according to the power vested in him by law—( hear , hear , — he wished to allow fair and free discussion—( hear )—he hoped no one would advance principles he was afraid of being controverted , and that the meeting would patiantly listen to any observations made . Any amendments to the resolutions to be subm . tted , so long as those amendments were in accordance with the subject for which this meeting wa 3 con-Tened , should be submitted to the meeting for its decision- He hoped that , as Englishmen , they would respect the laws , and would conduct themselves with that peace and decorum becoming the important snbjett thf ^ y were this day met to consider . "C Hear , htar , " and a cry of " Down with the Whigs ! " )
A Mr . Aidennan K&y ross to move the first resolution to be adopted by the public meeting ; and Sir Thokas Potieb seconded it . Bo-. h the ? e gentlemen were heard with the greatest patience and attention . Indeed , not a single interruption of any fcnd or degree was offered to them . When the Mayor rose to perform the farce of putting the motion to the meeting , the Rev . Mr . ochupill » presented himself to move au amendment . JHo sooner , however , did he rise for this purpose , than it seemed as if heli itself were let loose . ' The patriotic , enlightened , ** educated , '' " liberal" Whigs Bet np yells , groans , hisses , and brayings ; some of them using cat-calls , and other artificial modes of annoyances . Nol a word could be heard from Mr . Schofield ; and he was ultimately compelled to bh down , with barely moving bis amendment in dumb ahow .
Mr . Elijah Dixds , who was in the bony of the room , called oat that he would second the amendment ; and he attempted to go upon the hustings to offer ( 0 the meeting his reasons for so doing . Hi ? progress thither was opposed by a gang of respectable" blackguards , who eet upon Mr . Dix-n with fiend-like ferocity , using their feet and fists in the most " educated" manner , and pushing about , hoot ing , and kicking in the most gentlemanly ' t-tyle . For full five minutes did they tueceed in keeping Mr . Dixon from the hustings , though h ? was not finyards from it when he first set out to get upon ihtm . During all tkia time , the Mayor , who had promised % "fair and free discussion , " aud had called upon his friends to " conduct themselves with decorum , "
actually stood m front of the chair , saw the manuer in which his friends were u-ing Mr . Dxon ; s » w blows , and kicks given ; and never held up n flayer , or uttered a word , to get them to desut !!! Hr . Dixon , however , at last fought his way to the huntings , and his appearance there w ^ s the -signal for another outburst of M edacation" and " intellectuality . " The " * broad-cloths" yelled most vociferously . The profit-eater prodnced hiB cat-call , and most m eleg-antly" did he nse it . The sleek-l-wkinu , primly-dreeed t "battonless blackguard" Q , oaker might be seen in many an instance comrsctuig hi 9 rigid saintly features , and hissirg in most charming ctyle . Indeed , all the "ignorant , " " uneducated , " low follows ' in Manchester could not have beaten the " respectables" at th : s most intellectual version
of m fne disenwion I" Alter this had continued to some minute * , the Mayor , who had ^ guarant ^ eo free discussion ; who had reqnested for erery one a fair hearing ; who was not afraid of any of their principles being controverted ;— [ he need not when £ e had bo effectually packed the m feting ] —who hid called upon hu friends to condnct themselves with peace and decorum ; actually had the impudence to Et it to the rote in his pa < ked meetieg , whether r . Dtxon should , or Fhouid not . be heard ! The Re ^ aisjrionisu , " en this cue by the . Mtyer , instantly rowd he abould no ; be heard ' , and even after : this *• educated' exhibition of " liberality , " th « "Mayor % ^ 4 the still greater impudence lo jiu thronKh < be farce of putting the amendment to ih * - T « fce , ^ rksr * o * a sin gle word of it nad been heai d ,
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-insjle reason allowed to be adduced in its suppor : ! As mi ; hi bs expected , the " packed meeting , " who had refused to hvjar the speakers iu support of the amendment , rejected the amendment itself ! Actuated by feelings of unutterable diagust at such li respectable" conduct , the writer of th s report left the meeting , strongly convinced of the absolute necessity for an extended system of " National Education , " which should have for one of its objects the teaching of the broad-cloth-gentry how to behave themselves as well as the poor , despised , persecuted Chartists . The writer understands that , in an after stage of the proceedings , the following Protest was handed to the Mayor , and by him read to the meeting . It was also extensively posted as a large placard on the walls of the town .
" PACKED MEBETTAO . " Fellow-townsmen , —We the undersigned inhabitants of the borough of Manchester , attended at the Town Hall , this morning , from ten until eleven o ' clock , in consequefiee of the Mayor having convened a public meetbg of the inhabitants of the Borough , to be holden there at eleven o ' clock ; and we having DEMANDED and been REFUSED ADMISSION at the door of the Police Office , ( all the other doors of admission being locked , ) and having witnessed the refusal of many hundred other persons , whilst all parties presenting a ticket were admitted , do , on these grounds , PROTEST AGAINST the said Meeting bring considered a PUBLIC MEETING of the inhabitants of the Borough , or competent to express their opinions , iiiasmuch as the room was manifestly PACKED when the doors were opened at eleven o ' clock . " J . B . Wakklyn .
" Thohas Fliktoff . " John Barker . " JOHM MlDDLETON , Jun . " Robert Bradley . " R . Ksymeb . " Manchester , 18 : h May , 1841 . " In reference to thi 3 very proper and necessary protest , the Manchester Guardian tries to get his friends out of the dirt in tha following manner : — Why these very amusing gentlemen should go to the Town Hall at ten o ' clock , when the meeting was called for eleven , we cannot conceive , and they do not choose to explain . Unless they wanted to pack the meeting , we conceive they would have waited until the time fixed for the commencement of the
proceedings . But they allege that " parties presenting a ticket were admitted . " No doubt they were ; tickets had been issued to the parties whoysigned the requisition , and who were requested to assemble a little before the time fixed for the commencement of the proceedings , in order that they might determine upon the resolutions to be submitted to the meeting , and select the parties by whom they were to be moved and seconded . OwiDg to the large number of the requisitionists , no other room in tne building could have contained them ; and hence tlierc was a necessity for their assembling in the same room appointed for the publio meeting . This proceeding was in strict conformity with the practice of former public meetings in the town ; and its propri * ty is perfectly unquestionable . "
In answer to the lame effort of the Guardian , it may be observed that it nowhere appears that the protesting gentlemen offered themselves for admission at ten o ' clock . The doors were not opened for those who had not tickets until after eleven ; and with reference to the other portion of the Guardian ' s explanation , the following remarks from the JManchester Chronicle , published on the same day as the Guardian , dissipates it into thin air . Tne Chronicle says : — " We understand the Mayor affirmed that precedent existed for the preoccupation of the room by ticket-bearers , admitted one by one , through a double column of police lining a private entrance , but we maintain confidently that no such expedient was ever resorted to before . The requisitionists to publio meetings do often assemble before the hour announced , to meet the authorities , and settle the preliminary
arrangements ; but such meetings invariably take place in another room , from which , at the due time , the parties proceed to the place of publie meeting , when the chair is taken . The business at such previous meeting is strictly preliminary , and the public are expected to assemble meantime in the place assigned for open meeting . But the cards of summons issued on the present occasion , say nothing about preliminary business , and these were distributed to hundreds who were not requiEitiontste ; and by these means the place of public meeting was effectually packed before the hour for opening the doors . Tni . s we repeat , was wholly unprecedented , and it utterly destroyed all the pretensions of the assembly to ihe character of a public meeting . It was a mere party demonstration , to which , by their command of the Town Hall and of the police , the Corporation attempted to give Bomewhat of the exterior semblance of a Town ' s meeting . "
Yes , the meeting was a packed one ! The Whigs of Manchester feel and know , that unless they had resorted to this new method cf obtaining an expression of "free opinion , " their meeting would have been a decided failure ! To prevent this , and to procure for their friends a semblance of support , they resorted to the mi > erable trick of packing the meeting . If they dare , let them ca'l an outdoor meeting—and submit their resolutions to it . If they dare take this step , let them do so ! If they do not , the meeting—the packed meeting of Tucs day—will have iu due effect upon the country , and no more .
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Mr . 0 Brie * . —We have much pleasure in stating that there is no truth in the rumour of O'Brien ' s ill health . A letter from him is now lying at our office , m which he states that he is unable to account for the origin of the report , but that he is certainly not suffering from any unusnally ill state of health . This letter was sfnt to us for publication in our last , but arrived too late for insertion .
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AGITATION FOR THE WH 1 G 3 IN 1832 . AGITATION FOR THE WHIGS IN 1841 . Havi . ng borne our full share of abuse for the well-merited odium which Whig deception has so unsparingly heaped upon the Whig party , we now begin to look about U 3 in order to discover whether or no one poor outcast of a provincial journal could have created so tremendous a storm against our friends , if unaided by their own malicious cooperation .
In 1832 , no amount of Tory money , Court favour , newspaper support , or oratorical appeals , could stay the anti-Tory torrent , or hold the Whigs from office . A succession of abuses spoke in language too powerful to admit of either doubt or defence . Every town poured forth its thousands of Whig backers , while no : a few offered smoking incense in condemnation of the unmanageable Tory tyrants . Every banner floated in the brecia . Every patriot was at bis post , and the leaning of monarchy to the breakingreed seemed rather to weaken than strengthen the cause it professed to save . The nameof the King
los ; its wonted magic , even with a people beyond all others enamoured of monarchy ; while the fervour of party , for the passing moment , induced some , ( we rejoice to say not many , ) to merge the Englishman ' s gallantry into the bad man ' s spleen . The King , then , was no one , or something less ; the Queen was some one , and tomelhing mor $ . In spite of a ) l opposition , the "fiery Duke" ir&s compelled to yield to the firing people . His very house , the Englishman ' s castle , was to him no sanctuary . His name , theretofore a lower of strength , lost its magic in the storm of " peace and retrenchment . "
All this was , of course , in anticipation of what the Reformers promi > ed ; and , so courteous was puhi . c opinion , that even Irish coercion , as the very first insiaiment of English justice , and the New Poor Law , the first of Whig gratitude , were , of thtm ^ elves , insufficient to change the strong tradewind , which had just then set in in favour of general Whig policy . Still , in the teeth of these isolated acts , as they were called , was the cry of " down with the Tories , " raised at every single election . u I am a Whig , " was the only passport to pnohc confidence then required by candidates , either in single combat , or general conflict .
The first general election , the election of promise , gave the Minister a majority of two hundred in the House of Commons , the largest , as well as the most noisy , e \ er remembered—a majority quite sufficient to bring the Peers to their senses , and to have proved ( had there been a real desire to purify the system , ) that the bottom of the well being at length cleansed , henceforth the rarface would be clear . The intention , however , being transfer , and
not organic change , the Commons , in their strength , proposed only what the Lords could conscientiout ' y subscribe to . The lower House , through its leader , Lord John Russell , declared it prudent to avoid collision with ihe other branch of the Legislature , except up » n some grand fundamental question . The Noble Lord and his party , however , allowed their fundamentals to pass unnoticed , although compelled to submit to daily kicks and insults , until } at length ,
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the timidity of the Commons emboldened th 9 unreforined Lords , and made a stumbling-block , which , if takea in time , might have been reievdd with a single breath . This truckling the people saw , bat were yet silent and hopeful , until , at the end of about two years , the Whigs were compelled to taete the bitter fruits from their own tree , by seeing the old enemy strong enough to take office .
The elections of 1835 again gave courage to the WhigB ; aud again , in 1837 , the possession of the Queen ' s , name by the party in power , backed by " exclusive dealing '' and French and Belgian policy poured into the young and confiding ear of a nation ' s Monarch in nursery tales , gave the Whigi another majority . But again did tyranny and presumption break down what promise and confidence had built np , and from that hour to the present , the acts of the Whigs have been the most bloody upon
record ; and uow we ask , in 1841 , after sustaining a most disgraceful defeat , where is the enthusiasm—where the single WHIG CONFLAGRATION , so weloome in 1832—where the grand Glasgow , Birmingham , Weft Riding , Bristol , Nottingham , and all the other demonstrations of POPULAR WILL , then thought worthy of Ministerial courtship \ Whtre are they ! Where is the magio of that young and endearing name , so fondly chemhed and so successfull y used as a spell to conjure up Bupport but four short year 3 back }
In 1832 the Queen was told that she was a German . The people may now retort and say that the present lady has married a German pauper , to whom the skina-flint Whigs would have given £ 50 , 000 instead of £ 30 , 000 a-year . Where , we ask , is the magic of that name now ! This brings us to the grand question . We are told that it is in reserve , and that the old story , " Stand by me , and I'll stand by you , " is very current . Again we counsel Lord Melbourne against a repetition of this child ' s play , and , though reluctantly , the very Club announcement of the scheme , which is an ominous precursor of events , compels us to offer an observation or two upon the danger of such a course .
When anything like justice has been done to the English people , they have Bhown no disposition to quarrel with the maxim , *• The King can do no wrong . " In fact , anxious to respect royalty and an English monarch , th ? y have been more servile upon this point than upon any other . But the moment that a monarch assumes a power unknown to the Constitution , and not frequently practised in darker ages , that moment will the people turn all thought from the Commons to the Minister and the Monarch . Let us then see how matters just now stand . And the Queen being once before paraded as a shield for Whiggery , aad the country being again threatened with such an obstacle to the public will , we are most reluctantly compelled to enter into some consideration upon the subject .
The Queen , then , though young , has , as the Executive , witnessed , unmoved , more inequality of law ; more injustice to her subjects ; more unjust persecution of her people ; more affliction among the working classes of her own sex ; more degradation of females ; more ministerial , domestic , and colonial profligacy ; more popular dissatisfaction and discontent than has ever existed in England heretofore . Hence , she must , if she now allow herself to be tampered with by a profligate Prime Minister , bear the reproach of all these sufferings , which the people would most cheerfully hold her guiltless of . She cannot " run with the hare and hold with the
hound . She must make her election between her people and her Minister . We must go further . If sach a latitude were allowed to a monarch , what difference is there between such a state of things and a perfect despotism ! Nay , has not the practice , as far as it has gone , subjected this country to a perfect military despotism ! Has it not rendered trial by jury a farce—the poor man ' s relief-house a place of degradation—the old man ' s alms house a charnel-houseevery prison an inquisition—every policeman an inquisitor—every magistrate a tyrant , and every official a dictator !
Having stated some of the acts , with which any improper interference of the Queen will mako her personally responsible , as the Executive , let us Bee whether or no there is not already too much representative power vested in an English monarch . As the Executive , he is supreme and sole ; has a power of life and death . As Peermaker , he has a power which has been , recently , moss injudiciously aud extensively used—a power of making Peers ot the partisans of the minister in office ; a right never
contemplated by the ancient constitution to be otherwise used than as a means of distinguishing the truly noble , without reference to political bias . In the House of Commons , no ministry deprived of the support of State paupers , royal servants , salaried officer * , ministerial commissioners , and secretly paid partisans , could hold offce , even upon the present franchise , for a single month , while the unrepresented , the most numerous aud powerful party in the State , are oppressed by the Commons and not relieved by the Executive .
Thus we show that those two estates , over which the Monarch should have no controul , but over wnich the people should have all controul , must , an a matter of necessity , if once unfettered and freed from Royal trammels , appeal to the whole people , as the only means of holding office for a single season , while Court influence now makes them not only independent of public opinion , but actually presents the frightful anomaly of a nation divided against itself . Upon the question of Royal interference , some very chuckle-headed ante-diluvian scribe writes thus , in the Weekly Chronicle , under the head : —
"A DISSOLUTION— BUT WHEN ?" " The Quten , in answer to an address for the removal of Ministers , ( if carried . ) might reply , that their resignation had been delayed solely for the purpose of enabling the country to come to a calm an < i J- tinitive conclusion upon the most important subject ever suhmitUd to it . Who couUt gainsay Her ? Who would dare to call the decision unconstitutional ? The object being not the miserable desire of prolonging official existence , but the wish to ( ive additional weight and deliberation to the national will . "
So jabbers the consummate fool who wrote the nonBense about " no miserable desire to prolong official existence" ( O ! ye Gjds !) and " to give auditional weight to national deliberation . " O ! yu Gaols full of national deliberators !!! But the Chronicle asks a question— " who would dare to call the decision unconstitutional ! " Wo would dare , and do dare , to do so—we call it unconstitutional .
The Chronicle then draws some unfortunate precedents from the dark days of Pitt . Is it not , we may observe in passing , very strange that the Whi g * are eternally compelled to draw all their precedents from Tory practice and " vice versa . " How U tnit > \ But ol' precedents , we may observe that nothing cau be more dangerous than a blind following of them , in fact , nothiHg more foolish than the custom 01 following prececent . A gucd act requires no precedent , while no precedent can eithtr soften or re concile a bad one . Tne Judge who preferred
remaining shut up in his carriage when crossing a ford , preferred the chances of drowning to sitting upon the box with the coachman , because the coachman when inviting his Lordship couldfurnish no precedent for a judge sitting alongside his coachman , and his Lordship was constitutionally drowned , but had the honour of dying according to precedent . Acts of persons living without controul in barbarous clodbopping ages , will be found to furnish but sorry precedents for the government of our steam population .
Three or fonr of the Edwards , and as many ol the Harry ' s , furnished Challis with precedents how to lose his head , and James how to lose his throne ; whereas , if Chables had followed tho-= e precedents , which every passing breeze bore , he might have taken his head upon his shoulders to the grave , and would now have been an unmutilsted
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royal mummy , snugly niched up in Westminster Abbey , instead of being _ a vulgar headless trunk . Had he UedVthei follies ' of hi » predecessors as beacons to point out the shoals which subsequent squalls and tides had thrown up in his stream of life , instead of using them as . charts to direct him in his course , he would have been one of the best , as he was one of the most amiable , of monarchs that ever wielded a sceptre ; but he lived by rule and died by precedent , and peace be with him .
. However , aa the ghost of precedent has been paraded , and . as we look upon current publio opinion and passing ' acts to be the Tery best precedents which a monarch in doubt can follow , and inaamaoh as a second "bed-chamber plot" is very likely to be tried , and aa we feel convinced that a following of the precedent once successfully established may be most dangerous , if attempted to be followed , we beg , for the protection of the much-abused , ill-advised , and misinformed Queen , to Bubmit the propriety of the following resolution being proposed at those " national deliberations" to whioh the notorious host of the Chartists invited them , and then perseonted them for attending : —
"That while we admit the maxim , « The King can do no wrong , ' to be a just put of a just whole , yet do we deny the right of the monarch to continue a minister in office against the wish of the people , and a majority of the House of Commons . And , inasmuch as the present Adiuiuistration is most obnoxious to the whole country , we respectfully , but firmly , beg to remonstrate with her Majesty upon the impropriety of interposing bad precedents , or royal will , against national opinion , for the mere purpose of being surrounded by the friends of her youth , and who have been to * greatest enemies of our order . A nation taken once by surprise may tolerate , as experiment , that which it will not submit to as a precedent "
In another article upon the general question , we have entered fully into the state of parties , and their respective prospects , and shall olose this with a recommendation to the Chartists to proceed onward in their auti-Whig course , while they keep steadily in view the certainty of a eucoessful issue making them one of the two great political parties who must , henceforth , contend for ascendancy . The Whigs , as leaders , are tyrants ; perhaps % short training in the sohool of adversity may make them useful and willing followers of better men than themselves .
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THIRTY SIX !!! OVER { THE CASTER'S OUT !! Nat , not so , Mr . Groom Portbb , his Lordship wJH ( have a " back-hand . " Dice ! Well , well , to be sure , was there ever in this " blessed world" such a set of cripples as our precious rulers , her Most Gracious Majesty ' s preoious advisers ? We never knew such " gluttons" in the " ring , " even in the palmiest days of Belcher and Mendoza ; and , as for Tom Cbibb , he swears they are out and outers . Their motto is "s ' oMmi * pas vuineu . " In the first
round they have got a siokner iu the " sweet brealh . " In the second they will get a finisher in tho "bread basket ; " and , should they come up to the scratch again , the third is to be fought with Canadian battles . But Eastuope tells us that the little noble pigmy Lord , who has no objection to a torch and dagger agitation to insure his salary , will , as a last resource , tbrow himself upon tho country . Now , we tell him flat and plump at once , that , if he dares it , the country will throw him not back again , but into the dirt . He tried torch and dagger in 1832 , the smoke and the steel were then on the right side , but let him now beware of creating an exoitem ^ nt whioh , if once nieod , will
never be eubdued till it exhaust itself in the complete and entire annihilation of the order of the Noble Lord . Let " pot-walloping" agitators speak the language of intimidation . We sound a warning to tyrants , a caution to those who know not the deepr ooted hatred which the people bear to every thing Whig and Whiggish , throughout the length and breadth of the land . We warn them , we tell them that the " Pile " is raised , and to be cautious how they put the match to it ! If there is one featuro more disgusting than another in the new face which the Whigs would put upon deception , it will be found in the unblushing attempt to create an antislavery feeling , while they are actually trying to shuffle the pea from one thimble to another .
The culprits are still determined to be at it , and we imagine literally propose to snatch no amall proportion of the quarter ' s salary out of the fire of a protracted debate . Well , no wonder they should die hard , for die they assuredly will , notwithstanding the powerful stimulants administered by the daily quacks , and the weekly sedativra so copiously recommended by the consulting physicians . Yet all , all cannot save thorn , they still want tho St . John Lonq counterirritant— " The bcratch in the back , " whioh John Bull will by no means administer .
On Monday uight , tho confectioners literally fired an uninterrupted volley of " sugar-stick" at the eaemy , without having once hit the mark , or being honoured with a shot in return . Nearly a dozen had the mortification to" Spout , and spout , and spout away , In one weak wafhey everlasting flood ; While each succeeding pump , which Up and down its awkward arm did sway , " had the mortification of lacking anything but the dry ground of his predecessor to spriukle with his watering pot .
While thus the war proceeds in calm insid « , the Chronicle " rides the storm" and " reaps the whirlwind" with the combined powers of " Great Jove " and " Rude Boreas . " A new chart of England is daily presented ; hamlets , never before dotted upon the surface of a pariah map , aro magnified by the modcru geographers into townships , parishes , and w . ipentakes . I ; is not very long since a pawnbroker's back parlour was promoted to the style and uiguity of a " D 146 ; , ; " a snuff shop received the distinction of a bazaar , and so taking was the fever of local distinction , that we knew an hone . it cobbler who gave the title of " menagerie" to a little cage with a little sparrow in it . The Chronicle ' s " demonstrations" ara very laughable . W » extract the following from the most powerful" and recent : — 1
CORN LAWS "GREAT PUBLIC MEETING . " The three tailors in Tooley-street had a powerful demonstration on Tu aday lost , on behalf of her Majettty ' a . Ministers . They uict at their guild at twelve o ' clock , p M ., when Mr . Snip was unanimously appointed to the 1 luir . Mr . Goose wan requested to act as Secretary , and Mr C . ibhuce as Treasurer . Spirited resolutions were unanimously ctrried , as also a vote of thanks t a her Majesty ' s Ministers , after which the immeo se . issHmlily retired to the 'Hole in the Wall , ' to cc , . p ' . utK the business by signing a numerous petition , for cheap f « od and high wages . "
On Monday last , Sir Thomas Potter had a \ g demonstration ; ami , on Wednesday , perha- pS , the most important meeting ever held iu this country took place in the spacious nursery of the Princes Koyal , Buckingham Palace , Nurse Li x . lt in the cnuir . It would be vaiu to attempt any thing like a report ot what we heard upon this stirring occasion . The speeches of the Baro aess Lehzen , the Countesses of Normanby and t jl , istowbl , produced so powerful an effect upon t ' ne chair as literally to curdle the milk of the F ^ oyal Nurse , just as we hear of a whole dairy r . eing soured by a sud leu shock of thunder . Go e passage from the speech of the learned Baroncvg jg worthy of being printed in letters , of gold . S ' je said , " Mrs . Chairwoman and my Ladies , \ will not attempt to
harrow up your feminine , your delicate , and toosufceptibln t ' t-eliugH , but ev a 1 allow the opportunity which now presents iiw , f to pasat—( No , no , and clapping by the laaiee . ' , No , 1 should be a base Migrate , inoeed . Be . ho ' . u , then , ( said the Baroness , turuing slowly and . majestically towards the cradle , in which tr , e Princess Royal lay sweetly slumbering , ) bihe ' ld , the lovely object of all our solicitude , lha or . agic spell which has still more closely bound vvery Briton's heart to the royal mother . Beheld the babe , whose first heaviogs we have witnessed , whoso birth we watched , whose cradle we Packed , whose loved form we have so oft caretstd , tmd I ask you are you prepared to surrender , fcuch a charge into the hands of the friends
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of ; but , no , no ; no matter , ho shall be nameless . " ( Hero tho name of Cumberland burst from all present , followed by long and loud cries of "No , never . " ) . . ' It would be vain to attempt a description of the scene which followed , the Princess , as if conscious that her dearest interests we * t JsUke ; UCjmU ] r < . eat up in the cradle and said " » O , HO 5 NO !" This fact has been authenticated to the Sun npon authority on which our excqllent'conteinporary assures us he can implicitly rely . . . at
Nurse ¦ Lilly came to her milky as if by magic , the sound of xhe voice of the Princess , and the demonstration proceeded to pass the following reso " lution ? , moved by the Baroness , and seconded by the Countess of NoBMANBy : — Resolved , " That Lord Melbourne be requested to stand by us a » we nave « tood by him . " Carried unanimously . Resolved , " That the Ministers who promise us sugar stick' and * buttered bun , * are io every way entitled to oui ' open and undisguised support " Resolved , " That we do hereby pledge ourselves to resist the introduction of Sir Robert Peel , and the Tories , by all the constitutional means in our power . " Carried unanimously .
After which a council wu held in the anti-room , and the demonstration peaceably separated . Then follow the powerful demonstrations of Town Council men , mayors , and aldermen ; and then 0 private correspondents , and then of a meeting of repealers , at the "Coal-hole , " and then the Ward meetings , and then the opinions of the shop-boys of the provincial press , who know that their bread comes from the baker , and their sugar from the grocer , and that's the extent of their knowledge ; and then comes the open column glossary , CORN LAWS AND COMMERCIAL REFORMS . "Our space is too limited to give any thing like a sketch of the enthusiasm whioh pervades all classes of society , and which is hourly becoming more and more manifest in all parts of the country , in aid of the great , the important , and statesman-like commercial reform , so nobly proposed by her Majesty ' s Government . " So much for the Chronicle .
Never was the weakness of a party so manifest as that of the Whigs ia their present deplorable situation . A debate worthy of running into the third week , and not a single hit made by a single friendly journal ; but , on tha contrary , staggered morning and evening , and knocked down weekly by their friends . The poor Chron ., the morning gun , looks for its old wadding to serve for a second shot . The Sun , the evening gun , has no powder even for a report ; while it actually gives us a sore throat to look upon the cold poultice of long primer , in stereotyped column .
The Globe " genteels it , " but says nothing either way . The Weekly Dispatch has astonished us by his ignorance of the whole subject . The Examiner fights wide of the principle , but dtps deep iu the sugar crock . Greville Beookk is too much taken up with the " Rake ' s Progress" to read what others say upon the subject . George Hen&y Ward is obliged to fly to the shades of the great statesman , now no more , for precedent . Neddy Bai . nks still sings his lamentations to the tune the old cow died oi , and sounds his cracked horn like a huntsman , in the hope of collecting his scattered hounds after a hard day ' s run , but no one hears him , or harks to holloa , while the country
whelps keep yelping away to fill up the cry of the leading dogs ; and , of the whole Whig press , the Spectator is left to pick the one bit of marrow from the bone for which the two hungry dogs are fighting . The Spectator makes the Only point . He says , u What is the charge of the Whigs against the Tories ? It is just this—that the Whigs Bay , although you oppose us , yet you are resolved , when in power , to perform what we now promise . " This , the Spectator most shrewdly observes is the true case , truly stated by the Whigs . The changes are necessary , and while the Whigs merely promise them , to insure a renewal of office , the Tories will perform them when they acquire power .
This is well put by the Spectator , and constitutes , in reality , the great , indeed the only difference . In the debate , it was something refreshing to find Mr . Duncombe daring to mention the case of the white slaves , but he was afraid to put the saddle upon the right horse , and to tighten the girths . Now , the fact is , that the Manchester Guardian has just said it , — " it is a straw , " and by no means could " Ceres" have furnished a lighter one for a heavy breeze . It is a straw , and is bo very light that had any other been tossed up , it would have had equal support .
Let us suppose the question to decide the fate of the Whigs had been , Is the devil black or is the devil white ? U the result was to be similar to that which is expected from the direction to which public opinion shall drive the present straw , wo should bare all the Bishops claiming acquaintance with the devil , and all the saints calling him their honourable friend ; each party swearing to a premature knowledge of the fact as to his Satanic Majesty ' s oolour .
Of one thing the Whigs may be quite certain—If they come t » the country , they had better " look out , " for , most assuredly , a rougher handling no set of feeding patriots ever yet got . A promise of sugar-stick and hot rolls will not be an antidote to remove years of lawless plunder , tyrannical sway , and despotic oppression . The poor may be iu their cold bastiles , but they will not be forgotten ; the rurals may be bottled up for the occasion , but John will draw the cork and let the spirit out ; the oaptive may be sick , silent , dead ,
or at hard labour in hi * 3 dungeon , but a fierce and terrific howl , a horrid , noise , will ask where are they , and wherefore are they there t Have you not aBked for public opinion before , and have you not filled the gaolr . , for two years , with men who violated no law - and received the best of characters 1 When tV . e Tories were in they transported for slight acts . , but when they incarcerated for opinions , it w as always from the higher classes they selected victims . You , too , have transported a greater " aumbet and for slighter offences than the Tories .
Give them Frost ! roar him in their ears , and Dorchester , and Glasgow and Birmingham . Give them a bellyfull of ChartistB , and no quarter . Yow . have nothing to expect from them ; and when yo ° a have annihilated the enemy before you , then v 0 shall rejoice in bringing the awkward squad of the metropolitan and provinuial press gang up , in close column , to teach them how to storm a Tory breach , dislodge a Tory position , and to take a Tory garrison . Yes , that shall be our next work ; for let the Tories rest assured that public opinion is now too strong to be either Torified or Whiggified , and that we do not use them to beat the Whigs for love of them .
The Whigs have stated their desire to be an appeal to the national will , Ind yet we find the Chartists , at publio meetings as systematically insulted as ever . But , how have the mighty fallen ! Would the fiery inflammable pressure without have borne a three weeks' debate within , in 1832 , without igniting ! No , truly ; but that which served as a match iu 1832 , is now but a wet blanket .
Chartists , if the 'V Plague" should attempt to effect their object by gold , aad to bribe a single one of your leaders , take no excuse , suffor no apology to justify his sudden conversion , leave that to the slaves of office , while we boast of our consistency . Down with the Bloodies ; toko our word for it they are in the situation of bankrupts who would put their name to a promissory note to meet a sudden emergency . They are merely biddiug lor a renewal of confidence , to betray it for seven long years . Better they should , as they will , be driven to a union with the oldea enemy—the Tory faction .
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They will unite before they surrender , but every manoeuvro weakens them and strengthens us . We have the choice to stand alone and conquer , or be divided and perish , _ - ¦¦ . ¦ :.- . - . ' ¦' ¦¦ - ¦ .. ¦ ., - ¦ ¦ O'Connor has said to us , within this week , " Lbj ME LEAVE THIS CELL A CORKS , BUT LET NO COMPROMISE BE MADE TO SAVE MY LIFE . " Have at tb « Bloodies : good Chartists " !
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WILLIAMS , BINNS , AND THE CHARTISTS versus THE CORPORATION OF SUNDERLAND AND THE WHOLE OF THE WHIG CLIQUE . u In our last we were only able to give a brief ar count of the all-important victory gained over Tory trick and Whig policy by our Sunderland friends . . The meeting of which we now speak was convened upon a requisition , signed by ninety-two of what arc called respectable Whigs ; and a Dr . Bbown in the
, absence of the -Mayor , took Hhe chair against the vote of tha meeting . However , the reception whioh he , otherwise much respected by the Chartists , experienced at their hands , fully proves the folly of even . friends hoping longer to blindfold the wideawake , " wild associates" of Chartism . We have not room for his Whig palaver , but may say , in passing , that the wild-uns made every point , hissed ev ery * thing that ought to have been hissed , heard everything with respect that ought to command respect and " whewed" and whistled at all that wanted * music to make it at all passable .
The Whigs moved a resolution of confidence in the ministers , and a Mr . Wright moved and a Mr , Potts , an Attorney man , seconded , an anti-ministerial amendment ; and this brings ns to the cream of the joke . Yes , the manner in which Williams and Binns , the very Castor and Pollux of Chartism in the North , avoided Scylla without falling upon Charybdia in their course , at once gives the lie to the many charge * of Toryism so freely made against our party .
In another part of our paper we give the speeches of Binns and Williams , and every thine elBe worth reporting of the meeting , They are beautiful specimens of Chartist speeches , and when read , who will say that we are ill-behaved when ia conflict ; here we have a pacificator complaining that such is our training that a single wave of Um hand seats , silences and " uncaps" us . But wherein consists the value of the whole
proceeding 1 Why , in this—that it was not sufficient in the estimation of our friends , to be meie anti . Whig and chequered-Tory , but they were resolved to be " whole hog" Chartists , " bristlesand all ( We thank our South Shields friends for the happy term . ) Yes , youngsters might have been satisfied with the amendment , which would have damned us effectually , but our young veterans were not to bs caught with chaff . This is the right course—this ia
the way to add strength to our party and dignity to our cause . We can beat them both if we are bat united . In looking over the Morning Chronicle ' s lamentable catalogue of Whig meetings , we do not find any mention of Sunderland , Edinburgh , Sfcockport , Birmingham , and hundreds of others , but we do find , as a test of national will , a note from a correspondent , informing the Chronicle of" a resolution passed by the Bethnal Green Auxiliary anti-Corn Law Committee "—of a special meeting of the Manchester "TOWN COUNCIL " -of DEMONSTRATTONS at Southampton , attended by the Mayor
and twelve others , and of DEMONSTRATIONS at Be / per , Aoton , Torrington , Mostyn , Bangor , Carnarvon , Flint , Town Council proceedings at Edinburgh ; and he brings up the rear with an Irish rump of the real old Goat , Lord Chauleuost , and the hacks . Ah ! ah ! Alas ! sorry substitutes for the high-sounding Reform demonstrations . Bristol in flames— " Hurrah for the Whigs . " Newcastle on fire— "Down with the Tobies . " TKe Duke attacked , mnd compelled to fortify Apsley House— "Up with the people . " Glasgow Green alive with people . The West Riding assembled . Nottingham and thousands of others ;—bat , bah J it ' s all bother ; we have them now !
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THE ADDRESS OF THE CONVENTION . Never in our lives did we insert say production with half that pleasure which we derive from the publication of the above document . Let those who still doubt the march of intellect , compare the address of the " bakers' dozsn" in 1841 , with the address of the General Convention in 1839 , and Bay , who can long resist such a torrent of improvement .
It throws the whole of the former documents far in the shade . It expre 3 S 63 well , in a condensed form , what our usurpers have spent eight nights in mystifying . Yes , here you have the whole questionj as far as regards the interests of the working man , and in the same view as we have repeatedly laid it before you . You will only be injured by the contemplated change . It will be found by our report of the proceedings in Convention , that tho members have resolved themselves into a Committee to watch , in fact , into a
corps of observation . Now , if they are necessary , and , in the language of the Greenacre Chrmide , we say , " Who will dare to doubt it ? " let money be at once sent for their support . Let no time be lost . Mr . O'Connor has already handed overall the funds collected for the Convention ( £ 60 ) , and the members cannot live upon air . Let every locality send its mite without delay , and let every name be sent off by Sunday night ' s post , to be added to the National Petition . Let this be done at once , and no mistake . Their exertions deserve well of the country . Up (
then , Chartists , send your pence at once . We understand the petition of 1841 will outnumber that of 1339 by as much as the address of the latter year outshines that of the former period . Up « Chartists ! drink no beer this one night ; send it for the prisoner , the expatriated , and the cause , and may God bl 688 the donor ! We are requested by onr Yorkiriendsto correct an error respecting the Bighaturps to the York petition , stated in our last to be , 247 , while tho numbers are 1 , 247-the ^ grea'esJ amount of signatures ever appended by the woking men of York to any petition .
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DANIEL AND THE " MISCREANT CHARTISTS . The report of the thrashing Dan received at the Crown and Anchor from the" miscreant Chartists , will be read with intense interest . Aa U > M joining the physical-force ur the moral-force Chartists , we beg to assure him that if he went down on hiB knees and begged and prayed for the remainder of his days , that not teu Chartists in England would join him , believe him , or confide W him . No , no ; his day is gone by !
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MR . O'CONNOR AND HIS ENEMIES . We have long abstained from saying even a nori upon the frightful persecution of which Mr . 0 'Cok « has been for years the victim , but which b * 3 recently shewn itself in colours too vivid to be mistaken . We now ask if there is one single insta te upon record of an imprisoned man being suffered to be thus attacked in his absence ! We hate a our possession documents and evidence W * ™ , deep conspiracy against O'Connor , in which W » tw
Brougham , Mr . Hume , Mr . Place , and many of " new move , " have for years taken an active p » ri . nor is Mr . Waklet altogether free from unpn ^ tion . We need * ay no more . We have more onee cautioned O ' Connor against his ^ " ^ tory policy ; he has begun to feel its effects , w ever , it is more than disgusting-to " , see 8 i * o coming from the very partis , whom , when oppress ^ O * Connor defended ni « ht and day—in " ^ Lrf , out of season . If this ia to be the patriot » rew ^ wo hal 1 ™ 3 T ™* j * &J ^ T ^ m onr om
lawiuy ; » uu jei , mu u . « ™ "ji ~ T ' a that he W * aw O'Connor yesterday , aud he states tnw <» ^ never in better health and spirits , « ni f £ «; 1 b » able to smash as many more of them , dw ^ people leave , all to one r \ w , whUe ^ y ^ looking on ? 11 « o , : ^ hawmadea wroDg ^ gJ ^ of English love of fair play . O Connob , W » onr in replv to two fr . sh Elanders which apF ^ ^ preset number , will be read with inten t »««*
The Northern Star Saturday, May 22. 1841.
THE NORTHERN STAR SATURDAY , MAY 22 . 1841 .
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4- THE NORTHERN STAR . _
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Citation
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Northern Star (1837-1852), May 22, 1841, page 4, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/ns/issues/vm2-ncseproduct380/page/4/
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